next page and it just shows it from a google maps perspective we're in a neighborhood
photographs of the property so this has been the condition the property for some time next page
showing since 2007 there's proof of posting
properties to 6th street to the right of the property 6th street to the left of the property
then our plans and drawings so what we did was reduce the height of the property so the massing
similar to properties you know to the left and right of us we also inversed uh the layouts they
wanted the stairs to kind of like be side by side uh and at their request we did so next page
uh so again we have no dimensional refusals here next page
next page um yeah i what i would show there is that if you look in the middle of that page
that was where the old building struck it was going to go much deeper the building structure
and at the request of the community we decreased the size of the building structure just to benefit
the people on the intersecting street we didn't want to take away their light and air it would
have been allowed as a right anyway but at their request we did that next page
and then these are the floor plans simple floor plans you go into the front door you have a
common bathroom bill to the right is a one bedroom one bath which is a bi-level unit uh the you know
there that unit will have trash stored outside um unit number two you go up to the second floor
that's also bi-level three bedroom three bath uh vincent and his wife plan to move back to
philadelphia he actually owns the property next door too so he's a well-known quantity he just
wants to move he's you know he wants to live in philadelphia and you know he wants a lower level
he wants the first floor unit just as you know to grow responsibly uh in that property um and this
is the way he's able to now afford to live in philadelphia by offsetting his mortgage payment
by having unit number two, a three-bedroom, three-bath.
Just a side view of what everything looks like.
We met with the community last time.
We met with them was January 6th at 7 p.m.
Alex is making me see if I can see that small, but yes.
And we met with how many community members did we meet?
uh uh how many community members did we meet with uh 226 uh addresses were notified of the
community meeting list of the addresses are behind that proof of mailing those addresses
our application for appeal that we filed on behalf of vincent and his wife and he does own
in his personal name so he this is non-intentional intentional development opportunity to flip it
uh the deed to the property and then tax clearance certificate while there's a balance owed it's not
owed until march 31st uh with that it's in the basement i didn't oh it's just it's just open
floor plan down there so he's just going to have openness down there so um i would just ask that
could you please state your name sir and spell for the stenographer yeah vincent fam um v-i-n-c-n-t
last name spelled p-h-a-m right do you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
but the truth yes i do oh yeah so vincent you heard everything i had to state today about
your zoning matter correct yes and is it true and correct that is true correct yeah and the
adopted is your own testimony yes i do thank you questions from the board so what's the height of
the uh the depth of the basement below grade um so unfortunately i don't have the benefit of that
but alex if you can pull that up there um it will be helpful i don't have it in front of myself uh
you want to just expand that out looks like well it's not to see only he wants to know how deep it
is yeah okay so you're seven feet below grade uh i cannot see it that way yes yes we are seven
feet below great well it's also to mimic yeah i see what you what you what you're looking to do
on the uh on the front elevation to try to match the adjacent property but it wouldn't hurt to not
match it exactly and raise the basement a little bit more out of the ground i'm quite sure the
basement next to you is probably only five feet or probably five feet below grade so um you you
you reduce the amount of underpinning you'd probably have to do if you raised it some and
still keep your nine foot ceiling height you want to keep in the basement so that's other than that
i don't have an issue with the plan other questions yes um it says here that the support from the
community is based on the latest revised plans shown to them so is that what this is yeah the
only thing we changed on top of that is we inverse the floor layout that was the last thing that
they asked us to do so they saw everything you saw today other than the inverse layout which
we promised we would do in which we did okay yeah so like those other four things um let's see so
occupied area Alex can you put the occupied area reduced to 649 square feet we showed them that
The rear yard depth increased to 29, 23, almost 24 feet.
We show them that.
And the building height reduced to 32 feet.
We show them that.
And then the building laid out inverse was at the last meeting, the last request.
All right.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
All the questions.
I'm sorry.
What's the width of the parcel and another question I'm going to remember?
The width of the parcel is 16 feet wide.
are you dealing with the trash on it for the second so the first floor unit will have trash
stored in the rear the second floor or the the upper unit will have oh there alex is showing
is where we're going to have storage area ventilated trash closet
where is that it's right he's circling it right there do you see it uh board member john's okay
got you and then there's a stackable next okay
the questions questions from our attorney hillary emerson
um not a question just um a uh a request if the board grants this um with the revised plans if
you could update the proviso form just to indicate what was inverted about the layouts that just
look like the steps basically yeah it's like the tree yeah if you could just clarify that and also
note that the the location of the pilot house was changed as well yeah it was complete inversion so
like wherever it was left is right whatever was right was left right right just if you could
clarify that that we can do that yeah that would be helpful thank you questions or comments from
the audience the virtual audience excuse me there are no answer any commission amy boy with
excuse me there are no answer planning commission amy boy with the planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning at this location from the current rsa
5 residential single family the appellant has not demonstrated that there are unique physical
conditions or circumstances of the property that would prevent it from being used in conformance
with the zoning code the planning commission recommends that the board deny their quest
variance for two-family household living yeah mr chair can i just respond shortly sure uh there
are five other examples of duplexes 1027 1025 1021 1005 1001 all duplexes on that block and as i
stated the community was against the read mapping of this block where it was originally rm1 up until
2015. uh you know again the affordability of this project would not exist but for the fact that
we're asking for a duplex. Thank you. MI 2025-005-215-1024 South 6th Street. I vote yes
with proviso. Revised plans, one page, stamped by ZBA January 21st, 2026. Michael Johns, my vote is
yes with proviso. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso. Senator Graham, my vote is yes with
proviso ryan mcadams my vote is yes with proviso my vote is yes with proviso thank you
thank you okay uh number five mi 2025 005 349 1117 north 40 street um i do have a note here from
council this will be held for an amended refusal is that correct that is correct we're still
waiting for the refusal what's for the record state your name uh alan why did you look at her
and smile exactly no she gave me she gave me a look like we've been we've been asking for this
refusal for a month yes yes we've been asking for some time oh okay um our vice chair has a few
questions for you good afternoon have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance
of this hearing? I have. And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its
accuracy? Yes, we have. Thank you. You can begin your case. All right. So similar to the project
before, there was much discussion in the community about revising our intentions for this project.
And when we did, we received their support. So this is a CMX1 property that's next to RSA5. So
we're allowed one residential unit and one commercial unit. We were proposing to have,
if you alex if you shared the uh notice of refusal we were proposing to have a triplex here
um the community is like no we think it's more appropriate given the context in the neighborhood
to have one commercial unit uh and two residential units thus you know the you know the the use
variance request is one additional residential unit um they also wanted us to deal with the
the issue in the nose refusal the first one about the setback they wanted us to set back mimicking
the property to the left and the right of us which we did and you know that's you know that's
one of the physical changes uh that we requested i do believe we have a proviso form here which
talks about i think we increased uh the occupied area to 87.74 percent where originally we proposed
81.20 and we're waiting for you know amended refusal that's in character to what's in the
nearby properties those the property to left and right of us have a hundred percent law coverage
so what we're proposing mimics what's there from a use standpoint as well as from a dimensional
standpoint alex continue so we received a letter of support and if you read the letter it was it
was it was good it was like hey if you want to ever build here you know assuming we get this done
um we would like you to do it because you listen to us and that's why we've received their support
so next and well i think it was more people than one but yeah i mean but that's fine uh next
and then we got a petition of surrounding properties next in support of this
and then just to let you know half of the properties on that blocker are vacant land
so we are hopefully to encourage we're hoping to encourage development by what we're doing next
and you know prior to this um our property had two residential units above a commercial space
so mimics the history as well next we're cmx1 continue just showing it all right so we're that
vacant property in the middle continue proof of posting for today's hearing prop you know to the
right of the property to the left of the property our plans and drawings so if you look at it from
our plans and drawings so if you look at it from that visual it looks like we would just fit well
that visual it looks
within the fabric of the community next
and then if you look at the site plan to left and right of us is shaded
i can barely see it but i'm hoping you can it's full lot coverage so even though our variance is
asking for a variance for occupied area we're still less than the properties to left and right
of us continue and then just uh you know again uh the elevations next next uh and then the floor plan
so we don't have to worry about basement living here um because the commercial unit's going to
take the first floor and the lower level then the the units above um are you know residential in
nature. There is ventilated trash closets for each of the residential units. Next.
And then obviously trash for the commercial unit as well in the rear of the first floor.
So we met with the community again multiple times to get this right for them. And that's
last time, the last notice we sent. And we sent it to 130 addresses, the notice. And the addresses
are behind it proof of mailing to those addresses our application for appeal along with notice
refusal and project information form deed to the property showing that brian crinton is the owner
of the property certificate of tax clearance and those taxes have been paid so with that being said
i know that brian is in the virtual audience i would ask that he uh be sworn in and i'll have
few questions for him sure ryan brian you said ryan his name brian brian
brian is coming in as a panelist thank you
here you go can you hear me yes i can sir could you please state your name and spell for the
phonographer yes my name is brian crittenden brian b-r-y-a-n crittenden c-r-i-t-t-e-n-t-o-n
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes sir please proceed
counsel yeah brian you heard everything i had to state today about your zoning matter
correct is it true and correct what i stated yes it is and do you adopt as your own testimony
absolutely thank you questions from the board yeah i just want to understand um from a hardship
standpoint since this is new construction what's causing the setback i mean sorry the rear yard
and the lot coverage to be above 75 percent well i mean in order to have a functional floor plan
here um to have decent sized units we're asking for that um and in addition like that's going to
increase not just the residential units it's going to increase the commercial unit to have
more flexibility uh you know i think brian was expecting to have professional offices in there
and then we just didn't want to like squeeze people in both from a commercial and residential
sense had there been any attempt to try to get the three feet back out of the plan i mean i mean i i
think that we wanted to instead of doing four stories we wanted to mimic the architecture
and the design to left and right of us and you know again we're not if anything we're less in
in we're asking for a less variance in the properties to left and right of us
where we're going to be completely closed off so you know I think our architecture mimics and
does a better job than the ones who left and right of us all the questions yeah did the RCO
and or the community have any kind of limitations in terms of the commercial space no we we stated
just cmx1 zoning i mean we didn't even push it to say well can we at least get cmx2 there
um we're we felt comfortable and as you know cmx1 zoning is definitely a lighter load on a community
and we and we felt it was appropriate and if we have problems you know obviously getting you know
some tenants we may be back here but we feel confident we're going to get tenants based on
cmx1 zoning questions for attorney hillary emerson not at this time mr chair or comments from the
virtual audience yes chair there's a hand up by the name of joy smith and i will allow her to speak
would you please state your name joyce
would you please state your name joyce
joyce smith can you unmute yourself please
unmuted hi hello hi joyce could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
my name is joyce smith j-o-y-c-e s-m-i-t-h
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes yes are you are you neighbor yes i am all right please proceed okay so uh well good afternoon
everyone good afternoon i want to thank the zoning board of adjustment for allowing me to
address this um project um i am a resident of east parkside neighborhood where this development
is proposed. I'm also a member of several neighborhood stakeholder organizations and
I work closely with our community RCOs. Actually, as stated, we did have two RCO meetings with this
developer regarding this project. During the first meeting, the residents clearly expressed
the importance of preserving East Parkside's shrinking commercial corridor and our strong
desire to see it revitalized in a way that serves the community. We welcome a level of density
and development that aligns with the zoning code and will not negatively impact the future
of our business corridor. We support development that every community desires on their commercial
corridors, mixed-use projects with business spaces, at least on the first floor. And so I want to say
that this developer listened to us he listened to our concerns and returned with an amended proposal
that includes that included commercial space on the first floor and we just want to commend this
developer for being responsive and respective of our community's input and it's also i just
want to add that it's encouraging to work with a developer who also understands the values of
aligning a project with the community's needs and vision. And I just want to add, we do have
the Painted Bride just moved their administrative office. It's not on the corridor, but it's adjacent.
It's just right on the corner, so it is considered commercial. And we also have the city's rowing
company. Our corridor, we're really concerned about our corridor because we don't want to set
a bad precedent where developers are coming when these vacant lots of building apartments.
we want a walkable community so again I want to thank the developer for amending the proposal