Thank you. Thank you. We're going to wait three minutes to get our act in order here,
and then we'll go with the begin the cases shortly thereafter. Okay.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
okay chair look like we good to go thank you very much
thank you very much um good morning everyone welcome back i hope everyone had a safe and
enjoyable holiday, kind of different, but I'm sure by this time next year, hopefully we will
be back to our normal way of celebrating Labor Day. My name is Frank DiCicco. I'm the chair of
the Zoning Board of Adjustment. I'll be participating in today's hearing along with
our vice chair, Ms. Carol Tenere, board secretary, Confessor Plaza, and board members, Mr. Thomas
Holloman and Mr. James Snell. Board Administrator Tanya Sunkett and Board Attorney Sharon Saleta
are also in attendance. For those of you who haven't yet participated in one of our virtual
hearings, I'll go through some of the basics of what you can expect. First, we'll begin this
morning's session by reading a list of cases to be continued. If you believe any case,
case, if you believe any announced case is being continued in error, we will give you
an opportunity to respond. After reading the continuance list and receiving any feedback,
we will take any additional continuance requests or withdrawal requests at that time. Then
once we've confirmed which hearings are being continued, Vice Chair Tenere will begin calling
the remaining cases listed for this session. When a case is called, we ask that attorneys
representing applicants or other interested parties in the matter identify themselves for
the record. We will then hear the appellant's presentation, followed by any presentation by
attorneys representing other parties. Interested parties and members of the public not represented
by counsel will then be given an opportunity to testify. We will finally hear the recommendation
of the Planning Commission. At the hearing's conclusion, we will either vote the matter
immediately or hold it for discussion in our next Wednesday executive session. Any case held
for discussion will be voted at the next scheduled Wednesday session. Please note the following
changes related to the virtual format. First, we will be administering oaths to individual
participants prior to their testimony. Second, for the benefit of anyone participating by phone,
We ask that attorneys and witnesses identify themselves prior to speaking or testifying.
Third, we'd like to advise everyone that this proceeding is being recorded
and that by participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded.
Fourth, for anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by
Fourth, for anyone participating by phone,
hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself. I'll repeat. For anyone participating
by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by hitting star nine and then star six
to unmute yourself. Finally, to enter an appearance statement, call Google 267 -270 -5548
and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue. I will repeat. To enter
an appearance statement, call Google 267 -270 -5548 and leave your email address
and the address of the property at issue. With that said, we will begin, but before
Vice Chair Tenere calls our first case, we'd like to announce that the following matters are
are being continued or withdrawn.
Calendar number 39616.
1152 South 15th Street is withdrawn.
The following cases are being continued.
MI -2020 -000953.
2123 Dickinson Street. MI -2020 -000916, excuse me, 2616. Is that a North or South 18th Street?
Tanya or Sharon, can you help us with that?
let me go to the next case and then we'll come back to that one calendar number 39628
4011 richmond street calendar number 39421 4800 north 8th street calendar number 38248
5609 North Park Street. Calendar number 39617, 6164 Walnut Street. So again, we'll go back to
the 18th Street. Is that a north or south? It's a south 18th Street. Okay, so I'll read it back
into the record. MI -2020 -000916, 2616 South 18th Street is also being continued.
if there is anyone who believes that a case has been called for continuance or withdrawal and
error, please raise your hand. And if there's anyone requesting a continuance or withdrawal,
please raise your hand at this time also. Rachel Pritzker, you can unmute yourself and speak to a
Continuance. Good morning. Good morning. R -A -C -H -A -E -L -P -R -I -T -Z -K -E -R. Pritzker Law Group, 1635 Market Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia PA 19103. I'm here for -
Do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes. Please proceed. I'm here for 2839 West Glenwood. I just wanted to request either a
continuance or I think potentially a leave of the board to amend our application. We're not sure
yet. So I'll request a continuance and then I'll reach out to, if it's okay, Tanya and Sharon,
if we need to make an adjustment. We are trying to work with the community. We've met with them
number of times it's a pretty difficult site so we're looking to try and revise
the plans again and although we did have one continuance I think it would be
beneficial to have another so that we can try to find something that works
better for everyone hey anyone out there objecting to this request for a
Continuance for calendar number 38164, 2839 West Glenwood Avenue.
Mary Jones, you can unmute yourself and speak to this continuance.
uh yes good morning uh mary jones uh council president daryl clark's office
um mary do you swear to firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Mary, do you swear to firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you, Mary. Please proceed.
I just wanted to comment on the record. As long as the applicant is going to make a good faith
effort to actually work with the community, we don't object to the continuance.
okay uh you may want to reach out or miss pritzer raise out to miss reach out to miss jones
yeah i'm i'm happy to she's been involved from the beginning it's been bought by two different
developers it's a very as the board will we'll see shortly it's a very complicated site so it's
not a lack of trying it's just a difficult site and uh uh so we're trying to do our best and again
asking for continuance because we do have a desire to work with the community and try and find
something that works best for everyone. Thank you, Rachel. Thank you. Anyone else?
Meredith, you can unmute yourself and speak to this continuance.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. Meredith Ferliger on behalf of
3965 Lancaster Avenue, SAM Development, LLC. Do you need to swear me in, Mr. Chairman?
Yes, please spell your name.
I'm sorry.
This is still for that one.
We're still talking about Rachel.
Glenwood.
Not Glenwood.
I'm sorry.
Yeah, Glenwood.
Glenwood.
Oh, no, I'm sorry.
I have another continuance.
Okay, just hang in there one second.
Anyone else for Glenwood Avenue?
Gideon Reddick, I believe.
You can unmute yourself and speak to this continuance.
Hi, I'm one of the neighbors by the -
Mr. Gideon, excuse me, sir, please spell your first and last name.
G -I -D -E -O -N. Last name is R -E -T -T -I -C -H.
Your address?
1733 North 29th Street.
Where for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you. Please proceed.
Yeah, I've been to the meetings regarding this property, and I just want to express my belief and those of my neighbors that the scale of the project is just not something that we want for that.
Sir, not to interrupt you, but that's the purpose of the request for continuance.
Oh, OK.
The further discussion, you may or may not come to an agreement, but that's what the attorney representing the applicant is requesting.
Oh, OK. I got in late.
I was having no problem and the council president's office is involved
will be involved in this matter as well okay thank you very much
thank you I have no other hands for this particular continuance
thank you Meredith morning Mr. Chairman good morning please
spell your name Meredith I'm sorry M -E -R -E -D -I -T -H -F -E -R -L -E -G -E -R
here reference to 3965 lancaster avenue mi -2020 -000945 we are asking for um rather
long continuance on this matter this is a a property that sits at lancaster avenue and
40th street in west philadelphia our request was to eliminate a ground floor commercial space
And we, we've met with the community. My client has had several discussions with neighbors. And despite the fact that my client has been trying for well over a year now to lease the space, the community would really like to see a commercial space here.
So my client has agreed to work with both the community group itself, as well as the
councilwoman's office to try and find a tenant for this space.
So, you know, we're not, we're not sure if it's, if it's going to work.
Like I said, it's been well over a year now.
But we would like, I can work with Ms. Sunkett.
We're asking for a date, maybe sometime in January, just to give my client, you know,
some real sufficient time to to work with the community and see if they can find somebody for
this space okay um you'll work that out with miss sunkett is there anyone else out there
has any issues with uh the lancaster avenue request no hands up at this time thank you
is there anyone else out there who wishes to uh request a continuance or withdrawal
Alan Nockamson, you can unmute yourself and speak to a continuance.
Hello, Mr. Chair and members of the board. My name is Alan Nockamson, A -L -A -N, last name Nockamson, N -O -C -H -U -M -S -O -N, and this is regarding 2123.
C -H -U -M -S -O -N.
And this is regarding
2123 Dickinson Street.
Mr. McPherson, do you
swear to the firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth? I do.
That one we called
off as a continuation. Yes, that
was continued. Yeah, and we have
no objection to that. We just want to make sure that
the ZB, that it's not
rescheduled before October 26th.
Our hearing is October 26th.
I mean, our community meeting is October 26th.
So we just want to make sure
that our zba hearing date is after october 26th uh miss sunken will work that out with you i doubt
it'll be before that but i'm just something to work that out for you okay great thank you
thank you any other requests
manu maruj you can unmute yourself and speak to a continuance wait to be sworn in good morning my
My name is Mirush Tsenai, M -I -R -U -S -H, last name C -E -N -A -J.
I live at 7704 Browse Avenue, Philadelphia, PA, 19152.
It's time to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Please proceed.
I'm here in regards to 4800 North 8th Street, calendar number 39421.
um as we were scheduled for this meeting to provide feedback for the board because
um last meeting we were held um we were told to hold for 30 days sorry to interrupt you what
what what's the address again that's a continuance if i could speak to this uh chair this is 4800
4800 North 8th Street is number four on your continuance list. However, the last hearing,
the applicant was required to go back to the community and get feedback. Correspondence with
the applicant has led us to believe they're not willing to talk at all. So this applicant is here
before you because you requested them to come back within 30 days. It's well over the 30 -day
period because we were off last week and now he just wants to provide feedback from the community
if you understand that. You already had that here. I tried to schedule a meeting with the community
with the Logan Civic Association and they're unwilling to schedule a meeting
until the coronavirus subsides. I have an email from them and I can share my screen if you want
to see that um and i have reviewed that email the applicant did try to schedule something with
a community meeting they were unwilling to meet so is is the request then to have the hearing this
morning or are you just asking for another continuance we i've already actually been heard
um so decision i'm looking for the board to um decide on the matter and he is correct and that
probably shouldn't have been included on the continuance list the hearing has been held you
were waiting um for the limited purpose of him coming back and reporting on progress and meeting
with the community so maybe if the um if the planning commission could give its position on
this on his inability to meet with the um rco and then perhaps move the um vote on it if you decide
to go forward to the end of this session yeah i'd like to i'd say let's move it to the end
and uh all right let's we'll hold that to the end sir
okay at the end of our list this morning's list okay thank you very much all right thank you
thank you sharon and tanya anyone else
i see no additional hands at this time thank you miss tenary please call the first case
thank you mi -2020 -000456 1416 chestnut street the attorney is jared klein
Mr. Klein you've been promoted to a panelist you can share your screen and open your mic as you
need to thank you Ms. Sunkett good morning Mr. Chair members of the board Jared Klein from
Blank Rome 130 North 18th Street Philadelphia do you swear or affirm to tell the truth and
nothing about the truth yes I do and you also agreed away to reading of the refusal and
stipulate to its accuracy.
Yes, I do.
You may proceed.
Thank you.
Uh, so this is a pretty simple application for 1416 Chestnut Street. As you can see on the screen that I've shared, this application is to install this park sign that I am circling with with my cursor. There was an existing park sign there. This is replacing what was there.
So this is a pretty simple application.
can I interrupt you a minute isn't that saying isn't that Sansom Street it is and I will explain
that in just a moment okay good I think it used to connect the chest all right all right I get it
yeah so 1416 Chestnut uh runs block to block so it fronts on Chestnut and the rear is the
Sansom Street side um the parking is utilized by the Union League which also owns the owns the
building. And you're right, this is the Sansom Street facade of 1416 Chestnut, where the current
parking garage is located. There's no changes being proposed to the ingress or egress of the
existing garage. This application is just to install the sign. The refusal we received was
for height. It has to be below the second floor sill, according to the zoning code. We raised it
to improve the visibility for cars actually on Sansom Street
and to try and make it more in line with the Chris's Jazz Cafe sign,
which you can see just down the block.
We met with the Center City Residents Association
and their letter of non -opposition was uploaded to the board.
And if I can bring it up on my screen, I will do so.
As I'm pulling this up, I'll ask if the board can unmute Mr. Scott Lute.
Scott, if you're there, you can hit the raise your hand button.
Can you hear me, Jared?
Yes, I can.
Can you state and spell your name for the record?
Thank you.
Scott is my first name, S -C -O -T.
Lutte, L -U -T -T -E, is my last name.
Mr. Chair, do you need to swear him in?
Do you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
You may proceed.
Thank you.
Scott, did you have an opportunity to hear the presentation I just made?
Yes, I did.
Do you adopt it as true correct in your own testimony?
Yes, I do.
Thank you very much.
i have nothing further mr chair thank you any questions from the board
no anybody else no anyone else wish to testify in this matter please raise your hand
no hands at this time thank you planning commission i'll have to swear you in
okay good morning
good morning
is that ron yes ron please identify yourself for the record okay i'm ronald bednar b -e -d -n -a -r
um city planning commission we're in a firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but
the truth i do thank you ron please proceed thank you so this property is indicated for commercial
mixed use on the city plan we have no objection to the granting the variance thank you
mi -2020 -000456 1416 chestnut street my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Calendar number 39612, 1627 Ritner Street, northeast corner of South Chadwick Street.
The attorney is Leo Mulvihill.
Mr. Mulvihill, you've been promoted to a panelist. You can share your screen
and open your mic and wait to be sworn in. Mr. Mulvihill, can you state your name and
address for the record, please? Certainly. Leo Mulvihill, M -U -L -V -I -H -I -L -L. Address is 2424
East York Street, Suite 111, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19125. Do you swear or affirm
to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
I do. And you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy.
And you also agree to waive the reading of The Refusal
and stipulate to its act.
I do. You may proceed. Thank you. Good morning, members of the board. I'm here today on behalf
of Kelly Peterson. That's K -E -L -L -Y -P -E -T -E -R -S -E -N. Kelly's been a client of mine for a number of
years. She's been involved in dog care and dog walking for quite some time. In 2018, she purchased
the property at 1627 West Rittner Street, which had previously been used as a takeout restaurant
on the ground story with a single dwelling unit above. Kelly lives there now, and on the ground
story, she has her daycare for dogs, Southpaw Pets. Unfortunately, this property was remapped
to RSA5. It was previously CMX1, so we require variants for the use of this property as a dog
daycare. What I have up on the screen right now, members of the board, is my zoning material
packet. We have the refusal appeal and project information form at page one. Kelly only realized
that she was operating in violation of the zoning code when she received notice of an LNI zoning
violation last year. So I have a copy of that violation at page six. The area of the zoning
maps at page nine. The deed for the property at page 10. Commercial activity license for the
property, page 18. Tax clearance is at 19. The zoning notification letter for this property is
at page 20. I will note, members of the board, that I will ask you to hold your vote in this
matter, as the RCO was only able to schedule a meeting with us for this evening, which we'll
be holding around 7 o 'clock tonight. I have a copy of the prior zoning permit for the commercial use
of the space at page 24. Understandably, I do not yet have an RCO letter. I have photos of the
property at page 29. Plans showing photographs of the exterior and interior of the property,
as well as floor plans, are attached to the appendix. Additionally, previously submitted,
I have letters of support from many members of the community, both Kelly's clients and neighbors,
which I'm happy to put up on the screen after the fact. So members of the board, I'll go first to
refusal. So what I'm showing now on the screen at page three is a refusal in this case. We submitted
an application for the erection of a flat wall sign at the front of the building which triggered
a refusal because it's slightly over the maximum allowable square footage. We're seeking 18 .3
square feet. We're only allowed that 15 square feet. I would argue that that's a de minimis
request. The other use, animal services with boarding and other services, is not permitted
in this zoning district. Just for some background on the business, Kelly's currently open for
business from 8 a .m. to 6 p .m. At this point, she takes a max of 10 dogs at any time. For
overnight boarding, there's a maximum of five. Maybe one or two dogs get board of the week.
While she was open more regularly before COVID, since more people are working at home,
she has reduced her hours from Tuesday through Thursday and is doing her best to continue to
operate her business as a small business owner while continuing to live upstairs in the property.
She does have a couple of employees that help her out from time to time with dog walking,
cat sitting, things like that as well. What I'm going to do now, members of the board,
is just simply go to the plans here, which are going to be at the end of the presentation.
I'll strike down members of the board. First, I'm going to show you just the pictures of the
property. Page 29 of the packet, we see the actual front of the building along with
the orange zoning signs been posted. The upper left, we see the front of the sign along Rittner
Street, the side of the property, and then all the adjacent corners. You can see there are
numerous commercial sites in the area as well, along with other residential uses.
At page 32, members of the board, I'm now showing the interior of the property.
The only thing that's different today from when this picture was taken a little bit ago
is that Kelly repainted.
Otherwise, it looks basically like this.
Paging through to page 34.
Now I'm showing the appendix members of the board.
This is the elevation of the property showing the proposed flat wall sign.
You can see we have the proposed southpaw that we look to put on the front of the building
with your support.
existing door. No changes to the exterior are done whatsoever. What I'm showing now is that
Appendix 2 shows its location in the city itself right off of Broad Street on this block of
Rittner, and an overhead view that was taken from Google Maps showing the site map of the area.
I have other additional photos of the surrounding properties.
I have other additional photos of the surrounding properties.
And what we have here now, members of the board, is a copy of the interior first floor plan.
There we go. I'm just going to try to zoom in on that, everyone.
So here's Rittner Street to the front, Chadwick Street to the side.
As you go in, there's a front gate and reception counter. These are all the different stalls for the animals.
back room area dogs do some playing here have a good time and kelly generally keeps them
entertained gives them the walks we have the restroom here and then some storage area to the
back the upstairs apartment which is accessible by chadwick street is where kelly lives so like
i said she's there all the time she's doing her best to make a good business and make a good
living here as a small business owner been working with animals for a long time and we're happy to
take any questions that you might have at this time. Kelly, are you on the line? If you are,
please raise your hand so you can be promoted, so you can be unmuted.
Kelly, you can't wait to be sworn in.
Would you please spell your name, first name, last name?
kelly peterson which is k -e -l -l -y p -e -t -e -r -s -e -n
we're infirmed to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do thank you please proceed and kelly you've heard my presentation today
correct do you have anything you'd like to add at this time
um i just would like to add that uh you know i consider myself a resident of this area
obviously purchasing my home uh in 2018 which was a dream for me so you know i'm invested in
in this neighborhood myself um you know i do believe that many of my neighbors which are my
clients appreciate uh what i've done here and taken a property that sat empty for a long time
um and keep it safe and well lit um and just provide something that i think people like
Like, you know, even the kids like to walk by and look at the dogs.
I think people like it.
You know, it's not loud.
I live right above the dogs, you know, when they're here overnight.
So I definitely don't try to cause any nuisance or anything like that and just be a good neighbor myself.
And members of the board, just to add one more thing, before I ask Kelly to incorporate my testimony,
I should be showing on the screen right now a number of letters of support,
which I've previously submitted to the board.
I have currently 18 here.
We do have some additional ones.
There are just some technical issues
getting them uploaded to the board this morning.
But generally, everybody who has signed one of these letters,
which you're happy to review at your leisure,
states that Kelly's an asset to the community.
She's improved the property.
They appreciate having the business there
rather than a vacant storefront.
And that they're happy to welcome her to the neighborhood.
So Kelly, otherwise, you've heard my presentation today?
Is there anything else you'd like to add at this time?
I think that covers it.
All right.
Do you adopt my testimony otherwise as your own?
Thank you.
We're happy to take any other questions at this time, members of the board.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
Anyone else wish to testify in this matter?
If so, please raise your hand.
no hands chair thank you planning commission so while this property is currently indicated for
residential use on the city plan we have no objection to the granting of the variance provided
that the signage was fully compliant with the code thank you uh calendar number three nine six one two
one six two seven rittner street is being held pending a letter from the rco
thank you members of the board thank you
calendar number 39634 excuse me i'm sorry um to interrupt just to go back one minute that we are
leaving the record open and leo will come back and report on the outcome of the rco meeting
the rco will have an opportunity to testify should they choose to do so thank you for clearing that
up. Thank you. Thank you. Calendar number 39634, 2636 East York Street. This is an
amended refusal. The attorney is Adam Laver. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Mrs.
Tenere, and members of the board. Good morning, Adam. Can you please put your
name and address on the record and spell your last name? Adam Laver, L -A -P as in
Adam Laver, L -A -B as in Victor, E -R, Blank Rome, 1 Logan Square, 19103.
Victor, E -R, blank Rome.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth and nothing but the truth?
Do you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I do, Mrs. Tenera.
The backdrop at Blank Rome looks like you're reporting from ABC, NBC, or ABC.
see. Someone yesterday said it looked like I was in outer space. Well, you may proceed. Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, members of the board, Adam Laver of Blank Rome, on behalf of River Wards Group,
Mo Rushdie and Larry McKnight. Members of the board, on March 11th, in the final day of Zoning
Board of Adjustment in -person hearings prior to the local outbreak of the pandemic, my
now -retired colleague Tom Chapman appeared before the board in his last Zoning Board
of Adjustment case regarding this matter.
And at that time, a full hearing was put into the record.
Mr. Chapman presented that hearing, and I was in the room and I heard it.
The property itself, and I'll do a quick screen share. I don't have too much to share since
this was previously heard, but can you see the zoning map and the aerial photographs?
Good. Okay. So just to refresh your memory, the property is 2636 East York Street,
which is situated on the York Street Commercial Corridor, which overlooks Interstate 95,
the Port Richmond Shopping Center, and a gas station across the street. At the time of the
full hearing before the board, Mr. Chairman, I believe that the board recognized an opportunity
to meet further with the community, Fishtown Neighborhood Association, Fishtown Neighbors
Association rather in response to concerns largely focused upon a desire
for more parking at this mixed -use site of course parking is not required but we
tried very hard Moe and Larry tried very hard to meet again with FNA and we
We amended our application per the board's request and went back to FNA with three options,
which we believe did address the bulk of the issues that had been brought to our attention.
I should note that even in the first hearing that Mr. Chapman presented before you, even
prior to walking into the zoning board hearing room that day, Mr. Chapman presented revised
proviso plans that had reduced the unit count and made a slight reduction to the height.
So the main final issue from a community perspective, recognizing that we are never
going to be able to satisfy everyone, but sincerely wanting to try in good faith to do that, we
presented three options and the amended plan calls for an increase 160 percent
increase in on -site parking to 26 spaces you'll see here on I hope if my
technology is working you'll see here and I'm showing you with the cursor we
went from 16 parking spaces to 26 parking spaces, generating an additional refusal for
interior mechanical lift system, which really speaks to that concern for parking while also
recognizing the foundation issues at this site, the environmental issues at this site
that really create problems in developing it.
But also, and I'm not going to go through this in detail unless the board wishes, Dr.
Kevin Gillen presented an economic benefit analysis, which speaks to job creation and
dollars to the neighborhood and to the city of Philadelphia.
And Dr. Gillen is with us should the board wish.
But again, I respect and recognize that this is a limited hearing and that I really understood
the board's desire to be that we update the board on our efforts to reach a
compromise and regrettably as the materials indicate which
And regrettably, as the materials indicate, which I shared with you, FNA really didn't
unfortunately feel that the plans that we presented addressed their concerns.
We didn't get actual feedback from them except to say no.
So I'm sharing with you the conceptual renderings here, which you have in your packet, and we
do have additional supporters, but perhaps due to the limited nature of the hearing,
I will rest and we have the full team here to speak further, should the board wish.
we believe that there was a full record on March 11th that satisfies the grounds for
variance relief in this matter. Any questions from the board? No. No. No. No. Is there anyone
who wishes to testify? Mr. Laver, you want to bring one of your witnesses on? Yes, I would like
to call Mo Rushdie who is a principal in the River Wards group to please come and
join us and hopefully to adopt and affirm on the record. Mr. Rushdie please
raise your virtual hand and the Zoning Board of Adjustment Administrator Ms.
Sunkit will allow you into the virtual room. Mo you can unmute yourself. Mohammed
Kamid Rushdie, M -O -H -A -M -E -D.
Last name is Rushdie, R -U -S -H -D -Y.
Address is 3020 Richmond Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19134.
Do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Thank you. Please proceed.
Mr. Rushdie, thank you for joining us.
Have you been present for the entirety of my remarks this morning?
Yes, I have.
And would you adopt and affirm them as your own?
Yes, I do.
Thank you, Mr. Rushton.
Anyone that wishes to testify in this matter, please raise your hand.
Here we have Denise Whitaker.
Denise, you can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in.
Good morning.
Good morning, Ms. Whitaker.
Please spell your name first and last name and give us your address.
It's the letter V -E -N -I -S -E, last name Whitaker, W -H -I -T -A -K -E -R.
I live at 1468 East Wilts Street, 19125 in the neighborhood of Fishtown.
You swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Always, yes.
Please proceed.
Thank you.
So I am speaking on a lot of the citizens in Fishtown that had attended the initial in -person meeting that the citizens and the neighbors had voted no for this project.
All due respect, you need to speak for yourself.
All right. So I'm speaking as my attendants for the in -person meeting, whereas everyone voted no for this project.
So I know this has been the second meeting for that, but I just felt that it was necessary that I put it on the record that the neighbors did vote no for this.
I have tremendous respect for Ms. Whitaker. As she knows, I have to make an objection, a legal objection on the record as to standing and Ms. Whitaker speaking on behalf of others.
I would also like to note that there were many neighbors who were supportive of this project at both the first and subsequent meetings, so perhaps there's some confusion on that issue.
So noted. Anyone else wish to testify on this matter?
mr chairman we do have supporters however i want to respect the limited nature of the hearing we
do not feel it necessary with the record already submitted but if the board feels it necessary
we have several supporters who can speak should the board wish let's hear from the planning
commission then we'll decide if we need any other witnesses planning commission
I'm sure we do have another hand up okay just hold off Ron one second let the other person
whoever it is please John Saussman please wait Sean please spell your name first and last name
and give us your address hi good morning sir it's Sean S -E -A -N Saussman S -A -U -S -M -A -N
I live at 2330 East Thompson Street
I live at 2330 East Thompson Street.
it's directly across
It's directly across the street from the proposed building.
We're in a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Yes, I do, sir.
Yes, sir.
So first, I was at the original ZBA meeting.
uh they said that this was going to be a continuance they were going to come back
with another proposed plan there was never another fna meeting to discuss the proposed plan
but at the original fna meeting this was not just shut down because of the parking the parking was
was actually not as big of a factor as the the height a lot of the other variances the open air
variance, the dwelling units specifically. So for the zoning allowed here, 20 units are allowed
and they're proposing 50 units. That was 110 % increase. For the open air policy, 2 .9 % was
proposed. 20 % is what's allowed here. And for the height, 38 feet is what's allowed. 72 feet is what
was proposed. We didn't see any changes to that. This is designated CMX2. It was designated three
years ago. So I feel like that's not long enough to consider a change here. A lot of the residents
who voted for that are still in the neighborhood. Additionally, the proposal, they said the proposal
was for a use of a property that's consistent with the adjacent residential uses. That's completely
inconsistent with the adjacent residential units. There's not one building that's 38 feet
within, I'd say, a quarter mile radius there. Additionally, the property values for buy -ride
homes have skyrocketed, so they are trying to use the soil. I have to respectfully object.
Well, can I finish, please? Can I finish, please, sir? Can I finish because we have -
We're not going to retry this case. I mean, all due respect, we've heard this testimony back in
march there have been adjustments so the board will look at the adjustments that have been made
and make a decision on that we're not going to rehear the case and i mean that respectfully
we've already been through this uh sean you're muted if you want to finish up
i apologize so i am not asking to retry the case there has been no changes nothing has changed
they they they claim that the community was against it for the parking spaces that's not
that's not whether they whether they claim that or not there are numerous adjustments to the
original plan and what so you're saying there was no adjustments but in fact there are there's a
revised plan in front of us okay sean you've been muted i'm going to request that you do not speak
until you can speak so let me finish thank you
okay i understand so these changes were made it's still not by right there's they're still
requesting variances for the same reasons they're claiming that parking was the issue
parking was not the only issue there was multiple variances that were being requested here
and there's no there's no valid reason to grant these variances in accordance with the community
here everybody in the community is against this project at this point
they claim to have supporters unacceptable we can get to that again i appreciate your testimony
there are people i assume that based on what mr labor's saying he does have people who are
in support of so it's not everybody is opposed to this it may be a majority but it's not everybody
so sir i would like to speak on that as well i was approached with a clipboard along with
a lot of my neighbors offered money to sign in support of this project.
I absolutely did not. But at the first F &A meeting, people were falling asleep.
There were local training meetings.
People don't want to stay awake. They shouldn't go to a meeting.
And that's a very strong accusation that people were offering you money.
You actually mean what you're saying?
You can unmute yourself.
sir i sir i live across the street from this project i speak with all of the neighbors
everybody has to speak for yourself you said you were approached to sign a petition and offered
money sure yes sir pardon me yes sir
mr chairman members of the board i don't know who approached mr sauceman and offered money i can
assure you that it was no party associated with my clients or with blank Rome if the board
with my clients or with blank Rome if the board wishes me to cross -examine and
inquire into this we can do that the board may recall that at the March 11th
hearing there were some issues which we raised regarding shall we say procedural
irregularities in the FNA process so this was not a pleasant situation
regarding the initial votes and I think that both the applicant and FNA did try in good faith
to address some things that occurred by other parties but those who are before you today
did not engage in any such inappropriate behavior. Thank you. Anyone else, Tanya?
We have Calvin Winkelman. Calvin, you can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in.
Mr. Winkelman, please spell your name first and last name and give us your address.
Calvin Winkelman, C -A -L -V -I -N -W -I -N -K -E -L -M -A -N. I live at 114 Richmond Street.
We're in the firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
I confirm.
Please, if you can give us something new and different, we'd appreciate it.
I'm calling in as a member of the community for a few years now in support of this project.
I think having been to multiple of the F &A meetings that the developer has accommodated
for the unit density and then also has made many accommodations for the parking spots as well which
i believe is good for the community and as a whole uh richmond richmond air port richmond area
thank you anyone else
i have a pat o'donnell pat you can unmute yourself
this is this is paul o'donnell i'm sorry paul
mr o'donnell please spell your last name uh p -a -u -l last name o'donnell o apostrophe d -o -n -n -e -l -l
1 -0 -0 -2 north 2nd street apartment 307 philadelphia 1 -9 -1 -2 -3
we're in front of them to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes sir please proceed yeah i just want to go on the record and say that the unit density is
more than reasonable being a member of the community here. I know that the
accommodations that have been made, and I also want to go on the record showing
that the accommodations made for parking are also agreeable as a member of the
neighborhood. Thank you, sir. Appreciate your time. Anyone else? No other hands at
this time. Thank you. Go back to Ron, Planning Commission. So while this
property is currently indicated for commercial or neighborhood commercial
mixed use on the city plan. Based on the revised plans, we have no objection. Thank you, Ron.
Mr. Labor, is there a revised plan? Due to the fact that we submitted the amended application,
there's no need for the board to take any specific action regarding updates. Thank you.
Calendar number 39634 -2636 East York Street. My vote is yes.
my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes thank you mr chairman members
of the board have a good day thank you you too thank you calendar number is is uh glenwood avenue
continued yes yes yeah go to next go to a colter street okay calendar number 39827
34 -36 West Culture Street. This is a special exception. The attorney is Eileen Quigley.
Ms. Quigley, you have been promoted to panelists. You can unmute yourself to wait to be sworn in,
and you can share your screen as necessary.
Good morning, Ms. Quigley.
Yes, good morning.
Good morning.
Can you put your name and address on the record, please,
and spell your last name?
Yes, of course.
First, let me say good morning, Chair DiCicco,
Vice Chair Tenere and members of the board
Vice Chair Tenere and members of the board, Eileen Quigley, E -I -L -E -E -N, Quigley, Q -U -I -G -L -E -Y.
Eileen Quigley
E -I -L -E -E -N
And do you swear or affirm to tell the truth and nothing but the truth?
I certainly do.
I am here on behalf of -
Oh, wait, you're here on a special exception.
Yes, I'm here on behalf of Germantown Friends School.
I'm here with my colleague, Dina Blackman, B -L -E -C -K -M -A -N.
We're here from Ballard Spar, 1735 Market Street.
51st floor, Philadelphia, 19103.
And with us, we have Nick Dobrowalski from Germantown Friends School
and Jamie Unkafer, who is the design professional, the architect from Diggsow.
As noted, this is a special exception for 3430 to 36 West Coulter Street.
The application was for the relocation of lot lines.
Oh, can I share my screen, Tanya?
Yes, Ms. Quigley.
Thank you Ms. Sunkit. We're here for the, it's for the use of 34 to 36 West Coulter Street is an educational use. These are offices that are accessory to Germantown Friends School.
The application was also for the relocation of lot lines to consolidate these two properties.
Our exhibits have been submitted. We have our deeds, the certificates of tax clearance were
submitted after our original packet was submitted, but the zoning board does, the administrator does
have those certificates of tax clearance. We have our photos of the original posting and of our
posting for the this virtual hearing, photos of the site and surrounding area.
Yeah. I'm sorry, Ms. Quigley, were you going to share the screen?
Because we don't see it yet. Hold on one second.
Can you see it now? No, not yet. Did you hit the bottom button, green share screen?
There we go, Ms. Quigley. Coming on. Okay.
Maybe I should have one of my kids help me. Now we see it. Oh, okay.
So as I said, we have the necessary exhibits that we've sent to the Zoning Board,
photos of the posting, the deeds, the tax clearance certificates.
I will take us down to the, there are the photos of the postings.
I apologize if it seems to be going slow. Here's a site in the surrounding area.
I'm sure most of you are familiar with this area anyway.
way. So as I said, it's a consolidation of the lot to connect these two buildings for
educational offices accessory to the Germantown Friends School. And here is the site plan.
You can see here's a consolidated lot. This was approved by the City Survey District. There's
the stamp. Here's the floor plan. There are existing three -story buildings, which will be
combined, and you have conference space, a reception area, office use. This is a special
exception, so it is permitted in the RSA 2 residential district, with a special exception
from the zoning board, for educational use. We do have a letter of support from the Penn -Knox
Neighborhood Association, and we did speak with Councilwoman Cindy Bass's office, and they
informed us that they would be submitting a letter directly to the zoning board. So I have not seen
that letter, but presumably the zoning board is in possession of that letter.
I have the Curriculum Vitae of Jamie Unkafor. As I said, he is the architect of record.
Allowing this, granting the special exception for this educational use will have no specific
or general detriments to the community. These are existing buildings. Any work done will be done
inside there's no change in any area of the buildings or to the exterior other
than fixing up but we're not increasing the
size of these buildings it's really internal
improvements again for the educational use accessory to germantown friend
school we believe this is consistent with the
surrounding neighborhood
If, Ms. Sunkit, if you can unmute Mr. Nick Dobrowalski, he's from
Germantown Friends School, so he can affirm what I've said and if he wants to
add anything.
Okay, Nick, you can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in.
Nick you have on two devices yes or just mute it
okay that better no we still hear it
Let's see if I dropped that at a time.
Does that work?
I just can't.
Let me get out of this.
So if you can just mute the mic on one device, it would allow you to not have that echo.
Still same problem, Nick.
Okay, now we can barely hear you.
Wigley, is there anything in your file?
I'm sorry.
I just need Mr. Dobowalski to affirm that what I said is accurate.
He doesn't really need to testify.
Okay. Well, we'll accept that. You're an officer of court, so we'll accept that he would testify and accept your testimony. All right.
Thank you, Chairman DiCicco.
You're welcome. Any questions from the board?
Anyone else wish to testify in this matter?
Yes, Chair. We have Charles Richardson from the Councilperson's Office.
Mr. Richardson, you can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in.
Good morning.
Good morning, Mr. Richardson.
Please identify yourself with a record.
Charles Richardson from the Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass.
We're in firm to tell the truth, all truth, and nothing but the truth.
Please proceed.
I wanted to let
the board know that the councilwoman
has no opposition to granting the special
exception for this project.
Thank you very much.
Planning Commission?
I'm sorry, is there anyone else
before it? I'm sorry. No, Chair,
that's all. Thank you. Planning Commission?
While this property
is currently indicated for
residential use on the city plan,
we feel that
this use does not
pose a negative
impact to the surrounding area accordingly we support the granting of
a special exception thank you calendar number three nine eight two seven three
four dash three six West Coulter Street my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is
yes my vote is yes my vote is yes thank you very much members of the board may I
please move our exhibits into evidence also was that a yes yes okay calendar number 39575 5624
Lebanon the owner is Kimberly McIntosh and this is an application to legalize the use as the two
family household living within an existing structure
this proposed use is not permitted in the rsa 5 zoning district
miss mcintosh you've been promoted to a panelist
you can unmute yourself and share your screen but wait to be sworn in
miss mcintosh can you please put your name and address
on the record miss McIntosh I'm not sure what kind of device you have I don't
Ms. McIntosh, I'm not sure what kind of device you have. I don't see.
Okay, now you can unmute yourself.
I don't see video.
Hello, can you hear me?
We can hear you and see you. Name and address for the record, please.
Hi, my name is Kimberly McIntosh. The property address is 5624 Lebanon Avenue.
okay and do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes okay do you also well no proceed please okay so i purchased this property in september 2018
as my primary residence um i purchased it as a duplex but i i thought it was a duplex
um upon refinancing the property this year uh we ran into some problems with um
uh zoning and they came back to me saying that the property is not
zoned as a duplex it's zoned as a single family uh so i applied for i'm seeking a variance i met
with the community and rco and they support um they support my decision in as far as me
right now the the bottom and living in the top um i have a letter let me see if i can share screen
i have a letter from the rco can you see it or no
no but that rco would be the winfield residents association yes and can you see it now yes okay
here okay perfect so it's pretty much just you know i met i met with the community explained to
them that it is my primary residence and it is a duplex um the listing said that said that it was
a duplex and they um pretty much you know support my decision in uh using it so i haven't done any
structural um fixing up you know to the property because like i said i purchased it as a duplex
i can show you the original listing let me see right here it says a great duplex in winfield
first time home buyer and even had pictures and it showed that it was two bedrooms unit one and
unit two um and like i said i didn't run into problems until it was time for me to
get it refinanced and then they pretty much said it's a single family LNI told
me that the zoning law has changed but I can seek a variance in which pretty
much brought me here with you guys so pretty much I'm seeking a variance that
way I'm able to run out the bottom floor and use it as a duplex these are
pictures of the house okay thank you any questions from the board no no no anyone else wish to
testify in this case no hands at this time chair thank you tanya planning commission
properties indicated for residential use on the city plan given the property's history we have
no objection into granting variance thank you very much calendar number three nine five seven
five five six two four lebanon my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes
okay miss mcintosh good luck thank you thank you calendar number mi2020 -000947
and the address is 4513 baker street meredith ferliger is the attorney
i'm sorry i couldn't resist but we're glad you couldn't you're using the baby as a prop
to pull at our heartstrings okay all right i swear i'm not how old's the baby
30 months wow i know time flies right yeah oh he's gorgeous meredith
good morning again mr chairman members of the board meredith ferlger f -e -r -l -e -g -e -r
with delworth paxton 1500 market street suite 3500 e good morning meredith do you swear
Good morning, Meredith. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth and nothing but the truth?
for him to tell the truth nothing but the truth
Let's do it.
I sure do.
Do you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
You may proceed. That was a good move.
You know.
You do what you have to do.
I ask Meredith to.
You should save it for a real tough case.
I know. This is an easy one. I really shouldn't have done that.
I insist that Meredith send me pictures with every email or text message.
Good morning. I am here on behalf of my client, Fred Almas, who should be on the Zoom. Our architect
had a family emergency. I don't believe you're going to need any of his input this morning.
um i'll try and keep this as short as possible we have support for this proposal from manny
on neighborhood council the councilman's office i believe we also have support from the planning
commission on this before the board today is a proposal for a new single family dwelling located
at 43 15 baker street the board should have an exhibit packet with 16 exhibits that i will refer
or two. The single -family dwelling is being constructed for my client for his family.
He currently lives in Maniunk and is looking to build a bigger home for his family.
As you can see in the aerials at Exhibit 10, the property sits between Green Lane and DuPont Street
and backs up to homes along Smick Street. As is shown in the zoning map at Exhibit 9,
the property is zoned RSA 5. Photos of the property and the surrounding area
begin at Exhibit 16. The property is is really currently rather strange. You'll
see that it has an existing curb cut that leads to a driveway and a detached
garage all the way in the rear of the property that used to serve the
residents of the adjacent home at 4515 Baker Street. The properties were subdivided since,
so now all that remains on this property, 4513, is a driveway and a detached garage.
If the board refers to the original zoning plan at tab 4, we also have submitted a revised zoning
plan and a revised plan proviso form. The plan calls for the erection of a single -family home
with two interior off -street parking spaces. Tab 8 shows the rendering of the proposed home.
There are several renderings. They're really just for example purposes. He's still working on
what he would ultimately like his facade to look like, but you can get the idea here of what this
home will ultimately look like. As far as the structure itself, the home does comply with the
dimensional requirements of the code. In fact, the home occupies significantly less area on this lot
than would be allowed. The changes that were made from the original application do not impact the
refusals. To summarize, the rear yard depth and area was slightly decreased, but is still larger
than the code requires. The open area was increased from 43 % to 45%, and the home was pulled forward,
eliminating the front deck, and the curb cut was reduced from 23 feet to just over 17 feet.
Now, with respect to the application, we received two refusals. First, the home is set back from the
property line by four feet and let me bring up the plan just to give you an understanding
so you'll see the the property line is right here along baker street and the home is set back
about four feet it would be technically it would technically be required to be flush with the two
adjacent homes however we do submit to a hardship because the property is not only subject to
extreme grade changes, they make that do make ingress into the existing curb cut
difficult and would make it even more difficult once a home is built on this
lot. Furthermore, if you refer to exhibit 11, the two adjacent homes actually appear
to encroach somewhat significantly into the right -of -way, we were not able to determine
exactly how much the encroachment is, but you can see the white line here represents
the property line. So Fred would be unable to match his front to them no matter what he did.
So Fred would be unable to match his front to them no matter what he did.
Baker Street is also extremely narrow at only 16 feet wide, with parking allowed on the north side of the street, immediately adjacent to Fred's property.
Accordingly, by setting the house back slightly at four feet, it does allow for safer and more efficient access to the interior parking.
We also received a refusal for the proposed parking, which cannot be accessed from a rear street, shared driveway, or alley.
We do submit to a hardship because the property has had a long -standing curb cut and parking access from Baker Street,
so the parking will remain consistent with the long -standing condition of the property.
Also, nearly 50 % of the properties on this block of Baker Street have some form of parking, including 4511, 4525, 4522, 4514, 4512, 4508, and 4502 Baker Street, as well as 131 DuPont Street.
And you can see in the photos, I've tried to document just how many existing garages or parking access there is along this block of Baker Street.
Because there's an existing curb cut, the proposal will not reduce any on -street parking.
We do submit the variances or the least minimum, will not increase congestion, and complies in full with the provisions of Section 14303AE of the Code,
as is further detailed in my full memorandum of law submitted a tab 13. I would be happy to
learn elaborate further if the board desires. Now with respect to the community we did meet
with Maniunk Neighborhood Council. Fred also met directly with a group of surrounding neighbors to
try and work out some of their concerns and he was able to ultimately get their support.
You'll see the results of that meeting at tab 15 with unanimous support for the requested variances.
If I could now have Fred hop on. Fred, if you hit the raise hand button.
Hello, can you hear me?
Yes. Fred, name and address for the record, please, and I believe the chairman will need to swear you.
Frederico Almas.
Frederico is F -R -E -D -E -R -I -C -O, last name Almas, A -L -M -A -S, and I'm the owner of 4513
Baker Street.
Tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
Please proceed.
And Fred, have you heard all my testimony here today before the board?
Yes, I did.
And would you agree it's true and accurate, and would you adopt that testimony as if it
were your own?
thank you uh mr chairman members of the board if you have any questions we'd be happy to answer
them my you may have you may have mentioned this i apologize if you did uh my notes say that we're
still waiting for a letter from the manny up neighbor council no we do we do have in your
okay i may have missed that one yeah it's a tab okay no worries no worries all right uh questions
from the board no no no planning commission so this property is indicated for residential use
on the city plan given the pre -existing site conditions you have no objection to the granting
berries. Thank you. MI -2020 -0009474513 Baker Street. My vote is yes. My vote is yes. My vote
is yes. My vote is yes. My vote is yes. Thank you. I told you I should have saved the baby for
another case absolutely next time thank you thank you calendar number three nine six one nine
seven two three oak lane the attorney is stephanie james
stephanie james are you here you have to raise your hand
i don't see stephanie james
well we'll do um just in case it's a technical issue we'll go to the case
uh for north 8th street the one we said we'd hold to the end and then come back to uh oak lane if
that if the person's having a technical issue.
I will try emailing the property owner now.
I will try emailing the property owner now. I know she and I had a few emails back and forth, so I'm surprised that her attorney isn't here. I'll check.
I know she and I had a few
We'll go to calendar number 39421, 4800 North 8th Street. Tanya, did you want to say something?
I have a name here. I don't know if it's for this case or not. I'll allow her to speak. Martha Lewis, are you here for the case mentioned?
Yes, I'm here.
Can you hear us?
Can you hear me?
Yeah, Ms. Lewis, you're here for which case?
8th Street?
No, 723 Oak Lane.
We just couldn't get our picture up.
We didn't know how.
My attorney is here.
Okay, I'm here as well.
This is Stephanie James.
Okay, wait one minute.
One minute, please.
Okay, can you tell us if you can hear us now?
We can hear you.
Okay, great.
That's why you could not hear us before.
We had technical difficulties.
We don't have a child here to help us.
So the idea is that the name was not Stephanie James.
So I'm going to now promote you to a panelist, okay, where you'll have the authority to share
your screen.
Okay, thank you.
So is there an attorney with this case?
And is it Stephanie James?
Okay, now you have been promoted to panelist.
Now you can share your screen. Unmute yourself to answer the question of the vice chair.
Is there an attorney with this case, and is it Stephanie James?
Martha?
Can unmute yourself.
I just did it. Did it work?
I hear you now.
We can hear you. Is Stephanie James there?
Yes, I'm here.
Can you hear me as well?
Yes, I can.
Can you put your name and address on the record, please?
Martha, I'm going to ask for you to stop clicking the computer because we're limited here.
My name is Stephanie James, S -T -E -P -H -A -N -I -E, J -A -M -E -S, 725 Kenmore Road, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
I am here today, as I was in the past, representing Martha Lewis on the property located at 723
Oak Lane Avenue in Philadelphia. Thank you. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth and nothing
but the truth? Yes, I do. And do you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate
to its accuracy? Yes, I do. Okay, you may proceed. Good morning to the chairman and the members of
the board, we thank you for this time. It's in this strange world that we're now living in and
I guess we all have to get used to this. I'm not doing very well. However, you have received our
exhibits and again I'm here on calendar number MI2020 -00969 on behalf of Martha Lewis for the
property known as Martha's Kitchen. We are here today and we miss Lewis was granted a three -year
proviso. We're just asking for that to be made permanent. We've had lengthy testimony
and prior hearings under your original calendar number. We have submitted to you a number of
exhibits, which does also include the meeting summary from the RCO that was held. We have
letters of support from OLCAA and the board president, Kimberly Robinson. We have petitions
and signatures and support from members of the community, state representatives, and the RCO.
We also submitted to you prior to that proof of the mailing, proof of photographs of the postage
of the orange signage, so the zoning permits for the original date and for this date as well.
And we're basically here in terms of time and saving time and effort, and we do thank you
for scheduling this as soon as possible, basically to grant Mrs. Lewis the right to
use her building as she purchased it. There has been no changes to the outside or interior of
this structure. She purchases as such as being a mixed use. Not only to her, it was never properly
zoned, although it has been always utilized in the same manner that she is using it today.
So again, I would like to ask Mrs. Lewis
if she has any comments that she would like to make.
We have a number of witnesses again.
As you know, I usually represent people from churches.
So this is a church member.
This is a very sensitive issue.
This place is used for off -church activities,
baby showers, small repasses, birthday parties, weddings.
Birthday parties, weddings. So it's and it's using a Christian base. And as I said, prior to this, unfortunately, when she purchased this in November 2015, and never made any changes to the outside or interior of this building, to the speaker system to nothing here. She did not know that it was not properly zoned as such.
so it's not and it's using a
so Mrs. Lewis I'm going to ask you do you have anything that you would like to say
at this time no I'm going to ask you that you've heard my presentation today knowing that I'm
going to request that all of our exhibits be made part of the record and accepted by the board
do you adopt my testimony as your own yes okay are you sure that there's nothing else that you
would like to say no yeah okay so if the board has any questions we'll take them we have a number
of witnesses that I do want to thank, members of the community, members of our church group,
members of the RCO, that I do want to thank you for standing by since about nine o 'clock this
morning. We do appreciate it. We ask that all of you remain well and COVID -free.
And that's about all we have to say for us. Thank you. Questions from the board?
no no i i understand uh that there are a number of witnesses based on the testimony we just heard
uh with all due respect we do appreciate the time may be taken to be on this call
uh but i would ask if there's anyone who objects to this uh application uh to please identify
yourself. Only those who may be objecting to this.
No objections at this time, Chair.
Thank you. And it's okay. Yep. I'm sorry. What?
We do have Hillary Emerson from the council person's office.
Thank you. Ms. Emerson.
You can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in.
Good morning, Mr. Chair, members of the board. Can you hear me?
yes yes okay excellent um hillary emerson h -i -l -a -r -y -e -m -e -r -s -o -n
what office are you from sorry the office of councilwoman cheryl parker
you're a firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do please proceed hillary um yes um the councilwoman is um not opposed to
the granting of a permanent special exception in this case. As Miss James
noted in her testimony, this has been a banquet facility, a small one, for some
time on a small commercial strip in East Oak Lane when Miss Lewis purchased it.
Unfortunately, the prior owners had not legalized the use, so Miss Lewis
legalized it and the community initially asked for a temporary special exception
which she agreed to and the board granted. Now she's asking for a permanent which
we support. Our office has not received any complaints over the past three years to our
knowledge about this property and the community is in support. We also want to note that Ms.
lewis is a valued member um of the community both in east oak lane and in long crest in our
our district and so we're happy to um see her and make this permanent um with her business
thank you thank you okay again if there's anyone who objects to this to please raise your hand
i see no objectors thank you and again miss james thank you for your testimony
unless you find it necessary to have anyone
come on? No, I do not
at this time, pending the board's approval.
Thank you. Planning Commission?
Yes, this property
is indicated for neighborhood commercial
mixed use city plan.
We have no objection to granting
the special exception.
Thank you. Calendar number 39619
Oak Lane. My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
thank you Tanya we ready we can do the 4800 North 8th Street now yes that's
fine thank you so very much thank you thank you hopefully all of you remain
calendar numbers calendar number 394 to 140 800 North 8th Street is there an
attorney with that case? No, it's not. It's the applicant. Give me one second. This is the case that you
applicant give me one second this is the case that you originally called as continued
um there was actually already a hearing on it the rco refuses to meet and the applicant is back
today requesting a vote okay marusha's i'm muted he's available so uh do we need sharon do we need
to hear testimony again on this no you don't you only held it for uh feedback on his efforts to
reach the rco i don't know if you have a recommendation from the planning commission
that might be the only thing you would need let's see yeah tanya i'm sorry but i if i could just
state that charles richardson from the council person's office i believe is here on this with
his hand up. Okay, let's hear from Mr. Richardson first. Mr. Richardson, you can unmute yourself and speak to this case.
maybe he's not available his hand is up but mike is um okay we can go back to him thank you so
let's go back to the gentleman whose name i apologize uh from earlier who's uh here on this
case 4800 north 8th street yes it's mirosh tsenai do you need to swear me in again or no you've been
sworn in earlier but just spell your name again for the record sure it's uh mirosh m -i -r -u -s -h
Last name's Sinaj, C -E -N -A -J.
And you're here on calendar number 39421 -4800 North 8th Street.
That's correct.
I can show my packet again if you guys need me to.
So just could you tell us you've reached out to the RCO and they're not willing to meet with you?
That's right.
I've actually been in contact with the RCO since December of last year.
And even since back in May, they said that they won't be holding any meetings until the coronavirus pandemic subsides.
I emailed them after our – so I had a hearing on the 11th of August where I was heard, and then you instructed me to reach out to the RCO to schedule a meeting.
I reached out to them on the 12th, which is the day after, and they're not willing to meet virtually.
I'm not sure what the reasoning is, but I did submit an email to Ms. Saleta and Ms. Sunkit showing that,
and I did copy Mr. Richardson on it as well so that he is aware, and they're just not willing until this subsides,
which I hope you can understand that it's been nine months since that we
submitted this application, this appeal back in early December.
So if we wait until this thing subsides, I think.
Yeah, we understand that, but so we, I don't,
we don't have any notes in front of us.
So could you tell us because we had it down as a continuance,
just brief, a brief description of what the application represents.
Sure. Sure. So this is a corner property.
It's a CMX1 zoning. I can share my screen to show you some of the photos.
That would be helpful. Thank you.
Ms. Sunke, can you promote me, please?
Okay, Marouj, I promoted you to panelists, and then the board can recognize that Charles
Richardson is available and unmuted as you wish to speak to him.
can you can you all see my screen yes okay so um this is the property here in the corner of eighth
and ludon it's um it's a corner store it's a very large property it's currently vacant it's been
vacant the second and third floor have been vacant for about 30 years we are
requesting a duplex on the second and third floor the two other corner
properties nearby are duplexes they were previously granted duplexes again the
They were previously granted duplexes. Again, the dimensions of the property are larger than the ones on the row due to being a corner property. Again, the building is 18 by almost 66 feet. So this is a large building.
dimensions of the property are
The units would be very large, almost 750 and 850 square feet, so not small by any means.
This is the condition of the property, and we intend to – we are not making any changes to the property itself.
We intend to fix it up.
We did meet with the neighbors initially back in February.
We had initially, due to the interest of a neighbor, a laundromat on the first floor,
but the neighbors did not like the laundromat even though it's by right and we went and we
amended the application so to put a convenience store we think that renovating this property is
good for the neighborhood no one has been opposed to the duplex yet because we were not allowed to
hear it but again there's nearby dumping all over we think that fixing it up will deter the dumping
Additionally, we pledge that we're going to rent this out at a fair market value and affordable housing based on the HUD values.
And we have everything else as well in the deed or in the packet.
We did submit this already.
Mr. Sinaj, can I ask a question?
You did have one meeting with the RCO before amending your application.
Is that correct?
Yes, that is correct.
so this isn't a case where there was never any community feedback that's right so at the initial
meeting we were not allowed to discuss the duplex without removing the laundromat on the
on the first floor i used that's by right but um we tried to discuss the duplex but we were not
allowed to speak on that and we did we did amend the first floor used like the neighbors said we
we sent a letter and we got a letter from Ms. Sunkit so I think we've acted in good faith
and our application I do think it has merits we're not asking for much the there's almost
1600 square feet on the second and third floor so you can it's a very large property
Mr. Richardson I think you're with us now if you are please raise your hand
can you hear me yes okay uh good morning again mr chair and board uh the logan's position just
just say your name please charles richardson from the office of councilwoman bass
okay logan's position not holding any rco meetings presents a huge problem for the councilwoman
And as we're not able to get any true idea of what the community actually wants, because they're not willing to have meetings, whether they be in personal or virtual at this point in time.
And as being the case, then the councilwoman is going to allow whatever decision that the board makes to be the one that stands at this point.
Because we have, again, it puts us in a very bad position of not being able to ascertain what the community's true wishes are.
Understood. Thank you.
uh questions from the board
no anyone else wish to testify in this matter please raise your hand
no hands at this time chair thank you planning commission
this um this property is indicated for neighborhood commercial uh mixed use on the city plan but
given the existing character of the surrounding area and property size you have no
i i think you said you have no objection ron we broke up that's correct
calendar number 394214800 north 8th street my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes
my vote is yes my vote is yes you thank you uh sharon tanya do we have any unfinished business
on the morning session that's all i have chair that's it so we'll see everybody back at two
o 'clock take care everybody see you then thank you bye -bye
pauline has such a lovely voice
Thank you, Tanya
The two of you are in a competition.
The two of you are in a competition
It looks like we have a group of people here, Chair.
So they were already sitting and waiting.
So we're ready when you are.
Okay, thank you.
Good afternoon, everyone.
My name is Frank DiCicco.
I'm the Chair of the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
I'll be participating in today's hearing along with our Vice Chair, Ms. Carol Tineri,
board secretary confessor plaza and board members mr thomas holloman and mr james snell
board administrator tanya sunkett and board attorney sharon saletta are also in attendance
for those of you who haven't yet participated in one of our virtual meetings i'll go through some
of the basics of what you can expect first we'll begin this morning or this afternoon session by
reading a list of cases to be continued. If you believe any case announced as being continued in
error, please give us an opportunity. I'm sorry. We will give you an opportunity to respond. I
apologize. After reading the continuance list and receiving any feedback, we will take any
additional continuance and or withdrawal request. Then once we've confirmed which hearings are being
continued, Vice Chair Tenere will begin calling the remaining cases listed for this session.
When a case is called, we ask that attorneys representing applicants or other interested
parties in the matter identify themselves for the record. We will then hear the appellant's
presentation, followed by any presentation by attorneys representing other parties.
Interested parties and members of the public not represented by counsel will then be given
an opportunity to testify. We will finally hear the recommendation of the Planning Commission.
At the hearing's conclusion, we will either vote the matter immediately or hold it for discussion
in executive session. Any case held for discussion will be voted at the next scheduled Wednesday
morning session. Please note the following changes related to the virtual format. First,
First, we will be administering oaths to individual participants prior to their testimony.
Second, for the benefit of anyone participating by phone, we ask that attorneys and witnesses
identify themselves prior to speaking or testifying.
Third, we'd like to advise everyone that this proceeding is being recorded and that by
participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded.
Fourth, anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself.
I'll repeat.
For anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself.
Finally, to enter an appearance statement, call Google 267 -270 -5548 and leave your email address
and the address of the property at issue. I'll repeat this as well. To enter an appearance
statement, call Google 267 -270 -5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property at
issue. With that said, we can begin. But before Vice Chair Tenere calls our first case, we'd like
to announce that the following matters are being continued. Calendar number 37240 -1001
North 46th Street. The reason being the applicant submitted an incomplete exhibit on September
September 14th, and photos of posting, I guess,
failure to show poster, a poster showing,
showing a poster with information.
Let me start that again.
I apologize.
Applicant submitted incomplete exhibit packet on line 14,
and photos of posting show posters with information
for original hearing at 1515 Arch.
Next case to be continued.
Calendar number 38374.
6, 7, 5, 6, Geyer Street, G -U -Y -E -R.
Calendar number 3, 7, 2, 8, 9, 5, 4, 9, East Luray Street, L -U -R -A -Y.
Calendar number 3, 9, 6, 1, 0, 4, 2, 2, 4, Brown Street, MI -2020 -
Brown Street. MI -2020 -000839407 Bud Street. MI -2020 -00003892810
Frankfurt Avenue. I suspect that's one. I put in one more zero that's on the sheet. It should have
and 000 383 2810 frankfort avenue mi -2020 -000955 2774 kensington avenue
MI -2020 -000987 -1800 -18, North 4th Street.
Calendar number 38334 -198, West Ashtail.
Calendar number 37156 -1609, South 8th Street.
if anyone believes that any of those cases that we put in on the record as being continued was
done in error please raise your hand now and also if you request you want to request a continuance
or withdrawal at this time please raise your hand also
Here we have Maggie White. Maggie, you can unmute yourself and speak to a continuance.
Good afternoon, Ms. White. Please spell your name and give us your address for the record.
Good afternoon. My name is Maggie White, M -A -G -G -Y -W -H -I -T -E, and I work for the law department. I'm a deputy city solicitor. The city is appearing in our nation.
Let me swear you in. Do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Tanya, excuse me, one more minute.
Tanya, did you want to say something?
No, I just wanted Maggie to be sworn in.
Thank you, Chair.
Okay, thank you.
Please proceed, Ms. White.
We're here today to ask that the case be dismissed
rather than continued.
This is the second continuance as a result of,
I understand it, failure to submit a complete application.
This is a property in the city's point of view
that is a nuisance.
There are ongoing violations.
It's currently under cease.
The variance that they're requesting,
they've actually already been using the property for that without permission.
Which case are we talking about, please?
Sorry, this is 198 West Ashtail, appeal number 38334.
All right.
So the law department's requesting the case be dismissed, right?
yes all right is there anyone out there on this case who wishes to testify
or respond to the request for dismissal
anyone who is here on this case now raise your hand hillary
hillary are you here for this case yes i am okay you can
go ahead yes sorry um i i i thought i was good that's why there was confusion i thought i was
going to um speak first um hillary emerson on behalf of councilwoman sherelle parker's office
um here requesting um the dismissal of 198 west ashdale street calendar number 38334
um this case um was originally scheduled for a hearing in december um continued till april but
then postponed to due to COVID. And this is the second time they've failed to submit documents
for a virtual hearing. The property was when we had the community meeting in December,
we found out was open and already open and without having zoning or a CO and already a nuisance to
the community. There have been numerous calls to the police. Ellen and I actually ceased this
property back in May because they were operating during COVID when they weren't supposed to.
And there's strong opposition from the community.
And as you heard from the law department, and I know the local police department as well to this.
So since they haven't made any efforts to move forward with their zoning, we ask that the case be dismissed with enforcement.
Anyone else on this case?
Anyone else on this case?
So we have a Belkis Marrero.
Belkis, you don't have, I guess, the updated Zoom, so I can't unmute you.
Can you speak now?
Okay, Belkis, you've been promoted to a panelist. Unmute yourself. Are you here for this case?
Yeah, she's for the case of 2033 East Wishart Street.
No, we're here on a different case.
Just give us a few minutes
I think your case
I don't see it on our list
Yeah it's
2033 East
Wishart Street
Philadelphia PA
We're discussing
We're discussing a total different case
You can chat or send me a
Q &A about a question
on ashdale street i can tell you there is no attorney listed so there was no one that i
reached out to we didn't receive any exhibits or um any requests from the applicant that i know of
all right so let's go back i do have mr swartz are you here for this case
Mr. Swartz, are you here
for this case?
So you would be
talking to them. Never mind.
Jared, people are raising a hand.
Please only raise your hand
if it's about the address
and question. Thank you.
198 West
Ashdale. We're only accepting
questions and comments on that case.
you can continue i don't see any thank you tanya calendar number three eight three three four
one nine eight west ashdale my vote is to dismiss with enforcement my vote is to dismiss with
enforcement
okay no worries you continue we have four we have four dismissals anyone else again will ask
is there any other requests for a continuance or dismissal or does anyone believe that we
call the case to be continued in error if so please raise your hand now
i have leonard leonard are you here to request a continuance
Mr. Brundage
Okay, no worries, moving on
Chair, we have Leonard
Reuter
I'm sorry, I looked at Brundage
It was both
Is Leonard here, Reuter
Reuter
No, I just saw it.
No worries.
No worries.
All right.
It's like the hands are going up and down.
I apologize.
No, that's not your fault.
No problem.
With that, Carol, we can begin calling the cases.
Calendar number 38224918 East Shelton Avenue.
Tuck Lum is the property owner.
And this is an application for a two -family dwelling in an existing structure.
it is refused for the one -year rule. There's also a use refusal for
multifamily in RSA 5. An RCO meeting was scheduled for August 1st and
there's no letter. Can you put your name and address on the record? Oh wait, is
talk long here and
for anyone here on calendar number 38224
For anyone here on calendar number 38224, 918 East Chilton Avenue.
I just promoted TAC LOM.
Thank you.
TAC, do you want to put your name and address on the record?
Mr. LOM, can you hear me?
Sharon yes I saw you go I thought you were going to say something I was before this I know that
Mr. Schwartz had his hand up when you were announcing the continuances and I know that
one of the cases that was continued was listed as his case that we did not receive exhibits for
So at some point, maybe we could go back and see if he had a request.
Can you hear me?
Spell your name for the record, please.
My name is Tak Lam, T -A -K -L -A -M.
Hello?
Schwartz, are you here on the...
Yeah, this is Billy Schwartz.
This is all new to me.
I don't even know what the heck I'm doing here with this computer.
I'm sorry.
I've only been doing this for a year, but I didn't know about this until about 10 minutes ago, actually.
And I don't even know how to get on Zoom.
I had to get somebody to get me on here.
Okay, so now you're on.
Mr. Schwartz, Mr. Schwartz, what case are you going to be testifying on?
You can unmute yourself, Mr. Schwartz.
I unmuted you.
Mr. Swartz, unmute your mic.
Mr. Lamb, is Mr. Swartz representing you?
No, right?
I'm sorry.
Two different cases.
I probably shouldn't have confused things, sorry.
I sent in a request yesterday when I found out about the continuance.
Mr. Swartz, can you please?
Mr. Swartz, you're not involved in this.
Please wait.
I'm sorry?
Please wait a second.
What case are you testifying on?
This is case number 39045, and it's 2810 Frankfurt Avenue for the 2 o 'clock list.
we don't have it on our list
it's the continued cases it was okay what 2810 sharon right right
so mr schwartz are you asking for us not to continue this case no i'm asking you to continue it because
I didn't know about the case until yesterday. Mr. Swartz, slow down. We already, it's already
been on the record. We're continuing the case. Thank you very much. I appreciate that. And I
will get in touch with the RCO to have them finish up what they have to do and we'll be there when we
have to. Okay, Bill. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. All right, let's go to Mr. Lamb.
Hi, Mr. Lamb. Did you put your name and address on the record?
Yes, I did.
You did?
Do you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Okay, can you present your case?
My case is about turning a single -family home into a two -family dwelling.
So my architect was supposedly helping me do this,
but he was admitted to the hospital on the Thursday.
So I believe everything was submitted.
I'm not really sure about that.
so I'm going to continue on with this case by myself, if that's a feasible.
Do you have any information you can share with us, war plan, photographs?
That was all submitted.
I'm not really on the computer right now, so I cannot share it in the computer.
The one thing that we didn't receive is the RCO letter.
Did you get a letter from the RCO?
uh no i did not get the letter okay my architect assumed that it was mailed to the
to the zoning board but you did have the meeting on august 1st is that correct
yes thank you tell us what the results of that meeting was they agree with the
yes thank you tell us what the results of that meeting was
with the zoning
go ahead with the family let me do this out a little bit out of order is anyone
else here to testify on this case
Mr. Richardson you can unmute yourself
Mr. Richardson you're still under oath from earlier today
Charles, are you there?
Chair, I have another hand up.
Leonard Brundage, are you here regarding this case?
i'm not sure what's going on chair but you can proceed as you wish
yeah uh charles isn't here as well right he's here and unmuted i'm not sure what's going on
now he's not all right well mr lam if you don't mind we're going to go to the next case and then
come back and see if we can get the witness from the councilwoman's office
to testify okay have you had any interaction with the councilwoman's office
i'm you mute me
now let's go to case number two
calendar number i'm sorry since the applicant can't share his screen i will
email the board members uh floor plans and photos right now but you know what maybe what we can do
this uh if the board agrees what what let's hear from the planning commission
you're talking about um chelton yes which one 9 918 east chelton right okay
All right. So this property is indicated for residential single -family use on a city plan.
We believe the applicant has not sufficiently demonstrated unnecessary hardship regarding
the requirements of the code. The application is not consistent with our adopted district plan,
nor is it nor is there there any unique physical circumstances or conditions to the site
restricting it from development compatible with the surrounding character of the block
therefore we recommend the request for variance not be granted
okay thank you ron uh is i'll try one more time if mr richardson if you're there would you please
raise your hand. Can you hear me? Hello? Now we can. Now we can. Yes. I had to go out and come
back in. Okay. I just wanted to clear up a little confusion. I checked. I saw that it was on the
calendar for today, that this property was on the calendar. And I noticed that I had not received
any correspondence from the RCO. So I contacted the chair of the Shoe Bellfield neighbors, and
they actually did have a RCO meeting and they did do a letter. I think they just probably
sent it to you, even though it was dated for August the 10th of 2020. It does say that
they are in support of granting the variance. Three, six, ten, ten, four, one opposed and
one non -opposition at that meeting. Total number of attendees was 13. In so much as that is the
case, the Councilwoman is in support of granting the variance. Okay, thank you. Looks like flying
blind here. We don't have anything to look at. Mr. Lam.
I did just email you the floor plan, if that helps. I'm not sure where he went. He's gone,
it looks like today's unusual sharon i don't have the plan i'm worried about losing everything if i
try to get it is it already set up as a duplex could you could you tell from the plan um hold on
Hold on.
It appears to be, yes. It appears to be a legalization.
I'm trying to find the photo, sorry. No problem.
there are no units in the basement I can tell you that they are set up on this first second and third
floor I don't know if the board got to see what Sharon sent over I have it on my phone it's a
little hard to read any questions from the board no no no all right calendar number 38224
918 east chelton avenue my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes
thank you calendar number mi2020 -000 -896 and the address is 300 rouse boulevard refusal and
referral. The attorney, Robert Careless and Thomas Witt. Mr. Careless, you have been promoted to a
panelist. You can share your screen and unmute yourself. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, Madam
Vice Chair, members of the board, Robert Careless, C -A -R -E -L -E -S -S, Cozen O 'Connor,
1650 Market Street, Philadelphia. Thank you. Go ahead. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Madam Vice Chair.
Would you like to swear me? Yes. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth and nothing but the truth?
I do. And do you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I will agree to waive the reading of the refusal. Since we are appealing the determination of the
examiner i i will not stipulate to the authenticity or the accuracy of the uh refusal
present your case
uh thank you we're here in connection with an application made for the property of 300
rouse boulevard in the navy yard otherwise known as navy yard parcel 7ss there is no physical change
proposed in connection with our application today uh what we're proposing to do is subdivide the
property to create two lots uh proposed parcel a would would encompass the existing building
and the future building of the building's on construction right now which is 1b with some
accessory parking in the parking lot as i'm indicating uh proposed parcel b would be the
remainder parking lot here um we are proposing that that balance would be subdivided and conveyed
back to paid. This application is mixed, but it's relatively straightforward in the CMX -3,
a subdivided surface parking lot proposed for parcel B requires a special exception from the
board. In addition, the examiner refused the application on four other grounds related to
bicycle parking, ADA spaces, van accessible spaces, and minimal aisle widths. We've appealed
those determinations and in the alternative requested a variance from your code. I have
submitted an exhibit packet to the board that has the required documents, some additional documents.
They are marked A1 through A10. We have met with our RCO, the Veterans Stadium Neighbor
Civic Association. We have their support. We also have support from our councilman's office.
I'll summarize our application and keep it brief. With respect to the special exception,
Our request is fairly straightforward here.
This property has long been intended to be developed with two commercial buildings and accessory parking, with some parking being shared between the two buildings.
The proposed surface parking lot on parcel B here will exclusively serve the building on parcel A.
We would respectfully assert that there is no detriment to the public here in granting the special exception.
Again, there is no physical change here.
We're simply asking to subdivide the property such that we can convey the balance of the parking lot back to paid.
With respect to the refusals, first, with bicycle spaces,
the examiner is asking that we have 29 bike spaces be located on Parcel B just by virtue of the subdivision.
So we are showing bicycle spaces on parcel A, but more importantly, our position is that bike spaces aren't required because parcel B would be a private parking lot, not a public parking lot under your code.
We are showing bicycle spaces on...
There is no charge to motorists here, so under your code, this would not constitute a public parking lot.
The code requires bike spaces for public parking lots. It's silent on private parking lots.
and in addition to that the way you measure bike spaces under the code is by gross floor area
there's no building proposed on parcel b so even if uh you know i'm using a gross floor
calculation the net calculation for bike spaces would be zero um in the event that the board
upholds the examiner's determination uh we're asking to not provide the 29 spaces on parcel b
again we have parcel we have bike spaces on parcel a um there's no physical change here
everything is the same with the exception of the subdivision and you know we would respectfully
assert that the public would better serve by having those like spaces closer to the buildings
and not locate somewhere else on parcel bay with respect to the ada spaces and the van accessible
spaces we are we have appealed i'm just going to try to flip this around for you so you don't
have to crane your necks here bear with me for one second i might have to zoom out here
Okay, let me zoom in for you.
just to orient the board to what you're looking at here
this is the buildings this is parcel a with the with the accessory parking here this would be
the balance of the parking lot that we're asking to propose that to subdivide what what the examiner
is refusing is he's asking that we locate ada spaces and van accessible spaces on parcel b
again by virtue of the subdivision um oddly enough the the subdivision is creating more
van accessible and ada spaces than what's required for the buildings um but in any event what we
were relying on with the examiner was section 148029 of your code which allows spaces to be
located on adjacent parcel within a thousand feet under common ownership or under an agreement
um we would respectfully assert that um the the we should be able to do that under 14802 but in
that the board agrees with the examiner, the variance would be in further to the public health
here and safety of people with disabilities. We would obviously respectfully assert that people
with disabilities should be parking closer to the building and not elsewhere in parcel B further
back away from the buildings. Lastly, with aisle widths, although it wasn't entirely clear from
the refusal here, if you can see my cursor, it appears that the examiner is saying that the
The lot line here is acting as a somewhat of a physical barrier between the properties and creating a 21 -foot wide aisle here and a 3 -foot wide aisle here.
We are proposing 24 -foot wide aisles in the parking lots.
There's no support in the code that says that because a lot line occurs that there would be a physical barrier such that it would require 48 feet on both sides or on the total 24 feet on both sides.
Again, if the board agrees with the examiner here, we would respectfully assert that a
variance would be, we ask for a variance to not have to put 24 feet on either side of
the parking lot, which is, which would be an absurd result under code.
That concludes my testimony before the board.
I do have two witnesses I'd ask to affirm my testimony.
If I could ask first that Ms. Janice Wong, please raise your hand so she can be all taken
off mute.
Hello? Hi, Janice. Janice, could you state and spell your name for the record, please?
Yes, Janice Wong, J -A -N -I -C -E -W -O -N -G. And your professional address for the record?
1117 admiral perry way suite a in the navy yard philadelphia and janice swan do you swear and
affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes thank you please
proceed mr carlos thank you uh janice did you hear my testimony to the board yes i did would
you affirm and adopt that testimony as your own testimony yes um i'd also like um elizabeth
Norton to please raise your hand so she can be taken off mute.
Norton.
norton elizabeth could you state and spell your name for the record elizabeth norton
Elizabeth.
e -l -i -z -a -b -e -t -h -n -o -r -t -o -n and your professional address please 1900 market
street suite 300 philadelphia pa 19103 mr norton you swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth and nothing but the truth yes thank you mr you're a professional engineer with pinoni
yes i am you prepared these plans yes did you hear my presentation to the board yes and would
you affirm and adopt your that testimony as your own testimony yes thank you uh mr chairman madam
vice chair members of the board i have no further uh witnesses or testimony before the board thank
you any questions from the board no no anyone else wish to testify in this matter if so please raise
your hand I see no hands at this time planning commission so this property is
indicated for community commercial mixed -use on the city plan we have no
objection to the granting of both special exception and variance and my
I -2020 -000896, 300 Rouse Boulevard.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Calendar number 38210, 2954 South Carlisle Street.
The attorney is Richard DeMarco.
um chair if i could ask a question um before we go forward yes uh the the case that uh the
individuals were speaking to um when you were calling continuances they were asking
in the chat um they're saying they're here for an appeal
and the names are it's not tech line is it um it's i have to promote them to a panelist so
that we can get clarity and it's belkis marrera and i'm not clear
um of what they're asking because the numbers they're providing are not zoning numbers
Belkis
you need to unmute yourself
okay what case are you here for
Belkis
2033 East Westride Street
right but what's the case
2 -9 -2 -5 -9 -5
Not a zoning
case. What is that for?
It's for
the zoning board of adjustment of authority.
Did you file an appeal with us?
Yeah, with
I'm sorry.
Because this is not on our list
and i don't see it in our database so um sharon would it be okay for them to call you
she there so um i'm not supposed to be here yes that would be fine um the street at least the
street name is familiar to me i'm going through my mail now to see if i have anything on it but
i don't have it on today's hearing list
so you're going to call sharon uh and sharon do you want to um give the number or how do you
want to do it sure just give it everyone has it it's um 610 -357 -9687
did you get that what's the number it is 610 -357 -9687
thank you okay and i call that number yes you're calling the lady you'll be speaking to the lady
who just gave her an over okay thank you thank you sorry
okay um thank you so much mr demarco you've been promoted to panelists you can share your screen
and unmute yourself.
Hi, everybody.
Hi, Mr. DeMarco.
Sure can.
Can you put your name and address on the record, please?
Good afternoon, everybody.
Richard DeMarco.
My address is 2005 Market Street, 16th floor,
Philadelphia PA, 19103.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
and nothing but the truth?
You guys raise your hand.
uh yes we did yes yes you all do they all said yes well and we'll get their names after a while
Yes, we do.
Yes, you all too.
we'll do it individually yeah okay you got mr marco do you agree to waive the reading of the
refusal and stipulate to its accuracy yes i do thank you good afternoon everybody um we've been
listed a few times on this matter there was a a problem trying to get uh a second rco process
These gentlemen had an RCO meeting back in February before the pandemic.
Only a handful of people showed, so the RCO said, we want to have another meeting.
That meeting never occurred.
Of course, the pandemic hit.
And then we have tried, since you listed this case back in July, actually.
Since then, we've tried multiple times to schedule a Zoom meeting, to have an updated
meeting.
but i want to be clear there was a meeting in february in this matter uh three people showed
up there were not a lot of people are concerned about this application let me get to that right
now i'll share my screen um this well before i do that i'll just briefly explain this is a corner
property it was zoned cmx2 of two years ago the applicant pulled an over -the -counter permit
for a vacant commercial space on the first floor and two units above for a total of three units.
And that was an over -the -counter permit. Let me go to that right now.
This is the, can you see my screen, Mr. Chairman, members of the board?
This is the over -the -counter permit. As you can see, vacant commercial space on the first floor
in CMX2. As you can see, it was CMX2 not that long ago.
and then two living units above. So this application is, what happened is, and my
client, both of my clients are here, Mark Colasso and Vince Procopio, what happened was this plan
that served this over -the -counter permit was unusable. No commercial space would be willing
to locate on such an off -the -beaten -path spot. The property is very small. The commercial space
was untenable. So what they did was they came back and what this application is, is just for a total
of two residential units. The first floor will be one unit and the upper two floors will be one
unit, total of two. And that's reflected in, these are the multiple emails that we sent to the RCO
trying to get a meeting. There are four, no response. They didn't even respond to me.
This is our deed.
I want to get you to the refusal so you can see.
Tax cert.
This is the RCO notice for the meeting back in February that was only attended by one or two people.
And this is their refusal.
So a total of two units.
What I'll do is I'll put on Mr. Galassa for some brief testimony or Mr. Procopio.
these are the plans that serve the original permit all that's changing is the first floor
will become a single unit no basement bedrooms um and there are two means of egress for the
first floor unit total of two units uh let me just mention vince brocopio vince um
did you hear my factual testimony and do you richard richard let him spell his last name
please for record capital p r -o -c -o -p -i -o you swearing a firm to tell the truth the whole
truth and nothing but the truth i do thank you please proceed thank you mr chairman mr procopio
did you hear my factual testimony and is it true and accurate and do you adopt it as your own
testimony yes i do now am i correct that this is a small corner property that was owned cmx2
two years ago. Yes. So you attempted to develop this property as a CMX2 property, but you cannot
get a tenant for the fourth floor. Is that right? That is correct. Okay. So the idea was, even though
you could have two units above and go for a total of three units, the thought is, and your application
today is to for a total of two dwelling units, right? Correct. All right. And when you pulled
the permit for three units, you were hoping to be able to develop that, but that's not possible
under the current structure of the property, correct? I was trying to maximize the property
and it just seemed better to two units because there wasn't enough space as opposed to three.
So you're willing to just do a total of two units at this property, right? I'm going to show you
I'm going to show you some photos, Mr. Chairman.
some photos, Mr. Chairman. We did post the property. Oh, let me do that.
We did post the property.
Let me do that.
Let me click out of that.
Let me show them the photos that they're hearing also.
Oh, I don't know why.
Sorry, something just popped up.
Let me try and get out of this.
I think we're okay.
We saw what we saw.
There it is.
you can see the poster here this is how squat the property is thank you mr chairman this is how
squat the property is the first and you can see these are tight small residential row home
blocks this is the corner of carlisle and pollock i almost said johnston sorry there's the there's
the poster uh no no one uh really cares and this is frankly a downgrade and a less impactful use
than if they tried to go with the over -the -counter
permit, which will be a commercial space
in two units above.
And that's really all I have, Mr. Chairman.
There's yard space, correct?
Yeah, there's a small yard in the back here, yes.
That's enough for trash for the two units.
Yeah, the old permit
is fully over -the -counter
for a dimensional...
All right.
Good enough, thank you.
Questions from the board?
no anyone else anyone else wish to testify in this matter if so please raise your hand now
so mr chairman i would just add very briefly there's clearly a hardship here this property
was constructed while the property was cmx2 so it is now a non -conforming property being that the
the corner properties have now changed to RSA 5. They're stuck with the structure that was
compliant with the prior zoning and they're just trying to make do with the current structure
and they'll develop it as less impactful as possible. Understood. Understood. Thank you.
Tanya, any hands up?
No chair. I don't see anyone up. Thank you. Planning Commission.
so this property is currently zoned as uh residential in the city plan uh given the
site's history we have no objection to granting variance thank you um carol so you'll know you
asked me about butchie this morning that mr procopio is the greatest butchie player
in philadelphia and the region no wait no he's not my husband is oh he's not okay
Calendar number 38210, 2954 South Carlisle Street.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
Thank you.
Thank you, everyone.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Have a good afternoon, everyone.
Stay safe.
Calendar number MI -2020 -000990 -2301 Oregon Avenue. The attorney is Ron Patterson.
If the attorney is present, please raise your hand.
Mr. Patterson, you've been promoted to a panelist.
You can share your screen and unmute yourself.
i'm mr patterson can you put your name and address on the record sure good afternoon
ronald patterson claire harrison law firm 1835 market street philadelphia pa 19103
and do you swear to tell the truth and nothing about the truth i do uh do you also agree to
the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy. I do. Thanks. You're
welcome. With me is Michael Sommer who's a Senior Vice President of Development
and Construction with Cedar Realty. I'd ask if you allow him to participate as
well. Frank, do you want to swear him in? Ron, get him on the record. We'll
Ron? Yes. We'll get him on the record and swear to me. Yes, please.
get him on the record and swear to me?
Yes, please.
What's the names? Michael Sommer, S -O -M -M -E -R.
Michael Sommer, please spell your name, give us your address, and I'll swear you in.
Sure. Michael Sommer, S -O -M -M -E -R. The address is 44 South Bales Avenue, Port Washington, New York, 1 -1 -0 -5 -0.
Thank you. Swear and firmly tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
I do as well.
Thank you. Can you see my screen?
Okay, great.
So this application regards, its address is 2301 Oregon Avenue.
It is a large shopping center that is bounded by Oregon Avenue, 23rd Street, 24th Street, Rittner, and Pashunk Avenue.
It's the shopping center that has the Ross and the ShopRite supermarket.
The application is quite simple.
So back last year, by legislation through a bill, the property was rezoned from CA2 to CMX3.
And what that enabled Cedar to do was apply for, and we obtained a zoning permit to redevelop the shopping center by demolishing many of the buildings, rebuilding them, rebuilding new buildings, but also containing a residential component and parking garage.
It was done by Bill, as I mentioned. The bill had tried to encompass everything that we thought we knew about at the time, but it did not address what we're here today to do is to remove and replace the two existing pylon signs that have been there as long as I can remember.
So this site plan we're looking at now shows the area of the two signs. Sign number one to your right is at the corner of 24th and the points where Rittner and Pat Shunk may meet on Pat Shunk.
and sign number two is at 24th Street and Oregon Avenue which is in front of
the vacant Burger King building. I'll go down to some photographs here. Here is the
zoning map that shows it was changed to CMX 3. This will get you acclimated to
the shopping center which I'm sure you know which one it is. But as we go
through the photographs you'll see the signs that we're speaking about. Here's
the shop right over here to the right. There's demolition that was going on but
it had temporarily stopped due to our shutdown which will restart shortly. So
that's sign number two and we'll go through here. Over here to the left would
be shop right. Here are the new buildings that are under construction. This is the
rear of Ross here this is the sign here well you can't see that one okay here
these two poles were the former sign at 24th Street that's sign number one
another version of it this is signed to see the bacon Burger King at 24th and
Oregon Avenue. So the refusal for both signs involves two things, exceeding the
height limitation and exceeding the maximum area of the signs.
actually just the maximum area. But here's, okay, here's what we're
looking at. Sign 1 is the one that I showed you, is just two vacant poles. Now
under the rules, if we remove a sign and replace it, we'd have to we have to
file for a new application. I think that goes back to probably, as you all may
recall the shenanigans that we used to go on with billboards so once you remove
the billboard pylon or structure it's no longer grandfather you'd have to apply
for a new sign so to the right here is the existing sign see the two poles here
Here is the existing sign.
See the two poles here.
to the
To the left is the new sign that we're proposing.
It's actually shorter in height and actually smaller in sign phase area, which I'll show you after this next slide.
This is sign number two, also shorter in height and smaller in sign phase.
And here's the analysis I put together. You're allowed at 100 square feet per side. The existing is 597. We're proposing 681, but the way Al and I calculated it, that total sign area.
Bear with me here.
You see this wooded area?
Alan, I actually calculated this whole entire panel as the sign where it actually should
have only been this area here.
So if you see my chart here, our sign area is actually less than what's existing.
We're sign two where the Burger King was located.
We're at 142 square feet, and our proposal is 137.
We did duly notice and met with virtually, of course,
Gerard Area Residents Association, which was also attended by Gerard Estates Neighbor
Association. I believe you received a Gears letter or email yesterday from Jody Della Barbera.
The signs, as I mentioned, were existing. We're just removing and replacing. We do need the sign
area because of the size of the shopping center. It is a very large shopping center,
It needs to be identified because of the volume of traffic that passes through Oregon Avenue, Pachonk, and also coming off of the Schuylkill Expressway.
The number of tenants that are there and that will be there exceeds the amount and size of panels that could be safely and viably seen by a motorist or a pedestrian, which warrants all those typical signed panels.
So therefore, we feel that hardship is met due to the physical configuration size, location of the property, the past uses, the current uses, the existing signs, and the replacement signs.
With that said, I want to ask Michael Sommer again to introduce himself with his name and address.
Michael Sommer, again, 44 South Bales Ave, Port Washington, New York, 11050.
Michael, what's your position with Cedar Realty?
I'm Senior Vice President of Development and Construction.
And you've heard my introduction, my statement.
Would you agree that it is true and accurate?
And do you would like to elaborate on anything I've stated or the need for these signs?
No, Ron, I think you covered it.
You know, obviously it reduces the square footage of what exists today.
It reduces the height of what exists today.
And needless to say, from an aesthetic standpoint, it's an upgrade, to say the least.
Thank you. That's all I have.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
Anyone else wish to testify in this matter?
If so, please raise your hand.
no hands at this time thank you planning commission this property is indicated for
community commercial mixed use on the city plan we have no objection to the granting of the
variance thank you mi -2020 -000990 2301 oregon avenue my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is
yes my vote is yes great thank you very much thank you nice to see you all good luck good to see you
be safe calendar number mi 2020 -000911 2051 walnut street the attorney is dorothy hamill
Not to skater Frank
gosh Hamill you have been promoted to a panelist you can share your screen
Hamill you have
and unmute yourself
Ms. Hamill you're going to mute yourself okay
good afternoon everyone good afternoon um miss hamill can you please place your name and address
on the record dorothy and hamill one two three south broad street suite 2100 philadelphia
1911 oh 19109 okay and do you also swear or affirm to tell the truth and nothing but the
truth. I do. Last question. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its
accuracy? I do. Thank you. Present your case. Coffee. I like this. We could all use it this
afternoon. I know. So this is, this presentation is for 2051 Walnut Street. It is where a sit down
restaurant. It's actually a coffee shop that will be serving coffee, tea, seasonal beverages,
and it will also be serving pastries and baked goods that currently are going to be provided by
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, which is a local restaurant in the neighborhood that we've been
talking to, so there's going to be no cooking in the space other than the
making of coffee, tea, and drinks. It's a, I'm showing, this is the space used to be
Purefair. This space has been used as a restaurant for quite some time, but
strangely doesn't have zoning uh for it they had gotten the prior owners had
uh use permits and not use permits had um food prep licenses and all of the required health
department approvals to operate a restaurant they just didn't actually have the zoning to operate
And so when our client went to apply, found out there was no approval.
The use of a restaurant in CMX4 requires a referral.
These are pictures of the current structure, what it looks like now.
It is the corner of the property.
If there's a refusal, this is the internal plan for the property.
The space is also going to have, there's going to be a small space in the premises for the
sale of various CBD oils.
we have as witnesses here Chris Stone is the owner of coffee shop which is
Alchemy Coffee. He has experience and had a prior coffee establishment. The other
party is Brad Buck. He is the one who will have a small space in this in the
shop for the CBD oils. He also has a current shop selling the CBD products. There's no planned
changes to the exterior of the building or any changes to the interior, which would
increase square footage and we're basically taking the existing existing
envelope and are going to upgrade it clean it up there is as you can see
there are two there's two existing signs that are on the premises we're simply
going to reuse those existing signs there's an existing takeout window
that's going to remain you can see on the next slide there is a where the takeout window is and
then there is the uh the door which will lead into the kitchen you'll see that the property
You'll see that the property is on the corner of Moravian, and it has been a bit of a
is on the corner of moravian and it has been
bone of contention for the Neighborhood Association because there's been a number of toters on
the corner of Moravian Street. They've always been licensed dumpsters, but because the property
takes up 100 % square footage of the land area. There isn't a place to keep a dumpster. So in
order to address what was an issue long before we got involved, we spoke to an adjoining property
owner who has agreed to give us a license to place a dumpster about 100 yards away on Moravian
Street, along with the dumpster for a residential property. We're going to have
daily commercial trash pickup. There's going to be storage of trash on the inside of the premises.
We met with the Neighborhood Association, and that was, as you're aware, CCRA has a number of
provisos that they require for new restaurants. We had agreed to all of
those provisos. The most pressing one for them was the trash storage inside, which
we have agreed to do. These are some pictures of what the interior of the
space will look like. Very simple design as you can see in the very back where my
cursor is. That is where we'll be selling coffee, tea, related accessory items and
then they'll also be the small space for the CBD oils which were permitted. This
is a just picture of what the former retail space looked like. We're recreating the same design
in this space. There's a sample menu attached with just some of the coffee and tea items that
are going to be provided. This is what the current CBD space looks like. Independent CBD
is the operator. This is what just a sampling of what the space will look like.
We met with the CCRA about two weeks ago.
They were, they've issued a letter of non -opposition for the project.
And I have the architect, Leah Lippin, and Evan Lippin here to answer any questions as well.
And as I mentioned, the operator, Chris Stone, and Brad Buck are also available for any questions.
And I can now ask if you could allow them to be unmuted.
They can affirm the testimony.
Bradley Buck you've been unmuted wait to be sworn in Lee 11
you've been unmuted wait to be sworn in are there any others
Kristen I'm here you have to raise I'm sorry
we're here are you with together or separate or chris and i are together so miss hamill maybe just
need one of your witnesses to testify on behalf of okay name and address chris
hi uh chris stone s -t -o -n -e uh current address is two zero five one walnut street
uh one nine one zero three we're in the firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing
about the truth i do thank you miss hamel chris have you been um have you been present for my
entire presentation and heard the testimony that I presented to the board yes and you affirm that
testimony is would be your testimony it's true and correct correct yes and Leah have you been
And, Leah, have you been present for the entire presentation on this project?
present for the entire
And did you prepare the drawings that were presented today?
And do you accept the testimony that I've presented as true and correct and adopted as your own?
Chairman DiCicco, I think that's all we have right now.
Okay, thank you.
Questions from the board, and I have a question.
Sharon or Tanya, Ms. Hamill mentioned some provisos.
I don't have the list in front of me.
I don't know if anyone else has a list.
I actually, I did review the provisos that were requested by CCRA,
and they are things that wouldn't be permitted anything in any case they have
to do with not having music or sound audible but this is a sit -down
restaurant they asked for the disposable where to do with this use normal
provisors but there was miss Hamill mentioned something about a proviso
regarding trash storage yeah i thought miss hamill said they made an agreement with a
property owner about 100 yards away and then i thought i heard miss hamill correct me for wrong
storage inside um the plan is that we're going to store the trash inside the premises
every day and then at the end of the day we will bring the trash to the dumpster that we've got
an agreement with a neighboring owner. We'll deliver the trash to the dumpster at the end of
the day, and then trash pickup will be daily. I would like to also point out part of, you know,
we started this project before COVID hit, and one of the big components of this was that Chris
really wanted this to be, you know, as environmental and friendly as possible. So the plan was that
there would be um you know certain uh advantages to you know people buying the the mugs and the
cups and then you get a small discount for not using disposable obviously in these times you
know i suspect that not as many people will take advantage of that but down the road that's sort of
The idea is eliminating as much of the disposable waste that we can.
Can I suggest that you do provisos for trash stored indoors, commercial trash pickup daily?
I got commercial and it will say trash.
I have commercial pickup on my notes.
Trash to be stored inside, commercial trash pickup.
All right.
All right.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
Anyone else wish to testify in this matter?
If so, please raise your hand.
Here I have a Wade Alpert.
Wade, you can unmute yourself and speak to this.
Wade to be sworn in.
Good afternoon.
Can you hear me?
Wade, please spell your first and last name.
Give us your address.
First name is spelled W -A -D -E.
Last name is spelled A -L -B -E -R -T.
um i am counsel for the center city residents association my address is 1845 walnut street
23rd floor philadelphia pa 19103 and i'm with the law firm of sobel law group s -o -b -o -l
we're in the firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do thank you please proceed thank you so i uh just with regard to this matter um uh i i've heard
that the ZBA is aware of the provisos that CCRA has requested of the owner or of the applicant
and the applicant has agreed to all of the provisos. So I would just request that the
provisos to the extent permitted by the ZBA be included in the license. Thank you.
again there's only a couple that we could and are enforceable by us the agreements between the c
ccra and the applicant and the other provisors uh planning commission
planning commission yes uh this property is indicated for center city commercial mixed
juice on the city plan we support the granting of the special exception
let's see
calendar no mi -2020 -0009112051 walnut street my vote is yes with the provisos
mi -2020 -000
trash to be stored inside and also commercial trash pickup my vote is yes with provisos yes
with proviso yes with proviso yes with proviso
good luck calendar number 39661 1351 south 57th street
this is a referral and the attorney is verne anastasio
mr anastasio you've been promoted to a panelist you can share your screen
and unmute yourself.
Vern, you there?
I know that he was participating. He texted me to say that he was there.
Yes, he's here. He's just not on video and he has not unmuted himself.
His name has the mute on.
There you go.
Mr. Anastasia.
We're good.
Can you put your name and address on the record, please?
Yes, of course.
Vern Anastasio, 1315 Walnut Street, Suite 1006, Philadelphia, 19107.
And do you swear or affirm to tell the truth and nothing but the truth?
Of course, yes.
Do you also agree to wave the reading of the referral and stipulate to its accuracy?
Frozen.
I agree to wave the sort of tweet.
we are asking for no more than seven people not nine and you do agree on the referral
i agree reading of it i agree at the time that it was reviewed that it was referred yes
okay mr chair
you swear from the tell you swore him in on for you
I swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
I certainly do.
And I would like Ms. Juanita Bates to be recognized and brought into the panel as well.
She is my client.
Before we get to her, you said at the time you agreed?
I agreed to the referral at the time that it was reviewed by the examiner.
it was the property generated a referral however as of today if it were reviewed again
it may have gotten a refusal
so since you are grandfathered in as of the date of the application it's a referral is that correct
That's my position, yes.
But I'm prepared to argue both, you know.
You had a witness you said, Vern?
Juanita Bates.
She's my client to Bates Associates, LLC.
She's the primary on that.
She's the principal.
and i would like her to be identified just for the sake of being able to uh uh attest to my my
my presentation but we can do that at the end all right wait we do whatever you'd like sir
at the end of the presentation all right very well this is a uh an application uh was submitted
for the legalization of a single room residence for up to seven adults ellen i issued a referral
and identify the property at the time as RM1, at the time of review. Property has been a single
room residence for 40 years, run by my client's father, with some tenants who have called the
building home for well over a decade. Actually, previous residents have lived there for 29,
27, 19 years. This is a place where folks live and die. It's not a flop house.
The neighbors at the RCO meeting admitted that the appellant's father, who she just purchased it from, has maintained the property in excellent condition.
The matter was before this board in 1980.
where the archive suggests the corner property has been maintained for the last four decades
with zero three one one calls zero nine one one complaints on record and the tenants who have
been there for over a decade the lease all have uh nuisance clauses in them to ensure peace and
quiet. The appellant recently purchased the property from her father, as I said, plans to
install additional exterior lighting to main safety, as well as to continue personally caring
for the property. The appellant would like to continue the proper maintenance of the property,
and she's now installing quarterly inspections of each unit to ensure continuance maintenance,
to ensure that it continues to not be a negative impact to the community.
ATLAS, however, now identifies the property today as RSA -5.
But regardless, under both a variance and or a special exception analysis,
given the history and the approvals and the current track record,
I believe zoning relief is appropriate in this case.
So I just want to go over that. First, let's get to the application. Single room residents for up to, this says nine, it's actually seven, all occupants, all self -sustaining and not under the jurisdiction of any court order.
At the time in January before the COVID, it was identified as RM1.
And now let's look at the property history, 1980.
application was made to go from a single -family residence to a rooming house.
It was refused, and a notice of decision was rendered.
Now, for whatever reason, no boxes were checked here,
but there were provisos, including getting a use permit right here.
I was like, I'm turning, I'm circling on this, tells me that, in fact, it was approved.
What else tells me that it was, in fact, approved as a rooming house is that as
2007 and then updated to 2011, L &I actually listed the property, as you can see right here,
as a rooming house, dorm, hotel, and complied.
And that's as late as 2011.
Another application from L &I.
From 2007, updated to 2011.
Existing group home, basically, complied.
And these are the plans.
Right here, we have the entrance of the house, a living room, a very large living room, and a kitchen with one bedroom on the first floor.
Here's the lower level basement, but please make sure you understand, the basement is completely above grade.
So we have a laundry room, a bathroom, and two bedrooms, with right outside the bedrooms is an exit to the street.
The second floor has additional bedrooms and a bathroom.
And now I want to explain to you that there is other properties on the street that are not treated as single -family homes.
On the opposite corner of this, this is a corner property.
On the opposite corner, we have a group daycare and a church.
As you can see here, completely legal.
in the middle of the block we have a two -family dwelling
at 1337 we have another two -family dwelling and this is the property here's the basement level
if you could see my cursor with egress and ingress for the basement units
here's the rear um egress as well
and then the front of the property uh with a large porch and then we have some additional interior
this has been a single room residence for 40 years
with tenants living in the home for 29 years, 25 years.
With tenants living in the home for 29 years, 25 years, 19 years, these folks die in this home.
This is not a flop house by any imagination.
Give me one minute.
That's the basement.
here's the deed from her dad robert tab to tab tabette's associates
and i actually i want to i want to make sure you see this because it's really important
when it comes to trash and maintenance i mean they're fantastic i mr anastasio yeah not to
be sarcastic but uh looking at the photographs i see paint peeling all over the place electrical
wires connected to what i i'm a little concerned about this you know again my client
your client they're saying your client does inspections quarterly from the looks of things
it looks like it hasn't been inspected and or repaired in quite a long time.
My apologies. I want to make sure I'm clear on this. My client, who just purchased the property
from her elderly father, wants to do quarterly inspections and wants to make sure that the
property is kept up inside. But I have to show you, if you look at this photo here,
of all the trash receptacles and the recycling receptacles perfectly in place.
This rooming house has survived in this neighborhood for 40 years with not one 911 complaint,
not one 311 complaint. Now, obviously, going through this process, we're going to need to
get a new CO, and there's going to need to be upgrades to the property. And my client is ready
willing and able to do that. Otherwise, she can't be able to, you know, operate the way she'd like.
But, you know, so yes, I get what you're saying. It needs an upgrade. She wants to upgrade.
She didn't know that she wasn't compliant. Because for 40 years, this has been what we
all thought was a compliant, you know, single based on the history.
Fern, I have a question.
Hasn't she ever been in the house?
I don't necessarily know if she has, and we could talk to her about that.
Because you can't force these guys or people to make their beds or clean up,
but the interior is off.
I agree with the chair.
Well, again, once we get the zoning approval again,
because we had it before once we get the zoning approval again she wants to bring it to if she
has to bring it to code she will uh as recently as 20 2011 it was completely complied with
ellen i went through that property in 2011 and and as i showed you as part of the uh
as part of the the evidence there that it was completely complied with so yes
right and if there are issues now that now that she's purchased it
she would like to be able to get it up to speed and then do quarterly inspections
here's the deed just recently done july 14th you know that's that's kind of older can't really
keep it up anymore my client wants to do that and we also have a tax clearance
that i'll get to through october 7th mr chairman is this appropriate why doesn't
she get a cleaning crew to go in there and electricians and bring that up to code
first well she has to in order to get a ceo she'll have to do that right because what you guys are
going to grant us if if you're so kind to do is just the use permit but then we have to go through
the co process where she'll have to have a whole building review and if the building needs to be
upgraded or you know fixed up then of course that's part of uh getting the uh the necessary
building permit and co i get the rental licenses we'll put a time limit on it carol to get a co
Peace.
I also want to show you that here's a lease, standard lease, but it does have, in case you were wondering, a nuisance and guests provisos, where if you're allowed, if you're causing trash, if you have guests, you're out.
So bottom line, I mean, these people have been here for 20, 30, you know, 15, 13 years.
I mean, folks live here a long time, and every person who attended the RCO said that the
former landlord kept this place tip -top shape.
So I think that's important.
I also want to show you the special exceptional analysis.
I'll just bring it up to submit for the record because I don't know if you'd like to submit it as a review this as a special exception or a variance, but as the examiner has told us, this is just a special exception.
our proposed use will not require added parking it won't overcrowd the land it won't impair
neighbors like nair it won't burden the water sewer other utilities it won't injure the use
of neighboring homes it was not inconsistent with the city's plan at the time of review
and it will cause no detrimental impacts so i think that's that's something that you know
we need to look, you know, however, if this was in fact a variance issue and the examiner
was at fault in giving this a referral, I believe that 40 years history of it being an approved
rooming house with zero complaints. And both L and I, on two occasions, as recently as 2011,
recognizing this property as a single room residence. I believe that's a basis for,
it's basically a pre -existing non -conforming use. And that's why I respectfully request
the variance. My client
wants to make this place
even better. You're not
going to find one complaint
from anybody who protests
about this particular property.
And with that, I'd like to
bring in my client, if I can,
if she can raise her hand and be acknowledged.
Please raise your hand.
Tom, I heard you. We'll get to you in a minute, Tom.
Thank you.
You're available. You just have to unmute yourself.
Yes, I'm here.
Ms. Bates?
Are you there, Ms. Bates?
Can you hear me?
Thank you. Did you hear my presentation to the board?
Yes, I did.
Okay. And was it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge?
Okay. And would you accept it as your own testimony if need be?
Thank you.
I also have a couple other witnesses, but I'm not sure how you'd like to proceed.
Let's hear from the board first.
How many bedrooms shown on the plan?
Say it again.
How many bedrooms shown on the plan?
How many bedrooms are shown on the plan?
Let's go back to the plan.
I believe there's one per person.
It's seven.
Seven bedrooms.
Let's go back to the plant.
There's the first floor again, living room, kitchen, and a bedroom on the first floor.
That's access through the first floor.
And then we've got the lower level, which has a separate entrance with two bedrooms here and a laundry room.
And then we've got one, two, three bedrooms on the second floor.
I'm sorry, one, two, three, and four bedrooms on the second floor.
And all me coat, of course.
And each will have closets.
Thank you.
any other questions from the board and mind you this no this house is already occupied it's been
occupied for 40 years we've got people in there for 20 years i made your point you made thank you
We've got people in there for 20 years.
I know you made your point.
Thank you.
Several times.
Thank you.
Thank you, sir.
Anyone else wish to testify in this matter?
If so, please raise your hand.
I would like, in fact, to call a couple witnesses if you don't.
Here we have Kenneth Hodges.
i was asking for miss cole coleman uh and somebody else mr top yep
okay so i'm not sure how do you want to proceed
do you want to call the one that has the hand up or yeah let's do that
okay mr hodges
Mr. Hodges
So you got in
Okay, I'm sorry
Let's go to whoever else has their hand up
That's it, we just have Mr. Hodges
I ask for Ms. Coleman to raise his hand and Mr. Taub to raise his hand
i just want this is wanita bates mr hodges is with miss coleman
they're they're together bates yes please spell your name first and last name give us your address
sure j -u -a -n -i -t -a last name bates b as in boy a -t -e -s my address is 122 waterfall lane
Landenburg, PA.
You swear to the firm to tell the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth.
She was sworn in already, I believe.
Yes, she was. Okay, that was earlier.
I apologize. That's fine. I was looking
for a witness, Ms. Coleman.
Yeah, no one has the hand up
of Mr. Hodges.
Mr. Hodges is with Smith Coleman.
They're together.
So what they could do is unmute themselves and then they can speak.
So, Mr. Hodges, you can open up your mic.
No, you want to open up your mic.
So here we go.
Can you hear us now?
Yes, sir.
Please identify yourself with a record name and address.
Lillian Coleman, 1351 South 57th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19143.
Swear to the firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you. Please proceed.
Ms. Coleman, how long have you lived in the property in question?
12 years, going on 13, come October.
And has the owner kept the property in a way that is safe, secure, and in a condition that is positive for the community and for yourself?
Okay. And what's your relationship with the other folks in the house? Tell us about that.
Well, where we consider it as a family, even though we're not DNA family, but we all get along and we try to work together to the best of our ability.
And you understand that this property has been operating as a single room residence for the last 40 years. Is that right?
No 911 or 311 calls that you know of, right?
And do you have anywhere else to go if this board today decided to deny this refusal of this pre -existing, pre -existing non -consistent use?
You would have nowhere to go?
Okay. Thank you.
Mr. Hodges?
would you like to add anything to the testimony and the present
Mr. Hodges would you please give us your name and address
Kenneth Hodges
address 1351
South 57th street
we're in the firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing
but the truth yes
thank you
have you occupied the
property in question for
how many years sir
same amount of years my mom been here. Okay. And has it been a safe, secure,
and affordable housing option for you for those years?
and affordable housing option for you for those years?
And has the owner of the property maintained the property in a way that is safe, secure,
and a positive influence on the community?
Yes, he is.
And would you have anywhere to go if this board today denied our city?
I have somebody else that's in the room, too, as a tenant here.
I think we can hold off on that.
I just want to, Ms. Bates?
Question.
Do you have a property manager?
Who maintains the property when you're not there?
You live outside the city limits, right?
Mr. Chairman, they have been maintaining it with her father for quite some time.
however they understand the code and the code requires them because she lives outside the city
she'll have to hire a property management company and she will but she will also continue
to do what they do privately because they they're on top of it almost daily
yeah my husband goes to the property um these three times three to four times a week
the old saying miss spates the picture speaks a thousand words you got some conditions in that
place that you're going to need to address paint peeling all over i don't know if that's lead paint
or not you got a lot of issues there you're going to have to maintain so any questions any more
questions from the board i just want to add mr chairman that the exterior photos show a very
clean and neat and concise yeah but people don't live outside understood and that's why she wants
to upgrade this place after her dad's i just want to go on the record i have a there's a concern on
my part i respectfully understand the board members looking at the condition of those photographs of
paint peeling wires all over the place it's an accident waiting to happen that needs to be
addressed and we'll do it we'll certainly do it in in order to get our certificate planning commission
this property is indicated for residential use on the city plan given the site's history
no objection to the granting of the variance provided overall number of units be reduced
thank you calendar number 39661 1351 south 57th street my vote is yes with the following
provisors maximum seven units uh co -compliant within nine months thank you sir within five
months thank you sir thank you wow my vote is yes with those provisors my vote is no
my vote is yes with provisos thank you all my vote is no
all right is any other uh tanya sharon any uh unfinished business on the two o 'clock list
no nothing yes we'll reconvene at four o 'clock i'm sorry yes we do we'll reconvene at four o 'clock
for the for the 3 30 session all right uh chair yes we still have something oh i'm sorry we do
yes so the case that we discussed at the beginning regarding ashdale street oh yes yes yes
the applicant of record is no longer on the call i believe let me just make sure um but
Baditsa Kodilio is the applicant of record and in the chat or the question and answer
she said she understood if the board would dismiss the case just wanted to put that on
record for you she was the applicant okay which we did do we we did okay all right everyone back
at four o 'clock yes thank you thank you and we'll give tanya three or four minutes
so chair i did have one more for the two o 'clock record okay uh 2033 wishart street
um the individuals who appear before us that sharon had to speak to they were scheduled for
today at 2 p .m but they will be continued 2033 with heart in case anybody else is here for that
case thank you and even if it had been on the list it would have been required to we would
been required to we would have been required to continue it because they didn't submit exhibits
have been required to continue it because they didn't submit exhibits until last
until last night okay thank you
and maybe i can tell you now that we had um a case come a letter come in just in the last few hours
on waterloo street which is on your 330 list um it's from the rco they're requesting a couple
provisos so when you get to that i can if you want read the provisos into the record
that'll be helpful thank you you're welcome
Thank you.
okay we're ready when you are chair thank you good afternoon everyone my name is frank de chico
i'm the chair of the zoning board of adjustment i'll be participating in today's hearing along
with vice chair miss carol tenere board secretary confessor plaza and board members mr thomas
holloman and james mr james snell board administrator tanya sunkett and board attorney
Sharon Saleta are also in attendance. For those of you who haven't yet participated in one of our
virtual hearings, I'll go through some of the basics of what you can expect. First, we'll begin
this morning or this afternoon session by reading a list of cases to be continued.
If you believe any case announced is being continued in error, we will give you an opportunity
to respond. After reading the continuance list and receiving any feedback, we will take
any additional continuance request or and or withdrawal request. Then once we've confirmed
which hearings are being continued, Vice Chair Tenere will begin calling the remaining cases
listed for this session. When a case is called, we ask that attorneys representing applicants or
other interested parties in the matter identify themselves for the record. We will then hear the
appellant's presentation, followed by any presentation by attorneys representing other
parties. Interested parties and members of the public not represented by counsel will then be
given an opportunity to testify. We will finally hear from the recommendation from the Planning
Commission. At the hearing's conclusion, we will either vote the matter immediately or hold it for
discussion in executive session. Any case held for discussion will be voted at the next scheduled
Wednesday morning session. Please note the following changes related to the virtual format.
First, we will be administering oaths to individuals prior to their testimony.
Second, for the benefit of anyone participating by phone, we ask that attorneys and witnesses
identify themselves prior to speaking or testifying. Third, we'd like to advise everyone
that this proceeding is being recorded and that by participating you acknowledge your agreement
to be recorded. Fourth, for anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise
your hand by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself. I repeat, for anyone participating
by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by hitting star nine and then star six
to unmute yourself. Finally, to enter an appearance statement, call Google 267 -270 -5548
and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue.
I'll repeat that.
To enter an appearance statement, call Google 267 -270 -5548
and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue.
With that said, we can begin.
But before Vice Chair Tenere calls any cases,
we'd like to announce the following matters are being continued.
calendar number three
Calendar number 39303, 3734 North 8th Street.
Calendar number 39300, 4951 North 5th Street, number 5th Street.
If anyone believes that either of those cases has been called an error, please raise your hand at this time.
or should you wish to ask for a continuance or withdrawal,
please raise your hand at this time also.
No hands at this time.
Thank you.
Ms. Tenere, please begin calling the cases.
Calendar number 39584, 1528 North 25th Street.
The attorney is Leo Mulvihill.
good afternoon everyone good afternoon good afternoon mr mulvihill can you put your name
and address on the record certainly it's leo mulvihill m -u -l -v -i -h -i -l -l address is 2424
East New York Street, Suite 111, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19125.
And do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Do you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
You may proceed.
Thank you.
All right, members of the board, I'm trying to bring my screen share up.
Does everybody see that?
So good afternoon members of the board. Leo Mulvihill here today on behalf of 1528 North 25th Street LLC. What I'm showing you is my presentation packet here with my refusal appeal and project information form at page one.
area zoning map at page 6, D for the property at page 7, commercial activity license at page 12,
tax clearance at 13, zoning notification letters to the RCO at 14, the RCO letter of support
from Burrytown Sharswood at 17, photos of the property at 18, and then plans of the property
are attached to this presentation as the appendix. So members of the board, we're here today seeking
the variance to allow for a three -story new construction building that for a two -family
living. The height of the building itself is proposed at 33 feet. As I said, it's two units.
Unit one is 1 ,520 square feet, three bed, two bath. Unit two is about a little bit bigger,
1 ,674 square feet, three bedroom, two bath. It has a large rear yard and there's an existing
fire alley behind. And that's basically all we're looking for today. Just by way of background,
members of the board, I would appear in front of you back in December of 2018, which feels like
about 20 years ago at this point, at calendar number 33755 for a property at 1524 North 25th
Street, just a couple doors down, for a similar request for two -family dwelling, which this board
granted. As I said, the permit was granted a 118 -19. What we have here currently is showing
the notice of refusal for the property. This is for two -family household living,
and we also seek to have a third story on the structure without the required setback
under the zoning code. I'm showing you now at page six, area zoning map, members of the board.
We're located on North 25th Street. You can see the particular parcel shaded in blue in the yellow
area marked RSA 5. You'll also note that there is significant RM1 zoning all throughout this area.
Looking to the aerial photograph at the bottom of the screen, you can also see that this is an area that is seeing a lot of development at the moment due to the number of completely vacant lots and many vacant structures that exist.
And we'll see more of those as we go to the photographs of the property itself.
One moment.
So, a little too far here.
So, members of the board, what I'm showing now is a letter from Brewery Town Sharswood, dated March 22nd, 2020.
So, we had our meeting before the shutdown.
We did present this project to the Brewery Town Sharswood RCO.
They supported this project altogether.
There were 18 votes in support.
a total of eight in opposition, one in non -opposition.
Total of eight in opposition, one in non -opposition.
the final position was
The final position was support from the RCO.
What I'm showing now members of the board is the lot
as it currently exists.
Just zooming out a little bit for purposes of the record.
This is page 19 or 23 of the packet.
This is the lot right now at the zoning sign
that was reposted.
Page 20, this is a more zoomed out photograph
showing the existing structure to the left
and existing structure to the right.
This is a photo looking southbound on 25th Street. As you can see, many of the blocks
are very vacant, if not completely vacant. There are some new homes a little bit further behind us,
which I'll show in a few seconds. And you can see some new homes that have been built, I believe,
along Oxford Street, which I'm indicating now with my cursor. Moving to page 22,
we see a new construction home, vacant lots, vacant properties across the street. 1526 does
currently have somebody living in it. This is a shot taken directly across the street from the
property. These are all three -story homes, all of which appear to be abandoned as of the date
that I took these photographs several weeks ago. Moving in now to the zoning plans members of the
board, Appendix 1. We can see the photographs of the property that were taken back when these
drawings were originally prepared. Zooming into the property's site plan. The property itself
is a standard width, 15 feet wide. The massing of the building isn't too terribly high. The
roof deck is set back five feet as required by code. Pilot house, pretty standard. You have a
relatively large rear yard, as well, behind it is the existing alley.
Scrolling down to the bottom of that page, showing the longitudinal section,
it's a three -story building with cellar at the front of the building, the rear of the building,
the existing alley, and that relatively large rear yard for use by unit number one. Both units are
by level. Unit one goes in the cellar on the first floor, unit two on the second and third
Lord. The property itself is about 35 feet, 3 inches in total height, so we're not even at
what we're allowed to be max under the zoning code.
These are some additional photos that were taken by the architect on Appendix 2.
Appendix 3 is an additional zoning plan, kind of expanded from what I showed earlier,
but again showing that this is a mixed area with RSA 5, RM 1 uses, and our block on which we're
wishing to build this block of North 25th Street is a mix of both. It's our argument that in this
area, considering the previously granted variances, that this proposed use is not out of character
with this specific proportion of the neighborhood, despite the fact that about half the block is
zoned RSA 5. Moving to page appendix 4 members of the board, these are the floor plans.
I'll review those quickly with you.
Unit one is the cellar and the first floor.
In the cellar, we have a bedroom to the front of the property with an egress well,
mechanical room and walk -in closet, another walk -in closet to the rear with a large bath,
and a bedroom with a large egress well, which leads out to the fire alley to the rear.
Going up the stairs, you then get onto the first floor of unit one, living room, dining,
kitchen in the middle, bedroom or spare room, workroom to the rear of the property.
steps then go down for access to the rear yard for this unit. One would then
go up the stairs if they want to get it into unit two. Unit two has a pretty
similar layout. You have living, dining, kitchen in the middle, bedroom one to the
rear. Third floor we have a bedroom in the front, bedroom in the back, bath in the
middle along with some storage. On the roof we have the roof deck access for
use by unit two only. So unit one has use of the rear yard, unit two has use of
roof deck for outdoor space. It's just another larger blown -up building section showing the
overall height of the structure. And finally moving to Appendix 6, we're just showing the
elevations of the property at the front and the rear. On the front we plan to use a mix of brick
and perhaps siding or some other material. The parapet wall itself and the railing are going
to be relatively clear to kind of take away from that massing. So we're not going to be towering
over the street itself. As you saw from the photos earlier, there's precedent for three -story
structures without setbacks already on this block, a couple doors up from us. The property that I
had approved back in December of 2018 had a similar design and the houses across the street
were also all three -story. So even this height, this three -story is within character of the block
this three -story is within character of the block, despite the fact that some of the existing homes
despite the fact that they exist, some of the existing homes.
that are on the block are two -story as well. That's our presentation members of the board.
Farazi, are you currently on the line? If so, would you please raise your hand and wait to be sworn in?
you can unmute yourself
yes hello this is faraz please state your name spell your name and wait to be sworn in by the
zoning chair please sure my name is faraz afdab first name is faraz f as in frank a r a
A, Z as in zero, last name is Afdab, A as in apple, F as in Frank, T as in Tom, A as in apple, B as in boy.
And Faraz, what's your mailing address, please?
My mailing address is 1022 Mount Pleasant Avenue.
That's Wayne, PA, 19087.
Do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you. Please proceed, Leo.
Yes. Now, Faraz, you're the principal of 1528 North 25th Street, LLC?
Correct.
You've heard my presentation today?
Is there anything you'd like to add or let the zoning board know about this project or this property?
Leo, you covered everything.
So that said, do you adopt my testimony as your own today?
And we're happy to take any questions from members of the board at this point.
Leo, I do have a question. Do you have any, show us some photographs of North 25th Street, the 1500 block on your side, the even side. What's there?
One moment.
There's a lot of vacant lots there, correct?
Yes, there's a number of vacant lots. So this gray building that I'm now indicating to the left of photo on page 20, that's an existing structure, residential use.
there's another two uh story structure i believe two lots down to the north of us
you can see to the right of this photograph i'm uncertain whether anyone's living there
at this point okay because when you show when you showed us the map it shows the whole block
as being rsa5 but basically there aren't that many houses there to begin with okay correct
our side of the block is rsa5 behind us is rm1 across the street is rm1 very good all right
thank you uh any questions from the board no no no anyone else wish to testify on this matter
please raise your hand if you do
no hands chair thank you planning commission hi this is mason austin representing the planning
commission um mason mason i'm sorry uh you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
about the truth i do thank you please proceed sure thank you um a lot is designated for single
family residential in the comprehensive plan and was remapped to conform to that recommendation
in 2014. therefore staff recommends against the approval of the requested use variance
however given the context uh staff has no opposition to the dimensional variance
Calendar number 39584. 1528 North 25th Street. My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
Thank you, members of the group.
Now, I'm convinced.
Carol?
okay all right i'll uh i'll call the next case uh calendar number three nine five eight five
one eight one nine waterloo street leo you're up again all right well members of the board
again this is leo mulvihill 2424 east york street suite 111 philadelphia pennsylvania
one nine one two five i'm here today on the applicant of on behalf of the applicant rather
Let me just get my right packet up here. 1819 Waterloo LLC. Members of the board, there are
revised plans which have changes done at the request of the RCO. I'll go through both the
original and revised plans with the board here today. The only difference between the original
plan as presented when submitted and the revised plan is that the RCO asked us to change the
is that the RCO asked us to change the material of our parapet wall into something translucent,
material of our parapet wall into something translucent.
so we switched it from hardy board to a rail, and then to set back a roof deck to the five -foot
setback requirement as required under the zoning code. But I'll review those changes with you,
and they are picked out. So today, members of the board, we're here for 18 -19.
Mr. Mulvihill, can I interrupt you for one minute? Yes. We did receive a letter from the RCO this
afternoon requesting supporting the project with two provisos which are exactly those that you
just stated thank you so members of the board for the record these are my materials the refusal
appeal and project information form at page one area zoning map at six deed at seven commercial
activity license at 12 tax clearance at 13 zoning letters at 16 we did not have an rco letter but i
understand that you have received it. Photos of the property at page 19. Plans and revised plans
are now attached as the appendix. So members of the board, we're here today because we are seeking
to build a new single -family dwelling on Waterloo Street, which is a tiny block in the South
Kensington catchment of the city, basically right off of Front Street. We're looking to go three
stories up rather than two stories because of the depth of the lot. After some discussions with the
RCO, prior to my involvement, the RCO indicated that my clients were okay with proceeding with
a three -story structure so long as there was at least a three -foot setback for the third story
to help maintain the cornice line. In this case, the design of the property maintains the cornice
line, and we've done basically everything the RCO has asked with respect to helping this property
proceed. What I'll do now, members of the board, is proceed to the area zoning map. Here we go.
Referring to page 6 of my packet, off to the right, this is the area members of the board.
Waterloo is right here, it's this very small street.
Right off of Howard, we have Front Street over here.
The lot is indicated in blue, this is all in RSA 5 district.
There's one CMX property on the corner, which I believe is Buzz Cafe, a really great coffee shop.
From the overhead view, we can see that on the bottom of page 6.
Members of the Board, I'm now proceeding to the photographs of the property.
It goes to begin at page 19.
This is the reposted zoning notice.
This is the lot in contact with the existing homes on either side of Waterloo Street.
These are small, two -story single -family homes that are about 600 to 800 square feet.
The lots themselves are quite shallow and that's why we're asking for the
additional height in this case. This is looking southbound on Waterloo. You can
see there's new construction happening which is three stories. Across the street
on Waterloo, new construction happening which is three stories and a setback but
they did not meet the cornice line. This is directly across the street with that
new construction that did not meet the cornice line. Now moving to appendix one, which were our
initial submissions. Members of the board, you can see we're basically copying and pasting the
existing traditional row house style for the first two stories of this property, pushing back the
third story that required the requested three feet, and then going up. The total height for the
property, zooming in on that so the members of the board can see, is 34 feet one inches, so we're not
even going up to that full 38 that we're allowed to under the code this was the initial side view
of the property showing this location of the stairwells the height and our roof deck
these are the floor plans for the property these really haven't changed other than the exception
of the changing of the roof deck.
So in the basement, we have a den or work area in the front,
bathroom, and mechanical laundry to the rear,
staircases in the middle.
Living room in the front of the first story,
kitchen to the rear, and a small rear yard.
Second story, bedroom in the front, bedroom in the rear.
The rear bedroom's kind of small.
The lot kind of necessitates some of these rooms
being a little smaller, so perhaps this could be used
as an office as well, or a nursery.
Now on the third story, you can see this is a little bit shorter because we are doing that three foot setback as requested by the RCO. This is a large owner's suite and a large bath to the rear.
We have a roof deck on the front and mechanicals at the rear of the house.
Now going to appendix two, which is the revised plans. Here's a copy of the revised provisor plan sheet that we provided.
Appendix 2, which is the revised plans, here's a copy of the revised proviso plan sheet that we provided earlier today to the board and to Ms. Zuleta.
I just received this proviso sheet essentially this morning from my architect, but I wanted to ensure it was here on time.
What I'm going to do is zoom out because this is much larger.
I've picked out with an orange circle the differences between the original plan and the revised plan.
Maybe.
There we go. There's our difference. You can see we just changed the structure at
the front. Have a railing or plexiglass or something like that rather than that
same hardy board or any other material going all the way up that parapet wall.
Going to the second page of the appendix. Picked out here, same thing. We set that
roof deck back so the usable space has been pushed back the full five feet.
And going to the revised floor plan as a result, same thing.
We have our five -foot setback for that roof deck, which has reduced the roof deck a number
of feet in size, but we wanted to ensure that we were making the neighbors happy and the
community group happy and making these revisions.
With that said, my presentation is complete.
I believe my client is on the line.
Pat, are you on the line?
all right i guess my client is not on the line but members of the board that does conclude my
presentation in chief i'm happy to take any questions that you may have at this time
any questions from the board no
anyone else wish to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
here we have sloan folks from the council person's office thank you so you can unmute yourself
mr folks good afternoon good afternoon chairman de chico members of the zba
my name is sloan folks s -l -o -a -n -e -f -s and fire o -l -k -s office of councilman maria
quinones sanchez room 508 city hall we're in the firm to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth. I do, sir. Thank you. Thank you. The applicant has met with the RCO and has
garnered a letter of support. Therefore, the councilwoman is submitting non -opposition for
this. Would you? I'm sorry, sir. Folks, you faded out a couple times. Would you say that? Repeat
that, please? I'm sorry. I'm pretty sure I put my documents in front of my face while I was reading.
No problem. No problem. The applicant has met with the RCO and has garnered a letter of support.
Therefore, the Councilwoman is offering her non -opposition with this variant sequest.
Thank you very much.
Anyone else wish to testify in this case?
Please raise your hand.
No hands at this time.
Thank you, Tanya.
Planning Commission?
One is designated for a single -family residential in the comprehensive plan,
and the zoning conforms to that designation.
is located on a narrow street comprised almost exclusively of two -story homes.
However, given the testimony from the RCO and the council member,
this Planning Commission has no objection to the approval of this variance.
Thank you very much.
I'm sorry.
Can I just ask that the person Planning Commission identified themselves at the beginning of the case?
I apologize.
Mason Austin.
M -A -S -O -N -A -U -S -T -I -N.
Thank you, Mr. Austin.
Thank you.
uh calendar number three nine five eight five one eight one nine what waterloo street my vote is
yes with uh just revised plan correct yes revised plans three pages three pages adopted today yes
Yes, for Proviso.
Yes, for Proviso.
Carol's not on.
She had to step away.
Oh, the shoe's back.
Here I am.
Yes, for Proviso.
I've been listening to it.
Yes, for Proviso.
Thank you.
Mr. Mulvihill, can I ask, if you haven't already,
could you send me the Proviso plans form and the plans,
each as a separate document?
Yes, Ms. Ouellette.
I believe I sent them over to you earlier today. I'll double check, and if not, I will send those
to you. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Have a nice afternoon, everyone. You too. Are we now on Otter
Street? Yes. Are you going to be able to stay on? If not, if you have to leave? No, I'm okay.
Okay. Calendar number 39598, 4220 Otter Street. The owner is Kimberly Speller.
The owner is Kimberly Speller.
Thank you.
Ms. Speller, you have been promoted to panelists.
You can share your screen and unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in.
Hi, Ms. Speller. Can you put your name and address on the record, please?
Yes, it's Kimberly Speller, 4220 Adder Street.
Thank you. This is an application for a group child care in the basement and first floor and
group living on the second floor of an existing structure. There are two refusals for group
child care is prohibited in RSA3 and group living is also prohibited in RSA3. The West Belmont
Civic Association letter is one of support. You may proceed. Okay. Frank, wait, did I swear you
in? Do you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. Thank you.
present your case okay i'm trying to i'm sorry um i'm not tech savvy so i'm trying you're doing
good okay i'm trying to open up my documents so that way you can see them that i did send
them over i did have a little challenges um you're not opening at this time okay double click now
okay let it open all right thank you you're welcome
did it open up look at the bottom of the screen yes so click on that because we don't see it we
still see your um i did i did his share right but i mean the documents itself we're still looking
inside your files so it's open click on that document that you want us to see okay i did click
on it so should i come out and then go back in yes right okay your screen is okay i do apologize
us okay all right so that will work now okay can you see the screen now yep we got it okay so this
that you see in front of me is basically just showing that i own the property
this is a title um search that i had done on my property um i'm sorry excuse me
The next documents that I have here will be to show my tax clearance that's effective
until September the 24th.
I have my PIF confirmation page.
and then I also have
I have to come back out because I have a floor plan
and this is the refusal letter can you see that
yes okay thank you
all right and then I also have a floor plan
that I would like to show as well and I'm trying to share it but I'm able to so
do you have that document open yes I do have the document open okay so now click
on share screen the green at the bottom it's not I don't see this hold on I'm
sorry we'll get it just thank you what kind of device you're using are you
using a computer or I want my lip okay okay now here we go okay so this is the
floor plan that I had an architect create. This is the front of the home.
Excuse me. And this is the first floor. Well this is the basement and then it
has a powder room in the basement as well. And then there's some steps that
And then there's some steps that comes out, which is the egress for the basement plan.
comes out which is the egress.
Where does that egress go to?
Does that go to an alleyway?
It goes outside to the yard, the rear yard.
We have like a yard on the side of my house.
So that is the egress for that.
and this is the front this is the first floor the porch and then it has the
entryway the bathroom the kitchen and then it's the steps to go downstairs and
in the back room is the bedroom that's for the sec the first floor so this is
the second floor you come up the steps is a living area a kitchen as well as a
closet and then it's a back bedroom that's the second floor and then on the third floor is
actually two bedrooms upstairs so the first floor the kitchenette that's all going to be part of
the daycare yes
what and that bedroom what's the what's the purpose of the bedroom on that floor
because i do um well the on the um first floor it was a bedroom but we're changing it into
so if we receive the zoning for 12 children we will change it into a um a classroom for the
children okay did you have any other okay so that's the first floor the second floor is the
living area you did you gave us that you gave okay thank you okay so the side oh again that
that area that goes out to the side that goes to open space correct that is correct because
where i live next door is like a lot okay yes all right um questions from the board no no no
Now, anyone else wish to testify in this case? If so, please raise your hand.
No one at this time, Chair, I see. Thank you. Planning Commission.
The lot is designated for, oh, sorry, this is Mason Austin representing the Planning Commission.
The lot is designated for a single family residential in the comprehensive plan and the zoning conforms to that designation.
While the uses proposed are not permitted in this zoning district, they would address a critical need in the area and have the support of the coordinating RCO.
Therefore, staff has no objection to the granting of the variances, provided they meet all permitting and building code requirements.
Thank you.
Calendar number 395984220 Otter Street. My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
my vote is yes my vote is yes thank you
thank you good luck thank you calendar number three nine
oh i'm sorry i'm so sorry if i could um ask
to recognize um there's an applicant here regarding an address that was
continued i'm not sure if they came late
3734 North A Street and I wanted to ask if the board would allow her to speak
to this case. Yes. Okay I'll unmute her. Neftali I believe it is you can unmute
yourself to speak about this case. Yes good afternoon is everybody hear me okay.
Yes please spell your name for first and last name. Yes hi my name is Neftali
Leonardo. First name N -E -F -T -A -L -I. Last name Leonardo. L -E -O -N -A -R -D -O. Where from to tell
the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes, I do, sir. What is your current
address, sir? My current address is 3916 North 5th Street, Philadelphia, PA -19140. Thank
you. We called this case to be continued earlier. Explain what it is.
I'm sorry, but I was here even before 4, probably when I went to the bathroom, but I didn't see it.
Sorry about that.
Okay, if I could ask, Chair, if that's okay.
Did you submit documents to the RCO box and to the attorney of record?
attorney of record uh no this is my first time so i was kind of reading but i do have it in the
No, this is my first time, so I was kind of reading.
screen so if so that's why you're continued okay so if you want to reach out to me or the rco box
or the attorney will continue your case the documents required should be submitted five days
prior to the hearing okay so we just wanted to give you the opportunity
D to hear why you were continued. Okay. Okay. All right. So how can I get your
information? So I'll be able to. I'll chat it with you. Okay. Okay. All right.
Thank you. Thank you. Chair. Thank you.
Calendar number 39586 9566 Wally Avenue. The attorney is Alan
Nockamson. Mr. Nockamson, you've been promoted to panelists. Thank you very much. Mr. Nockamson,
can you please put your name and address on the record? Yes, my name is Alan Nockamson of Nockamson,
MPC, 123 South Broad Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia, PA, 19109.
And do you affirm to swear or affirm to tell the whole truth or nothing but the truth?
Do you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
You may present your case.
I am presenting my packet of materials which include eight exhibits. First exhibit is the deed to the property showing that Andre and Irina Bobrove Nipoka, I apologize for mispronouncing their name, but own the property at 9566 Wally Avenue.
Just a little bit of background.
This lot size, it's a single -family residence, but the lot itself is over 15 ,000 square feet.
The house on the lot is only 1 ,900 square feet.
They are looking at second exhibits, the certificate of tax clearance, showing that they were in good standing with the city of Philadelphia.
They've owned this property for almost or have lived in this house for almost 15 years.
uh so they had um or they still have a shed in the in the far rear of their property they were
looking to put a new shed in the rear of their property and they did install it uh they were
unaware of the requirements to actually get a zoning permit you know for the installation so
when they received a notice of violation from lni they hired our office to handle this matter
They did receive the notice of refusal and they're being refused due to the size of the shed, the new shed. Under the code, they're limited to 130 square feet and they're asking for 355 square foot shed with a 14 and a half feet length of 24 and a half feet.
Just to reiterate, again, they're on a lot that's over 15 ,000 square feet where the shed is located. The only party that can actually see the shed is to the right of them and 9568 Wally Avenue. And you'll see from the photographs I'll show, the neighbor has almost the same exact building structure on their property with no permits.
So, you know, we took an aerial view from atlas .philo .gov to show what's surrounding them in 9566 Wally Avenue.
And as you can see, this is, you know, their shed right here that they're looking to legalize.
And this is the current shed which they're looking to demolish on their property.
But as you can see, 9568 has two structures on there and towards the rear.
unlike ours there's no path leading towards our shed here there is you know a path along the way
and 9564 also has a building structure on their property towards the rear of their property
9562 has as well 1017 twist road 1013 twist road 1011 twist road 1009 twist road and 1005
of Twist Road. None of these are recognized on the city's website as having permits.
So during the community meeting, there was some issue with the size of our shed. So it
was our understanding that the shed that we have installed and we're trying to legalize
is of similar size to other building structures that are located in the rear yards of these
uh yards of these other properties that i noted so we actually took what is on atlas and there's
other properties that I noted. So we actually took
a way to compute the size of it and if you look at it the size of the building structure to the
right of us because this is our shed the building structure to the right of us at 9568 walley avenue
is actually larger according to atlas of 30 386 .33 square feet so the fact you know during the
community meeting was discussed that our our you know building structure our shed is larger than
anything around there at least according to Atlas is not correct we also included the application
for appeal that was filed by my client with the zoning board of adjustment as long as well as the
project information form here are the zoning maps showing you know where we are in the neighborhood
again if you look at our you know size of our lot is substantial you know over 15 ,000 square feet
and you see for the rest of the property see my clients take really good care of their property
you know the front lawn is well maintained you can see even though the lot is very large the
building structure again according to the city's records is just over 1900 square feet uh you know
one of the reasons why they're looking to have a larger shed is that their garage is small uh they
typically park their cart in their garage. And then the storage in the basement of their property
is minimum at best. So they're looking to have this shed to replace this one. This is the shed
that was at their property when they purchased the property over 15 years ago. Again, over 15 years,
they've accumulated a lot of items and materials. They store their lawnmower in this shed.
They install, you know, they store their tools, they store their holiday decorations, and the husband of, you know, the husband and wife who own this property, Andre, his mother stays at the property often, and she has a disability, so they store her walker, her wheelchair, things like that.
So they really do need a decent amount of storage for their family.
And this is the drawings for the project. As you can see, again, this lot's over 15 ,000 square
feet. You can see the size of the building structure, which is around 1 ,900 square feet.
And you can see really where it's just tucked in the back. So no one else would see it other than
95 -68, where their building structure is right here, which is larger and again has no permits.
And you'll also see that part of the plans, they are removing the existing shed, assuming it gets
approved. And then here's correspondence from the coordinating RCO, Greater Busselton Civic League.
It was a very unique presentation. There were 47 addresses we mailed the entire presentation materials to, and then we had the presentation via conference call.
So no one was physically present at the community meeting, and I don't know how they advertised the meeting other than the 47 addresses we mailed it to.
um i will say that we don't know how they conducted the vote because we weren't there
i don't know how they proved that the people who were on who were voting were actually
you know the ones who had addresses that were within these 47 so i don't know if someone from
the coordinating or co is here we just don't have any of that information i don't believe that they
did anything improper i'm just saying that we don't have a lot of that information um i will
say that we did talk to the person to the right of us, we meaning my client, and 9568
Wally, and our understanding is that person had no objection to the granting of the variants.
I don't know if they were online, so we have a little information about this. But you'll see
that we did give information about this meeting. It was a dialed -in community meeting, and we gave
our packet of materials shows 47 addresses, which shows, you know, again, these addresses.
So that's our presentation in a nutshell. I would like my client to confirm and attest to my
presentation or the facts of my presentation. Irina, can you virtually raise your hand so
they can recognize you you can unmute and wait to this morning hello
and wait to be this morning.
Hello.
Hello.
Yes, Irina, can you state your full name and address for the record?
Irina Bobrovnikova, the last name B -O -B, like a name, B -O -B, like a B -R -O -V -N -I -K -O -V.
My address is 9566 Walley Avenue, Philadelphia, PA, 19115.
We're going to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Mr. Knackamson, maybe, I don't know if the sonographer got the name.
Could you spell the name first and last name for us, please?
Sure. I -R -I -N -A, B -O -B -R -O -V, N as in ANSI, I -K -O -V.
Irina, you heard what I stated today.
And is it true and correct?
And would you adopt it as your own testimony?
Okay. So I have a few follow -up questions.
How much money did you actually spend in constructing that shed?
It's about $6 ,000.
And I stated to the board that you've lived there for the past 15 years.
Is that correct?
And how much would it cost to demolish that shed?
It's about, I think, $2 ,000.
And what do you store in that shed?
Actually, you explained very well, but the only thing I would like to add, we have four bicycles and also we have...
I think, Mr. Nockamson, excuse me, ma 'am, I think we can agree that it's used for storage of anything from building materials to household goods, whatever.
It's a storage shed.
It's not a residence, right?
It's a storage shed.
storage okay yeah and what and why relate to that okay and why do you need that storage shed
um because actually we have a lot of stuff we live in here already 15 years almost that's why
we have a lot we have a bicycle we have a three alone movers and actually we have
garden stuff
and we have
tennis ping pong
table. We like to
play with our family
ping pong.
That's why this is pretty much a big table.
And also
Andre, he work full time
and take care of
his mom. And we very
love our parents.
we take care of and the parents often visit our house and we use like a worker and a lot
of stuff for her and we keep in our shed and also our basement is pretty much small and
we use our basement for musical instrument. We are a member on a church and actually we have
drums and guitar and we don't want to be noisy for our neighbor. That's why I think it's enough.
So and then you and Andre reached out to the owner to the right of you at 9568, right?
Yeah, 65.
Yeah, 68.
Did they have any issue with the installation of the shed that we're trying to legalize today?
Oh, no.
You know, we are very friendly.
And actually, when he built the art, oh, you know, it's beautiful.
And he gave, actually, a couple of advice for us.
And we are very, very friendly with our neighbor.
Mr. Nockinson, I have a question.
Is that new shed going to be used for musical instruments?
Is that going to be a band rehearsal place?
No, I don't think so.
Okay, then I think we'll have a picture.
Is that okay, Mr. Chairman?
That's okay.
Actually, there is no electricity and nothing.
It's just a storage.
And for musical instrument needs to be a storage at home because...
Irina, I think they get it.
I think we concluded our presentation.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Questions from the board.
no no no anyone else wish to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
i have a bernard bernard you can unmute yourself and speak to this case
um i don't hear anything from bernard so anyone else ahead you can keep moving to here
no one else okay okay now we just can you hear me
Okay, sir. I'm not sure if you have two devices or not, but something is giving us feedback.
So if you have two devices, turn one off.
And then I also have, Mr. McKeever, do you want to testify?
Your hand keeps going up and down, up and down.
John McKeever, you can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in.
One more waiting, planning commission.
A lot is designated for single, sorry, this is Mason Austin representing the planning commission.
A lot is designated for single family residential in the comprehensive plan and the zoning conforms to that designation.
Given the strong objection by the RCO and the lack of testimony with regard to hardship, the Planning Commission recommends against the approval of this variance.
I'm just curious what the opposition is, if we can get anybody to speak to that issue.
John McKeever, are you the same? Is it two people or not? Is it Bernard and John together or no?
No. No. This is John McKeever, J -O -H -N -M -C -K -E -E -V -E -R.
Your address, sir?
1927 Rally Road, R -E -I -L -L -Y, Philadelphia, PA -19115.
I'm the Vice President of the Inter -Bussell Civic League, the RCO, testifying today.
You're swearing for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
First thing I want to do is indicate the voting and how it's done, evidently by the lawyer, doesn't know.
So we operate on a telephone basis because we have 30 of our 280 members who do not have a computer.
So therefore, we have to use the telephone device to do it.
Two, he's the president of the Muslim Civic League.
It's a copy of all the addresses or emails of the people who call in during this meeting.
So as you see in the letter you got from him, there were 35 people on that particular call.
The way we vote, since we can't have it by hand, the individuals have time to email the Muslim Civic League website.
and when that particular
they can vote yes or no to the project
they have seven days to do that
and he received
21 correspondents
22 correspondents
21 opposed and one
were in support
would you repeat that again sir
I'm sorry
members and we had that officially
in case the employer wants to know and who opposed it and one who supported it.
The reason why, as the Planning Commission indicated, the size of this
building is a lot larger than shit. You can put the objects that the applicant
indicated in there, but you can put a lot of other things in there too of nature.
you can put a lot of other things in there too of nature and that's why the neighbors
And that's why the neighbor uses
who attended that meeting were definitely opposed to doing this now i know other people have sheds
in the area and the person next door's shed is larger well why wouldn't he support something
where uh he is doing something that's not legal either so the bottom line is we want to raise
objection to it based on what the neighbors fear. Also, too, there are other objections. First of all,
the property is three and a half feet beside the property line when you require 10 feet,
so that's not legal right there. And also the neighbors are concerned that this is going to be
used for other purposes other than storage with the size. This is three times bigger than a shed,
normal shed so you can store a lot more things in there than that or else you
can move those things somewhere else and use it for some other purpose whether
it be a business which you're hearing as another location or whatever else you
want to do now business is illegal we realize that but as the learner said
himself that this is way back of this property it's very large no one can see
it, so you could be doing anything in that particular shed. So this is the
objection that the neighbors raised. This shed was going to be used for other
purposes than what they indicate there. And also, too, since one neighbor has
indicated to us that there is an electrical line running through the shed,
now it may not have electricity now, as Irina stated, that doesn't mean in the
future electricity can't be posted in there. So basically we're supporting the
neighbors to oppose this particular change, as the Planning Commission has also done.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you for your testimony, sir.
Is it safe to say, or correct me if I'm wrong, is it the size of the shed or is it the concern
about what the use may be going forward?
It's the concern.
It's the fact of how it could be used in the future.
I think that's the major objection, because the size of it is such a large size that the neighbors are concerned that it's going to be converted into something other than shed.
That's from my understanding of what the neighbors have told us.
I think I get that. I think the board gets that as well.
I'm just curious, Sharon, if we were to approve this with a proviso, is there a proviso that we could come up with that would guarantee that it could only be used for storage of materials or whatever and never to be used for anything?
No one living in there, no living unit, no whatever.
You could add proviso saying no electricity and no use other than storage.
yeah i think that would do it so mr chair we actually offer to do a proviso for no business
purposes in terms of electricity and i haven't really talked to my client about this i think
she would just want electricity just in case like you know potentially i don't know why turn a light
on you don't want to go if it's dark at night you want to go in there you need light i don't have
that much of concern about the electricity it's just what gets what what the electricity would
be used for other than lighting on some receptacles in there if they're going to you know do any work
in here they have tools yeah i so i and i may correct me if i'm wrong if we wanted to do
anything but for storage that would that would generate another violation like we would have
so the the purpose was never to like use this for any type of commercial use i'm not suggesting that
that was the reason. I'm just trying to find a place where the community can be, you know,
feel comfortable that this is not going to turn into an extension of a business or some other
use than storage. Well, how about accessory storage for household living? Something to
that effect, Mr. Chair. Whatever is the tightest we can make it, it would be my opinion. And that's
the board has to vote so I'm just throwing that out there. What is the square footage?
The square footage, Madam Vice Chair, it is according to refusal 355 square feet.
And Mr. Nockamson is correct that any business use or extension of the residence into that would
would generate and that would be a violation in any case um so adding the language that
um so adding the language that he suggested it would give the community some assurance
he suggested it would give the community some assurance
and again i want to make it as tight as possible in the event i'm not saying suggesting that his
client is going to do this but somebody else can come along they sell the house someone else has
that shed and they may decide to use it as an office or something of that nature because i look
at 1009
Twist Road, that seems to be
a very large
shed as well.
Again, I would ask that
Sharon, you give us the
most restrictive language you could give us.
I think the language that
Mr. Nockamson suggested was good.
Storage accessory to household use
All right. Anyone else
wish to testify in this case, please
raise your hand.
i have no one chair all right um alan i'm going to ask you to give me that language again
uh storage for a storage accessory to household use only
okay uh calendar number three nine five eight six nine six nine five six six wally avenue
my vote is yes with the proviso storage for household accessory uses only a storage
accessory to household use only storage be limited to a storage accessory
storage accessory limited to household use
to house storage storage accessory to household use only storage to be accessible to household
use only that's the proviso my vote is yes with that proviso yes with proviso yes for proviso
yes for proviso yes with proviso
thank you very much
you're welcome
have a great day
you too
I believe that completes
the 3 .30 list is there any
unfinished business
no nothing for today but I will
send out an invitation for tomorrow
morning there are a lot of
follow up things that you will be doing
tomorrow so I'll send you
a memo on that and then we can talk
about them in the morning
executive session nine o 'clock tomorrow morning yes all right well tanya yes that's true sir
we're good yes okay good night everyone stay safe good night all good night everyone good
night good night sheree thank you for everything okay you too it's tanya it's tanya