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