properties, they have two that meet the low income threshold and two that meet the moderate
income threshold under the mixed income housing bonus, although they are single family dwellings.
They meet those for those that have the units at the lower level in terms of rent. They meet those
levels. We are looking here to provide one of the units, even though it doesn't qualify under the
mixed income housing bonus through the zoning code in the planning commission. I have been in
conversations with the planning commission to see if there was a mechanism where the owners wanted
to commit to providing an affordable unit and still going through that process so uh we did
present to the community that one of the three units was going to be um priced uh one of the
upper levels was going to be priced at the moderate income threshold as set forth in the uh in the
mixed income housing bonus uh under the philadelphia zoning code um and that was what
was presented to the community, and that is the intention of my clients.
Here's a rendering of the building, and you can see right here, fitting in with the height
of the buildings to either side using red brick.
We have gone with them slightly, oops, sorry about that, slightly more modern bay.
A lot of glazing and glass for eyes on the street.
If possible, we'll be putting in another street tree into the footway.
We did run some comps, both rental comps and sales comps in the area.
They are included at Exhibits 15 and 16, and both of them demonstrate that for new construction, there's not anything really particularly close.
You can see you get over into Brewery Town for a lot of the new construction, but that the rates don't support doing this property by right as a single family dwelling.
And if you care to take a look at those, we did include all the comps that my client pulled up, both 15 and 16.
And I can have her testify in greater detail if you have further questions on that.
we do have a couple just so you get an example of what some of the other units that my clients
have developed again i indicated that half of their units meet the moderate or low income
threshold under the philadelphia zoning code and there's their intention here just as with
the other properties that they have is to provide comparable finishes high quality finishes throughout
the unit so they're not going to be skipping there our tax clearance for my clients included
at tab at tab 17 a deed for the subject property showing that my clients do in fact own the own
the property a posting of our zoning notice is at tab 21 that was posted in compliance with the
zoning code our application of appeal and our project information form are at 22 and 23 tab
24 includes our 14 our community notice the email from the planning commission
designating saint elizabeth as a coordinating rco for the project
uh the list of addresses to which we mailed notice of our community meeting we had first
get notice of our community meeting meeting we had first we had that we had troubles getting
we had that we had troubles getting in touch with that
in touch with them initially in establishing a date so we sent out a 14 303 notice by certified
mailing that had a just notified of the project but did not have a date and time for the community
group meeting did have a date and time for the zoning board hearing and then we sent out a
subsequent one that had the information and again by certified mailing that had the information
regarding the community meeting on september 29th and again the certificate mailing for each
here's for the first one and here's for the second one
again in summary it's our position that the given the nature the condition of the block
given the lack of opportunities here to develop the property in compliance with the zoning code
whether it's under the Hertzberg case or some of the other cases that exist to support our
request for variance in this matter we ask that the board again grant the requested relief and
the permission for a three-unit dwelling at 1811 North Van Pelt Street. So for you do you have
revised plans? I do I have revised drawings they are one page I did submit again the only change
is the reduction in the parapet height and um and that was submitted previously with the revised
proviso plan form the one plan stamp today would be is your client available to testify yeah i
would like to have yeah both the architect and then um and my clients adopt my statements in
addition i i reserve the right to if there is anybody on the on the call to uh through additional
statements and testimony and presentations they're right to rebut um but first if um
if uh charles if you can get on the uh if you can please by the identified
mr kerr please unmute yourself
okay can you hear me now just identify yourself for the records by your first and last name please
My name is Charles Kerr, first name C-H-A-R-L-E-S, last name Kerr, K-E-R-R.
So are you trying to tell the truth, the whole truth, for nothing but the truth?
Thank you, please, for seeing.
Charles, you heard the statements I made to the board this morning.
I guess I did.
And are they regarding the architecture of the property, the proposed project, the surrounding area?
And are they true and correct, to the best of your knowledge?
Yes, they are.
And would you adopt those statements as your own?
I would.
Okay, thank you.
Anita or Irwin?
And or Irwin?
Did you raise your hand, please?
Hello, this is Anita.
Andrews?
Hi, Anita.
Can you spell your first and last name?
Yes, sir.
Anita, A-N-I-T-A.
Andrews, A-N-D-R-E-W-S.
So our firm will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Thank you.
Please proceed.
Anita, good morning.
Did you hear my statements to the board?
Yes, I did.
And particularly regarding the architecture, the nature of the area, you were the one who
pulled the comps regarding rentals and sales in the area, correct?
Correct.
And again, the statements I made regarding your other rental units and then the rental rates
comporting with the low and moderate income thresholds under the zoning code, you provided
that information to me?
I did.
And you ran the calculations, you did the pro forma to attempt to see whether a one or
a two family dwelling would work at this location, correct?
Correct.
And based upon your calculations, those would not be financially feasible. Is that correct?
Correct.
Okay. And it's true that the statements I made that when you can, you do develop single family dwellings as evidenced by your other projects that you have, correct?
Absolutely, yes.
Okay. And all right. Thank you. So you heard those statements. Are they true and correct to the best of your knowledge?
yes they are would you adopt them as your own yes i would okay thank you and again i i reserve
the right to call uh nita and charles if i need to if there's anybody else there's any further
testimony or any other statements thank you does the board have any questions uh yes mr chairman
can i suggest that we hold it until we get our rco letter thank you i mean again we i mean
i mean again we i mean we are trying to make the um you know before the end of the year and we did
it we are trying to make the um
do our best to reach out to them and i don't know if they're not on the call but i did reach out to
the council president's office again is there anyone else here that would like to speak in this
manner chair we have josh pesner please unmute yourself how you doing morning sir please identify
yourself for the records by your first and last name uh name is josh pesner j-o-s-h last name
pesner p-e-z-z-n-e-r your address 1815 north van pelt street okay you saw a friend to tell the
truth the whole truth from nothing but the truth i do thank you please proceed um so i am actually
in a uh a group chat with a couple other people from the block at the moment um and we would like
to know if we can get a continuance um to hire an attorney uh to get a more professional and
professionally submit uh all of our reasons why we don't want this uh and also we just heard the
case 1809 well some of the information is false that they presented 1809 north van pelt is not a
vacant house there's actually a family of four that lives there with two kids they've owned it
since 2010 um i'm a real estate professional myself i think that some of the comps they
put in were wrong um but yeah we we didn't i i personally only got one of the letters and i was
just saying that the the date got moved i didn't get any of the other letters that they put out
um so yeah we we would like to put a case together hire an attorney as as a community
thank you anyone else that would like to speak in this matter
yes chair we have mary jones thank you
ms jones you may unmute yourself and wait for the chair
jones good morning please identify yourself for the record
yes good morning uh mary jones uh from council president daryl clark's office city hall room 494
you still are firm to tell the truth the whole truth for nothing but the truth
i do thank you please proceed yes um i have um been in contact with the rco and um people are
at this and there's some people were not able to come today because it's it is election day
and many people are involved at the polls they would i agree with mr holliman that this vote
should at least be held.
I wasn't aware of the other community members
looking for an attorney,
but we don't have a final word from the RCO yet.
So there's still matters to be resolved
and our office has not yet.
We wanna basically review what the RCO submits
and what the issues are
so we can also determine whether we will take a position.
Thank you.
Anyone else?
no more handshare thank you board has uh any questions no mr chairman no thank you planning
commission good morning mr chairman members of the board david effecto city planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change in the single family zoning at this location
this is a 1358 square foot lot there are no unique physical circumstances that would prevent it from
being used in conformance with the zoning code. However, there are 14 properties on this block
which contain multiple dwelling units, many of which predate the 2014 zoning map changes for
north central Philadelphia. Given the multifamily nature of the block, we recommend that the board
grant the requested use variance. Thank you. And again, if I could just respond, I mean, we work
with the community we always work with the community we've attempted to reach out to them
i'm not trying to you know we came to the community group meeting i don't not sure um so
first i'm hearing but about the some of the neighbors on the block hiring an attorney um
but you know we had some issues with them getting the meeting scheduled and now we're having issues
on this side getting a letter out of them i understand that the council president's office
wants to, wants to hear from them. But I mean, it's unfortunate that we're being held up because
they're not communicating. And again, I think the planning commission's position
is very persuasive in this matter. Yep. So what we're going to do, Mr. O'Fanini's is,
you know, without the letter too, we're curious too, we would like to see the letter. So we're
going to close this record and hold the vote for maybe like two weeks, I'll say,
pending the receipt of the letter. If we don't get the letter in a couple of weeks,
then we're going to render our decision, okay?
then we're going to render our decision, okay?
I would appreciate the opportunity to leave the record open
I would appreciate the opportunity.
to allow me the ability to respond to the letter.
I don't know that it would be wrong for them to respond to the letter.
But other than that, it would be the community group's letter,
St. Elizabeth's letter, a letter from Justine Elizabeth,
and then my response there, if any.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
So for calendar number MI 2021,
That's zero zero three one zero four 1811 North Van Pelt Street.
We're going to hold our vote pending a letter from the RCO for two weeks, right?
Two weeks.
Is that good, board members?
Yes, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you.
And again, if the board were to vote, I'm sorry, it would be one plan.
There's one page of the plan.
I see it in our exhibit book.
Thank you.
Thank you, good luck.
Oh, thank you.
Calendar number MI 2021-001496,
1851 North Van Pelt Street.
Chair, I have a Takesha Walker, who's in his race.
Please unmute yourself, Ms. Walker.
I'm not sure if anyone can hear me.
I am Ms. Scott, Shannon Scott.
I am the owner of the property.
You're the owner of the property.
Please promote her.
I'm sorry.
Hold on one minute, please.
Can you please promote her?
Yes, I'm doing it now.
Ma'am, can you please identify yourself for the records by your first and last name, please?