Just for the point.
Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Okay. Could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
Yeah, Mr. William Berry is the owner of the property.
Okay. Our Vice Chair, Carol Tenere, has a few questions.
Good morning, Mr. Anastasia. Do you agree to leave the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I do. Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance, refusal referral,
photos under plans of the property, five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with the
RCO, and do you have a letter? I do. Okay, you may proceed and begin, you did, sharing your screen.
Thank you. Sure. 1528 West Erie Avenue is a pre-existing structure that was purchased
by my applicant, Mr. Willis Berry at Sheriff's Sale on August 1st, 1993. At that time, the
property had six doorbells, was fully plummeted for six units, and it presented itself as a six
unit dwelling. The applicant made no changes to the property other than aesthetic changes and
replacing light fixtures and things like that for servicing all six units. The property sits
in an RSA 5 district and is legally zoned for two-family dwelling, but has a long-serving
pre-existing non-conforming six-family dwelling and rooming house history. We are seeking to
legalize five-family dwelling. We have reduced our number of units from six to five after meeting
extensively with the RCO, where we then put the common area for trash storage and a place for
storage and for trash storage and regular personalty storage as well.
we did do that to accommodate a common area that would provide all tenants with internal access to
basement mechanics as well and storage and egress to Erie Avenue and the rear yard as I said the
concession was a response to concerns about the trash storage and rodents from the RCO there are
several multifamilies on this block. In addition to this property having a history for decades as
a six-family dwelling, 1526 is a legal five-family with the beauty parlor, 1530 is a legal seven-family
dwelling, 1522 is a legal six-family dwelling, 1524 is zoned for social services, and 1536,
which is a double wide lot, is zoned for 12 units. We did have, in fact, the property reviewed
to see what it would cost to convert this back to a compliance use. And this is from Cicada
Architectural and Planning. The cost to do so would be approximately $100,000 per floor
for renovations, which would in fact be prima facie evidence of a hardship to get it back
there. I also want to make sure that the cost of compliance as a hardship, even relevant when
considering one existing non-conforming use over another, is governed by Marshall versus the City
of Philadelphia, and I will submit this material as well into evidence. I do want to show you some
photos. This property has been in my firm's portfolio for well over 18 months. We have tried
extensively to meet with the RCO and meet their demands. They have, as a general rule,
which they won't support anything more than three families period regardless of the size of the
building and regardless of the fact that every almost every property on this block is a five
six and seven family dwelling it is a very large property
in addition to the photos that I'll submitted to evidence
we also have the property history that we're submitting as you can see it was five family
in a beauty shop at one point, and it has also been a six-family history as well.
And with that, in addition to the deed and the tax cert and the proof of mailings that we submit to you today, with that, I'd like to call my client, Mr. Barry to raise his hand.
And with that, in addition to the deed and the tax search,
mr chair mr harry cook has his hand raised to allow him to speak
please i was hoping i was hoping for mr barry first uh willis barry is he not there mr hand
Yes, I see him in the audience. Mr. Berry, please raise your virtual hand. Mr. Willisberry,
please raise your virtual hand. Okay, he's been allowed to speak. Thank you.
Hi, good morning. Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Yes, my name is Willis W. Berry, Jr.
It's W-I-L-L-I-S, middle initial W, last name Berry, V-E-R-R-Y, Jr.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, Mr. Counselor.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Berry, did you hear my presentation to the board today?
Yes, I did.
Was it mostly true and accurate to the best of your knowledge?
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Mr. Chair, I'd like to call my colleague, Attorney Harry Cook, who did go with Mr. Berry through the RCO process.
So, Cook has been allowed to speak.
Good morning, Mr. Cook.
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Good morning, Harry Cook, H-A-R-R-Y-C-O-O-K.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do, sir.
Proceed.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Cook, you were, in fact, the attorney who attended the RCO meetings with Mr. Berry in an attempt to negotiate a proposal that everyone could agree on. Is that right?
That is correct.
Okay. Can you please explain to the board that process and how fruitful or non-fruitful it was?
Sure. So the 13-4 Democratic Committee is the RCO coordinating RCO on this project.
Our refusal was dated 12-3-19. We had our first RCO, I believe, in February of 2020, just prior to the COVID shutdown of everything.
It was a contentious hearing. We decided to, we heard a lot of commentary about property upkeep, density, and trash storage.
We decided to then continue the hearing that was scheduled. It was naturally broken by the COVID break and to meet again.
we've had three continuances in this matter by council office and by RCO we've met on three
occasions as Vern you alluded to the RCO has a position that the Erie corridor running from broad
where this property is situated despite its history despite the neighboring property history
as evidenced in the packet you're submitting of multifamily use, five, six, multiple uses,
et cetera, that does not satisfy their particular hardship standard.
They apply, generally speaking, and hopefully Mr. Karnas here to address this also, whether
it's new construction or something like this property that was built and demised as a six
unit before the zoning code. It's three units. We presented pretty much what you presented today,
the history of this as prior approval as a two-family with physician's office on first floor,
all of the neighboring properties, the recent 2017 approval for 12 units at the double-wide lot
next door. And as a concession, we did offer to bring down in light of the cost of conversion
to five units, which the revised plans that you have in your presentation indicate
in response to, you know, where is everyone going to put the trash? How are people from
the upstairs going to access the basement and get to the backyard? And even with those concessions,
when we provided the trash room in the basement, as indicated, there were concerns, oh, now you're
going to be keeping trash in the property. So it appeared that no matter what we tried to do,
So it appeared that no matter what we tried to do and no matter how close we tried to come to compliance, it was just an intransigent process.
and no matter
We attempted to present this case previously, and at the last moment, there was a continuance granted so that we could try and work it out again.
Parties met. We did present this five-unit plan. Could not come to four. Cost prohibitive, especially in light of the value of this property.
the value of this property on the tax rolls in the, I believe, in the high $20,000 to $30,000.
It is right now unrentable because he can't get rental licenses. It's sitting fallow
and presents a tremendous hardship. We presented all of that on multiple occasions for the RCO
and were rebuffed at each time, according to this arbitrary standard. In addition,
You know, this Erie Avenue corridor that is leading up from Broad Street with all of that transit activity in the Philadelphia 2035 plan is identified to be kind of like a urban center and with density increases imagined to support what's going on in that neighborhood.
So, you know, I presented that to the RCO and stated that it wasn't out of line with the plan for the city and what was imagined by the Planning Commission, and I was rebuffed on that as well.
All of the residential uses on that block are multifamily, and there is a services organization that has one property.
I believe you have that in your list.
Thank you, Mr. Cook.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, based on the testimony of Mr. Cook and the testimony of Mr. Berry and
my exhibit packet and the evidence provided to you today, I respectfully request that this appeal
be granted. Thank you. I have nothing for it. Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chair.
Hello, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
mr chair i have mr charles richardson with his hand raised i have allowed him to speak at this
time sure good morning mr richardson good morning mr chair hi could you state your name and spell
for the court reporter charles richardson r-i-c-h-a-r-d-s-o-n office of councilwoman
cindy bass room 312 city hall do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing
but the truth. I do. Proceed. The councilwoman is standing with the RCO with their request that it
be refused. If the board sees fit to grant the variance, we would ask that there be a proviso
of no basement living. There has been a construction of a new entrance on the front
end of the property, which I believe that they attend for trash storage, but it could be in
future used as a basement apartment if possible. So I want to make sure that that is reflected
if you guys so choose to move this forward. Thank you for your input, Mr. Richardson.
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
I see no further hand at this time.
hi planning commission mr chair this is hillary just a quick question for mr anastasio mr anastasio
how many units are you requesting today five and none in the basement okay you're requesting five
okay all right thank you and mr chair if you're inclined to grant this then we would need a
proviso to indicate a max thank you sure um planning commission thank you chair bergman
Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. Board members, the existing zoning
here is RSA 5. However, the comprehensive plan recommends a zoning map amendment from RSA 5 to
RM1 multifamily zoning to reflect the predominant existing uses along this block of Erie Avenue.
Under RM1 4, dwelling units would be permitted as a matter of right. However, given the prior
configuration of the structure as a six-family dwelling, we recommend that the board grant the
variance with the proviso as reflected in the revised plans five dwelling units thank you
mi 2020 000 752 1528 west erie avenue proviso five dwelling units no basement living
carol tenere my vote is yes with proviso
Ishmael Shahi, yes, supervisor.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
Number five, MI 2022-001-921-1903.
001-921-1903 East Huntington Street.
Rachel Kearns Weatherington is the owner.
Letter of support from East Kenskin Neighbors Association.
Letter of non-opposition from Councilman Member Squilla.
Applicant provided four letters of support from the neighbors.
receive prerequisite approval from the streets department for a curb cut.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman.
Good morning. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Yes, it's Rachel Kearns-Weatherington. R-A-C-H-A-E-L-K-E-R-N-S-W-E-T-H-E-R-I-N-G-T-O-N.
Right. Our vice chair, Carl Tenere, has a few questions, and we'll also read into the record what you're requesting.
Okay, this is an application for use as a non-accessory service parking. Is that the one we're on, number five?
Yeah, yeah.
Okay. Size and location is shown on plans. There's one use refusal, whereas the proposed use non-accessory surface parking is expressly prohibited in the RM1 residential zoning district.
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with the required documents consisting of proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal referral, photos and or plans of the property, five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
I have, and I do.
Okay, great. You may proceed and start sharing your screen.
all right you can see that okay
great great hi um my name is rachel prince weatherington and uh i'm the owner of this
property in 1903 but i'm not the applicant the applicant is also on the call um and we are
asking this is a photo of the property and we're asking to have one accessory parking space right
there were my my daughter's little playhouses. Just a real quick brief timeline of this property.
There was the adjacent structure 1901 was torn down that's the corner property
and from exposure to the elements 1903 had to be torn down as well as the pretty much half the
block was torn down. In the mid-80s the owner stopped paying taxes and the property sat vacant
and exposed it was an overgrown lot and even more houses were torn down. Sometime in the early 90s
the property was fenced in to the surrounding properties. And in 2009, they created a gate
and began to utilize, the adjoining property began to utilize an illegal curb cut on Jasper Street,
which is that street there in the photo on the left. So we are asking to put a legal curb cut
on the Huntington Street, which is a much safer place to put one. So in May 2012, the current
owners purchased 1900 East Herald Street which is the little white house there in the the top photo
and we stopped that illegal curb cut use and we began tending to three of those vacant lots with
community involvement and again the process of purchasing them all from the city we leased them
from the city as a community garden and in 2016 we were able to purchase 1901 and 1903 East
Huntington we were not able to get 1905 East Huntington and you can see there's now a house
there. So here's just an aerial image of where the photo on the right is where we live, 1900 East
Herald Street. I'm our block captain for this tiny little street here in East Kensington, and the photo
on the left, 1903, is where we'd like to be able to park a car. We've been very highly involved in
the community, including in weighing in on the zoning comprehensive plan, so I have a lot of
thoughts about zoning and have been involved in this um but um this some quick photos of the
garden throughout the years this is a photo when they the whole block was fenced in you see that
there's um the photo on the left is facing hunting is on taken from huntingdon street and the photo
on the right is on jasper street um where it was all fenced in and somewhat tended during that time
um by 2009 they the owners of 1900 had fenced it in with this chain link fence and you can see
the photo on the right where they began utilizing a curb cut there you can also kind of see there
was a the car was driving by there but you can see the curb is all broken down because they
never actually put a curb cut in they just utilized it as one and by 2011 it was completely
overgrown vehicles had been abandoned there was a large family of possums living in that vehicle
uh, large family of possums living in that vehicle that I had to tend to. Um, in 2014,
that I had to tend to.
you can see where I had taken over ownership, nice and tidy. We'd stopped utilizing that, um,
entrance. And, um, now it's a thriving garden. Here's 2018 as we started to have some infill
development around the um adjoining blocks and um here's 2019 and here's 2021 um i the reason i
showed this photo in particular the silver image uh the silver fence looking thing that's um a
temporary fence that we had to put up because a car came speeding down jasper street and lost
control and crashed into our yard took out my daughter's playhouse so that's actually the roof
of my daughter's playhouse um and you i leave that put this in here because i wanted to demonstrate
just how unsafe jasper street is for a parking spot anyways hence why one reason why we never
used it so here's the current garden today we've replaced that fence we've left an opening for
hopefully you'll allow us this variance um and that we could safely park a car there