Yes. Good afternoon. Mary Jones, M-A-R-Y, J-O-N-E-S, here on behalf of Council President Darryl Clark.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
yes uh the council president just asked that the board take under consideration
the community group's concern about density for this particular proposal
community group's concern about density for this particular proposal. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Is there anyone else in the first audience?
I do not see any further hands, Mr.
I plan a commission. Oh, Mr. Chair, can I just respond? I was just, I was going to wait for everyone to give their comments. Can I respond?
uh yeah so a couple things um in terms of our petition the reason why we didn't submit one
was we did not think that this was one of those projects that would be controversial and then
from experience miss cummings asks us politely never to show a petition or letter of support
because she thinks that somehow trumps her community meeting so we never show petitions
or letters of support this as a matter of practice but if you look at the the petition
and the letters of support. They do have addresses at 2330, 2314, 2345, 2355, and 2335 all on that
block in support of this project. In addition, there is a documented history of non-single
family use on that property. I can't speak to the recent history of whether someone then
converted it back, but I'm just telling you since 1986, there's a documented history of
multifamily use, plus vacant lots there, plus there's an apartment building across the street,
and there's five other instances of multifamily structures, which are RSA 5,
that are multifamily in nature. If this board feels like the proposal is not the least modification
possible under the Philadelphia zoning code, my client would agree to provide a maximum of two
units in addition to the other provisos of eliminating the roof deck and the roof deck
access structure and no basement living. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Matheson. Planning Commission.
Good afternoon, Chair and members of the Board. This is Greg Waldman from Planning Commission
staff. In 2014, the zoning map was amended from residential multifamily to residential
single family at this location in accord with recommendations from the comprehensive plan.
The proposed three dwelling units does not substantially differ from the five rooming units approved in 1986.
However, the dimensional requirements of the zoning code that prohibit roof decks in the neighborhood conservation overlay do not create an economic detriment for the applicant.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the zoning board grant the variance with the following condition, the roof deck.
Thank you.
Mr. Notkinson, there's been a lot of testimony on this. What I want to do is take this back to
the board. We will vote on this next Wednesday at 2 p.m. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Number 15.
MI 2023-003-580-1530 East Houston Street. Alex Goldberg is the attorney.
letter of support from Fishtown Neighbors Association and applicants submitted a petition
and support signed by 13 neighbors along with four form letters, including one from the adjacent
neighbor at 1532 East. Mr. Goldberg. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members of the board.
Mr. Goldberg, could you either get closer or turn your volume up a little bit, just a little bit?
Can you hear me now? Yeah, we can. We can.
Right, sir. Could you state your name and spell, please, for the court's sonography?
Sure. Alex Goldberg, A-L-E-X-G-O-L-D-B-E-R-G.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client and the relationship to the property?
Sure. My clients are Michael Baker and Eugene Marone. They're the owners of the property.
And our vice chair has just a few questions, sir.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, but I'll note that by way of proviso form and revised plans, we have eliminated one of the refusals.
Fair enough. Have you emailed in all the current documents and exhibits that is needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Okay. Thanks again. My name is Alex Goldberg of the law firm Nockamson PC. I am here presenting
1530 East Houston Street. We're seeking now just one variance for this single family home.
Again, the property owners are Michael Baker and Eugene Marone, and at the conclusion of my presentation, I'll ask Eugene to raise his hand and adopt my testimony.
Again, the property owners are Michael Baker and Eugene Marone.
So, here's your table of contents.
First, there will be the notice of refusal.
This is a single-family home in an RSA 5 zoning classification.
We're seeking to keep it that way and only seeking a variance for rear yard depth.
The second exhibit is a letter of support from Fishtown Neighbors Association.
We met with them earlier this fall and received unanimous support.
Third exhibit is the revised proviso plans form and the revised plans.
Fourth is a petition, then an aerial view of the property, some maps of the property,
photographs of the front of the property, the posting photos in the surrounding area,
architectural plans and drawings, the RCO meeting notice, the application for appeal.
The deed to the property showing that Mr. Baker and Mr. Marone are the owners of the property and the Certificate of Tax Clearance.
I'll note that James Hare of Design Blends is the architect for the project, and he is, again, available for testimony if needed.
So here's the first exhibit. It's the Notice of Refusal was issued earlier this summer.
you'll see that the application is for a rear three-story addition and roof deck and roof deck
access structure to an existing single-family attached structure. The story here is basically
that Michael and Gino purchased this home in 2020. They received a number of violations on
the property in 2021, which they were confused about until they found out that almost all of
work that was uh done in the 2019 renovation of this project was was not permitted um a contractor
who not only did that sort of work to this property did did um similar work to other homes
on this block um so that individuals in known quantity when we showed up to the fish town
neighbors meeting they were aware um that this situation uh had occurred had occurred so now
Michael and Gino are sort of going, you know, stepping back into this process. They had
now seek a variance for an addition and a roof deck that was existing on the property when they
purchased it. So now we're going back to seek a variance for that rear yard depth from the
11 foot addition that was built to the existing structure. And again, as you'll see, we do have
a proviso form and revised plans after speaking with the neighbors and my clients, we have added
a 5-foot roof deck setback, which was not built when this renovation took place. We understand
the spirit of the code is life and safety of not only Mike and Gino, but people that are at their
house using their roof deck and future owners as well. So we've agreed to install a 5-foot setback
and you'll see that in their revised plans. Here's the letter of support from the Fishtown
Neighbors Association. We met with them on September 12th, and they're in support of the
granting of the variance for the rear yard depth. And at that meeting, we came to an understanding
with them that we would be presenting the proviso plans, adding that five-foot roof deck setback,
and you'll see we have unanimous support, 26 in favor, zero in opposition. Here are those
revised plans. You can see the only changes to the application noted here are the roof deck
setback increased to meet a minimum of five feet. You'll see that bubbled here in red
for sort of a site plan view of the property that's now being set back from East Houston
Street. Here's a petition. Mike and Gino are owner occupiers. They love this block. That's
why they moved here a few years ago. And their neighbors were in full support of helping them
sort of get past this nightmare that they've been dealing with. And you'll see those letters
of support and petitions here. Here's an aerial view of the property, just to sort of show you
what it looks like. This is 1530 East Houston, showing this roof deck here that doesn't have
that five-foot setback that, you know, the code requires. An Atlas map showing that we're between
East Susquehanna Avenue and East Berks and Gall and Cedar Streets. And a Google Maps perspective
showing sort of our proximity to the main commercial corridors of Fishtown. Here's the
photographs. This is the front of the property. Here's the orange notice poster, both posted at
ground level and in the window above to the right of the property on east houston street
And to the left, here's the architectural plans and drawings.
and to the left here's the architectural plans and drawings this
This site plan is the same that I presented a few slides ago showing that we're meeting this five-foot setback.
I'll point out that this site plan, which I'm happy to zoom in on, shows the portion of the property that was added to the original building structure.
It's an 11-foot piece that you can also see depicted here, which allowed the contractor who did this work to create a larger kitchen, bathroom, and living space.
I'll also note that because we are less than 45 feet deep, the code only asks for a rear yard depth of 7 feet as opposed to 9 feet for lots that are greater than 45 feet in lot depth.
And as you can see here, we're proposing a rear yard depth of 6 feet 1 and 3 quarter inches. And again, that's an existing condition of what is currently there.
Here's a floor plan just working from right to left, showing that they have a kitchen and garage on the ground floor, living space and office space and a bathroom on the second floor, and then the bedroom area and bathroom on the third floor with a roof deck above.
12. Here's the RCO meeting notice. Again, we met September 12th at 7 p.m. We mailed
this out in a timely fashion. Here's the email notification showing that it went out
to the coordinating RCO and all of the required parties. We mailed 178 notice mailers, and
these are those addresses. The bulk mailing certificates. Here's the application for appeal.
And then finally is, sorry, the deed to the property showing Michael Baker and Eugene Marone are the owners of the property.
They've owned it since December of 2020.
And finally, certificate of tax clearance showing that no taxes are owed on the property.
With that, I would ask Eugene to virtually raise his hand and adopt my testimony.
Mr. Marone?
they have been allowed to talk hi mr marone could you state your name spell it please for
the court stenographer uh yes my name is eugene e-u-g-e-n-e last name is marone m-a-r-r-o-n-e
right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
thank you proceed mr goldberg hey eugene uh did you hear my testimony today yes sir and was it
true and correct yes and you adopt it as your own i do thank you questions from the board
no mr chairman no chair questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
here we have robert every okay
hi could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer yeah good afternoon
again first name is robert last name everett e-v-e-r-e double t i think i swore you earlier
today sir so just proceed you did indeed i'm just here to confirm everything alex has said
and we are totally in support as a community organization thank you very much for taking
the time to cause is there anyone else in the virtual audience
i see no handshare planning commission good afternoon chair members of the board this is
greg baldman planning commission staff the comprehensive plan recommends no change to
existing residential single-family zoning the appellant's property is shallow presenting a
hardship for meeting yard depth requirements in the code furthermore the proposed dimensional
variance is minimal and does not conflict with the purpose of the spirit of the zoning code
the city planning commission recommends that the zoning board grant the variance thank you
MI 2023-003-580, 1530 East Houston Street. I vote yes with proviso. Revised plans,
one page, stamped by CBA on October 25th, 2023.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso. Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes with proviso.
we're going to go back to number 11. Thank you, Mr. Holloman. Thank you, sir. Mr. Holloman has
recused himself for this. It's MI 2023-003-559.
MI 2023-003-559-2340 Cecil B. Moore Avenue.
Vern Anastasio is the attorney.
Letter of support from Brewery Town Chargersworth Community Civic Association.
Property received a historical commission approval in 2022.
And we will have Emily Persico will be our alternate board member voting on this.
Mr. Anastasio.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair.
Vern Anastasio for Beach and represented by Mr. Bernard Savage.
Mr. Anastasio, you've already been sworn once today.
Our vice chair has a question for you, sir.
Thank you.
Council, do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, sir.
Have you emailed in all the required documents that are needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, sir.
Thank you. Please proceed.
Thank you.
Mr. Chair, members of the board, this property is zoned for CMX2.
We are looking to do construction of an attached structure with a roof deck, roof deck access for dwelling units with vacant ground floor commercial space in this in this area.
We have.
Excuse me for one moment while I move that.
we do have some refusals as it relates to the um the roof deck and the roof deck access uh structure
number of dwelling units allowed is three we are looking for four
and the maximum occupied area it's just slightly below what is um allowed as a matter of right
And with that, I want to show you our interiors.
This here is the lower level.
We'll have business support on the lower level.
We'll have the commercial space on the first level, and then we will have four, one, two, three, four residential units that are in excess of 500 square feet, although they are, I would say, junior efficiencies, but they are all open concepts.
So they're very ample in size and open.
What we're doing, my client, Beach Interplex, which I'm sure many of you are familiar with the organization,
they're taking this property that has been left to squalor for many, many, many years.
And they're going, this is the property right here.
And they're going to be breathing new life into it.
We've been working with the Historic Commission and have gotten approval for what we'd like to do to restore and respect the integrity of the property.
The property is going to be targeted to the artistic community with the hope that we can put some art commercial space there on the first floor and rent these four units to members of the artistic community.
In addition to the typical materials, we have, in fact, added the correspondence and information from the various different agencies, including but not limited to the Historic Commission.
Here's the property.
As you can see, it has been historically in major disrepair.
we met with the neighbors also attached is the uh the appeal itself we met with the neighbors
after inviting uh 150 separate households which we have proof of mailing here this is the two-page
letter that went out to all interested parties who live within three to four hundred square feet
here are the addresses and as a result we do have a letter of support from the rco
uh mr chair do you have that in your file or should i uh present i believe we have that
okay right hillary you should which which document i'm sorry i didn't do the document
Which document? I'm sorry. I didn't hear the document.
Rurie Town Chargewood, letter of support.
Yes, we do have that.
I want to move that into evidence as well as my exhibit binder, which is 31 separate pieces of evidence today.
And with that, I'd like to call and ask Mr. Bernard Savage to raise his virtual hand to be recognized.
i've been about to speak sir hi sir could you state your name and spell please for the court
stenographer good afternoon everyone my name is bernard savage b-e-r-n-a-r-d s-a-v-a-g-e
and i'm the director of real estate and project development here at um beach
Do I refer him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.