and we think they'll make a good fit in that mall there.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you for calling us.
We appreciate it.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
There are no more hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good afternoon.
David Fecto with the City Planning Commission.
Chairman and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this
location from commercial area one to commercial area two.
The appellant has shown that the proposed vehicle, equipment, supplies, and sales will
have no detrimental impacts beyond what might be expected the city planning commission recommends
the board grant or propose special exception for vehicle equipment supplies and sales thank you
mi2024 000128 9701 east roosevelt boulevard i vote yes thomas holloman my vote is yes
James Snell, my vote is yes
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes
Thank you, thank you
Thank you, Mr. Chairman
Number 9, MI 2024
000060
3912 Aspen Street
Alan Nockamson is the attorney
There's a recommendation of support
from the Mantua Civic Association
Alan Nackamson is coming back in as a panelist okay
Mr. Nackamson you've already been sworn but for the record could you mention your name
uh alan occamson could you identify your client the relationship to this property
yeah carpenters investment llc and the virtual audience is joe at a seven
okay our vice chair has just a few questions good afternoon council do you agree to read
another refusal or stipulate to his accuracy i do have you emailed in all the required documents
and exhibits that is needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing
I have thank you please proceed and share the screen
all right uh I think a straightforward one uh let's see uh oops 3912 Aspen Street
Another project in the Mantua area of Philadelphia.
And you will see from just the characteristics of the properties around the area.
This is a property or a project that makes sense.
This is a property or a project that makes sense here.
So first of all, we'll review the notice of refusal.
Then we also have a letter of support from the Manitoba Civic Association.
What we're asking for is not out of character to similar variances the board has granted for a number of properties.
And we'll go through each one of those.
And then maps of the area, you'll see, too, where we are in the neighborhood.
It kind of makes sense here to have what's a proposed triplex.
Then the aerial view of the neighborhood as well.
Photographs of the properties around the area are plans and drawings.
Our RCO meeting notice or application for appeal.
Our deeds of property showing that Carpenter's Investment LLC is the owner and our certificate of tax clearance.
I would again ask that Mr.
Out of Seven virtually raise his hand at the conclusion of my presentation so he can be sworn in.
and he can adopt my testimony as his own. So first things first, this is an RSA 5 property.
It's a pretty significant size lot, which you'll see. It's approximately 1,441 square feet,
and we're only asking for a triplex here. And the only refusal we have is for the proposed
multifamily use. So we met with the Manitra Civic Association. Similarly, we received a letter
of support that was unanimous in nature. So again, this community, especially in this part of
Philadelphia at the 3900 block of Aspen Street, they're asking for multifamily here. They're
seeking the density, which also leads to some affordability rather than the single-family homes
that are not being built because it's too expensive to build in Philadelphia right now.
And they particularly want more affordable housing, which they can get through these multifamily structures.
So the board has granted a number of variances, you know, requests over the year.
So 3854 Brown Street, which is a triplex, smaller in loss size, only 1,289 square feet,
while ours is 1,441. 3801 Brown Street, that's six units, which had 1,347 square feet of lot
size. 3860 Brown Street, 1,173 square feet of lot size. That was also six units. 3813 Folsom
Street was 1,139 square feet of lot size, three units, 3861 Fairmont Avenue, again, 1,330 square
feet of lot size, three units, 3930 Brown Street, 1,418 square feet of size, three units. And then
the list goes on and on. I just, you know, again, this is what we're asking for has been granted
on a number of occasions by the zoning boards.
And as you can see, there is a diversity of housing
from a zoning point of view, RM1, RSA5, and CMX2.
In particular, there's a commercial corridor
right here on Lancaster Avenue,
which they're trying to hope to develop
by increasing this density in the neighborhood.
And then again, here is it from a Google Maps perspective.
Then the aerial view of the property, as you can see, like this entire block is, you know, not entire block, but mostly vacant.
And, you know, we're trying to encourage that development through this proposed variance.
And then, again, you can see that we are a vacant lot, and it's a, you know, vacant lot from many different lots from this picture.
And then this property has been vacant for some time.
We've got this picture from Google Earth.
And as far back as 2007 as well, this property has been abandoned and or vacant.
And then these are the orange notice posters showing that we posted the notice posters for today's hearing.
And this is Aspen from both directions.
As you can see, this is a porch block.
So we try to emulate that and mimic that by way of our design.
and there are plans and drawings so again we have a flat building facade pronounced corners line
uh lentils and most importantly a porch to again mimic what you would expect from that part of the
neighborhood in mantua and then again we're not asking for any dimensional variances um we have
you know the requisite height the requisite open area and the requisite rear yard setback
and then this is just our floor plans the first floor and the lower level is unit number one
and the lower level is unit number one, second floor is unit number two, third floor is unit
second floor is unit number two third
number three. And then we met with the community on February 29th at 5 p.m. This is the email that
was sent out to the relevant parties, you know, a few weeks before our community meeting where
we gave a copy of what we mailed out to the community, and that mailer went to 126 addresses.
These are the addresses.
This is proof of mailing to those addresses.
Our application for appeal that we filed on behalf of Carpenter's Investment LLC,
the notice of refusal, the project information form, our deed to property,
and most importantly, our tax clearance certificate.
Showing $426.90 due, but technically it's not due until the end of the month,
so my client is tax compliant in that respect.
I would ask that Mr. Adasevich virtually raise his hand.
Alan, that block's almost completely vacant. Am I correct?
I'm sorry, what'd you say, sir?
The block is almost completely vacant.
Oh, yeah. Oh, completely.
Thank you.
Mr. Adasevich?
Yes, Chair. Mr. Adasevich is allowed to speak.
Sir, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, my name is Gazi, G-A-Z-I, Joe Adaseven, J-O-E-A-T-A-S-E-V-E-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Please proceed, counsel.
Yes, Mr. Adaseven, you heard everything I had to state today about your zoning matter.
I have.
And is it true and correct?
Yes, absolutely.
And do you adopt this as your own testimony?
Yes, I will.
thank you questions from the board no chair no chair questions or comments from our attorney
hillary emerson not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
yes chair i have robert mandeville and i will allow him to speak
hi sir could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer
Robert Mandeville, can you unmute yourself, please?
I did not request to speak.
Okay, thank you.
We appreciate it.
Oops, I hit him up.
Sorry.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
There are no more hands.
Thank you.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman.
Good afternoon.
David Fechter with the City Planning Commission.
Chairman and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential
single-family zoning at this location. The zoning on this block dates to 2017, resulting from a
community-requested map change. The appellant proposes three dwelling units where one is allowed.
There is no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property that would
prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning code. The City Planning Commission
recommends the Board deny the proposed use variance for three dwelling units. Thank you.
MI 2024, 0-0-0-0-6-0, 3912 Bastion Street.
I vote yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed.
Tom was muted.
Ishii just voted yes?
Yes, Chair.
uh tom you need me to re-say it thomas holloman thomas holloman you have me could you give your
vote please tom thomas holloman my vote is yes thank you ishmael shaheed my vote is yes
Thank you, counsel. Number 11, MI2024-000150, 9600 Stanton Avenue. Ira Quarterwood is the attorney. Letter of support from the Chestnut Hill Community Association.
Ira Cotterwood has been promoted.
Sir, could you please state your name and spell it for the court stenographer?
My name is Ira Cotterwood, K-A-U-D-E-R-W-O-O-D, first name Ira, I-R-A.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client in relationship to this property?
Sure. My client is the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania, and I am an Associate General Counsel at the University of Pennsylvania.
Sure. My client is the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania.
Very good. Thank you. Our Vice Chair has just a few questions.
Good afternoon, Counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed, then, all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
We have. We have done so.
Thank you so much. Please proceed and share your screen.
Okay. Let's see.
Can you see that?
Uh-oh.
I have with me Eric Dells, who is going to help me if you would allow him to share the screens.
He's the one that submitted the exhibits.
Yeah, please.
Why don't we do that?
Is he with you there?
We have to.
Yes, he's in another.
Please promote it.
Okay, good.
Thank you.
Have him put the screens, the exhibits up.
There he is.
Eric, could you put up exhibit H, please?
While Eric's doing that, this is a proposal to put a 370-foot storage shed on a 116-acre
site. So we feel it will be an unnecessary hardship to prohibit this small addition that
the zoning code considers it an additional principal building on this 16-acre site. And
And Eric, could you go to page two of this plan?
Just a quick scroll down.
There we go.
So here you can see on the right side in plan and section, the proposed storage set.
And just very quickly, I'd like to, I have also with me William Kalina, who's the executive director of the Morris Arboretum. And he could quickly explain what the use of this will be and why the Morris Arboretum needs it. And Eric, if at the same time you could go exhibit K, that would be great.
You want to bring him on now to speak?