than needed but 14 of those addresses are are are occupants within these affected properties
while at the community meeting only one person from the affected area attended and then this is
you know the phone numbers and and such of where they live of these individuals that signed in
support. And then the maps of the area. I mean, again, if you take a look at this, this is one
of the more unique properties I've dealt with over the course of my career. But this is RSA3.
This is only 16 feet wide. And then it's like a flag-shaped lot where you have then CMX 2.5 in
the rear. And then we're connected to actually in the rear CMX 2.5. But again, from a lot square
footage point of view. One-third of the lot is RSA3, where, again, that front portion has been
commercial before. And then two-thirds of the lot is CMX 2.5. And then you can see this from
a Google Maps perspective as well. You can see this ample, ample public transportation. Again,
we're next to, we're a block and a half away. I mean, we're maybe two blocks away from the
Queen's Lane Station as well for train. And then the aerial view of this property as well,
you can see this is a rather long, long, long lot. Here's the abandoned warehouse,
which I think we have a picture of as well. But this is a very irregular shaped lot.
And then photographs of the property. Our property is right here. Actually,
that's not even a great picture, but our property is right here. So and then this is the easement
area. So, and then this is proof of the notice that we put onto the property for today's hearing.
But again, another aerial view of the property. And then this is West Queen Lane from left and
right of the property. And then this is the abandoned warehouse that's in the back of our
property, which is completely dilapidated. We only bought the property of, you know,
Let me see where we bought the property. We bought the property in 2022. We haven't done anything with it, but clearly it needs to be dealt with.
And then this is the inside of that warehouse, as well as just the weeded backyard. So nothing's been done with this property for some time.
And then our plans and drawings, again, you'll see from the bubbles, like we made these changes,
which includes the reduction of the height with a roof line now of 33 feet, 6 inches at its highest point.
It actually slopes downward where I think it goes as low as 31 feet high.
And we removed here the roof deck in the rear.
and then again just just to kind of expand outward a little bit
um the only thing in the basement are utilities so i don't know where they come up with thinking
that we're doing any basement living at all it's very limited basement use at all and the only
basement use is really for that that original two-story building that we added a story on top
of it but like there's no basement use and it's built on grade actually in the rear which makes
accessible units as well for people in the rear we also provided an elevator so again we have
you know again we can if you the board feels don't climb we can go through the floor plans
um but you know we try to do a very responsible project here oops
And then, you know, we met last with the community on March 14th, which I believe was last Thursday at 6 p.m.
And then we emailed notice of that community meeting to the relevant parties beforehand.
So they had notice of that and proof of mailing of the notice that we sent to 110 addresses.
These are all the addresses. And that's what I do is if the people who attend the meeting,
if their addresses are announced which in this meeting they were one by one um i check it off
whether or not that that person is an affected um individual and there was only one on class like i
said and then this is proof of mailing of that notice and then this is our application for
appeal that we filed on behalf of our client notice of refusal project information form
deed to the property and then finally uh the certificate of tax clearance
uh with that being said um let me change the uh order that I originally stated I would ask that Mr
Let me change the order that I originally stated. I would ask that Mr. Aronovich adopt my testimony, and then I'll have Mr. Master Pasqua testify as well. So, Mr. Aronovich, can you virtually raise your hands?
I see no hands with the name Mr. Aronovich.
It would be A-H-A.
Okay, I found him.
He's been allowed to speak.
Sir, could you please state your name as spelled for the court stenographer?
Good afternoon.
Eran, E-R-A-N, Aronovich, A-H-A-R-O-N-O-V-I-C-H.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do, sir.
Please proceed, counsel.
Iran, you heard everything I had to state today about your zoning matter.
Yeah, sure.
And is it true and correct?
Yes, sir.
And do you adopt as your own testimony?
Yeah, I do.
Thank you.
I would ask that Mr. Master Pascua virtually raise his hand.
And Alan, he's just going to do parts of this.
He's not going to go back over the whole architecture.
No, we're just going to go back for record-keeping purposes.
Yeah, absolutely.
architect
i'm looking for him i did see him earlier here he is i will allow him to speak
sure thank you sir could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer
hello yes matthew m-a-t-t-h-e-w master pasqua m-a-s-t-e-r-p-a-s-q-u-a
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes please proceed counsel yes uh matt what's your role um in connection with the development
of this uh property i'm the architect of record for this project
gotcha and then are there any unique characteristics of this property
uh yes this the shape of this property is what we refer to as a flagpole lot
meaning that the rear portion of the parcel is wider than the street frontage.
In this particular case, it's wider by about 20 feet,
and it's also split zoning, as you mentioned before,
with RSA 3 in the front and CMX 2.5 in that wider rear portion.
Let's get to that page so the board can see that again.
is that what you're mentioning here i'm i'm on the the zoning map here this makes it a flag
shape a lot because it's very narrow in the front and then kind of expands out towards the rear
correct yes the yellow is the single family zoning and the coral color is the cmx 2.5
What is the width of the property's frontage?
It's 16 feet in the frontage.
All right.
And how does it compare to the frontage of other properties on the 300 block of West Queen Lane?
Right.
With one or two exceptions on our side of West Queen Lane on this block, we are significantly larger than any other property.
Gotcha.
Gotcha.
We're significantly narrower. Yeah. So we're more narrow. The 16 feet that, you know, the width of the front of our properties out of character to what you would see nearby on the 300 block of Queens.
Correct. On the front edge it is. Yes.
OK. And is it feasible to to develop this as as two single family homes?
Based on the Philadelphia zoning code, it is not, because there is a minimum requirement for street frontage.
So we would not be able to subdivide, even if we were to do a variance for a subdivision,
those homes would only be eight feet wide, which is not a feasible dimension.
So because our lot is only 16 feet wide in the front, right?
Correct.
And is it feasible to subdivide the RSA 3 portion of the property from the CMX 2.5 portion of the
property where you would have this as one parcel and then you would have a second parcel in the rear?
So we did explore this while designing the building and found that providing the intended
use in the CMX 2.5 zoning district would not be feasible here since access to the commercial
component would not be from the street frontage. Essentially any commercial component that we
tried to design into the building would not be visible or accessible from the sidewalk.
from the sidewalk uh not only that but it would also create undesirable conditions for
Not only that, but it would also create undesirable conditions for
both patrons and neighbors alike since any commercial space that we could provide either
retail or office would be in the center of the block and would be adjacent to a lot of
rear yards and just residential properties in general all right and then i have one
further question this deals with the proviso that was requested of us from the community
Is it feasible to make the commercial storefront handicap accessible in the front?
Unfortunately not.
So in order to bridge the vertical distance between the sidewalk and our first floor, which the difference is about 36 inches, we would need a ramp of the length of about 41 feet to be compliant with the ADA standards.
All right.
Well, thank you very much.
I appreciate your time.
Thank you.
But for record keeping purposes, I would like to introduce our packet of materials into evidence. Yes.
And then I have no further presentation. I would like the ability to respond to any comment from the community. I'll hold my comment until the community fully response questions from the board.
No chair.
No, Mr. Chair.
No, Mr. Chairman.
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 Lydia Johns with a hand up and will be allowed to speak.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, it's Lydia, L-Y-D-I-A, Johns, J-O-H-N-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Please, are you a neighbor?
I'm not a direct neighbor, but I'm a neighbor around the corner from there, and I've been a neighbor for over 60 years in this area.
Thank you very much.
Please, please.
Yes, I'd like to start out by saying that we used to have a high-rise project right across the street from this proposed project.
that was demolished and they built mid-rise units but they are filled and at that time
the lot that he's referring to we had discussions with our council person that was supposed to become
a recreational area for all these residents who were put back into the new projects that are there
There are several multifamily units along Queen Lane from the train station on up.
And also the parking issue, I can see why it was denied because it is going to be a parking issue.
We already have parking issues all in the neighborhood.
Everybody has cars. And if everybody knows this, and I'm not sure, SEPTA is proposing changing the K bus route that services that area that may become non-existent in the immediate future, as well as the Queen Lane train station.
You would see signs all around. They've been trying to fight that, but that even may be eliminated. So that's not going to be an alternative. Parking is a big issue. And that area is too dense already to accommodate 16, 19, whatever the number of units, too many people. And it's just not a good fit for that spot.
Now the two family issue, he could put up condos. He could have a two, three story unit there where he could have bi-level two condos. That could be a two family dwelling. I can understand maximizing, you know, because 19 units, 16 units will bring much more money, but he could, you know, we're trying to promote home ownership in the area.
So that, to me, just bringing in more renters, we don't know how much they're going to be charging.
You know, is there a demand or has there been feasibility studies?
I don't know.
But it just seems to me that that is not a good fit for the area and particularly for the parking.
All right.
Thank you very much for calling.
We appreciate your comments.
Who else in the virtual audience do we have?
There are six hands up.
The next one is Greg Palmier will be allowed to speak.
We'll be allowed to speak.
Greg, could you give us your name and spell, please, for the court sonographer?
Greg, could you give us your name and spell for the court sonographer?
Yes, it's Greg Palmier, G-R-E-G-P-A-U-L-M-I-E-R.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I do affirm, yes.
Are you a neighbor?
I'm a 65-year resident of Germantown. I don't live on the 300 block of Queen Lake.
That's okay. Okay. Please proceed, sir.
Okay. The developer showed us some pictures earlier of the way the property exists today.
As you know, it looks neglected. The grass is overgrown. The property has not been maintained. I think that weighs in here when it comes to the character of the developer and his disrespect to the community.
In the last 10 years, Philadelphia Housing Authority built 53 multi-unit townhouses on the adjoining block and the surrounding blocks.
That includes that within those 53 townhouses are 103 units.
Now, there is no parking for any of these units.
And so we already have a very, very bad parking problem in the community.
OK, we've also seen I have been living in this immediate neighborhood for 65 years.
And for 45 of those years, I have been renovating property in the community.
On top of that, I started a Habitat affiliate in the community and renovated another 18 homes for people in the community.
So I'm very well versed with housing in the community.
there have been single family dwellings built in the area in the immediate area that have sold for
a good bit of money and i would suggest to the developer that he do just that because anything
other than doing that is increasing the problem that we have in the immediate neighborhood as it
stands with a lack of parking and so i would suggest that he do that and i would lastly say
that, and I would simply say that in yesterday's Philadelphia Inquirer, it was stipulated that in
the last three years, Philadelphia has lost 50,000 residents. And so this kind of speculation
in the best interest of all of us is inappropriate, especially when we don't have the services to
support the number of residents that he wants to bring in here. So on behalf of what's in the best
interest of both the community and the developer, I would suggest that he build a single family
dwelling with ample parking and that he will then get a return on his investment. Otherwise,
it's pure speculation and it's inappropriate to do such a thing in a community that already has
the problems that it has with parking and services. All right. Thank you. Thank you for
your comments. Next hand, please. Charles Richardson will be allowed to speak. Mr. Richardson,
you've already been sworn. Mr. Richardson? Mr. Richardson, can you unmute yourself, please?
he's still muted chair mr richardson
all right who else who other hands do we have next is wayne allen and i will allow him to speak
mr allen could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer
Mr. Allen?
He's unmuted.
All right, Mr. Allen, could you state your name, please?
Mr. Allen, could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer?