2035 West Westmoreland is also multifamily, 2005 West Westmoreland is also multifamily,
2021 Westmoreland Street is multifamily. I just took pictures of the ones then which are on our
block. Here are our architectural plans. You walk into the front door, there's a vestibule, you turn
right you have an open floor plan with a bedroom for unit number one with a living area a basement
in the rear I mean on the in the in the basement you go up a flight of steps you have unit number
two which is three bedrooms uh two baths a couple things to note there is no roof deck
we are we are squaring off the the building as you can see what's what's dark is what's
pre-existing structure, what's shaded as you can see here, here, here, and here is what we're
expanding to. And as you can see from the from the site plan you'll see the picture we're a rather
large lot. Now we did meet with Toyoga United on two separate occasions. The first time we met with
them uh there was no one in the affected area even though we sent notice of our community
meeting we were asked then to provide like a petition of the surrounding area which my client
canvassed the neighborhood uh and we did you know have properties on the 1900 block of west west
moorland we have one on the 2000 block on the 2100 block and then interspersed throughout
We then met a second time with the community group. And again, there was only one individual
that was anywhere within the effect. I don't even know if they were within the effector area.
They were two blocks away, so I didn't get their address.
Earlier during this listing, it was my understanding that they're asking for
another continuance for a third meeting. I just don't understand why we would have a continuance
other than presenting this for a third time, again, we made extreme efforts to reach out
to the neighbors by walking the neighborhood, by obtaining these petitions of support.
Again, what we're requesting is not out of character for this block or this portion of the neighborhood.
So there were 162 addresses of properties that we notified, and here's our proof.
So that's our presentation in a nutshell.
I have Terry Scruggs, the corporate representative of the LLC that owns this property.
Terri, can you virtually raise your hand?
Terry, can you virtually raise your hand?
No one by the name of Terri has raised their hand as of yet.
Okay. Is Terri your client, I assume?
Alan, would he be on with Clementa?
uh i know clementa's on but like she's separate i know he was having problems getting on
because she raised her hand that's why i was asking okay well have you know maybe clementa
can add some uh something to the situation maybe she said clementa you can unmute yourself
i'm sorry alan i didn't over talk you hello hello yeah hi please identify yourself for the record
name and address?
Terry Scruggs.
Terry, please spell your last
name. S-C-R-U-G-G-S.
Do you swear and affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Terry, you heard everything I stated today.
And is it true and correct?
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Tony? Yes. Thank you. Anyone else wish to testify? Excuse me. I'm sorry. Any questions
from the board? No. No. Okay. Anyone else would like to testify in this case? If so,
please raise your hand. Chair, we have Charles Richardson, who's been unmuted.
Good afternoon, Mr. Richardson. You're still under oath.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wanted to find out, we did mention earlier at the beginning of
this session that you would hold this until executive session. Is that true?
I believe I said that. I think so. Yeah, I'm pretty sure. It's been a while.
Yes, it's been a while. That being the case, I know that Veronica Holman of Tayoga is on
the line at the moment that we would like to probably uh get their opinion in uh before you
guys do do your vote next week and then the councilwoman will make her determination based
on their determination all right the problem i have is i close the record we can't accept any
uh further testimony and i'm trying to move this along so i don't want to have to have a third
meeting. Any suggestions, Tanya or Sharon? If I could understand, is Mr. Richardson
stating after we get testimony from the community that he's going to then put his decision from
the councilwoman on record today? Or were you going to submit?
I don't know whether, let me find out what, let's find out if Veronica Foreman is on the
line right now. Veronica Arnold on. We have a call-in user. You've been unmuted. Hello? Veronica?
Caller, please unmute yourself.
calling user please amuse yourself
so mr richardson while we're waiting let me oh there you go all right good afternoon man
please identify yourself for the record name and address
oh it's not veronica
we're in a firm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth
please proceed
you've said that
no no just tell
you wanted to testify
we hear you
Thank you.
Thank you.
The application is for a two-family dwelling, correct, Mr. Notkinson?
That's correct.
no no the application is for two units
they'd have to come they'd have to do they'd have to come back and follow they'd have to go
get a variance again they'd have to come in front of the board
but that's all he's asking for if if the board approves you're only approving two
if the board approves it we will only be approving two units excuse me this is Sharon Saleta the one
the one proviso that couldn't be added is the number of residents occupancy adults
so okay okay is Veronica on I understand Mr. Richardson you've been
i'm just trying to get a clear sound you heard i'm unmuted but i do have veronica on i dialed
her from my phone can you can you hear veronica yes i can hear can you hear me uh yes please
identify yourself name and address name is veronica holman h-o-l-m-a-n and i'm from
title the united rco officer and do swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth yes i do please proceed my comment is there was one person on the zoom
meeting that is a resident of that block 20 hundred of on west warren street and she was
she is opposed
to the proposed plan
for that law.
Has your
RCO taken a position?
Because I believe
that's what the councilwoman is asking for.
We would like to
have the
people on the block
have another
meeting so that they can voice
their opinions
to what it is that they truly want.
I understand, but with all due respect,
you've already had two meetings.
And if only one person took the time
to express his or her opinion,
what good will a third meeting do
is what we're trying to figure out.
Well, one of the concerns was
this being a residential block
And extending the building out to the back, it would cut off the air and the light for the people on the sides of them.
That was one of the things.
The other one was with the young woman that was there, the woman that was there, the homeowner, that this was, they were having people, people were coming in that were single family homeowners.
and she was not happy we're looking forward to more multi-family units on that block
so is it is it would i be accurate in saying suggesting not suggesting asking
is it the consensus that you're opposed to the multi-family
yes if we are we are opposed to the multi-family yes okay so okay that's that's what we're trying
to get it all right thank you mr richardson with that the councilwoman is opposed she stands with
the community understood okay took us a little while when we got there thank you uh planning
commission good afternoon board peter bernard for the planning commission
this property is indicated for single family residential in the comprehensive plan
This building and most of the surrounding properties were built and have been maintained
a single family. We feel this proposal represents an overuse of the site.
we feel this proposal represents an overuse of the site accordingly we object to the granting of the
Accordingly we object to the grant.
variance. Thank you very much MI 2020-001865-2017 West Moreland Street my vote is no. My vote is no.
my vote is no
my vote is no
thank you
MI2020-001925
North 21st Street
Mr. Bertel
Mr. Bertel has been promoted
to panelists he's free to share screen
Thank you. Mr. Bertil, I don't know if I swore you in earlier, but in any event, please identify yourselves by your last name for the record.
Good afternoon. Steve Bertil, B-E-R-T-I-L, 1835 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19103.
Do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Thank you. Carol?
yes do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
uh yes i do also have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership
proof of tax compliance a copy of the refusal or 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
uh yes to all of the above thank you you may proceed thank you
Okay, good afternoon. As I stated, my name is Steve Bertil, representing the applicant
and owner of 2113 North 21st Street. We're here for variant requests to allow for the
rehabilitation of a blighted and vacant property back into productive use as a two-family household
living with a rear addition at the third floor with a deck at the third floor as well.
just so we get a sense of the property that we're speaking of as you can see here the property is
located the main frontage is on 21st street uh between susquehanna avenue to the north and diamond
three to the south the property is currently vacant and blighted there is the three-story
structure is still standing um but as you'll see in a second uh this property in addition to this
section of the street is in need of rehabilitation as you'll see by the surrounding vacant lots and
homes on the property. This is just an aerial shot. Here is the property in question.
Excuse my mouse. As you can see, the section of the block actually makes up, there's actually more
vacant properties and vacant lots and occupied homes on this section of the street
here's a street view of the main frontage
there's just another angle so you can see the side of the lot you can see it's next to an abandoned
parcel. And here are just two, three views looking towards Diamond Street at the top,
and then looking up the block towards Susquehanna Avenue, as you can see both on the left side
of the street. And this property here, which is occupied, most of the properties are either
vacant structures or vacant lots. So our proposed use is, as I stated, the rehabilitation of
this from a single-family to a two-family dwelling with an addition on the rear of the
third floor. We're not proposing any increase to the building footprint or the building
height. Let me just zoom out so you have a better view here. Here are the proposed zoning
plans that were submitted to L&I. There's two units, as I stated, one bed, one bath,
and one three-bed, two-bath. The proposed rents are, we're single-family using this.
The proposed rents are where single family use in this block in the current condition is not necessarily viable as to the surrounding lots being on vacant.
And in terms of increasing the bringing the building back to the productive use, but also increasing the available housing in this area,
we do believe it's our position that rents, apartments to rents are actually more suitable to actually be used.
It's something that can be more in line with affordability for the area.
As you can see, this is the rear deck that's mentioned in the application.
And this right part here is the rear addition.
The building footprint is staying the same.
And again, the building height is staying the same.
The refusal that we received was, we have no dimensional refusal.
The refusal is for the use only and stated the property is zoned as RSA 5 and as such
the increase the additional unit generated the refusal.
We did meet with the registered coordinating registered community organization on November
16, and they did send us a letter of non-opposition. We did send over 130 notices to near neighbors,
but the coordinating RCO, which is the 32nd Democratic Ward, had their leadership there
and they conferred internally with their board and as such generated this letter of non-opposition.
As such we're requesting these variances or this one variance for the additional use of a second
unit to make the property actually be viable and utilized on the current three and hopefully
spearhead some additional development and use on that block. With me, I have a representative
from the ownership, Sean Fields. Sean, if you could raise your hand.
Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Please identify yourselves by your name and address.
It's Sean Field. It's S-E-A-N-F-I-E-L-D. The address is 3225 McLeod Drive.
And I represent the Indeed Real Estate Group.
We're infirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.