contact the landlord of the building to pick up any excess trash. Is that trash bin storage area
that's enclosed i assume correct correct and it's it's only on the first floor um as you can see
it's not on every it's not in the stairwell hallway of every floor just on the first floor
i know that i mean but i'm asking you is it ventilated uh mr silver i can answer that i
to be honest i'm not sure let's get mr silver on and we'll test uh swear him in please um can
can i be heard yes please identify yourself first and last name and i'll swear you in
my name is abraham silver um you're swearing a firm to tell the truth the whole truth
and nothing but the truth i do i do uh mr silver did you hear my question about storage of trash
i did um because we have not begun the construction documentation or me and p portion of this of this
uh you know project i can't tell you that there exists now a plan to do it but i know for a fact
that we will be doing it um ventilating that trash space is obviously to my and everyone's benefit it
needs to be done so that trash space will be ventilated in the construction documentation
portion of this project all right um mr sokolov did you want to ask your client if he adopts
your testimony mr silver will you adopt the the statements that i've made here is your testimony
as well i will and is there anything you'd like to add mr silver um i'd like to add that um i
purchased and designed this property in this manner uh to provide affordable housing in this
neighborhood i'm a member of the bia subcommittee on affordable housing um and you know i designed
this building kind of with uh small studio apartments uh to try to serve the need for
new um small apartments in this neighborhood it's i've become aware that in this neighborhood as in
many neighborhoods in the city there are many illegal boarding houses that are being run and
people with you know who are on a tight budget are frequently pushed into those types of buildings
and this is my attempt to alleviate that issue thank you uh questions from the board no
um excuse me this is sharon slidik could i just um say that i checked the department
of revenue website and confirm that all property taxes are current
thank you very much and and just further we did meet uh twice with the tayoga united rco the
final meeting being yesterday where we were able to garner the support of the community
and i believe that letter was mentioned earlier and received
Thank you. Any questions from the board? I think I asked already. Anyone else would like to testify in this case? If so, please raise your hand.
Chair, we have Charles Richardson.
Good afternoon again, Mr. Richardson. Please identify yourself with a record and remind me you're still on the road.
Sir, Charles Richardson from the Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass, Room 312 City Hall.
Sir, Charles Richardson from the Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass, room 323.
The Councilwoman has no objection to granting this variance.
Thank you.
Anyone else?
There are no other hands raised here.
Thank you.
Planning Commission?
Good afternoon, Board.
Peter Bernard for the Planning Commission.
this property is indicated for multi-family residential and the comprehensive plan and
has not yet been remapped the proposals largely meets the requirements of the recommended district
with the exception of the proposed open space accordingly we have no objection to the granting
of the variance on use but do ask the applicant provide a minimum open space of 25 percent
dr love you heard the recommendation of the board uh mr silver i did if if i may just respond i
believe that this open space calculation also doesn't take into account the the rear alley
portion of the property which my understanding of the of the zoning code allows for that calculation
so we are actually much closer to 25 than the refusal has been granted than has been granted
in the in the refusal um and would just like the board to take note of that i believe it's an
additional 64 square feet or so okay thank you all right uh mi2020-000828 3319 north 17th street
my vote is yes with the proviso trash bin storage area to be ventilated
my vote is yes with proviso yes with proviso yes with proviso yes with proviso
calendar number 2448 342 west gerard avenue the attorney is the attorney is you're welcome
the attorney is michael phillips
mr phillips you've been promoted to panelists you may speak now
good afternoon name and address for the record please and please spell your last name
michael phillips p-h-i-l-l-i-p-s 1500 market street suite 3400 philadelphia p-a-1-9-1-0-2
do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth
I do. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I do agree to waive the reading of the refusal. In terms of the accuracy, it was accurate when
issued, but we do have revised plans that do eliminate some of the refusals. Okay. And have
you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, the refusal or referrals,
photos 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? Yes and that was the only exception for the getting the exhibit
packet in. I didn't get the letter until just today but I have sent over the Northern Liberty
Neighbors Association's letter of support this morning and do have it in my packet that I'm
going to share with the board. Okay you're good to go. And may I share my screen? Sure.
Okay. So good afternoon, members of the board. I'm here on behalf of High Top Real Estate and
Development, the equitable owner of 342 West Girard Avenue, which is an 8,160 square foot
parcel located on the southeast corner of 4th and Girard. You'll note the refusal does mention
a number of matters, some of which have been eliminated that I'll go through, but really
we are here for height, density, parking, and a de minimis variance for open area.
We've met with Northern Liberty Neighbors Association on three occasions, and I will
take you through the plans, but first just want to orient you to the surrounding area.
So this is the current configuration of the lot.
You notice there's Trio's Restaurant and then a parking lot that is accessed off of Girard Avenue.
Directly behind the property, this is the Cigar Factory Lofts, which goes to 100 feet to its peak.
And right here to the top of this fire stair is 83 feet.
Here are some other images showing Girard Avenue. This is viewing east. This is looking west.
Here are some other images showing.
Fourth Street, again, looking south and north. Here's an aerial shot. It's easier if I show it
this way. So here's the property. Again, we have Cigar Factory right here that goes about 100 feet.
Here's Girard Ave. This is a vacant parcel that was approved for multifamily use, I believe,
60 feet of height. Over here is senior housing that is 80 feet. And the zoning
map of the surrounding area really is a bit all over the place. So this is the parcel right here.
it's zoned CMX2. But you'll see all of this right here, as you get from Germantown East, is all CMX3.
And caddy corner to us, this parcel here is CMX3. Behind us, that cigar factory lofts is IRMX.
That vacant parcel here is split zoned ICMX and IRMX. And then Gerard Abbe goes to CMX2 until you
get to about 8th Street and then we go back up to CMX3. We initially reached out and met with
Northern Liberties Neighbors Association in August to discuss development plans for this parcel.
And NLNA was receptive to our proposed height and density along the quickly emerging
Girard Ave Commercial Corridor. At the time, what we presented were 50 units with no parking.
The response from the community was that they really wanted us to incorporate parking and
looked more to the CMX3 or IRMX elements of a 3 to 10 parking ratio. So we went back to NLNA
in September with a plan that showed 45 units and nine parking spaces. And at that meeting,
we also began conversations with Cigar Factory Lofts, their HOA, regarding the configuration
of our building and the parking situation. Now, in terms of parking at the time, actually,
pull up the original refusal, we had parking along the property line, and we were proposing
an attached building that would go right up next to the cigar factory. In our conversations with
cigar factory HOA, and I do believe there will be a representative from cigar factory on the line
as well as their council, certain requests were made to add to their open space and lighten air.
And also we entered into an agreement, which would be a phase two with the cigar factory
that actually would incorporate additional parking.
So now right now what we did is we agreed to shift.
we had the nine spaces going up against the uh the property line we created a nine foot setback
and shifted i know it shows seven here but it nine spaces are shown on our plan phase two uh if we uh
you know get past today and as i mentioned my client is the equitable owner so if he becomes
the owner of the property is an agreement with cigar factory to create a total of 19 parking
spaces so it would be uh 10 more than than what we're proposing today and there would be a share
the parking would then be accessed through an easement so we would have seven still on site
and then another 10 right here with egress off of uh north oriana street so uh i know that those
plans aren't before you today but ultimately we're looking at 50 units with uh 19 parking spaces
well in excess of a of a three to one ratio we went back to nlna just last week and presented
our revised plans that now show 50 units nine parking spaces because as of right now we can't
change the configuration of those parking spaces until we get under contract and then would i would
expect to come before the board again for administrative approval on reducing this to
seven with a shared parking agreement and a unity of use with Cigar Factory.
We pushed the building off the property line to create a nine-foot setback, and that resulted
and that resulted in a reconfiguration of the upper floors, which is how we went back from 45
in a reconfiguration of the upper floors, which is how we went back from
to 50 units. Now, just the floor template, which Sergio Acosia moves on the line who can answer
any questions, but originally this was a larger two-bedroom unit. We split it up,
and so now this just goes straight up. This is the template from floors two to six. In terms of height,
uh we are proposing uh 68 and a half feet uh top of the roof here you see cigar factory which goes
to 100 feet to its peak but it's about 83 feet right here um and uh we also have approximately
2100 square feet of commercial space that'll be fronting gerard avenue the parking would be
accessed off of 4th Street, we would be closing the existing curb cut that is on Girard Ave
right now. And so we'd be creating additional parking right there.
And so that eliminates a number of refusals. We had a refusal for the roof deck setback
and at the sixth floor we had this lower deck. I'm trying to pull that up on the plans right here
that has been eliminated. We had a refusal because we the parking at the time was located
in the required rear yard as a result of shifting that parking up along the building
that eliminates that refusal. We do have a refusal for parking in the first place since
in CMX2, parking is prohibited unless accessed from a rear street shared driveway, and we cannot
meet that. However, the parking was essential to NLNA and the near neighbors, so we have that
refusal. Density, as I mentioned, again, this is CMX2, but it's been designed to the CMX3 standard,
which we have support from NLNA. That also triggered height. We're at 68.5 feet. However,
if you look from a floor area ratio requirement where either an IRMX or CMX3, we'd have to be
at 500%, and we are, I believe, just a bit below that. We're at about 470%.
And lastly, was the occupied area. The revised plans did, we were at 87%. We've gotten that down to 82% occupied area. 80% is the threshold. I think if you look, technically, we're like 81.5%. So we're only 1.5% off. So I believe that that's a de minimis change.
Again, these are the renderings. I will briefly have Sergio Cauchy from Cauchy Moos can
walk you through the proposed elevations and plan. Again, this shows the parking and now the
separation. I think we can put that aside unless there's any questions from the board.
No. And or unless you need it for future reference or
No, I don't. I'm just pulling up. This is our letter of support for NLM.
We appreciate that. Thank you.
And I would just like to ask my client, David Lance-Groener,
if he could just hop on the line and adopt my testimony.
Mr. Lance-Groener, you've been unmuted. You can speak now.
Good afternoon, sir. Please identify yourself for the record name.
Hi, good afternoon. David Langstoner. L-A-N-D-S-K-R-O-N-E-R.
Thank you. Can you swear?
I think you might be muted.
Can you swear in the frame to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Thank you. Mr. Phillips?
David, you heard everything I mentioned a moment ago?
You've heard all of my testimony?
I have.
Do you agree that everything that I stated is true and accurate?
Yes, I do.
Do you agree to adopt my testimony as your own?
I have no further questions.
Any questions from the board?
Would anyone else like to testify in this case?
If so, please raise your hand.
Thank you.
Ms. Carson yes hi my name is Elizabeth Carson I am a near neighbor and resident of the cigar
factory and I'm speaking on behalf of the 23 unit owners that voted to support the project
in accordance with our private agreement with the developer okay thank you I was going to
swear you in but I assume I'm sorry I I assume everything you told me you swear is the truth
correct yes sir thank you very much thank you anyone else would like to testify in this case
there are no other hands up at this time chair you planning commission
good afternoon board peter bernard for the planning commission
this property is indicated for commercial mixed use in the comprehensive plan
the proposal is significantly taller and higher density than adjacent properties however the
proposal is largely consistent with the size and scale of new development along gerard avenue
accordingly we have no objection to the granting of the variances thank you mr phillips did you
have revised plans yes we have uh revised plans that were submitted and again those show um how
Any pages?
In the setback.
How many?
Two pages.
Two pages.
Thank you.
MI 2020-002448342 West Gerrard Avenue.
My vote is yes with the proviso revised plan.
Two pages approved today.
My vote is yes with proviso.
Yes with proviso.
Yes with proviso.
no thank you mr phillips thank you very much members of the board have a great day
you like you too calendar number 2178 2843 johnny street
mr kern you've been unmuted and promoted to panelists you may speak now
Excuse me, this is Sharon Sletta.