Thank you.
Thank you.
okay thank you all right good morning
okay good morning my name is tenetta graham and i will be chairing this meeting of the
philadelphia zoning board of adjustments with me today is secretary cheryl gasson
present mr chairman i'm miss chile board member michael johns present madam chairman thank you
board member tyah winn president madam chairman and board member ryan mcadams president madam
chair also present are board attorney hillary emerson zoning board director ian hekarty and
board administration administrator lakeisha gandy a recording of this hearing will be posted on the
ZBA website. By participating, you consent to be recorded. This is an in-person meeting with
remote capabilities. Whether remote or in-person, if you are called to speak, you must state and
spell your name and then wait to be sworn in. Once you've been sworn in, please state your name
each time before beginning your testimony. Any person may enter their appearance to become an
interested party to a case. There are three ways to enter your appearance. You can identify the
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Okay, so we're going to look at our schedule for today.
I'll do the continuances here. MI2025-001281-9418 Frankfurt Avenue. This case is continued to 85-2026 at 930.
Let's all do the continuuses here, MI2.
number five
seven um number seven mi20250013186247-49 dix avenue this case is continued uh till 8 5 20 26
at 9 30. Madam chair you can continue number six as well. Yep. Thank you. Okay. Thank you.
Okay. MI 2025 001309 1014 Fanshawe Street. This case will be continued to 85 2026 at 9 30.
MI 2025, 006074, 222 Hartel Avenue, this case will be continued till 8-5-2026 at 9-30.
okay all right so let's go what we have some cases that don't uh that are missing some exhibits so
um i'm gonna call up
case number one uh we have a bengali interpreter is the interpreter available
good morning chair this is jasmine and i will be your co-host for this morning's session
um if we have the bengali interpreter in the audience please raise your virtual hand
okay i have a muhammad kareem with their hand raised i'm going to allow them to speak
okay thank you good morning jasmine
Mohammed, Kareem, please unmute yourself.
so they are unmuted i'm not sure if they're having technical difficulties
okay um can you hear me now there you go okay mr corinne uh you are our bengali interpreter
Yes. Okay. Could you state your name and spell it for the record, please?
I am Mohamed M-O-H-A-M-M-A-D, D for David.
Okay. My ID is N as in November, O as in Oscar, 8, 1, 9.
Okay. Thank you. Do you swear or affirm that you will interpret accurately, completely, and impartially from English to Bengali and from Bengali to English to the best of your life?
your ability? Yes, I swear. Okay. So we have a case that we are missing exhibits for. So I'm
going to call up the case and I'll ask you to call up the applicant. Okay. All right. So case
number is mi-2024-006063 2137 north 8th street uh the applicant is uh must must
raman could you please call them for for us mr mustafis raman
Mr. Mustafiz Rahman, Mr. Mustafiz Rahman, Mr. Mustafiz Rahman, Mr. Mustafiz Rahman.
Chair, I think no one in the audience with that name.
Okay, all right, so we're going to dismiss the case.
We're going to dismiss the case. So interpreter, I'm going to read that we're going to dismiss the case and then you can interpret just in case anybody is here related to the case can hear it.
So, interpret
So MI2024006063, 2137 North 8th Street, I vote to dismiss.
Michael Johns, my vote is to dismiss.
My vote is to dismiss.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is to dismiss.
My vote is to dismiss.
Interpreter, can you interpret that the case has been dismissed, please?
okay thank you interpreter
okay so our next case um no exhibits third listing
MI-2024-006094, 4626 North Penn Street. Andrew Pierre-Saint is the listed owner.
I have a hand up and the phone number ending in 3552. I'm going to allow them to speak.
Okay, thank you.
good morning is this mr andrews pierre saint
okay can you speak up so are you really really low
okay we can't hear you sir can you speak up
can you hear me okay now okay yes is this for uh 4626 north penn street
no it's for another address i'll just keep holding on okay um
still looking for 4626 north penn street uh andrew pierre saint i see no one in the audience with
that name okay thank you uh m i two zero two four zero zero six zero nine four forty six
twenty six north penn street i vote to dismiss michael johns my vote is to dismiss
cheryl gaston my vote is to dismiss gathers my vote is to dismiss i win my vote is to dismiss
and madame charlie just excuse me want to note for the record that that was the third listing
for that matter and we have no exhibits okay thank you herelyn okay number four
i think we did we continued number four
number six
six and oh number eight
thirteen
All right. Number 13, MI-2025-006294, 1319 West Allegheny Avenue. This is Noah Zibik's first
listing. Greg Shore is the attorney. James Presley is the listed owner. Anybody from this case?
I have a hand up by the name of Bria Kennedy. I'm going to allow them to speak. And I also have another hand up after that.
Okay. All right. Thank you.
Hi. Good morning, board.
Okay. Good morning, Ms. Kennedy. Could you state your name and spell it for the record, please?
Yes. Bria, B-R-I-A, last name Kennedy, K-E-N-N-E-D-Y.
Okay. And do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
yes okay yes all right all right so this case is uh we have no exhibits and this is your first
lending listing um where where do we stand we're asking for continuance to make the changes and
considerations uh requested by swampoodle rco okay all right and ms kennedy what's your relationship
to this case the applicant ma'am along with the attorney he had a conflict today okay so i do
see him on here so normally we require either the attorney or the person who is seeking the variance
um to request a continuance um we'll take this since this is the first listing we'll take this
um we'll take this since this is the first listing we'll take this request but just wanted to let you
request but just wanted to let you know that the
know that the request does need to be made by the attorney or the appellant the person seeking
the variance okay thank you
okay MI 2025 006294 1319 West Allegheny Avenue this case is continued until 85 2026 at 9 30.
is there any more requests for continuances i see no hands up at this time here okay and we do have
a case that is withdrawn number nine mi 2025 004384 2528-30 south 69th street this case has been
withdrawn okay so we have no add-ons today so let's move on to our hearing list um number five
um do we have a spanish interpreter
yes i have a hand up by the name of stephen or bean i'm going to promote them to panelists thank you
good morning my name is stephen bain and my interpreter id is ym288 my last name is spelled
a wait a minute go ahead my last name is spelled a u b a i n and i'll be the spanish interpreter
okay thank you um do you swear or affirm that you will interpret accurately completely and
impartially from english to spanish and from spanish to english to the best of your ability
yes i do okay all right so we are i'm gonna state the case and you can just uh call up the applicant
for us so mi 2025 001308 5252 saul street felix pimentel is the current owner
okay good morning mr pimento can you state your name and spell it for the record
So, Mr. Pimentel, if you can give your name and let it out for the registration.
Good morning. My name is Felix Pimentel.
F-E-L-I-X-P-I-M-E-N-T-E-L.
so good morning my name is felix pimentel and is spelled f-e-l-i-x and last name spelled p-i-m-e-n-t-e-l
okay can you ask him do he swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the
truth what do you feel y afirma decir la verdad toda la verdad y nada más que la verdad afirmo
Yes, I affirm. Okay, so our board secretary Ms. Gadsden will have a question for you.
Good morning. This application is for the legalization of a 10-foot fence
at the rear of an existing attached structure.
Así que, buenos días.
El pedido de esta solicitud es para legalizar una cerca de 10 pies
a la parte exterior de una estructura que está atada.
No change of use from single family household living
Así que no hay cambio de uso de vivienda unifamiliar.
Y no hay cambio para el estacionamiento y asesorio en la calle como previamente ha sido aprobado.
There's one zoning refusal.
Y hay una negación de zona.
Property is zoned RSA 5.
Y la propiedad está en la zona RSA 5.
Whereas the maximum rear slash side yard fence height is six feet.
Y donde el límite máximo de la cerca del lateral en el lado de atrás es seis pies.
And ten feet is proposed.
Y diez pies está siendo propuesto.
And could you ask him, please, if he filed his documents or exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
Y le estamos preguntando, ¿usted sometió los documentos y evidencia cinco días en adelante de esta reunión?
Sí, es correcto.
Yes, that's correct.
And does he waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Y usted renuncia a que nosotros leamos la negación y estipula con su certeza?
You can share your documents and begin your presentation.
Así que puede compartir sus documentos y comenzar con su presentación.
Gracias.
Thank you.
So, before you, before we start, there is a letter of unanimous support from Fankford
Neighborhood Advisory Committee.
así que antes de comenzar hay una carta de apoyo unánimo de el comité de aviso de la vecindad
frankfurt y también hay una carta de no oposición de miembro de la junta del señor losada
so we have all your documents so you can just tell us what you're trying to do today
así que ya tenemos esos documentos y nos puede decir lo que está tratando de hacer
ok buen día este mi nombre es felipe mentel propietario de la 5252 saúl street este soy
So, let the interpreter interpret it to English for us.
So, good morning.
My name is Felix Bimentel.
I am the owner of 5252 South Street, and I've been the property owner since 2014.
In 2017, that's when I first put up the fence.
de conocida que necesitaba un permiso para eso una vez que pues nos dimos cuenta sometí el
permiso me fue negado posteriormente lo lo apelamos so um i didn't realize that i needed a permit for
this so once i found out that i didn't need a permit i asked for permission which was denied
and then we moved towards an appeal can you tell them to show us photos
así que se nos puede enseñar las fotos si aquí tengo el título de la propiedad
aquí tengo fotos de la propiedad de frente y de la parte de atrás de donde está instalado el fence
so this is the pictures of the front and the back where the fence is installed
he's gonna move a little bit slower tiene que ir un poco más lento por favor okay okay
esta es la foto del frente aquí tengo fotos de de atrás abierto y cerrado
so this is the front and then this is the back open and close
Okay. And so the fence, you said he installed the fence. When did he install the fence?
¿Y cuándo fue que usted instaló la cerca?
Instalé la fence en el 2017.
En 2017.
¿Y cuándo fue que usted instaló la cerca?
¿Y cuándo fue que usted instaló la propiedad?
En el 2014.
En el 2014, 2014.
Pregúntate la Junta.
Un momento.
Are there any other properties on your block that also have the same fence set up at the rear?
Hay alguna otra propiedad en la cuadra que también tiene esta misma cerca en la parte posterior?
correcto si hay varias fence yes that's correct there's a couple of fences like mine
and can you explain what drove you to want to install such a tall fence
y si nos puede explicar que fue la causa que causó que usted quisiera instalar una cerca así de alta
um i saw that a neighbor had the same fence
and I asked who installed it and I got the information, contact information of the ones
that installed it. And I put it up because the area was becoming dangerous. I live near
the train station, so it's just becoming a lot more dangerous.
alguien quisiera traspasar so i'm also a single father i have a young son and i wanted to have
the peace of mind that he could play outside and without either getting out or someone i'm trying
to come in the house okay i have no further questions any other questions from the board
yes um and why why are you seeking permission now i mean you've had it up since 2017
What drove you to ask for permission now to legalize the fence?
¿Y por qué usted está pidiendo permiso ahora?
Si ya ha tenido la cerca desde el 2017, ¿cuál fue la causa que usted viniera a pedir permiso para legalizar la cerca el día de hoy?
No sabía que tenía que pedir un permiso y me dieron una violación.
so um i was unaware that i needed to ask for a permission so i received a violation
So it was because of that I am seeking to do things legally and correct the situation I was given that opportunity to file to legalize this.
And that's the reason why I'm here and asking for permission.
Thank you.
Luego estuve en una reunión, un meeting con los coordinadores de la ciudad y mis vecinos.
Se le enviaron carta a mis vecinos, asistieron todos, la mayoría, y todos están de acuerdo con que Intale se mantenga ahí.
and then we had a meeting with the coordinators and they sent letters to
the entire neighborhood we had a meeting with most of the neighbors
and they were all in agreement that um to let the installation of the fence
and also the coordinators were in an agreement as well okay uh thank you questions from our
attorney gracias preguntas de la abogada hillary emerson not at this time madam chair um questions
from the virtual audience pregunta de la audiencia virtual i see no he's at this time chair no veo
manos levantadas all right planning commission comita de planos thank you chair and good morning
David Fecto, F-E-C-T-E-A-U, with the City Planning Commission.
Okay, do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, ma'am, I do.
Okay, thank you.
Así que David Fecto, que es del Comité de Planos, él afirmó el juramento.
The chair and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the RSA-5 residential single-family zoning at this location.
Chair and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends...
Presidente y miembros de la Junta, el plan comprensivo recomienda que no haya cambio al RSA-5 residencial unifamiliar zona para esta ubicación.
The city re-zoned this neighborhood in 2014 in accord with recommendations in the comprehensive plan.
The appellant appears to have built a non-compliant fence without the benefit of permits.
El apelante aparece que construyó una cerca que no estaba en cumplimiento, sin los beneficios de permisos.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the board deny the proposed height variance for a non-compliant fence.
el este la el comité de planeo de la ciudad recomienda que la junta denegue la
variancia de altura propuesta de esta cerca que no está en cumplimiento
okay thank you m i two zero two five zero zero one three zero eight fifty two fifty two
south street i vote yes what seek it para el m2025 001 308 5252 south street yo voto que si
michael johnson my vote is yes michael johnson yo voto que si
cheryl gaston my vote is yes cheryl gaston yo voto que si ryan mcadams my vote is yes
Ryan McIntyre, mi voto es sí.
Taya Wynn, mi voto es sí.
Taya Wynn, mi voto es sí.
Thank you.
You can tell him he has his votes and we are done.
Así que ya tiene sus votos y terminamos.
Thank you, interpreter.
Case number two, MI2024006072518 East Thelma Street, Muhammad Ahurani is the owner and applicant. This is a pro se.
Muhammad, last name starts with A, will be joining us as a panelist.
Hey, good morning.
Good morning. Can you state your name and spell it for the record?
Muhammad Alhorani M-O-H-A-M-M-A-D-A-L-H-O-U-R-A-N-I
I'm the owner of 518 Eastern Mastry 1912
Wait a minute, wait a minute
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
I swear
Okay, all right
So this is the application for use as a two-family household living
in an existing structure
and you have a refusal
because this is prohibited in the RSA 5 zone and district.
Our board secretary, Ms. Gadsden, will ask you a couple questions.
Good morning.
Did you file your exhibits and documents five days in advance of this hearing?
And do you waive the reading of the refusal?
To its accuracy.
And stipulate to its accuracy.
okay um you can now share your screen and begin to make your presentation sure
so mr or ahurani we have all your documents so um you have uh unanimous support from the 42nd
ward rco and you also have a letter of non-opposition from council member lazada so you can um
tell us what you're trying to do today and uh show us some pictures and explain as your
your pictures your documents so this is the plan i have for the blow that up please
is there a way you can make that bigger sure yeah you see it now yes okay so this is the second
floor of the property um this is the entrance right here in the back i have the room
the back I have the room bedroom right here one bedroom and this is the
bedroom right here one bedroom
kitchen right here a bathroom and in the front there is a living room and this is
the first floor right here we have a living room and there is a bedroom and
there is a bathroom in the back and the deck all the way in the back and the
kitchen right here next to the living room and this is the entrance for the
basement in the basement right here I have like a big room and what is I have
the laundry and I have the garage all the way in the back and there is the
entrance for the garage from here so you're trying to make a duplex exactly
yes okay um i can show you some pictures yes please show some pictures
so this is the entrance for the second floor
also i'm sorry
This is the second floor too, this is the back room and this is the kitchen.
this is this is the back room for the second floor
this is the kitchen for the second floor
and also this is the um the living room for the second floor
This is the deck in the back of the house for the first floor and this is the
first floor was the living room and the kitchen. The kitchen is right here and
this is the living room this this way it goes to the bedroom right here and
bathroom this is the front entrance for the first floor and this is the kitchen
right here um this right here in front of the house um where we can leave the trash
for the second floor and the first floor
okay i think that's this was the pictures they have all right we have uh we have those um any
questions from the board i have a few questions one you showed a photo of a kitchen um that
didn't have a stove or a refrigerator and i just wanted to know are they being installed or
yeah i mean shown on the plans but they weren't shown in the photo yeah the house has been empty
since since 2021 since i bought this house i'm trying i understand yeah i understand nobody
lives there but like what's the plan for the big appliances is the hope that the tenant
is bringing the appliances no no i'm gonna i'm gonna bring it of course you're gonna bring it
okay yeah 100 and then my second it's less of a question it's more of a comment the way the
living room is designed on the second floor it looks like a bedroom and i just wanted to understand
why you put a closed door on the living room and can you go can you go back to the plan so we can
see what oh yeah um i have i have a door for the living room for the second floor yeah i was asking
why i mean i've been i've been there so i didn't change anything honestly um i can show you the
plan right here here you go
so i think the the issue with that is that the dining room in the kitchen is small i mean it's
it's a good size for a dining room in a kitchen but um i just want to make sure that this doesn't
get rented as a two bedroom no that would make that second floor have a very small living area
no it's only it's only one living room i understand that but because the door is on
i understand that but because the door is on the living room that functionally
the living room that functionally could have it defined
could have it defined as a bedroom according to code and so yeah okay i mean if if i have
to remove i would remove it there's no problem with that with me
i do think that would be advised yeah i mean it's more reasonable to remove the door
only the first floor apartment has access to the garage in the basement
yeah it has access to the garage in the basement so where are they doing laundry for the second
floor unit the second floor um they have they have their own um they they have their own
access they can get the like with the washing machine and do in the on like in the on the in
the kitchen how i i install um i install uh what do you mean uh like the hose for the water uh for
the cold and hot water with the sink oh so you're saying the plan is to put a washer and dryer on
the second floor yes that okay yeah i was like they don't know that okay any other questions
from the board the the basement um what are the plans for the basement it's just it's an open
space is it for storage is it another room for the first storage storage for the first floor
because it's it got it has a it has a garage it's a laundry mat it has a garage
okay and do you know of any other duplexes are on the block yes and do you have the support of your
neighbors that are adjacent to you on both sides i do have the rco support i can show you right now
I mean, the support from your near neighbors on the block.
Have you spoken with them?
They joined the RCO meeting when we had the RCO meeting, all of them.
And what's your plan for the trash for both units?
That front casing?
Yes, the front, I'm going to like bought two cans for the first floor and the second floor.
what i show you on um on the picture
you want me to show it to you no i think i remember seeing it yeah all right do we have
any uh any more questions yeah yeah i've got i've got yeah you might generally as about the trash
is one you've got enough room within the units to store the trash within the units until trash day
so uh that's an issue putting having the trash cans out in the front the other thing is you
showed a picture of the front um that doesn't have a retaining wall then you showed another picture
when you said you're going to put the trash out front that shows a retaining wall
so that was the that was the google map it didn't get updated right here okay so this so this
so this so so this so this is a google map yes exactly okay so the retaining wall was the
retaining wall there when you bought the property i'm sorry was the retaining wall there when you
bought the property no i did it i did that oh and you got permits for that too i did that i did that
like uh in 20 in 2020 in 2022 because i had a couple violation about the grass i keep i keep
getting violation about the grass so that's why i did that honestly did you did you get billing
permits to do that no oh well that's problematic um so yeah so so my issue is you've got enough
room to store within the unit so i would recommend that the uh these the unit that the uh unit store
their trash within the units either with a uh the first floor clearly can store their trash on the
rear deck or in the in the basement uh and that the upper unit could clearly um store their trash
within the unit if you create a a vented um trash closet as opposed to having trash cans in the front
okay any other questions yes i have a comment and then just an agreement uh uh the second floor
where you have the uh bathroom where you have to go from the bedroom through the dining kitchen
area to get to a bathroom um i have a pet peeve about that three o'clock in the morning nobody
wants to go wandering through most of the unit to get to a bathroom I think that's a bad layout
and then I agree about the trash and I don't understand the enclosure I mean is there is
is there is there a door there is there some the the that retaining wall is there a door there to
Is there a door there?
Is there some...
the basement is that how people get in there or is that just closed off or what did you what did
you do there oh for in front of the house yes can i show you um that wall yeah yeah sure i can show
you a picture right here what i did just give me one second if you don't mind
okay is she showing you something yes yeah i want to show you um i want to show you a photo
um i'm trying to um send it to the laptop so you can see um in the front that i have the door
is that is that to the basement or which was like in the front of the house where they're
gonna leave the trash can you show us a photo of that can you show yeah i'm gonna show you
i'm gonna show you a photo right now okay okay
do you have a shop drawing of the retaining wall itself that one no yeah well he already said he
already said he did with those permits yeah he already answered his question i said i don't have
it no i've done it like a long time ago when did you purchase the bike um 2021 and when did you
do this wall in 2022 okay and uh the um conversion here that you've done because this is a legalization
correct? Yeah you're right. Okay and when did you do that? When I did what? Okay so like 2022 as
well? Yes I did the one in front of the house in 2022. Yes the conversion to two families when
did you do that? It's already done the house it was like that when I purchased it because when
When I purchased this house, it was for a lady who bought the house from the old owner
and she didn't complete the payment.
So the old owner took the house from here.
And all of that was done from the previous Senate.
And I have a court day, I have to do an eviction day with her.
So it took me a year and a half to make her leave the house, you know what I mean?
So you're saying that the property was in this condition when you purchased it?
All right.
thank you all right questions from our attorney
that's right um not at this time Madam Chair okay and questions from our audience
or virtual audience I see no hands at this time chair Planning Commission
thank you chair and good morning David Fecto with the City Planning Commission
chair and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the RSA 5
residential single-family zoning at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 1982
and a council supported map change this is a primarily single-family block face there is no
unique physical condition or circumstance of the property that would prevent it from being used in
strict conformity with the zoning code the city planning commission recommends the board deny the
requested use variants for two dwelling units.
Okay, thank you. MI2024006072518 East Thelma Street, I vote yes with Proviso Interior Trash Storage.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with Proviso.
I'm sorry. I got requests for no household living in a basement as well.
so i'll do that over again um if i two zero two four zero zero six oh seven two five eighteen
east thelma street my vote is yes with provisos interiors trash storage and no household living
in the basement michael johns my vote is yes with provisos cheryl gaston my booty chefs with
provisos i am mcadams my vote is yes with provisos tywin my vote is yes with provides okay thank
you sir you had your votes good luck have a good day all right case number 12 um mi-2025-006170
810 south 10th street sharon wellin is the attorney
good morning board members good morning
good morning counsel can you state your name and spell it for the record
good morning counsel can you state your name and spell it for the record certainly
certainly sean whalen w-h-a-l-e-n um and do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
and nothing but the truth yes i do can you identify your client and the relationship to
the property certainly the client is jason ball sitting next to me here on the left he is the
owner of the property okay all right and so uh we have uh a letter of non-agreement
from bella vista neighbors association um and this is a refusal for the
offense height of six feet zero inches and it proposes 10 feet right okay so our board secretary
Ms. Gadsden will ask your question.
Good morning, counsel.
Did you submit your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, we did.
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
You can proceed with your case.
Thank you very much.
And just for clarity's sake, this is not just a regular fence.
It's a rolled up garage door that's sorry, garage door, a roll top door at the back of an existing parking space.
So it's installed already or it's it's not installed.
No, it's not installed yet, but it is purchased.
We're supposed to have permits from the contractor and contractor did not get the permits.
So we're here for those permits.
so again you can see right here basically at the corner of south 10th and catherine you have
where the green where the blue dot is 810 south 10th street what we're looking at you can see
this alleyway back here is essentially a dry a shared drive aisle for all the properties that
front on south warnock and south 10th street and here's really the condition that we're looking at
So you can see on the left-hand side here are all the cars that park in an open-air surface manner behind the houses on South Warnock Street.
And then 810 South 10th, you can see on the right with the red dot, it's just before everything gets completely covered by the large trees.
There is an approved existing parking space in the rear there.
and uh you know to put the cart before the horse the neighboring property uh has a condition
which exactly mirrors and identifies what we're seeking to do so i'll show you that
so we did receive one refusal uh there there's no new construction or change to the existing
structure whatsoever this only deals with uh the the rear existing it's actually a fence
not a wall not a fence um so we have that one refusal we have the engineered plans again they
show just the the roll top metal gate that's going to go back there at the end of the driveway
so here's a photo standing immediately in the alley looking from
basically where the roll top door would come down this is what my client is facing these are the
open-air surface parking spaces that you could see in Google Earth scrolling down
this is just if you turn to the right a little bit you can see numerous parking
spaces along that area and there's the the line here is the brick is sort of
the joint dry vile and the concrete is the parking spaces across the street so
here's essentially what we have this is the existing condition immediately in the red box
you can see the prior owner had put in a cinder block wall with a small wooden gate here however
there was approved parking for that my client has found it difficult to impossible to actually get
your car into that location without severely scratching his car which he's already done
and so he immediately looked next door and saw this red roll top door that is existing it was
approved by the board and that is essentially we're trying to match exactly that it ours will
be tan not red but it will match in height and essentially effect and again that's just a better
view of that roll top door so my client walked through the neighborhood these
are the adjoining kind of three blocks in every direction showing you know there
you know there are numerous numerous instances of these same types of doors throughout this
are numerous numerous instances of these same types of doors
neighborhood all on these kind of rear streets and rear alleys where people are parking
and it was interesting so my client actually had two meetings with bvna
they stated that they did not reach agreement on the application
However, if you scroll down to the vote count, the votes in favor were four to zero of the individuals who were actually there.
And then it was the RCO board, the BBNA board itself, that voted three to two in opposition.
So that's how they came to a position of basically no position, leaving it to this board.
um and so i'm happy to proceed and we would also accept a proviso i know this was a consideration
that bvna had that we will not exceed the height of the adjacent uh neighboring properties garage
door it's going to exactly match that same thing it's the same what was that height do you know
that it was measured this morning by mr ball at nine foot 11 inches so i would say 10 feet but
if we want to be specific we're happy to deal with that too okay and you can uh bring your
client on to adopt your testimony certainly uh oh actually you need to start your name
my name is jason ball first name is spelled j-a-s-o-n last name is spelled b as in boy a h-l
And do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you very much.
Mr. Ball, you're here as the owner of the property, correct?
Correct.
And you submitted this application?
Did you hear all the testimony I already presented?
Do you believe it to be true and correct to the best of your knowledge, information, and belief?
And would you adopt that testimony as your own?
Thank you.
All right.
Um, so the, the RCO, uh, seemed to have issues, um, with visibility, like, you know, they wanted
more eyes on street and stuff. Um, that is, is that a concern of yours or like, do you understand,
you know, the issue with having the fence and the solid fence, um, along all of the quarter?
I, I did, um, and I did agree to explore it. Um, cause I, I didn't, you know, obviously they were
bringing it up at the meeting that wasn't in the plan so i did contact the company um that i had
gone through the process of purchasing a door already with and they basically at the bvna meeting
he was arguing to have the open more open area up above the level where the fence already was
and when i spoke to the door company they said that you couldn't really do that that if they
had a panel like that it would likely come down further anyways so really the the mesh area was
going to come down further than the original wall was and our other concern was when you look
from our property back to the neighbors the neighbors houses are actually up a little bit
so it sort of creates a situation where from their windows they could sort of look through that down
into our backyard which we it's not the ultimate end of the world our preference was just to have
a door as mr railing stated that just mimics the neighbors okay all right questions from the board
yeah i have a question but the can you go back to the previous photo
whose whose whose property is that at the pavement across from the your site
see this line here who's is this public property or is it shared whose whose property is that
The neighbors, each home has parking that they can park perpendicular out to that.
Okay, so that's their property?
This is shown as an easement alleyway in the city records.
The brick, correct?
the the brick and then actually going into i didn't measure it out but going into it's wider
than the brick um so i think it was the neighboring properties paved over a little farther than they're
allowed but nobody cared because it's a shared driveway for all of them okay so i guess because
my question and i'm asking this because there's no way that you can get in and out of that driveway
or your parking space without going on that concrete.
The brick is just not wide.
The brick is just not wide. The brick paving is just not wide enough. So you'd be, that's why I wanted to know sort of where the owner's properties end on across the street or behind you, because you need to go on that property in order to get into your, get into your driveway or whatever it is, your parking pad.
The brick paving is just not wide.
right so when i as mr whalen stated tried to come down the alleyway and basically what you would do
there is you would slide the wooden part across to the concrete part and i tried to pull we have
a mazda cx-5 very normal suv i tried to make a turn into there and basically scrape the door
on it so by having the wider expand similar to what the neighbor has that would allow me to make
more of a gradual turn in there rather than trying to very tightly make a very sharp left
turn into that parking space yeah i just don't see how you do it without going on the on the
concrete that's across from you so that's you know and i don't know that because we don't know where
their property ends it would seem to me that um it would but it would have been good to have
like some sort of support from the the folks that own those properties behind there
um because you're gonna you're gonna end up cracking the pavement like it's shown here
from from getting into your getting into your spot um yes so understood board member johnson
and with respect uh the all these houses who have parking spaces on the south 10th side
these are already approved parking spaces with the allowance to get there and the turning radius
already required by the streets department in order to get into and out they don't have fences
so right so like what we've got is the one side of the of the of the shared alley people are putting
up these fences and on one side of the shared alley they can't and the shared alley is what
is allowing everyone to be able to actually turn into the space at all so it's still creating an
uh an unequitable access issue right because some people aren't sharing their piece of their
property for the turning and then that one like the burden is falling on everybody on the other
side of the drive aisle so just to be clear that's not the case and i apologize if i confuse the
situation uh you explain how it's not all cars drive down on both the brick and the concrete
and then the houses that i'm showing right now they have every right to put up these same doors
if they wanted to what happened but then no one would be able to turn right they paved over too
far and so i get what you're saying but i also want you to know that if there was a fence
exactly across from this property that was 10 feet high neither of them would be able to easily turn
into their property if both were parked they'd likely have to back in but but you can't if
there's a fence there that's what i'm saying if there's a fence on the other side you don't have
the space to back in what gives the space right now is that there are no fences that is why so i
agree with the cinder block wall there that was difficult to do that is why i would like to have
basically that width that you see in the red box there because it does allow for i don't there's
nothing else sort of impeding it once that cinder block wall is gone so you can make a curve turn
in and not go over to the neighbors i'm i'm very cognizant of your roll-up gate is wider than your
neighbors it's going to be a little bit wider than your neighbors it may be i'm not sure if it's a
water than the neighbors but it would be that entire area it's that whole right that wooden
fence yeah okay all right so y'all confuse me a little bit so a car can go through the the brick
a car can fit on the the brick uh pay way or some of them you you do go down the brick pathway to
get there okay any any other questions from the board yes um i guess my question is about the
Is there no way to have something that is more open, like the fences on the other side are not close like this or not fully opaque?
um so i mean i understand that you can i i would think that even if you're talking about a roll
top tour like this that it could be more open maybe not up at the top like we're talking about
up at the top, like we're talking about, but more open so that it doesn't look as closed off. And I think I understand the concern of the RCO that you're going to have all these basically closed off spaces. You can't really see what's going on behind them and what have you. And I don't know whether it turns out to be a safety issue or not, but I mean, it just, yeah.
but more open so
yeah I think so with it I know that they do make doors that are fully um I call them a bash but
yeah more mesh yes um our our one concern which actually the RCO agreed with was we have a dog
and rather than sort of having the dog run up and barking at things that are going back and
forth through the alleyway you would have it essentially covered so that was why they had
made the recommendation along the top they they do obviously make doors that are are more mesh
throughout um i think the the other reason in my mind you know when you if you walk down the alley
way there's the as you saw the the rolling door on the one side on the other side it's a mix but
there there's a number of walls that are just cinder block walls that are seven to eight feet
tall with weeds growing up and over them i think i can pull that up yeah i i just felt like we
already had a situation where look we're we're neighborly people open the door you know speak to
the neighbors and things like that it wasn't that we you know wanted to wall ourselves off from the
neighbors which is kind of what some of those other cinder block walls do so that that was our
consideration around i mean we you know we we try to be flexible and good neighbors but that was our
all around it all right thank you okay questions from our attorney
not at this time madam chair uh questions from our audience
our virtual audience i see no hands at this time chair planning commission
thank you chair and good morning david fecto with the city planning commission chair and board
members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rm1 residential multi-family zoning
at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 1985 and a council supported map change the
proposed fence with a roll top door will not injure the use of adjacent property the city planning
commission recommends the board grant the proposed dimensional variance for a non-compliant fence
Thank you. MI-2025-006170, 810 South 10th Street, I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Maya McAdams, my vote is yes.
Maya Wynn, my vote is yes. Thank you.
Thank you.
All right, number 11.
Thank you very much.
And I will apologize in advance. I can't be here. I'm just getting a continuance at 3.30. I'm in court at 1, so I'm not going to be able to be here.
All right. Busy day.
It's already been.
MI-2025-006082, 3606 Mellon Street.
Vern Anastasio is the attorney.
Brian Anastasia will be joining us as a panelist.
good morning madam chair members of the board good morning uh council can you state your name
and spell it for the record sure it's verna anastasio a-n-a-s-t-a-s-i-o okay and do you
swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do okay all right so
um council we are missing um rco letter and also i think you said you need uh the proviso form
do we have those things yes i mean i i we sent over the uh revised plan and i can send over the
proviso form the rco letter i believe they sent it over to the zoning board it was they were in support
okay so that that's what i was told by the rco i have not seen their letter
okay so hillary he said he all right do you want to provide plans and i will i can forward the
proviso form so we can go in here to case the vote um mr
so we can go in here to case um mr anastasia if you have the proviso form
ready if you can forward it now then i can look at it now otherwise we'll just need to hear and
hold this so i can review it can we do a hearing hold please okay that's fine yeah i don't want
to have to look for it in my file at the moment okay not a problem sorry yeah it's okay okay all
All right. So, um, I'm sorry. Could you identify your client?
Yes. Xavier Bolensky.
Okay. And the relationship to the property is the owner of the property.
Okay. All right. Board member Gaskin has a question for you.
Good morning, Counselor.
Good morning.
Did you mail your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
I did.
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Thank you.
You can now show your documents and begin your presentation.
Thank you.
3606 melon is of the application for the construction brand new construction ground
up three family dwelling property of course is zoned for rsa5 and therefore we've gotten a refusal
I just had an error
excuse me for one moment
can you see that screen do you see that yep you can see it okay great so this is the basement uh
this is a large family room and an office we have laundry room mechanics full bath and one of the
bedrooms this is the first floor uh which is part of the basement of course is part of the first
floor unit. Here are the front steps. You get into the unit by turning left. You have a dining
and living room and kitchen, all open concept. And then you have a bedroom behind the kitchen.
You have a hallway, which becomes very important in a minute, a full bath, and then the bedroom
in the rear. This hallway is the access to the rear yard. Original plans that I saw had
a door coming out of the bedroom into the rear yard I advise the design team
that that would be unacceptable by the board here today and so we came up with
the alternative by creating this corridor wherein folks can walk down the
corridor to the side yard there's the trash storage and there's the rear yard
Second floor unit, as you can see, again, living, dining, kitchen, all open floor concept.
It's got its own laundry room, full bath, and then two bedrooms and another full bath.
Top floor, a little different as far as the layout is concerned.
the center is the core living space all open concept living dining kitchen more than 30 feet
in it there's also a vended trash closet not only on this floor but in the second floor
unit and we have two bedrooms one in the front one in the rear
and the rear bedroom so they don't have to go through the kitchen and the dining room
and the living room to get to a bath the rear bedroom has its very own bath so it's a suite
And you know who I'm talking to.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I talked to two of you.
And I spoke to both two people up there today.
We named no names here.
You got it.
You got it.
There's the roof deck.
There's the elevation.
Really handsome building.
And there's triplexes that are currently going up on the block right now.
So that's what we are proposing is completely consistent with everything that's going up on the 36.
What we are proposing is completely consistent with everything that's going up on the 3,600 block of Mellon.
I also have, I'm going to stop sharing this for a moment.
Moving in the entire exhibit packet that includes the proof of mailing, the notice that was mailed, all the addresses.
This is the site right now.
This is a multi-family here, and there's several multi-families going up, two, three, and four bedroom units.
With that, I'd like to call my client, Xavier Belensky, to adopt my presentation.
Xavier Bolensky has been promoted to panelists.
Thank you.
Vern, while we wait, can you go back to the first floor plan, please?
Good morning, Mr.
Vern, what's your client's name again?
Xavier Belinsky.
Mr. Xavier, are you there?
Yes, I'm here.
Good morning.
Could you state your name and spell it for the record?
Yes, my name is Xavier Belinsky.
Spell it for the record.
xavier x-a-v-i-e-r bolonski b-o-l-o-n-s-k-i okay and do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth I do okay Vern you want to adopt your testimony
yeah Mr. Bolonski did you hear my presentation to the board this morning
yes I did it's true and accurate to the best of your knowledge yes it is and you adopted as your
own testimony i did and you were present with me at the rco meeting right yes i was and to your
recollection did anyone offer any opposition to this at all they did not thank you okay questions
from the board yes um what is the height of the building out of the ground because i know you're
in between two buildings one that looks like it's much lower than the other well yeah that one's
coming down uh it's boarded up right now but it's been raised actually um i'll say the reason
i'm asking is because you're showing a lot of steps at the front of the building and no steps
at the rear exit so i was trying to figure out where the level change is happening
go ahead xavier the property to the left is actually a triplex now as well that was raised
and refill the question is about the the uh how much is above the
ground how much above the ground is above grade is the basement is that the question or the first
floor or the first floor yeah i'm not sure i don't have the plans in front of me here give me one
second okay i was trying to look at the screen but i couldn't see it on the screen it's
or i think it's in the elevation it's right it was 38 feet yeah i believe i could turn i can get
to that i see it's right it's right there right here it's right there you got it it's seven it's
three feet out okay there you go um and then is there so there are steps out of the side
door to the rear yard or is the rear yard being raised like are you raising the grade of the rear
yard i don't believe so that door would just go right out back sure but the the first floor is
three feet above the ground so they're gonna have to walk down steps to get to the rear yard
Right now, that's not shown.
That's why I'm asking.
Yes, if that's the case, they would have stairs right there through that corridor.
So I think a couple comments that, one, I think a seven-foot high basement, while that is legal, is really tight for you to want to have a bedroom in the basement and a full bath.
I do think that that needs to be at least eight feet.
I think the second comment is you have the like yes they're legal but the
egress well that you have for that rear bedroom is the like one that creates the
darkest environment underground and you have a lot of space in your backyard
you're gonna have to dig out anyway and that I do think this was an opportunity
to have a much better light well into that rear bedroom if you would like it
in that basement and so my suggestion would be to do a much better light well and utilize some
of the space that you have in the backyard to create space which could present the opportunity
um which could present the opportunity to do a rear deck um but you know that's up to you
to do a rear deck but you know.
understood thank you any other questions from the board i would just ditto um
um board member wins comments um about the the basement um ceiling height and if you do make that
change since you've got the ability to raise the the first floor I'd raise it as opposed to going
lower in the basement but I know I believe you're at 38 feet for the height I believe so yes you're
at 38 feet for the height so you're a little tight there but yeah I agree with that the only
Can you go back to the second floor plan? Sure.
It's the second.
But it must have been the second floor plan and then the third floor plan are the same or close to the same.
Yeah, somewhat.
Yeah, so I think the second would be the third floor plan and the first floor plan.
the concern that i have with the the layout really is the um the amount of natural light
because you've only got that small window that's at the kitchen um that's going to provide any sort
of real light into that entire dining room living room kitchen space so um that's it's going to be
all mostly artificial light on that's in there so which is not a great living experience but
other than that it meets the code appreciate the fact that you did the trash uh storage rooms that
are going to be vented correct yes sir okay thank you i think the last question is the roof is
accessible to all of the units or just the third floor unit just the third floor just the top
okay um questions from our attorney um no questions i just wanted to note that we did
check again for the rco letter and unfortunately we have unfortunately we haven't received anything
okay all right uh questions from our audience or virtual audience i see no hands at this time
chair okay and and planning commission we want to we're going to hold it but you want to stay
chair okay all right planning commission thank you chair and good morning david effecto with
the city planning commission chair and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no
change to the rsa5 residential single family zoning at this location the city rezoned this
neighborhood in 2017 and a community requested map change the proposal for three dwelling units
matches the character of the other homes on this block face the city planning commission recommends
that the board grant the proposed use variance for three dwelling units madam chair i do have
a question um i guess this is for attorney emerson the changes were purely inside interior layout wise
uh i don't believe there were any exterior changes to the block to you know to the building itself
okay so there's there's no change to height location of pilot house that sort of thing
none okay if there wasn't then we don't need to adopt revised plan i guess the question i have is
some of the comments that we just brought up that they agreed to would change the exterior because
if we're talking about pulling that basement up a foot it could affect the height of the
overall building and the roof line so well we can do that administratively if once that's
sort of once we get our perm you know go for the permitting for the building permits
yes i mean there's a little there is room to amend within a certain uh certain number of
feeder percentage that's true yeah that's how i i would prefer to handle that okay all right well
Actually, the height, you actually have it because your parapet is at 35.
You've got 35 at your parapet, so your roof can be at 38.
So you've got more than enough room to raise it.
Right, because we could do 38 plus 9.
Right.
You'd still be with it.
Yeah, you'd still be with it.
The suggestions were great, and I think they'll make the space more livable.
but i but i think we can do that um once we have the zoning permit okay so are you requesting a
vote then today please yes okay not a problem so we're not going to hold for the proviso form no
because we don't need revised plans okay so you're good with it yeah okay
all right mi202506082 3606 mellon street my vote is yes
michael johnson my vote is yes cheryl gaston my vote is yes hi mcadams my vote is yes
tyan wayne my vote is yes thank you okay thank you council thank you 14. okay number 14. am i
14. Okay, number 14, MI-2025-006299, 1401 East Sheltonham Avenue. Brandon Savron is the attorney.
This is for multi-family household living within an existing structure.
Brandon Savron will be joining us as a penalist.
good morning madam chairwoman good morning um can you state your name and spell it for the record
yes um brandon saverin spelled b-r-a-n-d-o-n then s as in sam a v as in victor r-a-m as in nancy
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
And could you identify your client and their relationship to the property?
My client is Horizon Homes Capital, LLC.
This is a husband and wife-owned company, and they are here to adopt my testimony.
All right.
And so we have your letters of support from the Frankfurt Neighborhood Advisory Committee
and a letter of non-opposition from Councilmember Lozada. Our Board Secretary, Mr. Gaston,
Ms. Gaston, has the questions for you.
DARYL FOX- Good morning, Council.
DARYL FOX- Did you submit your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
DARYL FOX- Yes, I did.
DARYL FOX- And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do. Thank you. You can share your screen and begin your presentation. Okay.
Okay. And we do have all your documents, so. Thank you. Okay. Okay. There we go.
All right. Good morning. This is the refusal. I'm here to present a case for 1401 East Cheltenham Avenue, as I'll show you in a minute on the zoning map.
this is a structure about a block from roosevelt boulevard at the intersection of cheltenham
av and large street near oxford circle i have submitted 18 exhibits to the board which are
displayed here on my screen and i would ask be made a part of the record
um essentially um to start with the refusal uh this is a case about a um a building a corner
building um and you know what why don't i just show you one exterior let's bring up some pictures
yeah so here is a recently taken photo of the long side of the exterior on large street and
And then here is a slightly older photo of the front of the building on Cheltenham Ave.
Some of the photos, as I come back to these later, through Atlas show bars on the windows on the ground floor.
And those have been removed by my client.
So this photo is from last week.
And you'll see there are no bars.
So essentially, this building, I'll go through interior photos.
I'll go through past permits.
historically this was two dwelling units over a um a store or an office
before becoming an apartment this according to the zoning permit archive had an office
for a pest control business on the ground floor at some time before that it was a building supply
store. So all sorts of things have occurred down there. At some time 2020 and prior, could have
been far prior, an owner, two owners ago, converted what was that office into a third apartment.
My clients purchased the property as is, as we can discuss in a minute. They have some thoughts
about how to potentially improve the ground floor unit but they have not touched it they have not
put a resident in it they've done nothing because what they did was they bought the property
realized that they could not get a rental license for three dwelling units so got a rental license
only for the top two dwelling units and they only have tenants in those two dwelling units
So that's probably a good time to show you the rental license.
Here it is, and you'll see it says number of units, too.
Before I continue, I'll just mention that I did send a memo of law to the board.
Before I continue, I'll just mention that I did send a message.
This will discuss how we believe our application satisfies all the legal requirements for a variance, hardship, and otherwise.
I won't go through those arguments unless you have questions, but they're there in Exhibit 2.
So here are some of those past use permits.
This is one in which the gentleman that we understand built that third apartment, Mr. Marzulli. He pulled a permit that just said two dwelling units. Not quite sure why, because before that he had pulled permits like this one from 2006. You'll see his name there that says two dwelling units and an office.
you know i don't know whether he was trying to pull the wool over ellen i's eyes and what he
was really doing was creating an apartment down there but just to give you a sense of you know
that's that's sort of what the record shows and if you go back in time you're going to see other
commercial uses here's a store in 1983 etc i will skip through stuff like the tax clearance
Yeah, we have those documents.
Yeah. Okay, great. Zoning map really quickly. You got the property here at Cheltenham and Large.
I made this land use map myself. I'm trying to zoom in a little bit. And I put all the addresses
of the highlighted properties in the upper right. And basically what this shows you is that there is
an extensive amount of multifamily use in the area. Every orange property has two or more
dwelling units all of the properties here across large street from us are multi-family
i'll show you in these aerials here it's sort of like a what seems like a coordinated
constructed together like complex of multi-family row homes so that's that's you know directly
across the street so this corner is very much sort of like a multi-family mixed-use corner
Here are just additional photos of our property, and then I'll show you the greater neighborhood too.
This is the rear shared driveway behind us.
This is the back of our building, so we have direct rear egress from both the ground floor and the second floor unit.
And the third floor unit has a roll-up window ladder to assist with egress in case of emergency.
see okay here is that sort of multi-family complex directly across the street from us that i showed
in my handmade map this is what's across cheltenham nav so this building like ours did in the past
has a commercial use on the ground floor it is unfortunately an alcohol-oriented mini mart
there is a I believe like a seafood restaurant with other sales catty corner from us
and this is our property looking back from that store our zoning posters here's our floor plan
before I go into interior photos I'll show you the floor plan so you come up into a shared lobby
off of Cheltenham that serves the second and third floor units that's pretty straightforward
as I'll show you in the photos and as I mentioned the second floor unit has an egress to the back
the first floor unit this is not my favorite layout of all time it's safe it has you know
a door to the the rear so there's two egresses it's got plenty of windows as you saw in those
photos. I think my clients are contemplating redoing some of this, but they didn't want to
do that until they got the variance to legalize the existence of this unit. But I wanted to say
that because I do have the architecture firm that drew these existing conditions plans on the line
and in defense of their work, I just want to throw out there, they did not design this space.
Again, it was created two owners ago. And it has this very large back room that the tenant has access to. What really should happen, I think, there's a little pocket here in the corner that has shared mechanicals. That should be closeted off. And probably this back room should become the bedroom.
But this is the bedroom as of now in the middle. It does have a window. So again, I don't think there's any safety issue implicated there, but we, you know, happy to take questions on that if you have any.
Okay, let me now go into interior photos. So this is, this is that first floor unit. Again, my clients did not renovate this. They have an occupation.
Again, my clients did not renovate this. They haven't occupied it either. It's just sitting there. Those bars are now gone. You'll see in all the photos, there is an alarm system with smoke detection hardwired in all of the units.
bathroom downstairs this is the lobby for the second and third floor so this would be the
staircase here to the third floor unit door to the second floor unit door out to Cheltenham Ave
here is the panel and a strobe for the fire alarm system going into the second floor unit
this is their den again the strobe from the fire alarm system on the wall there
this is their kitchen this is their bedroom in the rear sorry it came out tilted so i tried to fix
that uh unit three this is now occupied it wasn't when the photos were taken this is the third floor
unit strobe there from the alarm system again and there's smoke detectors throughout um zoning code
uh rco letter the chairwoman mentioned we have um support from frankfurt cdc's knack group that
does rco service uh we have a letter of non-opposition from councilwoman lazada
um this is a this is a letter i'm not going to read it i kind of went through everything it
mentions but this is from the realtor that um was involved in selling the properties the last
two times so he was able to attest for us that it was the owner two units ago that created that
apartment and then proof of our rco mailing um um so i can have my client adopt my testimony
and also happy to take your questions yep okay my client is probably listed under roman de jean
if roman if you could raise your hand
he's been allowed to speak
and roman can you just unmute yourself please
hi good morning good morning hi could you state your name and spell it for the record
Yes, my name is Romain Dejean, R-O-M-A-I-N, D-E-J-E-A-N.
Okay, do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Okay, counsel.
Thank you, Madam Chairwoman.
Roman, did you hear my testimony in your case this morning?
Was it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge, information, and belief?
Yes, it was.
Are you authorized to speak on behalf of Horizon Homes, LLC, Horizon Homes Capital, LLC, as one of its principals?
Yes, I am.
And your company bought this property about a year ago?
Okay. Would you adopt my testimony on behalf of the LLC as if it were your own?
Yes, I do.
Okay. Thank you.
Okay. All right. Thank you. Questions from the board?
yeah so I have a sort of a main question one you already have approval for the two units that are
currently occupied I know you're seeking approval to allow for you to have this third unit but the
third unit as you've already addressed requires a lot of work and I think it's really hard to sit
here and sort of envision what this could be without having had any floor plans done to sort
of outline what the changes are and i think sure you know my general concern right now is approving
it in its current state would allow that unit and it's not great condition to be rented out as such
and so um i think my question is can your client expand more on what their plan is um and and how
they want to move forward with the renovations on that first floor unit um board member when
And before I let him speak, I'm just going to pull that existing conditions plan back on the screen.
Just give me one second.
I have a burden to my memory, but if you would like to ask more questions.
Yeah, and I'll, Roman, you know, I think just to play the lawyer for a second, the hardship is that this floor has never been tied into the rest of the building internally, right?
So that's, it's got to be something on its own basis.
It's not going to be combined into the second floor unit without considerable work.
I think that knocking out these non-load-bearing walls to reconfigure this space is actually a pretty light lift compared to what it would take to combine this floor into the rest of the building.
I wasn't necessarily suggesting that you combine it into the rest of the building.
I was just saying that without seeing the plans currently, as it stands, what we're being asked to do is legalize this.
currently as it stands what we're being asked to do is legalize this so if this is the plan
So if this is the plan that we're.
that we're legalizing i think well great so i think what we would ask to do then is a here and
hold will will submit a proposed floor plan rather than it's a very smart idea okay yeah that's fine
roman do you want to address sort of your vision on how to maybe move or enlarge that bedroom or
anything else you would do to improve this yeah the so the in the utility storage room that you
see here, as Brandon mentioned earlier, utilities are mainly on the street side. And so we could
potentially knock down the non-bearing wall and extend the bedroom into the utility storage
on the non-street side of the building. On the street side or is that an alleyway?
That's a street. That's a large street there. Oh, got it. It's on the right. Got it. Okay.
yeah yeah he weighs in is in the back i mean i think that would make sense i think the the
question i have and maybe you know i was trying to avoid having to bring the architect on but
is that utility storage room already insulated
i don't believe so roman do you know and if not i think i don't know yeah yeah and i mean i i think
the general concern about this bedroom is one it looks like the renovations from switching this
from an office to a house were done without permits i'm like 90 sure that that room is not
legal in terms of size so i mean i think apart from like just being a better living space um i
think to come back with a plan for the revision of that uh that that back side of that apartment would
would be advised okay okay that's that's absolutely fine um i think um i don't know um
madam solicitor if you would like to have public comment in the planning commission
uh before we wrap up was up the hearing or we're not yeah can can we um i i guess i'm interested
in uh you said you wrote a brief okay so yes what are your what are your hardship
um like well donning hardship yeah kind of the so um several things uh board member gas
sure so as i showed on this map it's particularly at our corner right as opposed to further down
the block at our corner this is really a predominantly multi-family environment
the investment to whether making the whole building a single unit or even just combining
the ground and the second floor, the investment to combine those spaces would be major and we
don't think would be repaid by the market given how thoroughly multifamily the immediate vicinity
is. I think that, you know, beyond that, the history of the building's use, you know, it's
it's never been, as far as the records show, at least for something like half a century,
a single family home. So, you know, without, and again, we're of course happy to submit a
floor plan and come back. But if this were ultimately be denied, right, it would really
leave the options as either leaving it vacant, which is economic waste, or turning it back into
a store, which probably would require a variance given the time that's elapsed since it was last
an office and and you know having this as an office or a store i i don't find it economically
viable at this time but even if it were that would seem to be less in line with the zoning code than
having a third unit given that you know our block is our block is rsa5 even if there's other
commercials in the area the zoning is rsa5 so it doesn't seem like favoring commercial
um over residential is like a valid basis for denial here um
any any you know questions or comments on that i'll kind of keep it at that
well you're you're kind of going for economic um hardship well i don't think so because the space
is not combinable with the remainder of the building it it's never been i mean there's
no history of this floor being tied into the rest of the building. I think to say that the space
should sit vacant is more than an economic argument. And the case law bears that out. I mean,
that's basically foreclosing the use of a significant portion of the building. And this
is an above ground floor largely. So I don't really, I don't classify that as an economic
argument. I think that is well within the ambit of other use variance case law that's non-economic.
But I guess I was going a different way.
I guess I was going a different way. So it was represented to him, to your client, that this property was already zoned as three family. Is that what the representations were?
So it was representing
I believe so. Yeah, I believe there was an effort made to pull a rental license, which came back with Ellen and I saying you can only have two units based on the prior permitting.
Yeah. Well, I guess I was just going out thinking about perhaps he could argue that
he was a bona fide purchaser for value in the sense that he had the real estate agent who knew
the history of the property and sold it to him as like three family. Well, the real estate agent
wasn't necessarily, you know, might not, was not. Let me go a step further. The real estate agent
was not his agent he was either the seller's agent solely or or doing a joint listing and
we know there's inherent conflicts in that yeah well no i mean but that would it's still um someone
you know represented to him that this property yes uh three family and yes yes what he relied on
when he purchased the property and i say okay okay yes an argument that could be made regardless of
who made it to him, and actually that works better in his favor that somebody who, you know, was not necessarily someone on his side in this whole purchase.
Right.
Just a thought.
Okay. Any other questions from the board?
Thank you, board member Gaston.
Okay. Questions from our attorney?
I don't think necessarily a resolution hearing is necessary, but we can just close the record except for revised floor plans that the board can view prior to voting.
But the issue on the table today is the use.
I believe the Planning Commission is prepared to comment on that, and we can take public testimony regarding the use.
Okay. All right. Any questions from our audience or virtual audience?
I see one hand chair. I have a hand up by the name of Nikki Burnett. I'm going to allow them to speak.
Hello.
Hi. Could you state your name and spell it for the record?
my name is nanika burnett i'm black captain of 1400 east sholtenham avenue okay did you
could you spell your name for the record oh i'm so sorry n-n-n-n-n-e-k-a burnett b-u-r-n-e-t-t
okay and do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes okay uh what is your comment do you oppose uh or support the project
we um upon my upon my neighbors and myself we support the project if it's going to be used as
a living space and not a business space okay all right thank you for your testimony is there any
other uh hands in the virtual audience i see another hand up by the name of leslie roman
I'm going to allow them to speak. Okay. Hello. Hi, could you state your name and spell it for
the record? My name is Leslie Roman. First name spelled L-E-S-L-I-E. Last name is R-O-M-A-N.
All right. And do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
I do. Okay. Are you a near neighbor? Yes. I actually live on 1469,
okay all right and do you support or oppose the project i i only support if it's going to be
residential i am against a commercial okay all right thank you for your testimony thank you
any other hands i see no more hands at this time chair okay thank you uh planning commission thank
you chair and good morning david effecto with the city planning commission chair and board members
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa5 residential single-family zoning at this
location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 2014 in accord with recommendations in the
comprehensive plan this property has a documented history as two dwelling units with a commercial
ground floor at some point a prior owner appears to have converted the ground floor commercial
unit into a residential unit without the benefit of permits through no fault of the current owner
the city planning commission recommends that the board grant their proposed use
variants for three dwelling units okay all right thank you so council we are going to hold this
dwelling units okay all right thank you so council we are going to hold this um but we're going to
close the record i'm sorry for revised plans okay yes we'll close the record except for
a revised floor plan for the board to review prior to voting okay okay all right thank you
you okay case number 15. mi-2025-006985 8310 busselton avenue gavin valentine is the attorney
good morning counsel can you state your name and spell it for the record
Good morning, Madam Chair. My name is Kevin Valentine, K-E-V-I-N, Valentine, V-A-L-E-N-T-I-N-E.
Okay. And do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Okay. I do.
Could you identify? Oh.
There you go.
Thank you. I can hear you much better. Can you identify your client and is that the relationship to the property?
Yes, my client is Eduardo Salgaro, and he is the lessee of the property at 8310 Busselton.
Okay. All right. Thank you. So we have, this is for use as an assembly and entertainment.
And as this instructor, you have unanimous support from the Ron Hurst Civic Association,
and also a letter of non-opposition from Council Member O'Neill?
Okay. And our board, Secretary Gaskin, we'll ask you a few questions.
Good morning, counsel.
Good morning.
Do you submit your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Thank you. You can share your screen and begin your presentation.
Sharing my screen, this is over.
Thank you.
are you able to thank you i got some okay it's here let's see just make sure i'm sharing it
right that's what i'm looking for boom here we go here we go there we go
here we are yeah well good morning again um
My client applied for a permit in 2025, and as you can see here with the refusal, that refusal was issued in October of 2025.
The refusal was based upon, if I can go down, the refusal was based upon two code sections.
14602 does not allow for a CMX 1 property, the use for assembly and entertainment.
Section 148025 also has parking requirements for a CMX 1 facility.
um so those were the two um features that the um that l and i identified
um my client has been using the facility as an event space for the past three years
in 2022 he acquired um a permit for use um as commissary and catering
Last year, he realized that that was not the use that he needed.
He actually needed assembly and entertainment.
Because what my client does is conduct events for post-baptism celebrations, weddings, and bridal shows.
weddings, and bridal shelves.
Can you show us some photos as you're speaking about this?
Can you show us some photos as you're speaking about this?
So it's already being used as an event space?
Yes, it is.
And the photos should be coming up shortly as I scroll down.
And this is the whole building?
uh no it's just the ballroom actually we do have i'm sorry i'm sorry we have another location wait
we want to state your name and spell it for the record eduardo e-t-u-a-r-t-o uh s-a-l-g-u-e-i-r-o
it's a lot of letters that's okay and do you swear or from to tell the truth the whole truth
and nothing but the truth okay all right what you're looking at here is the um
um, zoning, um, notice meeting poster, but that is the front of the, um, facility. I'm going down
a little further, more, um, more photos of the, um, zoning poster will then move into, and there
is a larger frontal, um, photo of the facility. Um, this is an overhead picture. Um, and one of
reasons that i had shown this was that um 14802 had a restriction on parking um but mr socato can
you identify where your um so it is uh close to the corner on fox chase road and like right between
the mall and the fox chase road and okay we can't see that here that's not identified so yeah all
right cursor on your let's see okay here we are yeah is that where you are uh one more one more
yeah right there okay right right well one of the reasons that was shown was that um 14802
had um a restriction on parking that um that said that the parking for this facility had to
align with the adjacent category. The adjacent category is CA1, I believe, which is for shopping
malls and things like that. And so the parking matrix for a CA1 is, I believe, four spaces for
each thousand feet. My client's facility is 2,500 square feet, which would mean that he would require
about 10 spaces currently he has two um deeded spaces in the rear of the location um but what um
makes what i think really alleviates the parking requirement is that his hours of operation are
from seven to ten the parking that you see in front of the facility goes free at six o'clock
in the evening so basically um there would be parking there do you have pictures of the two
spaces in the rear and also like photos of the interior well here are photos of
the interior and I'll just scroll down if you're okay this is the entrance the
vestibular foyer area. This is the rear. As you can see in the rear, there is a display case for
soft drinks and things. I wanted to point out that my client's use for this is BYOB. There is no food
prepared on the facility. In fact, he has another facility at 8010 Castor Avenue that prepares food
and actually delivers it here the only thing that takes place here is that the food is served on
chafing dishes and then served to um patrons and here you can see the um chafing dishes
in the rear of that photo let's see this is um the basement um area which is used primarily for
storage there again um all right and so do you have pictures of the parking the the parking that
already exists on the property see if i i know you said it was two spaces i think right right
let me see if i can get get it from if i can go into the overhead
Let's see how I get it.
so you said that that they can use parking and all of all these parking lots that we see now
that they are yes do you have to have an agreement for that or just folks just parked there are you
talking about the two spaces in the rear or no the remaining parking you said it was after six
o'clock well after six o'clock there is um there is no um it's free parking there okay in the three
in the three years that they've been operating as an event space there have not been any issues
with respect to parking or noise which is one reason i think why he was able to get the um
letters of support from his um adjacent neighbors on the aerial view there's the uh okay
I'm sorry. Can't hear you. Sorry about that. So right behind the property, there's like a parking lot and a loading dock, whatever. And we do have like two space assigned to us. And basically it's like offices and they just close it down like 5 p.m.
so usually there's like plenty of uh parking spaces on the the fox chase okay and bustle
avenue and also there's like across the street there's the decepta terminal and most of the
gases nowadays they just rather go to those places using uber across the street also there's
like a parking spot uh but it's basically free after 6 p.m it's like a riding horse
oh right across the street is an equestrian center so yeah anything else
not anything else okay you can ask your client to adopt your testimony
mr salgaro um you are the um lessee of the property yes i am yes and do you adopt my
testimony that i've given it here this morning in front of the board yes okay questions from the
board yes for deliveries are they coming through that same front door entry or and what's that
busselton deliveries yes uh so usually we just bring our own things from the other side and we
use our loading deck which is like a we do have a gate to the basement on the the back side okay
and there's like two exit doors emergency doors so we use that and basically we use the the
basement as storage as we do like events like weddings outside and we do have like stagings
like uh church settings and flower arrangements so everything is basically used on the the loading
we just go through uh to the loading dock in the back and then so one i guess the question is for
the facility are you all the exclusive caterer no no no no so what happens if somebody hires an
outside caterer uh so basically we just do like um like food wise we're the only ones you are the
exclusive outside here okay but sometimes with people just ask to use for like celebration
ceremonies and for example like training certifications so the location is very good so
sometimes constructors they didn't they just need like permits to get like a
license in the terminal like something and they just got all the employees to
get like a training section there we do have all the visual like oh you're
talking about that Commissioner your question was about the cater another
catering is that if there's an other vendor that's not you okay and what
about um furniture oh furniture we do provide our own so you do so literally like most things that
people would have to order for an event are already on site yes that's what the basement level is for
the storing for the but that doesn't mean that every like you know you might need four extra
high tops i'm trying to figure out these extra things where are they coming in chairs tables
exactly yeah okay any other questions from the board yes um what size events are we talking
about here so usually we do have the the other one and this one we use mostly for like a religious
ceremony so we can use one side for like the chairs and the other side for like celebrations
like tables so no more than 50. okay okay and you've been doing this for how long uh over there
three years okay and you said you have another facility is it the same at 80 10 cast revenue
they have like industrial kitchen there and they have a venue for up to 50 guests
okay and then uh in terms of uh this space you say you bring the food in do you have some place
uh this space you say you bring the food in do you have some place to store the food do we have
oh yeah so we just uh use the the the the square footage is like 2500 but we use less than 2000
because there's like the bathrooms like big ones and also the the back uh service area when we have
like a chest freezers we do have like a vertical uh fridge for like non-alcoholic beverages and
we do have like um food warmers in the back okay and what about water of some sort so that you can
like mop floors oh yeah we do have it you like yeah like yeah supply what there is um in one of
photos if i can get to it there was um um a display case where they have um soft drink
sodas and things like that right across from that um display case there is a sink where they can
wash out three states okay all right there is no need for dishwasher because most of the parties
are like disposable so we just whatever no no no no i'm not i'm not necessarily saying you need that
but you still need some source of water outside of the bathroom wash down tables and yeah yeah
mop floors things like that so if you if you look at that picture and you look at that um
the display just across from that display is the kitchen where they will wash out you know
whatever dishware or you know cutlery they might use okay you you keep calling this a display it's
a bar um well it's a bar has wine people would right people would come up to get sodas and
soft drinks and things like that and again what a bar does no alcohol yeah yeah yeah well i know
i'm just getting any beverage at a event right i just you just kept saying that display and i
thought it was like some sort of image or picture or video but it's but it literally it's a walk
it was not selling alcohol so all right that was just thank you for that questions from our attorney
um no questions i just wanted to make a note because i think the refusal was a little bit um
incorrect well the use the use is not permitted in cmx one so you need a variance for that but
the use is also more than 2 000 square feet so there should have been a variance also for that
that so it's it's okay that it's not there I'm just noting for the record that that um that if
this is granted that variance is incorporated in it as well understood okay all right questions
from our virtual audience or there's no one here but anybody from our virtual audience I see no
he's at this time chair planning Commission thank you chair and good morning David Fecto with the
City Planning Commission chair and board members the comprehensive plan recommends a change in
zoning at this location from cmx1 to cmx2 commercial mixed use the city rezoned this
commercial corridor in 2022 and a council requested map change the city planning commission recommended
against the zoning map change the previous cmx2 base zoning permitted the proposed use by special
exception the proposed use is adjacent to a strip mall with abundant parking the city planning
commission recommends that the board grant a proposed use variance for an event assembly
facility and for not including off-street accessory parking okay and my two zero two five zero zero
six nine eight five eighty three ten busselton avenue my vote is yes michael johns my vote is
yes cheryl gaston my booty shifts mcadams my vote is yes i win my vote is yes okay all right thank
you and and the rco said you keep it clean so continue to keep the place clean uh our kitchen
the the floor is like white can you believe that thank you okay thank you number eight
MI-2025-004243, 2654 South Alder Street.
Xin Jin is the attorney.
It's for a sit-down restaurant in an existing structure.
Zen Jin will be coming in as a panelist.
Good morning.
Good morning, counsel.
Can you state your name and spell it for the record?
My name is Zen Jin, Z-H-E-N, last name J-I-N, here on behalf of the applicant.
Okay. And do you swear our firm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
And do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Okay. And could you identify your client and their relationship to the property?
Yes. My client is 2652 to 54 LLC. They're the owner of the property. Salvatore Dinovile will be the representative for the LLC.
Okay. And our board secretary, Ms. Gaskin, will ask you a couple of questions.
Good morning, counsel.
Good morning.
Did you submit your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes. Some of the documentation were submitted within the five days, but most of it was submitted
ahead of the five days requirement. Okay. And do you waive the reading of the
refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? I do. Thank you. You can now share your screen
and begin your presentation. Thank you. I'm going to share with the board what was previously
submitted by the client. Actually, we reorganized. For some reason, the sharing stopped. Let me try
again. Can the board see my presentation on their screen? Yes. Yep, we can see it. Great. Thank you.
Yep, and we do have your documents, and we also have a letter of unanimous non-opposition
from Lower Moyamines and Civic Association and a letter of non-opposition from Councilmember
Squilla. Thank you. Good morning. This is an application for use at 2654 South Elder Street
as a sit-down restaurant in an attached structure. This restaurant actually has a history as a bar
going back 30, 40 years. This property has been used as such as a bar restaurant for all that
time the cmx1 zoning doesn't permit the new concept which is less of a bar more of a actual
restaurant service they're moving from just a bar to like a sushi sushi bar restaurant where there's
going to be sushi sit-down service although when you see from the plan the space itself really
isn't going to have substantial change as far as the kitchen location and other things the
the owners met with the rco and obtained their support everybody knows the history of the
property being a restaurant bar all these years so this is a consistent use to what's always been
there so there are no new concerns that would be raised based on the change of use this is the
posting this is cookies tavern which is the current operation name and it's going to be
changed to a new operator who's going to operate it's a japanese restaurant and bar the interior
as you can see does include a bar section bench seats and kitchen bathroom and storage so the
actual uh building has two floors all of the building basement first floor second floor is
all part of the tavern and will remain part of the commercial use uh the second floor is actually
accessed from the stairwell outside and it's only used for storage and uh when needed office space
for the uh business the basement is only accessed through belco doors uh located on the side of the
building, and that's only for storage as well. All the main operations are going to be on the
first floor, including the kitchen, the bar area, which will remain, the seating area,
which will remain, and the storage that already is within the space. So in order to manage trash,
the owner actually proposes to have the commercial pickup increase to three times a week
from its current uh two times a week uh the as far as the operation itself hours of operation
and the number of workers uh they anticipate regular restaurant hours uh from 11 to about 10
and with the bar service probably longer on the weekend uh the they're anticipated to be
three to five workers within the space between the bar the kitchen and service itself so again
this is a continued use of the space with a slight different concept it is still essentially going to
be a restaurant bar with more focus on the restaurant side of sushi food rather than
more focus on the alcohol side of the bar itself so that is basically what we're seeking before
the board because it's zoned cmx1 it is not permitted to be a sit-down restaurant however
uh it is not permitted to be a sit-down restaurant however we believe given the history of the use of
we believe given the history of
the property and the neighborhood's understanding of the use and its its acceptance of its use
throughout the years uh we believe that this would not cause um hardship to the community
once it is converted to a restaurant sit-down restaurant permit at this location um i believe
my client is here to verify my testimony okay you can bring him on sure i'm going to stop sharing
for a second uh salvatore can you raise your hand virtually on zoom to be identified
hi good morning can you state your name is phillip for the record it's salvatore
denubale that's s-a-l-v-a t as in tom o-r-e last name is denubale it's d as in delta i n as in
nancy u b as in bravo i-l-e okay and do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth i do okay counsel thank you uh salvator did you see my presentation on your
screen and hear my testimony before the zoning board yes uh can you verify what i have represented
be true and correct and adopt it as your own testimony i do thank you okay thank you questions
from the board yes the floor plan that you showed is that an existing condition or is this what is
proposed new construction uh this is an existing condition okay um i guess the question i have is i
i think the try to convert the you know mostly bar to a sushi bar seems like a really smart
conversion i think there's not a lot of things that you can convert bars to and is any additional
construction going to be needed to sort of make it uh more available as a as a rest as a full
service restaurant um i believe the kitchen before served food and the sushi preparation and sushi
hot dish preparation even for the japanese restaurant doesn't require any change to the
existing kitchen so no there won't be any construction uh needed to start the operation
itself okay and then what's the plan for trash storage uh so there's a storage unit on the i
mean a storage space on the plan yeah well that's not for trash itself um the basement's accessible
from outside to velcro doors for some of the trash and they also have an exterior stairwell that leads
to a second floor which has storage as well so trash normally wouldn't be left outside
they will have trash cans outside while it's open to make sure you know if people eat they're not
just going to walk down the street but those cans will be taken in at the end of the day
and again we're going to try to have pick up three times a week to avoid gathering up trash
and this is dine-in and takeout it's a primarily going to be dine-in but accessory takeout would
be part of the restaurants. If somebody finishes or do not finish their food and want to take it
out, that would be how it would work. It's not primarily going to be takeout. So it's not going
to be primarily like Uber Eats or Grubhub door rash. Okay. No. I don't think I have any additional
questions. I don't know that much about what you have to have in terms of kitchen equipment
for sushi so are we talking more refrigeration are we talking prep area what what so so the
the uh the refrigeration that's there there's there are refrigerators in the space that would
hold the uh meat and sushi uh because it's sushi it's actually delivered pretty often so that it
you know you can't really hold it for many days the only cooking that'll be done will be for
example, teriyaki dishes, that heating of the food there, those are cooked. Tempura would be on the
fryers, but that would be really, most of the dishes, sushi are always cold, but most of the
dishes that are hot would be tempura, teriyaki, those kind of dishes. Okay, thank you. Thank you.
Questions from my attorney? No questions. I just want to note that we didn't receive the floor
plan that you showed so if you could forward that to us for the record that would be great
thank you oh sure i i thought it was actually submitted through the portal yesterday morning
so i um i will definitely email that yeah i just checked we had everything else that you showed
but we didn't have that so just if you send that that'd be great thank you absolutely questions
from our virtual audience i see no hands at this time chair planning commission thank you chair
and good afternoon david fechter with the city planning commission chair and board members the
chair and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the cmx1 commercial
comprehensive plan recommends no change to the CMX-1.
mixed use zoning at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 1996 and a council supported
map change this property has a documented history as an eating and drinking eating and drinking
establishment the city planning commission recommends that the board grant the proposed
news variants for a sit-down restaurant thank you mi2025004243 2654 south alder street my vote is
yes michael johns my vote is yes cheryl gaston my vote is yes hi mcadams my vote is yes hi i win my
vote is yes okay thank you thank you um is there any other uh cases on the 9 30 list that have not
been heard or called. I see no hands at this time too. Okay, thank you. See everybody at two.
Thank you.
good afternoon my name is Tanetta Graham and I will be chairing this meeting of the Philadelphia
Zoning Board of Adjustments with me today is board secretary Cheryl L. Gaston present madam
chairman board member Michael Johns present madam chair oh you're getting at board member
Tyra Wynn present madam chairman and board member Ryan McAdams present madam chair also present
are board attorney hillary emerson zoning board director ian hegarty and board administrator
lakeisha dandy a record a recording of this hearing will be posted on the zba website
by participating you consent to be recorded this is an in-person meeting with remote capabilities
whether remote or in person if you are called to speak you must state and spell your name and then
wait to be sworn in once you've been sworn in please state your name each time before beginning
your testimony any person may enter their appearance to become an interested party to a case
there are three ways to enter your appearance you can identify the case property address on your
zoom webinar registration you can see a staff member or you can call the zba appearance line
by the close of business day tomorrow call 267-270-5548 leave a message that includes
your email address and the address of the property of the appeal case the following guidance is for
our remote attendees first when directed by the chair you must raise your virtual hand in order
to be recognized to speak second if you are called to testify you will be prompted to join as a
panelist please accept the request and turn on your camera third the webinar and q a is for
questions about the hearing do not comment on cases in the q a fourth if you are participating
by phone press star nine to raise your hand and star six to unmute for our in-person attendees
please refrain from talking eating or drinking during the hearings verbal and physical aggression
will not be tolerated restrooms are across from the elevators a water fountain is just outside
the room to the right when speaking on record you must speak directly into the microphone
in order to be heard by all attendees and the court reporter in the event of emergency please follow the directions given over the public address system, or by staff.
The main exit is through the double doors at the rear of the room.
The nearest stairwell is to the left outside the doors.
In case of an evacuation, the rally point is that love park directly across arch street.
Please remain there so we can account for you.
Okay, we're going to look at our afternoon hearing list.
Okay. Case number three, MI-2025-007117, 1650 to 60 Van Dyke Street.
This case has been continued to 6, 10, 20, 26 at 2 p.m.
Okay. And then we have one case with no exhibits, our first listing here.
um mi4 i mean no i'm doing number four now mi2025007187118 let me do that again mi202500
7-1-1-8. Let me do that again. MI-2025-007118, 4634 North Front Street. Yolanda Deleez-Zarario
is a listed owner applicant. This is a no exhibits first listing. Is Yolanda here?
Good afternoon, Madam Chair, this is Doreen, we'll be at the house this afternoon, Yolanda
Watson.
Hi, can you hear me?
Okay, this is Yolanda?
Okay, could you state, wait a minute, could you state your name and spell it for the record?
Yolanda Deliz Arroyo. Y-O-L-A-N-D-A-D-E-L-I-Z hyphen A-R-R-O-Y-O.
Okay. And do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
okay so we have no exhibits um for this case you want to tell us uh what how you'd like to proceed
i uploaded the exhibits uh yesterday i do have a presentation
okay i believe yesterday is not enough time um their attorney addressed that yes um so i'm sorry
miss odoreo um we did not receive the exhibits are due five days in advance of this hearing so
that we can review that they are complete and we did not receive them so unfortunately we will need
to continue this matter I understand I requested a continuance last week an email was sent to me
on Monday stating that I can still present and we can continue based on the missing clearances
because that's in the email I stated I didn't get the tax certificate clearances so I requested
for it to be continued but I was told in an email that I can still present and with the
contingence that the tax clearance will be submitted later. I don't know that we've received
any of the documents. My notes indicate no exhibits at all not that we're missing just a
couple things so unfortunately we're not going to be able to hear this at all today
so okay we will we will reschedule it and the chair will give you the new date thank you all
right thank you so mi20250071184634 north front street this case is continued to 6 10 20 26 at 2
p.m um are there any other requests for continuances
good afternoon you want to state your name and spell it for the record
stephanie magania stephanie s-t-e-p-h-a-n-i-e last name is magania m-a-g-a-g-n-a okay and do
you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do okay
What case are you here for? I'm here for case number one, MI-2025-004-371, 8226 Germantown Avenue.
We submitted a request for a continuance via email yesterday that comes amongst others that
were submitted for this case. So I represent the owner and the applicant for this case.
We have been working on obtaining support from our near neighbors for several years now that's
culminated and we are very close to finalizing a development agreement with our one of our budding
neighbors and that will come with other letters to support that have been promised from other
near neighbors kind of contingent on that agreement. We are very close but we're not
there yet. That neighbor Bowman Properties is represented by Ballard Sparr. We have been in
touch with them. We understand that they're supportive of this request and we've also been
in touch with Chestnut Hill Community Association. They are the coordinating RCO. Their board actually
votes on this case tomorrow so we don't have their official vote as of today they are also
generally supportive of our request for a continuance so that they can vote and we are
also formally aware of their contingencies to the extent they have any conditions on their vote
they did ask for a traffic study as one of those at their preliminary meeting we're in the process
of working on that but that is going to take us several weeks so for that we think the record
today is incomplete as a separate matter we have another next door neighbor um mr peter fox who's
also represented by mr demarco he has submitted a request for continuance based on questions he
has concerning an easement here while we disagree with his position on that matter
position on that matter, we're supportive of his request for the continuance and will be looking to work out an amicable solution with him.
we're supportive of his request for the continuance and will be
Mr. Len Reuter on behalf of the city, because of Mr. DeMarco's concerns, I believe, was also looking at this.
I understand he's not here today, but he expressed to us his intention to request a continuance of this matter if he was here or if it was going to move forward.
So he's aware of this as well. So for all of those reasons, we would like to request an additional continuance.
um notwithstanding where we stand with with neighbors we feel very confident we're going to
have many letters of support at this point but we'll be fully ready to proceed when the board
reschedules this case okay thank you um Hillary you have anything to add to that no no I've I've
been in touch with Mr Reuter as well and understand he's uh because there was a request um from uh
Mr DeMarco um on behalf of his clients about the refusal um and so that that's why Leonard got
involved is to to review that um with that concern about the refusal so but yes he's not he's unable
to be here today but he is looking into this matter so hopefully we'll have everything worked
out by the next day yes okay all right thank you mi20250043718226 germantown avenue this case is
continued to 6 10 20 26 at 2 p.m. any other requests for continuances thank
you counsel is this Doreen trying to speak yes you can't hear me yes we can
hear you clear now do you have any other yes yes I have a hand up by Richard
demarco and i will promote richard demarco is coming in now
mr demarco sorry my my computer takes forever to join forgive me okay could you just state your
name and spell it for the record? Sure, Richard DeMarco, last name D-E-M-A-R-C-O. And do you swear
or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Yes. Okay, so Counsel
Stephanie Box just requested a continuous. She said you were in agreement. I guess this is why
you came on. So the case has been continued to 6-10-2026 at 2 p.m. Yeah, I appreciate that. I
just would ask to be copied on these requests. I was unaware that the applicant was requesting
a continuance, so I had to fully prepare for today. I would ask all the parties to please
copy me on that. I'm definitely agreeing with the continuance, and I'm glad to hear from Hillary
that Len is involved. I'm just finding that out right now, so please include me on your emails.
I am representing a very interested party in this case, so going forward, let's have full disclosure to everybody, please, and thank you.
We have some affirmations here.
We have some nods of an agreement.
I appreciate that.
Thank you for that.
Any other requests for continuances for 2 p.m.?
There are no more hands.
Thank you, Doreen.
All right.
Let's go on with our case list.
Okay. Number 2, MI2025-005235, 700 South 2nd Street. Erica Cronin is the listed advocate.
Erica Cronin. Okay. Very good.
All right. Just state your name and spell it for the record. Erica Cronin, E-R-I-K-A, Cronin, C-R-O-N-I-N.
Okay. And do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Okay. All other parties related to the case, Jim Kelly, right?
Jim Kelly, K-E-L-L-Y.
Okay. State your name and spell it for the record, please.
Jim Kelly, K-E-L-L-Y, on behalf of the city.
Okay. And I think Rachel Prisker should be on.
Yeah. Good afternoon.
am okay yep could you state your name and spell it for the record sure rachel pritzker p-r-i-t-z-k-e-r
okay and do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes okay all right so this case is an appeal against lni um we'll go with the order as follows
uh rachel and then erica and then uh counsel kelly is that okay with everybody yeah and
we're having you go first because you filed the motion so today's discussion is only on the motion
to dismiss um that's been filed by um the property owner uh permit holder
that's been filed by the property owner permit holder.
Thank you. Can you see my screen?
Yes, we can.
Excuse me. This is the court reporter. Was attorney Kelly sworn in?
Yes. We'll do it again.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Okay. Yes.
Thank you.
Okay. Thank you.
Yes. So as mentioned, Chairwoman and members of the board, this is not an appeal against L&I.
This is just for the limited scope, given that this appeal is moot under the law.
So essentially, this is Brown Street. Sorry, that's from later.
So and I represent the owner of the property of 700 South 2nd Street.
So the property was originally issued a zoning permit back in July, and then it was amended back in October.
Mrs. Cronin's appeal or Ms. Cronin's appeal relates to the scope of work and was filed based on the July 2025 permit, not the amended 1014 permit.
no appeal was filed related to the scope of work and the active zoning permit, which is issued on
10-14-2025. So the back and forth that's gone on with this is that the project, there were
significant revisions. It's a historic project. It's a directly affected rear neighbor directly
behind the property that we worked with with her attorney to resolve some of her concerns
for the project and had to, they were so significant that we had to amend the zoning
permit. And so the permit we're talking about and the scope of work relative to that permit
is from October 14, 2025. There was no appeal filed related to this 10-14-2025 permit. And so
as a result of that, under 14-303-15, any appeal that challenges a specific and final order
or decision or determination made by L&I has to be filed within 30 days of that decision.
So that would be this October 14, 2025. That is the final and last determination
from L&I, not a July permit that is no longer active because it was amended.
Ms. Cronin, again, filed an appeal related to a July permit, again, that was amended,
and there was no appeal filed for October. So the Zoning Board of Adjustment and L&I has to
follow the scope of work and the amended permit in October, not a prior permit. The ZBA couldn't
even grant relief for a permit in July because it's not active anymore. So for those reasons,
the appeal that was filed by Ms. Cronin for a July permit is unfortunately moot. We did post
the new zoning posters on the property um have them um uh in the file which i'll go through in
a second uh and so there was ample time to file within 30 days it wasn't filed and in the in the
emails back and forth um so these are revised plans making those amendments and again they
were significant so we had to amend the permit with the new issue date and then we posted that
permit back in July 14th that was the original permit that was posted then for
the October which is what she originally appealed then for October we posted the
property I believe in January January 22nd 2026 and no appeal was filed within
30 days of January 22nd, 2026. She also mentions in her emails to everyone, including
word counsel, that she doesn't have any issues with the amended permit. She has issues with
the prior permit. Well, the prior permit is no longer active. So there would be no reason to
have a hearing against LNI for a permit that's not active anymore, that has a revised amended permit
dated 10-15-2025, and for which she didn't file an appeal. So the case is moot legally and in all
other ways. And so that sort of was the purpose for us being here. And like I said, even if the
board wanted to, they couldn't provide relief on a permit that's not active anymore. And Ellen and
I won't be following a permit that's not active anymore. They'll be following the 10, the October
25th one and it that will be the scope of work in which a building permit will get issued not a
July scope of work so that's why we're here and we ask that you know we are sympathetic to miss
Cronin's issues I've had conversation with her to try to you know work through any construction
concerns she has or other issues she may have about this project but um short of that uh we
And short of that, we have to follow the law here, which is that we have no longer an active appeal for what she filed for.
have to follow the law here which is that we have
Okay. All right. Thank you, Council. Ms. Cronin, you can talk, but make sure it's just about the appeal only.
Let's focus on that.
And pull your mic just a little bit closer, and Mr. Kelly as well, just pull your mic closer.
Yeah, thank you.
i'm here to oppose the developer's motion to dismiss our appeal for the july 2025 zoning
permit the motion is based on the idea that later amended permit automatically makes our appeal
disappear this is not correct i am here today because i feel like this project needs a closer
look and like most variances for not conforming to the code and i can keep on going well just
about the appeal not about the actual project so just about the appeal focus on that that's what
you have to say about that that's your argument for that yes okay all right um can i just briefly
respond this is not a variance um this was a by right project that went through historical
commission there's no we're not we are not um asking for any variances or any relief from the
zoning board of adjustment or any other administrative body so that we're clear so we
are we are not this is an appeal against lni um not from the zoning board of adjustment so i just
want to make that clear that we are not asking for any variances here this is a buy right project
okay thank you council mr kelly sure so uh thank you the city agrees with um miss pritzker's
position here that this appeal should be deemed as moot um ultimately of course we defer to the board
um but because the applicant uh obtained an amended zoning permit that substantively changed
the plans because that zoning permit was posted um the city believes that a new final order has
been issued um under section 14 303 of the code um i believe that this appeal should should be uh
dismissed as moot um the zoning permit that the petitioner appealed no longer exists for
lni's purposes um as there's been substantive changes to it um so it's effectively no longer
a final order uh so for those reasons we agree that the appeals okay wait a minute i didn't hear
your last statement for those reasons you agree the appeal should be moved okay all right thank
you um any questions from the board no uh questions from our attorney not at this time madam chair
okay and i guess planning doesn't yeah okay um sorry
MI-2025-005235, 700 South 2nd Street.
um a motion to dismiss is granted uh this appeal this appeal is dismissed as moot
michael john yeah sorry just to clarify the motion is to dismiss as granted
um on the base and the appeal is dismissed as moot okay on the basis okay the motion to dismiss
is granted on the basis that the the appeal to dismiss is mute i'm sorry
michael johns do i need to say that
do i need to say that you can just you can just say appeal dismissed michael johns appeal dismissed
cheryl gaston appeal dismissed ryan mcadams appeal dismissed tywin appeal dismissed
thank you okay all right thank you
okay move on to number six mi-2025-007188441 brown street rachel pisker is the attorney
for the owner. Okay, you're still here. All right. So, Ms. Pritzker, if you've been
sorted, you would like to identify your client and the relationship to the property.
Sure. Again, Rachel Pritzker, P-R-I-T-Z-K-E-R, attorney for the owner. I'm here on behalf of
Andres Roland, on behalf of MCG441 Brown LLC, which is the owner of the property.
okay so um we have some letters of support from northern liberties neighbor association
and a letter of non-opposition from council member young our board secretary miss gadsen
has some questions for you okay good afternoon council have you submitted your exhibits and
documents five days in advance of this hearing yes and do you wait
five days in advance of this hearing?
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
And you can share your screen and begin your presentation.
Thank you.
So, as the board may remember, because I think some of you were on the board when we originally
went through, this is the second time this is coming to the board with the same scope
work just a few years later um so it's just not that uh complicated of a project this is for a
demo of an existing uh garage um and the erection of a three-story attached uh single-family home
not to exceed height 38 feet uh with a roof deck and pilot house balconies at second and third
floor and an interior off-street parking space access from the primary front street the only
refusal that we have here is just for an RSA5, RM1, and CMX2. Accessory parking for any single
family home, two-family home, or multi-family cannot be from a front-facing street. It has to
be either from a rear alleyway or rear street directly abutting the lot, whereas the parking
we're proposing is accessory parking access from a front street tax clearance the deed of the
property this is an aerial view for the zoning maps of this property again it's zoned rsa5
and it fronts on brown street and then north of the street at the corner
aerial view. So as you can see, this property already has had front-loaded parking with a
curb cut and a garage for many years. So we're just repurposing the same curb cut
and same front-facing look of this project. It's been an existing garage and warehouse for many
years, which is why the community was supportive of this. It's in character with the block and
also of this parcel as well we're just turning the property into a single family home as opposed to
the warehouse use that it's been on a completely residential block these are the zoning posters
that we posted on the property and as you can see a little further back it's completely surrounded
by single family homes all the way down brown street as well this is a view facing towards
north 5th street this is a view further down brown street this is an interior view of what this
garage looks like from the back of it
as mentioned this project was approved by the zoning board for exactly the same thing back in
2021 inability to get financing and other reasons was why the zoning permit expired
as you know zoning permits are good for three years with the one-year extension
we're outside of that so we have to go back through the process
this is the old single family home to include parking garage for one parking space same thing
as we're doing here. This is the code provision in which we're asking for relief.
As mentioned, we met with Northern Liberties Neighbors Association.
They had seen and approved the project before. Here are the letters that the certification that
we sent to the neighbors. And this is Northern Liberties Neighbors Association supporting the
project for the second time we also as mentioned have a letter of non-opposition from councilman
young's office if we can just briefly bring on jason trotner to just go through the architectural
plans um if he's on the line that would be appreciated
yeah trotner is being promoted now thank you
hello hi good afternoon can you state your name and spell it for the record
yes it's jason trutner it's j-a-s-o-n-t-r-u-t-n-e-r okay and mr truckner do you swear to
affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do okay go ahead counsel
Jason, do you want to just go through the plans I have on my screen?
Yes, sure.
So as it was discussed, this property has an existing garage on it, and we can see that the
proposed plans here feature, again, a fully front-loaded parking garage for a three-story
feature, again, a fully front-loaded parking garage for a three-story single-family dwelling.
single-family dwelling.
You can see in the perspective in the sort of upper left corner of the screen,
just an image of what the proposed project is going to look like with the garage and the balcony
mentioned and the front entrance. The project went through a review with the streets department to
confirm any turning radiuses, and we did a study with the community prior to a presentation
to them to make sure that the proposed location,
the proposed project would have no impact
on their existing street parking.
You can see here all of the various attorney analysis
to make sure that this would still function as intended
for a single family residence.
Do you have renderings on your end, Jason?
Yes, I can share my screen if you'd like.
Just if I can quickly too, because I assume the board might ask.
I just want to also show, it was hard from what I pulled up.
If you go down the block just slightly, originally what we had proposed was two garages.
They did not want that given the amount of space that takes up and wanting us to keep within character.
But most of this block on both sides has parking.
So just when I said in character, I didn't have good photos before to show those elements of it.
All right. Counsel, you can bring your client on to adopt your testimony.
Okay. Is Andres' role on in the audience?
Yes. They will be promoted.
thank you you're welcome
good afternoon
andreis roller can you please unmute yourself okay sorry and put your time on please hi okay i can
hear him uh hi mr roland can you uh please state your name and spell it for the record
andres roland a-n-d-r-e-s-r-o-l-o-n okay and do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth and nothing but the truth i do okay thank you go ahead counsel um chairman do you want him
to turn his camera on uh yep mr roland can you turn your camera on i try let me see if i can do it
okay i gotta find that help
okay sorry thanks andres have you heard my testimony today do you believe it to be true
and accurate and do you adopt it as your own yes thank you okay any um i have one question
do you have the support of the neighbor that's immediately adjacent to the property
so we had met with the neighbor in multiple community meetings and made some revisions to
limit the scope of it from two garages to one so that's why they gave us their support most
of their concerns are around construction so we will be meeting with them to deal with any sort
of construction issues but long story short yes and that was why we also limited the original
scope of the project okay questions from the board
so what is this garage door going to look like when we get done with it is it going to be um
okay i i i had a client once that did one with
like the glass it looks like. So the question is going to be just a regular closed kind of door
like we saw in the other pictures, or are we going to try and do something that makes it look a little
bit more open? Yeah, Jason, I don't know if you can share the renderings, because that was also
to your point. Board member, that was a lot of the conversation was on the aesthetic at some of the
meetings as well so i just want him to kind of be able to show what we what we presented
so here's a rendering of the exterior um i believe the question was around the aesthetic of the
garage door we are proposing um a glass or frosted glass um garage door in the okay the front thank
you of course is there an overall site plan that shows the property in the rear yard
yes okay so we can see an overall here
I could also show the zoning plan with a little bit more detail, if that's helpful.
i could also show the zoning plan with a little bit more detail if that's helpful
That might be helpful.
I guess so.
Right now, the garage is away from the adjacent property's rear yard fence.
Yeah, it's on the other side.
Yeah. And I'm assuming the garage ends where that dotted line is in the plan sort of behind
the ghosted in car. Yeah. Approximately there. I can show it. Okay. So there's going to be some,
Yeah, there we go. Okay.
Okay. I don't think I have any. Okay. All right. Questions from my attorney.
Just to, Ms. Prisker, one quick question. The change that you mentioned to the garage,
should that change anything to like that would require revised plans any changes to the envelope
or anything no we already submitted the plans with those changes all right thank you yeah sure
all right actually i did have one additional question um i know that you have the rco support
letter but did you talk to the neighbors on either side of the property yeah the chairwoman asked
this as well and we did we this is now the second time we've gone through this in the last what five
years so that was why we actually reduced the original plan which did show a double garage um
that was so they did not want that so we reduced it and then also all the traffic engineering
um turn radius stuff they asked us basically can you show us like if you get two cars
if you're going to take off more cars off the street or not and really it was a it actually
yes, as you can see, they wanted to make sure we were only taking up the same amount of space we
had taken up before. And then a lot of the other concerns are around construction. So we've been
in coordination with the head of the RCO and with them a lot. We didn't start construction on this,
but there was a, Roland, or Andres, there was a, was there a fire or there was a water break or
something like a couple of weeks ago that we were working with them on. So they're in communication
with us a lot over this um this project in particular and again a lot of the scope of
this was limited based on their feedback and not wanting us to take up more space than we had
originally understood but i guess my question was less about specifically removal of parking and just
were the people that live at 801 to 805 north fifth and then like 40 431 to 439 north brown
specifically have we talked to them directly just about the development as a whole yeah we've talked
to them multiple times over the last couple years and the reason that I think they supported this
again through the second time was because we had spent so much time the first time around so um
andres can can share if he's had additional conversations but we my um experience with them
through the first round of this back in 2021 was their support of this and again a lot of it is
their concerns around construction so we have you know we have to work with them on that especially
because we have to get sign off and things like that there was no opposition from them on the
first round or the second round once we made revisions and have been in communication okay
i was just clarifying because there wasn't like a specific um signature of support okay all right
um is there any uh questions from our audience or virtual audience
yes there's a hand up from dorothea gamble okay you can bring her on okay
they're coming
mike and my screen hi good good afternoon miss gamble can you state your name and spell it for
the record yes dorothea gamble d-o-r-o-t-h-e-a g-a-m-b-l-e and do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do okay and can you turn your camera
on? Ah, there you go. We see you. All right. Are you a neighbor? Yes. I'm right next door
to this property that's going to be constructed. Okay. And do you support or oppose the project?
You want to tell us your position? I actually oppose the project, but I mean,
it's really nothing I can do about it. But my thing is what Ms. Pritzer said. I have not been
in direct contact with anyone. The only thing I've done was allowed to do was join the meetings at NLA.
allowed to do was join the meetings at nla but have not spoken to anyone and neither has the
But I have not.
two neighbors next to me as far as i know because we've discussed it so this is really
sorry go ahead thank you and she's right i'm extremely concerned about the construction and
how it's handled because my house is very very old it was built in the 1800s and we as she said
we had recently had a problem with the water main break that flooded completely flooded out my
basement and we didn't get any response from that so i'm concerned that during this construction
if anything's happened say my house falls down i'm not going to have any contact with anyone
except for miss pritzer because i have contacted miss pritzer about the flooding and up and we
haven't gotten it the point is i have not communicated with this woman i've only ever
seen her on zoom and she just she's i'm sure she's excellent her job as it appears she basically
just recites what's going to happen so okay no yeah so we thank you ma'am we appreciate your
testimony um yeah just just to respond to her because she is a neighbor you reached out to me
about the the water issue because you had my contact information i brought it to the owners
and the head of the rco and i don't live at that property or own it so i can't go and fix that
issue but my job is to respond to you which i did i think you've emailed me a few few times and make
sure that that you know the owners uh attend to it and i i believe it was resolved but i i don't
have the it's not my my property so and i've certainly spoken to you on the rco meetings and
a lot of the concern was around you know construction so you know that that doesn't
there's nothing we can do about construction concerns for zoning zoning is a prerequisite
And then with the building permit, as we mentioned, we have to go and get provide building plans.
And we also have to get sign off. There's a there's a period with 60 days.
You have to go get sign off from the near neighbors. So if and I looped you in on the email with the owners directly.
So if there's not been more communication, I'm happy to try to be supportive.
I included my cell phone number, but that's all I heard since we sent those emails.
i hadn't had any follow-up from then okay thank you for your testimony ms gamble um is there any
other hands in the audience okay no more hands no more hands okay all right thank you uh planning
commission thank you chair and good afternoon david fecto with the city planning commission
chair and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the RSA 5 residential
single-family zoning at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 2009 and 2014 in
community requested map changes the condition of off-street accessory parking is not common on
this block face however the curb cut this property exists the appellant is proposing to reuse it but
not expand it the city planning commission recommends that the board grant a reposed
variance for off-street accessory parking accessed by a primary street okay thank you
mi2025-007188441 brown street my vote is yes michael johns my vote is yes
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
And McAdams, my vote is yes.
Hi, I win.
My vote is yes.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I don't smell something burning.
It is.
All right.
Do we know where the X's are?
All right.
Number seven.
mi2025007189 1101 to 53 chestnut street uh stephanie boggs mcnaglia is the attorney
yes good afternoon all right i believe i'm already sworn in yes you are could you pronounce your
last name for me magania magania okay sorry don't worry okay it's my husband's name all right okay
Okay, so could you identify your client and their relationship to the property?
Certainly. My client is Thomas Jefferson University.
They are the ground lessee to this property pursuant to a ground lease with the owner, the estate of Steven Gerard.
Okay, and so this application is for temporary structures, three food trucks at an existing parking, a lay-by on Clover Street.
we have a unanimous non-opposition from the washington square west civic association and
a letter of non-opposition from council member squilla our board secretary gadsden has some
questions for you uh good afternoon council have you submitted your documents any exhibits
uh good afternoon counsel have you submitted your documents any because if it's five days
in advance of this hearing yes i have and do you waive the reading of the referral
and stipulate to its accuracy yes i do thank you you can share your screen and begin your
presentation thank you um so this subject property is 1101 chestnut street it is the southernmost
parcel that's part of the East Market development. On the east side of the property is the
Honigman Center, formerly known as Jefferson Specialty Care Pavilion, and on the west side
of this site is now Jefferson Plaza. Clover Street runs between this parcel and the rest
of East Market. That is a private street, and it includes a lay-by lane where we are proposing to
put three food trucks there on a rotational basis but as a more permanent offering here on the site
to provide a different food option for visitors of the jefferson plaza and for you know tenants
guests employees and customers patients alike that will visit the hannickman center and east market
overall lni has classified this is a takeout restaurant use within temporary structures
and it requires a special exception for a takeout restaurant use in this center this section of the
center city overlay district as was mentioned we did present this application to the washington
square west civic association and their unanimous letter of non-opposition is included in our
exhibits here's a rendering of jefferson plaza you can see to the top of the screen here right
across from the hotel is clover street there's currently nothing there but you can see that
that there is an existing lay-by lane in Clover Street
where the food trucks are proposed.
So they will not be in the traffic lane
or blocking any traffic.
It is a two-way street on Clover Street.
The trucks will be parked in the lay-by lane
and about three will fit there.
This is a rendering of Market East overall.
Again, this is very much intended to be part
of the offerings to Market East in general
and not just specific to Jefferson Plaza,
but the plaza is of course an important more recent addition to market east this includes the
location of the trucks so you can see that they're proposed within the lay-by-lane three trucks is
what fits here that is what we're asking for in terms of our application again they will rotate
so different trucks will come but this application seeks to make this a permanent offering to provide
a more affordable food offering at the plaza and in this market but they're going to be selected
to make sure that they complement and don't take away from the existing restaurant uses that are
here and that are nearby as an additional amenity to the space there is an existing electric hookup
here within the lay-by-lane so the trucks will not run on generators they're going to be plugged
into the systems and the trucks will also utilize trash services kind of the existing infrastructure
that has been put in place for east market to manage trash and anything associated with visitors
and guests kind of using jefferson plaza as a public square bringing food from outside of the
plaza as well into the square as well as from these food trucks so the existing back of house
operations are prepared and existing to make sure that they can take care of any refuse
that comes from these trucks and make sure that that is taken care of here's a site plan that was
submitted with a little more detail this is part of our zoning application to lni consistent with
the rendering that i just showed you and these are some recent site pictures you can see the
trucks are parked in the lay by lane and as i mentioned this application is seeking to make
this what was a temporary kind of amenity here a more permanent fixture at this location but with
that i'll ask charles norman who's a representative for jefferson today to come up and adopt my
testimony and questions uh you can press the button until the green light comes on then you
know you're being heard okay could you state your name and spell it for the record charles norman uh
n-o-r m-a-n okay and do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but
the truth thank you okay thank you go ahead counsel hi charles have you heard the statements
i made to the board this afternoon yeah are they true and accurate to the best of your knowledge
They are. Would you adopt them as your own? I would. Thank you. Okay. The board has any questions. Yes. I have one question before I give it over to my colleagues. Um, so the trucks are there. 24 hours or do they leave every night and come back?
Every day they leave and they come back and it's a rotating, uh, can you speak up a little more? Can't hear you.
Sorry. The trucks leave every day and they rotate through. So some days we'll have different, you know, food trucks than we do on other days.
So is it the exact same time every day? Like they arrive at the same time and leave the same time?
Essentially, yes. So they arrive in the morning, they start through the lunch hour and by the evening they've departed.
uh so they arrive in the morning uh they start through the lunch hour and by the evening they
they've departed okay all right thank you questions from the board uh yes um usually with these trucks
they are attached to a food commissary where they you know go they get loaded up with the food and
the um whatever water they need and different things and then they go out and then on the way
back they go back to the food commissary and those are like monitored by the health department so
is that how this is going to work with these trucks since they're going to be they're going
to be different trucks that are going to rotate so there's going to be different vendors it's not the
same three trucks every single day so i imagine some of their operations are going to to differ
but they'll certainly all be licensed and insured and properly licensed by the health department
Yeah, but no, it's more than just the licensing and ensuring that they actually, the food trucks that are like on the streets, they all have to be attached to a food commissary.
So regardless of what kind of variety of trucks you're going to have, they're usually always attached to this food commissary and the food commissary ensures that the health department can monitor, you know, and make sure that any waste products are being disposed of properly and also that they are following safe food like guidelines and what have you.
right um so safe serve certified and so on yeah i think the commissaries are going to change is
what i'm saying so as the food trucks rotate and different vendors are brought in some of that
may change whether or not it's in philadelphia or somewhere else charles i don't know if there's
anything else you wanted to add to that i don't have the specifics of the agreements but each of
these uh vendors uh has to sign an agreement uh you know regarding their their occupancy of the
space so i believe that includes health requirements as well as like insurance
requirements and the like okay all right so i just want to make sure that we're not it and it
doesn't matter if it's it doesn't have to be the same commissary it's just that they have to be
attached to a commissary if that's a requirement that's a requirement of the agreement is to make
sure that they're satisfying the regulations that are applicable i i won't claim to understand the
regulations that are applicable to food trucks but i can say that that is part of the agreement that
they have with east market to be available um as i said they may be coming from different
jurisdictions so some of that may change um but they're certainly required under the agreement
to meet the licensing and health safety standards of the city of philadelphia all right thank you
okay any other questions from the board yeah i have a question about trash i do know that there
is an existing trash enclosure out there um but i'm assuming with the three trucks now being
permanent there's going to be more traffic and activity so what's going to be the sort of
maintenance plan and jefferson plaza because i've been out there and varying levels of people
varying levels of like stuff being left behind and that was before the trucks were sort of formalized
and more permanent more permanent certainly can you speak to the trash management at east market
sure i can touch it on um so first and foremost everyone should know that the entire city block
has a centralized trash uh recycling center so trash recycling combos at all for all the this
the six sites on the on the property everything essentially collected and brought out brought away
uh in terms of the jefferson plaza and and the area that these food trucks serve we have uh
daily trash and maintenance and cleaning of the entire plaza so i hope you guys agree that we
We keep it very clean and keep trash off the ground in receptacles, which are permanently in the plaza.
I do agree that you guys have been keeping it clean.
I just know that I've never seen three food trucks out there every day either.
I think with the one truck, there have been times where it's not that it's dirty, but there's lots of people.
And you can tell that there's been people out there eating.
So I would imagine that with three that we're going to see an increased amount.
I also know that two new restaurants have opened near the Plaza.
So like in an area that was pretty desolate for the last year.
Also, Iron Hill just applied for their liquor license, right?
So I think there there was not a lot of activity over there for the past year.
And I think we're seeing it rapidly in very acutely increased just right now.
And so that's part of my it's also just thinking ahead.
I spent a lot of time in this. All right.
questions questions from our attorney um not at this time madam chair okay
uh questions from our audience or virtual audience
i see no hands okay uh planning commission
thank you chair and good afternoon david vecto with the city planning commission chair
thank you chair and good afternoon david vecto with the city planning commission
chair and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the cmx5 commercial mixed
use zoning at this location as part of the city still carries its original 1933 zoning the
appellant has shown that the proposed takeout restaurant will have no detrimental impacts to
the neighborhood than would normally be expected the city planning commission recommends that the
board grant the proposed special exception for takeout restaurants okay thank you so hillary we
have a proviso here is that still relevant for approved uses takeout restaurant yes no that the
use wasn't listed in the description so i just recommend a proviso that the approved use is
takeout restaurant yeah that is clear yes that's acceptable i did have one other question can i
ask it sorry yeah oh i have one other question for hillary first um so the the you were talking
about the listing of the unit as unit two does that matter does that have to be mentioned in the
proviso no i think that's fine the the property is in like three condo units i think it's just
a note to try to figure out what what this is technically common area of the condominium um
that structure as you know is invisible for purposes of zoning but it is a common area of
the condominium we did submit the taxes for all three units yes no i saw yeah in your revised
exhibits it had had yeah the tax of all three because so just one proviso approved but this
isn't technically associated with any particular unit it is a budding what is unit to it's the
west portion of this but i do believe it's a common area of the condominium okay thank you
sorry so my other question is that i know with some of the more permanent food truck locations
specifically near the universities and also at 30th street station that the trucks would do and
allow for uber eats and doordash and has there any provision in the agreement that bars them from
BEING ABLE TO DO THAT AT THIS LOCATION CHARLES CAN YOU SPEAK TO THAT I CAN TELL YOU THAT WE
DON'T HAVE THAT THOSE PROVISIONS IN OUR CURRENT AGREEMENTS BUT WE WE ALSO KNOW THESE TRUCKS
ARE NOT DOING THAT CURRENTLY OKAY SO WE COULD PUT CONTROLS ON THAT OKAY THANK YOU ALL RIGHT
THANK YOU MI 2025 007189 1101-53 CHESNESS STREET I VOTE YES WITH PROVISOR APPROVED USE IS TAKE
restaurant michael johns my vote is yes with proviso cheryl gaston my booty chefs with proviso
i am mcadams my vote is yes with proviso hiya win my vote is yes with provider thank you thank you
guys thank you okay number five mi2025 0071663 11 to 13 north front street alam knockamson or
alex goldberg is the attorney
alan or alex
Alex Goldberg has been promoted thank you you're welcome
good afternoon alex gobert yeah good afternoon i alan should be there in person i imagine
i think we were quoted 345 i'm going to shoot him a text if you don't mind throwing somebody
in front of us um i'll i'll make sure that he's there for the okay thank you all right all right
thank you all right so uh we will come back to number five we'll move to number eight
Andrea. Okay. All right. MI-2025-007190, 505-15, Jamestown Avenue. Andrea Solomon is the attorney.
Hi. Hi. Good afternoon. All right. Good afternoon. Can you state your name and spell it for the
record? Andrea Solomon, A-N-D-R-E-A-S-A-L-O-M-O-N, on behalf of the owner-applicant,
prime healthcare services rocksboro llc okay and do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth and nothing but the truth i do okay so you've identified your client um and you have um
in the relationship to the property.
in a relationship to the property uh so this is for
So this is for replacement
of an existing freestanding sign.
Okay, so you have a letter of unanimous support
from Central Roxborough Civic Association.
You also have a letter of support
from the Roxborough Development Corporation
and a arts commission approval letter, correct?
Okay, our board secretary Gadsden
has a few questions for you.
uh good afternoon council have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of
this hearing i have and do you waive the reading of the refusal i do and stipulate to their accuracy
i do thank you you can share your screen and begin your presentation okay thank you very much uh this
again um as madam chairman stated this is uh for an application for a free standing sign we are
replacing an existing sign on the corner of jamestown avenue and ridge avenue um the reason
for the refusal is that it we're upgrading the sign to have a digital component um the
owner is proposing to include this freestanding sign as part of the accessory parking that is part
the roxborough memorial hospital complex in the spins district as madam chairman stated we received
a letter of unanimous support from the coordinating rco the central roxborough civic association as
well as from the other affected rco the roxborough development corporation and the nearest neighbor
which is just across the street,
St. Timothy's Episcopal Church is also in support.
We also received approval from the Art Commission
for these upgrades.
The sign is in kind.
It's a very similar size to what is existing,
but we are adding this digital component
that is two feet by eight feet.
This digital message board will allow the hospital
to communicate things like emergency notifications, community health care.
What we see on the screen, it says, get your flu shot today.
It's really a place for the hospital to show real-time updates
and promote different community benefits.
I had the luxury that the RCO meeting, the CRCA actually hosts their RCO meetings at the hospital.
and this was during the winter in January it was already dark when I went to the RCO meeting and
I actually went right past Jamestown because I couldn't see the sign so this is really a much
needed wayfinding wayfinding upgrade for the hospital to really show that the hospital is
here the entrance is here and I think you'll agree the need is apparent
um again it's a spins district um part of the refusal is due to the fact that the abutting uh
prop for the abutting residential districts uh however across the street as i mentioned
is saint timothy's and their cemetery a lot of the uses despite being zoned residential
are commercial. We have an auto body repair shop, other group medical uses, rec center,
kind of catty corner from the street. And really this is at the end of the Ridge Avenue commercial
corridor. These are some images of the existing sign looking at it from Ridge Avenue. The structure,
the brick structure in the back is the hospital again it's on the corner of this existing
accessory parking that's part of the hospital complex and the proposed sign is nearly identical
in size and height it'll be in the same location and here's the image of the proposed sign with
that i'll ask that mr sean parrick be uh sorry okay uh hi sir could you uh state your name and
spell it for the record sure this is darshan body darshan d-a-r-s-h-a-n last name is p-a-r-e-k-h
okay and do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do okay thank you proceed counsel sean for the record can you state uh your relationship to the
hospital sure i'm the ceo for prime roxford memorial hospital and you saw my uh my uh presentation is
and you saw my my presentation is it true and accurate to the best of your
knowledge absolutely and you adopt it as your own testimony yes anything else
that you would like to share with the board about the need for the sign and
no I think you covered it all I think the biggest challenge I've been there
two years local community members that often pass by and say it looks like a
condominium is it really our hospital and so it's not only our demand but I
the community wants something that's a little bit more obvious but also the messaging is going to be
really helpful from a public health standpoint which is really what excites us to get the right
message out okay all right thank you questions from the board yes does this have dimming
for the evening yes and with us actually online should also be the sign manufacturers the sign
company so uh they could be promoted as well so that they can answer any sign specific questions
that'd be great i'm just asking about the more so the digital portion of the sign i can answer that
yeah it does have the ability and we're uh our goal is to set up certain time frames where it's
actually going to go very low especially overnight because it could be a little bit of a bear but
But yeah, it does have that capability.
Thank you.
All right.
Any other questions from the board?
Questions from our attorney?
Not at this time, Madam Chair.
And questions from our audience or virtual audience?
All right.
Doreen, you were going out.
I couldn't hear you.
There are no hands from Madam Chair.
you're saying okay i believe she's saying there's no questions right okay planning commission thank
you chair and good afternoon david vector with the city planning commission chair and board members
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the spins special purpose institutional zoning
at this location the city rezoned this property in 2008 and an applicant requested zoning change
while the sign area is substantially similar to what is there now the appellant has not shown
why an animated sign is necessary for the appellant to derive economic value from their property
the city planning commission recommends the board grant the proposed dimensional relief for the sign
area but deny the proposed variances for animated illumination I'll just yeah I'll respond quickly
but I think we did demonstrate that need it's for community health messaging and it will really
signify here's the hospital and this is where to go okay all right thank you
And my 20, 25, 0, 0, 7, 1, 9, 0, 5, 0, 5 to 15, Jamestown Avenue.
I vote. Yes. John's my vote is yes. Cheryl Gaston. My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
Thank you very much. All right. Thank you. Um, so I don't see Alan.
All right. So I guess we'll move on to Wiley Street. Oh, do you need a minute? Yeah. We'll see another case. All right. So we'll hear number nine and number 13 together.
Okay, so it's MI-2025-007194-209 East Wiley Street and MI-2025-007534-211 East Wiley Street.
Adam Laver is the attorney.
Yeah, and so, hold on, let me just see, because we have an attorney for the city.
he was here okay i'm gonna have him sit and sit there give me one second
um i think he was meeting up with his witness so maybe we should maybe we can if alan's ready we
can jump to alan i think he'll be back in a few minutes yeah all right um alan you ready
or you need more time we can always move
we can move to we can move to wolf street number 10 yep okay all right mr labor we'll be back
back in a minute
Back in a minute.
All right, so we're going to move to number 10.
Give our folks here some time to prepare.
All right, MI 2025, 00723821 Wolf Street.
Vern Anastagio is the attorney.
Vern Anastagio has been promoted.
good afternoon madam chair hi good afternoon mr anastasio um i believe you were sworn in this
morning so could you um just state your name is below for the record for this case sure it's
Verne Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O. On behalf of my client, Augustine Sarno.
Okay. And so you've identified your client and their relationship to the property?
He is the tenant.
Okay. So this is for a prepared food shop on the first floor of an existing structure. You have
a letter of unanimous support with the proviso from the uh whitman council incorporated uh
and madam chair we also received a letter of non-opposition from council member squilla okay
that's right all right good so that's all right so our uh board secretary gatson has a few questions
for you good afternoon council have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance
this hearing yes and do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy i do
thank you you can share your screen and begin your presentation thank you this is a large building
as you can see here 21 wolf street we're not taking the whole thing uh but we are going to be
talking about a section of it and i'm going to go through that in a minute after 20 122 years
the city's number one italian confectionery shop has decided to open a second location
and they've asked me to bring it to you today is gross pastries is proposing a second retail
outlet that would include a cafe where all of their pastries, in fact, could be purchased.
People could sit down, have a pastry, have a cup of coffee, and they're going to be doing that
in this particular structure, portion of this structure. Here's the refusal.
I'll pull it in for you. As you can see, the proposed uses for the eating and drinking
establishment prepared food shop and actually this is not this is the
original refusal we also have an amended one and we're gonna so this is the
space we'll be using it's in the corner section of the larger building you'll
have a vestibule you'll have your cafe section your point of sale your pastries
and all different great suites and then of course all the prep and toilets
storage and this is as you can see 21 wolf is a large property there'll be
just one tenant taking up that space. Give me a minute. That's existing conditions.
This is an artist rendering of what it will look like when we're ready to open. Again,
this is that corner section of the larger building. This will be the entrance here.
There's the site plan showing the exact area that we'll be using.
The hours will be daytime, no more than six staff members at any one particular time.
uh there'll be exterior lighting there will be exterior surveillance cameras for safety
and uh i think we all know the product unless unless you're not from here uh everybody knows
what is grows is and that they just want to bring it to a whole new neighborhood down in
south philadelphia and with that i'd like to have augustine sarno raises virtual thank you
And with that, I'd like to have Augustine Sarno raises virtual. Thank you.
And if I showed up in person, I would have brought some cannoli, but I didn't want to skew the boat.
You're going to hold you to that, Vern.
Afterwards, there's always Christmas, right?
good afternoon hi good afternoon could you state your name and spell it for the record
yes uh augustine sarno a-u-g-u-s-t-i-n-e s-a-r-n-o okay mr sarno do you swear or affirm to tell the
truth the whole truth or nothing but the truth yes i do okay thank you go ahead counsel thank you
uh aj did you hear my presentation to the board today i did very good job job is true and accurate
to the best of your knowledge? Yes. And do you adopt it as your own? I do. Thank you. I have
nothing further. Okay. All right. Vern, the RCO has in the, they wanted to have a proviso for
trash receptacles or no dumpsters on the property. So how could you address that? That particular
proviso is unenforceable, but how can we address the trash or the dumpsters? Or could you let us
know about the trash plan we have a space for it that's dedicated uh an interior space in fact if
if i i'm sure that there's someone from the design team who can talk about the larger site plan
and where that's located uh if there is someone from the design team who can raise their virtual
hand i would appreciate it i have promoted michael baker wonderful thank you
Hi, I'm Mike Baker. I'm from Lammy and Giorgio Architects.
Hi, could you wait a minute? Could you state your name again and spell it for the record?
All right. My name is Michael Baker, M-I-C-H-A-E-L, Baker, B-A-K-E-R. I work for Lammy and
Giorgio Architects. Okay. And do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and
nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. Okay. So you can address the question about the trash?
Yeah, Michael, I'm going to keep this site plan up. If you could just direct me where to put my
cursor i think i know where it is but yeah so up in the up in the top left right now um we're
burnt right by that where that gate is there is uh we have an existing freight elevator that
exits right out in that area um we're proposing to have the dumpsters be right next to that gate
um right in that area where vern's showing there and then we're going to construct like a little
shield wall so nobody from uh what is that street the that's not wolf street but what the other main
street anybody looking in from the parking lot and everything would not be able to see any of
the dumpsters okay all right thank you and wait a minute the irony of having uh an architect named
baker on this case is like makes me smile any other questions from the board that's right
oh um is this oh go ahead okay so question how many square feet is this the cafe yes
Yeah, so the cafe is going to be 1,917 square feet.
Excuse me, out of the whole building being how many square feet?
So the first floor square footage is 20,500 square feet.
There's going to be other uses coming in here.
There's going to be a virtual golf and all sorts of stuff.
all right but but your your portion is just this 1970s yep that i mean that's the portion that
we're here for today yes so how many seats are we talking about or how is this gonna
um work i see you know you have a little layout here but how how are you planning to
operators, doors, seating, traffic flow? Is there parking on the lot?
We're not here for parking. The landlord is going to be handling the parking sort of stuff
later. We're in the planning process with that. As far as seating is concerned,
it's only going to be maybe three or four, two tops, not a whole lot.
Okay. So it's mainly going to be more takeout?
uh more takeout i mean the way you were talking was like people gonna come they're gonna be well
I mean, the way you were talking.
no well yeah i mean it's gonna be it's gonna be a coffee shop right so people sit down and they
they drink coffee or sometimes you know if if there's a dozen or two uh you know dozen or so
people in the cafe there might be uh folks who just want to grab a cup of coffee and a cannoli
and head out but uh so yeah but it's not our application isn't for a takeout restaurant it's
for prepared food shop which will require a certain amount of seating right well that that's what i
was asking what are you talking about in terms of seating and you said maybe a couple tables and
i'm like i don't think that's what we're talking about for a prepared food yeah i shouldn't have
used the word couple my apologies okay all right all right any other questions from the board thank
you questions from our attorney um just uh quickly mr anastasio i understand there's
there's an uh amended refusal here which just limits the use to the first floor but is there
a particular unit i didn't see in the the leases for the first for part of the first floor and a
bunch of the second floor but i understand the application has now been limited to the first
floor use um is there a particular unit number that's a good question michael do we know of a
a particular unit number for this other unit numbers on the plan but i couldn't on the key
plan but i couldn't for this this good question is michael still there
he's coming back in now thank you okay i'm back and um yes so the the cafe section um
This is formally 1D, vacant commercial space, is what the space was considered.
Thank you.
Sorry, just 1D as in David, right?
Correct.
All right, thank you.
So it'll be per amended refusal and also specifically for Unit 1D.
All right.
Thank you.
Questions from our audience here or virtual audience?
I see no hands.
okay planning commission
thank you chair and good afternoon david vecto with the city planning commission
chair and board members the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location
from i2 medium industrial to icmx industrial commercial mixed use under the proposed zoning
a prepared food shop would be allowed by right the city planning commission recommends the board
grant a proposed use variance for a prepared food shop thank you in my 2025 007238 21
wool street my vote is yes with proviso her amended refusal uh february 17 2026 uh for unit 1d
michael johns my vote is yes with proviso cheryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Taya Nguyen, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Thank you.
One word for you, Vern.
Cannoli.
You got it.
So, Hilary, is the traffic person here?
Do you want to do that one or is there a time thing?
Yes, I believe Mr. Knippen, you're here, is your witness here now?
So, we're ready to go with the wildly street cases.
All right.
all right so we'll do the Wiley Street cases so you can come back up I'll go
back and that is case 9 and 13 okay read them again MI 2025 007194 209 East
widely street and am i 2025 007534211 east wildly street we got adam laver is the attorney and then
we have is this travis okay a mr travis niffin attorney for opposing party so we're going to
ask you guys just where you went so you want to state your name um and spell it for the record
good afternoon madam chairman and members of the board adam laver laver of blank room llp one logan
square do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes
madam chairman i do okay thank you um you want to state your name and spell it for the record for us
good afternoon madam and good afternoon commission uh my name is travis niffin niffin is spelled k
n i f f i n i'm an attorney i'm with the city's law department and i represent the streets
represent the streets department okay thank you and do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the
department okay thank you and do you swear or affirm to tell the
whole truth and nothing but the truth I do okay all right okay so um we are these are cases 9 and
13 that we're going to hear together um this is for uh creation of two accessory uh surface
parking spaces uh we have uh letters of support from the fishtown neighbor association we have
letters of support from council member squilla on both yep on both and then um
yeah okay so um what we'll do is we'll let adam put on his case and then you can
go next all right so our um vice chair i mean not vice chair well vice chair for today
but our board secretary miss gaston has some questions for you uh good afternoon council
have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing
good afternoon miss gaston yes we have for both of the cases and uh do you waive the reading of the
the refusals and stipulate to their accuracy for both cases yes we do Ms. Gossner then
you can share your screen and begin your presentation thank you
Madam Chairman and members of the board I represent Wilde Street Partners LLC and Henry
Siebert. Mr. Siebert is sitting behind me and we have appeared before this board before regarding
other projects that Mr. Siebert has brought to our city in the past. 209 and 211 East Wildey Street
are companion matters and we appreciate in the interest of the efficiency of this board's time
hearing them together the properties themselves are located here where the cursor is uh at the
corner of wilde and day streets in fishtown they are situated as you can see members of the board
solidly in the rsa5 single-family residential zoning district and the appeals before the board
today concern documentation and confirmation of two accessory parking spaces in front of each of
the single family homes side by side these two single family homes that are at that corner
were recently approved new construction single family household dwellings but before delving
into the details of what is proposed it's really critical to go back in time with you
and let's start if i may with the department of licenses and inspection zoning archives
in 1987 nearly 40 years ago this very zoning board of adjustment granted variance relief
for residential development at this location you can see that I've
highlighted oops one moment the cursor is not showing but the upper highlight
references northeast corner of Shackamaxon and Wildey Street through
to Day Street. Members of the board, this is the entire city block, one side of this side of Wildey
Street, was developed in 1987 for single-family residential dwellings starting at Chackamaxin
and going all the way to Day Street. You'll see some photos in a minute.
following the granting of the zba variance relief in 1987 the department of licenses and inspections
issued zoning permit number 350410 which i've highlighted that was issued in august august 13th
of that year and that was for the erection of five single family dwellings each of the members of the
board with accessory off street parking at the front and you can see here uh former uh zoning
supervisor jeannie clinger's uh beautiful handwriting where she writes out that very
relief following the zoning board's granting of a relief that this side the same site same location
same location from shakamaxon all the way to day street was approved by this board and then
from Shaq and Maxon all the way to Day Street.
documented by the department of licenses and inspections for single family homes
with front loaded accessory parking spanning from shakamaxon to day street
so why are we here nothing has really changed except for the fact that the residents closest to
day street that corner that we looked at at the beginning 209 east wilde street was torn down
and recently subdivided into two conforming lots with two conforming single family residences that
were approved pursuant to the zoning code within the confines of the zoning code they they have
been built construction is almost complete in fact there are young families that are ready to move
in with their children to be active participants in the neighborhood and in city life but the
department of licenses and inspections deemed that prior approvals which i've now shown you
for the very same front yard parking that the zba had previously approved back in 1987
as requiring i'm not sure why that just okay as requiring new review due to the subdivision
the plan before you is the plan approved from 1987 which is very difficult i know to read
uh and i can zoom in if if required but but maybe i will i'll pull up a little bit so
that you can see this better and this this is from the lni records
Okay, so I've highlighted to try to frame it for you at the top of the page you see Shaka Maxson at the bottom of the page you see day street on the left is will D street, which is the street front that i've described with all of the existing single family homes on the entire side of the street with front loaded parking
as approved by the zoning board and then approved by lni and there's one other party that i'm going
to tell you approve this too at the bottom of the page you can see depressed curb cuts
typical and the notes that are really hard to read show you some other typicals regarding
entry off of day street into these single family homes i certainly recognize members of the board
that nearly 40 years ago the requirements of lni were not quite as detailed as they are today
in terms of what is expected however on the far right of the page
are the streets department approvals so these were fully reviewed of course by the streets department
as well with that with that context i'd like to turn now to the existing conditions along the
block here you can see an aerial photograph and if if you follow the my cursor as best you can on
the left again that's shack and maxon and running all the way along the side of the street are those
front-loaded single-family homes and here's day street on the on the right where the trees are
this is the former uh residence which was um uh demolished and there are now two new
construction homes there suitable for growing families
in this next photograph you can see a view from Shacken Street I have an objection Commission
um are these photo these photographs I'm not seeing authentication of them who took them when
Mr Labor your response
um Madam Chairman and members of the board the photographs that I'm sharing with you
are a combination of public records and photographs that my client and or the the design team have
taken common in hearings before this board to share photographs like this okay yeah okay so
we all love that madam chairman and members of the board the the photograph here shows a view
from Shackamaxon Street along Wildey Street.
We are on the left seeing the single-family homes.
These are the older construction.
And in the background on the left, in the distance, you can see
and in the background on the left in the distance you can see day street and again the subject
property also on the right side of the street um it's covered by by your photographs here i don't
know if you can see it but just to the left of mr mcadams up on the screen you see the tip
of a garage just to give you a sense that even on the right side of the street if you will
we have some parking as well but most importantly i really wanted you to see
the the view of shakamaxon along wilde and here we have some photographs that have been
uh taken by uh our development team and we are looking towards shackamaxin from day if you will
along will do street with the older single family on the left and the under construction
completing construction uh single family homes the subject properties if you will on the right
you can see the homes with parking long existing parking and we'll just go through these relatively
quickly let's move around the corner though so this photograph is not the most current this is
before the new construction homes went up because we are on day street facing towards
will d street which would be on the left and this corner here that's vacant is the site of the new
construction homes that you saw a moment ago but what i wanted you to see is that just adjacent to
this site on day street we also have the subject that's before the zoning board today the off street
accessory parking for other homes and if you look at the next photograph taken from public records
as i mentioned a mix of public records and also our photographs this is from
the stormwater photographs from the philadelphia water department but you can see
that condition that i mentioned off of day street just beyond the subject properties
the proposed zoning site plan on the left we have um existing and on the right we have proposed
now with existing uh we are showing the most recently constructed new construction homes 209
and 211 east willie street left 209 right 211 and because of uh lni's review of these matters
in requiring the documentation and confirmation we are not showing uh any parking there although
i have highlighted what is there if you walk if you go out to the site as i did and that is
existing curb cut here uh on the lower left just to show you as i had shared from 1987
87 the entire block face was like that, but on the right.
Here's the documentation and confirmation new single family homes as proposed each with the 2 cars out front each with a curb cut.
This presents a plan that is consistent with the conditions along the street.
this plan conforms to what had previously been approved by this zoning board of adjustment
what had previously been a port approved by the department of licenses and inspections
and what had previously been approved by the streets department albeit many years ago for
this entire side of wilde street the notices of refusal are they were each each case was
each application was reviewed by a separate zoning examiner however each examiner
independently i presume issued the same three refusals for each of the two properties
refusal number one surface parking is prohibited in the required front yard
this board previously determined that there was hardship at this property
for this specific use and granted variance relief we saw that before so there is a record
of this board finding hardship for the same issues indeed there are existing curb cuts
there is an existing curb cut on the site
refusal number two proposed parking may not be accessed from the front street
that is true however there's a particular hard show
that is true however there's a particular hardship at this location along this block
every other home from shaka maxin to day street has documented front-loaded parking
the narrowness of the street and the existing curb cuts prohibit viable on-street parking
refusal number three the last of them the proposed stall depth is 16 feet instead of code required 18
feet for a standard parking space i would submit madam chairman and members of the board that this
is de minimis the 16 feet meets compact car parking pursuant to the code depth in the zoning
in the zoning code as current i have never seen a letter from a coordinating rco
that actually speaks directly to the grounds for granting variance relief as the letter from
fishtown neighbors association does which i'm sharing with you right now i can't argue this
case better than the own community does fna states that the proposed front yard parking
matches the existing streetscape specifically the homes at 201 through 207 east will do street
which have long existing front yard parking as as fna states and i know mr everett or i believe
mr everett is here to speak at the appropriate time directly and not through me fna also notes
that the new homes match the setback of the adjoining homes and the rest of the block
we're not talking about anything different and fna notes that given the existing context of the
block the need for off-street parking in this specific narrow street area and the applicant's
willingness to work with neighbors the community supports this proposal this is the letter before
you fna also notes that the applicant specifically seeks two spots per house to accommodate families
and the discussion part of the discussion at the community level was how unusual it is
to find residential new construction that is geared towards family living room for kids
room for elders who might be part of the family unit etc
district council member mark squilla vice chairman of the city council streets committee
uh submitted a letter of support for both of these um variants requests writing i stand in
support of the variance request and the addition of two parking spaces per residence
so we've heard from the coordinating rco we've heard from the long-standing district council
member who happens to have a particular knowledge of issues like this but what about the the near
neighbors where do they stand on this they stand in support uh mr siebert has spoken with uh as
many of the his near neighbors as possible and the near neighbors who are immediately adjacent
along east willdy street the ones who actually have been have these homes that were approved by
the board back in 87 uh have submitted their support as have some near neighbors around the
corner so we have will d street we have shack and maxon and that's now in the record as well
so madam chairman and members of the board we truly believe that the authorization of
variance relief will not alter the character of this neighborhood or district or be detrimental
to the public welfare and furthermore the photos reflect that this proposal fits the neighborhood
we have prepared this map showing examples of similar parking nearby
which we understand is not determinative but it does speak to context and it all fits in
to this story that I heard loud and clear that this fills a need in the community.
Not that this should be policy. No one is saying that this should be policy in the city of
Philadelphia. No one is saying that the code is wrong. No one is saying that streets department
regulations are wrong. What we are saying is there are unique circumstances that
What we are saying is there are unique circumstances that warrant this relief.
Here we are right next door along Wildey Street.
This Shack and Maxon is on the left, giving you an example of how people have used these homes for the last 39 years.
Here we can see some other examples from that map nearby in the neighborhood known to those who.
i think he showed us a lot of that that's happening in the area so we're good with that
so in sum to conclude and thank you for bearing with me the support of the coordinating rco and
the district council member the support of the most immediately impacted neighbors speaks to
the granting of relief being of benefit to the public and within the spirit of the zoning code
the proposed variance before you would represent the minimum variance to afford relief and
represent the least modification possible of the regulation at issue the grant of variance relief
will not substantially increase congestion in the public streets increase the danger of fire
or otherwise in danger of the public health safety or general welfare in fact we're taking
some traffic off the street with a low impact use this is not public parking that is in and out it
is vested neighbors who care about their community care about safety there are no light and air
issues this will not adversely affect transportation or unduly burden water sewer school park or other
public facilities there are no environmental issues we have architect carrie jackson yans
available virtually mr siebert as you know is here and we are pleased to uh answer any questions
but the board may have let's um bring your client on to adopt your testimony okay mr siebert
kindly come up the seat and be recognized by uh the chair
hi can you state your name is phillip for the record sure henry siebert s-i-e-b-e-r-t
okay and do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes okay thank you go ahead good afternoon mr siebert i know that you've been present uh
physically in the city of philadelphia zoning board of adjustment hearing room were you able to hear the testimony that I offered fully and clearly today?
Yes, and would you adopt and affirm it as your own?
Yes, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Nissen.
Now, if I may have the opportunity to cross-examine would that be now, or would that be?
Yep. Yes. You can share a microphone with this attorney. Yeah, move up. Mr. labor. I think your client will use the microphone.
Mr. Siebert. Hello.
um mr siebert um as a developer and as the developer who is the applicant here for both
209 and 211 east wildy street you obviously submitted a lot of plans over over time
and those plans started as early as january of last year
is that right you have to affirm in the microphones get your kid i believe so
Was there a plan submission among the plan submissions? Was there one in January of last year?
I don't remember the date. I don't remember the date, but.
Probably, and also Mr. Siebert as part of this process, did you, um, take meetings with any buddy from the city from one of our departments in the city?
i did yes which action as to relevance
yes um
mr c this this testimony i'm trying to elicit is relevant to the review that my client undertook
to determine appropriateness that is to say safety of this project okay yep madam madam
Madam chairman and members of the board, this is not a development review committee of the streets department.
We have 3 refusals before the zoning board of adjustment.
I failed to see what refusal this inquiry is leading to.
Okay. Yep, we're gonna allow it is my what is questioning. So go ahead.
Continue Mr. Siebert.
You met with the streets department, correct?
Correct.
Who was present at this meeting?
i'm not sure of the names but councilman squilla was on the call and mr siebert your
application as it stands now calls for the installation of one further curb cut
as well as three more parking spaces than are at the...
three more parking spaces than are at the location as it stands i'll defer to you adam
mr madam chairman and members of the board the application speaks for itself
we we have proposed uh the replacement of the prior non-conforming zba granted uh
uh front-loaded uh curb cuts with two new curb cuts yes there had been one curb cut at this
particular location we'll we'll stipulate that okay okay mr siebert in this meeting
you said that you would offer to have only one parking space for both 211 and 209 respectively
correct i don't recall stating that
you don't recall offering a condition so material to your application correct okay once again
objection as to relevance that is relevant uh go ahead you want to continue on are you done with
the question i have no further no further uh cross-examination testimony for mr siebert thank
you sir uh is there another i i have a a follow-up um which rather than um questioning i'll i'll just
state we will we will stipulate madam chairman and members of the board that the streets department
through its own review process uh had a series of concerns regarding this site and we disagreed
with those concerns we engaged in good faith discussions with the streets department the
streets department issued um uh sr approval letters as they're called uh which allowed
called Mr. Siebert and the development team to proceed with the processing of the application
through L and I the streets department issued certain conditions uh to those letters the
development team did not agree to those conditions so uh there is a different clearly there's a
difference of opinion uh here which we actually tried to address uh when we heard on the Eve of
this hearing that council from the streets department was going to appear i have one recross
if i may have one recross question mr siebert in the meeting i was referring to
did you offer to place a deed restriction on the property or properties
limiting the properties to just one accessory parking space each i don't recall that
And if you had done that, what would that mean for the supposed hardship of not having 4 total parking spaces?
Mr. Seabird is not a lawyer to speak to legal grounds here.
Okay. All right. You could. I am. Okay. Do you have any other summations or?
So, Mr. Labor, do you have any additional witnesses you are going to call for your presentation?
uh not at this time ms emerson okay and did you have any other remarks or things you were
were you going to present as part of your presentation no we would just reserve the
right if uh the streets department has more we we may have no absolutely okay so let me
make sure you were done before we okay moved on and then mr kniffin can um give his his remarks
i believe you have a witness to call as well i did yes thank you go ahead commissioners good
Good afternoon. I am here. I am counsel to the two streets department, and I'm here today
on their behalf to address aspects of this project that were within their purview for
review. In particular, it's those aspects that touch on the city's public right of way.
commissioners as you know under the city's home rule charter and under the city code
the responsibility for reviewing and approving these items in the right of way including the
installation of moving of or modifying curb cuts and access from the street to accessory
parking generally rests with the streets department in this case in ordinary course
uh the applicant submitted uh such a request as a prerequisite to their lni approval
my client undertook a holistic review of the circumstances of traffic engineering
my client undertook a holistic review
of a number of technical aspects and made a fact-specific determination
that the proposal in its inclusion of four spaces presented an unsafe scenario and so
So recognizing the applicant's difficulty, but also recognizing the need for safety, my client issued a conditional approval that was sufficient in providing those concerns and meeting the needs of safety.
And I do want to address briefly Mr labor's opening Mr labor points to um a 1987 ZBA approval
which a stencil which which carried a street signature as well however Mr labor has not shown
a permit uh allowing curb cuts per se from streets on that on those two lots or
than that one lot but more importantly he has shown no evidence that there ever was
a significant step toward building or the building of a curb cut and without both of
those things mr labor cannot show the applicant cannot show vested rights the vested rights to
allow them to build these curb cuts and so the changes to the zoning code as recently as 2012
are in full force when it comes to these two laws
commissioners i will be calling um a witness an engineer with streets all right you can right now
you want to bring your witness on i do yes okay bring them up are they here are they on they they
are okay here in the flesh all right good afternoon
all right you want to state your name in the microphone nice and clearly and spell it for
the record my name is janine wilson j-e-a-n-i-e-n wilson and i am the plane review supervisor for
the right-of-way unit on behalf of the streets department okay thank you and do you swear or
affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do okay thank you you
can begin counsel i have requested a screen share on the zoom application
one moment
Thank you.
All right. Thank you for your patience, commissioners.
Mrs. Wilson, thank you for stating your name.
Could you please state the responsibilities that you have in your role?
I um my part of my role with the streets department is to supervise plan reviews
there was another um there was a subordinate that provided the plan review her name is Seema
Azarani as listed on the bottom of the um of the of the conditional approval and the building
approvals for this location I I supervise and oversee the plan review department so
And Mrs. Wilson, are you familiar with 209 and 211 East Wildey Street?
Yes, I am.
How did you become familiar with these properties?
The applicant submitted it via Eclipse to the Sheriff's Department as a part of the prerequisite for zoning and building approvals.
the applicant submitted it via eclipse to the streets apartment as a part of the
And in your role, what activities did you undertake to do the review?
I opened and reviewed all of read over all of the documents that were submitted to us.
Um, there was, um, if there was, I guess, a conflict, we, um, we invited to meet the applicant and the developer to have a meeting to sort through the comments or conflicts.
Did you supervise, uh, other streets department employees in this review?
Yes, I did.
And if you could tell me again, what sorts of documents it was that you reviewed in some detail?
um i review the the standard documents that get submitted to us are the existing conditions
proposed conditions grading plan utility plan a site safety distance plan which is an m not 50s form
and term templates did the process involve any meetings yes it involved meetings
did you take notes of those meetings and is that a practice of yours
yes anytime we have an appointment with an applicant or a developer
i usually take make it a point of taking notes during the meetings and given the the i guess
the prominence of this location i um i did bring my notebook with me to discuss the meetings when
the when the meeting was held and mrs wilson what is the streets review what does it comprise
what is it made up of when reviewing proposed curb cuts for parking access the um streets
review for proposed curb cuts is usually a street zoning submission which is a prerequisite to the
lni zoning and in the streets building submission which is a prerequisite to the the lni building
During the street zoning plan, zoning review, we asked for several documents, such as I previously mentioned, the M-950S form, and we also asked for turn templates showing if the vehicles could turn in and out from the location safely.
Mrs. Wilson, did streets ultimately issue a determination about this proposal?
Yes. Ultimately, based on various meetings, we determined that due to certain site restrictions, we were able to negotiate certain things in order for us to provide a zoning approval so they can move forward with the development.
Since it's a prerequisite, it was necessary for our, for us to give the zoning approval in order for it to be in front of the board.
Mrs. Wilson, I am showing you Exhibit G, a streets approval letter from October of last year. Is this a document that you recognize?
Yes, that is a document I recognize.
What is this document?
if you scroll around a little bit it will tell you what is the um this is the letter that gets
automatically generated for um approved zoning approvals and for building approvals on behalf
of streets department and this is um just basically is and is as an approval letter
per se um we also write the conditions to the approvals um on on that letter
So the condition, what are the conditions regarding parking specifically as shown in these written conditions?
Well, we understand the hardship of having all street parking and we did recognize that there's parking along the entire block, but most of the other houses had seen to have one single car for all street parking for each parcel.
and we recognized that there was already an existing curb cut there so we allowed to have
one all street parker for two for um each each subdivided parcel um so that was one of the
simulations for the first one the second bullet was something that um the owner uh during the
meeting we discussed the owner had agreed upon and the third one was a condition that my um the chief
said since the excavation for the utility connections spread across Weldy
Street so those are the three those are those three conditions thank you mrs.
Wilson before we look at those conditions before we delve into them
look at those conditions uh before we delve into them more i'm going to move to
more I'm going
exhibit d which is a zoning submission from june of last year uh mrs wilson is this a a document
that you recognized yes it's a document recognized mrs wilson could you please orient us in other
In other words, what are we looking at in this plan? What does it show?
If you can scroll down a little bit, that might be helpful.
Basically, this is what this is a turn. This is showing a turn template on one side of the street, primarily showing the to your left.
You have the existing site plan or as proceed as the existing site plan that shows the existing curb cut and all.
and it shows an ada ramp um that's there but that's not there but we also have a zoning
submission to your right on the right hand side you show you're showing a vehicle turning in
um and backing out onto onto wieldy street and it looks as if it's backing out well does it look
like it's backing out onto wieldy street might be towards the parking lane so um that's what
that's the best description i could give right now and mrs mrs wilson what specifically is
proposed here with as it concerns parking spaces here is showing the proposal as the concern is
that there if there is a wall constructed or if there's any kind of barrier that will be constructed
between um 209 and 211 east wildy the um the vehicle has a possibility of hitting that barrier
in between those two parcels when the tendencies with someone will have a side yard they will want
protection for their lot and for their parcels so they will want to put some sort of fencing or
something and it's the character for the remaining of the areas too the yard side yards are open they
protected by fences on each side of the property lines thank you mrs wilson and specifically
with regard to curb cuts what is being proposed in the you know i think of this almost like a
before and after as a as a lay person in the after diagram what is being shown the
curb cuts is being shown as one large continuous curb cut from almost of the point of curvature
with Day Street spreading across the width of both properties.
And where is the proposed new curb cut located with respect to, you know, its proximity to this intersection?
It looks as if the curb cut is located directly at the intersection.
could you speak about the conditions present at that intersection the current intersection is not
stopped controlled at all there is one way traffic going um i believe north arrow is if you're assuming
north is up the existing um travel would be going eastbound on um on loyalty street and there you
have a northbound traffic on day street and there's no traffic control at the at either intersection
In light of conditions like that, does streets follow any guidelines relating to the distance a curb cut lies from an intersection of this kind?
Yes. In most cases, we don't allow any curb cuts within 75 feet of an intersection if it's an uncontrolled intersection.
Mrs. Wilson, about how far is the proposed curb cut from this uncontrolled intersection?
It looks like the flares are located directly at that intersection of the point of curvature.
How many feet do you think, Mrs. Wilson?
To the best of my knowledge, I believe it might be one or two feet if we don't include the flare.
I see.
and so in the real world how would a car safely exit that curb cut they wouldn't even have they
would have to back up and do a multi-point turn and mrs wilson um how does parking work
on Wildey Street right now?
The side of the building with the development on it
is the designated side that you park on.
Mrs. Wilson, does that mean that there are spaces,
parking spaces that actually lie between the illustrated moving car and the property side of
parking spaces that actually lie
between the illustrated moving car?
the, of the street? There's a possibility. Yes. So does this diagram accurately depict
the, the, the safety conditions as they really exist? There is still a, um, given as with a
wildy street there is a there are residential homes on the opposing side of the street that
you don't see necessarily on this plan um that is something that we did bring up during our
appointments with the designer mrs wilson how would you characterize
your safety concerns about this whole plan as you saw it
Our concern is primarily to make sure that a vehicle can safely back out and that another vehicle that's approaching will be able to see it, number one. Number two, we want to make sure that a vehicle that is parked on within that parking lot can be completely confined to that off-street parking space.
That's a second concern. We do not want people blocking the sidewalk to park their car.
Also, we want to make sure that vehicles will be able to pull out of a parking space without dangering any sort of fencing or hedges or something along the property boundary.
So was it because of these conditions that you made the conditional approvals you added that you made those conditions that you that you arrived at.
Yes, those are the reasons those are those are the reasons why that we determined based on based on studying the plans and studying the site.
And also Mrs. Wilson, this was was this the only document you relied upon to make a safety determination?
No, there were multiple plans that were submitted. There were multiple plans submissions that were made at the at the time.
There were various resubmission and modifications of the zoning for these two parcels, and there was modifications for the building of these two parcels.
In the world of materials that you reviewed for this submission, how early was the earliest submission?
um I believe the early submission might have been of um of maybe January or 25 which was the
initial zoning submission uh Mrs. Wilson I'm now going to look at some of the we're not going to
look at at some of the earlier materials that you review me for one second so i just want to get a
time check here because we're running long so hillary we can let her get cross-examined and
then we probably want to do a resumption hearing or are you trying to this is um i defer to um
executive director haggerty um i know we're we're we are we're okay on time but we are getting a
little long um and we do have a few other cases um mr haggerty yeah thanks hey hillary this is ian
um i think we can allocate another 20 minutes at most to this case and then we'll have to go
to a resumption thank you madam chairman and members of the board i must state to you
we have young families who desperately need to get into these homes as soon as possible
this as as we've just heard the streets department has protracted this discussion
for an unusually long period of time it's critical to us that the board hear this case
and uh do so in as timely a fashion as possible all right so let's try to uh speed it along and
give you guys an opportunity um to finish off and give you some cross time okay thank you go ahead
thank you ian thank you hillary thank you commissioner mrs wilson i'm going to briefly
uh go to some other exhibits um because they were materials you consulted first i'm going to
point to exhibit a a zoning submission mrs wilson are you familiar with this this document yes i'm
familiar with the document what does this plan show in terms of layout and access to the street
This was the original zoning approval for the parcel that we had approved, and it shows
an existing curb cut off of in front of 209 East Wildey Street.
in front of 209 East Wildey Street.
Mrs. Wilson, what features, if any, were present here that alerted you to safety concerns?
Objection. We're looking at the current plan that's before the board, not at any other plans. This is just taking up time and and and clouding the issues.
um commissioners if i may address mr labor's comments um the streets department undertakes
a holistic review conducted importantly by subject matter experts not by me not mr labor
but subject matter experts go ahead you can continue just move it along okay so um
it's it's it's a it's a distant curve cut from one side and not the other and also they're
showed the ada ramp adjacent to the other one did you have safety concerns come in response
to that ada ramp yeah we didn't want to use it as a driveway
mrs wilson i'm now going to show you um a document from a little bit later you use um
this is exhibit b this is a site plan document mrs wilson what are we looking at here this is
the initial building submission that we approved it shows the um it shows the full height curve
it shows the ADA ramp located in a different location. It shows the red area towards the
bottom of the screen highlighted is the opposing side of the street. And it also demonstrated that
the trench would need to be in front of the opposing side of the street, would have to be
restored in kind. Were there features present at the corner that presented safety concerns to you?
Yeah, the corner of Day and Wildey have utility poles. There's an inlet there. There's other
pipe posts and things that are located there could that could possibly provide a barrier or
let itself we just don't want a car to back out and to hit the poles
did those poles and similar objects present visibility challenges at that corner and
there for four vehicles possibly yes and mrs wilson are there any curb cuts depicted in this plan
no the only curb cut that would be or change in curb elevation that's that's shown is the ada ramp
mrs wilson when developers submit site plans do they include uh depth
depth descriptions aka curb including curb cuts yes it's usually included on a grading plan if
there is a change in elevations is it common for a developer not to include curb cuts that exist
no it's not
Mrs. Wilson, what meetings did you take with the applicant?
Based on my personal records, um, we did take a meeting on, um, no, um, September the 8th,
2025 regarding the um the project the project was during the meeting the notes that i took that the
project was currently in a variance process and that the um the agreed upon conditions during the
meeting was just the private paving or the paving restoration of the street on the other side of the
street that we will agree to one car per each house um and that there will be and that we were
restricted somehow um for one vehicle for each parcel did mr siebert say that he was offering
to place a deed restriction from my recollection yes um we would not streets department do not
receive reviewed deeds so we would not have even mentioned a deed restriction
unless someone from the outside have noticed it
And finally, Mrs. Wilson, did the totality of what you learned from the June submission,
from the January submission, from the April submission, are those what informed your findings
as shown in the conditional approval?
Thank you very much, Mrs. Wilson.
That is the end of my direct testimony.
Good afternoon, Ms. Wilson. We know each other very well and I hold you in the highest profession.
Good afternoon, Ms. Wilson. We know each other very well, and I hold you in the highest professional regard, but I haven't seen you at the zoning board before. Have you appeared before the zoning board previously?
I do not recall. Not Philadelphia zoning board that I recall.
Highly unusual, to say the least. In any event, you had referred during your testimony to a concern regarding the speculative or potential construction of barriers between 209 and 211 East Wildey Street, either fencing or barriers.
um have you seen any proposed plans for fencing or barriers between those two uh properties
i do not recall and are you aware of fencing or barriers anywhere from
shackamaxon to day street yes i am familiar with it on this side of the block yes where
i cannot state but we did send inspectors out there the streets department did send
inspectors out there to show that there are there are fencing adjacent to other individual lots
i'd be interested to see those but we'll come back to that
um you also mentioned uh in response to a query from your council
regarding the possibility of parking between existing curb cuts along East Wildey Street,
which sounds quite surprising.
What do you think, Ms. Wilson, those approximate dimensions would be
that would permit an automobile to park in between curb cuts here?
I cannot answer that.
It depends on where the existing, there's not enough plan for me to determine it.
I would submit members of the board that there is not and i'm sure they have the intentions here are are are good that but having been out to the site personally looking over all the plans there simply is not room for any standard
automobile to to park in between the curb cuts.
Miss Wilson, you you made a statement slightly different than one that your counsel had made.
I just want to make sure that that the board heard that I heard you correctly, and that the board makes its own determination based on these statements.
Did you recognize the existence of a curb cut as legal at 209 East Wilsey Street?
are you okay so there was there's existing and there's a decision not conforming the it was
existing for based on my knowledge it was existing non-conforming thank you and um
if council would be kind enough to pull up your exhibit g that you just showed
previously sure thank you so much
Any part of the document of the whole thing, I believe exhibit G was was a plans that had been submitted. Did I get that exhibit wrong?
The exhibit I showed after exhibit G, perhaps that would be D.
Can you go up towards the top of the page, please?
Perfect. Thank you.
um we see some photographs here um ms wilson
actually showing parking it appears uh very similar to what's being proposed wouldn't you say
no there's only two cars there
i see two cars per lot you don't see that ma'am
I see I see two lots with two cars next to one another, because that's a double wide lot. The other parcels around there are or half as wide as what's the end parcel is that's showing the red area.
Okay, so thank you. No, no, no, that's okay. If you could please allow me to screen share a council.
I guess I'll stop my share then. Okay.
Yes, please. Thank you.
Ms Wilson, I'm sharing one of the photographs that we put into the record. Have you observed conditions like this along East Wildey Street?
Yes. Thank you. I'd like to move now to the 1987 approval from your department. And I'm presuming that that was not you individually, but others that predated you. But I just want to pull that up onto the screen.
Yes, thank you. I'd like to move now to
I'm trying to do this very quickly.
Here we are.
Ms. Wilson, would you agree that this 1987 plan was properly approved by the streets department?
Objection. My client has not reviewed this in her professional capacity.
this is an official record uh of of of the department showing official stamps i i believe
madam chairman that the uh the plane is not clear she wasn't around neither too so
so i'll state for the board that we have here a record that shows uh parking two car parking per
per single-family residence approved from Shackamaxon to Day Street.
Bear with me for just a moment. I'm trying to be as economical as possible.
When was that approval again? 1987. Yes, August of 1987.
So, out of respect for Ms. Wilson and and trying to be as brief as possible, I just like to speak to a fundamental issue that's before the board today.
Free refusals. A prerequisite streets department review is separate. And in fact, if the streets department has a issue with what has been submitted, even if the board grants variance relief, we may have difficulty obtaining the final permit in this matter until issues are worked out with the streets department.
as an officer of the court i can assure you that this has happened many times in my career
additionally madam chair and members of the board as this board knows appeals of street
department determinations do not go before the zoning board of adjustment there is a process
which is what makes this so unusual i've showed many different examples and i can pull up the
photographs if desired uh unfortunately of disparate treatment and we can delve more into
that if desired but for some reason that we are not quite able to figure out this location i'm
sure the intentions are good but it's not being treated like all the other photographs that we
shared all right is there any uh redirect did you have any redirect for your witness or are we
um i do have a brief redirect yes okay
mrs wilson was it ever streets position that there was not one existing curb cut
at the property the okay so the street's position is that yes there is one is this in curb cut
but we do not allow all the photos that mr labor showed um was not it's not determined to be legal
all street parking that is how people just choose to park their car and basing a parking approval
or legalized parking approval based on illegally parking your car on your lawn does not constitute
of allowing two all street parking spaces i'm sure at some point during that 1987 approval that it
was agreed to a certain amount of grass area and lawn area adjacent to each of these all street
parking spaces and the homeowners just decided to park on top of the grass because there was no
on street parking and they owned two vehicles um we at the street department we believe that
if you're if you're going to off have an all street parking space and it's not and the parking
space is not deep enough to handle per code and it's a compact parking space then we we we will
We will really be willing to work with you, but as long as you can determine that the off street, that the that you can back out safely without hitting any utility poles, without impacting your neighbors across the street, without without all of these other instances and stuff.
Without all of these other per instances and stuff. So it's just kind of, I mean, that's up to the, that is, but based on my review and based on the plans reviewed, the plans that are currently reviewed, the conditions, we put those conditions and those conditional approval for zoning in good faith that the applicant and their representative will, will, they were agreeable at the time.
And that's why it was documented. I'm not sure whether or not that appeal should have been vetted through the zoning board prior to writing it down or not, but that's what the street department was under the impression when we issue conditional approvals is done in good faith.
Mrs. Wilson, as part of the review that you and your team undertook, did you review historical permit documents and approval documents?
What we, no, we only review the items that were submitted to us on behalf of the applicant. We do not review a license and inspections document. We do not review deeds. We review only the items that were prevented in front of us. And I'm sure if we had a copy of this plan or had a copy of the finalized subdivision plan, our judgment might have been altered and it might have been different.
But unfortunately, we only reviewed it based on the documentation that we had and based on what our inspectors found in the field.
Mrs. Wilson, if there is no historical curb cut in an area, does that show rights to having that curb cut?
I will defer to the board to make that judgment, but in regards of rights, because the streets
department do not review things based on existing or pre-existing rights. We review based on what's
submitted to us. But pre-existing curb cuts are part of your inquiry, right? And whether or not
they existed physically so based on the plan submission there was one pre-existing curb cut
and that was in front of um 209 east wildy street and you consulted many materials old photographs
old documents to determine whether there is or was at one point did exist a curb cut yes we
we did and usually in cases like this we do send we um we have a third highway district
um engineer that we send out to look at these sites and this is this may not be something that
we go in front we do for every single development but for especially for corner properties that we
want to have all street parking and so a low resolution scan of a 1987 zba document does not
establish the existence of a curb cut over the intervening decade chapter the uh the decades as
they were on this is this is an approved zba uh document stamped by lni stamped by the streets
department yep i wasn't saying it wasn't genuine i was saying that it wasn't high resolution enough
for my client to really analyze gotcha but it was already in approved 1987 send books so okay are we
are we done or yes commissioner okay just a couple three across okay uh ian you want to do a check
we okay with time still two to three minutes madam yes chair we can uh proceed and finish this up
thank you all right thank you okay go ahead um ms wilson i believe that you had said that you don't
review uh old documents but then i heard you say that your team did review some old photos and
things we review wait a minute wait a minute i'm gonna ask the question so could you could you
clarify please did what was reviewed and what was not reviewed and particularly why uh it wouldn't
be standard practice to actually look at the documents that your department had previously
approved. Okay. Repeat the question for it. Please repeat. Forgive me. I got lost in that one, but go
ahead. Why would the Streets Department right-of-way unit not look at prior approvals for the same
property before it? The Streets Department right-of-way unit only have records to access
to certain records we due to the time and restraints that we have for plan review
meaning that a project of this type will take a 10-day plan review period
uh for building and a three-day plan review period for zoning within that three days we do not have
uh for building and a three-day plan review beer period for zoning within that three
the time or the resources to look through do a deep dive and look through zoning records
unfortunately that is reasonable so we if an applicant uploads the plan into eclipse we
reviewed all those documents that the applicant uploads we do not we seldomly do independent
that reviews based on previously approved documents from the 80s. We only review what is
handed to us that's in front of us. So it sounds like in this case, because you and your team
don't review your prior approvals, it may be that you weren't even aware that the department had
once sort of the lights going off in my head here you weren't even aware that the department had
previously approved the very same conditions which is interesting a question for you um you had
spoken about concerns regarding safety uh in um ingress and egress uh at these locations uh do you
have can safety concerns regarding a car backing out uh onto uh wilde street
yes okay okay i i would submit that that's a pretty standard uh throughout the city but okay
i'm going to pause because i know that the board has a long day ahead of it i want to memorialize
that I have redirect questions okay go ahead you want to hurry go ahead this is Wilson
if there is zoning approval for a curb cut that never actually comes into physical existence
does that curb cut count as pre-existing in your as an actual part of the environment in your view
It depends on how long ago the plans were reviewed.
There's a statute of limitations on approvals, and there's a statute of limitation on building.
The building, if we approve something for a bill for zoning, we allow up to 3 years for the resubmission for zoning.
If it's for building, we allow up to 5 years for the resubmission.
I feel like we're going in circles. We have a plan that shows the curb cut.
Mrs. Wilson, in your review or in this proceeding, have you seen any permit authorizing, not ZVA approval, but permit authorizing a curb cut or any evidence of a physically existing curb cut?
And I'm referring to the one closer to the intersection.
Not closer to the intersection.
The approval shown is only for the one for that parcel before it was subdivided.
And Mrs. Wilson, does the fact that there might be legal parking of two accessory spaces for a given building, does that affect your fact specific determination about what's actually going on at at this at this site?
No, the only fact determination is based on the plans that we received that was submitted at the time of our review. That's the only thing that we can review based on. We cannot be based on our reviews on speculation or what's out there already or somebody parking on grass or somebody parking on the sidewalk.
um we cannot make that determination to show that it's legalized because everyone else around there
has done it we need you to prove that it's safe on our plans and that's it okay no further
questions thank you all right thank you okay we have a lot here um we're gonna yeah so we'll
we'll schedule a resumption hearing which will start with questions from the board okay um and
And then we'll also take public testimony and the recommendation of the planning commission
on these two matters.
So that resumption hearing date is 6-9-2026.
This will pose a true hardship on the families that are trying to move forward with their
All right.
I guess you can contact our office and see what we can work out.
please contact the office if there's any any earlier availability but we'll
we'll put it on the record as 6-9 for now can we uh note who's here from the public who wants to
testify do we have anyone in the uh virtual audience or anybody here present for this case
yes I do see a hand it's by Robert Bob Everett
i do see a hand is by robert bob every you want to hold that to the resumption hearing yes okay
all right okay so um if you can hear us uh i think it was mr robert we're gonna um hold your
testimony until the resumption hearing which is six nine 2026 at this time um if it changes um
you could just stay in contact with our office okay all right thank you everybody thank you
madam chair members of the board very unusual situation yes thank you thank you commissioners
all right thank you thank you um so we have a spanish interpreter that we need to do but it's
for uh one of the cases at our 3 30 p.m calendar so we have to move with that sorry you guys um
Let's see, that case is Wayne Avenue, yep, after this interpreter, okay, yep, hello your
honor.
Okay, so the interpreter is here, and everyone this is a case that we are drawing
from our 3 30 list because we have the interpreter available now so um thank you for your patience as
we move to this um may not be long all right so it's mi 2025 006108 4562-64 wayne avenue um
uni and han gwen kim is our list our listed owners
so um let me swear in the interpreter um so interpreter could you state your name and spell
it for the record yes your honor my name is leonel spelled as an l-e-o-n-e-l last name gillen
spelled as in g-u-i-l-l-e-n okay and do you swear or affirm that you will interpret accurately
completely and impartially from English to Spanish and from Spanish to English to the
best of your ability? I swear. Okay. All right. So can you call case 4562-64 Wayne Avenue,
Juni and Han
Kan Kim.
Yes. Muy bien.
Estamos con el caso
Avenida Wayne.
Estamos buscando a Juni
y Han.
A Juni
Kun Kim.
¿Están presentes?
Repito, caso
4562-64
Avenida
Wayne. Buscamos a
Uni y Han
Kun Kim. ¿Están
presentes?
No responde.
I'm looking for them. I don't see them.
All right.
We're going to
continue this case.
Hillary, what's the, give them the 3.30. Okay. All right. So we're going to continue the case. MI 2025-0061084562-64 Wayne Avenue. This is a no exhibits first list. In this case, it's going to be continued to 85-2026 at 3.30. So interpreter, can you make that announcement?
And I'm sorry, before that, this is Ms. Sandy, the ZBA Administrator.
Can we put it for a 9.30 hearing, please?
All right.
So I'll repeat that for your interpreter.
So the case is going to be continued MI 2025-006108, 4562-64 Wayne Avenue.
This case is continued to wait.
Hold up.
I'm sorry.
so eight five twenty six is that the date you want eight five twenty six at nine thirty
thank you your honor muy bien entonces el caso m y dos cero dos cinco cero cero seis uno cero ocho
4562-64
Avenida Wayne
El caso se le va a dar continuidad
Y se pasa para la fecha
8-5 del 2026
A las 9 y 30 de la mañana
a las 9 y 30 de la mañana
okay all right thank you interpreter have a beautiful day all right have a good day
all right yeah so we're gonna take a five minute break uh we'll be back in five so sit tight
thank you so much for your patience
all right thank you everyone we're back and we're still on we're back on the two o'clock list
um number five mi 2025 zero zero seven one six six three one one dash 13 north front street
Alan Nockmson is the attorney.
Good afternoon.
Could you state your name and spell it for the record?
Alan Nockmson, A-L-A-N, last name Nockmson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N.
And did you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Me too.
Okay. And could you state your name of your client and identify their relationship to the property?
So my client is Carl Geiger, the owner of the property. He's also an occupant.
Okay. All right. And this is for three dwelling unit in an existing structure.
We don't have an RCO letter. Do you have an RCO letter?
So we've been trying to follow up with the RCO verbally.
Mr. Goldberg was told that they conditionally approved it with some provisos.
We have not received that letter.
so yeah so i can i have a slight update on that so we we don't have the actual letter
um but mr goldberg did forward me an email from the rco that says we submitted a letter it was
contingent on um a trash storage um and then the council office sent a letter of non-opposition and
they cited the proviso um sorry i'm just trying to pull it up they cited the proviso that the rco put
in their letter um which is sorry um reca which is is the rco has maintained a mandatory requirement
for in units slash in building trash storage 313 uses the open space under their stairs for trash
which is not considered a norm permanent outside trash cans stored on water street are also not
okay we require the owner to provide tenants with internal trash storage so they can put out the
trash on the designated days this issue is non-negotiable so that's apparently what they
said in their letter oh okay thank you no problem they meant that okay all right uh so our uh board
secretary gatson has some questions for you uh good afternoon council did you submit your exhibits
and documents five days in advance of this hearing yes we have and do you waive the reading of the
refusal and stipulate to its accuracy yes we do thank you uh you can share your screen and
begin your presentation all right um if i could just be promoted to a panelist thank you
All right, here we go.
So I'm here to present 311-13 North Front Street, interesting location, just off of Columbus Boulevard and 95.
So we have 12 exhibits here.
Let's just go straight to the notice of refusal.
Oh, and by the way, let me just go to the picture first.
so this is front street we go street to street full lot coverage on the other side is water
street as you can see here there is garbage that's the garbage cans have been stored historically
underneath the property I also have a secondary exhibit which shows pictures of other properties
having garbage stored on north front street so it's not out of character we'll go with the 12
exhibits so this is an rm1 property so we're not trying to convert an rsa5 property to a triplex
and actually the front street side has two units in it uh the water street side
The front street side has two units in it. The water street side historically has been a mix between commercial and residential. And I don't know if the RCO representative is here, but they acknowledged that the water street property, which is essentially a single family structure, a standalone structure, was most previously used as an architect's office and the architect resided there.
So we're not trying to convert a property from one to three units.
We're taking it from two residential units and one commercial slash residential to make it fully three residential by way of variance.
Again, we met with the community on January 27th.
I personally attended that community meeting.
My understanding is that the only issue, again, it's been a while, but memory wise, was that there was a downspout.
The person to the right of us, who was also, I believe, a board member, had an issue of how the water was coming out of our downspout.
There was no issues in terms of the garbage.
And again, Mr. Geiger lives in one of the two units facing Front Street.
His hope is to actually live in the unit facing Water Street.
So again, this is the property history here.
The most recent history were two apartments facing North Front Street, a commercial, well, of record, a commercial unit facing Water Street.
So it's basically a duplex on the North Front Street side, a single fan, well, a one unit structure facing Water Street.
And when you see the pictures, you'll understand better.
But even that commercial use was quasi commercial in the sense that the architect lived there as well.
And there was no dispute. Not out of character to have triplexes on this block.
So 337 North Front Street is a triplex. And, you know, in terms of lots square footage, much smaller than ours.
uh then also three four three uh north front street is also multi-units
oh why is this all right and then oh well there are a couple oh sorry it's like a lag in my
computer but 321-23 north front street has six units 343 north front street has three units as
well. Again, very interesting location in Philadelphia. It's like this outlier, but it's
RM1. We're surrounded by CMX3 and CMX4 right off of Columbus Boulevard. And, you know, the overpass
for 95 is right here as well. And I guess this is a better picture in terms of a Google Street View
perspective. So photographs of the property. So this is a front of our structure. This is a legal
two unit essentially with elevated steps garbage has been stored there historically my client
purchased this property in 2022 this is how it's been so he's not treating it any different he lives
in one of the units himself himself he just wants to go to water street a little bit more privacy
this is the water street property so you can see it's on grade has a separate entrance right here
and there's a separate door where the utilities are stored we have no objection through this added
use to have trash stored inside on water because that's an appropriate thing right there on water
street that's a technical new use and if there's a proviso trash stored inside it's for the water
street side solely inside because the two unit dwelling on the front street side has always
traditionally had the trash stored outside and i have some separate photos we'll go over as well
this is proof of the posting for both sides both on the north front street side of this property
as well as the water street side of this property this is north front street to the right of the
property to the left of the property north water street to the right of their property
and to the left of the property interior photos so these are the photos uh just for the water i
I believe this is just Water Street, but everything's above grade.
It's a bi-level unit done very nicely.
You can see multiple meters here.
Again, my client did cosmetic changes to the property.
This is how it was.
Very unique property.
I think cool.
So this is the interior photos.
I believe this may be my client's suite on North Front Street.
not really the subject of this variance request because there's already two residential units
in this structure. We want to just give you a flavor of what's there as well. And he lives
in one of the units. He just wants to now live in the Warder Street side of the property.
And then just the plans and drawings. And just so you understand, move this down.
move this down um geez uh is that if i can move my screen here thank you uh you come in through
is that
that front door you saw it to the right that's to this open floor plan you see my cursor to left
that was that secondary door where there's utilities stored in here we would have no
objection to a proviso storing the trash on the water street side there um kitchen open floor
plant, bathroom, and then it's just a loft up here as well. We met with the community on January 27th
at 6 30 p.m. Again, I personally attended that community meeting. My client knew all the
neighbors. It was actually shockingly simple. I was like, oh, well, you know, anytime you're
adding density, who knows? And oh, no, we just, there's a downspout. We want to make sure that
that's dealt with um i don't remember a big fight about garbage um as in and provisos to store it
inside uh you know we mailed emailed that notice that we sent to the community a few weeks beforehand
before the meeting we sent it to 41 addresses although given the only 41 addresses we mailed
it to i feel like there were like 15 people at that meeting so it was a very close-knit block
and everyone agreed it's not out of character to have multi-family here uh this is proof of
our mailing for that notice or application for appeal again my client in his own name
wants to live on the ward of street side adds eyes to the street
project information form deed to the property showing that he bought this in 2022 he is not
used it any differently on the north front street side which stores the trash underneath this this
staircase. And then certificate of tax clearance. Well, it shows taxes are due. They're not due
until next week. I also wanted to stop sharing my screen for a second. I want to show you pictures
that we took, you know, about trash being stored out front. Unlike these people who are storing
trash out front and i'll show you this ours is untucked underneath um the staircase which has
been like that since my client purchased it in 2022 he's even willing to to shield it um as well
you know he obviously recognizes as a resident he wants to be responsible um but again not that we
store trash like this and i don't we don't condone the way trash is being stored but this is how it's
being stored in on that block okay but but you say your client is willing to enclose the one
under the step so that could possibly satisfy the rco yes so it's it's not like you know uh you know
an eyesore to the community and then on water street he's willing to store it inside into that
utility room so that's the conclusion my presentation i would ask that mr geiger
virtually raise his hand to be sworn in yep mr geiger
Mr. Geiger has been promoted Mr. Geiger has
Yeah, I can hear, but Ms. Geiger, are you there?
Mr. Geiger?
Coming in now.
Okay, thank you.
Can you hear me?
We can hear you.
How are you?
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon.
Can you say your name and spell it for the record?
My name is Carl Geiger, that's first name C-A-R-L, last name G-E-I-G-E-R.
Okay, Mr. Geiger, can you turn on your camera?
I thought it was on.
We don't see you.
Okay, while you do that, do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Okay, all right. We're going to proceed. Go ahead, counsel.
Yeah, Mr. Geiger, you heard everything I had to state today about your zoning matter.
Yes, I did.
Is it true and correct?
yes it is and do you adopt as your own testimony yes i do yeah specifically
and do you adopt as your own testimony yes i do yeah specifically um you purchased this property
in 2022 correct that's correct and when you purchased the property uh there there was storage
of trash below the staircase is that correct yes and you continue to store that trash under the
staircase responsibly is that correct yes and i've i've lived on that same block for 25 years
and the trash was always stored there yeah and and you live in one of the two units currently
that faces north the actual north front street address is that correct yes i do i live in the
top unit and your your intention is assuming the board grants this variance request to allow for
residential use on water street you plan to live on the water street side of the property correct
that's correct and you have no objection to responsibly enclosing the trash area on the
north front street side is that correct that is correct i have no objection to that and and and
you have no objection to storing the trash on the water street side in that what's labeled
the utility room is that correct i already have and yes that's correct all right thank you okay
questions from the board so what was this other unit used for before what did you yeah so again
car are you can you hear me yes i can sure mine okay just want to make sure it was on okay thank
you no carl did you go ahead no i was gonna say i i represented to the board that the unit was
most recently used by an architect not only as their office but living quarters is that correct
that's correct he was the owner of the building and he lived there for years
it is okay I'm sorry yes all right thank you any other questions from the board can you pull up
the plan that shows the the common space on the side where the two rental tenants will access
um what common space um well how how so then that's my question how do the people who are
renting get to the units because i feel like the front street side i'm i'm looking yeah but there's
one door on the front seat side so what is it we don't have floor plans for that just because we
you know again it's not the subject of this but carl if you could actually that's the wrong well
it is if you want to get three units approved we've got to understand how you get yeah the unit
Well, Carl, can you explain then to the boards, like verbally, how the first floor unit gets in and then how the second floor unit gets into the building?
Yes, you proceed through that blue door and then there's a foyer.
It's about five feet across and about six, seven feet wide.
There's a door on the left.
You open it up and you go to the top unit.
there's a door on the right and you walk right inside the first floor unit what can we find a
photo of the blue door because yeah google earth it's white the blue door is um got the um it's
right at the top of the steps yeah that's the one that on google earth is white oh well it's alan
has a picture of it he um he just didn't have it up okay oh no that's that there you go this is
it from north front street side so if the rental tenants that are not mr geiger are both going to
enter through this door there's a common vestibule there's one unit on what would effectively be the
first floor of the building and one unit on the second floor that's right and then he's going to
only enter from the water street side is there any passageway from the water street side to the
front street side not from an interior standpoint no no it's full lot coverage got it okay yes it's
full lot coverage so if i'm like for the unit on the water street side they're only on the
water street address yeah i would treat it as essentially for all intents and purposes as two
like separate buildings that's interconnected with one street address so for the water street side
where do they pick up their mail i again i don't think anyone's used the water street side but
no i would it's again move carl i the you know you would have a mailbox on the water street side
is that correct yeah there's a mail slot it gets delivered through the slot in the door
sure but if i'm the post person and the address is on front street i'm delivering the mail to front
street doesn't know they have dual addresses because i do see there's a number plate on the
water street side for 310 water street which is technically a different address so i'm trying to
figure out are there two addresses is there a dba address at the property i think i can answer that
I think I can answer that for you. For some reason, the utilities all come in at 310 North Water Street and other mail comes in at 311-13 North Front Street.
for you um for some reason
So I don't know why it's set up that way. But, you know, Pico, they all acknowledge it as front street side or as Water Street.
Because the meters are on.
I would recommend that you do some OPA and deep cleanup with that. But I doubt I do understand what's going on.
The meters are on Water Street and I think that's why.
yeah yeah that's the i would assume uh carl that's the utility room where exactly exactly
the water meters the gas meters i mean that's not your problem but yeah okay questions from my
attorney um well just um the photos that you showed of the conditions on the block if those
weren't previously submitted just make sure those are i will i will i thank you i'm sure they came
at the last minute not well because when we're not hearing back from the coordinating rco right
we then decided if this is an issue we'll quickly prepare but yes yeah that's fine yeah i just want
to have those on the record thank you questions from our virtual audience or audience here
i see no hands okay uh planning commission
now state your name madison matera m-a-d-i-s-o-n m-a-t-e-r-a okay do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes okay do you proceed the comprehensive
plan recommends no change to the rm1 residential multi-family zoning at this location the city
rezoned this neighborhood in 2009 and the council supported map change this property looks to have
been converted to three dwelling units without the benefit of permits city planning commission
recommends that the board deny the proposed use variance for three dwelling units may i just
respond yes briefly it's always been three units it's you know the history of the property had
the third unit on water street as a commercial unit and the hardship here is that ultimately how
the building is configured if we don't get this relief we will then have an empty unit and we're
asking for the least modification possible because the history of the property was a commercial unit
there we're seeking a residential unit um thank you um hillary the only proviso that was listed
from the rco was interior trash storage yes and if i understood um the applicant's position correctly
you were okay with that proviso for the ground floor unit only for for the water street side we
have no objection to interior trash storage for the north front street side we would say
stored outside underneath the staff with an enclosure of some sort okay so sorry which
which unit enters from the water street side which that that's the one we're trying to uh
to convert that is the ground floor unit right that is the ground floor unit okay so i just
wanted to just to clarify which which unit okay so we say interior trash storage ground floor unit
yes okay facing water street just to be cl to clear we can we can say facing water street yeah
so then it's perfectly clear yeah so that's fine okay thank you
am i 2025 zero zero seven one six six three one one dash 13 north front street
i vote yes with proviso interior trash storage uh on unit facing water street
just say michael john floor unit brown floor brown floor
yep um does she need to repeat it art we can move forward okay okay um michael johns my vote
is yes uh with proviso cheryl guest and my vote is yes with proviso i'm mcadams my vote is yes
with proviso hi i win my vote is yes with proviso thank you thank you apologize for being late
thank you madam chair thank you have a good day all right number 11.
mi-2025-007-311-3151 stamp first street augusta o'neill is the attorney
hi good evening could you state your name miss bella for the record
is the green lights on okay first name is augusta a-u-g-u-s-t-a last name is o'neil which is spelled
o apostrophe n-e-i-l-l okay and do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth i do okay could you identify your client and the relationship to the property
Okay. Could you identify your client and the relationship to the property?
my client is
My client is Nicole Frittini, who is the owner of the property.
Okay. And so we have a letter of support from the Home Circle Civic Association.
We have our board member, board secretary, sorry, Gadsden has a couple of questions for you.
Good afternoon.
hold on good afternoon council uh did you submit your uh documents and exhibits five days in
advance of this hearing i did and do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its
accuracy i do thank you you can share your screen and begin your presentation so much
um members of the board again my name is augusta o'neill i'm here representing the owner of the
property at 3151 stanford street this is a single family home this is an application to construct an
addition onto the rear of my client single family home on page seven of the exhibit package which
is currently up on my screen this is a image of the front of the property this is an rsa2 zoned
house in a neighborhood that's full of other single family homes on page eight i did try and
provide a little bit of context from Google Street View, which wasn't, which just shows,
again, the kind of context of the neighborhood that's all single-family homes. Again, you can
see on page nine in my exhibit package, just an aerial, again, showing the RSA2 context of the
neighborhood this home is in. The addition that my clients intend to construct on their home is
going to be to accommodate my client's mother so that she can live in the home with them. It's
It's going to be adding an additional 591 square feet of living space to this existing single family house.
The intention for the area is for it to have a kitchenette, a bedroom, some living space, a bathroom, and the second floor of the addition is going to extend that master bedroom that's on the second floor.
I do have some floor plans which were provided to the board, just showing what that is going to add to the house.
As I said before, there's going to be some more living space on the first floor.
There's going to be a kitchenette for my client's mother, her own bathroom, and the addition, because it's going up to the second floor,
it's also going to provide some additional living space for my clients who are going to be able to expand their master bedroom
and expand one of the bedrooms that's on the second floor but my client's mother will of
course have access to all portions of the house this is just to give them all a little bit more
space as they're accommodating my client's mother who is elderly we did receive a refusal for the
application the refusal is at tab one of my exhibit package the reason for the refusal is
because we are required to have 20 feet of a rear yard
in this RSA 2 zoning district
because of the proposed addition,
we're gonna be at 11.73 feet for the rear yard.
The hardship in this present case relates
to the orientation of the house that's on the lot.
As you can see from the site plan that's at page 11,
um this home is a little bit unusual in that it doesn't sit kind of squarely on the lot it's a
little bit oriented so we're at the intersection of albion and stanford street this is a corner lot
and it is kind of you can see a little bit skewed um facing stanford street so it doesn't sit
perfectly square on the lot matching the um matching the the setbacks or i'm sorry the
property lines so our architect is joe lombardi he and i spoke before this application um about
how difficult it would be for him to create any kind of an addition that wouldn't go into the
setback um it would be really difficult he said for him to be able to design something that's
going to give my client's mother this kind of living space that we're proposing without that
addition going into the rear yard this hardship was not created by my client she purchased the
home in 2009 but it's uh it was built back in 1950 according to opa records in addition to
creating the two-story edition we're all going also going to be making some property improvements
we are going to be adding a dogwood tree on albion street we're going to be removing a
decaying tree that was also on albion street um we did meet with the rco for this location on march
fourth of this year uh we were rescheduled for that meeting three times because of the blizzards
that kept happening um we did receive a letter of support which i included at page five
We did receive a letter of support which I included at page five of your exhibit package.
With respect to the variant standard, I would submit to the board that the grant will the refusal of the grant of variance relief would cause a necessary hardship to my client.
the logistics of the lot are such that in order to be able to provide my client's mother with this
addition that's going to provide as much living space we would need this variance in order to
alleviate that hardship the grant of the variance will not alter the essential character of the
neighborhood we're still keeping it a single family home this is going to be just adding some
more space to that existing house it will not increase congestion or burden on public facilities
or result in any kind of an environmental impact.
That would be underscored by the fact
that we met with the community.
We received overwhelming support for the application.
And we're gonna be providing my client's mother
with some necessary living space as she ages.
So with that being said,
I would like to call forward my client to dot my testimony.
Come on up, thank you.
You wanna state your name and spell it for the record?
Wait a minute, speak it into the microphone.
Nicole Fritini, N-I-C-O-L-E-F-R-A-T-T-I-N-I.
And do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Go ahead, counsel.
Do you want to support this afternoon?
Was everything that I said true and accurate?
Would you like to adopt my testimony as your own?
Was there anything else that you wanted to relate to a word about your personal circumstances that motivated this application?
Oh, my father passed away in April of last year, and my mom is, oh, my father passed away, I'm sorry, my father passed away in April of last year, and my mom, she's still living currently in her house, which is getting very difficult for her.
she has rheumatoid and osteoarthritis and also lung fibrosis um she's getting to the point where
she can only walk maybe 30 to 50 feet at one time she's having trouble on the stairs and she's
needing more assistance we feel that having her to be living with us would be most beneficial to
all of us so that we can um you know be together and we can watch her and that kind of thing okay
all right all right questions from the board yeah I've got a question just a
question you can you follow up to pull up the plan I know I'm coming I'm the guy
in the sky she kind of looked around the floor plan and then just just just sort
of piggybacking on with the owner just mentioned which which popped out at me
was the number of steps that i see in the addition and how are you going to deal with that because
you know as you get older and she's having she's already having difficulty walking up steps how do
you are you going to deal with that with you know you've got a couple of sets of steps to that
addition she's not going to need the steps at all she's going to be on the first floor in the in the
back of the property and it's going to be her own separate living area the steps are in the rest of
house that's going to be um you know just kind of made for inclusivity to keep it in the in the
the house in the same you know uniform not just having like an initial with that i was but i was
looking at the her bedroom right there's a connection to i guess a living room right that
has steps am i am i um my client's husband would like to make a statement about that he's been
working closely with the architect. Okay. Who is that? This is Larry Meskimen, my client's husband.
Oh, your client's husband. Okay. You want to come on up.
I'm going to pull the microphone to you and state your name and spell it for the record.
My name is Larry Meskimen, L-A-R-R-Y-M-E-S-K-I-M-E-N. Okay. And do you swear or affirm to tell the
truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? I do. Okay. Thank you. Go ahead. You can proceed.
Yes. The stairs that are going down into her living area is going to be two to three stairs.
It's basically like a stoop when you come into the house, but these are all internal stairs and she can do two, three, four stairs.
She just can't do 10 or 15 stairs.
Like if you see in the actual house by the bath, you'll see the stairwell going up.
She can't make those stairs because there's too many.
right yeah it would be great if there was a way you can eliminate those stairs too
okay we could probably so that what so that's once she so once she's in the house she can walk
around and be you know at the same level of everybody on the first floor you could do a
you could do a ramp in there sir instead of the stairs yeah just take a look at it i just know
ramp in there sir instead of the stairs yeah just take a look at it i just
how from dealing with seniors it gets difficult as they age and more difficult so yes sir that's it
all right any other questions is this akin to an adu in effect i mean you got to say that louder
shirla so we can hear it all right okay you can tell me no but is this is sort of akin to an adu
in the sense that they're trying to create like a space for i would say no just because the intent
is that they're all living as a family as opposed to them as opposed to my client's mother's law
being separate the intent is that you know because she lost her husband they're able to um her adult
daughter and son-in-law are able to accommodate her and help her with her um daily living okay
is there any other neighbors on the block that have um put additions on their home that you know
of all over the neighborhood oh okay all right uh questions from our attorney
not at this time madam chair okay uh questions from the virtual audience
i see no hands okay now planning commission
yeah matt yeah madison matera planning commission staff the comprehensive plan
recommends no change to the rsa2 residential single family zoning at this location
this neighborhood still carries its original 1933 zoning the appellant has shown that there
are unique physical conditions or circumstances of this property that would prevent conformance
with the zoning code city planning commission recommends that the board grant the proposed
variance for rear yard depth okay thank you um mi2025-0073113151 stanford street my vote is yes
michael johns my vote is yes cheryl gadsden my vote is yes ryan mcadams my vote is yes
Taya Nguyen, my vote is yes.
Okay. All right. Thank you. You had your votes.
Thank you so much. Good luck.
Thank you. I appreciate it.
All right. All right. So we have one more from a two o'clock list.
MI-2025-007317, 4401 Ridge Avenue.
Richard DeMarco is the attorney.
okay i'm here hello good afternoon mr demarco um i think i swore you in earlier today yes okay
all right so could you just state your name um for the record for me sure richard demarco d-e-m-a-r-c-o
okay and can you identify your client and their relationship to the property
client is 4401 ridge llc they are the equitable owner uh the property is owned by pha my uh
client is represented by eric marshall today okay all right thank you so um we have a letter of
support from the east falls community council um as well as a letter of support from council member
Jones. Also, we have a CDR that has been completed and an earth moving plan that has been completed.
Our board secretary Gadsden has some questions for you. Good afternoon, counsel. Have you submitted
your documents and exhibits by days in advance of this hearing? Yes, I have. And do you waive the
reading of the refusals and stipulate to their accuracy yes i could wave and stipulate thank you
you can share your screen and begin your presentation excellent thank you very much
yes the board already mentioned the letters of support there was a long process with
the east fall civic and the cdr so i'm putting the refusal on the screen to begin with the as
As you can see, the property is zone CMX3, and we have complied completely with that designation.
However, there is an extreme amount of steep slope on the property, and I'll get to that in a moment,
but that is the single and only variance that we were requesting.
There is some impact on that steep slope.
There's a lot of it.
It was impossible to avoid.
I do want to put on some limited testimony.
uh so i know the hour is late but uh let me just go ahead and bring you right to the earth plan so
i can show you exactly why it was so difficult to avoid a variance for steep slope um i don't
I don't want to blow up too much because then it's going to okay well this is probably pretty
want to blow up too much because then it's going to okay well this is probably pretty good so you
good so you see right here is the steep slope it completely pretty much bisects the property
there's a little bit here I'm indicating with my cursor so it's almost impossible to build anything
that would be remotely compliant with the CMX3 without impacting the steep slope this part of
of the structure here is actually we we built over this deep slope so we actually left this
deep slope intact right here but there are there are footings uh within it so let me go ahead and
introduce Eric um I don't know if there's anything more I want to show you with the exhibits oh we
do have a revised proviso plan form we are asking the board to stamp five pages of um let me just
you the rendering so you can see yeah i was going to say can you remember oh my god flip that sure
and anything specific you want me to show just okay feel free to let me and how many units has
this has eventually been right it's it's a large truck it's a large project it's 260 i got to go
back to the refusal real quick hold on um 268 i believe okay i know it's changed and then yes
that's I'm sorry hold on I gotta rotate back forgive me it's right here 260 dwelling units
and there's 217 accessory parking spaces which by the way are all within within the structure
one of the issues with the the previous so let me let me get right to that this board approved
the preview approved variances for a previous project in 2019 that did not come to fruition
but work did begin on that. So a lot of the slope, a lot of the physical conditions that are there
were the result of some other work that was done. So not all of the steep slope is naturally
occurring. But you can see we have bike parking, EV spaces and ADA accessible spaces, and of course
plenty of bike parking, et cetera. And yet we are asking the board to stand through the negotiations
with the neighbors we made significant changes uh to the project that um the uh the RCO wanted
and we made those changes and we have an agreement with them and we're happy to have worked with them
and you know kind of come up with a nice project I'll show you just some quick renderings um there's
there's nine thousand over nine thousand square feet of commercial space that the community was
actually um uh was glad to see there's a green roof the property is completely and totally
managed from a stormwater management perspective um so with that let me go ahead and ask Eric to
raise his hand virtually um and uh we'll put on some testimony here's some more of the layouts
you can see by the way before eric goes on there's a there's a landscaping in the middle
there's a nice courtyard there's actually two courtyards i'm circling them uh and that they
are completely accessible this one is going to be accessible to the public and this courtyard
is going to be for the enjoyment of the tenants and maybe even the commercial space if that works
out here's some color amenities so go ahead and if you could promote eric i'll start with that
i see him with his hand up um he's been promoted i'm sorry yes yep okay mr marshall can you state
your name and spell it for the record yes eric marshall e-r-i-c-m-a-r-s-h-a-l-l
okay do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do okay proceed counsel mr marshall uh did you hear my presentation so far and can you
adopted as your testimonials matter yes and is it true and accurate it is and what is your
understanding about how why why there's a lot of steep slope on this property as far as the prior
project yeah this is a pha a pha owned property there were previously three mid-bride structures
that were on this property when owned by the pha and uh the those structures were demolished and
as a result there is some you know contours that exist that are remnants of the existing structures
that were on the site how many uh meetings were held with the rco uh we had three like formal
meetings with the rco we had a lot of emails back and forth but as far as like actually sitting down
and working through stuff we had three formal meetings and did you come to an agreement with
the RCO for some architectural modifications of the plan? Yes, we did.
Okay. And can you summarize those for the board today? Yeah. So we did make some modifications
to the exterior. I mean, a lot of them were on the original plans. We had some arches that
on the original plans we had some arches that were being proposed on the on the site they've
were being proposed on the site. They've been removed.
been removed we you know we've set some inset uh balconies to add some articulation to the
uh facade we changed the facade materials um we enlarged the sidewalk along ridge avenue
to create a greater arcade for outdoor seating purposes for uh commercial spaces um
among those were the major items that you know we worked on i'd say
one of the bigger things in reference to the project that you were talking about there was
a previously approved uh you know zba case specifically for this property and when we
came across this property we wanted to take into account some feedback that had been previously
received by the community and so as you can see in the back of this at the rear of this property
there is an existing retaining wall that's pretty much being delineated and you can see it with the
circles that are at the back of the which are like the tree line and what we did was we preserved
the existing tree line that's there because there are homes that actually sit behind this
merrick road is to the right on the screen that you see and it's a very steep slope you know it's
part of why there are slopes on the the property at this location as well but it goes up really high
and then those houses sit up there and they have a lot of green screening with the trees that are
there the previous development was actually going to be built all the way back to the rear of the
property line and it was going to obscure a lot of their views so what we did was we set the
property back 25 to 30 feet uh off the original property line in order to preserve the existing
retaining wall and to preserve the trees that are there to maintain the existing green screening
and we actually made the building and structure itself 20 feet shorter at the rear so part of it
is trying to make it fit in and be mindful of the the neighbors in the in the area other thing that
i would add is that original the original design to this project did have an area where we were
trying to go for no no variances whatsoever in touching steep slope but we did have a scoping
meeting with penn dot and with the streets department as part of the streets department
review and approval of the project that was on ridge avenue they weren't happy with ridge avenue
with the amount of traffic that was in that area they preferred it to be at merrick road which i
mean the prior developer that had proposed and got approval for this project had moved it up on
merrick road so clearly there was a reason for that but when there was no location that we could
put it out other than where the steep slope area is located which is above that second island that
you see on uh on the drawing there right like where palisade drive and merrick road meet
and that is what triggered uh the steep slope variance um but uh you know another key aspect
of what we did here also compared to the other project is they had a lot of outdoor and surface
parking we've tried to maximize uh all of the uh we put all of the parking inside and it's covered
so it's not exposed to the outside elements and any of the open areas are meant to be either open
parks or walkways uh and you know and allow pervious areas to exist as opposed to creating
additional impervious area to help with the stormwater management on the site right and so
let's let's get right to that and by the way did all these changes that you how you improved upon
the project they resulted in an actual signed agreement with with the community correct that's
correct all right and then the as far as the streets department's impact on the project and
the um you you had said that you were actually trying to gear to trying to get an over-the-counter
approval and how did the streets department uh input uh alter that yeah that by then not they
said we won't we don't want you to do ridge you have to move it up to merrick road and once that
happened we had no choice but to disturb the steep slopes right but let's let's be specific
what on ridge the curb cut right the entrance correct yes the entrance to the property yes
right so the streets department's uh input required you to impact the sleep slope is that
is that fair to say that's correct all right so um you went through design review and those changes
were also part of that the changes that you agreed to were also part of that inquiry as well correct
well the the curb cut as proposed um is what triggered the variance so that's prior to
you know the additional feedback that we've worked on since we've gone through the cdr hearing and
process um and a lot so the curb cut was there as part of the original you know so we didn't
move it as a part of the community feedback that was just we had no choice and so uh because of
the streets department other than the streets department's requirement for the curb cut on
Merrick Road have you otherwise minimized the impact on this on the steep slope yes and as part
of the process for this hearing did you actually even though the there were PHA owns the property
did you pay off the uh L and I fee that appeared on the um on the uh Atlas screen yes we did okay
and I that's been uploaded uh zoning board uh members there's uh no uh proof of zero taxes
for this property yes we have the documents all right so that's all i have for eric the
yes we have the documents all right so that's all i have for eric the only other thing i'd
only other thing i'd like to do
like to do unless there's questions of course and i can put whatever uh documents you need
up on the screen all right so he already uh accepted your testimony correct that's your
client yes okay yes all right any questions from the questions from the board is the is the green
roof an accessible green roof yes there is a roof deck uh on merrick road we originally as part of
Actually, some of the feedback that we had, but I guess I forgot to add also, is you kind of see a little bit of a setback.
This little green area that's shown on the zoning plan that didn't originally exist.
That was part of the feedback from the working with the East Falls Community Group saying, like, let's let's soften the feature of if it's imposing nature on Ridge Avenue.
And so we actually cut back and created balconies and terraces there.
and then we relocated the public accessible roof or the public the accessible roof deck for the
residents um there you can see it right there yeah well you can see it here in the rendering
too is this what you want eric i'm sorry tell me what you want me to yeah yeah that's fine that's
that there is a roof deck an amenity roof deck that is at the roof oh that's right here shown
there yes yeah yeah okay but the actual green roof is not accessible no no stormwater management
never again pwd would not be happy if i did that okay what about uh parking uh for the
commercial how does that work you've got commercial space on the ground floor yeah so right now there's
217 car parking uh inside the the structure it's it's meant to be for the residential but that is
some of the conversation that we had uh with the community and if we found or if they wanted us to
designate a certain amount of commercial for the commercial space, we would do it.
I think it depends on what kind of commercial tenant we'd have.
But the intention here is that it's for the residents of the building.
So, and there is also like Ridge Avenue is all street parking,
like all up and down there, there is a lane and that's for parking on the street.
Any other questions from the board?
Okay, I just like to say, I appreciate the open space and the balconies and stuff like that.
when you have this amount of units people do need some air so questions from our attorney
on just confirming the number of units now that are proposed is 257 that's correct
okay thank you that and that that's a result of us cutting out that setback that was on ridge
avenue that actually caused us to reduce some square footage and combine some units and so
we lost a few apartments there questions from a virtual audience yes there's a handout from
hillary langer okay we can bring her on so i let me just jump in i do wanted i did want our engineer
to testify but if i don't get any opposition from the the neighbors i won't call him but
let me call him on rebuttal if there's opposition from anybody today if that's okay okay thank you
Go ahead, Hilary. Sorry.
Good. Thank you very much.
Okay. Hi. How are you? Wait a minute. State your name and spell it for the record.
Yes. My name is Hilary Langer.
H-I-L-A-R-Y-L-A-N-G-E-R.
I am chair of the East Falls Community Council Zoning Committee.
All right. And do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
OK, you can proceed.
Thanks. Thanks very much.
I sent you a three page letter describing our negotiations, mostly within the community.
As you know, where.
It just has the one refusal.
um and we had two public meetings and um at my request they did actually increase the number of
notifications i wanted to make sure that all the near neighbors uh got got notified so they notified
a lot more neighbors than they actually needed to per the algorithm um so we had in-person meeting
meeting with members of the senior building. It was about 20, 25 people. Then we had an
Zoom meeting, 12 members of my committee, and I would estimate about 36 neighbors.
So in talking about the refusal, I explained that being zoned CMX3, CMX3 and zoning and
traffic and congestion don't really have a lot to do with each other. CMX3 is intended to bring
have a lot to do with each other.
CMX3 is intended to bring people,
to bring people into the neighbourhood to provide density.
And it's going to be difficult to oppose this steep slope variance
based on the fact that the project
is going to bring traffic congestion, parking issues.
So, you know, starting the meeting, this was really the only feedback that came to the meetings.
The feedback was really about traffic and congestion.
The clogged roads, particularly bad at rush hour.
This is CMX3 on two lane roads, originally designed for horse and cart.
um your neighbors do not want traffic overspill from the units of which there will be overspill
based on our experience in the neighborhood i think with a 133 unit adjacent building that
provides 96 spaces all those 96 spaces inside the building are taken my estimate there's about
another 50 cars parked out on the street however there are no parking restrictions out on the
local roads which could help mitigate some of these issues um there was some objection to
so many one-bedroom units but that's the reality that is the market right now okay so the rco
issued a letter of support correct? Yes can I just finish really quickly? There were no comments
on the aesthetics of the building. We wanted to make sure that you know we had a building that
respected the open space on the site which is what it does and we wanted to make sure that
we had a building in the neighborhood that people weren't going to be complaining about that it is
the ugliest thing they ever saw. So I do want to make a note of the impact of CMX3 in small
neighborhoods like ours. We have taken some measures within a NCA overlay to mitigate that.
Okay, yep, sir, we have this all on your letter.
then um but committee of 17 we considered the opinions um of the attending neighbors and we
decided that um in terms of just viewing this as steep slope variance and the benefit it can bring
if we can mitigate some of the traffic and congestion issues the traffic impact study
and parking restrictions that we would support this variance okay all right thank you so much
thank you for your testimony um do we have any other hands in the audience there are no more
okay you went out again so i would just i just say my engineer would would have testified
since there's no no opposition i don't need to call him officially he would testify that the
in his opinion, that it's impossible to avoid a steep slope variance because of the physical nature
of the site. And that's why, obviously, we feel we're entitled to the relief. The case law is
clear that steep slope is a physical unique condition of property that requires variance
relief if you can't avoid it. And we have actually minimized the impact as much as we possibly could
in light of the requirements of the streets department. So with that, I would rest and
uh and thank you and like i said five pages for uh revised plans all right i think we had
another hand up or did we not have another hand no no more no more okay all right thank you
uh planning commission madison matera planning commission staff the comprehensive plan recommends
no change to the cmx3 commercial mixed-use zoning at this location the city rezoned this
neighborhood in 2016 in accordance with the recommendations in the comprehensive plan
this proposal completed its civic design review in march of 2026. civic design review committee's
advisory recommendations are not an expression of the city planning commission's recommendation
or opinion regarding zoning variances special exceptions or other discretionary approvals
associated with this proposal given the site constraints slope disturbance is necessary to
accommodate the features of the development there is no impact to properties further downslope
The City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant the proposed variance.
Okay. Thank you. MI-2025-007317-4401.
MI-2025-007317, 4401 Ridge Avenue, my vote is yes with proviso. Revised plans, five pages stamped by ZBA on March 25th, 2026, and maximum 257 dwelling units.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ty McAdams, my vote is yes with proviso.
tire when my vote is yes supervisor thank you thank you have a great afternoon all right you
too um are there any other cases on the 2 p.m list that has not been heard
i see no hands okay thank you all right we're going to move right along to our 3 30 list
good afternoon my name is tnetta graham and i will be chairing this meeting of the
philadelphia zoning board of adjustment with me is board secretary cheryl l gaston
present madam chairman board member michael johns
resident madam chair okay and board member tya wynn president madam chair and board member ryan
mcadams president madam chair also present our board attorney hillary emerson zoning board
director Ian Haggerty and board member Lakeisha Dandy. A recording of this hearing will be posted
on the ZBA website. By participating, you consent to being recorded. This is an in-person meeting
with remote capabilities. Whether remote or in-person, if you are called to speak, you must
state and spell your name and then wait to be sworn in. Once you've been sworn in, please state
your name each time before beginning your testimony. Any person may enter their appearance to become an
interested party to a case there are three ways to enter your appearance you can identify the
case property address on your zoom webinar registration you can see a staff member or
you can call the zba appearance line by the close of business day tomorrow call 267-7270-5548
leave a message that includes your email address and the address of the property of the appeal case
the following guidance is for our remote attendees first when directed by the chair you must raise
your virtual hand in order to be recognized to speak second if you are called to testify
you will be prompted to join as a panelist please accept the request and turn on your camera
third the webinar q a is for questions about the hearing do not comment on the cases in the q a
fourth if you are participating by phone press star nine to raise your hand and star six to unmute
for our in-person attendees please refrain from talking eating or drinking during the hearings
verbal and physical aggression will not be tolerated restrooms are across from the elevators
a water fountain is just outside the room to the right when speaking on the record you must speak
directly into the microphone in order to be heard by all attendees and the court reporter
in the event of emergency please follow the directions given over the public address system
or by staff the main exit is through the double doors at the rear of the room the nearest stairwell
is to the left outside the doors in case of an evacuation the rally point is at love park
directly across art street please remain there so we can account for you okay we're gonna look
at our 330 list here okay all right number one um mi2024006122814 brighton street this case
The case is continued to 8, 5, 20, 26 at 3, 30.
And, and, um, Madam Chair, can we just, I believe the attorney, Mr. Turner is in the audience.
This is the fourth listing. So if we could just get a status from him.
Thank you. Okay. All right. Frank Turner.
frank turner has been promoted
frank turner has declined oh frank turner you have deceptive yeah oh wait he just
oh frank turner you have deceptive oh wait he just accepted he accepted okay
Accept it, accept it.
Let me try them again.
Good evening, Mr. Turner.
I'm still working on promoting.
okay i thought he did accept you don't want to talk to us
let's see one more time
frank turner keeps declining the promotion okay
let's give him one more try and then we're going to be requested and can continue with
mr turner can you please accept the promotion
so that we can get an update on the case from you this is the fourth listing
the client again this story could you please try to allow to talk
can you hear me
Mr. Turner, can you please unmute Madam chair, it appears he's having some technical difficulty.
I recommend marking this case must be heard since it is the fourth listing.
Okay. All right. MI 2024-006122, 814 Brighton Street. This case is continued to 85-2026 at 3.30. Mark must be heard.
number three mi2025 zero zero six one one four five five zero west willow grove avenue
um oh sure i said he wasn't going to be here so this case is continued uh to uh eight five
2026 at 3 30. are there any other requests for continuances madam chair this is ian hegarty if
could please read into the record the prior continuance for wayne avenue
oh okay yeah we did that all right gotcha all right um number two mi 2024
006 108 45 62-64 wayne avenue um this case was continued i think we continued it to
8-5-2026 at 9 30.
Okay. All right. Um, that's all our continuances for today. Uh,
case number four, MI 2025, 0-0-6-9-8-7-1-9-5-7 President Street.
Muhammad Haag is the listed owner. This is a pro se. So you can come on up.
and the staff is going to assist you with your case right all right okay could you just state
your name and spell it for the record my name is mahmoud hagg m-a-h-m-o-u-d-h-a-g okay do you swear
or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes okay so this application
is for the creation of one accessory surface parking space for a semi-detached existing
structure used for use as a single family household living you have a refusal because
the property is on rsa3 and the it prohibits surface parking spaces in the required front
side and rear yards and the proposed parking space is located in the required front yard
You have unanimous support from great old Busselton Civic.
You have unanimous support from great old Busselton Civic League, and you have a letter of non-opposition from Council Member O'Neill.
So our board secretary, Cheryl Gadsen, will ask you a question.
Good afternoon, or good evening at this point.
Did you submit your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Thank you. You can begin, too. I'm not sure how it will be.
I believe someone is going to help begin your brief.
Yep. Just tell us what you're trying to do and show us pictures if you have any.
So I actually didn't try to do anything. I bought the house the way it is.
I didn't know that the house has a violation on it.
I bought it in 2023 the way it is for a reason.
um it has a living space in the bottom um because my mom um just moved from a different country to
live with me so um it literally put the house that way it is i live with my wife a kid and my mom
so after we move into the house um i got in contact from the city of philadelphia saying
that i have a violation because um i moved the garage door into a residential door which i did
not do i put the house that way it is i tried to get in contact with the previous owner to ask him
if he did that you know with the permit or anything he denied it he's like you know what
this is your house now you deal with them so okay so in this picture your house is the house without
the car yes okay so um i'm just here you know i tried to fix as much as i can i did the planner
um i met with the rco um i also met with the variants um so here i am all right um do you have
any uh questions i mean so what's behind the uh the house the space living space it's just living
space okay nothing all right and this is a single family home so yes it is yes okay questions from
the board okay questions from our attorney not at this time madam chair okay and questions from
the virtual audience there are no hands okay and planning commission madison matera planning
commission staff the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa3 residential single family
zoning at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 1994 in a council supported map
change the proposal for a parking space in the required front yard matches the character of
other homes on this block face city planning commission recommends that the board grant
proposed variance to allow no parking and or parking in the required front yard okay thank you
mi2025-0069871957 president street my vote is yes michael johns my vote is yes
cheryl gaston my vote is yes ryan mcadams my vote is yes hi i win my vote is yes
Thank you, sir. You had your votes. All right. I don't think there's anybody left, but just let me just be sure. Is there anyone on a 3.30 list that have not been heard? You're good.
I see no hands.
Okay. All right. Thank everyone. Have a great day and we will welcome Chairman Berman back next week. Oh, in two weeks. Oh, okay. Right. Happy holidays, everyone. Thank you.
Bye-bye.
Thank you. Take care.
Thank you.