Thank you.
good morning everyone the board will start momentarily thank you
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
what's going on here there's a lawyer outside there's a guy sitting out there with his client
meetings you've got a meeting yeah what time six o'clock oh you're gonna oh you're you're fine
you're gonna be good and if not just because all we're gonna do is vote to dismiss them
you should be done yeah
Yeah, I got it.
Thank you.
We're ready, right? Good morning, everyone. My name is Bill Bergman,
and I will be chairing the meeting of the Philadelphia Zoning Board of Adjustment.
With me is our Vice Chair, Teneda Graham.
Teneda Graham. Chairman.
Our board secretary, Cheryl L. Gaston.
Our Board Secretary, Cheryl L. Gaston.
Present, Mr. Chair.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Board member, Michael Johns.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Board member, Ty Nguyen.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And our board member, Ryan McAdams.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
So here is our attorney, Hillary Emerson,
our zoning board executive director, Ian Haggerty,
and our board administrator, Lakeisha Dandy.
recording of this hearing will be posted on the zba website by participating you agree to be
recorded this is an in in-person meeting with uh with remote capabilities whether in person
whether here or in person if you're called to testify you must state and spell your name
once you have been sworn you will state and spell you will state your name each time before
testifying any person may enter their appearance you can identify you can identify the case
property address and your zoning meeting uh resigned board you can see a staff member or
you can call and call the gba appearance line call 267-270-5548 leave your address and the address
for the property in question the following guideline is for our in-person for our remote
capabilities first when directed please state your name it's spelled for the stenographer second you
should you you you you can call to testify you will be prompted to join as a panelist please
accept the request and turn on your camera. Third, your web line Q&A, the Web
Webster Q&A, do not comment on the case in the Q&A. And fourth, you can
participate by phone, press star nine to raise your hand and star six to unmute.
for our in-person people please refine from talking eating or drinking during the hearings
verbal and physical aggression will not be commented
restrooms are across from the elevators a water fountain is outside the room to the right
when speaking on one on the record you can state speak your spell your name of the portion
in in the event of an emergency follow the directions given by the staff the main exit
is through the double doors that nearest to the stairwell in the in the case of an emergency
The rally point is Love Point across Art Street.
Please stay there so we can account for you.
Let's look at our schedule for this afternoon, for this morning.
So number one, MI 2023-001-945-7148-30 UConn Street.
Steve Masters is the attorney.
There's a request for a contingent from the coordinating RCO.
If the coordinating RCO is here, please come forward.
Good morning, Chair.
This is Jasmine, and I will be your co-host for this morning's session.
I have a hand up by the name of Craig Melodosier.
I'm going to let them speak.
Is Mr. Masters there?
let me see if steve masters is okay yes i don't see mr masters in the audience yet
um is he on his way here in person okay how long will we go back all right we'll go back to that
number two 3910 germantown avenue mi 2023 003394 i vote to dismiss
i'm sorry withdrawn withdrawn we changed that we have to bring mr orphanetes on
i'm sorry withdrawn withdrawn we changed that we have to bring mr orphanetes on mr orphan
david orphanetes has been allowed to speak
good morning mr chairman morning council could you please state your name is spelled for the
sonographer certainly david orphanetes last name is spelled o-r-p-h-a-n-i-d-e-s
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Would you please give us an update on this case?
Certainly.
This matter involves an application for an assembly and entertainment use.
My client filed the application and filed, it's a special exception.
They filed the application for a special exception.
I was then retained.
In the meantime, we've been able to find a buy-right solution, I believe, to their needs.
and the by-right permit was applied for and secured at this point in time my client does
not wish to proceed with this uh this present application thank you thank you very much 3910
germington avenue mi 2024 003 394 this case has been withdrawn
Number 4, 5904 Erverick Street, MI 2024-007-406, this case has been dismissed, the two-year,
no? We got to call, we got to call Mr. Okta on that case, Mr. We got to pull somebody up for
Yes, I believe Mr. Ukda is here.
David Upta is the attorney.
I don't see anyone in the virtual audience with that name, Chair.
No, he's there.
Mr. Ukda is in the virtual audience.
chair he has been allowed to speak
good morning good morning counsel um could you please state your name it's bell for the
sonographer devon ukda last name is uqdah do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth yes yes sir could you give us a status of this please yes this is a case i
I took over from a partner who cannot do zoning hearings.
I was having trouble getting in contact with a client.
I recently was to be able to get in contact with them.
So we spoke and we just need to continue
so we can schedule our show meeting.
Now we're in communication.
So council, this is the third listing.
We still have never received any documents from you.
So what we're gonna do is we're gonna vote this.
I'm gonna recommend we vote this for dismiss
and we'll waive the two-year rule okay um your honor i mean i apologize chair would it be possible
to just give us a bring back date once we were able to meet instead of having it dismissed well
i i i think we're trying to to control the amount of cases we have like this so we're we're going
to vote to dismiss this and we'll waive the two-year rule okay thank you chair so 5907
Erdrich Street. I vote to dismiss and waive the two-year rule. Michael Johns. I vote to dismiss
and waive the two-year rule. Cheryl Gaston. I vote to dismiss and waive the two-year rule.
Tanetta Graham. I vote to dismiss and waive the two-year rule. Brian McAdams. My vote is to
dismiss and waive the two-year rule. Ty Owen. My vote is to dismiss and waive the two-year rule.
Number five, 1925 West Summer Street, MI 2025, 000024.
We can just withdraw this, am I correct?
This case has been withdrawn.
Number eight, 2815 North 2nd Street, MI 2025, 002165.
um this case is being continued until um sorry mr chair um so we'll see if anybody is here for
this case it's 2815 north 2nd street um this is the second listing no one appeared for the first
time we have no exhibits um 2815 north 2nd street is there anyone in the audience
chair i have no hands raised at this moment
okay we're going to dismiss right
Okay. We're going to dismiss, right? 2815 North 2nd Street, I vote to dismiss.
Michael Johns, my vote is to dismiss.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is to dismiss.
Danetta Graham, my vote is to dismiss.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is to dismiss.
Ty Owen, my vote is to dismiss.
Number nine, 3-1-1-2 East Godfrey Avenue, MI-2025-002-178.
I vote to dismiss.
Michael Johns, my vote is to dismiss.
Excuse me, board members.
Excuse me, board members.
This is Ian Haggerty, executive director.
we actually have a letter of withdrawal from this applicant that we received this morning so this
matter can be marked as withdrawn okay 31 11 to 2 east godfrey avenue this case has been withdrawn
number 12 71 35 rising sun avenue mi 2025 006 395 this case has been withdrawn um and mr
Chair, I believe Mr. Anastasio is going to come on and withdraw that because we do not have something in writing.
Mr. Anastasio.
Good morning, Chair.
Good morning, members of the Board.
Mr. Anastasio, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Of course.
It's Vern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O, on behalf of Mr. Tyler Williams, the owner, sorry, the occupant of the property.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Could you give us an update, please?
We're going to withdraw the case.
It's no longer needed that we seek relief.
Thank you.
All right.
Thank you very much.
So 7135 Rising Sun Avenue, that case has been withdrawn.
Thank you.
Number 13, 518 South 5th Street, MI2025-006-398.
That case is continued to 722-26.
and number 14 125 levick street mi 2025 006 455 that case is continued to 7 22 26 at 9 30 am
are there any other requests for continuance and we still have uh we'll just put one right
i see no hands at this time when mr masters comes in well then we'll do the case oh there
he is there he is come on up yeah yep come right up we're not we're not going to hear it i'm just
0-0-1-9-5-7-1-25, Yocum Street, Mr. Masters, and also could a member of the RCO please come along.
Mr. Masters, could you state your name, please, for the record and spell it for a stenographer?
Good morning, Mr. Chair, members of the board, Steve Masters, S-T-E-V-E-M-A-S-T-E-R-S, with the law firm of JustLaws.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
RCO representative please Craig Melodosian has been allowed to speak
good morning chair good morning Craig could you please state your name and spell it for this
denographer Craig C-R-A-I-G last name Melodosian M-E-L-I-D-O-S-I-A-N do you swear or affirm to tell
truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do chair bergman um mr meldozian you have
requested it continued could you please give us your thoughts
yeah yes this has been a a very long drawn out uh application i believe it started in 23.
we do not believe that the applicant had dealt with us in good faith we then referred him to
multiple attorneys that we've worked with in the past. Mr. Masters was on the list. I assume that's
what happened. We may seem pedantic, but we don't understand why applicants and attorneys can't abide
applicants and attorneys can't abide by the 20-day rule on template 2 and get
by the 20-day rule.
notices out to the affected community. The fact that in over the course of
several years that was not done. We spoke with Steve, I think it's in the material
I sent you. He then said they would be changing the application to 10 cars. We
never saw that, so we don't know whether that's what he wanted to do or
they changed their mind. They told us that they wanted to store cars on the
lot. They are actively running basically a junkyard where they're storing vehicles on the lot,
towing them in, repairing them, and then they're driving off the lot. This is a residential street,
RSA 5, on what would be the north side of the street. One side is RSA 5, the other is RSA 3.
The parcel itself sits between a house of worship and an end of the road. Mr. Masters,
is we believe steve tries to represent his clients i'm going to object that he's going into
um the case which you asked us not to do i guess that the issue is craig is why do you want to
continue it we don't think that they've they've they've supplied us with their information and
what information i've been given verbally does not agree with the oral history that the neighbors
have given us. And if he doesn't want to go into the, then, you know, he, we would like to see his
exhibit package. We'd like to see his affidavits. We'd like to see his, the petitions that he signed
because the oral history that we've been given by neighbors on the block does not compare favorably
with what Steve has told us. And the neighbors on the block have also told us they have a petition
of opposition, which we found out about Monday night, which we'd also like to share our information
with Steve. Steve has also indicated that he was unable to get a history of the property
from L&I. So we've relied on the oral history of the neighbors across the street,
which is dramatically different than what Steve has expressed to us.
all right Dave so uh I I work very closely with Craig Melodosian uh I think that he's a very fine
of leader for the RCOs in this case um I'm I regret that we have this this conflict together
we've been trying to get a RCO meeting with uh Mr Melodosian for for uh for quite some time uh
He offered to give us an RCO meeting if we could get him certain materials by a certain date.
We got them, I think, a day or two later.
And then we were following up with the staff of Council President Johnson because this is his district.
And they told me that they were conferring with the RCO to find out why it was they didn't give us a meeting.
yesterday we found out for the first time that there was a meeting on uh on monday night i
believe or i think it was monday night we were not invited to it so that would have been the rco
meeting we would have we would have uh flired the neighborhood in addition because we already put
out the the mailing that we needed to do from the planning commission uh but we didn't have a date
for the meeting so we wanted to to have a date and then we would flyer uh so we're basically ships
passing through the night we haven't had that kind of conversation um i think um what i would prefer
is that if we could go forward today and then if if you want to hold the vote and have a and have
a an rco meeting happen in the next couple weeks that that um seems to me to be an appropriate
response here. I certainly want to have an RCO meeting, but I don't want the RCO to be delaying
things when this case has, it has been going on for a long time, but it's not because we have
been delaying things. It's because there were issues with, that Al and I, we wanted to address
with Betsy Baldwin, and ultimately, she determined that she couldn't help us. All right. So, Craig,
Greg, we're going to hear the case.
We will hold the vote, and we will try to get this done in the next couple weeks where you can have an RCO meeting, okay?
So I'll call you when your case is ready.
Thank you.
I think you're number six on the list.
Thanks so much.
Thank you very much.
All right.
Is there anyone else who's requesting a continuance?
I see no hands at this time, Chair.
We're going to go to number three, MI 2024-006-408, hold on, wait a minute, I got, I got one
Hold on. Wait a minute. I got one ad on to do it. One ad on it. MI 2025 006 364 1842 Master Street.
AND ADULTS.
I vote no.
Michael Johns. My vote is no.
Cheryl Gaston. My vote is no.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is no.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is no.
Tonetta Graham, my vote is no.
Number two, MI 2025-007-104, 1838 North Van Pelt Street.
The vote in this matter will be at 2 p.m. this afternoon.
Now we're going to go to number...
let's see here number two
right number two mi 2024
zero zero three
three nine four thirty nine fourteen
oh i'm sorry mr chair it's number three it's number three
that we're doing first yeah two is withdrawn okay that's right you're right i'm sorry
number three mi 2024 006 208 632 edmond street um
this is a spanish interpreter will handle this case could the spanish interpreter please come on
the applicant and the spanish interpreter had both been promoted to panelists okay
and good morning my name is stephen aubain aubain interpreter id ym 288 i'll be the spanish
interpreter all right do you swear or affirm to tell the do you swear or affirm that you will um
interpret accurately completely and uh from english to spanish and also from spanish to
english to the best of your ability yes i do all right could you please call the um the owner force
and in this mission
or a cn a arcina y señor arcena si puede entrar a la llamada por favor
ok y otra
spell for the stenographer por favor díganos su nombre y de letrero para el reportero mi nombre
es newton bautista aracena my name is newton bautista aracena jura y afirma decir la verdad
toda la verdad nada más que la verdad sí ante dios yes this application is for use as a two family
household living así que esta solicitud es para uso multifamiliar de vivienda para cambiar mi
zonificación de una familia a dos familias yes it's a change from single family to a multi-family
where the proposed use to family household living is prohibited in the rsa3 zoning district
Y donde el uso de vivienda multifamilial está prohibido bajo el distrito de zonificación RSA-3.
Nuestro vicepresidente tiene algunas preguntas.
Good morning. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
Buenos días. Usted ha sometido sus documentos y evidencia cinco días de antemano de esta reunión.
okay and the chair of red your refusal so to you stipulate to the accuracy of the
refusal así que el presidente leyó el este el retiro y usted estipula la certeza de ese retiro
see yes thank you you can proceed with your case
yes thank you you can proceed with your case and show your screen
yeah thank you
are you able to see it
I can see it.
Si lo puedo ver.
Thank you.
So we have that document.
Así que tenemos ese documento.
So he can move on.
Puede proceder.
Mi nombre es Newton Bautista Aracena.
so my name is nilton bautista sarah and i live on 30 30 i mean 6032 admin street
estoy aquí con la finalidad de solicitarle a ustedes el cambio de mi sonificación
So, I'm here to ask and request for a zone change if it's in the possibilities.
Okay, so Steven, could you do me a favor? Could you tell him to move to photos or the plans he has for the project?
Así que puede proceder a enseñarnos las fotos del proyecto y planos del proyecto.
Ok, muchas gracias. Ya se lo envíe.
Y si puede, puede regresar para atrás al principio y ir un poco más despacio.
Así que esta es la parte afuera de la propiedad, ¿correcto?
Esa es la parte adentro.
Esa es la parte adentro donde están los parques.
but but hillary we only have we're doing that just the yes so yes the parking the
the parking is listed on the application as two existing spaces ok así que el estacionamiento
está listado en la solicitud como en todo espacio existente
y la propiedad corrientemente la está utilizando como un duplex
así que ya un duplex y lo está tratando de legalizar que yo resido en el primer piso y
so yes i live on the first floor and that's why i'm requesting um permission for the second floor
so that i can rent it out wait a minute wait a minute but it's already done it's already
it out to be a duplex right micro pero ya usted terminó el trabajo ya está como un duplex si me
pido perdón por hacerlo antes de antemano y en 10 años for forgiveness for doing it beforehand
hand okay all right all right so show us the first show us the drawings of the first floor
so this is the first floor and it has like washer and dryer and everything
Okay. How many bedrooms in the first floor?
¿Cuántos cuartos en el primer piso?
Dos cuartos.
Two rooms.
Two rooms, one bathroom.
Este es el segundo piso ahora.
And this is the second floor.
How many bedrooms on the second floor?
¿Cuántos cuartos en el segundo piso?
Dos cuartos.
Y un baño.
Two bedrooms and one bathroom.
and how long has it been a duplex like this?
and how long has it been a duplex like this?
like a year
like more or less a year
tell me about when he met with the RCO
he tried two times
you tried to meet with the RCO
you tried to meet with the RCO
yes, I tried to meet with the RCO
yes, I tried two times
So I had two meetings with the RCO.
One of them was declined because of the snow.
but here is one of the meetings that we have with the neighborhood and these are all the signatures
of support from the neighbors could show us that please y si no puede enseñar este la firma por
favor si señor yes they're here just about the people next door the people next door agree with
it y la persona o vecino a su alrededor están de acuerdo con esto y si ellos son soportes
yes so the people that are list on the list they um showed complete support and they even said
that they're available to come to any meeting if they need to come and they were at the second rco
meeting to show support as well all right questions
so 60 um 36 is the uh house that's closest to me and they're on the list
as well and all the ones on the list are closed by
okay questions from the board do both units have access to the rear yard in
si ambas unidades tienen acceso a este la yarda atrás y el estacionamiento sí correcto y es correcto
así que veo los planos para el primero y segundo piso cuáles son los planos para el sótano
so it has the basement has an uh front and back entrance
and the basement is for utilities okay so there's no laundry on site for either unit
y adónde está la lavandería para las unidades los dos a los dos
dentro de cualquier ficción a qué se refiere con los dos
ahí está la lavandería y dentro del apartamento
y si puedes señalar a dónde está eso en los planos
and also what's the point of what's the point of the full bathroom in the basement
if it's just for utility permitan me permitan un momento un momento por favor y cuál es el
uso de un baño entero en el sótano si es solamente para utilidades como fue la pregunta
The interpreter will repeat,
¿Cuál es el uso de un baño entero en el sótano
si solamente es para utilidades?
No, lo que pasa es que ya estaba
cuando yo compré la propiedad.
So the bathroom was already there
whenever I purchased the property in the basement.
Solamente arreglé las paredes.
I just fixed the walls.
Okay, the question is,
could he point out
where the washer and dryer is on the drawing?
Ahora en los planos, ¿puedes señalarnos dónde está la lavadora y secadora?
Aquí, en esta parte.
¿Estás able to see it there? It says laundry.
¿Qué es eso?
¿Estás able to see it on the plants? It says laundry.
Al lado del baño.
Al lado del baño.
¿Algo más de las preguntas?
questions questions from our attorney hillary emerson
so just so i have a couple of things
first can you show the parking plan again
Así que este es Hillary Emerson, que es la abogada.
Y si puede enseñarnos dos cosas.
Si nos puede enseñar primeramente los planos de estacionamiento.
Correcto.
Thank you.
On this plan, it looks like you are proposing multiple parking spaces,
but the refusal says two parking spaces.
parking and this is the interpreter can i let them know that if a party is speaking the other
No, dile que dos parking spaces.
Permítame, and this is the interpreter.
Can I let them know?
party cannot be speaking because it's interfering asi que si están hablando por favor no pueden
hablar yo necesito escuchar lo que están diciendo por favor manténgase en silencio en lo que yo
escucho you can continue okay no i just wanted to i was a little bit confused because the refusal
So the proposal says there's two existing parking spaces and this appears that they're proposing six parking spaces.
Así que no está muy claro porque la denegación dice que solamente hay dos estacionamientos existentes
y eso como aparece en la propuesta y en la propuesta de usted están pidiendo seis estacionamientos.
so we're just asking for two parking spaces one for the first floor and one for the second
okay um and then i just wanted to note that the fence that you have in front of the parking
it looks like it's non-compliant so you will need to um get a permit for that um it's it's about
six feet tall and it's completely opaque which is not permitted
así que también acerca de este la cerca el frente del estacionamiento aparece
que no está en cumplimiento usted va a necesitar un permiso para eso porque
hace seis pies alto y está completamente opaca y eso no está permitido aunque lo
voy a hacer y también este la petición que usted enseñó nosotros nos recibimos una copia de eso
Así que si la puede enviar para la señora Cadillo, una copia de eso estaría bien.
¿Y preguntas de la audiencia virtual?
¿Y el comité de planeos?
Thank you, Chairman, and good morning, David Fecteau, F-E-C-T-E-A-U, with the City Planning
Commission.
We're affirmed to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Yes, sir, I do.
Please proceed.
Thank you, sir.
Chairman and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the R-S-A-3 Residential
single-family zoning at this location.
Así que este es Dave Fecto, que es del Comité de Planeos de la Ciudad, y dice Presidente
y miembro de la Junta, el plan comprensivo recomienda que no haya cambios al RS3, zona
de unifamilia residencial en esta ubicación.
The city re-zoned this neighborhood in 1989 in a council-supported map change.
This appears to have been converted to two units without the benefit of permits.
Aparece que esto ha sido convertido a dos unidades sin el beneficio de permisos.
El Comité de Planeo de la Ciudad recomienda que la Junta denegue el pedido de variancias a dos unidades.
So, Hillary, if we would vote in favor of this, should we provide a two-car parking?
That's what's on the refusal, so that would only...
So, that's... Okay, good. Okay, and we'll just be...
That's... Yeah, exactly.
So, MI 2024-006-208-6025, Edward Street, I vote yes.
So for M2024-006-208-6025, Edwin Street, I vote that yes.
Michael John.
So 63rd.
Michael John, my vote is yes.
Michael Jones, my vote is yes.
Michael John.
Michael Jones, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Thank you very much.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes.
Ty Owen, my vote is yes.
Ty Owen, my vote is yes.
Ty Owen, my vote is yes.
thank you thank you very much thank you very much thank god bless you oh thank you number six
mi 2025 zero zero two one three eight 1904 diamond street bria molly whitmore
Bria Mallory Whitmore has been promoted to panelists.
Hello.
Hi, good morning.
Hi, good morning.
would you please state your name is spelled for the stenographer
my name is bria mallory whitmore my name is b-r-i-a mallory m-a-l-l-o-r-y
hyphen whitmore w-h-i-t-m-o-r-e do you swear or affirm that tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth yes i see there's a letter of non-opposition from council member
Young. There's also a letter of support here from, let's see here, Beach Community Services.
Our Vice Chair has a few questions for you, okay? Sure. Good morning. Have you submitted your
documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing? Yes. Okay, and do you waive the
reading of your referral and stipulate to its accuracy yes okay all right thank you
you can share your screen and proceed with your case all right i'm trying to share my screen now
what is happening
I just wanted to note for our Spanish language interpreter, our second Spanish language case
was continued and so you're released for the day.
Thank you for your services, Steven.
Thanks, Ian.
Hold on.
I'm sorry.
I'm just having a little difficulty sharing my screen.
so you should see a green button right
got it okay got it
entire screen should be coming up already wait a minute let's see
do you see it now i i can't so why don't you tell us what you're trying
Okay. All righty. So I am trying to, I have a single family dwelling that I'm trying to convert, not convert, but yeah, a special exception for a group living and in an existing attached structure with no signs on this permit.
And here is the refusal.
We have your permit.
All right. So let me just go down. This is the signage. All right. So BU House. BU House in 1904, Diamond Street. A little bit about me. I'm deeply committed to creating safe, structured, and empowering environments for young girls in need.
with background in youth support and mentorship.
I worked closely with vulnerable populations
and have witnessed firsthand the gaps in services for girls
experiencing homelessness and stability
and behavior challenges.
My passion for BU House was born
from both professional experiences
and a genuine desire to intervene early
before young girls fall deeper
into cycles of trauma, displacement,
or system involvement.
Through my work with youth,
I recognize the critical need for a nurturing space that not only provides shelter, but also promotes healing, personal growth, and long-term success.
personal growth and long-term success bu house was created as a solution offering a structured
BU House was created as a solution.
home while girls ages 14 to 18 receive mentorship life skills training and education support
emotional guidance my vision is to help each resident rediscover her identity build confidence
and realized her full potential in safe and supportive environments.
A little bit about me.
I'm a wife, mother of three beautiful girls, biology degree from Lincoln University,
former youth support counselor from Crossroads.
I worked in one of their homes that was a residential treatment facility for girls.
I have close to 10 years experience with mentorship and supporting youth.
i'm dedicated to the empowerment of vulnerable youth girls i'm the ceo and executive director
of a non-profit organization called uniquely youth foundation um my uniquely you foundation
is a foundation uniquely foundation is a youth empowerment program that dedicated to building
confidence leadership and life skills and young girls through mentorship uh the program creates
safe and supportive spaces where girls can grow learn and embrace their identity their individual
visuality as well through structured programming uniquely you offers mentorship mentorship and
positive role modeling um life skills bria bria yes i think what you should do is you should show
us why this property would be appropriate for what your user so why don't you start talking
about the property got it okay so the bu house the bu house is a licensed residential
supervised program serving girls 14 to 18 years old um we currently are licensed through the
with the state of pa office of children youth and family and here's our license our license is um
We have three, we are licensed to occupy three residents.
And it says right here to provide residential services.
All right, so let me just, all right, so zoning.
Okay, so the property was previously approved for use as a six-resident single-room occupancy.
The prior license has since expired.
so the u house proposes a special exception for group living for six clients as well
um this is the home this is the kitchen that's the outside area this is the
dining room area this is downstairs this is a half bath from downstairs um this is like the
office space, admin space. Upstairs, this is the three beds that's licensed, that's currently
licensed. There are two full bathrooms on the second floor and one on the third floor.
This is the third floor as well. This is like their calm area, relaxation area,
and I have the fire extinguisher and a fire escape plan the third floor I have three
three empty rooms and a hallway and you know the full bathroom that I explained before
in hopes of having a each you know each bed be occupied for each room
here is my blueprint of the home so this is the first floor the basement area
um we have the first floor had the common area the kitchen dining room
two common areas actually on the second first floor
you might want to mention how many residents do you intend to have
Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Six. Six residents.
And how many bedrooms do you have?
I have six bedrooms.
So on the second floor, you have, I have one, two, three, three bedrooms.
And on the third floor, I have one, two, three bedrooms, and as well as a laundry room on the third floor.
yeah so I have three rooms yes on the third floor as well so I tend to have six residents
just like the last the last of what was he had yeah the last zoning he had
six residents as well and I just I'm here to ask for the same number of residents
the property the license before me had six residents six single room occupancy
the property the license before me had
yeah and here is my letter from uh councilman to support from councilman
jeffrey young as well as i have a letter of um support from the house of representate
rep uh from jason dawkins okay um and thank you
okay um questions from the board yeah can you walk me through the first floor
sort of public areas and what's the division between your residents and the staff
the first floor yeah like the public area so like if the if the girls aren't in their room
what other areas of the house so they have access to so they have access to the sort of first this
is the first floor um as soon as you come in you have that common area and then you walk down is
the um dining room area with the where the uh table is and then next to that is another area
with a tv um and then you have the kitchen you have this area the kitchen and then upstairs
you have
you have one space right here for the upstairs uh this is like their comm area common area this is
a bedroom that I converted into like a common area um space for them and then so ultimately I
have one two three common areas for the girls okay and then they're going to be sharing bedrooms
I'm assuming if you have six bedrooms and you converted one to the calm area yeah because one
of them is big no honestly right now this will be a bedroom but right now i'm licensed for only three
got it so you'll convert this space this space into a got it yes and then is there any space
that's sort of dedicated for staff only is there staff either office break room yeah so this right
here what is it this space right here is like a it's a common area for the staff um this is like
my office space right now i do plan to put a partition up um but as of now this is my office
right here um i have you know secured secure file cabinets um and i don't know if you can see but
If it's like a hallway going into the dining area, it's a closet and the closet is, has, you know, it's a locked closet that I have, you know, access with the key.
Okay. Any other questions?
Yes. What age of girls are we talking about here?
14 to 18.
so they're in school yes this time and uh how are you uh handling that so they're living there and
then going to school from yes so each resident will attend school work or educational programs
um there will be afternoon tutoring and mentorship uh evening life skills workshops curfews and
structured routines positive environment focus on accountability and growth i also have a calendar
up not a calendar schedule a program schedule so this is like a a sample schedule of how
each day will look um so their morning routine um school educational program um you know after
school snack and check-in for 3 30 to 5 this tutoring this is basically showing you that this
is a structured programming that it's no it's no idle time for them to just um you know you know go
wild they have to be in this program at this certain time um yeah to get the benefits and get
the scheduled whatever is scheduled activity on a deal every you know during the time frame
and how do you get the girls where they referred from how does it work that yes sort of come a
resident oh yeah so the girls that are placed at the bu house will come from structure referral
So the girls that are placed at the BU house will come from structure referral services.
services.
All youth will be screened prior to placement to ensure they are appropriate for the program.
The girls living in BU house are not just random individuals off the streets.
They are referred through professional agencies and social service partners.
Every placement goes through a structured screening process to ensure the youth is the right fit for the program and the community.
And how long have you been running?
Well, let me put it this way.
You said that you've worked for different agencies like this, but have you run a program like this before?
Well, I haven't had a residential program.
this is my first time running that residency program um yeah but i have worked with this
demographic before all right okay i have a question um how do you plan on engaging the
community with the youth how do i plan on engaging the community yeah like how will the youth
interact with the community the neighborhood surrounding neighborhood yes so we are surrounded
by many uh establishment established youth youth uh resources and mentorship organizations that
provide structured um supervision and support to vulnerable populations similar to the mission of
the bu house we plan to partner with some of these organizations in the near future
and i have some organizations listed below like the forgive me not as a
emergency shelter for youth i have the community in evening resource centers um
institute for the development of african-american youth uh columbia north ymca
pennsylvania academy of the fine arts boys and girls clubs and also yeah philly um yeah
empowerment empowerment for advancement hangout so basically i'm i plan to um partner with different
organizations okay questions from our attorney um no questions i just wanted to note that the
presentation that you showed um we didn't receive that um and so if you could please send that to us
oh sure tomorrow so we have that for our records that would be great um i think there
may be some additional photos and the the letter from um state representative dawkins we didn't
receive either so um so if you could just put your first i'm sorry if you could just submit
those materials uh that would be greatly appreciated thank you okay questions from the
virtual audience yes chair i have a hand up by the name of judith robertson i'm going to allow them to
speak good morning miss robinson could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
yes my name is judith robinson j-u-d-i-t-h-r-o-b-i-n-s-o-n judith robinson representative
emeritus of the 32nd Ward RCO. Oh, sure. Do you say you're referring to tell the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Yes, I do, sir. Please proceed. So I would like to just
say that we have every type of housing in our community. And we just want to be clear that
when we have RCO meetings and the community requests more information or are opposed that
that is conveyed to the zoning board that's the first thing I want to say secondly I want to say
Mr. Dawkins although he's very well respected he is not the representative for this particular area
okay that's the second thing thirdly i would like to say that we have had major issues with this
particular property in the past with the past owner and we are not i am certainly not holding
that against a new owner it looks to be a very nice setup and we know there is definitely a need
to support our young ladies who are aging out of foster care however we requested that we start
off because this young lady is new the owner is new to this particular residential type setting
and it would be new to our community on a major street that she start off with three
youth and then we advise as to how that goes over a period of time it doesn't have to be a
And then we advise as to how that goes over a period of time.
It doesn't have to be a long period of time.
And then we move forward as we have had problems in the past.
So that's the first thing I would ask, if we could have a proviso to start off with three and then maybe in one or two years move up.
Secondly, I would request supervision, morning, noon and night.
How would that be managed?
Yeah, that's right.
that's all i thought i sent that over um i showed you that hold on through my slide
staffing and supervision there will be program director on site program supervisor
uh youth support workers each shift assigned to each shift to ensure adequate supervision and care
weekdays monday to friday minimum of two staff per shift we are following pa chapter 3800 and
it requires the ratio of one to six meaning once one staff every six children we are going to
push for two two staff for every six children
you did you have any other issues
chair i'm not sure what happened but we can move on to the next uh comment or anyone else will know
yes chair leonard knox will be allowed to speak okay
leonard knox please unmute yourself
hello yes mr knox could you please say good morning good morning could you please state
your name and spell for the stenographer yeah i'm leonard knox l-e-o-n-a-r-d-k-n-o-x
right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do are you a neighbor yes i've been in this neighborhood for 70 years lived in the same house
for 60 down the street from where they're talking about right my concerns are more so like
something was there before that had nothing to do with you but it concerns me because
of the way it was run there were men in the house multiple men some of mines wasn't right
one of them came down the street threatened my four-year-old niece sitting on the steps
minding her business so i'm concerned when you talk about putting anybody in the house and you
said the ages of 14 to 18 i look at that as they're already their minds are developed anybody
from that age to that age these days young people aren't the same as 1 to 13 or whatever but 14 to
18 they're already developed in their minds as far as i'm concerned and i'm just wondering how
you say you're going to watch them when they come out how do they get back and forth
and who's going to be living in the house with them they have their own place in there or they're
just going to be coming and going as well so this is a structured program this is every i'm sorry
that you had that experience from the last owner but this is a structure program i would have staff
24-7 it's a 24-7 staffing house it's not a yes definitely it's going to be house with staff 24-7
so we're going to have two staff one each shift okay thank you do you have any other comments
sir mr knox anyone else in the audience no chair i see no more hands at this time
planning commission thank you chairman and good morning david bector with the city planning
Commission. Chairman and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the
RM1 residential multifamily zoning at this location. The city rezoned this neighborhood in
2014 in accord with recommendations in the comprehensive plan. The appellant has shown
that the proposed group living will have no detrimental impacts to the neighborhood beyond
what might reasonably be expected. The city planning commission recommends that the board
grant to propose special exception for group living mi 2025 002138 1904 diamond street
i vote yes with proviso temporary variance that expires 4 16 29. michael johns my vote is yes with
Michael Johns, my vote is yes, with proviso.
proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Tannetta Graham, my vote is yes, with proviso.
I have one of my vote is yes, with proviso.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Okay. Number 10. MI 2023-002-271-5243 Oxford Avenue.
Aledra Manuel Bente.
Alejandro, last name starting with B, has been promoted to panelists.
Thank you.
Good morning, Chair.
Good morning, Board Members.
Good morning, Alejandro.
Could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer?
It's Manuel Alejandro Benabe, last name is spelled B-E-N-A-B-E.
All right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Oh, my gosh.
Jeff, this application is for use as a takeout restaurant, whereas the takeout restaurant
requires special exception in the CMX2 zoning district.
There's a letter of support from the Frankfurt Advisory Group and a letter of non-opposition
from Councilmember Lozada.
Our Vice Chair has a few questions, sir.
Thank you.
Good morning.
have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing yes okay
and the chair read your referral so did you stipulate to the accuracy of the referral
yes okay thank you you can share your screen and proceed with your case thank you okay screen
sharing you said about something about a green button i heard you say share here now okay share
I think what you do is you open your documents.
Right? Yep. And after the document joke, then you hit the green button that says share.
Go back to the zoom.
Go back to the Zoom.
I'll raise hand, share, share.
Can you see now?
I guess you're going to have to open up your documents.
Here you go.
Fantastic.
Start out by saying what you're trying to do.
All right.
So we have a CXM, CMX2 that we want to convert it to takeout only from it.
You can use it as a full service, but here's the takeout layout.
Why don't you show us a picture of the project first?
Could you do that?
And then go to the plant.
Is that okay?
So here is the building.
It's the exterior of the building right now.
It's mixed use with two apartments upstairs and then this space that's
downstairs that we're trying to convert um the inside is what this is what the inside looks like
right now okay that's the inside space and then these are the these are the blueprints that will
be um what the space is going to look like and this is the this top here is your first floor
this is your um entrance for the for the customer entrance and then this is your sales counters
right here and our proposed menu is um smoothies salads and sandwiches and then the end of this is
the basement level which is already um existing there's an existing bathroom down there and then
the office will be in the basement one of the freezers dry storage will be on the basement
and this upper level will be you know the the kitchen areas over here prep area and then your
service area. Tell me about your RCO experience. I did meet with the RCO that was here. They were
actually really excited to have Frankfurt area where we're at. Oxford Circle is actually a really
big food desert. All we have is Chinese takeout and pizza. So the board was very excited to have
something that's a little bit more fresh, a little bit more, gives some people some more options.
um so they were really excited and supporting it and you see here the the community zoning
board voted to approve um the request it was unanimous you'll be using the first floor and
the basement am i correct correct all right questions from the board what kind of food
items did you say you would have here it's going to be some is all on smoothies salads sandwiches
Salads, sandwiches, hand-breaded chicken tenders, we're gearing towards the menu concept is more of a fresh concept to give people an option that want to eat fresh and not just like, you know, like McDonald's or checkers or fast food.
hand-breaded chicken tenders we're we're
So, and that's the menu concept.
So, my question is more, okay, are you going to have any kind of cooking that would require venting?
Yes, that's on here as well. The plans for that as well as here. There is the exhaust on here for the building itself. And that's all in part of the plans as well.
Okay, so you're going to be venting through the roof.
Correct.
Okay. All right. Thank you.
Any questions?
And what are your hours of operation?
The hours are going to be from 10 to 7 p.m. 10 a.m. till 7 p.m. or 8 just depending on
every day say it again every day um except for Monday or Sunday we haven't decided which day
we just want to keep one day closed just to kind of um you know get yourself together and be able
to just you know breathe for a second okay thank you questions from our attorney
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the audience
i see no hands at this time we have something right here in the audience
could you yep could you sir could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
good morning chairman bergman and zba board my name is sloan folks i'm from the office of
councilmember ketzy lazano representing that office room 44 city hall you swear or affirm
to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, Mr. Folks.
I do so, thank you.
Please proceed.
Our office has sent a letter of non-opposition to the ZBA,
but the council member also wanted us to verbalize on the record
that we support this project primarily because the applicant
has been a consistent member of the community.
The project has been planned for a number of years.
um it has um garnered on uh not just the rco the local rco support brother rco support who
has submitted a letter who have not submitted a letter and i can't speak for them today
unfortunately but you did want to uh have that verbalized on the record so thank you for the
opportunity mr folks thanks for coming down we appreciate it uh anyone else in the audience
planning commission thank you chairman and good morning david effecto with the city planning
commission chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change
to the cmx2 commercial mixed-use zoning at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in
2014 in accord with recommendations in the comprehensive plan the appellant has shown
the proposed takeout restaurant will have no detrimental impacts to the neighborhood beyond
what might reasonably be expected the city planning commission recommends that the board grant a
proposed special exception for a takeout restaurant thank you mi 2025 002 271 5243 oxford avenue i vote
yes with proviso first floor and basement only michael johns my vote is yes with proviso
cheryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso tennetta graham my vote is yes with proviso
ryan mcadams my vote is yes with proviso tywin my vote is yes with proviso thank you thank you
thank you chair number eleven twenty twenty five zero zero five eight five five twenty one thirty
six north twenty seven street um Shadiah McIntosh listed owner and chair I'll recuse myself from
this case sure sure good morning council we have a legal representation
here we go uh good morning uh members of the board my name is demetrius parish to my right
is my client shahida mcintosh she is the principal of gemstone uh homes could you please um state
your name again and spell for the sonographer sure uh demetrius d-e-m-e-t-r-i-u-s p-a-r-r-i-s-h
you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes um
our board secretary has a few questions for you sure uh good morning council it's very good to
Good morning, counsel. Very good to see you again. It's been a while. Have you submitted the documents and exhibits for this case five days in advance of this hearing?
see you again. To see you as well.
Ms. McIntosh has.
Okay. And do you waive the reading of the referral and stipulate to its accuracy?
Thank you. You can proceed now with your presentation.
It's also a letter from Council Member Young, non-opposition, and also there's something to hear from the RCO.
Right.
Ms. McIntosh is here today regarding the property on 27th Street.
It's Zone RSA 5, and she is attempting to open a group home,
so she is requesting special permission for a group living at that location.
She has provided exhibits of the property and she had a very successful RCO meeting with the community. It was a 10-0 vote. And as you mentioned, the council person is in favor of the location. She can answer any questions.
Why don't we do this? Why don't you start sharing your screen so we can see.
Okay, so I didn't get the link to that. That was, I was trying to figure that out. Okay. Yeah. Cause you should have, if you, you go on the, the, the CBA site and register.
I think our executive director will provide some assistance. Yes, please. Thank you so much.
Here we go.
That's just, yeah, I was hoping somebody was here for that.
We keep them in the back. We bring them out.
I feel like that's an asset right there.
Who do you want? Oh. Oh, hello. Um, I can you please state your name? My name is Shahida McIntosh. Um, I currently. Oh, Shahida. S. H. A. H. I. D. as in dog. A. H. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth? The whole truth. Nothing but the truth. Yes, I am a petitioning to open up a group home.
I currently work for DHS and felt the need for a transitional home between the ages of 16 through 21
for youth that are aging out of any type of services. I currently have a building that
has been fully renovated and ready for occupancy. I have overwhelming support from my co-workers,
my supervisors, and things of that nature because right now what I do is hands-on with that
demographic of children most times. It will be a fully staffed 24 hours with conflict
resolution training and all the bells and whistles that is needed in order to open up
the facility successfully. I have been told that I would have even more support with the
local churches and things of that nature, which I also will reach out and try to add
to. There will be financial training for them to be able to move forward into the CTA program where
they can move into their own housing afterwards. So we're connected also. The whole goal of my
facility is to get people life ready, my children life ready. There's a need there right now,
whereas a lot of kids after 18 are unfortunately not in position to do so, and I'm hoping to fill
that need okay we're here um i can go into well we got to share we sharing already
so open up first don't share first okay let's open first
I'm going to share, desktop, share, just share, share, hold on.
should be a green button there somewhere see it yeah i had to allow y'all
all right we have someone else yeah we here here we go here we go there we go all right let's see
If we full screen it, though. All right. So this will be the first floor.
This is the after the entrance is behind us. This is where the cooking will be made. All children will.
after the entrance is behind us this is where the cooking would be made all children will eat
upstairs but cooking will be done by staff made just for cooking downstairs first bedroom
that's a bedroom one at first floor yes how many bedrooms all together five and how many
seven you want seven students yeah i don't want even though the facility could maximize at like
eight or nine honestly nine i want to go seven six because i don't want to have people over
top each other one one comfortable um two bathrooms also and i want to facilitate towards women well
girls so second bedrooms and also an exit i was considering um mandating this to more staffing
i don't want no one sleeping is a 24-hour walk facility so i don't want to make an area for a
lounge, but because that's also an exit, I feel more comfortable potentially making that an area
for clerical and things of that nature. This is the downstairs that you saw. That's just the
basement. So you saw two bedrooms. You saw a basement. The basement will be a library and
schoolwork area. No bedrooms in the basement. No bedrooms in the basement. Just schoolwork
and things of that nature. And then we have the second floor.
Not yet the living room in the 1st floor. That's just a bedroom potential 2nd bedroom in where they will be cooking was on the 1st floor.
This is the 2nd floor.
You might want to talk about where you're going to have your referrals to.
I'm sorry, your referrals out for how would you get people?
oh dhs um i am after they say yes that's what i'm praying for i can go ahead and start with
my contract to dhs okay and i'm just trying to get you a second video here it comes
this is the second floor
as you see it goes straight up door to door
that's the another bedroom in the back
closet space things that nature filling in second bathroom
This will be the lounge and eating area for the children.
And washroom for hands and cleaning up the areas.
I removed the second stove that was there.
I don't think it was necessary, but dishes and cleanup will be up here.
Again, living area, eating area.
And then to the next, it's the, the next two bedrooms, this is the primary, it's very large
and then it's one where it's going to come at the end.
and that's the facility in a nutshell on the outside so the bathroom is on the first and
second floor yep okay first and second floor is the bathrooms only now if we can find this back
um if you would like to see pictures at the front of the building
that's open all right there we go
there we go front of the building
and that's the front there's no need to change anything inside of everything's ready all i have
do now is buy the beds and the furniture and the things that the children will need and that's okay
questions from the board what's your what's your staffing uh ratio to children to staff at all
times uh the ratio is one to six but um i've so it needs at least two i depending on the budget i
I will also try to keep a third in there will always be a cleaner on site so that does not that's not going to be a part of the ratio, but they will be important is to step in as in having all the clearances and all that good stuff if needed.
if needed so it's always going to be two with the also staff of the cleaner
So it's always going to be to with the also staff of the cleaner.
what about you what's your role are you going to be there
yep i'm an active administrator certified administrator so i'm the person so i'll be there
most times okay question all right um so you've never run a facility like this before no i've
I've just worked for. And have you worked at facilities like this? I have. Okay. And can you give me a little idea of what you've you've done? Well, I worked for Brightside. I was helping run the one in Germantown where it was children younger for sure. Um, that's why I went into DHS and started working with older children because I felt as though I need that, that, um, that history for myself in order to make sure I'm comfortable with the demographic. Although I ran facilities for children,
younger it was you know i i felt so that ran close enough and with the added two and a half
years almost three years at dhs i knew i could kind of put the two together okay and so what i
heard you say is this is going to be for um residents who are like 16 to 21 and you're going
to try and just do uh this will be for uh young ladies okay all right for sure and then um i guess
i'm trying to get a sense of where these bedrooms are so okay did i hear you correctly that there's
one on the first floor okay and then there are two on the second floor second floor has one and then
two on the third but it's actually two on the bottom but again i was saying that i don't think
i'm going to utilize that second bedroom because it's also an exit i have to talk to i want to i
actually want to talk to somebody in dhs more or less when i get the contract if that's even if
that's a feasible thing i personally think it's not so it's a good chance i'm just going to use
the four bedrooms which is the one on the first floor one on the second two on the third again
which will maximize it at probably six if i do that so yeah so you're talking four bedrooms yeah
And six kids then occupants, not seven.
Not seven, if I don't use that last one.
And you said that you are going to have like a library study area in the basement?
Correct.
Is there any kind of bathroom facilities in the basement?
It's just right above the steps of the basement is the bathroom.
All right.
And then the bathrooms are on the first floor and the second floor.
Correct.
Okay. So you're going to have two bedrooms on the third floor, but there's no bathroom up there.
Correct. There's no bathroom on the third floor.
Okay. So then you're going to have three residents sharing the one bathroom that's on the second floor. Is that how this is going to work?
No, because they can also use the one upstairs. It's not like they're...
No, what I'm saying is...
I'm sorry.
If there's no bathroom on the third floor...
Oh, yeah, they're going to be coming down. Yes.
they have to come down yes the one on this yes correct yep all right so you're going to have
basically well however many how you're going to do this with the ratio of sharing and what have you
um you're going to have uh more of the residents using this one bathroom that's on the second
floor then you would have in terms of just the whoever has access to the first floor bathroom
Both bathrooms will be fully accessible for everyone. So it's up to whether or not they want to come down to the first floor from the third, they probably would prefer to go to the second floor. But second floor can come down to the first, third can go to the first. Everybody will have both ones. I'm not going to say you can only go to these bathrooms. It's literally for both of them. So they can go to either one. There is no, you know, designated like that.
Thank you.
Any other questions?
questions from our attorney um yes um so the lease that you provided to us was only for one unit
so it appears that you're using both units okay so in order for the board to to vote on this
matter we need proof that you can or have permission to lease both units i gave you a letter
so we need a lease but the lease okay so it's supposed to be for the whole thing that's there's
no two units seriously because it's not zoned for two units so he only put the one because
it's considered one right well he doesn't have a rental license for two units right so it's
but it's divided into but it's divided into two there was a zoning like there was a zoning permit
issued for that previously um but so it specifically says unit one and it says two
beds and one bath on your lease does it yes so we need to we need a lease that indicates you are
does it yes so we need to we need a lease that indicates you are leasing the entire building
i can get that now yeah so so we can we can finish today's hearing but the board just won't
be able to vote until we receive that because that is your proof of standing to be here okay
so she's willing to supplement what she submitted yes no and that's we can get the lease i'll get
it like now yeah no that's that's that's fine that's fine but i just wanted to bring that to
attention because what was what was in the paperwork was not consistent with what you were
presenting okay so yeah and i and i i see where there's it was the property was split up but it
hasn't been right leased as two units so but it didn't say those rooms so i understand what it
just it just needs to say yeah it just needs to indicate the entire structure and not a particular
unit because it says unit one two bedrooms one okay so how does that work just look what okay
what we'll do is we'll vote next week oh okay next wednesday right yeah as soon as we get
the lease we can vote the next hearing day okay that's fair thank you yes no problem questions
or comments from the virtual audience i see no he's at this time chair any commission thank you
chairman and good morning david bector with the city planning commission chairman and board members
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa 5 residential single family zoning at this
location in 2014 the city rezoned this neighborhood in a council supported map change
the appellant has shown that the proposed group living will cause no detrimental impacts to the
neighborhood beyond what might reasonably be expected the city planning commission recommends
that the board grant the proposed special exception for group living thank you so um what
we'll do is we're going to hold this to next wednesday we'll an executive session we'll view
the lease it's closed everything else is closed relative to this and we'll handle this one next
wednesday morning at 9 30 a.m okay all right maybe we'd be excused oh you most certainly could
Thank you.
Thank you.
Number 15.
okay number 15 mi 2025 006 494 216 durant street
Mark Hanala is the owner. There's unanimous support from West Mount Airy Civic Association.
Mark, last name starting with H, will be joining us as a panel.
Hello. Good morning, everyone.
Good morning. Good morning, Mark.
Could you please state your name as spelled for the stenographer?
Yes, it is Mark Hanala, last name spelled H-A-N-N-A-L-L-A-H.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
This application is for the erection of a rear deck in the existing structure.
DEX MUST BE CONSTRUCTED THAT ALL VERTICAL SUPPORT ELEMENTS ARE LOCATED A DISTANCE OF 18 INCHES
FROM ALL LOT LINES WHEREAS THE PROPOSED UNIT IS A MINIMUM DISTANCE OF 18 INCHES FROM ALL LOT
lines. Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good morning. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
Hi. Good morning. Yes, I have.
Okay. And you heard the chair read your referral. Do you stipulate to its accuracy?
Okay. All right. Thank you. You can share your screen and proceed with your case.
Mark, is the deck up already?
Yes, it is.
Okay. All right. Thank you.
Great. I'll share my screen.
There you go. You're coming up.
Great. Here we go. I can just start by quickly speaking to why the...
Why don't you tell us what you're doing? We'll start there.
Okay. Yeah, so I am building a deck.
I initially started the deck process through the easy permit process.
and I passed the initial kind of footing inspection of the easy permit but then when
but then when it came time to review the the final deck um the the inspector said oh it's
it came time to review the final deck
built differently than the easy permit way you actually need a building permit so now i'm going
through um through the building permit process and and there's a zoning uh permit requirement
as as part of that so um here is a picture of the deck um in this picture you can see
you know part sorry part of the necessity as to why the the posts are where they are
this is a driveway that goes into the the back you know garage and the post is placed just to
the the side of the driveway if we look throughout the neighborhood we can see this is consistent
with how all the decks are built these are the driveways and the posts are to the side of the
driveways. I have a couple examples of this. The West Mountain Aries neighbors, the RCO group,
all support this and I also have signed signatures from the neighbors to the left
and the right of me that say they have no objections to what I'm trying to accomplish here.
uh is there any other details you'd find helpful questions from the so ellen i stopped you right
ellen and i told you to stop to get the zoning um yes they told me that i cannot proceed with
the easy permit and that i needed to proceed with a building permit okay good um questions on the board
questions from our attorney not at this time mr chair or since or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands at this time chair planning commission thank you chairman and good morning
david vecto with the city planning commission chairman and board members the comprehensive
plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from rsa 5 residential single family
to RSA 3 Residential Single Family.
This deck is proposed to be built to, looks like, replace an existing deck.
However, the proposed deck will increase the current nonconformity.
The appellant has not shown that they would suffer an economic detriment
if they are not allowed to expand the existing nonconformity.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Board deny the proposed dimensional variance.
Thank you.
MI 2025-006-491-216 Durant Street.
i vote yes michael johns my vote is yes charles gaston my vote is yes
ryan mcadams my vote is yes tyo and my vote is yes
it's not a graham my vote is yes
you have your vote sir okay thank you very much okay
Number one, right? Number one.
Council, just for the record, state your name.
Steve Masters. Right. And you've already been sworn.
I think I think we know the issue with the where we stand with the RCO.
So why don't you just start your presentation? Sure.
And as you know, we're gonna hold a vote on this, Steve. Yes.
There we go.
It was hiding from me.
All right.
Still morning.
Good morning.
It's so good.
Mr. Chair, members of the board.
Steve Masters here with Sammy Mustafa, who is the owner of this property.
this um this property is um one of the unique ones in the city where we have uh we have his
one of the unique ones in the city where we have we have historic information going back to before the zoning code was implemented in the late 1930s.
So I'll start. Actually, did you want to ask me questions about about the submissions or anything?
I don't know not right now I mean okay all right sure okay we're ready to all right Hillary
the vice chair asked her questions no well I did that because we already talked about the RCO I
thought we could move okay all right that's fine right so in the in the notice of refusal
there are notations for two past zoning variances that were granted to this property
one in 1959 for truck storage, and one in 1981 for storage of trucks and storage of
building materials.
But I wanted to just briefly go through the zoning archive to show you how far back this
use goes in this property.
So we're going to go to page 24.
or so this is from the zoning archive and it is um it's part of a application from 1958
and it states that um the present use was storage of motor vehicles the last previous
use has been the same since 1930 and it's currently used for the same purpose so storage
of motor vehicles at this location literally has been the case since before we had a zoning code
in 1959 we're gonna do 20. the the board granted a a variance for the storage of three trucks
in page 18
the application in 1959 stated that the last previous use was storage of 10 to 12 trucks,
and then they were proposing to store three trucks.
The last one, we have pages 811.
The last one, this is the 1981 variance that was granted by the zoning board. The application was
for storage of three trucks and storage of building materials. And it references the 1959
variance. And so what I found interesting about this is that there is no distinction in the
zoning code between three trucks and 11 10 to 12 trucks um and the the analogy that comes to mind
for me is a u-haul storage facility we have many of those in the city we don't as the zoning as
the zoning board knows we don't tell the tell you all you can only have four storage units or 25
storage units or 190 storage units. You have storage units. The use here is storage of
cars, vehicles, and building supplies. While it's totally true that on some of these variances,
there was a notation that they were planning to only store a certain number of vehicles
at the time that they applied it doesn't say up to three units up to three vehicles or up to three
pieces of of of of equipment for for construction it simply says storage of vehicles and storage of
building supplies so it's our it's our belief that um if we can show the board that there was
a continuous use for this for this use we obviously don't need to go back to 1930 we just need to go
back to um around 1981 when the last uh when when the last uh variance was was issued um then this
is this is basically the the continuing uh use that that has already been approved if the board
doesn't find that we've met our burden of showing continuous use then we'll be we will be asking
for a variance and in this case the the hardship is is um has been a
The hardship has been established since literally before the zoning code was created.
In each of the times that this property has come before the zoning board, they have always found hardship and approved the storage of a certain number of vehicles and of building supplies.
so there's no there's nothing different about 2026 that would change the hardship
rulings that have been made consistently every single time has come before the board
let's go and and look at some photos so um
then i'm gonna return to my client's testimony around the petitions for support and and and
of what's happening on his property.
All right, like I said, it's a very long archives for zoning.
Okay, we, one of the reasons that this case was delayed
was that we asked for leave to go back to LNI
because we thought that LNI could verify for us
that it was a continuous use
and then there would be no need for a variance.
we would be able to just operate continuously using the the variance from 1981 so in February
of 2024 the board allowed us to go back I included in our exhibits the correspondence between
our firm and Elizabeth Baldwin several times her basic decision was that she felt that
Ellen I was not in a position to ascertain whether or not there was continuous use, and therefore she said to go to the zoning board and the wisdom of the zoning board will will will make will will decide the the outcome of it.
So that's why we are back here, and that's why we didn't notify the the community early on, because we thought that that would be very confusing to tell them that we have an appeal to the zoning board.
but we believe that we um are doing something that is already approved of by by the city um and and
we thought that that that was it would be better to hold off and then to only approach the community
when when now we we realize that we needed uh to to continue to go before the board uh
so in exhibit four it's our affidavit of continuous use this is a form that is submitted to ellen i
when a property owner wants to verify
that a use that was approved is continuing.
So Mr. Mustafa made this affidavit of continuous use
back in 2024.
We also then received affidavits from four individuals
who have longer history of living
at very close to the property.
So Mr. Troy Scott moved to 7129 Yoakum in the 2021-2020 era.
He testifies in his affidavit that he saw cars and trucks parked there on a daily basis for three to four years.
There were lots of different ones, cars, trucks, vans, always cars, always trucks there.
And he also saw the church, which is next door.
We'll see the photo in a moment.
use the the property also to to park their vehicles as well um mr or ms nana adu uh
provided a an affidavit um they lived in um 7123 yokum um between 1996 and 2009 uh and
mr masters i'm sorry to interrupt i just wanted to to clarify on on the record that this this is
of variance matter you are not you are not appealing l and i's determination that the
variance has expired are you because that's an appeal against l and i that's different we are
not no okay so this i just want to be clear for the record and for the board that we're considering
whether to grant variance relief in this case but this is the context that this use has i understand
and this yeah no and this goes towards yes i understand this goes towards your argument but
i just wanted to be make it clear on the record that's what we're doing thank you for the wisdom
all right um so uh uh nana adu states that as a matter of fact i can't remember any time when
there weren't large trucks parked at that property uh the next the next um affidavit comes from
uh rashin jones who um testifies that they currently reside at 2114 south 72nd street
They've seen cars and trucks on the property for 10 years on a daily basis.
They've seen cars and trucks on the property for 10 years on a daily basis.
And then the last affidavit is from Eugene Jones, currently resides in Sharon Hill,
but also has resided at 2114, 2114 South 72nd Street.
Mr. Jones has seen cars and trucks on the property for 10 plus years and corroborates
the other testimony.
why don't we do our presentation then yes okay basically everything you said ellen i did not
accept no they don't deny at all they they they basically um they basically said we're not going
to don't even so they yeah they gave it to you they they sent it back to you they said um they
said they said we we they they declined to get into some kind of a process yeah um when we look
at the city's cyclone cyclone media photos this is from 2019 the property that we're
talking about is here it it is it is a unimproved except that it does have some asphalt on on
the on the surface lot to the left here is the church to the right is a is a single family
building. And right here in 2019, this is well before our client bought the property. This is
a trailer that belongs to the church. And it shows that the church was using the property
for storage of vehicles at that time. And this photo is from 2010. It's an aerial photo showing
three vehicles that were being stored in the property in 2010. The next photo is from 2018.
This shows seven vehicles being stored. This is also before Mr. Mustafa bought the property
sheriff's sale then in 2025 you see uh two six twenty twenty five yes and he's got all those
cars are his actually he will be he'll be explaining this but he he leases this area
and so there's a there's a there's an individual who parks cars there and then brings them to his
auto body repair place and so this is this is a total storage of vehicles but these are not
they don't belong to mr mustafa they belong to uh to a tenant of his uh here's a here's a photo
showing uh this is the view from uh yokum street into the property um and the the church is here
on the left and the single family houses on the right this is um stepped stepping into the street
uh this this is the um the security fences um and also shows will show a larger photo of the of the
zoning poster this is another view of the zoning poster and this shows the the vicinity of the
church wall and here we have a side view of this is the property and then this is the church and
it goes down down the the the block here is our zoning poster for today's hearing
we also have a tax clearance for azab llc that is the um the owner of the property and
Mr. Mustafa is the sole member of the LLC.
This is the deed.
It's sheriff's deed, and it is dated...
8-4-2021.
The application for PO and the project information form were completed by a expediter early on
in the process. Exhibit 11 is our mailing that we made to all of the community groups
and to the near neighbors. We stated that their RCO had not yet set a date.
to the near neighbors uh we stated that their rco had not yet set a date um but we provided
all the information for today's hearing to all the neighbors as well
and this is our certificate of mailing of 72 pieces
so now i'm going to um turn it over to uh
yes but he's also going to explain some things too sir could you please state your
name is spelled for the stenographer sammy mustafa spelled please s-a-m-y mustafa m-o-s-t-a-f-a do you
swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do counsel um mr mustafa
i'm gonna first um ask you about these petitions that we have on the on the screen now um that i
you you did fairly recently yes i did it yes i'm being in the area and i spoke with the neighbors
okay what i'm doing when i get this property it was in bad shape i clean it and i cut the tree
i make it secure i bought fence when i when i went to this property in the beginning
it was card there so i'm asking to continue to use it as a way it is more than that
that it's more secure it's no noise the way i look it's much much better than before
no impact no commercial activity in the law just storage so this more
helpful for the neighborhood i spoke to most of the neighborhood nobody
have any issue with that no impact in the neighborhood because it's just storage
uh no noise you know garbage nothing so mr mustafa we're looking at these um signatures
um and it looks like the first one was from tiffany kennedy tiffany is the one across from
the lot she said she has no issue with that the second one in the other side that's eugene um
mares? It's on the other side. Oh no, Haja Romard? Yes. Okay. She says she has no issue. She's new
in the area. She say it's okay. Okay. No complaint, nothing. Eugene mares? All the same. Even some
neighbor, I couldn't meet them, but I spoke to them before. They don't care because I'm doing
something good to the ability to the neighbors the 7211 location is that um bastion jones the
corner the second the other corner okay in the right corner okay um and we're gonna request
because we're gonna go before the the um rco we would like to be able to collect some more
signatures and and we it's okay to keep the record open for that um we had a form but it somehow
didn't get to the get to the the time that where the signatures were made um mr mustafa there you
heard earlier um that there were a bunch of negative um things that were said about your
business um at the at the beginning of the of this um hearing i saw uh mr greg he was saying
that it's a junkyard no there's no work there is no activity just storage beautiful cars
there's no mechanics there's no mechanic no communication with the public or anything
but just so i understand right because you said this earlier he has nothing to do with the cars
other and he rents them their property but the arms on them tens of property no he owns the
property and then he rents it to someone to store the cars there right he's storing the cars but he
might be in the future storing the cars all right all right yeah okay all right so i mean he's at
this point he wants it to be legalized yeah i got it yeah um the the gentleman who who does um own
cars that are stored there now his his place of work is 6210 glenmore avenue so it's a few
blocks away and that's where he operates an auto repair shop i believe or or a or a body shop i'm
not sure what it is but it's auto repair okay um okay talk to us about the church next door
and and what your conversations have been with the church about this i met the the guy he owns
the church or his father on the church and he has no complaint he tell me he everybody in the church
he come in the neighborhood he come here and i will look to all the the signature with no issue
here and i would look to all the the signature was no issue but yesterday i was looking for him
and i think i couldn't reach okay so i did this myself in one day i spoke to everybody in the
neighborhood all right almost everybody all right do you do you know um can you confirm whether the
church was using your property before you bought it to store things yes their car is used to be in
my lot i saw and i have pictures do they ever ask you if they can if they can put cars in the lot
these days or or or no they want to do it but i have to do my phone is they want to keep the car
there but i say i have to clean it first because there was three there always laura trash then i
clean it all right so the last thing i want to ask you about is um is the difference between
three cars which um some of the times where the where this property has gone before the zoning
board in the past there have been requests for for storing three cars or three vehicles or three
trucks and we know there was one time back in the 30s and and maybe the 40s where it was 10 to 12
trucks and and or vehicles why why do you want more than three uh the ability to have more than
three vehicles stored um at this property just to make it legalize the the thing you know like i
want to be obeying right right but but i'm saying the number um why why is the why why is it important
to you to have more than three cars there you know if if the zoning board said to you well
you know a lot of the time we've we've approved three cars is that would that be okay or or
why is it that you want to have like five or ten cars be able to be to be stored there
i mean in case in case if go to five or more so i want to be in legal side right right i'm sorry
excuse me this is the reporter i'm having difficulty hearing the witness oh yeah you have to
bring your bring your face right to the to the microphone yeah so is is there is it is it an
economic thing that that you that you need to that you in order for it to work um economically
you need a certain number of cars to be able to be stored there yes it will help to do my business
okay is it if you only are allowed to have three cars would that would that would you
be able to have a business or would that be too small for for your business yes it doesn't matter
if it's only three if if cannot do it it's so you would prefer more than three but you could also
you could also live with three yes yes okay and you heard all the testimony that i gave
earlier today do you do you agree that it was true and correct and do you do you accept it
as your own yes yes ready for questions yes all right um mr mustapha what's the most you've
stored there because i i saw that one picture look like there's quite a few cars there
one more time please what what's the most amount of cars you've stored there or someone's stored
there because the one picture you showed looks to me like six seven cars were there yes the fact
is that when you see three sometimes go more than three i don't want to be you know like doing illegal
stuff so i would say 10. but sometimes reach 10 sometimes not most of the time not all right yes
questions from the board so i know we're saying storing cars it's not parking these are like
long-term storage right there's no it's not parking this is a storage like a u-haul but for cars
okay so is it is it is the the fellow that owns the uh uh repair shop down the street are they
going to be still storing cars and bringing them in and out is he bring it in and out but it could
be once they maybe could be once a week going on okay very quiet business okay sorry just clarify
because i'm just trying to understand what how this use distinguishes from non-accessory parking
um so are they storing vehicles that are being that are being repaired and this is just their
storage lots is that okay all right yeah they're kind of like on deck for repairs and then and then
they they tow them out and bring them to the repair shop okay all right thanks yeah so it
is a storage use yeah so what is your business rental renting you're renting these cars no our
uh the business for some at this time i'm renting to one guy
the business for some at this time i'm renting to one guy he used a lot to store
he have his own mechanic shop but he when he finishes the car he store it in my place
okay are you asking what his business is in general so he has multiple businesses that he
operates but at this property he has he has has a tenant who is storing cars at his property
but that's not the only thing that Mr. Mustafa does.
Can you share with the board
the kind of businesses that you operate?
I'm fixing laptop and computer.
I'm technician and I have few lots.
I own it as investment.
So he buys lots
and then either uses them himself to store things
or rents them to other people to store things
as one of the side businesses that he has.
Okay. All right. So then I wanted to get back to this whole idea that there's some, it's not technically what we're doing here about this whole idea of continuous use, but it looks like in 1981 it says that there was a variance granted for storage of trucks and storage of building materials in the garage.
so that's 1981. so was there a garage there in 1981? we yes we believe that there were several
structures because there's also indications in the zoning archive that there were two apartments
that were somewhere on this property those obviously are no longer and and by the time
mr mustafa uh took possession a few years ago it was only an unimproved lot and there was there were
no structures whatsoever so whatever the permissions were that were granted before
it was for um a use within a enclosed structure correct no um the this wasn't no the the zoning
archive indicates that there are there were some there were some storage of of things in a in a
garage but that was not that was not the total um that there were all there was also storage
of vehicles outside on on the on the uh where is the permissions for that it doesn't distinguish
it because it's a it's a use um so the the used isn't restricted to to the garage in the garage
so you're saying that this variance also meant that there was some kind of storage
on the street somehow which they can't get no not on the street um which which on page are you
looking at um looking at what um we have as notes here from the examiner oh okay okay
because i'm i'm looking at the actual yeah the the 19
in yeah and then 1959 or 57 they talk about a private garage and then um 81 yeah so i'm going
to go back to the 81. i mean so here's my here's my issue if if the permission that was granted
before was for something which was in an enclosed structure which is what they generally
give permissions for I mean otherwise they would have had to have given permission
for him to park you know for cars to be parked on a a lot and they didn't do that
so building a truck and building materials exactly in the garage and then at some point
this garage is demolished and just disappears here and whatever else went along with it and then
uh when your client comes along he's buying a property that is you know it's vacant now because
there's no building anymore on it and then there's the question of whether the use can survive
the demolition of the structure within which the variance was supposed to operate
yeah and maybe i'm reading this the wrong way but i don't understand my reading what there
definitely was structures there definitely was storage inside those structures but my reading
was that there was also um there was if you go back to the to the 1930s they they said that
there was a funeral home and that and that there was and that and there was a court case on this
So we don't have to go back to the 30s. We're just talking about from a time when we can establish what kind of use have been granted sometime before your client purchased the property and when did he purchase the property?
your client purchased the property and when did he purchase the property 2021 okay so long before
you know but this is the use and so you're you're asking about continuous use it can't be continuous
use because um the use that was granted was supposed to be within a structure and that's how
illinois generally grants this they don't just grant permissions for um uses of making well
i'm looking at um here is the part of the zoning archive from um 1966 uh it doesn't say that
there's uh it it doesn't say that that there is a an interior location the structural location for
for the storage it simply says two family dwelling storage of three trucks um and 81
that's the one you mentioned when you first started your presentation yeah all right go back
to 66 or any other time you're talking 81. okay so let's look at okay so here's the here's the 81
one it says applications for storage of three trucks and storage of building materials in the
garage and whereas the storage of building materials in the garage is not permitted in
the district so it implies that the building materials were put in the garage but the trucks
were could be outside the trucks and storage of building materials in the garage yeah and
but then it says that the only issue was that you that you're that you're having building materials
in the garage not three trucks yeah but you had three trucks in the garage the truck's not here
anymore right and and the garage isn't here anymore the truck right the garage isn't here anymore
so i'm not sure how we can have some idea of continuous use of anything um when the permissions
which were originally you want the permission now now right we do to use this lot for storage
yes and you were um you're you're saying now is this a uh paved is this paved it it has asphalt
um but it appears to be it's not it appears to be not not uniformly it it it it would you say
mr mustafa that there are some parts that have grass and some parts i can do it if it's it's
just mint concrete okay and do we have drainage of some sort no it has it and i think it may be
not working so when when it rains where does the water go out to the street yeah
I mean, to me, there's the whole, before we get into, but I've already had my issues with the continuous use piece, but these lots, there's supposed to be some sort of drainage.
drainage, there's also supposed to be some sort of if you're you're going to use an impervious surface. Are you going to use pervious surface? What are we? What are we talking about here? And if you tell me that the drainage is, you know, an issue, then I have an issue with it.
um the other thing is is there a is there a fence or anything yes the photos we showed there are there
are um there's two different fences um okay and what are the well I'll look let's look at
I see that you have a refusal for those. So, um, I guess I'm not, but here we go.
so there there's a uh wood fence here and then a um more of a metal fence it looks like with
with um with some green uh strands yeah yeah and then so so there's there's like a more of a blue
wooden fence on the to on the left and the right and then where the where the entrance is for the
vehicles that is um that that swings open and closed and is that a that a legal curb cut there
i mean again we are yeah that that's been around since 1930.
okay and then my last question okay is um when you say you talk to
and then my last question okay is um when you say you talk to all these different folks did
you talk to the person who owns the residential property here right to the right on the on the on
the yeah yes you said that the on the left side it's the church right and then on the right side
there's somebody yes i spoke to him yesterday uh-huh and what did they say he's a guy he does
not speak english at all he's not understand me then he give me the landlord because he's
the landlord he say i don't care okay so he's renting the property the guy next to me renting
okay and then you got the landlord to say it's okay i spoke with the landlord he said he doesn't
care yeah so he doesn't care but maybe the tenant does but you don't know the tenant
no English at all, no . That's what he told me. Then he gave me the landlord, the one in charge.
The landlord says he doesn't care. All right. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. Any other questions?
Hillary? I didn't have any other questions that I was going to suggest in terms of, I mean, unless the board wants to do a resumption hearing,
if the board wants to hear and hold that we vote, schedule the vote on this matter for May 20th.
Well, okay, so why don't we go, we're going to bring Craig back on, I think.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair, I have two hands up.
The first hand is from Craig Melodosian.
I'm going to allow him to speak.
Why don't you bring Craig on?
good morning chair good morning craig i i believe i swore you in earlier today could you just state
your name for the record yes craig sure d-r-a-i-g last name melidosian m-e-l-i-d-o-s-i-a-n
All right. And I'm sure you've been listening. Could you just give us your comments of where
you stand now? And then we'll talk about where we go in the future.
I have multiple observations, but the first is a request. You all are aware that we're a
consortium of, at times, up to six RCOs that work together. There may actually be more than that in
our service area, but there's a core of us that work together. As volunteers, we do not have
access to certain tools so for example today mr masters presented multiple materials from you
from city archives with which i slash we are not able to access i would ask the favor of the board
that someone within uh the zba or the planning commission provide us with a link so that we can
go into that material and have access to it like steve had in preparation of our case uh
i just say that those are from atlas i just i i could not find that a link on atlas
and if it's there uh i i'd be happy for someone to provide us with your document i mean yeah
i'll send here what you presented sure right is that okay we'll get him to share with you
Yeah, but just so Ian and Hillary know, I'm not supposed to use the R word, but I'm pretty good at this.
I could not, on the atlas that I had access to, I could not get to that material.
Okay, we're going to make sure you get the material.
Thank you.
Number two, digging around, and I had to use AI because I didn't have the same tools, and with what also was on Atlas, this property, going back to 2007 on Atlas, has a continuous history as a vacant parcel with multiple clip violations.
those violations then continued in 2023 and 2024 with sammy as the owner uh at two points
and i will tie this together with some other material at two points in those violations
in june 20 2010 it was cited for motor vehicle must be removed and then again in
And it was cited again, this looks like June 20, this was 24th of September, 2018, again prior to the owner.
So we posit that there was not continuous use of this piece.
that there was not continuous use of this piece. It was originally, Steve indicated it was owned
It was originally...
by Goodwin and Sybil Roofing, which was at the bottom of the refusal that he showed.
Goodwin and Sybil went out of business, and their property was sheriff's sale in 2012,
which was again long before Mr. Mustafa purchased the property. And again,
we're pointing out that this was vacant at least since 2007. The fact that someone may have
illegally parked the vehicle on it, we do not believe constitutes continuous use. Additionally,
if you look at Steve's photo, which is up now, if he will zoom out, you'll see that the walls on
both the carriage house that's now a church, zoom out Steve, and the adjacent 7132 house
are stuccoed all the way up to the edge, which would be the boundary line just before the public
sidewalk. So we were told by the neighbors, and we did not invite Steve, perhaps I made a critical
error, but I had gotten communications from Dominic Long and from a mere day out of the
council president's office, his district office, that they were receiving multiple complaints
about the operation of this lot. I'm not blaming it on per se on the owner, though he is the owner
and he's responsible for his tenants. And it was indicative of that there were vehicles and car
parts being stored on the lot, that vehicles were being towed to the lot, including multiple
complaints about the tow trucks coming down the street the wrong way. Again, I'm going to admit
this is hearsay, but this is what the neighbors told me, as well as Dominic, on the Monday night
meeting. We were trying to sort this out. They indicated that there were men on the lot who
would come onto the lot in the good weather and spend multiple hours during the daytime working
on vehicles on the lot and that car parts are also stored on the lot and they reported they
saw some vehicles that were towed onto the lot repaired and then left and i also indicated in
the material i shared with you and steve that there are also allegations that there are auto
sales up covering on the lot we'd also like to address and we'll need technical support on this
is there any type of rain water management or runoff uh that is applicable to this lot
that uh the owner will need to meet should you grant him uh his request we also want to point
out and we pointed out to steve we believe that the fence is illegal it's on the uh the street
face of an RSA 5 block, which I believe is only four feet high. But maybe Steve has something in
there that indicated they were granted a variance. Our position is, I'm going to call him Sammy.
We spoke. He's a very nice guy. I laud him for being an entrepreneur. And in honesty,
he probably shouldn't have said this to me. He said, when I bought it, I thought it was
IRMX, like the buildings on Woodland Avenue that it backs up to. And we explained to him, no,
it was RSA5. We tried to come up with alternatives for him. We'd love to see him develop at least
six affordable housing units. We believe we could get that in there with no problem.
We also believe that this rends the fact, despite Steve's allegation of longstanding use,
We believe that that use was fully containerized within the building. We were told by the neighbors, the long-term neighbors, that once the roofing company left, the building fell into disrepair and ultimately was demolished unless that was a streamline.
you know that you know my experience is uh unless imminently dangerous that takes multiple years
and we believe that also would have can be construed as an abandonment of that use while
the building was vacant and no one was using it so so so let's so uh Hillary let me let me tell
you where I think we need to do we need to have a resumptive hearing and um um is that May date
too soon what what's the may date that you have you you know i have my resumptive hearing today
is seven seven twenty six okay so the may date i gave that was a regular hearing day that was
just a suggestion for when to vote this but if we're doing a resumptive hearing we got to go to
the we got to go to the resumptive date so i'm going to use a resumptive date of seven seven
twenty three at nine thirty a.m and that way by then you you you'll have the rco done and anyone
else who's interested we'll open it back up to the public again and things of that nature okay okay
and things of that nature okay okay all right thank you thank you craig thank you i i believe
all right thank you thank you craig thank you
yeah so we're gonna we're gonna keep we're stopping right now because i have to still have two cases
i i believe there may be a neighbor also waiting i i craig i know but the issue is we got a couple
other cases and i i have to get it done before lunch time thank you craig craig when we come
back for the resumptive hearing i'm going to open it up to the public again we we greatly appreciate
that thank you very much mr i just want to see if the the planning commission wanted to put
their testimony or they wanted to wait for the resumption hearing we can wait for the resumption
hearing okay yeah all right thank you all right thank you all right seven
Number seven, MI-2025-002-161, 1653 South 23rd Street.
Vern Anastasio is the attorney.
And Mr. Chair, this morning there's been some correspondence between the RCOs involved in this matter and Mr. Anastasio regarding a continuance.
I asked that the RCOs come on.
Okay, sure. We'll bring the RCO on, too.
Yes, there's Concerned Citizens of Point Breeze, as well as the Point Breeze Community Development Coalition.
Correct.
Thank you.
Morning again.
Good afternoon.
So we're looking for, who is it, Hillary?
Which one?
So there's two RCOs, and I see two hands raised.
Okay, sure.
So that may be from the two RCOs.
okay okay chair i'm going to allow both parties to speak okay thank you
dr chinchilla you have been allowed to speak please unmute yourself
yes hi good morning good morning could you please state your name and spell for the
personographer uh dr chinchilla ch-i-n-c-h-i-l-a last name j-o-n-e-s-i-a do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes are you are you re-questioning
a continuance um yes and i am not the actual rco but i am requesting a continuance due
to the fact that uh the residents on uh south 23rd street were not notified of any meeting
um of the initial meeting um also uh we did not get notified uh that uh mr verne was
uh proceeding today uh without any revisions being made um he's proceeding with the same
things he had before and we want a chance to actually have a meeting none of the residents
have met with mr verne and so that's why we're requesting a continuance so that we can meet with
him find out what he's trying to do and to my understanding when uh the refusal you guys gave
him the refusal he has not made any revisions at all right all right um mr anastasio could you uh
Yeah, I mean, the respond, please, on your position, whether or not you want to continue.
Of course. I mean, I have no opposition. I mean, but to clarify the confusion of the last
person who spoke, we met already last year. Notice was sent. Of course, we have proof.
We've been doing this for a long time, but I understand the RCOs changed whatever happened
there there was one RCO that was on it then now the new RCO was on it happy to oblige no problem
presenting to another group thank you okay so um we're going to continue this case right to 7 22
26 at 9 30 a.m thank you mr chair sure thank you very much number 16.
number 16 mi 2025 006 494 53 east pastorius joseph consul is the attorney this is a lamping property
michael johns is going to um recuse himself
you were waiting for some things for the show mr. chair we have we've received everything that
You were waiting for some things for the show.
we're requesting yep so this matter is ready to go thank you i made it happen how's everyone doing
hey joe console made it happen could you name and spell for the stenographer yeah joseph console joseph
h last name console c-o-n-s-o-l-a um no rco summary but there was a meeting february
2025 right yeah it would seem fine we i don't know we emailed and called a million times and
they haven't gotten anything our vice chair has a few questions i think she just walked away one
minute how about our secretary has a few questions oh there she is five days in advance of this
hearing yes and do you waive the reading know the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy i do
okay thank you for sharing your screen and proceed with your key
my screen
Joe Consul here
for 53 East
Pastorius Street
with me representing
Chivetta Property Group is
Doug Fath
and he is available for
adopting my testimony
again we're here for 53 East Pastorius Street
and first
uh you guys were within a few minutes of the estimated time from that email yesterday so
congrats to ian that was pretty amazing seriously it's not us but go ahead okay
um kissing somebody's butt uh okay i want to know for the record um yeah okay we established all
that i got in everything we needed from the land bank uh and the different resolutions showing my
clients um uh agreement with the city and what they're what they're planning to do so we're
We're seeking to subdivide this single 3,000-square-foot lot into two 1,500-square-foot lots.
On each lot, we're proposing to erect a semi-detached single-family home.
We have refusals based on lot width.
That's 20 feet being offered versus the 25 feet required for the RSA-5 resulting lots.
Lot area offering 1,500 square feet versus the 2,250 that are required.
Side yard setbacks were offering five feet versus the eight feet required, and a lack
of off-street parking, which is required in the RSA 5 district.
We believe that given the layout of the other properties on this block, which I'll show
you in a second that these variances are appropriate and represent the absolute minimum necessary
modification to develop these sites in a way that mimics the existing neighborhood and is in line
with the affordable housing initiative that these properties represent. So first I'll show you what
the other houses look like that are on this side of the block. There's a lot of empty lots and
and there's one there that's being used
as kind of like a hangout space,
but it's like two together.
It's another one, two together,
empty lots on each side.
So what we're offering is to take our lot
and effectively divide it into two lots that mimic that.
There's the proposed on the left
and as it exists on the right.
Okay, and there's our refusal here's the lot itself to give you an idea of what the block
looks like there's a lot of empty lots like i said you can this photo actually helps you see
what we are attempting to mimic with what we're doing the two houses together with yards on the
side other documents our application tax clearance
legal descriptions and then i have the various council resolutions and letters which i don't
think we need because they've been they've been reviewed by by uh board attorney and so i think
that should be good um do you have any rendering what it's going to look like
I thought that I did. I was having trouble pulling it up. I might be able to call my client, Doug, to assist with that as well.
I thought that I did. I was having trouble pulling it up.
Doug, are you available?
Doug, Faith has been promoted to panelists.
Hello.
um could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer sure uh doug faith spelled d-o-u-g
last name f is in frank as an apple t is in thomas h is in harry right do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do okay could you um actually i i found
it um mr faith would you um so far adopt the testimony that i've given as your own yes okay
Okay. Would you describe, I found the document I was looking for, but would you describe the
document on the screen and how these properties are going to sit, how big they'll be in beds and
baths and things like that? Sure. So they are, I mean, they're going to match what's on the street.
So these will be three-story homes. You'll see up top, there's the mansard roof in terms of
the the exterior and then these will be uh three bed two bath homes around 1400 square feet
okay i'm nothing further for my client and open to questions questions from the court
questions from our attorney not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual
audience i see chair i have one hand up sure sure stacia last name starting with m i'm going to
allow them to speak thank you very much hello can you hear me okay i can could you please state your
name and then spell for the stenographer sure my name is stasia montero that's spelled s-t-a-s-i-a
last name Montero, M-O-N-T-E-I-R-O. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth,
nothing but the truth? I do. Are you a neighbor? Yes, I am. Please start your conversation.
Okay. So once again, good afternoon, all members of the floor. My name is Stasia Montero. I'm
testifying as a near neighbor to 53 East Pastoria Street. I live across the street at 46. And I'm
uh here today because um i've seen you know notification about this development and um
there are a few concerns that i just wanted to elevate here um one is about you know the
structural density that's being proposed um increasing the sort of footprint of the
structure as it's approved um we are already experiencing um the consequences of that as
There are three row homes developed across the street. The images that we saw that showed a lot of vacant land are out of date because, yeah, right across the street, there are three residential homes that were developed on a parcel that was subdivided into three lots.
And that was reviewed by the ZBA in March of 2022. That was deeded originally as 54 East Pastorea Street. Additionally, at 48 and 50 East Pastorea Street, and you can see them there.
So next score where it looks like a vacant lot in that picture, right now under construction are six residential apartment units on two lots, 48 and 50 East Pastorea Street, which was reviewed by the ZBA in June of 2024.
And that was originally zoned for two single family homes.
So we're already having increasing density in this location, and that is impacting our quality of life, both in terms of parking, which, as discussed, is a requirement for the 53 East Pastoria Street lot.
um and then also um in terms of the dimensions um we find that the apartment building that's
currently being developed at 48 and 50 which as i mentioned is directly next to my home
um using the maximum um amount of space in the rear um including on the third floor which is
not consistent um with the ways that the homes are being developed are current existing um in
that location so it just creates like more of like a looming sort of you know feeling in terms
of the structures and then of course increasing the density means that there's more demand for
parking so this is a relatively narrow one-way street and you know eliminating requirements
where there typically aren't requirements for parking for these types of homes just seems like
it is actually out of character with what's happening across the street.
is actually out of character with um what's happening across the street so the pictures
So the pictures that were.
that were shown um did not seem to have the existing driveways um which are on like the
i guess if you're looking straight on the left side of the property to the left
and then there's also a driveway um yeah to the left side of the properties that we're looking at
now um and it's a little hard to see in this angle for some reason but there is indeed a driveway
there. And there's indeed a driveway to the left of the structure we're looking at currently
behind that tree. So, yeah, I mean, there is a sort of existing characteristic. There are other
homes that are similar on the same side of the street as this that have driveways. So, yeah,
I just don't really see why we're eliminating or why it's being proposed to eliminate that parking.
And then finally, I just wanted to issue a concern about the level of engagement with
directly impacted residents. As was mentioned originally, this was scheduled for an RCO meeting
on Wednesday, January 28th. That presumably was canceled due to the major snowstorm that week. I
actually called the applicant attorney's office that day to verify if the meeting will be held.
I received no response, and I really didn't want to miss the conversation, so I did travel to the
meeting location under the IC conditions and found the building was completely locked. I received the
The subsequent letter postmarked February 13th regarding the meeting schedule on February 25th. And as you may recall, there was another major snowstorm that week. And so it's unclear to me what the level of engagement was with directly impacted residents that date or otherwise.
And as was mentioned, the RCO has yet to submit a summary letter. So it's unclear to me if they understand what the perspective is of the neighbors who will be most impacted.
Yeah. And then finally, I'll just mention that I do see that the Planning Commission, there's a note to the ZBA that the subdivision would be disapproved due to the lot within lot area.
So I think the concerns that I'm sharing, which I'm not alone in, I have been talking with my neighbors about this, are consistent with the recommendation that I see from the Planning Commission here.
So, yeah, I mean, I think that if we are able to give an option for broader engagement of neighbors who will be impacted by this, as we are already experiencing the compounding effects of heightened density on this block, that would be the most prudent way to approach it.
So I do wonder if we can make that happen.
All right. Thank you very much for taking the time to close.
Thank you.
Mr. Counsel, do you have any comments?
Briefly, we had an in-person meeting in February. We had good engagement. They did vote in favor
for us. We can't get in touch with them. And my client, Doug, could address the other issues
regarding who they are and what they're developing on that property and why it sort of necessitates
what they're seeking to build. Doug, are you able to do that?
Yeah, sure. So this is part of the turn of the key program. So the mayor and Philadelphia's initiative for 1000 homes for hardworking Philadelphians. And so, you know, we've built hundreds of these homes out of that 1000 and not just what we're building, but also, I believe all 1000, even ones being built by other developers, you know, are pretty similar in fashion.
and don't have any parking.
And so the reality of it is with what we're building
and at the affordable price point,
adding parking, doing different things,
it increases the cost.
And it's not something that from a budget standpoint that works.
And it's none of the other thousand homes
that I'm aware of are built that way as well.
And so we're kind of conforming
with what's been um laid out as uh part of the homes that are being built um as part of the
program which has been you know an amazing program making a tremendous difference you know for for
people the average rent in philadelphia is 2200 a month both of these homes the average payment um
for principal interest taxes insurance be around 1400 um and so it's it's a uh you know
it's a win for philadelphia and just one thing um are any of the properties that she was sort of
having issue with developed by your organization the other ones on the block that she was speaking
about no that is not us okay um yeah nothing further for planning commission
thank you chairman and good afternoon david effecto with the city planning commission
Chairman and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the RSA-3 residential
single-family zoning at this location.
single-family zoning at this location. The city rezoned this neighborhood in 1980 and a council
The city rezoned this neighborhood in 1980.
supported map change. Both of the proposed lots are well below the minimum lot area required in
RSA 3. However, our other RSA 3 lots behind these properties are also undersized and
compliant RSA 5 lots exist across the street. The proposed development is part of the city's
turn the key initiative the city planning commission recommends the board grant the
proposed dimensional and parking variances thank you so mi 2025 006 9494 53 east pastoria street
i vote yes sir ogasta my vote is yes it's another graham my vote is yes ryan mcadams my vote is yes
is there anyone in the uh thank you uh mr counsel uh is there anyone in the audience
whose case has not been called from this morning's list
i see no hands at this time chair thank you everyone see everyone at 2 p.m
Okay. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this
Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting. With me is our Board Vice Chair, Tanetta Graham.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Secretary, Charlotte L. Gaston.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board member, Michael Johns. He'll be here. Our board member, Taya Nguyen. Present, Mr. Chairman. And our board member, Ryan McAdams. Present, Mr. Chairman. Also present is our attorney, Hillary Emerson. Our board executive director, Ian Haggerty. And our board administrator, Lakeisha Dandy.
A recording of this hearing will be posted on the ZBA website.
By participating, you agree to be recorded.
This is an in-person meeting with remote capabilities.
Whether remote or in person, if you're called to testify, you must state your name and speak your name and spell it for the stenographer.
any person may enter their appearance to appear before the the zoning board there are three ways
you can identify the case property address on your zoom webinar you can see a staff member or you can
call the zba approval line list by the close of business tomorrow call 267-276-5548 leave a
message including your address and the address of the appealed case the following guidelines is for
remote attendees. First, when directed by the chair, you must raise your hand in order to be
recognized by the speaker. Second, if you're 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 on q a is is
for questioning before the hearings do not comment on the q a and fourth if you
if you if you uh come on by phone you must raise raise your i'm sorry press star nine to raise
your hand and star six to unmute and for the for our main in-person hearings please refer
refrain from talking eating or drinking verbal and physical aggression will not be tolerated
restrooms are across from the elevators a water fountain is just to the right
whether speaking and and and the reserves by your you must speak directly into the
microphone in order to everyone to hear including our court reporter in the event of an emergency
please follow the guidelines that are given by the public address system the main exit is
The main exit is through the rear double doors.
is through the rear double doors
In the event of an evacuation, please go to Love Park right across Art Street so that we can locate you.
So let's look at our schedule for this afternoon.
number two
4023 west gerard avenue mi 2025 003594
um this is the third listing we have no exhibits and the one gerard property llc is the
listed most recent owner no hands at this time chair so for my army i'm sorry chair okay that's
right so for mi 2025 003 591 40 23 west rod avenue i vote to dismiss
cheryl gaston my vote is to dismiss
ryan mcadams my vote is to dismiss tywin my vote is to dismiss
And number three, MI 2025, 004835, 338-58 East Allegheny Avenue, that case is continued to 617-26 at 2 p.m.
we're going to go to our add-on list so number one mi 2025 007186
3615 spring garden street the board will vote on this matter upon the receipt of an amended
refusal clarifying the proposed use based on the information provided at the hearing as well as the
recommendation of the planning commission which will be read into the record to vote so number two
M-I-2025-007283, 318 North 42nd Street, I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes.
Ty Owen, my vote is yes.
Number three, MI-2025-007-327-1601, Washington Avenue.
All right, Mr. Chair, I have the recommendation of the Planning Commission to read into the record.
Thank you very much.
All right.
The comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from the existing I-2 medium industrial to ICMX industrial commercial mixed use.
the appellant has not shown that the property cannot be used as a business or industrial use
as allowed in the current and recommended zoning under the proposed zoning multifamily is not
allowed as per the central district plan this district is quote intended to accommodate
commercial and industrial uses the district can provide a buffer between industrial districts
and commercial and residential districts unquote this block on of washington avenue is an active
industrial and commercial corridor the appellant has not demonstrated that they will fulfill the
required landscape trees nor that the site plan cannot be reasonably altered to accommodate the
required trees in certain situations if some or all landscape provisions are impractical or
impossible to comply with the number of trees and plants or landscape dimensional requirements of
the zoning code planning commission staff could consider a waiver with a fee in lieu of providing
trees the appellant has not pursued this administrative remedy the planning commission
recommends the board deny the requested variances for non-accessory parking landscaping trees and
multi-family household living and mr chair i just want to note for the record that this was seen by
the applicant and we did receive a response from them. Okay. All right. Thank you. So number three,
all right thank you so number three mi2025-007-327-1601 washington avenue
MI 2025 00.
i vote yes with proviso variants for multiple family household living and non-accessory parking
parked are are granted the application the no the applicant must comply with
one site landscape and the tree requirements in section 14-705
parentheses one of the of the zoning code michael johns my vote is uh yes with provisals
cheryl gaston my booty chefs with provisals ryan mcadams my vote is yes with provisals
Tyra Wood, my vote is yes with provisals.
Number four, MI-2025-001-202-4810 Aspen Street, I vote yes to reconsideration and rehearing.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes to reconsideration and rehearing.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes to reconsideration and rehearing.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes to reconsideration and rehearing.
hi when my vote is yes to reconsideration and rehearing number five am i two zero two
twenty twenty five zero zero five five five zero sixty two thirty six north brisbury
i vote yes to reconsideration and rehearing michael johns my vote is yes to reconsideration and
Rehearing. Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes to reconsideration and rehearing.
Number six, MI 2025 007102 1838 North Van Pelt Street. We will vote on this next Wednesday morning at 930 a.m.
Any other requests for continuance?
We're going to go to our regular list.
No hands at this time, Chair.
For me. Oh, good. Thank you. We're going to start with number eight.
MI 2025 007377 5636 Angora Terrace. Edwin and Maria Morris are the owner applicants.
share they're being promoted to panels yep they're right here
and share this is uh executive director hegarty i will be
sharing uh the exhibits for this applicant sure
oh who's going to testify both yes okay so why don't we do this why don't each one of you
state your name and spell for the stenographer
and pull the mics close and turn them on?
Could you state your name and spell it?
Yes, my name is Marla Morris.
Marla, M-A-R-L-A.
Your mic one?
M-A-R-L-A Morris, M-O-R-R-I-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Sir, could you do the same?
My name is Edward Morris, E-D-W-A-R-D-M-O-R-R-I-S.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
This application is for group living, personal care home, existing attached structure,
Whereas the proposed use group living personal care home requires a special exception application in the RSA-5 zoning district.
Our vice chair has a few questions for you.
Our secretary has a few questions.
Good afternoon. Have you submitted your exhibits and documents five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes. And do you waive the reading of this special exception and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes. Yes. Okay. Thank you. You can proceed with your case.
you can proceed with your case okay so we are here regarding the request for zoning variance for
So we are here regarding.
licensed odp group home at 5636 angora terrace we want to provide residential support for three to
four adults with developmental disabilities in accordance with the fair housing act and the
American with Disabilities Act. Okay. So why don't we start showing that's the front of your property, right?
Yes. Okay, why don't we go next? We have all your documents, but I do know that there's a letter
of opposition from the 51st Ward RCO. So why don't you tell us to begin with what happened at the RCO
meeting well um basically when we went to the rco meeting they were asking some questions that we
weren't familiar with as far as where we would obtain the individuals well we knew that we had
to first be zoned in order to move forward so it was kind of like putting the cart before the horse
so um other than that we didn't see a problem uh we we were told that we within the rights to to
have this type of home um we'd actually acquired that home from um an individual from our church
whose son who was challenged and then and we decided to then have a home that would represent
trying to give that kind of help throughout the community and how many people do you would you
want to serve three to four maximum three to four okay so why don't we go through and why don't you
start talking about the house itself how many bedrooms how many bedrooms it's three bedrooms
uh two full bathrooms um kitchen full yard with a gazebo central air it's uh been renovated
New heating, new air conditioning, new electric, it's a basement, laundry.
You see some of the pictures there.
I have some additional pictures, but it has a full laundry, front porch.
Other than that, I don't.
So I understand what happened with the zoning, the RCO.
Where would you get your patients from?
Well, so I've contacted various agencies, I'm just trying to get to that, sorry.
When you speak, make sure you're speaking.
I'm sorry.
I contacted various agencies, the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services.
um i've contacted the consortium care link and other agencies i contacted them as well but they
were group homes already so and this is a care home yes okay all right um tell us more about
the program will there be somebody there at all times with them yes uh in terms of our staff we
will have staffing and supervision 24-7 on-site coverage by direct support
professionals. We will have a supervisor. We will be in compliance with the
standards of the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services directing us as to the
staffing ratios and so forth. Are the people on either side of it, are they
agreement with you i did not get any opposition from those two when we had the meeting now i know
the um the individual on if i'm in the building the one will be on our left uh she was very good
friends with uh miss josephine roberts who had lived there for over 30 years and she was very
familiar with her son marty as well i did not see any opposition when we had the group meeting so
So I do not believe that to be the case. I don't want to misspeak, but I don't believe that to be the case. There were younger people on the right side who had just moved there recently, so they were there as we were renovating, so they would be new.
I think you said three or four you're going to have?
And how many bedrooms?
Three.
Right, so if you took four, it would be an extra bedroom? I mean, did you have to put people together?
Only in the master bedroom.
that would be the maximum i think the square footage allowance it fits within that criteria
okay questions from the board yeah i i guess i to start i i i kind of disagree that um you
You get your zoning and then try to figure out where you get folks from and how that works.
get your zoning and then try to figure out where you get folks from and how
It seems to me that you do a bunch of research ahead of time to kind of make sure you have a pipeline, that you can get a pipeline before you even, you know, decide you want to run this business.
The question that I have is, do you have experience with running a business? And two, are you clear what ADA stands for? Americans with disabilities, right?
the the your house isn't is not um wheelchair compliant you've got steps you've got steps
you've got small doorways so there's a lot to comply with if you're going to make it
meet those standards for uh accessibility
uh well um we were not looking for to it was not be ada compliant um we weren't looking for
handicapped in our understanding like that these individuals that we were looking to
receive would be fully functioning in the ambulatory and as far as you said that initial statement
you made as far as having basically knowing what type of where the various agencies would
be from we have done some due diligence enough to know that how to proceed in that direction
We don't have a specific company or specific agency that we would utilize, but we know enough about it to be able to proceed with the various agencies that are available.
And we have experience with businesses.
We own a real estate company.
I'm saying a business that is specific to this type of business that you want to to run. Have you worked in group homes? Have you dealt with the, you know, behavioral health, behavioral health system, you know, with clients? Do you have that clinical sort of experience?
no no no we haven't but um we we look forward to doing that type of help we don't see it
necessarily as just as a business we see it more along a help uh format than just a business woman
gotcha other questions from the board so what age people are you planning to have
adults 18 and over I well I would think that once we get on a placement list
that they would give us information in terms of the adults that are available
but it would be only adults and it would be one gender or the other
so we would not have mixed gender it would either be male or female
And you say you're going to have 24-7 supervision?
And you also are going to have staff.
Is there room in this property for the staff and the administrative functions that you have to?
So there's no sleeping quarters because there would be no one sleeping.
There would just be functioning staff, but we have a finished basement as well.
Now, basically, their office would be probably in the living room, just a desk and whatnot.
Other than that, anything that would be needed as far as square footage-wise, we have a finished basement as well.
I'm talking about, like, this is a, yes, it's people, but it's also a business.
So you're going to have certain administrative paperwork and things like that.
Is there someplace for it?
We do have a finished basement in that regard.
and that's where you're planning to have that okay and uh i guess um how many
bathrooms two full bathrooms okay and how is this laid out i'm not i'm not seeing so where the
bedrooms what floors is that it should be in the plants here that are being shown there should be
The architect should have, they should be plans with you because she's the one who put this together. I don't know if I need to present this to you all. No, it should be part of your packet. Can we see the floor plans?
yes okay all right so so then um the bedrooms are all upstairs on all bedrooms on the second floor
okay the bathroom and we have a bathroom on the second floor and we have one bathroom for
on the first floor okay
all right well the questions from the board thank you
Other questions from the board. Thank you. I might have missed this. How many individuals are you hoping to have in the house? Three, maximum four. Three, maximum four. Okay. And then is the thought that this is going to be fully assisted living or that they're going to come and go as they please? Will they be handling their own cooking? Or will somebody from here?
I might have missed
be coming and going as they please, according to their health status. So our job would be to
assist them. We're offering assistance, not nursing care. Yes, ma'am. Yes, we're just coming
to help them learn different various skills, getting forth, back and forth to the different
areas that they need to go to. And then what's the typical tenure of a resident that would stay
in the house like are they here long term or is this sort of an interim well our hope is long
term yes okay and who who would do their meds who would do their medication well the the train staff
that would be uh certified to do it all right um what's the plan for storage of the medication
Bob cabinetry for each person individual okay
questions from our attorney Hillary Emerson
no it's this time Mr. Chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
no hands at this time Chair
Planning Commission Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission AYBOID
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do please proceed the comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning at this location
to the existing rsa 5 residential single family the appellant has demonstrated that the proposed
use will not cause detrimental impacts beyond what would reasonably be expected the planning
commission recommends that the board grant that requested special exception for care home
Thank you.
We're going to hold this.
We're going to vote on this next Wednesday at 2 p.m.
So you don't have to come back.
You can just listen on the phone.
Or obviously, if you want to come back, you come back.
But we're going to vote next Tuesday at 2 p.m.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
All right.
Is there anything else that perhaps that we need to know that you believe that we?
No, I think you covered what?
Thank you.
All right.
We're going to go to number one.
Here we go. Um, am I 20, 25, 0, 0, 2, 8, 4, 4, 26, 19, North 29th Street. Vernon, Anastasio is the attorney.
They're being promoted from strawberry matching. Concerned. A letter of non opposition from
Councilmember Young and a letter of support from State Representative Keith Harris.
And, Mr. Chair, we also received a letter of support from Swampoodle Neighborhood
Parcels Association RCO with some provisos, including one requesting a reduction in units
from three to two. Okay. All right. Mr. Anastasio. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Anastasio, you've already been sworn just for the record.
State your name.
Vern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O, on behalf of Mr. Martin Frazier, the owner of the property in question.
Our board secretary has a few questions for you, sir.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, county.
Good afternoon.
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 and stipulate to its accuracy?
Then you can proceed with your case.
Thank you.
But as the Attorney Emerson and yourself mentioned, Mr. Chair, we have lots of letters of support and non-opposition.
All of them coalesced over to family dwelling.
Our initial application was for a triplex.
We had at least two meetings with the RCO.
First one was very productive.
We got a lot of input, a lot of feedback.
We went back, revised our plan, presented it again.
That second meeting had some major technical difficulties.
We had about 25 people in the queue to attend that RCO meeting while we were
to attend that RCO meeting. While we were waiting, we received an email that we would
be meeting via a new link. So while my client and I were, in fact, able to jump on that meeting with
the new link, most of the folks in support who attend in attendance could not, did not. However,
However, we also have signatures of folks in the immediate area that's included in my 90-page exhibit packet that I'm moving everything into evidence.
And the good news is we have an accord with respect to the duplex.
Again, it's 2619 North 29th.
It is zoned RSA 5.
My client did purchase it.
At the time, it was already kind of chopped up.
He fixed it up, believing that because what he had was a multifamily, he just needed to refurbish.
And then he found out when he tried to get a rental license that it was, in fact, not zoned for multifamily.
He then contacted me, and we proceeded to start the appeal process.
I'm going to go to photos first so you can see what he's done.
Yes, it is going to be a little bit of work to turn this into a duplex, but it's not necessarily cost prohibitive, so we've agreed to do it.
There's the notice of appeal.
Here's the interior layout.
Pictures.
Getting this to a duplex is going to require the second and third floors be a bi-level.
three bedroom one den apartment luckily just removing a small galley kitchen
and removing one door will in fact accomplish that goal
but as you can see it's very handsomely appointed it's the nicest house on the block
and by the way there's not many houses on the block this block has suffered major disinvestment
and a real lack of density. As you can see here, there's vacant lots just to the side of it
and several more on the block. And those properties that have not been torn down,
some of them are vacant as well. So you get a feel for the quality of the work,
both inside and out. As you can see, it's very well appointed, very well maintained.
There's the porch, really beautiful wood, real good attention to detail.
This is the letter that went out.
What's in the basement?
It's going to be just mechanicals.
And I'm going to show you a plan in a minute.
It's just not part of this particular packet because it was part of our negotiating and dealing with the community up until sort of the last minute.
but this is the community letter that went out to everyone we had a 203
individual households mailed the first time what the second time 196
individual households belt mailed the first time so everyone's been put on
adequate notice I'm going to stop sharing this I'm going to show you the
the plan as everyone has come to land it on okay so this is the front left to
right to the rear this is as you see the the basement mechanicals only and then
we have the first floor unit here is my cursor going up the stair this is that
beautiful porch with the wood ceiling that I showed you. You go in the front door to the left
you'll be in your first floor unit. It's a one bedroom unit. One bedroom right here. Full bath
right next to the bedroom. Nice size kitchen and living area and a home office so that folks can
work from home like many of us do. And then an entrance off of the office to a rear yard where
trash will be stored. Again, basement
is also available for trash storage. One of the RCOs
really is concerned about trash and asks that
all trash be stored inside as opposed to in the yard.
The yard will be enclosed, of course, but that is going to be up to the board
to decide, I suppose. But we have no qualms with that.
Second floor unit, when you come up the stairs,
if you go all the way up so you're coming up the stairs here up to the third floor is the living
space for the second floor third floor by level the third floor is a walk up as you can see here
it's third floor by level the third floor is a walk up as you can see here living dining
kitchen area we have bedrooms on either side of the living space with a full bath
second floor also will have a washer dryer a trash closet two additional rooms that could
be used either for bedrooms or for home office gym and on either side with another full bath
So you have one, one bedroom apartment with an office and the second unit will be a bi-level, either three bedrooms and a den or four bedrooms, depending on the size of the family with two baths.
It does come with a vented trash closet and a washer dryer.
This is the plan and the proposal that all the RCOs and I worked on for close to a year.
We were able to get and enjoy the support of our state representative as well.
And I also move into evidence page 89 and 90 of the original exhibit packet that showed lots of signatures from immediate neighbors, all supporting the appeal to the board.
With that said, I respectfully request, given the conditions of this property, given the conditions of the block, respectfully request the granting of the variance.
With that, I'd like to call my client, Martin Frazier, to adopt my presentation.
Could that person please raise their hand?
All right.
They're being promoted to panelists.
Thank you.
Thank you.
hello hi sir could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer yes good afternoon
my name is martin frazier it's m-a-r-t-i-n f-r-a-z-i-e-r last name you swear or affirm to
tell the truth told truth nothing but the truth yes sir thank you mr chair mr frazier did you hear
my presentation to the board today yes sir you went accurate to the best of your knowledge
yes and you adopted as your own testimony yes sir thank you i have nothing further mr chair
Questions from the board.
Go ahead.
Go ahead, Mike.
No, I just I don't I don't see how you square the four bedroom unit with the one bedroom unit that has a living and dining room kitchen area that's adequate and a four bedroom unit that's really just a kitchen.
So I don't know how you square that together.
Well, this this room right here can easily be used as flex based family room.
I mean, someone just drew in that bed, but, I mean, that's necessarily, it's right off the kitchen here, and that's what we were thinking, that they would use it for, you know, either a family room, a TV room, something like that.
I think that's fine and dandy, but as long as it's a legal bedroom, it's going to get counted as a bedroom.
So I do think for both of the units, that's continuing to be something I'm struggling with because the first floor unit is a two-bedroom by definition.
We can call it an office all we want, but as long as it's 70 square feet, it meets the legal requirements of a bedroom under the Philadelphia Code, it's going to be a two-bedroom.
Well, we can remove the closet and then it can't be a bedroom, right?
We could remove the closet, that is true, but that wasn't proposed.
So I think I also have a question about how you get to the third floor.
Is the door going to remain where it was for the 2nd floor apartment, or is the door going to move so that the 2nd and the 3rd floor in the same unit?
The door is going to move. So the 2nd and the 3rd floor in the same unit. Okay.
And we have no problem. We're moving the floor unit is going to have access to the rear yard and the basement. That's correct. Only the 1st floor unit.
i didn't mean to talk on top of you ms winn we are totally okay with removing those closets
okay yeah i mean because then it would need to happen in the whatever family room happens
on for as the living room as well yep we can remove the closet in the office here we can
remove a closet off this tv room which is what we were imagining the the person who drew these are
no longer with the team so we really it's hard for me to doctor them all right other questions
it's hard for me to doctor them all right other questions
questions from our attorney um no um questions i just um wanted to note that the board may wish
to add venom proviso to specify the number of dwelling units now requested since the original
what's the provisors so that provide so mr chair may i ms emerson may i ask that you speak up i
can't i'm sorry is that better yeah much better no i was just mentioning to the board that um since
two units is now being requested that would be a subject of a proviso for this case so correct
questions or comments from the virtual audience chair we have a hand up from strawberry mansion
community concern okay
good afternoon can you hear me good afternoon how are you could you please state your name
and spell for the stenographer my name is bonita cummings b-o-n-i-t-a c-u-m-m-i-n-g-s
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth miss cummings
Please proceed.
Story Mansion Community Concern was the coordinating RCO, and I want to correct some things for the record.
There were two meetings.
One was held March the 30th, which as Swampoodle, along with one other resident, and then the attorney, his applicant did not appear on a call where we agreed that we would
want to have uh not three units but two units um to that to that uh location and then a
second meeting was requested because several changes have been discussed the link um went
out for a separate meeting which had nothing to do with any technical difficulty so if there were
25 people on and in a queue they were in a queue that either the attorney sent the wrong link to
which was from the march the 30th meeting and there had been a new link based on that meeting
sent to the attorney which he may later have realized he had so i just want to correct that
because it's as if some technical difficulty happened that made 25 people not be able to be
on that call that is absolutely not correct the only technical difficulty was that we could not
give the attorney um the ability to share okay also there was no measurements of what we received
um we received on that same meeting uh monday the uh you know some arrows and things drawn up
on a schematic that was indicating what would be done and there's no way of really measuring
anything in that property you know to specification as to what people will be living in
um because it's just not there further um those those documents that you have it was saved as um
2619 south 29th street and one of the and the schematic itself says 2619 north 19th street
so we really don't know what we're talking about i'm sorry i'm sorry i'm speaking so so i just
wanted to indicate those things because those things are on the record of the documents that
you have it was very small so you may not have seen it it was a different location even the
photos we don't you know have no accuracy to whether those photos are really that building or
not there was no uh we weren't opposing this situation but i do think it's kind of irresponsible
to not have for L&I appropriate schematics that help them identify what exactly is going to happen
in that building. Right now, it's just like scratch on paper, and it's really not effective
in helping to identify what is the role or what is being reduced. What is that building actually
going to do? We're talking about four bedrooms. You're talking about taking off a door just to
try to indicate that it's an office.
So I just think that we need to get clarity based
on accurate drawings before you vote yes due to.
Again, we had asked the attorney at the March 30
meeting of 2026 whether there were
any additional documents for petitions or any support.
and he said no I did not see any and no one at our meetings that were held saw
including Monday well Monday was because of the we couldn't share but he
uh monday well monday was because of the uh we couldn't share but he had not ever indicated that
there were any petitions and those petition dates were from august of 2025 even the even the state
representatives letter so we would never set that information or given that information and i want
these things on the record because they're kind of indication that there's you know a lot of non-truth
moving back and forth around what transpired with this building and this building had had a lot of
problems because um they started with an easy permit which which they used to build build off
that third floor build it all the way back which should have been structural you know so so i just
think that in all fairness we need to understand what the building is doing you know we need better
schematics um those drawings should be what the uh lni can work with accurately and therefore it's
never a question of what really should have taken place um in that building so i think they should
have to at least demonstrate to the rcos what their what is what the actual final outcome is
thank you mr chair i just want to make sure point of clarity yeah let me see if there's anyone else
in the audience okay i'll come back to you before that's fine okay is there anyone else in the
audience no hands at this time turn go ahead i just went there i'm sorry a hand just went up
from a uh telephone number not a name i'm gonna allow adrian probably it's probably adrian okay
adrian
yes okay could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
um yes adrian fernandez my last name is spelled f-e-r-n-a-n-g-e-z do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes please proceed okay um as far as the
meeting uh there was no request or we had no information that 25 people were trying to get in
there were some technical problems um that we were talking about and none of them were talking about
25 missing participants at all so um just to you know state that
can you hear me now yeah better you just stay close to your mic if you can
yeah i'm sorry
yeah mr chair you already have a letter from swamp poodle in support
okay um so with the provisos um the uh which is asking for the four provisos and the fourth one
is asking to limit the first apartment to one bedroom and the bi-level second and third story
apartment to three bedrooms and um i agree with taking the classes out should accomplish that
but there was no um mention or attempt to get the alleged 25 missing participants into the meeting
i just want to um confirm that okay and everything else is in my letter the other
um the other providers thank you very much uh adrian for calling in is there anyone else
you welcome no hands at the time chair thank you mr chair just as a point of clarity the plans
clearly state 2619 north 29th i'm not quite sure why strawberry mansion gets confused but
that's the address is clearly on the plan the plan is very clear as far as what each floor is uh is
working with if we were building this from the ground up you would have architectural plans
we are not doing that we are doing existing conditions so that's what we're putting together
here i think also the first witness confuses zoning with building uh lni has to go through
this building uh to make sure that the rooms are where they're supposed to be and it's it's
compatible with the sizes that are required. All of that gets done before a CO is issued.
And my client, of course, is committed to getting that CO. That's why we started this process,
so he can get a valid rental license. Again, we have no problem with any of the provisos.
After a year of discussing this with them, they've asked for no basement living. We've agreed to that.
They've asked for two units instead of three. We've agreed to that. They've asked for interior
your trash storage. We've agreed to that. Vented trash closet. We agreed to that. We've agreed to
then it trash closet we agreed to that we've agreed to everything they've asked for
everything they've asked for. Subsequently, we've
subsequently we've received either support letters of not or non-opposition from all interested
parties my client's not trying to hide the ball that's why he's come before them
and and this board so thank you thank you um planning commission amy boyd with the planning
commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa 5 residential single family
zoning at this location the city resumed this neighborhood in 2019 in accord with recommendations
in the comprehensive plan there is no evidence that any conversion to multi or two family was
done with the benefit of permits the upon has not shown that there are unique physical conditions or
circumstances that would prevent the property from being used in conformance with the zoning code
the planning commission recommends that the board denied the proposed use variance for two units
I just briefly want to just make a note on that. I appreciate the planning commission's recommendation. However, to convert this home to a single family home or use it as a single family home just would be completely impracticable and turn the property upside down financially.
Also, the majority of the properties on this block are empty.
They're either vacant lots or boarded up properties.
So this will be the newest, nicest duplex on the block.
And we're asking the board to understand the economic as well as the physical conditions of the block when taking this into consideration.
Thank you.
So, so I'm going to, Vern, I'm going to hold this because I want to try to clarify next week, like some of the provisos and things of that nature, what people are saying. So we will vote on this next Wednesday at 2 p.m. Okay. Thank you. Thank you.
Number four.
Could you get your associate? Thank you, sir.
jimmy can you guys hear me because i was having technical difficulties later can you guys hear me
now we hear you now we didn't hear you all right thank you
tanetta i thought for sure your voice just went away i just thought it wasn't
sir knock them simply
could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
alan knockamson a-l-a-n last name knockamson n-o-c-h-u-m-s-o-n so this is m-i-20-25-005-135-2649
federal street um could you identify your client relationship to the property yes my client is
2649 Federal LLC. And in the virtual audience is Mr. David Lebanski, its principal.
William Moore, Jr.: There's unanimous, unanimous support from Grace Ferry Coalition.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
David Lebanski, Jr.: Thank you.
Good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
David Lebanski, Jr.: Yes, we have.
and do you waive the reading of the refusals and stipulate to their accuracy
yes we do okay thank you you can share your screen and proceed with your case
uh if someone could just promote me to as a panelist one more time and i'll accept it
excuse me this is the court reporter could i ask mr narkomsen to get a little closer to the mic
He might have to go out and come back in because I don't see him listed currently as a attendee.
Alan, you are on a panelist currently.
Are you able to see that on your end?
Oh, I am actually.
Sorry about that.
I do see it now.
Hi. We're here to present 2649 Federal Street. This is a corner property at 26th and Federal,
and we also face another public street. It's a vacant lot. We have 11 exhibits here. At the
conclusion of our presentation, I would ask that Mr. Levansky virtually raise his hand to be sworn
in i also have christopher johnson the architects representative from 24 7 design who can answer any
questions originally we proposed to have five residential units here for this cmx2 property
what is allowed as a variety is two residential units and one commercial unit
What is allowed as a variety is two residential units and one commercial unit.
The lot is rather large, it's 1,368 square feet, so we just fall short of three residential units and one commercial units.
After multiple community meetings, I believe it was three, definitely two community meetings, we received input from the community.
Eventually, we came to an agreement as to having just three residential units.
So essentially, what we're doing is we have the right for two residential units and one commercial unit. We're just swapping out the commercial unit for the residential unit. And that's our only variance. We have revised plans as well. We also reduced the building footprint. We got rid of all those other refusals, not out of character. And you'll see during my presentation to have CMX2 properties nearby that are residential in nature.
We have a letter of support. We had unanimous support. There is a proviso here, which is not enforceable, but we will agree to it. We're at the beginning of construction of the property. We will share the owner's information with the coordinating RCO, as well as insurance information of both the owner, as well as the general contractor as well.
just for your information the general contractor appeared at the art the last rco meeting and made
a thorough presentation a well-known contractor lapstone general contracting so we feel confident
that we've hired a good contractor who's going to do right by the community here are revised plans
we reduced the unit count from five to three as stated previously we reduced the occupied area
from 92.1 percent to 65.8 percent we increased the rear yard depth from six feet to 26 feet so
those are two of the refusals we eliminated and we actually even decreased the height of the building
from 38 feet from the roof line to 33 feet high so if this board feels so inclined to grant the
variances that we now request is merely for use from two plus one to three we ask that the board
granted by way of proviso with these revised plans and then you know you can also see with
these revised plans that our building depth actually is less deep than the building to the
right of us as well we have letters to support and this is from the previous version of the project
from different neighbors but you know the general community that appeared at the community meeting
was not in favor of to have the five residential units that's why we reduced it and then we also
came closer in conformance with the Philadelphia Zoning Code
by eliminating those dimensional refusals as well.
The maps of the area.
So these are the CMX2 properties you'll see from the pictures that are nearby
that although CMX2, they're all residential in nature.
Nearby properties are also
2647 federal, 2642-44 federal,
2638 federal, 2635, and 2629 are federal, are nearby multifamily.
And then 2647 federal, and then 1101 through 1109 South 27th Street, and 1201 through 1213 South 27th Street are those CMX2 properties that are fully residential in nature.
There are photographs from the property from Federal Street, from the side on 27th Street, from the rear of the Federal Street property, our zoning hearing notice posters as well from all three streets.
Federal Street to the right of the property, to the left of the property, 27th Street to the right of the property, and you can start seeing the CMX2 properties are residential in nature.
27th Street to the left of the property, same from that angle.
And then Annan Street is our third public street. That's the right of the property and to the left of the property. What was asked of us was to also provide off-street parking for this property. We tried, but the streets department would not allow us because we're a corner property. And given the tightness of Annan Street, they didn't think we had the proper turning radius to do that.
Architectural plans and drawings. There's two entrances. You'll see during my presentation. This is the Federal Street side. The two units, the second floor unit and the third floor unit come off of Federal Street. And the first floor unit, which also has a lower level, comes off the 27th Street side.
The other proviso besides revised plans is we would also say trash stored outside as well as another proviso.
But you can see we have a pretty deep lot.
We probably moved the fence structure a little bit further back to give a little bit more room for the first floor unit as well as a separate area for common trash, which will be enclosed.
This is the site plan you saw previously.
as you can see we're actually much uh we're less deep than the property to the right of us
and then our plans and drawings so if you go to the first floor unit here
So if you go to the first floor unit here, this is on 27th Street, you have unit number one, which has an open floor plan of a living room, kitchen, there's a bathroom here, you have one bedroom, and then you have, I'm trying to get it, an open floor plan where the washer and dryer is down in the basement with the HVAC unit.
uh this is on 27th street you have
Instead of going to the first floor unit, you go up to the Federal Street side, you
go up a flight of steps, you have a landing, you have a living room, kitchen, washer and
dryer with HVAC units in here, bedroom number one, bedroom number two, and then you have
a bath.
Instead of unit number two, you go up to the third floor, which is unit number three with
a mirror image of unit number two and they also have access to a roof deck then our meeting this
is the actually it made i think this was one of the meetings that we attended uh which was january
12th at 6 30 p.m we mailed the notice a few weeks beforehand uh we sent it to 172 addresses this is
list of addresses proof of mailing up to those addresses or application for appeal that we filed
on 6449 federal streets behalf along with the previous uh notice well the current notice refusal
which we've you know we're updating by way of proviso deeds of property showing 2649 federal
llc is the owner of the property and then finally the certificate of tax clearance
we are three feet out of the ground from the ground floor and we're six feet into the ground
you know for the lower level where we probably then have a ceiling at lower level of like eight
to eight and a half feet high by our architect's estimate it's just open it's the washer and dryer
is down there with that being said I would ask that David virtually raise his hand to be sworn in
it's right down the street from the claps right
yeah that was that was very sad that was very sad
sir could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
david labinski d-a-v-i-d l-a-b-e-n-s-k-y you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth yes alan yeah david you heard everything i had to state today about your zoning
matter yes is it true and correct yes and do you adopt this your own testimony yes specifically
you agree to go down from the original proposal of five residential units to three residential
units right yes and based on owning the property that's not out of character for cmx2 property
because there's multiple properties on 27th street which is also which are also cmx2 properties that
are fully residential is that correct yes and you also read by way of the revised plans you also
eliminated both sets of dimensional refusals is that correct yes and most importantly or equally
important uh you would agree to store the trash outside as a proviso is that correct
yes thank you questions from the board yeah i thought i saw on the your section that there
was no basement no there's a basement there's floor plans i thought yeah i just thought when
i looked at the um the section there didn't look like it was a basement but um
All that was bad with the layout of the units that we saw in the previous presentation from the other project is good in this plan.
Just in terms of clarity and understanding, you show furniture, it's clear how the units are laid out.
So we appreciate it. And the community appreciates it when you when you present to them, when you show vague drawings.
I don't care whether the building is existing or new. People need to see where they can legitimately have a living room and living room furniture, not just a room that says something.
So I appreciate that. Yeah, but I was talking about this section. I didn't see where it looked like it was, but that's fine.
oh yeah you're right actually i did talk to the architect when we did the site plan and he you
know for some reason his plans and right here if you can see it does not reference it and
this architect which we work a lot with you know 24 7 design this is just how their plans are
So that's why I asked for clarification from the architect prior to the hearing to find out how far up we're out of the ground and how deep we are on the ground.
that's why i asked for clarification from the architect prior to the hearing to find
That's not referenced in there.
That's an oral conversation I had with the architect today to get that information for the board.
So they need to show that when they show their plans that there is a basement.
So it is clear.
But the plan layouts are fine.
And I know, you know, I remember Cheryl may have some issues around bathrooms, because I know she's always concerned about that.
But the plans are clear and understandable, so I appreciate that.
Michael, I just want you to know, you brought a little smile to Alan's face here.
Exactly.
And by the way, I just want to let Alan have like a little, like a little, like just a little bit, not a big one.
And I did point out specifically this time the washer, where the washer and dryer is right.
right right question oh questions or comments from our attorney
not at this time mr questions or comments from the virtual audience no hands at this time chair
planning commission amy boyd with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends a
change in zoning at this location from cmx to commercial mixed use to rsa 5 residential single
family the variance for not including active ground floor use matches the recommended zoning
however there are no unique physical conditions or circumstances that would prevent the building
from complying with the two units as allowed under the code the planning commission recommends that
the board grant their requested variants for gone for use in occupied area but deny the requested
variance for dwelling unit count and i realize that there's no occupied area variance requested
anymore sorry about that yeah so as i would state um we are 1368 square feet um we are 2.85 uh
amount of units and unfortunately in the philadelphia zoning code you could be at 2.99
and you'll still be at two um i believe that under those circumstances and given other surrounding
cmx2 properties that fully residential nature and the practical realities of of developing
properties in the philadelphia we would respectfully request that the board grant
the variance for three units so mi 2025 005 135 2649 federal street i vote yes with proviso
revised plans one page stamp by zba on april 15 2025 maximum three dwelling units
michael johnson my vote is yes with proviso charl gaster my vote is yes with proviso
tenetta graham my vote is yes with proviso ryan mcadams my vote is yes with proviso
are you doing five is that fine street yes yes i am okay so mi2025007
25252416 to 24 vine street alan knockamson is the attorney mr knockamson just for the record
you've already been sworn state your name alan knockamson and could you identify your client
relationship to the property yes my client is vine street llc the owners of the property and
in the virtual audience is either robert or ali bolpe one of its members and there's a letter of
non-opposition from Council Member Squilla there's a letter of support with provisos
from Franklin Bridge North neighborhoods neighbors our vice chair has a few questions
good afternoon have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing
yes we have and do you waive the reading of the referral and stipulate to its accuracy I do okay
thank you you can share your screen and proceed with the case all right thank you and this is a
special exception so we're um basically at the corner of fourth and vine here it's a rather
large apartment building and what we're trying to put in is a prepared uh prepared uh food shop
a coffee shop in there um and honestly my client didn't realize that they needed to get the special
exception they were planning to open and then realize from their architect that they needed to
do this so it's already built out and they didn't do it on purpose or maliciously more disappointed
that they had to participate in this six-month process but you know it will be a great resource
not just for the community as a whole but the obviously the inner community within this
apartment building so we have 10 exhibits here which includes the notice of referral and the
letter of support from the coordinating rco there are a couple of provisos um or conditions some of
them are enforceable and some of them are not uh so the notice uh first
enforceable and some of them are not uh so the notice referral is this is a prepare uh it's a
prepared food shop in an existing structure uh the size of the area in the apartment building
that would be for the coffee shop is 800 square feet we have a letter of support i'm going to
read these provides those so the board knows um them we also have a community benefits agreement
which elaborates further we you know in in the letter of support um it also states that the
actual language of the actual executed cba which is a matter of public record that we've filed with
the with these proceedings will control but you know i want to generally state them and then
there's there's more specificity in them um the applicant will provide trash cans in and outside
its location with the applicant's private trash haul or removal on a commercial on a regular basis
So commercial trash pickup would be the first one, which would be a proviso.
We also agreed to put a trash can outside our doors where the coffee shop is, but that will only be outside during normal business hours.
It's just to make sure there's no...
The in and outside, you said.
Yeah, just outside.
Yeah, just outside.
So I just wanted to elaborate on that.
Applicant will need approval of L&I and Streets Department for any sidewalk seating.
an applicant agrees to limit the number of tables to three with a maximum of two seats per table.
Don't think that's an enforceable proviso, but obviously we signed a community benefits agreement
that we'll abide by. Operating hours shall not be prior to 7 or after 5 p.m., and any community
event in the evening shall end by 10 p.m. So the space will be a coffee shop from 7 a.m. to no
later than 5 p.m. so those are the hours of operation and those are enforceable secondarily
outside those hours it will be also community you know event space for the general apartment
community um and so we agreed by way of proviso that those events will end uh no later than 7
p.m. any and all deliveries of food or material shall occur inside the building's parking garage
there's you know off street parking here or within a proposed loading zone on north lawrence street
Well, I don't believe that's an enforceable proviso. We will abide by that. There will be no application or possession of a license for the sale of alcoholic beverages, beer, or wine on the premises. Well, I don't think that's an enforceable proviso. We will abide by that.
There will be, there shall be no amplified sound from within the premises that can be heard at street level on the exterior of the building. So I believe that may be enforceable proviso. So, you know, again, no amplified music outside, you know, the, the restrictions imposed by the, you know, building codes.
And, again, you know, these were the provisos that we obtained our approval from the community.
And, again, it says in the language, in the letter, the actual language of the executed CBA will control and will be presented at the time of the hearing to the CBA, which we're doing here.
I'm not going to go through the whole thing, but we do put it as a matter of public record, so we can always reference it later on.
and then we got a letter of non-opposition from council member squilla based on those
provisos as well and then again we're a cmx3 property we're in an apartment building again
this is a referral referral our use is no worse than what you would typically expect
we're a responsible operator um we'll be you know it'll be basically owner occupied self-managed
and we think this will be a great addition to the apartment community but as well as the community
as a whole because there's really no coffee shops that are in close proximity to here
vine street to the right of the property to the left of the property north lawrence street to
the right of the property to the left of the property our interior photos so this is it you
know it's already been built and again not on purpose but you'll see it's it's done very well
relaxed um this is just a community event there but it just gives you a picture of like how
much light in there and the adequate seating and things like that they'll have a point of
sale system again it's a prepared food shop no cooking on the premises this is the construction
drawings you know because my client did not anticipate actually having to go through this
process i just expanded that outward it even the seating's not completely accurate but like i
wanted to give you something just so you can see other than the pictures but here's the opening
right here the point of sale system is right here there's a ton of adequate seating here
and again when you go backwards if I can get backwards this is the garbage area right here
that's for the general population of the apartment building and that's where the coffee shop will be
able to access that as well RCO meeting notice February 2nd I do believe we also met with the
RCO meeting notice February 2nd I do believe we also met with the immediate
neighbors separately unofficially to just make them feel comfortable and I
believe the meeting that we had with the community was in person it was at the
coffee shop or soon hopefully soon to be coffee shop this is proof of mailing
application for special exception along the notice of referral project
information form the deed to the property showing that my client fine street llc is the owner of the
property and most importantly the certificate of tax clearance with that being said i would ask
that either ally or robert virtually raise their hands and be sworn in there are no hands up at the
anything all right we have a hand up from robert vault okay
mr volpe if you can just yeah i'll mute yourself yes well could you please state your name and
spell for the sonographer yes robert volpe v-o-l-p-e right do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do counsel yeah uh mr volpe you heard everything
i had to state today about your zoning matter yes is it true and correct yes and you adopted
as your own testimony yes in particular you heard all those conditions that we need to fulfill in
order for us to have had that support from the community the ones that are enforceable you plan
to abide by right yes the ones that are not enforceable zoning approvals but are in the
community benefit agreement you're willing to abide by yes thank you um questions or comments
from the board questions or comments from our attorney Hillary Emerson yeah just a couple
of clarifications um one you mentioned that there's events and you said something about
being the apartment complex but you also said it being community events i'm just concerned that
there may be another principal use it's it's a when i said community i meant apartment community
like the actual apartment itself okay it's the apartment building community not the community
as a general it's not events outside okay so thank you for clarifying that and then is the
so it doesn't specify this on the refusal the uses on the the first floor or first floor and basement
i believe it's just the first floor i would ask mr volpe to confirm that
mr volpe am i correct that it's just the 800 square feet on the first floor right that's correct
all right thank you questions or comments from the virtual audience
planning commission yeah very much get your shit together
any board with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change in
zoning to the current cmx3 commercial mixed use the appellant has demonstrated that the proposed
use will not have detrimental impacts beyond what would reasonably be expected the planning
commission recommends that the board grant the requested special exception for prepared food shop
hillary how about first floor only commercial trash pickup um hours not before 7 a.m not after
5 p.m right and then lastly um apartment community events no later than 10 p.m so um
um yeah i think i think we could just do hours of operation and sorry is that seven days a week
six days a week i i believe yeah well i think six six i think it's six days yeah i think it i think
it's six i think we would appreciate to keep it all seven i think we our intention is only to do
six okay so i i i think because i the events of it it's more of like a you know like a private
like extra space so i i wouldn't worry about doing the hours of operation for that it's not like a
venue that people can rent um so but i would say hours of operation you know um between 7 a.m
and 5 p.m um and you know the first floor and commercial trash pickup okay so mi 2025
five zero zero seven two five two four sixteen to twenty six mine street i vote yes with proviso
first floor only hours of operation seven a to five p and commercial trash
Hours of operation, 7A to 5P, and commercial trash pickup.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes, with provisos.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes, with provisos.
Tannetta Graham, my vote is yes, with provisos.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes, with provisos.
Thank you.
All right, I have Mr. Goldberg now.
mi 20 25 007 256 2205 gall street alex goldberg is the attorney
there's a letter of support from fishtown neighbors association
27 looks like the one and a letter of non-opposite from become council members squill
Mr. Goldberg, please state your name and spell for a stenographer. Alex Goldberg, A-L-E-X, G-O-L-D-B-E-R-G.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Mr. Goldberg, could you identify your client in a relationship to the property?
Yes, my client is Gouman Properties, LLC. It's the owner of the property and its representative Talbender Gouman is in the virtual audience.
And our vice chair has a few questions for you.
good afternoon have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing
i have and do you waive the read now the refusal is simply to its accuracy
i do okay thank you you can show your screen and proceed with your case
okay so
let me just go full screen while i'm on our new computer so um let's see
Okay, so this is a rescue of a project that essentially died in 2022 after being approved by way of variance in 2019 and construction permits pulled in 2020 by a prior owner.
My clients bought the property in June of 2025, so a little less than a year ago, and the structure that you see on the screen there is the building structure that was approved.
am i sharing the right thing are you seeing on your screen okay okay um because i see mr mcadams
has his hand up and i wasn't sure okay oh you're good uh no worries so um the the the building
structure you see on the screen is is basically a shell of the building structure we're asking
to be reapproved today it's in frame condition on the interior the architect that was a part of the
project when it was approved in 2019 is back on board with the new owners but it is a new
general contractor and obviously new ownership so that's sort of the general overview of the project
i think when we went to the community meeting they were just happy to see somebody coming in to
finish the project and from my understanding the street dig already took place when it was
originally built up so in terms of finishing the job here there should not be any large machinery
needed on site or in the street and i think you know almost all of the work is done to the interior
and should be able to be done without much disturbance at all to the to the neighbors um
yeah i'm having a share issue here let's see let me share
okay there we go so here's our notice of refusal um this is an rsa5 property and this is a single
family home but it's kind of funky because it's an irregular shaped lot that has two street
frontages and um while we have a gall street address uh the gall street side is the wide side
And because of that, we are coming up against some dimensional issues that were dealt with, you know, in 2019 when this was presented to the board.
And obviously we have to ask for those same variances again.
Number one being the roof, the height of the building, which the roof line is 30 feet, eight inches, which matches exactly the roof line of the building structure that we're attached to.
But because of the pilot house, which is sitting along the technically the rear lot line, right, because this we're building with a strange orientation, the height of that pilot house is being counted against us.
It's nine feet or it's nine feet, right, that pilot house.
So this building is considered to need a height variance, but that's a technical variance in nature.
And again, it's not a new pilot house that's existing and framed up there.
And then the other variance that we're asking for is for rear yard depth.
So we are considered a lot of 45 feet or less in depth because of the orientation.
45 feet or less in depth because of the orientation we have a lot of open space at the front of the
We have a lot of open space.
lot it's just not being considered our rear yard because of the way that the structure is built
on the site and i think when i show you the site plan that'll make a lot more sense
here's the letter of support that we received from fishtown near unanimous support from uh you know
the near neighbors and the RCO zoning committee, sort of referencing that, you know, they had no
questions. They've lived next to a vacant unfinished property for almost six years. They're
excited to see it finished and occupied. And our client is happy to do that. Here's the zoning
permit that was issued in 2019 for a single family dwelling. You can see you'll, this will
look very familiar in a few moments when I show you the site plan. It's the same building structure.
and you can see we're at the corner of Townsend and Gall Street.
Here's an aerial view. Again, the building structure is already there.
Aerial map. Here's a zoning map. Single-family zoning. This is a single-family home.
Here's photos. So this is from Gall Street. So there's open space on both sides, basically.
There's a little side yard here where I imagine trash would be stored.
then there's a larger open space over here there you can see from Townsend Street so this is what
I would consider to be our rear yard but because the rear yard is technically this lot line that
abuts the building structure next to us or behind us we're considered to have zero rear yard from
an open space standpoint we are well within the boundaries of RSA 5 we have 57 occupied area
whereas we are allowed 80% occupied area because this is a corner property.
Here's the posting photos from both street frontages,
Gulf Street to the right and to the left.
Here's interior photos.
So this is the condition.
According to the architect and the general contractor,
the seal to the outside is solid.
obviously they'll have to make sure you know everything is built in compliance
with the code and L&I will have to come back out there and they'll have to get
new fire suppression permits plumbing permits electrical permits mechanical
and gas permits all of these permits which they pulled in 2020 but expired
because of the lapse in time plans and drawings so here's the elevation you can
see this is it's it's tagged whoops it's tagged as our rear yard on the plans if i can go back
but it's according to the code it's not right because this is our rear of the property it's
also why our pilot house height is being counted against us because it is on the rear lot line
floor plans there's a basement rec room there's a powder room down there and a mechanical room
on the first floor you have a kitchen living and dining rather large space you have about
760 square feet on each floor so it's a pretty big home on the second floor you have two bedrooms
and a bathroom and laundry third floor you have a primary suite and an office and then there's a
roof deck rco meeting notice we met with fna on march 3rd mailing addresses and mailing certificates
application for appeal deed to the property showing gumon properties llc
owns it and then the certificate of tax clearance with that i'd like to call my
client to adopt my testimony sure
could that person please raise their hand
they're being promoted to panelists thank you
How could you please state your name? Do we see him?
what's his name his name is talbender i see him there he's just made it he's muted
talbender if you could unmute yourself
uh no i am right thank you could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
uh no i am all right thank you could you please state your name
talvinder guman t a l v like victor i n d e r last name is g h u m a n do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes sir counsel hi talvinder did you hear
my testimony today yes sir and is it true and correct yes and would you adopt it as your own
yes thank you you're welcome questions from the board
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson not at this time mr chair
what's your comments from the virtual audience come on yes chair we have a hand up from robert
uh the yeah i have someone in the office in the audience here let him come up first come on up
yep and then we'll get with the robert
make sure that make sure that's the one close to you please hi could you please stay hi could
you state your name is spelled for the stenographer i am chris kundra spelled k-r-i-s-k-u-n-d-r-a
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Sir, are you a neighbor?
Please, Rasheed.
So I have an opening statement here that I'm the neighbor, the adjacent neighbor.
This property goes back to 2019.
It's been a very big problem property.
I know we have a new owner and new lawyers and new contractor, but I'm here to kind of bridge the gap.
I'VE BEEN IN CONTACT WITH ALEX AND MR. NOTCOMSON AND THEY'VE INSTRUCTED ME THAT THEY NEED TO GET
THROUGH THE ZONING BOARD HEARING FIRST. TO ME IT'S LIKE I HAVE A 13 PAGE AGREEMENT THAT I DREW
UP THAT RIGHT AFTER THE FNA MEETING I SENT TO THEM. THEY GRACIOUSLY GAVE US A TELECON MEETING.
at that time nothing i was ready to discuss it and get into all the points of uh there's there's
some zoning things there's some construction things the property despite the pictures is in
is in pretty bad conditions been sitting for six years there's water damage roof deck is completely
gone i'm concerned that this thing is going to be attached to me um the i could get into a lot
of details but some of this stuff is spelled out in this 13 page agreement with a lot of details
that I was hoping to address, you know, water issues, how it's flashed, how it's joined,
and if we can't come to the, I'll start to say that they need to get into my backyard to finish
the project. There's an unfinished wall, so the outside envelope is not finished, and the water
is going through there every time it rains. They need to get into that, my backyard with scaffolding
whatever to put the siding on and that also needs to be sealed next to my my building i you know
it wasn't shown on the plans but you know i have tons of pictures and the agreement here
if anybody would like to see it um so i'm hoping to get this addressed before this gets you know
kicked down the alley i've been here before with the previous owners and the previous builders
i got yes i got lied to uh it was an absolute disaster so i'm hoping to avoid that this time
and get some of the stuff addressed up front rather than at the 11th hour wednesday did you
go to the rco meeting yes i did you raised the issues there you didn't i did not i voted i voted
though okay um so i want to respond yeah just briefly and and um what mr kundra said you know
i don't dispute and i i empathize with the fact that it's been probably a nightmare for the past
you know five and a half years six years um and i also would point out that a lot of the concerns
he has which are valid are not zoning issues and are also issues that my client knows he's
going to have to deal with if he wants to finish the project um so when we met with him you know
our discussion what you know we read through the agreement it's very thorough um a lot of things
that i'm not an expert on because i'm not a general contractor but mr gumon's hired a licensed
and insured general contractor and um you know again we fully recognize that if this project is
approved in order to finish it we're going to have to come to an agreement with him and you know
that's that's what we told him and and uh we're happy to be cooperative and and we know that we'll
have to be okay sure do you have anything else to say the first time the the board graciously
you know had me speak with the the the previous owner and lawyers uh to get some purposes in place
the the the previous owner and lawyers uh to get some for visas in place uh during the hearing
we're certainly not going to go through a 13 page agreement here but you know i'm not so sure that
some of these things aren't part of a zoning uh kind of thing um the height thing is mentioned
here in the application right that is that is a zoning matter that we're asking for the board
for a leave from today i feel like we have a legitimate hardship there based off of the
orientation of the lot and the fact that the building structure is there right that's twofold
hardship the same goes for the rear yard refusal and we acknowledge those are zoning items so
if you you know if you have questions about those specific items i think this is the forum to
address those i think the forum to address a an access agreement and you know the proper way to
fix this property i i don't think that this is the form for that um but again we're not um saying
no we're we my client knows he's going to have to work with you so sure i'm going by you know
the things that were submitted here um you know highlighted some things in the application or
the refusal and in here it says uh substantially or permanently harm your neighbor's use of their
properties or impair adequate supply of light and air again this thing is attached to me and it's
rotting you know their their structure walls off kind of the that's not an alley but it's
a bunch of backyards are in a row and the wall that is in my backyard kind of ends it so it
kind of does block the airflow going all the way through all that the next section does it
increased danger of flooding this wall will come down into my backyard that water's got to go
somewhere one of the things i address in my agreement is how to handle that that water
my drain is not hand not designed to handle the the amount of water that comes off so again maybe
that is considered a zoning so um okay is there anything else you want to
no no okay is there anyone else in the virtual audience
Sir, we had a hand up from Robert Everett.
Yeah, I'm here.
Mr. Everett, how are you, sir?
I am good.
Could you please state your name as spelled for the stenographer?
Certainly.
Robert, last name Everett, E-V-E-R-E-T-T.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, sir.
Well, I'm just confirming that we did, in fact, have the meeting, and Chris was, in fact, a participant of the meeting, and as he said, he didn't raise any of the concerns during the meeting, but we always encourage nearby neighbors, immediate neighbors, to work with developers or people working on their homes to rectify and make any kind of changes to properties smooth and easy as possible.
uh you have our vote so obviously almost everyone was in favor of this project and going back to
july 16th of 2019 the first community meeting we had the first time go around it was 21 in favor
and three opposed at that point so the opinion basically stayed the same as the you know community
over the last six years and we're just hoping to get this property done and not be an eyesore
anymore thank you very much is there anyone else in the virtual audience no hands at this time
chair planning commission in view boy with the planning commission the comprehensive plan
recommends no change in zoning from the current rsa 5 residential single family
the proposed deviation from height requirements is de minimis the opponent has demonstrated that
the unusual parcel shape constitutes unusual condition or circumstance that would prevent
the property from conforming with the required rear yard setback the planning commission recommends
that the board grant their requested variances for height and rear yard setback so mi 2025
007258 2205 gall street i vote yes with proviso certificate of occupancy to be obtained i know we
do it but i'm going to put it on record that it has to have a certificate of occupancy michael
johns my vote is yes with a proviso charles guest and my vote is yes with proviso tenetta graham
my vote is yes with proviso my name mcadams my vote is yes with proviso thank you thank you
number seven mi 2025 007 361 1911 to 13 north
north 2nd street alice goldberg is the
North 2nd Street. Alex Goldberg is the attorney. Mr. Goldberg, you've already been sworn just state your name for the record. Alex Goldberg. Could you also identify your client, the relationship to the property?
sure my client is dme holdings llc they're under agreement to purchase the property
and its representatives nikki tuscani and mike susinki are in the physical audience
i'm not sure which one's going to come up and join me but now would be the time
there's a letter of support from somerset
action network with, I believe, some provisos. Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
I have.
And do you waive the reading of the refusals and stipulate to their accuracy?
Okay. All right. Thank you. You can share your screen and proceed with your case.
okay i'm sharing my screen and that letter of support came from the north square community
action network so i don't it's in the presentation materials it was submitted to the board
um oh i'm sorry you're right north square you're right all right so
let's see
i'm here presenting and while i'm sharing i'm i'm gonna speak i'm here presenting on behalf
of fishtown pickle project which is a philadelphia small business that you may have seen
in your grocery stores or farmers markets or specialty food stores um we are they're buying
the property or they're under agreement to purchase the property and they're seeking
variances to be able to move their manufacturing facility there and also have a small retail
component. So you'll see my screen. Okay. So you can see their logo on the screen. We'll talk
about their business. You feel free to ask Nikki questions about that component of it
when she is sworn in. But they got into the pickle business, I believe, because they were
getting married and this was like a wedding favor. They made pickles, right? And they were
And it went well, and their business has grown over the past several years, and they've grown
out of the space that they're currently operating out of, and they are hoping to open up in
this space that was a previous auto garage, and it's split zone, CMX 2.5 and RSA 5, so
there's a little bit of funkiness with our refusals.
What you see on the screen is the first refusal that we get asked for when we applied, and
that included artisan industrial, which we felt like this type of manufacturing fell into with
accessory retail sales because all of their retail happens through farmers markets and stores. They
don't have any retail component of their own, but they're happy to have a small space that you'll
see on the plans for, you know, incidental retail sales or people that are local retail sales that
don't live somewhere where they're being sold otherwise. So that was the initial refusal. We
continued the conversation and got an amended refusal to include wholesale sales and distribution
because of the way that their business is growing. We felt like in order to fully encapsulate what
they are now and what they could be in the next two to three years, we wanted to incorporate that
wholesale sales and distribution because as they continue to grow they might be selling on a larger
scale um maybe um you know we'll need additional facilities but we you know based off of what's
happening in the building we were more comfortable with that use tagged on there and you can see the
notice of refusal we're getting refusals for both of those i'd point out that under cmx 2.5 this
artisan industrial would be allowed by right so because of the split zoning we're picking up that
refusal and then there's a parking requirement for both of these uses three parking spaces total
this is an existing building structure that's 100 lot coverage right so you'll see on the plans
there is space for a drive-in area for their truck for their their uh you know their truck
and that's kind of the only parking option that we have and it's not even your traditional sense
of the parking there's no space to park on the lot again because the building structure is 100
percent lot area they have employees at their current location which is not too
far from here that don't drive you know some use public transportation or other
means we have an agreement with the coordinating RCO to hire from the
neighborhood so I imagine those people wouldn't drive either the last thing we
want to do is create a burden on the parking in the neighborhood and we don't
think that's going to be the case based off of how many people are working here
and how many people drive so here's the letter of support from the RCO we brought
we brought pickles to the meeting people loved it uh the you know there's recognition that
pickles to the meeting people loved it the
there's mixed-use properties on this block there's commercial properties is in close proximity
they didn't think parking was going to be you know too big of an issue and they recognized the the
agreement that we signed with them referencing hiring from the neighborhood this was a petition
of near neighbors that signed in support on the pale thorpe and second street properties
the generally positive meeting
about us so um they've been existence uh as a hot in existence as a hobby since 2018 but they
formalized in 2020 they currently have five to six employees plus 1099 employees who work at the
farmer's market i'm just going to keep speaking as i click through but small batch pickles
they work in the facility the facility is you know day-to-day operations with with those five
to six employees they are agreeable to commercial trash pickup once a week and are willing to do
more if necessary they also do compost because they have a lot of organic waste in terms of
machinery the only machinery they have is the spear cutter for the pickle sphere spears so
you know it makes some noise it's not super loud there's auto body shops on this block that i
imagine are running much more noisy equipment than we are so we don't think you know you'll
really be able to hear what's going on here's you know the our story with the wedding um
they do more than just pickles they pickle a lot of different vegetables they have specialty
runs they have customers all over the tri-state area who we serve
these are their core flavors dill sour sweet garlic onion habanero dill they have limited
runs as well reviews very well reviewed um and you know very popular throughout the city of
philadelphia here's a zoning map you can see the split zoning nature of this property we do run
street to street palethorpe to north 2nd street the palethorpe street side is used really just for
employees those 1099 employees picking up and dropping off their farmers market materials
the larger truck comes in on the front side and that's where
you know the primary face of the business is happening
here's the photo so this is the front of the property and in not great condition needs a lot
of tlc this is the rear from the pale thorpe side posting photos right in the left the right on
the property on pale thorpe and the left on pale thorpe and by the way the architect judy robinson
from continuum architecture is is on the virtual call there are questions from uh for her here's
the interior so obviously not great in there um it's gonna be gutted and you'll see the interior
layout is a two-story layout. Pretty basic, some manufacturing, some retail, a lot of storage,
a couple offices. This is the elevation from the front. Not proposing to do any construction
in terms of additions and whatnot. Exterior lighting at the front and the back.
Here's the floor plan. So this is the second street side. You can see this is that retail
component right here that has a bathroom. There's an area for the truck to pull in. There's pallet
storage here in the middle. There's production up here. There's a large walk-in cooler to keep
all the pickles cold. This is the trash storage on the backside, and this is a garage door right
here that is 9x10, that garage door. That's where the 1099 employees would come in for their
farmer's market pickup on the peltorpe side and then oops here is the upper floor you can see
there's an office and a meeting space in the front there's storage in the middle you know
sort of open space below the top of the cold storage and then just a lot of storage really
the large deliveries that they have are just monthly and that's jars buckets palletized items
Most of the deliveries are done by the team themselves with their own truck, and that
2nd Street garage door is 12 by 12 1⁄2.
Here's the RCO meeting notice.
We met with Norris Square Community Action Network.
They were very supportive.
Their existing location is at 4500 Worth Street, and they've grown out of it, so that's why
they're coming here.
Other retail locations are Wegmans, Shoprights, and McCaffrey's.
The hours of operations for this facility are 8 to 5 on weekdays.
Limited hours on the weekend just for farmer's market pickup.
limited hours on the weekend just for farmers market pickup there's no production happening
There's no production happening those days.
those days um in terms of the scope of the interior work it's just kind of a vanilla box
build out the retail will be more aesthetically pleasing i'm sure and they anticipate basically
like a one-year construction timeline they do a lot of community engagement they donate a minimum
of five percent of revenue to non-profits like phil abundance sharing excess we talked about that
Partnering with the RCO or other community groups that they identify that could participate in the plan like that.
Here's the application for appeal.
The agreement of sale, and there's an addendum in here, which I submitted to Ms. Emerson showing, and I'll get to it in a second,
showing that the agreement is active until the 30th right here the buyer shall have until the 30th
to obtain zoning permit certificate of tax clearance uh and with that i'd i'd um sure
ask my client to be state your name and spell for the stenographer and make sure the mic for
phones on yep so my um birth my full name is domenica toscani d-o-m-e-n-i-c-a last name t-o-s-c-a-n-i
you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth is nothing but the truth i do counsel did
you hear my testimony today was it true and correct yes and you adopted as your own yes and is there
anything else about the operation of the business that i didn't mention that you think might be
important for the board to know nope okay questions from the board yes so you're doing
small batches is that what we're doing here yeah so we prime we sell retail jars there are 32 ounce
glass jars the pickles are actually made in the jar so a day of production would be prep tables
jars on every table and then an assembly line style spices garlic cucumbers poor brine lid
and then they go right in the refrigerator we also produce and sell food service buckets
and then actually what I didn't mention is that we do also host monthly pickling classes it's
part of our efforts to reduce food waste as we bring people into the kitchen and we show them
how to pickle okay so when you say you do this so do you use so once you're done with the jars
right then how are you distributing yeah so right now we're a hundred percent self-distributed
we're self-manufactured and self-distributed we have one commercial vehicle that um and with a
drive and our driver who's out um four to five days a week delivering to currently i think we're
at 160 to 170 retailers in the area um and our intention is so um essentially we're in a multi-unit
warehouse currently so we have one unit within a warehouse um and we've been at capacity for
several years we're a bootstrapped business so it's taken us all of those two and a half three
years to find something that we feel the business can afford and will help us set us up for
sustainable growth um and this we feel this property is just that um and essentially as
Alex had mentioned our retail footprint is going to help with bringing our business some, you know,
much needed cash sales, selling pickles that at an accessible price to those in the neighborhood,
basically pickles out of barrels. So pickles by the pound, cheaper rate. And it'll help us fund
and scale our growth. That cash store. So that's the first stage is open up the store.
and then use the revenue from the store to help us continue to make improvements to our line.
So this isn't automated in any way?
No, no. It is the exact opposite.
We are very much a hand-touched product.
We do intend to make some upgrades.
We cannot make them in our current space, but when we get into this space, as I said,
we're gonna our intention is to open up and move our existing line which is very much like how
people make pickles in their own kitchens at home other than the spear cutter um we will likely in
the 6 to 12 months after we move in start to make some automation upgrades but we are not intending
to um you know displaced hands this is part of what we do we want to be our vision is to be a
regional brand we're not trying to be the next gorillos interesting so how many employees
Right now we have 10 employees, and then it does include, you know, some part-timers in there.
right now we have um we have 10 um employees and then it does
Then we have four 1099 farmers markets, which weren't included in Alex's initial count.
So when you say, I'm not sure what that means.
So essentially in-house, like the people who report to us as W-2 employees, there's 10.
And actually that number includes my husband and I owners.
so then we have four 1099 strictly farmers market vending staff that work twice a month for us
and you're doing all of the distribution such as it is yourselves currently yeah yeah interesting
okay all right thank you yeah any other questions yeah i have a question just about location so
i'm looking because it does look like there's two other auto related businesses on either side of
you and have you spoken to them because it does look like from google earth they're constantly
blocking the driveway well sidewalks they were the first piece and people that we introduced
ourselves to obviously because they're the direct neighbors um we did not discuss parking with them
um i can i but we have a very essentially they were like bring me pickles anytime
so they were very excited about us moving next door but i guess you're not necessarily concerned
about loading and in loading out on Pilto Street or on 2nd Street I'm I'm not I'm I'm not yeah
good question do you still use barrels so we have used barrels in the past we do it less so in
today's operation yeah other questions questions from our attorney I'm not at this time Mr. Chair
questions or comments from the virtual audience there are no exchange planning commission
um i'm so sorry one second i lost my place
the comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning from the current rsa5 residential single
family and cmx2 commercial mixed use the existing structure to be reused is a former industrial
buildings similar to those on North 2nd Street. The proposed artist industrial space is allowed
by Wright in the CMX 2.5 District. The proposed uses are in harmony with the surrounding land
use on North 2nd Street. The absence of parking is in an existing condition. The Planning Commission
recommends that the Board grant the requested variances for artist industrial, wholesale sales
and distribution and no parking mi 2025 007 6 hold on 361 1911 to 13 north 2nd street
i vote yes with proviso per amended refusal date of january 7 2026.
michael johns i don't know how we can vote on this without samples no i'm kidding
I know everybody was thinking that, right? My vote is yes with Proviso.
Fishtownpickles.com.
Okay, all right.
You can't get any anyway.
I know, right?
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Do you have issues with this case?
Ty Owen, my vote is yes with Proviso.
what is this about
so hold on hold on hold on hold on
come on up sit up sit down
you're angry it's in english
Great.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Spell, please.
Spell your name.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
A hundred percent.
Pardon me?
A hundred percent.
I do it.
Oh, good, good.
All right.
Tell me what the issue is.
I'm the real owner of this property.
You're the real owner of the property?
I bought the property in 2000.
Two times you bought it?
They didn't do it in 2000.
All right, go ahead.
This is a long history beginning in 2009.
The same day, December.
Somebody accused me for something I never think in my mind.
This is the technique first for putting me in yoga.
to me first for putting me in jail. And this time I go to jail, no money for pay the bill
And this time I go yoga.
too high. And I know somebody in the neighborhood, he tried to hold the person with a problem.
I called my wife, tried to put some little house in the brain or the family route like a
in the court to put it out. The jailer he was looking for, he got in the jail, he tried the lawyer,
the people were ready. I know I understand too many English, I said somebody said,
let me know back on what value is for this people.
Oh, this people say you sell the property for $1,000.
I said, I told the gentleman and the lawyer too,
I don't sell my property.
Because the value of the property now is $70,50.
Only $1,000.
But that's my family support, my job,
because it's a mechanic job.
Right. And I said, okay, no, what about I, I take care of this. No, no, you made new people.
You're going to be here. I decided for this. He never come again. I suppose we stay out of jail
the next day, because the problem is the bill. He's leaving me for 13 days. He tried to push me
for manipulating me. Later he said the separate, I saw my angry, he said my name illegal. And
the general input of the money, $30,000. I say only need $50,000. No, no. This guy only
can borrow $30,000. Because the thing is, he look and I buy this property in the ocean
And the paperwork is through, I sell the property because the price is a little similar.
When I go outside, he say, I swear to God, you don't lose the property.
I try, he put me, pay $500 a month, every month, and then one year, one year complete.
I tried to quit this problem faster. I gave him two months, two months, three months, three months.
One day, I see he happy when I paid some two months together. And one day, I not paid the month.
No. One week, I received an inspector to the court. I have a court. When I go on the court,
he got the paperwork and the lawyer, everything ready for signing. Right. When I take the pencil
for signing, some person inside the court go behind to the lawyer. He say,
I said, I don't want to sign it. He angry. He said, excuse me, defend me because I have the owner of the property. I can't sign it. And in court, in court, in court, he disappeared. He sold the property because he got the paper on the name.
He sent another person to New York, Babylon, New York, for $75,000.
Supposedly the guy come to my shop for putting out the first gentleman to the money and continuing
pay to the value to the 500 to the person it's the deal we go running inside the building
uh in secret he talked i don't understand too many english but when the guy looking at me down
so so let me mr goldberg who owns the property now so the property is currently owned by
1911 and second street lp when i walked in today i became aware of the situation
coincidentally we also separately have represented the individual that nikki is buying the property
from so i i called him said what's this about the property was sold at sheriff's sale in 2023
i'm looking at a recorded deed that i'm happy to submit to the board they've vetted this
transaction through title they're comfortable with the fact that they're buying the property
from someone who legitimately owns the property so so so so sir let me let me let me tell you
what we today we were deciding whether or not this property could be used by this person
deciding whether or not this property could be used by this person for a business and when we we found that if you have issues with someone who you think took the property whatever you're going to have to get an attorney and take that action against that individual.
for a business
But today, we handled one thing.
I understand.
I have an intuition to my lawyer.
Because I went to the justices, the peaceful intelligence, made the first step.
I follow him.
And the son he got, he talked about the studio musician, musician something, instrument.
Now he got another history.
For the abuse of prey, the next month, the attorney department got the poverty for sale.
Right.
Okay, so that's what we're going to have to do.
You're going to have to get your attorney and take the action against the individual.
The attorney department got $300,000.
He won a ticket.
I say, no, I'm not touching it.
Hillary, what do you have something?
No, just give me one second because while I was looking on Atlas, it didn't have the most updated.
So I just want to look at.
um i just i just emailed it to you larry wait wait let me because it it looks
is this under so the address that we have is a consolidated address is it listed as
two separate parcels on the deed okay listed as 1911-13 okay and this i could
mean the document or the recording number is five four one six three four two eight it's dated 2023
yeah atlas was funky for me too yeah so i asked that you know the the current owner to send me
the deed um and you have the i do and i just give this a copy i sent it to hillary i can submit it
i'm having so sorry i think i'm also having um internet issues today i keep getting a notice
that my connection is unstable so um
yeah and atlas is not the last thing i have on here is from 2000 that's sorry
and also share my screen if you want me to share my screen sorry can you share your screen it's
not coming through yeah thank you i just don't put that on the record
sheriff's deed dated it was recorded March 28th 2023 references the parcel scroll just scroll
down okay all right I assume this this is Louise yeah okay so it was it was sold at Sheriff Dale
He passed away.
The person borrowed the $30,000.
I mean, he passed away a long time ago.
And the lawyer used his son.
Every time they call, keep going.
Every time I have a cold day, they just ask him for the young orphan.
He say, oh, no, the son will be here.
But he let me let you know that he died.
The father died.
you're welcome all right so yeah so i um in accordance with what what the chair recommended
sir if so this was this appears to be have the property has been sold at a sheriff's sale three
years almost three years ago um if there are if you have concerns about what happens then you
do need to speak um with an attorney but the property does appear to be in the ownership of
another entity at this time and that's the entity that is selling the property and one of the things
to the court to the city to the charity department because the lawyer okay they set out the brain
right so listen i'm i'm we're really sorry about your problems but you're going to have to find a
way to handle it with your attorney and we're going to need to move on okay but thank you very
much i know you sat here a long time thank you very much next day i got to the department was
I got loose, empty car, one piano, three saxophones, a trumpet, everything.
He never let me know about another car.
I see one car in the social media.
My car's son, all car, like an antique.
He said two close to Atlantic City, one young car.
I don't know the rest of the 18 car.
All right, so thank you very much.
We're sorry about your problems, okay?
Thank you, sir.
all right thank you all right um we're going to move on right number 12 we did everything we did
right no uh mr sure i think we had only started the vote on that last one so we
finished that we need to finish the or just start the vote i think i'll yeah the vote over come on
i'll yeah vote over come on yes sorry
Yes. Sorry.
so mi 2025 007 361 1911 to 13th north 2nd street
I vote yes with proviso per amended refusal dated January 7th, 2026.
John's Vice, vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Fenetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with proviso.
Taya Wayne, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you.
Thank you.
All right, so number 12, Mr. Goldberg again.
M-I-2025-007-397-1921 Poplar Street.
Mr. Goldberg, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Alex Goldberg, A-L-E-X-G-O-L-D-B-E-R-G.
All right.
Could you identify your client, the relationship to the property?
my clients are jeremy peskin and sarah manning peskin and they should be in the virtual audience
um and we also have a letter of non-opposition from councilmember young and i see also franklin
bill is here too okay um you also the applicant has 12 sign signatures right our vice chair has
a few questions for you. Good afternoon. 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 and stipulate to its
accuracy? I do. Okay. Thank you. You can share your screen and see what your case. Okay. This is an
RSA 5 property that has an existing two, that has existing two family living in it that was
legally done and approved under buy-ride zoning at the time when it became a two-unit dwelling.
My client bought it. The proper licenses were not maintained. The zoning changed to RSA-5,
and now they're here because in order to get a two-unit rental license for their two-unit dwelling,
they obviously need to go through the variance process again.
Here's the notice of refusal, which states, again, this is a two-family dwelling.
And I have sort of a timeline of events that I think will paint a clear picture, but there's
a certain exhibit that I want to get to before explaining that.
Here's a letter from the coordinating RCO.
We had an in-person meeting.
My client, Sarah, was there with me.
They live in Philadelphia.
She works for the University of Pennsylvania.
There was no one opposed to the project.
It looks like 17 in support and two not opposed.
um they sort of felt like you know and i agreed that there was a hardship here and you know it's
been a duplex for over 20 years converting it back to a single family uh would be would be a large
burden here's a petition of neighbors there are several other multi-family properties on that
block 1925 poplar 24 31 26 41 and 27 all of those are because this was a multi-family zone block
So a lot of those multifamily licenses were maintained. This one was not since my clients purchased the property in 2016. They have had tenants since that time. According to Sarah, they've had no more than 15 days of vacancy since 2016, and the majority of their tenants have stayed for over five years.
so they have not had a lot of turnover here.
They were not aware of the fact that they didn't have the proper licensing
until they were advised by a realtor and hired us immediately.
Here's the property history showing the two-family living in 2005
when it was converted that way under multifamily zoning from a vacant structure.
And in 2005, that same year, an individual, the owner by the name of Andrew Storer,
got a two-unit rental license.
you can see in the affidavit sign on your screen that under his ownership he for the entire time
lived there so what andrew decided to do when it was a multi-family zone property was get a single
unit rental license because he didn't need a rental license for himself and at the time
we did not foresee the zoning would change to rm1 so we had the one unit rental license
and then in 2016 my client purchased the property with a one unit rental license and the zoning
changed in 2018 and by that point you couldn't get the two unit rental license back because it had
And by that point, you couldn't get the two-unit rental license back because it had been lapsed for some time.
it had been
So I hope that made sense.
Property was legally converted, had a CO.
The owner-occupied individual chose to get a one-unit rental license, and that caused this issue, unfortunately.
Here's the 1900 block of Poplar.
Those addresses that I mentioned are all two- or three-unit structures.
This is a two-unit building.
We're planning to keep it that way.
Here's the bill in 2018 when it changed from RM1 to RSA 5.
Again, they bought it in 2016 as an RM1 property.
Here's where that parcel was for the existing zoning at the time of the zoning change,
and then after it became RSA 5.
Here's the zoning map.
Google Maps perspective.
here's the photo so this is the front of the property we have a bunch of interior photos as
well there's a parking spot off of west george street which is sort of a rear street with a
bunch of other parking spaces that's the only thing i would point out about the refusal it
doesn't reference that parking space that surface parking spot i looked in the atlas file there's
reference to um the seeking of a of a variance for it in addition to other variances um i don't
see anything beyond that it's been that way for some time i know that the records can be spotted
on atlas we believe it to be a legal parking spot and i would ask if that's reflected in the record
and maybe we have to defer to the streets department for that here's the notice posting
at the front and the back of the property here's the backyard so the first floor unit has access to
this space under the deck and the first floor parking spot the second floor unit has access
to this back deck there it is here's poplar street to the right and the left and then west george
which is a narrow street to the right and the left where you can see parking is not out of character
interior photos so this is unit one these units we're not proposing to do anything different
to them these are listing photos the I believe the second floor unit is occupied and the first
floor unit is vacant the first floor unit is a one bed two bath there is basement use which is
existing you can see a photo of it right here which it looks like a workout room and a home
office there's not a bedroom down there the second floor unit second and third floor unit I should
say is a three bed two and a half bath this is what that looks like
very basic illustrative floor plans you can see the first floor unit is this
green color kitchen living in a bedroom at the back with access to the rear off
of the living room and then in the basement you can see there's a utility room and then that gym
at home office and a bathroom and then on the upper floors you have basically kitchen and living on
the on the second floor and then three bedrooms and two bathrooms on the third floor
the rco meeting we met with united france civil civic association on february 12th
The mailing certificates, the application for appeal, deed to the property showing they purchased it in 2016 from Andrew Storer, and then lastly is the tax clearance certificate.
I know my client's availability for this was depending on how long today ran, because I think they may be at the airport, so let's give them a try.
try to quote yeah jeremy or sarah
could that person please raise their hand there's currently no person with that name in a virtual
audience the goldberg you're an officer of the court we'll take your testimony questions from the
board questions from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
no hands at this time chair cleaning commission
and before with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change in
and zoning to the current RSA 5 commercial mixed use,
I'm sorry, RSA 5 residential single family.
The proposed use is consistent with documented prior use.
the proposed use is consistent with documented prior use the planning commission recommends
The Planning Commission recommends
that the board grant the requested variance for three-family household living
that the
by 2025 007 397 1921 poplar street i vote yes sir michael johns my vote is yes
Cheryl guest and my boot is yes. Did we say 2? 2 units? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Oh, all right. Okay. Oh, thank you. Yeah. I missed that. It's just 2. Yeah. Yeah. That's what they're saying. Yeah.
All right. Okay, uh, my vote is yes.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes, my vote is yes.
Okay, thank you number 9.
mi 2025 007 378 22 15 to 21 north 11th street andrea solemn is the attorney
non-oppositions from council member young and 37th ward unanimous of their support 15.
could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer good afternoon andrea solomon a n d
r e a s a l o m o n you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do could you identify your client a relationship to the property yes my client is two two one two
through two one north 11th street llc with me today is mr sanjeev jane the owner okay and our
vice chair has a few questions good afternoon um have you submitted your documents and exhibits
five days in advance of this hearing we have and do you waive the reading of the refusal and
stipulate to its accuracy i do okay thank you you can share your screen and proceed with your case
thank you uh sorry i'm not seeing the oh yes the share screen button here we go
okay good afternoon again um with me here today are Mr. Sanjeev Jain and Mr. David Whipple the
project architect is with us virtually um that we're here today with an application for the
change of use for the multi-family residential 12 dwelling units and an existing structure
it was previously permitted for a machine shop and warehouse most recently it was used
as a church though it has long been vacant. We have a letter in support from the RCO unanimous
support and a letter of non-opposition from Councilman Young. The vacant structure sits
at the corner of North 11th Street and West Kelowna Street across the street from the
Penrose playground and directly abuts the regional rail line, making this a really difficult lot to
redevelop. It's zoned I2, medium industrial, but the block is largely residential with the other
properties being zoned RM1, CMX2, and the Penrose playground is zoned RSA3.
um the i-2 designation is what resulted in the refusal for multi-family use
um the this is a picture of the property from north 11th street
uh you can see its adjacency to the rail line here directly abutting its rear yard
again it's right across the street from the penrose playground and an otherwise residential
block that has quite a few vacancies and the cmx2 properties and southern properties on the block
have been developed recently as other multi-family units we've done some work to clear out the the
debris and the existing vacant structure. So you can see it
needs a lot of love. But this is the first floor, the interior
first floor, the second floor, and the third floor. We're
proposing 12 units for manageable independent living.
The target tenant is our veterans and seniors. Mr. Jane
are veterans and uh seniors uh Mr. Jane has developed other similar properties with these
has developed a
manageable units for independent living this is not a temple it's right near next to Temple too
right it's right near Temple yes Temple housing area not Temple housing area and uh the target
tenants are not students it's targeted for seniors
And it has a shared rear yard for the all the tenants will have access to trash and closure.
And we're yeah it's long been existing vacant.
You can see from the unanimous support of the community that they see a need for this type of unit to maintain the neighborhood affordable and provide affordable housing for for senior citizens.
um the proposed variance represents the least modification for of the code necessary to use
this property in conformity with the surrounding residential uses in the neighborhood it will not
be detrimental to public welfare as evidenced by the letters of support from the community
and non-opposition from councilman young in fact it'll help meet the shortfall for for rentable
units in the city and we respectfully request the board grant the approval for this variance
with that i'd ask that mr jane b sworn in sir could you please state your name and spell for
the stenographer sanjeev jan s-a-n-j-i-v and the last name is spelled j-a-i-n do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do counsel sanjeev just saw my presentation
in its entirety is it true and accurate yes and do you adopt it as your own testimony yes
and you what and you own other uh similar properties with similar size units and see a
need for this type of unit in the city quite a bit well happy to take questions questions from
the board you have a few questions one um are are there any housing subsidies being utilized at this
site you i'm not sure i understand the there's this is all private money that is going to be
um uh developing this is that what you mean no i meant for the tenant so like are there
tenant-based vouchers project-based vouchers uh do you mean like section 8 vouchers it could be
section 8 it could be project-based it could be ubvs it could there's a variety of we do have
We participate in Section 8 vouchers. I have participated with the Veterans Administration.
So I participate with a variety of programs.
I don't have any that are targeted specifically. There's not like a waiting list or something, if I've understood your question.
Not that there's a waiting list. I just feel like typically when I see senior buildings, there's other amenities that are supporting seniors.
There's usually onsite laundry services. There's usually an onsite community space.
Sometimes there's a supportive service partner that's on the building that's providing health, health care and other wraparound services. Understanding that you, you know, already operating buildings like this, this does not look like the typical senior building in Philadelphia. And so I was just inquiring around sort of one, how does it, how is it functioning for that specific end user?
yeah and really the end user is is somebody that is independent it's for independent living that's
why the size of the studios is for yeah i was less worried about the independent most tax credit
buildings are also independent living but i think when most seniors are on fixed incomes i see a
building here that is all stairs a three three story walk-up typically not ideal for seniors
um yet i do see and i'm assuming some of these units are type a units because i see a ramp looks
like it's intended in the front but none of them have been denoted on the plan yeah so there there
is a ramp to allow for the accessibility to the first floor units are these going to have fully
accessible bathrooms yes okay that is the intent okay and then what's the plan for things like
storage um for deliveries there's like there's no doorman so where where mailroom like what is the
sort of lobby tenant spaces so i know david david uh the project architect raised his hand he he can
walk through some of this programming but um there is a small lobby in the rear in the front
the property and the trash storage is in the rear okay okay i could share that the way that we've
I could share that the way that we've done it in some other buildings where we have situations like this is it's a digital entry at the front and it's a it's a code that people can use for deliveries, but it's a different code from any apartment so Amazon anything like that can be brought into the building and.
done it in some other buildings where we have
And I can't give you a real percentage, but if I had to guess, I would say half the time
the Amazon deliveries will be left on the side in an entry.
And the other half of the time, they actually do go to the apartment and leave it in front.
Generally, if it's a DoorDash or something like that, what we found is they do actually
go to the apartment, but yet everyone is kept safe and secure because they're not giving
their own code.
They're giving one for the main entry.
uh laundry is actually uh planned to be in each unit independent laundry okay
it doesn't have a basement start out by saying um seniors and um veterans right yeah that's what
yeah that's what we've discovered that there's the that's a good mix that's the largest need
that we have found in other places i was recently awarded a community partner award by an organization
that I actually just came in touch with a few years ago.
And I didn't know about some things
that actually has had us develop these.
Like, for example, these come fully furnished
and we offer them with all utilities included.
And for that audience, we found
that that makes a big difference
because they don't have to,
especially veterans at times are coming,
at least the ones that I've encountered
are coming without anything.
And so they start off with having
furniture and don't you take referrals from veterans we do the veterans association administration
right yeah but what i'm saying is that what i discovered in the last couple of years just as
i've gotten introduced to some of these folks is uh that the veterans themselves don't have
the money or the resources and are coming in with nothing and so we have just found that
providing them furnished makes a big difference okay does the building have a basement
all the questions yeah can you guys hear me yeah i can hear you okay does the building have a
basement it does not it starts off at the ground floor okay thank you i i you mentioned i don't
see uh you said washers and dryers in the units i don't see it on your plan
i don't see anywhere there where there's washer and dryer
is that the washer and dryer this is the washer dryer yes okay sorry and power oh i thought that
was an hvac unit i thought that was hvac david has his hand raised the project architect
he can be promoted as panelists he can point us does anybody else have questions for the architect
the hvac is going to be a mini split
okay and is the plan for rolling showers on the first floor on the first floor yes okay other
questions questions from our attorney hillary emerson not at this time mr chair questions
comments from the virtual audience
we have a hand up from david whipple okay
good afternoon sir david's the project architect so unless there are other questions oh okay um
well i didn't hear any more questions so we'll see um planning commission amy boy with the
planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning at this
location from the current i2 medium industrial this property has not been remapped since the
original 1933 zoning the existing building to be reused was most recently home to a house of worship
this block face and the block face across the street contain residences and a playground
with which residential living is in harmony the planning commission recommends that the
grant their requested variances for multi-family household living mi 2025 007 378 22 15 to 21
north 11th street i vote yes johns my vote is yes cheryl gaston my vote is yes
tennetta graham my vote is yes ryan mcadams my vote is yes hi owen my vote is yes
Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you. Number 10. MI 2025-007-379-1700 Christian Street. Henry Clinton is the attorney.
thank you very much thank you very much thank you number 10.
He's being promoted to panelists share. Sure.
good afternoon mr chairman members of the board hi counsel could you please state your name is
spelled for the stenographer sure henry clinton h-e-n-r-y clinton c-l-i-n-t-o-n right do you
swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth truth i do mr clinton could
you identify your client the relationship to the property sure my client is alb 1700 llc
a representative of the client is to my right your left bledar b-l-e-d-a-r noka n-o-k-a right um
i understand that um sasta was in favor
NoWAC was against. Is that correct? Correct. And then you have a petition signed by 55 people.
Correct, Mr. Chairman. Our Vice Chair has a few questions.
Good evening. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
I have, except yesterday I was asked for some interior photographs and I produced those.
Okay, great. And do you waive the reading of the referral and stipulate to its accuracy?
yes miss graham i do okay thank you to share your screen and proceed with your case
there's still plans on the up on the screen from the prior project yes
we'll get that off all right can we take care of that
there we go go
is that visible mr chairman it is all right again good afternoon again mr chairman members of the
you i just don't see your plans yet okay i see you and your client
maybe it's just loaded
i'll start again then
about now we're good sir beautiful all right good afternoon again uh henry clinton uh my client is
to my right led Aranoka NOKA. This is a request for a coffee shop in a CMX1 zoning district.
It's a referral not a refusal. There's two apartments above that have been previously been
granted and basically we have vacant commercial space on the first floor and we're asking that
a coffee shop be allowed with overwhelming support from the community. This is my presentation,
Exhibits A1 through A10, which I ask to be admitted, and I'll walk through one at a time.
Refusal, CMX1.
As I said, it's a referral.
Eating and drinking establishment prepared food in an existing attached structure and no signs on the permit.
We do have a RCO letter of support.
And as you indicated, NOAC recently, I think yesterday, submitted a letter in opposition.
Petition.
So this property is at the corner of 17th and Christian Street. My cursor is moving toward the east. That's Stanton Elementary School. To the right, this is the YMCA. It's been on Christian Street for many, many decades.
So it's a corner property. Been completely renovated about five years ago or so. Second and third and fourth floor are apartments. And this is the coffee shop on the first floor. We're looking south now on 17th.
Now we're looking north on 17th. Across the street is Commercial on the corner. On the east side of 17th and Christian is Residential. Another view looking at the coffee shop looking south. Just some more perspective photographs for the board.
and we're looking north and we have this photograph because there's a set of bilko
doors steel grates that lead down to the basement where trash will be stored and
this is the entrance to the apartment you can see there's two mailboxes outside to gain entrance
the name of the coffee shop will be Aurora
A-U-R-O-R-A
This is the inside of the facility. We have made countertops, brought in tables, chairs, because basically it was presented as a white box with commercial building permits, electrical, plumbing, and HVAC obtained in 2022. We purchased the property. My client did in 2024.
this is the inside of the facility
we have
This is a type of menu. So basically, it's going to be coffees and teas and pastries. There's no open flame cooking, no stove, nothing that requires venting in any way. It's going to be 22 seats maximum, three to five employees, all of whom are local. In fact, my client who's to the right, he lives on 17th Street, the 700 block. So he walks to work.
Here are the plans. I'll show you some of those renderings. This is the outline, site plan of the building. I guess we'll work on first floor. Excuse me. First floor is in the middle. Proposed first floor. Tables, counters, counter area here. There's steps leading to the basement. I do not have a floor plan of the basement, but it's going to be trash storage.
There's mechanicals for the other two apartments, and there may be a refrigerator or a freezer down there.
There's also a handicap bathroom.
We're going to have an aluminum ramp leading up the step so someone can get into the coffee shop if they are in a wheelchair.
The outside of the building, which I've shown you photographs of.
So this is a color rendering of what it will look like and does look like actually now because some of the work has been ongoing as my client tries to train employees and also have the coffee machines, I guess, adapt to their usage.
And he can talk more about that.
uh this is
city of philadelphia department of health
food safety certificate this is a course
that had to be taken so the property could be used as we intended
also there's a safe serve or serve safe certification also it's a classroom
administrative certificate application for appeal
Print out from the tax center indicating there's no real estate taxes due.
This is the zoning map.
Where my cursor is, is the elementary school CMX1 directly across the street.
Deed indicating ownership.
Notice letter to everyone else within 250 feet of the property, including the refusal.
Let me go back to that.
mailed out 150 pieces. And then I just have some historical zoning records indicating
that it is a vacant first floor commercial and two apartments above. And historically,
it has always been two family. Found some records. I believe these are from 1961.
I don't know if it's based on the form, it looks like something from the 60s rather than the 80s, but it was a vacant store and two units, two family above.
Again, just some more historical records, 1956, a store, two family.
I mean, they're so old, I don't even know if they're relevant, but I thought I would include them.
So the hours of operation are going to be 7 a.m. to 7.30 p.m., seven days a week.
it's going to be a commercial trash pickup with the trash stored in the basement
we will have deliveries but the deliveries are going to be just of pastries which would
actually will be delivered in a car and then there's some coffee deliveries which would
be a small truck but those deliveries typically take place prior to the school hours and or after
the school hours as i said my client is local i'll just go back to maybe one of the renderings
in case there's any questions so we're not impacting uh any lighter air of any adjacent
neighbors it's basically an existing footprint that we're occupying on the first floor we're
not impacting anyone's light or air. It's in harmony with the code, basically a commercial
use on the first floor. And that's why it's a referral, not a refusal. And it's in harmony
with the wishes of the neighborhood, at least those who attended the well-attended SAZA
well-attended SAASA meeting that we had as evidenced by their letter of 35 in favor and zero against.
meeting that we had as evidenced by their letter of...
There's no signage on this application.
And as I said, I think I might have mentioned there's 22 seats that will be available for patrons.
So with that, I'm going to ask my client to adopt my testimony and then entertain any questions from anyone.
what's your client's name henry my client's name is bledar b-l-e-d-a-r noca n-o-k-a
okay what um why don't you uh state your name yourself and then and then spell it for the
stenographer okay yeah my name is bledar noca that's b-l-e-d-a-r last name n-o-k-a
right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes counsel yeah but are you sat next to me while i presented your project if you had the
opportunity to testify would you adopt my testimony as your own and as true and correct yes uh is there
anything that i didn't cover that that you want to cover no okay and you're a local resident and
live within walking distance okay and have you opened on occasion for training and for
making sure the machines can be broken in yeah okay no further questions questions from the board
questions or comments from our attorney i'm sorry could you pull up the floor
could you pull up the floor plan again then sure just once so you said that there is a
Do you have 0 step clearance? Is it a 0 step clearance? Because you've got a wheelchair accessible bathroom, but it's a 0 step clearance into the.
Right, we're going to have a, um, an aluminum ramp for wheelchair access.
Okay, that's going to have to be something that's portable.
Okay, all right, that was a question.
Hilary Emerson our attorney so this is um proposed on the first floor and basement
of the existing structure yes okay thank you questions or comments from the virtual audience
chair we have a hand up from Madeline Shacumba okay 35 people hi Madeline
can you hear me i i most certainly can could you please state your name and spell for the
phonographer? Madeline, M-A-E-E-L-I-N-E, Shikumba. S-H-I-K-O-N-G-S. You swear you're referring
yourself to the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Yes. Please proceed.
Please proceed. We are not really objecting to this. I'm president of North Washington Avenue.
We are a legislative community organization. We originally supported this. However,
We feel that this owner has violated the regulations of the zoning board.
He has opened this restaurant before he even got official approval on his variance, okay?
And we haven't – I saw nothing that was given to us that showed that he had such a hardship that he couldn't wait to have the ZBA authorize this variance.
And we feel as though he violated rules and regulations and that have ignored other people may do so the same thing.
We wish that, we don't know if there's any penalty for this, but we wish that some type of penalty should be indicated in order to prevent this from happening again because that's what we have regulations for, okay?
and this was a clear violation. It's difficult for us to believe that the applicant did not
understand the seriousness of his action and chose to deliberately do this. He has a lawyer
that was sitting next to him, and I'm sure the lawyer made the applicant aware of the
rules and regulations regarding this matter. We recommend that this request be suspended
or something be done, and the guarantee of the variance be temporarily denied, and the
applicant may at some time later seek approval. We think some type of punishment be imposed
regarding this deliberate act of defiance to deter and prevent others from doing so.
this is the only reason why we are objecting to it okay thank you thank you very much for
This is the only reason why we are objecting to it.
Okay. Thank you very much.
your interest you're you're you're always there thank you thank you is there anyone
else in the first audience yes sir we have a hand up from murray spencer
i'm mr spencer
mr spencer yes hi sir could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
murray spencer m-u-r-r-a-y spencer s-p-e-n-c-e-r do you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole
truth and nothing but the truth i do please proceed sir i am the chair of the saucers owner
committee and happen to be a near neighbor of this cafe we're so happy to have it um i have
been on this block for 50 years, raised two boys. That vacant first floor has been vacant for
probably 20 years at least. The upstairs has been occupied and unoccupied, but we're just so glad
to have something there that the community is really enjoying. Yes, they have been in business
and people are enjoying it tremendously. I mean, I see people coming from across Washington Avenue
and up and down Christian Street to go to this establishment. They're very nice people. I've
met arian and um and the man that's testifying today they run a very nice business um yes we're
very happy to have that uh on the on this block and in this neighborhood all right mr spencer
thank you as usual you are very welcome appreciate it is there anyone else in the audience
no hands at the sound chair planning commission amy boy with the planning commission the
comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning at this location from the existing cmx1 commercial
mixed use the appellant has demonstrated that the proposed use will not cause detrimental impacts
beyond what reasonably expected the planning commission recommends the board grant their
requested special exception for prepared food shop mi 2025 007 379 1700 christian street
i vote yes with proviso first floor and basement only michael johns my vote is yes with proviso
cheryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso tenetta graham my vote is yes with proviso
my mcadams my vote is yes with proviso i win my vote is yes with proviso thank you mr clinton
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, the members of the board.
Thank you.
All right.
We're going to go to number 11, MI 2025, 007381, 4369 Crescent Street.
Rachel Pritzker is the attorney.
They're being promoted to panelists here.
good afternoon
a council could you please state your name and spell for us
yeah rachel r-a-c-h-a-e-l pritzker p-r-i-t-z-k-e-r you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth nothing but the truth yes did you identify your client in relationship to the property
sure my client is alex shanfeld on behalf of funny monk emporium and they are the tenant
of the property and i see that the one neighborhood group is in favor and the
many uh they're non-opposition my understanding the um manny young neighbors council was the
coordinating rco here um mine says a letter of opposition am i right i know that so that's from
the manny young development corporation manny young neighborhood council sent a letter of
non-opposition i just thought the way it was on my thing it's yeah we never we never met with the
development corporation they're okay we're not involved with the process all right um our vice
chair has a few questions sure good evening have you submitted your documents and exhibits five
days in advance of this hearing yes and do you waive the reading of the refusals and stipulate
to their accuracy yes okay thank you you can see your screen and proceed with the case thank you
You see my screen?
We can.
So this is the property at 4369 Crescent Street.
This is the refusal.
The property is on CMX 2 1⁄2.
It already is legalized for retail sales,
but the additional use of drug paraphernalia sales on the ground floor, the existing structure
with existing uses is what's triggering this refusal. Drug paraphernalia is not permitted
in any zoning district, and it's not permitted in CMX 2.5. All the refusals that were generated
as a result of it have to do with, again, the special use of drug paraphernalia sales
prohibited when a thousand feet of another existing regulated use it's next door to a
tattoo shop there's only three properties on this whole block and they're all commercial mixed use
and one is a tattoo shop drug paraphernalia says not a lot of 500 feet the nearest lot line
coordinating any protected use residential you'll see from the zoning maps it's front it's on
crescent street but next to it is gay street which is residential retail sales drug paraphernalia
prohibited in the zoning district as mentioned and then drug paraphernal sales within 500 feet
of any residential district again it's sort of the same as the one before
Gay Street is a residential district they're zoned RSA 5.
Just to orient you to the site this is the certificate of tax clearance for the tobacco
retailer so we're in compliance everything else this is a lease for the property this has been
a long-standing tenant at this property on the commercial ground floor for many many years with
a lot of familiarity in this neighborhood and on this block in particular this is again just the
tobacco products license this is the block of crescent street right here this is leverington
Street, and then this is Gay Street right here. So commercial mixed use on Crescent Street,
which is fronting on those rail lines right there. And then there's just three properties
really on this block. And this property in particular is this smaller one, one in from
the corner, which is 4369 Crescent Street. Just an aerial view. This is the entirety of sort of
that block are these properties right here. This gives you a sort of a better aerial view. Again,
this is the property right here. Next to it's a tattoo shop and another commercial mixed use
on the right. Again, just highlighting which one is the property we're talking about,
this sort of small intermediate lot. This is a front shot of this property. Again,
a really small narrow business that's been um in the neighborhood for for quite some time
what triggered basically needing to get this drug paraphernalia is there were a number of lni
calls made from various neighbors really just all of main street and a lot of the these types
of uses and so lni came in and uh looked around a lot of these businesses and so um
The option is just continue just the retail sales without any of the drug paraphernalia, which I'll go into the detail and the definition of that, or go through and get support for this drug paraphernalia additional use.
These are the zoning posters and the refusals on the property and the notice of appeal.
Again, just some exterior photos of the property.
business has a very good reputation in the community amongst the neighbors even on the
residential blocks this is from this angle again I was mentioning it's kind of an odd block that
has this rail line is sort of this small little commercial mixed-use block there's a units above
but again fronting on Crescent Street this is interior photos of the shop what you would expect
from a property like use like this assortment of different retail items
this is from the back of the shop to the front as you can see it's a really small space it's not
very massive this is just the permit so it's already been licensed for a long time for the
retail sales consumer goods which allows most of the products in there however in order to
In there, however, in order to really sell glassware, in particular, among a few other limited items, and we have a proviso that we've agreed upon with the RCO to limit some of the other definitions contained in the drug paraphernalia use, we need to get this additional use classification.
really sell glassware in particular
But again, this has kind of been the same way since at least 2011.
Here's the definition of drug paraphernalia.
So if you sell any one of these bong, dab ribs, decarbon, loxy machines, sorry, I don't know what that is, glass pipe bowl, grinders, herbal infusers, and these items, you have to have, in addition to retail sales, you also have to have drug paraphernalia.
And really what triggered a lot of this, which my client can weigh in more eloquently than me, is a desire to have a glassware, any kind of bowls or glass pipes.
There's a lot of local artists in the Maniunk area that make beautiful pieces of art for this type of use.
And you can't have any of that without this drug paraphernalia additional use in addition to retail sales.
So, as mentioned, we've agreed for provisos to limit some of these items that he doesn't plan on selling anyways.
Here's the chart that points out drug profanity, and it's not allowed in really any zoning district, certainly not any of the CMXs.
And also because it's a regulated use, it comes with all these additional limitations.
And again, we're near a residential area and also next to a tattoo shop, which is another
regulated use.
As mentioned, we met with the Maniunk Neighborhood Council, which is the coordinating RCO for
this area, and they sent us a letter of non-opposition.
They just basically wanted to understand, you know, what we were proposing, the type of additional products.
And then we, like I said, we agreed to a list of provisos.
As you can see, it was 11 people not opposed to the project and other notified neighbors and other attendees not opposed to the project.
So the applicant has operated for many years without incident.
the applicant is offering to limit the types of items they will sell to bongs dabbers glass pipe
screens tabletop vapes and water pipes bubblers and intends to submit a list as provisos
for eventual approval and the community group supported that proviso
also made sure to go around and get letters of support from the near neighbors and so
we got a significant number of letters of support on the surrounding blocks
and on Gay Street in particular,
given that's the directly adjacent residential block.
So this is Crescent Street next door.
This is the 100 block of Gay Street.
More on Crescent.
Baker Street, Crescent Street.
More on Gay Street.
Leverington Street, which is right next door, Morongay Street, Leverington, and the list
goes on.
just to quickly go through floor plans
I can see my screen so as mentioned this is a really small space
And so as you walk in the front door, you kind of what you saw visually, the register and the desk, the retail area, office and storage and stairs to the basement in the back.
And then there's a completely separate entry to the second floor apartment.
They don't go through the retail space at all.
and then we just had put together a faq and we spoke with the neighbors just
hours of operation um 12 to 8 monday through friday saturday 11 to 8 sunday 11 to 6 and then
just security and id verification id verification with purchase 21 plus signage and you know it's
768 square foot space with 15 years of experience again i just want to mention the proviso which was
the the use will be limited to the sale of bongs dab rigs glass pipes in parentheses bowls grinders
glass pipes in parentheses bowls grinders pipe screens tabletop babes and water pipe
pipe screens, tabletop babes, and water pipe.
bubblers again the property has been there and retail sales and it's just looking to kind of
make sure we have all of our bases covered otherwise it limits the use on this small
business and again this tenant has been here for a long time without incident so helping to support
small business in in the area um it's if um alex um shanfeld could be promoted
i'd like to have him swear in my testimony they're being promoted to panelists thank you
rachel they use the basement too um i believe he uses the basement for um
or where the bathroom is in storage. Yeah. Okay.
Sir, could you please? Good evening. Can you guys hear me? I can. Yeah.
Could you please state your name as spelled for the sonographer? Of course.
I'm Alex Hanfeld, A L X S H A N F E L D.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Counsel?
Alex, just to have you swear on my testimony and then ask you a question.
So have you heard my testimony today?
Do you believe it to be true and accurate, and do you adopt it as your own?
And then did you hear the chairman's question?
Do you use the basement as well for storage?
We do not use the basement, no.
The basement has, like, so there's the two apartments above us.
I'm not affiliated with those besides being a neighbor, but their boilers and their heating equipment is down there.
It's just mechanical, so it's just limited to the first floor.
Your use would be limited just to the first floor.
Correct.
Is there anything else you wanted to add that I didn't go over?
No, I'm here to answer any questions or concerns, but your testimony was accurate and I do adopt it as my own.
Thank you.
Questions from the board.
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson just to clarify this is the only uh use
on the first floor there aren't other businesses i couldn't tell by the pictures no this is the
only use on the first floor correct thanks questions or comments from the virtual audience
no hands at the sound chair planning commission amy boy with the planning commission the
The Comprehensive Plan recommends no change in zoning at this location from the current
CMX II commercial mixed use.
The Appellant has not demonstrated that there are unique physical conditions or circumstances
of the property that would prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning
The Planning Commission recommends that the Board deny the requested variances for drug
paraphernalia with 1,000 feet of another regulated use, within 500 feet of a protected use-slash-residences,
and use in the cmx 2.5 zoning district so if i can just comment on that um so again this has been
a retail sales for a long time it's a small shop and these uses are typically common for
this type of sort of overall use the code presents a hardship in and of itself and that it doesn't
allow for this use anywhere. And most places, given the makeup of the city, are near residential
or near another regulated use or near a property line of residential. So you'd really make it that
you could literally have this nowhere in the entire city. I'd also just add that it has support
from the near neighbors and non-opposition from the community group who helped vet the project.
I would say so MI 2025 007381 4369 Crescent Street I vote yes with proviso first floor only
and use limited and by the way I'm going to pretend I know what all this is okay
So first bongs, dab rigs, glass pipe, grinders, pipe screens, tabletop vapes, and water pipe
it was worth sitting on here all day
you know i gotta tell you i enjoy when we do things different we right before you were on
we did a pickle factory object i saw that that was great that was great michael johns my vote is yes
with proviso cheryl gaster my vote is yes with proviso
cheryl gaster my vote is yes with provisos
tennetta graham my vote is yes with provisos ryan mcadams my vote is yes with provisos
taya when my vote is yes with provisos thank you council thank you
wow that was something
So here it is, 13. MI-2025-007-411-21-Wolf Street. Ronald Patterson is the attorney.
Mr. Chair, I wanted to let you know that this matter has actually been withdrawn because it was determined with L&I that the property should have been reviewed under a different zoning district
and that the use would be by right under that zoning district so this matter has been withdrawn
all right so why don't we take just a five minute break is that okay and then we'll just come back
and read off what we have and and tanetta you you're the hero of the day because every time
you spoke it got worse i just said we got to get her to stop can we send it i mean
Cheryl was here ready to run in and take over for you, but you kept wanting to do it.
What's wrong with you?
You've got to keep exercising it.
Did you ever think we'd be proofing the drug power?
So it's so okay.
Hmm? It's like a, I don't know, it's like a, it's like a material. It's like hard but sticky. It's kind of like jelly answers if they're wet.
And it comes on paper that's like those candies that you set to like peel off where the paper would be stuck to it.
Now, how you do the drug, I don't know,
but I know that's what the devil is doing.
I think he's got it.
Uptah?
You know what, I'll tell you,
because he's the 13th, he's the 13th.
Somebody might come.
I think it was Debbie.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
everyone my name is bill bergman and i will be sharing this uh hearing of the philadelphia zoning
board of adjustment with me is our board vice chair tenetta graham president mr chairman
our board secretary cheryl l gaston present mr chairman board member michael johns
president mr chairman remember tya winn president mr chairman board member ryan mcadams president
mr chairman also present is our attorney hillary emerson our executive director in haggerty and
our zoning board uh director uh no our board administrator lakeisha dandy recording of this
hearing will be available on the zba website by participating you you consent to be recorded
this is an in-person meeting with remote capabilities whether remote or in person if
If you are called to speak, you must state your name and then wait to be sworn in.
Once you've been sworn in, please state your name each and every time you begin your testimony.
Any person may enter their appearance to become an interested party in the cases.
There are three ways. You can identify the case property address on your Zoom webinar. You can see a staff member, or you can call the ZBA appearance line by the close of business tomorrow.
call 267-270-5548, leave a message that includes your email address and the address of the appeal
case. The following guidelines are for remote attendees. First, when directed by the chair,
You must raise your virtual hand in order to be recognized.
Second, if you're called to testify, you will be promoted to join as a panelist.
Please accept the request and turn on your camera.
Third, the Q&A is for questions about the hearing. Do not comment on the cases of the Q&A.
And fourth, if you are participating by phone, press star nine to raise your hand and star six to unmute.
There's no one here. We won't have to do anybody here. We're going to go through the cases.
number one mi 2022 001 988 554 52 north 5th street sean ward is the attorney is mr ward here
i do not see him in the virtual audience mr chair all right so this is the third listing
So for MI 2022-001-985-5452 North Fish Street, I vote to dismiss and waive the two-year rule.
Michael Johns, I vote to dismiss and waive the two-year rule.
Cheryl Gaston, I vote to dismiss and waive the two-year rule.
Cheryl Gaston, I vote to dismiss and waive the two-year rule.
Tanetta Graham, I vote to dismiss and waive the two-year rule.
To Netta Graham.
Ryan McAdams, I vote to dismiss and waive the two-year rule.
Tywin, I vote to dismiss and waive the two-year rule.
Number two, MI 2024-002822-807 East Roosevelt Boulevard.
um this case has been continued several times uh is mr shawana is mr ward in the audience
again mr chair mr ward is not in the virtual or in-person audience so number mi 2024-002-824-8007
east roosevelt boulevard i vote to dismiss and waive the two-year rule dr johns my vote is to
dismiss and waive the two-year rule. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is to dismiss and waive the two-year rule.
Tynetta Graham, my vote is to dismiss and waive the two-year rule.
We can do three and four together.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is to dismiss and waive the two-year rule.
Di Owen, my vote is to dismiss and waive the two-year rule.
Sorry, you can call them together. I do see Mr. Harris in the virtual audience.
he is there yes so mi 2024 007 462 6215 north 13th street
and number four mi 2024 007 464 6217 north 13th street mr harris
they're being promoted to panelists share
good evening panel members Mr. Harris could you could you please state your
name is spelled for the stenographer uh yeah sure jermaine harris j-e-r-m-a-i-n-e h-a-r-r-i-s
and do you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do would you give us an update on these two cases so we i i just i spoke to my client last
week and we need to get some well there's two issues the first issue is uh there are additional
there are drawings revised drawings that need to be done for this uh building uh in order to make
a proper presentation well i'm sorry for both buildings that's the first issue and a second
issue is that there is a tax clearance issue for this sense of the same entity owns both buildings
so we would just be asking for the soonest possible date so we can get this we realize
it's been continued i believe two times before so we would just be asking for uh the nearest date
with the understanding that you know it needs to be tried i guess at the next hearing all right
sorry mr harris i just had a question um so last may there was a request for continuance to have
more time to modify the plans had they not been modified since that request so they were modified
but when i saw them and after doing a walkthrough it just didn't properly depict
what needed to be done for what he's requesting
okay all right it just wasn't accurate it wasn't accurate to what he's
requesting so mr. Harris so am i 2024 0 0 7 4 6 to 62 15 or 13th Street and am i
2024 0 0 7 4 6 5 62 17 or 13th Street the case is going to both cases are
continued to july 15th at 3 30 p.m hold on let me just make sure it must be heard must be heard
i mean germane this will be the last time understood thank you just said we understand
all right thank you i appreciate it thank you sorry let's see here number five mi 2025 003
eight zero eight hold on zero zero three nine eight zero
0309804918 walnut street um rachel properties limited um alex mussy is also one of the applicants
um no we have no exhibits yet this is the second listing
Mr. Chair, this matter requires an attorney.
The applicant did appear at the previous listing, but we do not have a record that an attorney has been retained yet for this matter.
Great.
Is anyone responding?
No hands at this time, Chair.
We're going to dismiss this.
MI-2025-003-985-4915, Walnut Street, I vote to dismiss.
Michael Johns, my vote is to dismiss.
That's 49-18.
I think he said 15.
That's 49-18.
Yeah, 49.
Yeah, 49-18.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is to dismiss.
Tynetta Graham, my vote is to dismiss.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is to dismiss.
I win. My vote is to dismiss.
Number six, MI 2025-003-995-5211, Beaumont Street, Ramon Properties, same group.
Yeah, Rahabah Property.
Right, this is the second listing.
Yes, and also ABL Mussey is the listed applicant.
the same situation in this case, Mr. Chair, an attorney is needed. We don't have an indication
that one has been retained. The applicant did show up at the prior hearing. We have received
no exhibits for this hearing. All right. So MI-2025-003-995-5211 Beaumont Street, I vote to
dismiss michael johnson my vote is to dismiss cheryl gaston my vote is to dismiss tenetta
graham my vote is to dismiss ryan mcadams my vote is to dismiss iowen my vote is to dismiss
number seven mi 2025 006 969 59 48 north camac street james tucker
This listed applicant is the first listing.
We have a request for a continuous, am I right?
So this case will be continued to 715-26 at 3.30 p.m.
Is there anyone in the audience, must be heard, by the way,
is there anyone in the audience whose case has not been heard?
There's nobody in the audience to begin with.
No hands at this time, Chair.
oh thank everybody and tenetta thank you again you didn't have to do that you could have no problem
see you guys next week when you when you got the tech beat i figured oh my gosh maybe she collapsed
oh my goodness i was like they can't hear me they can't hear me i had to switch computers thanks
everybody. All right. Take care.