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
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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?