You are live.
Thank you. Good morning.
Thank you.
You can begin, Chair.
Thank you.
Good morning, everyone.
My name is Frank DiCicco, I'm the Chair of the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
I'll be participating in today's hearing, along with our Vice Chair, Ms. Carol Tenere,
Board Secretary, Confessor Plaza, and Board Members, Mr. Thomas Holloman and Mr. James
Snell.
Board Administrator, Lakeisha Dandy, and our Board Attorney, Saleta, are also in attendance.
For those of you who haven't yet participated in one of our virtual meetings, I'll go through
some of the basics of what you can expect.
First, we will be administering oaths to individual participants prior to their testimony.
Second, we'd like to advise everyone that this proceeding is being recorded
and that by participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded.
Third, for anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify,
you must raise your hand by hitting star 9 and then star 6 to unmute yourself.
I repeat, for anyone participating by phone,
if you wish to testify you must raise your hand by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute
yourself finally to enter an appearance statement call google 267 270 5548 and leave your email
address and the address of the property at issue i'll repeat that as well to enter an appearance
statement call google 267-270-5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property at
issue i would also like to remind everyone please do not attempt to testify in the chat
all your comments should be directed to the board administrator
uh before let's see let me make sure i got everything here okay the following case on the
930 list has been continued has been requested to be continued that's number three on our list
mi 2020 that's 002190 1645 west cabot street is there anyone who would object to this case
being continued? If so, please raise your hand.
No hands, Chair.
Thank you. At this time, I would like to ask if anyone would like to have the case continued
or withdrawn to please raise your hand. Anyone who's requesting a continuance or withdrawal,
please raise your hand at this time. Chair, we have Leo. Leo, you can unmute yourself and speak
to a continuance. Yes. Good morning, Chair, members of the board. Happy New Year. It's
been a little bit. Leo Moldahill. Happy New Year to you. Address is 2424 East York Street,
Suite 111, Philadelphia, 19125, although not for long because I'm shutting down my office and just
going to be working from home. So you'll be getting a new address soon. Do you swear to
Affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Mostly, yes.
Okay, thank you.
Members of the board, I'm here today on behalf of 3615 North 15th Street.
We had a community meeting for this.
I did not post the signs for the hearing as I got abdominal surgery earlier this month, and it kind of slipped my mind.
So I'd request that this just be relisted.
We already have a letter from the community here.
we already have a letter from the community here uh i just didn't get the materials to the board
I just didn't get the materials to the board.
and i didn't post the sign um as a result so my apologies no problem so number 12 on our list mi
2020 that's zero zero two one three one three six two five north 15th street is continued thank you
members of the board you all have a good day you do likewise thank you do my best take care feel
better. I'm trying. Good. Anyone else requesting a continuance or withdrawal? Please raise your
hand. Here we have a Mr. Jack Hubert. Mr. Jack, you can unmute yourself and speak to a continuance.
I think you already continued it, but I didn't know if he needed me to hang on for a date. This
is number three on your list for Cabot Street. The case will be continued. Okay, so I'll just
get something in the mail thank you have a good day yes you also
we have a miss clark miss clark you can unmute yourself and speak to a continuance
good morning miss clark please identify yourself with a record name and address
good morning mr de chico and members my name is jocelyn clark the address is my address is 22
3230 West Ontario Street, 19140. Would you please spell your first name? J-O-C-E-L-Y-N.
Ms. Clark, do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes. Please proceed. I would like to continue my hearing for a later date because I did not get
all the documents to the zoning board what is the address of your the case you're speaking to
2230 west ontario street
okay mi2020-002194-2230 west ontario is continued is this the first continuance
for this yes okay yes thank you anyone else continuance or withdrawal
no more hands chair
i'm sorry one more hand chair sure sure sure no problem
mr pierre you can um unmute yourself and now speak to a continuance or withdrawal
good morning mr chair members of the board france pierre councilmember johnson's office
that's f-r-a-n-t-z last name pierre that's p-i-e-r-r-e i am uh inquiring in regards to
hold on one minute france do you swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but
the truth yes i do uh thank you uh please proceed and what case are we talking about
1714 washington avenue i saw that there was no exhibits received i haven't received correspondence
from this uh applicant it has just want to check sharon has in this case already been continued
it's number four and yes it was previously listed on october 21st no exhibits so okay uh mi 2020
that's 0002791714 washington avenue my vote is to dismiss my vote is to dismiss dismiss
dismissed dismissed you thank you mr frons no problem thank you
any other requests for continuances or withdrawals
No more hands, Chair.
Thank you.
Mr. Chair, do you start with Duval?
MI 2020-002588, 100 West Duval Street.
MI 2020-002589, 102 West Duval Street.
MI 2020-00257231 West Duval my vote is no on all three my vote is no on all three
no no to all three no to all three I think with that we can begin the regulars list
Thank you. Calendar number 2187-1105 East Passchonk Avenue.
2187-1105-East-Pashonk Avenue.
Sorry about that.
I have to speak in Bork.
May you please raise your hand if you were for this case?
Anyone available for 1105-East-Pashonk Avenue?
Yes, they just raised their hand. They're coming in as a panelist now. You can unmute yourself.
Thank you. Hi, this is Tara Ko. I'm an attorney.
Hi, Tara. Can you put your name and address on the record and spell your last name?
Sure. My name is Tara Ko. Last name is K-A-O. And, oh, sorry. Let me start my video. I didn't
realize it was off. And my address. My address is 931 Arch Street, Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA,
19107. Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Yes. Do you also
agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? I do. Have you emailed
the exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal,
referral photos and plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing and have you met
with the rco and do you have a letter um we did meet with rco we received a letter last thursday
uh afternoon and was not able to mail the packets but i did i i it was very last minute but i emailed
everything that you had listed uh yesterday i apologize for the late submission so we do have
the packets um via email i sent it via email but not mail i was not able to mail it in time
miss salata
um we did receive everything it was submitted late but yeah yeah i do apologize for that
we can go and there's a letter of non-opposition from councilman squiller
we did receive that um also like on late thursday last thursday so um we can go forward right
i did i received documents what was submitted late was the deed which was a follow-up document
okay so we can go forward proceed thank you thank you very much i'm not sure if the the owner is
here. So I represent Dr. Bin Wen. He is the property owner. He also operates a PT clinic
in the first floor of the property called Optimal Physical Therapy Gym. He has over 10 years of
experience in physical therapy. And he opened this office in Pashyunk. He moved here from 600
Washington Avenue in 2017, and he serves the community, and I think there's a great need
for something like this in that community. His business is growing, so here he proposes to
add in a... Excuse the interruption. Do you have any exhibits?
I don't have any exhibits except whatever I submitted.
Are you able to share any of what you submitted? Oh, of course.
yeah that way as you speak to what he's looking how do I do this okay because I always
give me one second I still I'm trying to figure this out okay let's see if that works
that's good we have do you see the refusal yes we do okay okay great um all right so uh
so i was going to explain that this property is uh just give me one second i lost my my place
So he owns the business in the first floor and also is the property owner. He proposes to build a rear extension to his office.
And he did hire a contractor to do the work. And unfortunately, the contractor, without his knowledge, did not receive the required permit.
so right and it's already actually completed he wishes to basically legalize and get the
proper permits and the uh the the permits for the already existing now now erect uh addition to the
back uh the issue was that um the issue why we we got a refusal was because um this property has
it's because um this property has multiple street front changes uh the front facing excuse me
multiple street front changes, the front
excuse me counselor yeah go ahead do you have any drawings uh i do let's see if you can um
if i get the right can you see the the drawings does it pop up yes okay great um this is the
drawings. So he already, his first floor already, he already is a permission to do a multiple
practitioner for physical therapy. He wanted to just add about 425 square feet addition to his
office. And I do have pictures of that. And this property has multiple street frontages.
The front is Pashunk Avenue and the back is Franklin Street, which is a residential street.
And the front of the property is on CMX 2.5, which allows for multiple practitioner use.
But the back is actually RSA 5, which triggered the refusal and also what used to be an open space.
And then so the refusal was for two reasons.
The first that the proposed use of group practitioner is expressly prohibited in RSA 5, which is the back area.
And then the plans propose a zero minimum, zero open area, whereas 25% is required.
It used to be a backyard open, basically unused backyard.
And he now has an addition to his office.
I can give you, show you some pictures.
So the front of the office is pretty busy street past Yonk Avenue, and it goes all the way to the back to Franklin Street.
This is the rear, and as you can see, it conforms to other properties, whereas none of them has open space.
And actually, a lot of them do have a business reaching to the back, just as his business does.
And there was non-opposition.
the only, there was a big problem with this trash can that he put in to put his trash in is now
removed because that was one of the concerns of the, of the neighbors. So this is the addition
in the back. So he needs space for equipment, for treatment with his patients. And now the,
the back trash bin is removed. And another issue is that, you know, it doesn't look very pretty
in the back and he will can you and he will uh clean that up and get that fixed uh answer your
question i need to interrupt where is trash going to be stored so he does have a basement so he can
store it in a basement i told him i was like that that is a viable solution about the tenant the
tenants in the apartments the tenants in the apartments um generally it's uh trash is once a
week so they they couldn't put anything in the back anyways because they have no entrance to the
So they would just have to put their trash out once a week and store it in their apartment.
So this rear addition would not cause any typical concerns because it's not going to be a new use.
It's just going to be the same business.
There's not new tenants, so it's not congestion in the area.
It's not going to have congestion in the street or in the sidewalks.
Also, it does not increase the number of occupied units in the property, and it will not impair, you know, the light and air.
It's only one addition, as you can see in the picture, and he does not plan to build up.
So, you know, it is already built, so it would cause unnecessary hardship to the applicant if this is not granted, the appeal is not granted.
And, you know, I think he's been doing this for many, many years, and he wishes to continue
his business here, and he needs the space for his medical office.
And we did meet with the RCO, the community, and there was non-opposition, but for those
couple neighbors that did not like the trash can and that it was unfinished.
and they also mentioned that he they saw that he had his patients running in their residential
street he will refrain from doing that all right any questions from the board no no
anyone else like to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
no hands at this time chair thank you planning commission
No hands at this time, Chair.
Thank you. Planning Commission?
Morning, Chair Chico. Members of the Board, Ian Hegarty, Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
Ian, just spell your first and last name for the stenographer, please.
Yes, sir. Ian, I-A-N, Hegarty, H-E-G-A-R-T-Y.
Do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do, Chair.
Thank you, sir. Please proceed.
So for this case, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing commercial and residential zoning that are on this property.
The through lot and the split zoning present somewhat unique conditions, and we feel the proposed use is unlikely to create unreasonable adverse impacts.
And so we have no objection to the granting of the variance.
Thank you.
MI 2020-002187-1105 East Passyonk Avenue.
My vote is yes with the Proviso commercial trash pickup.
My vote is yes with Proviso.
Yes with Proviso.
Yes with Proviso.
Yes with Proviso.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Calendar number 0654, 1455 North 29th Street.
um i have no exhibits for this case and it was previously listed on july 21st and october 21st
uh can we hold this at this time uh can we hold this to the end of this session
i have a hand raised hold on
mr turner um are you here for this case you can unmute yourself this case and um
hello we can't hear you you need to increase your volume and please identify yourself with a record
yes um putting up my volume