Thank you.
chair we have 44 attendees you can proceed as you wish thank you good morning everyone my name is
bill bergman and i will be chairing this morning's eba hearings with me is our vice chair ismail
shaheed present mr chairman our board member cheryl l gaston present mr chairman our board
member Tanetta Graham. Our board member Michael Johns. Our board member Taya Nguyen.
Mr. Chairman. Also present is our attorney Hilary Emerson and our deputy director for
planning and continuity Kathleen Grady. Here's our virtual format. The proceedings are being
recorded. With your participation, you agree to be recorded. A video will be available by contacting
all one word, ZBAexecutivedirector at phila.gov. That's again, all one word, ZBAexecutivedirector
at phila.gov. For a court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves
before testifying. If you're participating by phone, press star nine to raise your hand and
star six to unmute. To enter appearance statement, call 267-270-5548. Leave your email address and
address the property in question. And finally, the question box on the screen is not for comments
or testimony. All comments should be directed to our executive director, Tanya Sunkett. Oh,
I'm sorry, Kathleen Grady. We stick at a time here. All right. Here's our, let's take a look
at our schedule for today. Number five, MI 2024, 000763, 2601 North 31st Street. That case has
been continued. Number eight, MI 2024-002-446-1715 North 56th Street. That case is continued. And
number nine, MI 2024-002-461-532 North 10th Street. That case is continued. Are there any
other requests for continuance? Good morning, Chair. This is Doreen Blakey, and I will be your
co-host today, and I do have a hand up from Joseph Vaccaro. We'll be allowed to speak.
Good morning. Can you hear me? Can, Counsel. Could you please state your name and spell for the
court stenographer. Good morning. My name is Joseph Vaccaro with 3-I-D-A-3-3-5-S-V-A-E-C-A-R-L.
Right. Do you swear or affirm, tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do. What's the location of the case you're calling about? 2300 North 25th Street.
mr chair that is number 16 on the list um we had no exhibits it's the first listing
mr vicaro that's we do not have any exhibits for that case
mr vicaro you got to speak into the phone you're drifting i'm sorry i'm sorry that's why we're
request to continue. Okay. All right. And you will now be the counsel, am I correct? Correct.
Correct. All right. Thank you. So number 16 MI 2024-002-712-2300 North 25th Street.
That case is continued. Thank you, sir. Any other requests for continuance?
Yes, there's a hand up from Tony and Helen Lang. They will be allowed to speak.
Good morning. Could you state your name, please?
Case number is MI 20.
Is this 4511?
is this 45 11 uh samson street okay could you first of all could you please let's hold on hold
on could you please state your name and spell for the court sonographer my name is tony liang
last name l-i-a-n-g my wife helen h-e-l-e-n all right well we're going to stay with you right
now okay do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes are you prepared to go on today yes
your case is ready to go yes okay so all right this this was you don't want to continue it
we don't want to continue we want to continue is that mean we we notified
that will be this is the time for pairing continue mean right now right well this case
is going to be called a little later what i'm saying you're prepared to move on with this case
right yes all right i'll call you back later okay thank you okay okay any other one anybody else have
a request for a continuance there are no more hands here i have several cases here a few cases
anyway that are no exhibits number two mi 2023 002 871 2146 bridge street
a cas abdel degar is the listed applicant jerry d impero is the listed owner
this is the third listing we have no exhibits
Is anyone here for this case?
There's no one in the audience by any of those names, Chair.
Thank you.
MI 2023-002-871-2146 Bridge Street, I vote to dismiss.
Michael Johns, my vote is to dismiss.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is to dismiss.
Tynetta Graham, my vote is to dismiss.
iowan and my vote is to dismiss ishmael shaheed my vote is to dismiss
thank you number three mi2023-005-272 1525 spring garden street this is the third listing
we do not have any exhibits john and deborah dambacatus are the owners
excuse me there's nobody in the audience vote by their names here so this is the third listing
no exhibits mi2023-005-272-1525 spring garden street i vote to dismiss michael johns my vote
is to dismiss cheryl gaston my vote is to dismiss tennetta graham my vote is to dismiss
My vote is to dismiss
Ishmael Shaheed
My vote is to dismiss
Number 6
MI 2024
002-427-403
Renard Street
Nataza Imalakva
Is the listed owner
No exhibits
This is the first listing
Chair I have Charles Richardson
With his hand up
He will be allowed to speak
I don't think that
Okay, but I don't think that's going to be him.
But all right, please put Mr. Richardson on.
Charles Richardson, you're allowed to speak?
I accidentally raised my hand on that one.
Okay, yeah, I didn't think this was a Northeast case.
Yeah, I have Baten Street coming up.
That's what that is.
Thank you.
Thank you.
So, 403 Renard Street, no exhibits, first listing.
Any hands?
Nope, no more hands, Chair.
So MI 2024-002-427-403 Renner Street.
This case is continued.
Mark must be heard.
Case number one.
on MI2022-006734-2402 Spruce Street, this case has been withdrawn.
And number seven,
20, 24, 0, 0, 2, 4, 2, 8, 53, 12,
Bayton street. This case has been withdrawn. Mr. Richardson,
do you have any comments?
I did not know that they had a withdrawn.
Glad that they have. Thank you, sir. Thank you.
Glad that they have.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you.
All right.
All right.
We're going to go to our add-ons.
Number one, MI 2024-002-372-1151 South 19th Street.
I vote no.
Mr. Mel Shohin, my vote is no.
Senator Graham, my vote is no.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is no.
my vote is no
michael johns my vote is no
mike you're not on that one
oh okay that's right that's right this one i wasn't on that's what i thought it was
right sorry waiting for you to say something
number two
MI 2023-007-016, 1715 McKean Street.
I vote yes.
Temporary variance, that expires 9-14-27.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Hi, Owen. My vote is yes, with Proviso.
Number three, MI 2024-004827.
This appeal is granted on the basis of vested rights only.
LNI is directed to issue the requested zoning permit.
Appeal granted.
With Proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed my vote is appeal granted with proviso
Thoreau Gaston my vote is appeal granted with proviso
Tanada Graham my vote is appeal granted with proviso
Taya Nguyen my vote is appeal granted with proviso
and Michael Johns my vote is granted with proviso
Our first case, we're going to take a pro se from number 12, MI 2024-002-524-2124 St. Albion Street. Francis Rainey and Kristen Albee are the owners.
Kristen, I'm sorry, excuse me. Kristen Albee will be promoted to panelists.
Thank you.
good morning good morning thank you for hearing us all right Kristen could you please state your
name and spell for the court stenographer sure I am Kristen Albee it's spelled k-r-i-s-t-e-n
all be a l b e e swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes i do and also you kristen will you do the testimony i will i'm joined with my um husband
he's also the co-owner of the property okay but you're going to do the testimony yes okay all
right um this application is for the erection of a third floor addition to include a roof deck with
a piled house above an existing attached single family dwelling, whereas both adjacent lots are
only two stories, so the prepared third floor addition without an eight-foot setback is
prohibited. And by the way, we have unanimous support from SOSNA, South of South Neighborhood
Association. Our vice chair has just a few questions for you, okay? Sure. Good morning.
Have you emailed them all the required documents and exhibits that's needed to proceed with this
case five days in advance of this hearing. Yes, we have. I have them as well if you would like
me to share. Yes, we're going to let you share your screen now so you can go through your
presentation. Please proceed. Okay, can you see my share now? Yes, we do. We see your zoning
permit. Okay, I'm just going to go through quickly. Do you want me to go through each
exhibit. Why don't you go through them very quickly and then get to the point of photos
and drawings, okay? Great. This is the zoning permit that we filed for the variant for zoning
for the third story edition. This is the refusal for the eight foot setback. Yep.
I'm going through quickly.
I'm going through quickly. This is the application for the appeal.
This is the application for the appeal.
And then the project information form.
And then the deed stating that Francis Rainey and Chris and LB are the owners of the property.
we have the letter of authorization for the applicant that we had authorized jeff morris
with a notary and then we have the certificate of tax clearance from the zone um for the zoning
and then we have the original drawings that were submitted and then we have a
proviso form stating that we've made some revisions based on the RCO requests from the meeting that
were minor changes to the windows and just type of materials. And so we have new documents that
we're going to share. This is the exterior pictures of the 11 by 17 orange zoning flyer
that we have had up since August 28th
on the front of our property, along with the refusal notice.
And then we have some pictures of the existing cornice
and the existing front of the home.
It's a typical two-story row home.
And then this is the rear of the property.
It's a siding.
And then this is the street view.
The property is the brick kind of in the middle.
And then this is our notification letter that we sent out to all the properties within 250 feet to notify them of the initial RCO meeting and then also the zoning, this zoning meeting.
And then the addresses that we did those certified mailings to, there were 173 properties we notified, our certified mail.
And then this is the drawing, the revised drawing here that we can start to talk about.
So, Kristen, how many other houses on the block have a third floor?
I'd have to, there are at least eight or nine current properties that have a third story edition.
There may even be more.
So we, yeah, so we, just to give a really quick background,
We've been property owners here in this home. It's our residence for the past 15 years.
We're very active in the neighborhood as volunteers. I have been the block captain on this block for the last 14 years.
We've been raising our family here for the last nine years, and we would like to stay in the property.
And with this eight-foot setback, it allows us to, the property is currently 36 feet deep, and it's a 50-foot lot.
So we're maxing out the lot coverage currently.
We're just about at 75% lot coverage.
So the eight-foot, we need that eight-foot to make the house functional for our growing family.
and also where our existing stair is located it's at the front of the property um so that eight foot
would allow us to leave the existing stair where it is and the stack the stair is going up so we're
looking at this um requesting a variance for this eight foot to bring let me ask you the other houses
on the block do they have variances for the eight foot yes are they on both sides of the street or
just one side of the street? They're on both sides of the street and directly across from
our property, there are two three-story properties
that come right to the front without them answered.
Questions from the board?
The RCO, was it SOSNA?
Yes, it was SOSNA and then also there was NOAA, the north
of Washington, and they were both 100% in support
And we also had both of our adjacent neighbors, the ones that are attached to our properties, they attended to the meeting and they spoke in highly support of the project.
Okay, and this is their standard that they support the design with the mansard?
Yes, they had some recommendations for us to make some modifications, but they recommend the mansard.
Why don't you say what the modifications were?
They asked us to change some of the material choices that we had on the front and then on that mansard.
And then also we had shown different size windows and they wanted us to do a uniform window sizes.
So we did those changes and we responded to all of their requests and we were able to change that and incorporate that into the project.
requests and we were able to change that and incorporate that into the project thank you
the questions from the board
questions or comments from our attorney
i'm sorry i i was on mute i'm sorry do we have a uh floor plan for uh what's going to be in this
space? Yes, I can share that now. This would be the third story that we're adding. This is the
eight feet in the front here. If you can see, it would be an additional bedroom space.
That two bedrooms? Yes, on the third story, there would be two bedrooms and then one bathroom
that's being added any other questions from the board then on the second floor
do so did you show the second floor i didn't see it i'm sorry sure yes i can go back
this is showing the first story if you can see the existing stairs at eight foot five
and then the second story is being modified to add the stair we're stacking the stair
above and then there will be two smaller bedrooms gotcha yep all right thanks
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
yes chair charles richards no charles richardson hand went back down there's a person with the
first name naseba will be allowed to speak okay um naseba is up here for another case i am
answering their questions in the chat they are not here for this case okay thank you
there are no more hands chair planning commission
good morning everyone i report with the planning commission amy boyd
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing zoning of residential single-family RSA 5.
The proposed variance is in keeping with the surrounding neighborhoods and the spirit of the zoning code.
The Planning Commission recommends the Board grant the requested variance for third-story setback.
I 2024-002-524-2124 St. Albans Street. I vote yes with proviso. Revised plans, one page,
stamped by CBA on September 18, 2024. Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
my vote is yes with proviso
Tanada Graham my vote is yes with proviso
Ishmael Shaheen my vote is yes with proviso
thank you you have your votes
thank you for your time this morning we appreciate it
thank you thank you number 15
MI 2024-002-709
4511 Samson Street
Tony Liang is the owner-applicant.
It's a pro se.
Tony Liang has been promoted.
Good morning.
Good morning, sir.
mr liang
okay hi mr liang could you turn on your video first of all yeah that's what i yeah no no mr
Mr. Liang, Mr. Liang, could you turn on your video?
Yeah, I thought I turned on the video.
How would we promote you?
I've already sworn you in, so.
This application is to enclose the front porch under the existing porch roof as part of an existing attached structure for continued use as a single-family household living.
Whereas the proposed enclosed front porch with zero setback is prohibitive in the RSA 5 zoning district because the adhesion principle structures have setbacks.
Our vice chair has a few questions, sir.
Good morning, Mr. Leon.
Have you emailed all the required documents and exhibits that's needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
five days in advance of this hearing
uh sorry have you said all your documents
Uh, sorry.
yeah can i can you repeat the question sorry uh can you not very sure have you sent in all your
documents yes yes okay thank you please proceed uh share your screen okay
is the green button at the bottom of the screen there you go yeah can you see this this is the
we have that please proceed we have that you have that so i just go to the the last one is the
statement we see all your documents okay hold on hold on we want to see the photos okay oh
yeah uh these are the photos we take this three different time uh and the three different time
that uh cover the whole period and this is the picture that the other uh neighbor they have
also enclosed the porch yeah you know just one just one testify okay go ahead you're
right so the pictures you're showing now are other neighbors who have already enclosed their porch
yeah there's three houses here these two are connect and this is another very new one they
probably just finished construction a couple months ago and and show us your property
and here is our property
right there's your property yeah this is the one and here is the property so it's all the same
uh include the other three they all have a porch they all the same structure and same street
so the other two the other three already enclosed and we just the fourth one and apply for
enclose there's three places on the on the block already that already enclosed yeah there was
another street and you're and you're looking to enclose your property at 4511 samson yeah just
look just have drawings you have hold on do you have drawings of what you want to do
yeah the drawing is in the application could we see that yeah let me see where
or here
yeah here is the drawing I think here and they enclosed this area right so just like the the
other so that's why the arguments that when we enclose this it didn't change the line from the
front building to the uh this front lot so we we guess that is the misinterpretation we believe
that's misinterpretation okay and indicated in our statement and and could you talk why why are
you enclosing it yeah uh we we are out uh aside in our statement and the the stair see here
well you can just tell me just tell me why you want to close okay
uh we live in the a three-story house uh a townhouse there is the our bedroom right now is
in the second and third and there's so many steps and and lead to the second and third step is all
very high it's like higher than standard this one is like eight inch the other that's nine inch
and we are both over 70 years old i'm 70 my wife is 72 right now we still can walk but it's become
more and more challenging and we think if we move one day if we move our bed in the first floor that
you can see the first floor here and we have a small dining room and kitchen and this is the
right now the living room is small if we put a bed here there will be no living space so we're
thinking if we extend it to a sunroom in outside and close the porch like the other people.
a sunroom in outside and close the porch like the other people we can move our living space
to outside so in that case we don't have to change a lot and we we can in in the situation that we
can just sleep in the first floor and so limit our activities for up and down and that's what the
original thinking questions from the board the um do we know when the other properties uh porches
were enclosed i don't know exactly but maybe there should be a way to check but only notice the last
one that is shown in the picture they just finished probably a couple months ago and maybe
two or three months ago because it's still pretty new i i see the people working on it
so from my memory probably two or three months but i think maybe a place to check
and to know exactly the other two is much earlier
yeah yeah um
okay that's so so i'm looking at the block on on uh zoom well google rather it's a beautiful block
with the porches um just a lovely block with porches so it's tough for me to say yes to an
enclosed porch when all when the rest of the block is so nice just architecturally um with with with
the porches i'm so i'm surprised this is hasn't been designated as some historic uh block because
of the the the character of the of the block um so the last one that was done they did a decent
job for sure better than these two that you're showing in this photo um so that that was just
my question i wasn't sure whether they actually came to zoning and got approval and so that was
really my question the last one okay okay yeah let's try to find the last picture you're right
this one um i have a question have you considered um getting uh stairs the uh uh mechanical you
know like stair lift um yeah we we try to uh yes sorry yeah have you have you considered that and
and thought about doing um we try actually different option we try to find the company
and they two different kind one is a vacuum one and the other one they both feel uh difficult to
do that the other one is the putting on the stair the stair is very narrow and once we put it on
and if we don't use it i mean if we want to walk besides it is uh it's a lot of chance that we might
take on it and so the housemates have someone else like my daughter come every weekend
and so people
are up and down
and could have that dangerous
and also
there is a 90 degree
turn point
that's also difficult for them
but we certainly
when we find these
things on the blog
we think they are
they look nice to us
but I think that's the better way
without
uh doing all the other things uh so print all construction yes so i think if that could be done
and that will be easier for everything and don't change the structure inside too
so yes all right thank you other questions from the board
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
there are no hands chair planning commission
amy board with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change the
residential single-family RSA 5
zoning at this location, the setbacks
of the guard-level stories of this property
and the adjacent properties are aligned
regardless of the proposed portion closer.
Therefore, the Planning Commission recommends
that the Board grant the requested variance
for front yard setback.
Mr. Leang, we're going to vote on this next Wednesday
at 9.30 a.m., okay?
do we have to attend you don't have to attend but you can come on and listen
Do we have to attend?
You don't have to attend, but you can come on and listen.
okay so you will give us the information yeah please give us a mercy yeah please give us a
mercy and we are staying in this neighborhood for a while we only can take i appreciate it but we
only have one person testifying thank you we will be back to you next week okay thank you okay now
we'll go to our regular list here
MI 2024
000748
Vern Anastasio is the attorney
Vern Anastasio has been promoted to panelists.
Chair.
Good morning, counsel.
Could you please state your name and spell for the core stenographer?
Yes, Vern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O.
On behalf of my clients, Adam and Ariana Akay,
property owners at
235-41
Cecil B. Moore Avenue
where are firm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth
so there's a
we think we're going to
hear this and hold
there's a couple things here
we want to request a refusal
to list all the addresses right
use registration
prior to occupancy for vacant commercial
and then we see i'm sorry which address are you working on so so mr chair i can interject we we
just got a corrected refusal from lni although it does not include all of the addresses because
this is a lot consolidation so it does have the correct address for the primary parcel which as
mr anastasio said is 235 to 37 cecil b more avenue that was written incorrectly on the
original refusal um but the other addresses that are being consolidated or proposed to be
consolidated into one lot are not listed on here still um so we need a corrected refusal
um for that um i wasn't aware i wasn't aware of that my apologies yeah no no it's okay i it was
it was something that was discovered within the last well that cost a couple of days reviewing
the information um so and also there's a couple there was some the commercial space it was unclear
what was happening okay now they removed the commercial space okay so we never had the
commercial space as part of our application okay so they they must have realized that mistake then
too because then they just took it out and put a refusal for commercial space because that wasn't
the original refusal it referenced commercial space that's right so okay all right so that's
been fixed but we'll still get we need to make um we'll ask ellen i to make one more change
because we do need to have all three addresses listed for the properties that are proposed to
be consolidated okay and and verne we have a recommendation of opposition from south
kensington and a letter of opposition from council member lazada yeah i am familiar with that thank
Thank you.
And our vice chair has a few questions for you.
Thank you.
Morning, Counsel.
Do you agree to wait a week or stipulate to his accuracy?
Have you emailed in all the required documents that's needed to proceed today, five days in advance?
Yes, sir.
Thanks, Vern.
Please proceed and share your screen.
Yeah, I guess I shouldn't stipulate to the accuracy of the refusal, though, based on what Hillary just told me.
I just learned that.
But other than that, yeah, we're good.
I have a 50-page exhibit packet here that I'd like to get to.
The application is initially for 18 dwelling units across these four properties that are being consolidated into one large parcel.
They're all CMX2.
There's a shuttered commercial space on the first floor, and there were apartments above.
We can do 10 units by right.
Unfortunately, as the evidence will show, I'm going to walk you through the proforma because of the cost of construction and the current interest rates.
And we have an expert who's going to also confirm the accuracy of the presentation of the proformas.
10 just doesn't work.
You can't possibly get a lender to loan that money to build.
You can't possibly get a lender to loan that money to build 10 units on this property.
And the numbers speak for themselves.
It's prima facie evidence of hardship in that regard.
However, we did have three separate RCO meetings.
And we made lots of different changes that I'll go down the list on.
This is the property currently, and we are proposing a total of 16 units.
And Ian Toner, Toner Architects, is here today, who will walk you through the property.
But the gist of the three separate RCO meetings is that there were changes made at every step of the way based on the recommendation of the RCO.
First, we've reduced the number of units from 18 to 16.
We removed all living space from the basement.
We now have storage for the residents as well as bike storage and additional room for the utilities.
And that was at the recommendation of the RCO as well in the community.
We installed, as I said, the bike storage.
we installed a large common area trash room on the first floor, which is right here where my
cursor is, so that all units have access to it. Of course, it'll be commercial trash pickup.
And we also made the rear yard compliant. So the dimensional variance with respect to that is now
100 compliant also the community at all three stages we had initially proposed one bedroom
one bath units and i'm going to show you uh why
they seem to be the most marketable because
give me one second
right here's our property right here over here is the americana apartment building
75 units all one bedroom one bath over here is the luxe apartment building
Over 60 units, all one bedroom, one bath.
So when we came here, this is a vacant lot, by the way, as we can see here.
There's the vacant lot where people illegally park, and here's our parcel.
And as the neighbors ask that we provide a product that is not like those other large, huge, one bedroom, one bath proposals.
so we offer instead a mix of product we have studios which are on the less expensive side
we have two bedroom apartments for small families and then we have one bedroom apartments as well
because that that's the mix that they asked for uh so that's what we landed on
As I said, across the street is a large vacant lot with lots of illegal parking, and just beyond the lot, within 400 feet of the subject property, we have two very large, 55-plus high apartment buildings with close to 200 units, in addition to co-working office space, pools, roof decks, a gym.
So this is all within that residential conglomerate on American Street.
And what we want to do is put these high-end finishes in this property at approachable price points.
Our studios are less expensive than those two other apartment buildings, one bedrooms.
Our two-bedroom units will be less expensive than the two-bedroom units in the Lux and the Americana as well.
And with that, I want to call Ian Toner, the architect of the project, to go over some of the design details and the steps we made that got us to this point.
Mr. Toner?
Mr. Toner.
Mr. Toner has been allowed to speak
Mr. Toner, could you please state your name
and spell for the stenographer
Sure. Ian Toner, I-A-N-T-O-N-E-R.
Sure, Ian Toner
I-A-N-T-O-N
We're affirmed to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you. Mr. Toner, before we review the pro formas, could you please walk the board through the design and the evolution of the interior?
Sure. I mean, I think you did a pretty, pretty great job of doing it for me, but it was all one bedroom units. Like you said, originally 18 units. In response to the neighbors, we removed units from the basement and adjusted the mix.
So we enlarge some of the one bedrooms to create two bedrooms, which means we made others smaller to accommodate it.
So now we have a range. You'll see four studios. Those are in blue on the screen for two bedrooms are in green and then eight one bedrooms in yellow.
like you said the basement is now storage space available to the tenants which you know according
to other clients that we've worked with helps to keep tenants in the building longer because they
don't feel so cramped when they have extra storage space we do have some roof deck space on top
that is accessed only from the four units that are on the top floor so no community roof deck
no party deck. These are private decks for these four units that are on that top floor.
One of the things that came up at the RCO meeting as a concern was that maybe people on the rear
roof decks would be able to look down into the neighboring properties. We offered to reduce
those roof decks, provide a setback so that that wasn't a possibility. Even the people who asked
about it weren't really interested in that. So I'm not sure what the real reason was for the
objection, but when the solution was provided, it wasn't something they were interested in.
One thing you mentioned was the trash rooms, the trash room on the first floor. And
in conjunction with that, there's actually a plan to have a trash chute coming down from the upper
floor. So we're not even going to have people carrying garbage like down the stairs or anything
like that. That's going to go right down the trash chute to the trash room. So it's going to
make it very easily for everyone to be responsible about trash and make sure it's going where it's
supposed to go. Mr. Toner, going back to that point where one could see into other folks,
you know, rear properties, if you stand in the backyard of this property, would you be able to
see? Yes. Right. So the fact that a roof deck could do it, but so could a person who just goes
in the back of this property's yard.
Yeah, where someone's standing in their apartment
looking out their windows.
So it didn't seem, anyway, it never went anywhere.
Okay, but you did, in fact, offer to pull it back.
We did.
Okay, very good.
Mr. Chair, I also want to go over the performance
that were put together very briefly.
here's uh 10 two-bedroom two-bath units
the most uh the monthly gross income would be 17 100 after expenses for the month
the gross income was $12,300. But the monthly debt service, because of the interest rate,
6.5%, and a very modest $270 per square foot on construction, the debt service gets us to $15,000,
which puts us completely underwater, with a negative annual cash flow of just over $33,000.
We'll go over to the next scenario with the 16.
Right here, the four two-bedrooms, eight one-bedrooms, and four studio.
You'll see the gross monthly income at $20,900.
After the monthly expenses, about $15,500.
The debt service is $15,000, which gives us a minimal, very small margin, cash flow of $5,000.
The 10 one-bedrooms, again, the first scenario.
the 10-1 bedrooms. Again, the first scenario was 10-2 bedrooms. 10-1 bedrooms has monthly gross
income of $12,003 after expenses for the month at $8,000. The monthly debt service is $12,000.
And that gives us a negative annual cash flow of 49. We've tried every one of these numbers
between 10 and 16, and 16 gets us to a nominal but positive annual cash flow. Mr. Toner, you have
experience in putting together project proposals for clients and the cost of construction. Is that
correct? Yes. Okay. And in your expert opinion, these numbers make sense? They do. Okay. Thank
Thank you. Mr. Chair, because of the fact that we already have just a couple hundred feet away
beyond a large vacant property, a vacant lot, nearly 100 plus units, because there's a corner
property, that's going to actually be four properties consolidated because we have worked
with and through the RCO system with three separate meetings and made numerous adjustments.
And because, as the evidence shows, the 16-unit number is what can get us to at least a small but positive annual cash flow, we respectfully request the granting of this variance.
And with that, I'd like to ask Ariana Akay to raise her hand.
Vern, before your client comes on.
And I know you said you've met three times.
You've made some changes.
What's driving the vote?
You had five yeses and 25 noes.
i don't know mr chair i honestly don't uh when we made some changes uh to make some folks happy
uh other folks weren't uh and every every time of the three different meetings different people
showed up so it was very difficult uh to to sort of work through the project um bring your client
for the record this was a real head scratcher you know it's typically after three meetings and
capitulating and doing as much as we can to make folks happy um they typically will at
least offer non-opposition but ariana is allowed to speak could you please state your name is
spelled for the court stenographer. Hi, yes, my name is Ariana Akay, spelled A-R-I-A-N-N-A,
last name A-C-C-A-Y. We're affirmed to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Yes, sir. Please proceed, counsel. Thank you. Ms. Akay, did you hear my presentation to the
board today? Yes. Is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge? Yes. Do you adopt it as
your own testimony? Yes. Thank you. Mr. Chair, I also want to make note that behind the property
is just vacant space, if that makes any difference. And I know this board, and I do as well,
take RCO input very seriously. But in this particular case, this property is vacant and
it's been vandalized and squatted for many years. It's because the current market conditions
only work if we can get a certain number of units from the property. And we want to activate this
space and we want to make it great. So we respectfully request the granting of the
variance. Questions from the board. I have a question. Vern, you said that by right is 10
units. That's not, that's apartment units, not single family units, right? That's correct. By
right, 10 apartments. Okay. Thank you. Yep. This is not zones for single family whatsoever. None
of the lots are. Other questions for the board? Yeah. Go ahead. Sorry. I guess since you zoned
for 10 apartments, had there ever been consideration to do larger apartments and
potentially bring in more cash flow that way? Well, the two-bedroom apartment would be the
largest, right? That would make sense for most folks in old Kensington. And we did that analysis,
I think it's page 48 of my exhibit packet that shows that if we did 10 two-bedroom,
two-bath apartments, it's still a negative cash flow because of, again, the cost of construction
and the interest rate currently uh also my client at the rco is was the one who wanted small
Also, my client, the RCO, was the one who wanted smaller, less expensive apartments.
Right now, right across the street, right across this vacant lot, there's two-bedroom apartments that go for $4,000 a month.
Ours will be half that.
Other questions from the board?
That was my question.
Are you looking for any kind of affordable housing bonus?
you said the rents are going to be lower or how much lower what are the rents for the one bedroom
the two bedroom and the efficiency yeah the our one bedroom i have it right here
our one bedrooms are going to be uh um 1100 to 1300 which is um that's our i'm sorry that's
our studio, which is $500 less per month than the studios across the street. And then our one
bedrooms. I have that information. Just bear with me for one second.
$1,750 or $1,800 a unit for the one bedrooms.
Here they are. $1,150 for the studios, $1,300 for the one bedrooms, $1,750 for the two bedrooms.
Again, right across that vacant lot, we've got two bedrooms as high as $4,000 a month.
Their one bedrooms are $2,000 a month, and their studios are $1,500 a month, starting.
They start there.
So as it relates to the surrounding new construction apartments, these will certainly be more
affordable.
And this is exactly the mix that the RCO members asked for.
They did not want all one bedrooms.
They did not want all two bedrooms.
You're not asking for it, but you're not seeking any kind of affordable housing bonus, though?
No, sir.
Other questions for the board?
Questions or comments from our attorney?
Just briefly, Mr. Anastasio, you mentioned there were multiple meetings with the RCO.
when was the the last meeting because the letter that we received is from june and i don't know if
there had been another meeting since then that's i think the last one okay all right thank you
questions and comments from the virtual audience
there are no hands chair planning commission
amy boyd with the planning commission the property is indicated for commercial mixed
use on the city plan, and it recommends no change to the existing zoning at this location.
There are no unique physical circumstances or conditions of the property that would prevent
it from being used in the conformance with the zoning code. The requested number of dwelling
units represents an overuse. Applying for the mixed income housing bonus would earn additional
dwelling units given that they have not chosen to do this administrative remedy. We recommend
that the requested variances not be granted. Mr. Chair, just about one caveat about the
commercial space. All commercial activity that used to be on Cecil B. Moore is now on American
Street. So this is not a commercial avenue anymore. So no one wants commercial there.
In the neighborhood at the RCO meeting, they all understand and support the commercial activity on
american per the plan thank you um hillary we're going to hold this now am i correct
um yes we we still need a uh corrected refusal right everything else but planning but we'll
just otherwise we'll just hold it we'll just hold for the amended refusal and then we can vote um
after that because we've i believe we've taken everything today okay thank you and thank you
Vern, stay on a minute.
Please stay on.
Yep, yep.
65 MI 2024
511 6650
Germantown Avenue.
There's a
letter of support from Mount Airy
business improvement that Mount Airy did
and also a petition of
24 people.
What's going on?
mr chair yes is the vice chair going to ask me some questions
i'm sure i i i i thought you said you were holding up a minute
no no no no i asked you what was going on sure our vice chair please
yes do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy
i do uh you've emailed in all the documents already um so you can go ahead and proceed
thank you thank you very much mr chair members of the board vernon anastasio um on behalf of my
client, a new market design, and the Capuzano family, 6650 Germantown Avenue. We have a 119
page exhibit binder that we are not going to bore you with, all of it, but we'll get you what we
have to. The space is for a business and professional office. This property, as we'll
see in a moment, is an old historic property in Mount Airy on Germantown Avenue. The front
house will be used for business and professional offices, and the rear shed will be used for
storage. Is it designated historic? That's a good question. It very well might be. We're
preserving everything. My clients have been Mount Airy residents since 2006. The company that they
own has served the people of northwest philadelphia for over 20 years they are staunch believers in
conservation and here we are here's the property itself here's the main house
if it's not designated it certainly looks historic here's the main house and here's
interior courtyard and here's the carriage house now what we've asked to do is make this
They're professional offices where clients could come once they make an appointment, of course.
They could come sit down with the design build team and go over finishes and go over plans and all the things that a design team does.
Back here will be just small materials that would be used for part of showing the clients the types of materials.
I'm going to pull out briefly.
Okay, here we go.
Here's some interior layout of the office space itself.
As you can see, pretty standard offices, breakout rooms, conference tables, restrooms.
that's more similar more additional layout
and that's the top floor
here's the front facade property in question
This is the carriage house in the back, the shed.
Additional plans.
Here's elevation of the shed.
The rear of the property in question, and then the front.
right next to the front of the the front window is a gate that's the entrance to the front of the
property that's the public entrance again by appointment only
there's the carriage house again storing things like tile plumbing fixtures bathroom vanities
these light fixtures so that folks can get an idea of the different types of materials
that they could use.
As this shows, deliveries removed from trucks on Philolena, hand carted up an easement to
hand-carded up an easement to the carriage house.
the carriage house.
There's the main house, the carriage house,
the easement in question.
And that's where deliveries would emanate from,
Westville, Elena.
Here's an aerial view of the property.
The main house that'll be used for offices, the rear carriage house that'll be used for storage.
There's some photos.
That's the carriage house.
there's the front of the property again
some additional photos
here's some interior
offices will be open monday through friday
sorry monday through friday they'll be office closed at 5 p.m
the clients are dedicated to preservation of both buildings
And we've already talked about driveway and delivery.
There'll be no big box trucks or anything like that.
The deliveries will come mostly from cars.
Again, it's by appointment only.
And it's right on Germantown Avenue, which, of course, is a major transportation thoroughfare.
We've met with the community.
There was, I believe, unanimous support.
And we've also submitted.
Here's our letter that went to all the immediate neighbors.
Here are all the addresses that were mailed.
And here's proof of mailing.
79 individual households were mailed.
Here's our proof of posting right on that gated door.
Of course, the history of the property that we also move into evidence
shows a long history of commercial use we also move that into evidence in addition to that we
also have the signatures and the letters of support that we've already previously furnished
because my client has enjoyed the support of all of the immediate neighbors including the rco
because they're committed to the preservation of this property
and because their use will not adversely impact
anyone's quality of life.
We respectfully request the granting of the variance.
With that, I'd like to call Lauren Capanzano to the stand.
Lauren has been allowed to speak.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Hi, my name is Lauren. It's L-A-U-R-E-N, Campuzano, C-A-M-P-U-Z-A-N-O.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do, yes.
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Ms. Campuzano, have you heard my presentation to the board this morning?
Is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge?
Do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Yes, I do.
I have nothing further, Mr. Chair.
Questions from the board.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience.
Yes, Chair. Charles Richardson has a hand up and will be allowed to speak.
Morning, Mr. Richardson.
Mr. Richardson, can you please unmute?
Yeah, I am now.
Good morning.
Can you please take your name and spell for this stenographer?
Yes, Charles Richardson, R-I-C-H-A-R-D-S-O-N, Office of Councilwoman.
yes charles rick it's an r-i-c-h-a-r-d-s-o-n office of councilwoman cindy bathroom 501
uh that's it you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i
certainly do please proceed sir please uh councilwoman has no opposition to granting
the variance for this property thank you anyone else in the virtual audience
there are there are no hands chair any commission
amy boyd with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change in
zoning at this location from the existing commercial mixed use cmx2 the absence of
off-street parking is a common condition the surrounding properties there are unique physical
circumstances or conditions of the property that would prevent provision of off-street parking
The proposed storage is accessory to the proposed business and professional office and will not cause such environmental impacts to the surrounding properties.
The Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the proposed variances for no off-street parking and no accessory parking and grant the requested variance for equipment and material storage with proviso inside existing structures.
MI 2024-002-511-6550 Germantown Avenue, I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Senator Greenham, my vote is yes.
Iowa, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you all.
We're going to move to number 11, and Mr. Shaheed will take over.
Sure. MI-2024-002-513-3232 Henry Avenue. Eric Boosin and Peter Kelsen.
Eric Bowden has been promoted to panelists.
Good morning, Mr. Vice Chair. Eric Bonds in my room.
Good morning, counsel. How are you?
I am well.
This is a useful office business professional and group medical dental health practitioner
and takeout restaurant and existing structure.
Do you agree to, let me swear you in, excuse me, I haven't done this in a while.
You swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Yes, I do.
Can you please tell us who your client is?
Yes, my client is New Cortland and John Unger is here on behalf of New Cortland.
Subject property is 3232 Henry Avenue.
And do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
And you emailed all your documents in prior to the 5Bs.
Yes, I have.
Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you.
Can you see my screen, Mr. Chair?
Mr. Vice Chair?
we do please proceed thank you members of the board i am here on behalf of new cortland regarding
3232 henry avenue the subject property has been before this board several times recently you may
recall my colleague peter kelson presented to you uh just two months ago and uh i'll try and
be as brief as Peter this morning. As you can see, the subject property is a large and rather
confined triangular site. It is bounded by SEPTA Railroad tracks to the south, Roosevelt Extension
to the northeast, and Henry Avenue to the northwest, and it is surrounded by several
institutional uses. The property itself is, in fact, the former Eastern Psychiatric Hospital
Institution, and in 2017, this board approved of New Cortland's large-scale adaptive reuse
of this property as a senior living complex of more than 300,000 square feet, which, as you can
see consists of two structures. The brown tower building in the foreground is about 232,000 square
feet and the white pavilion building behind it is about 110,000 square feet. This mixed-use complex
is about 110 000 square feet this mixed-use complex is anchored by new cortland's life center
which provides daytime care for senior adults as well as 176 dwelling units 40 of which are senior
housing finance through tax credits and the other 136 are market rate units all of which has been
previously approved by this board property also includes previously approved shell space for
commercial use, including the InnoVage healthcare offices that this board approved back in July,
as well as the small supportive and accessory commercial spaces that are the subject of today's
hearing. Here are additional aerials of the site. Here are street level views of the site.
Here are interiors of the commercial shell space, and we can provide additional photos and have
provided them in your exhibits. Here is the zoning map. As you can see, despite the long-standing
institutional uses of this and surrounding parcels, 3232 Henry Avenue is still in the RSA5
residential single-family zoning district, and for this reason, New Cortland has returned to this
board on several occasions to modify and update its original approval. Here is the refusal.
As I mentioned, the subject application is to activate commercial shell space on the first
floor for use as professional and medical offices, as well as a coffee shop for staff,
presidents, and visitors. The refusal is for the professional offices and coffee shop in
the RSA 5 district. I showed you pictures of the two shell spaces. Here is a photo of where the
coffee counter will sit with self-contained seating in the front, no commercial equipment
or ventilation, trash and recycling stored in the rear of the property serviced regularly by
the building's commercial trash service. As a mission-driven provider, New Cortland is looking
at all local operators of each of these small and accessory commercial spaces.
On May the 18th, New Cortland met with the coordinating RCO, the RAH Civic Association
to share plans for the offices that this board approved in July, as well as the additional
space that is the subject of today's hearing.
As you can see from the support letter dated May 21st, 2024, the RAH Civic Association
voted unanimously 21 to 0 in support of the board's approval. Mr. Chair, Mr. Vice Chair,
members of the board, we respectfully ask that you once more join in support for this application.
As you can see again from the aerial, this institutional configuration has never and
could never conform to the RSA 5 residential single family zoning district. And whereas strict
conformity is not possible, this proposal to activate small accessory and supportive space
already approved for commercial use within a previously approved institutional complex
certainly represents the minimum variance that will afford relief and the least modification
possible of the regulation at issue. This grant of relief is consistent with this board's prior
approvals for hardship and will not alter neighborhood character, congestion, health or
safety, endure or impair adjacent properties, burden public facilities, adversely affect plans,
or create environmental issues, all per the code. To the contrary, the proposed use is compatible
with surrounding industrial and commercial properties, including offices and coffee shops
in the neighboring blocks, as you can see here. More than compatible, New Cortland's adaptive
reuse has proven beneficial to the community as underscored by the coordinating RCO's unanimous
support for this application. For all these reasons, we respectfully ask that you join in
support of this application. Please answer any questions from the board. And Mr. Chair, Mr. Vice
Chairman, this concludes my presentation. As I mentioned, John Unger from New Cortland is here
to adopt my testimony and can also answer any questions you may have.
Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Counsel. Excuse me. I have one question before we bring your client on.
So there's no hot food at all inside the building? It's just a coffee?
Coffee and pre-packaged light food is the plan. No commercial equipment.
Got it. Okay. Let's bring your client on to adopt your testimony.
Okay, let's bring your client on, the doctor, just a moment.
Thank you.
John Unger has been allowed to speak.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Do you agree to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
And can you state your name and spell it for the court reporter?
John Unger, that's J-O-H-N, last name is U-N-G-A-R.
Counsel, please proceed.
Good morning, Mr. Unger.
Good morning.
You have heard my testimony and description of the application today, is that correct?
Yes, it is.
The information that I provided to the board, is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge?
Yes, it is.
And would you adopt and affirm that testimony as your own?
Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair.
Thank you. Questions from the board?
I have a quick question. Are you at capacity with all of your units, the 176? Are they all full?
No, we're actually still building that phase. We actually have 85 units that are complete at
capacity, and we are in construction at the end of this year for the 173.
So, we'll start filling those units up in, I'd say, early 2025.
Okay, thank you.
My question is, as part of your presentation, I thought you raised some of the issues with respect to a special exception.
So, is this just a variance?
And I see that there's takeout.
So there's also a special exception that's to be approved as well.
Thank you.
Thank you, board member.
This is a variance.
I did mention the recycling and trash storage features, which New Cortland wanted to ensure
part of this operation as part of its responsible design.
But it is for a variance.
Oh, okay.
Thank you.
Absolutely.
Any other questions from the board?
Questions from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Rice Chair.
Thank you.
Can we go to the virtual audience?
Any questions?
I see no hands.
Planning Commission.
Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location
from residential single-family RSA 5 to residential mixed-use RMX 3
under the recommended zoning the proposed uses would be allowed by right the planning commission
recommends that the board grant the proposed variances for business and professional offices
and for takeout restaurant thank you mi-2024-002513 3232 henry avenue my vote is yes
michael johns my vote is yes cheryl gaston my vote is yes tenetta graham my vote is yes
my vote is yes thank you council thank you members of the board
uh number 13 mi-2024-002541 2655 south 18th street joseph council
joseph council has been promoted to panelists
good morning counsel state your name and spell it for the court reporter please
good morning board joseph consul that's j-o-s-e-p-h last name c-o-n-s-o-l-e
it's where to tell truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes uh this is for the
use of a sit-down restaurant on the first floor with a single family household living above
of the existing structure.
The sit-down restaurant is prohibited
in a CMX1 zoning district.
You do have an email of non-opposition
from the Gerard Estate Area Residence.
Do you agree to waive the read
and other refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
And have you emailed in all the required documents
that's needed to proceed in this case
five days in advance of this hearing?
counsel please proceed you probably just shared your screen okay this is 2655 south 18th street
yes this property uh as you can see counsel can you just identify a client excuse me oh i apologize
my client is the owner of the property vivian huang and she should be on this call um to adopt
my testimony. Please proceed. Okay, back at it. In the 1950s, this property was approved for a tap
In the 1950s, this property was approved for a tap room and a one family.
rooms.
If you go forward in time through the zoning archive, you'll see that it was always the same use.
One bar restaurant with one apartment above.
This is 1997.
Several signs have been approved, several extensions, this, that, and the other.
The most recent iteration of the property was Fatso Fogarty's, as you can see on the screen.
That's not what it looks like right now.
That's what it looked like when Google took the photo.
Now it's no longer labeled as Fatso Fogarty's.
It's now just one apartment with a vacant restaurant on the first floor.
My clients are seeking a sit-down restaurant.
they're not seeking a nightclub or anything like that they're seeking a sit-down restaurant with a
single-family use above so basically just reapproving a use that i believe when fatso's
left they um and it was zoned cmx2 it just fell out of approval and were required to to seek
re-approval here there's the photos um in the archive there's already existing the plot plans
as the building exists now, but those aren't relevant.
They're going to do a fit out when we get the approval
here. As you mentioned, we got the approval from the
Gerard Estate Area residents. We submitted the
tax certificate showing they're clear and
a copy of the deed showing that the property was purchased
by my clients last December. We believe the longstanding
history of the property only having been used as a sit-down restaurant uh with a single family
above that's been in existence for over 70 years we're hopeful that that allows uh this board to
grant variance along with the approval of the rco or the non-opposition of the rco excuse me
uh i'll call my my client to adopt my testimony uh sure
it's your client vivian vivian she was just there her hand just went back down
and she's back she's been allowed to speak good morning ma'am can you please state your name as
fellow for the court reporter it's uh v-i-v-i-a-n-h-o-a-n-g vivian huang you swear to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes council please proceed good morning
vivian did you hear my testimony just now about your property uh at 2655 south 18th street yes
uh do you agree with what i said and do you adopt it as your own yes okay nothing for the board
thank you council um a couple questions um did you send in the updated uh tax clearance did i miss
Scott? I thought I had it.
It's valid through October 6th, 2024.
Okay. I can reshare. Hillary, do we need a copy
or are we good? You want me to send it over? I put it back on the screen.
Let me just check and see if we had received
it one moment. Okay. And while she's
looking at that council, is there going to be any outside seating
on on this corner property there's no application for it uh perhaps vivian could speak that that
didn't come up um vivian are you still there mr vice chair we're fine on the tax clearance thank
you thank you she raised her hand to answer the question but i think she's still can you please
promote uh miss vivian please yeah i'm still here oh so for now we didn't apply for any outside
seating yet thank you for the clarity um questions from the board yes how many seats are we talking
about with this restaurant it's around uh 50. six did you say 60 50. yeah i didn't see any plans
Do you have any internal plans for the for the refit of the inside of the restaurant?
Oh, so the building, we're going to submit a building permit.
So we're going to have like 15 like tables.
So it's going to be around like, I would say 15 people inside the restaurant.
Okay, so you're not saying 50 people. You're saying 15 people? Because the square footage for 50 folks on the one floor is not adequate. That's why we're now going to need plans to see how you got the measurement.
okay so you're not saying 50 people you're saying 15 people because
Oh, I see. I thought you were asking me about like how many people. So it's going to be around 15 chairs, 15 tables. So it's going to be like 50 people inside that we can fit in the restaurant.
And that's with the kitchen and everything?
No, the kitchen, no. So we put tables and chairs in the kind of like the living room area, that 15 chairs is separate from the kitchen.
i guess my concern is um i i can't i can't visualize what you're really asking for
no kind of plan at all yeah council we're going to need some plans yeah we're going to need
something even if it's a floor plan just something to show oh we do have the uh like plans we do
have it if you need it i can send it over now if you email it to me i can put it on the screen and
i know that her her builder is also available if if that would be helpful once the plans are up to
to discuss that okay i'm sorry i only got hired yesterday so i'm working on what i got i have a
question is the single family unit is that owner i want to occupy it or is going to be a rental
um I will be leaving upstairs thank you okay and uh as part of these plans uh what are we doing
about venting for the restaurant uh we will have um Stanley from Chinatown he's gonna set up the
hood system for the restaurant yeah but I'm talking about venting like outside like venting
how are we doing it it's gonna uh we have a small roof uh it's gonna be uh put like
it's gonna be up the so the hood will go all the way up to the roof i have the restaurant owner
here who's gonna be like a tenant and he's my partner too so if you would like to talk to him
he can explain more about his concept for the restaurant.
So let's see if we need to promote him once we look over the plans.
Counsel, have you been able to get the plans yet?
No one sent me anything.
I'm messaging with them.
I don't know if it's going to come.
I'm going to send it to cgicon123 at gmail.com.
That's the contractor.
You could send it directly to me.
They had forwarded me over everything yesterday.
Okay, what's your email?
At consolelegal
C-O-N-S-O-L-E
Consolelegal
Dot com
Dot com, got it
Joe at consolelegal.com
Okay, I just sent it over
That is the building
Plan that we're going to revise
And submit
revise it and submit it buys and submit so this is not the plan that you're planning to
we're gonna have to hold this case council so i think the best thing is
let's bring this back for a resumption hearing excuse me mr vice chair i just wanted to to
to be clear that um this is a change of use application so plans would not have been
requested or required by lni so that's why they would not they would not have been they would
not have been provided and maybe even prepared at this point it was just a change of use um
i understand that but you know it would be even if it's some sort of hand-drawn a little something
that you know give us an idea of what we're talking about in terms of this would be um helpful
in terms of making yes i think i think we're going to need something um even if if it's just a sketch
looking at the square footage of a first floor building down in south philippe i think we all
know um mr chairman yes um so we were told by like at first we submitted the building plan
and they sent us some like remarks for revision because they let us know that
we have to have the zoning permit first before the building permit can
We have to have the zoning permit first before the building permit can be resubmitted.
That's why.
So we do that.
We did submitted it a couple of months ago.
And I just send the information over to the attorney.
Yeah, I forwarded it to RCOCBA and to Hillary directly, the plans.
All right.
So this is what we're going to do.
We'll continue on council, but we're going to hold on.
miss um excuse me mr shaheed um so there's someone who has their hand raised and said in the chat
that they're the contractor and they have the they have the drawings so i don't know if you would like
them to to bring them on or if you would like to review them yeah sure let's promote them let's
promote them and see if they can pull the drawings up i have the drawings up now i can check or mr
consul has the drawings now but it may it may be helpful to speak to the her partner and the
contractor to the extent that anyone's interested is this with that name be anthony m yes i will
allow him to speak good morning mr anthony good morning everyone so state your name and spell
for the court reporter please m-o-t-t-o motto do you need to tell the truth the whole truth
for nothing but the truth all right yes excuse me this is the reporter i i must ask the witness to
to spell his name again m-o-c-t-o
yes thank you okay thank you so pertaining pertaining to this job she submitted without
knowing about zoning because it was a bar for so long they put it in for a building permit first
They didn't know they had to go get zoning first.
Then she called us up and we told her the procedure is change of use back to the bar because it sat vacant because no one kept a vacant license on it to prior owners.
So that's where that came in effect.
Then when we put the zoning in, she had modifications.
It's the same bar, same fit out that was there for 25 years as Fatso Fogarty's.
there's a floor drawing with 10 tables as you could see they didn't do the rest because the
hood is going to be moved the venting is going to the roof out the back because she owns the back
the venting to the roof is that question they're going to vent to the roof gotcha and then this is
this is 10 30 34 person occupancy according to the architect's calculation which is okay
all right that makes more sense okay yeah so just so you know too she's been held up because she
didn't have knowledge from the beginning on the procedures and there was a catastrophe with her
husband okay it's fine yeah i'm just saying that's why there's urgency to open any other questions
from the board uh questions from our attorney hillary emerson not at this time mr richard
Can we see if we have any questions from the virtual audience?
There are no hands.
Planning Commission.
Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning at this location from the existing commercial mixed use CMX1.
Proposed use is consistent with documented prior use and there are unique physical circumstances or conditions that would prevent the property from being used in conformance with the zoning code.
The Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the requested variance for sit-down restaurant.
MI-2024-002541, 2655 South 18th Street, my vote is yes.
Mr. Chair, can I request proviso that the venting go out the back and up the roof as mentioned?
uh sure is that enforceable hillary um yes so mr johns you were saying out so out the rear
and then above the roof exactly okay something yes we oh yeah we can we'll we will include that
as the proviso mr mr vice chair if you want to just restate sure so uh 20 26 55 south 18th street
my vote is yes with proviso for the venting to be up out the window and up to on throughout the
roof i mean on the side of the roof out the back and up out the back and up the room my my motion
my uh i vote yes with proviso cheryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso sonata graham my vote
is yes with proviso iowen my vote is yes with proviso thanks council thank you
Uh, number 14, MI-2024-002705-6901, Woodland Avenue. Meredith Flaggender is the attorney.
Number 14, MI-2024.
Meredith? I think that's still it.
Meredith has been promoted to panelists.
this is for a use for a child care center on the first floor of building a with all other uses in
the same structure previously approved to remain good morning council
Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Can you please state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please?
Sure. Meredith Ferliger, M-E-R-E-D-I-T-H, last name Ferliger, F-E-R-L-E-G-E-R.
do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i sure do all right
uh you agree to to the i gotta i gotta use all of these different ones together today hold on
you agree to wait to read another refuse or stipulate to its accuracy i do yes and have
you emailed in all the required documents that's needed to proceed with this case five days in
advance of this hearing. I sure did. Thank you, counsel. Please proceed and share your screen.
Will do. All right, Mr. Chairman, members of the board, as mentioned, my name is Meredith
Ferliger with Dilworth Paxson. I'm here today on behalf of the Tenant Early Years Development
Center, represented today by Joy Jenkins, who should be in the audience. Before the board today
is a proposal to once again, and hopefully for the final time, document the long-standing
existing use of a portion of the property at 6901 Woodland Avenue as a daycare center for 125
children. This daycare is known as Early Years Development Center and has been in its current
location in its current form since 1999. The facility continues to have the support of the
local community, as evidenced by the letter of support that's in your packet at Exhibit 13,
and I do believe Mr. Melodosian is on the line in case the board has any questions.
That support letter even acknowledges the length of time this daycare has been in this particular
location. The exhibit packet submitted to the board contains 12 exhibits, 13 exhibits, correction,
section, including tax clearance at Exhibit 2, as well as the lease at Exhibit 3.
We do request that our exhibits be moved into evidence following conclusion of our presentation
today.
Let me first give you some property context, and then I'll explain what has happened here.
At this point, you may be slightly confused.
On the zoning map at Exhibit 5, up on your screen, you can see that this is a quite large
irregularly shaped parcel that has frontage on Woodland Avenue as well as on Larry Street.
The parcel, as you can see, is zoned RM1. At Exhibit 7, we've also included aerials
showing that this parcel is comprised of several detached buildings that roughly form an L shape
and are surrounded by two separate surface parking areas.
looking west you'll see that the early years daycare occupies the ground floor of the front
most building here on this lot which you can see overhead with the colorful path leading from the
sidewalk up to the front door we did also include some street level views at exhibit eight first
view here is from woodland avenue showing the existing playground and the front access to the
daycare facility. A closer view is shown here on this next photograph, and again, you can see the
front door as well as the fenced-in playground area. In the rear building here, which you can
see in this image, this portion of the building on the lot is operated by Self Inc., which provides
emergency and permanent supportive housing. It is important to note that Self's facility is
contained in an entirely separate building from the one that is before the board today.
You can see in this next photograph here that the property has significant on-site parking.
This is actually only one of the two surface parking areas that serve this entire property.
And again, you can see that here. This really is predominantly for the self-building in the back here, which is really not connected to our site today.
And again, you can see that here. This really is predominantly for
We did also include photographs of the applicants timely posting in Exhibit 8 as well.
If I scroll down just a little bit, you'll notice signage for the Southwest Leadership Academy Charter School, which occupies the second floor of this building.
So on the second floor, you have a charter school. On the first floor, you have the daycare center.
It's my understanding from Atlas that this charter school will actually be in front of this board next month for the identical reason that we are here today.
Exhibit 9 also has some interior photographs. You can see here the first photo is the entrance,
which fortunately has a dual access design, which provides maximum security into the center.
Early Years Development Center operates Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.,
and the space occupies approximately 9,400 square feet, so it's really quite a significant daycare
Center. I'll continue to scroll through some interior photographs, the next one showing the
main Bright Hallway. This facility is licensed through the Commonwealth currently for 121
children. At any given time, there are approximately eight infant children aged six weeks to one year.
And you can see here, nice diaper station for those infants. There's roughly 20 young toddlers
age 1 to 2 years, and there are also 18 older toddlers age 2 to 3 years. There's also 40
preschool children ages 3 through 6, and there's approximately 35 children age 6 through 12 who
participate in their before and after school program. And again, you can just see some
photographs of the existing conditions of this daycare center. The before school program that
I mentioned operates from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. The children are dropped off to early years and are
then transported to their schools by early years staff. The after-school program is from 3 to 6
p.m., and again, the staff picks up the children from school and assists with homework back at the
facility. Of course, these numbers and the ages of children vary depending on the year and any
given time. So those are just approximate ages and the breakdown. For both pickup and drop-off,
guardians and parents must sign their children in and out of the center and must be personally
escorted. All doors at early years are locked and visitors must be buzzed in for entry.
They have ample security cameras in and outside of the building. They have approximately 19 staff
members, of course, based on the ratios that the state requires, and must have criminal background
checks, fingerprinting, and child abuse screenings. All staff is pediatric CPR certified. And as I
mentioned, they do comply with all staff to child ratios set by the Commonwealth. Early Years also
serves breakfast, lunch, and an afternoon snack. Food is prepared off-site, delivered, and is warmed
on-site. They're certified through the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services,
which I'll bring up right now, and they also have a Keystone STARS license for additional quality.
You'll find full record of the licensing also available at Exhibit 6.
I have also included a key plan and floor plan of the daycare center also at Exhibit 6.
I know that's a little difficult to read. I can zoom in if you have any particular questions, but you can see here that there's many open play areas, classrooms, as well as two large bathrooms.
I will also note that the facility, as shown in this particular plan, is fully building code compliant, which is evidenced by repeated certificates of occupancy that have been issued for this particular facility.
Here's the unfortunate issue board.
At Exhibit 6, a little bit earlier on here, you'll see that early years had a full Certificate of Occupancy, a daycare facility, Building 4, first floor for 125 children of all ages, back in 1999.
Quite frankly, this CO should probably have been conclusive in final evidence that no further permitting would ever be necessary, assuming continuous use, which is the case here.
However, at some point back in the early 2000s, when somebody was working on permitting.
At some point back in the early 2000s, when somebody was working on permitting for other portions of the property, they incorrectly referred to early years as a charter school.
The daycare operators were wholly unaware of this issue until a pipe burst in the second floor tenant space over five years ago, leading to nearly a virtual total loss of the entire daycare center possessions.
While going through that renovation process over five years ago, they discovered that the zoning was incorrect.
We came before this board in February of 2018 looking to correct the use classification discrepancy and return it back to a child care facility based on the then classifications of the zoning code.
confusingly the board at the time felt it prudent to assign a five-year temporary approval
despite the fact that this center has been continuously operated on the property since
the late 1990s we were so confused by this proviso that we even requested the board to
reconsider its decision but no change was made however following the 2018 zoning approval early
years secured another certificate of occupancy, again documenting that the physical characteristics
of this space are compliant with the zoning code. And you can see here the certificate of occupancy
that was issued in June of 2018. This CO was issued based directly on that floor plan that
I showed you a little bit earlier on. And no changes have been made since that time.
Furthermore, early year's last unannounced state inspection was in May, and the documentation included in the packet shows that they remain compliant with state standards.
Now, we are back before this board again, imploring this board to allow early years to finally move forward with a final zoning approval that will not require it to return any further for constant re-approvals.
I would like to ensure the record does clearly reflect the long-standing existence of the center's playground as well.
And I'll just bring up the aerial so you can see that.
Quite bafflingly, early years has a current violation for this playground, despite the fact that it has been in its current location since at least 2012.
The only thing that has changed is the playground's surface material, which you can see in an older photograph here.
The surface around the playground equipment has changed.
That may be where there is some confusion.
As you can see at Exhibit 1, the refusal was issued because a daycare center use is prohibited in the RM1 zoning district.
The property was previously zoned RSA 3 single family.
However, this property has been exclusively used for a mix of commercial and residential uses for well over 20 years.
In 2018, Early Years shared this building with the offices of the state police.
Shortly after the state police vacated, the board approved a charter school to move into that second floor space.
In the late 1800s through the mid-1900s, the property was used for St. Vincent Home for Children.
Quite simply, this property is subject to extreme hardship given its over 100-year history of uses that are not consistent with the current RM1 zoning classification.
Furthermore, this applicant continues to maintain that it's had a long-standing vested right to occupy this space without interruption, given the tenant's reliance on the rights granted decades ago under the 1999 Certificate of Occupancy.
During the 2018 proceedings before the Zoning Board, and in light of the evidence presented today, the undisputed evidence shows that the applicant's use has existed at this property for almost two decades, without any detriment to the community, and in fact has greatly benefited the community.
Given that the property has not hosted a traditional single-family nor apartment-style use since the advent of the zoning code, and given that there are very few uses permitted by right in the RM1-based zoning district, the evidence also shows that strict interpretation of the zoning code's prohibition against a child care center would create an unnecessary hardship, particularly for this long-standing tenant.
This request clearly represents the least minimum variance as it seeks solely to maintain the longstanding status quo and give this business owner the right to operate without incurring the consistent expense of continuous renewals without justification.
of continuous renewals without justification. This application has no documented history of
creating congestion, nor has it ever impaired or harmed neighbors' use of their properties.
We have included a full analysis in the Memo of Law submitted to the Board at Exhibit 11,
and I should also note that there is no documented history of any issues or harmful conditions that
have resulted from the mix of uses that have existed on this property. At this time I would
call for Joy Jenkins if she's in the audience. Can we promote Ms. Jenkins please? Joy Jenkins is
allowed to speak. Hello Meredith how are you? Thank you Mr. Chair do you need to speak? Yes yeah
And Ms. Jenkins, can you please state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please?
Yes. Joy Jenkins, J-O-I. Last name is J-E-N-K-I-N-S.
Thank you. You swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you. Joy, could you just identify your relationship to Early Years Development Center?
The executive director.
Thank you. And Joy, can you confirm that the testimony that I gave today has been true and accurate, particularly the testimony that early years has existed in this location since 1999?
And would you agree that all of the testimony given today was true and accurate, and would you adopt it as if it were your own?
Yes, I would.
Thank you, Board. We're happy to answer any questions that you have.
Any questions from the Board?
okay no questions from the board are questions from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair any questions from the virtual audience
yes craig meladosian has a hand up and will be allowed to speak
good morning Mr. Melodosian
may you please state your name as fellow for the court reporter
Craig Melodosian
C-R-A-I-G
last name M-E-L-I-D-O-S-I-A-N
you swear to tell the truth
and the whole truth and nothing but the truth
I do Vice Chair
please proceed
just wanted to indicate as counsel had stated earlier
We support this appeal. The facility has a long history in the community dating back to when it started off, the adjacent building started off as a homeless shelter.
This is exactly the kind of location that we want our daycare providers to be in rather than going into row homes, RSA5 homes, or RM1 row homes that we frequently have as applicants.
There's been no history of problems with a pickup or drop off of the children, with parents' cars blocking the street.
We do have SLACS, which is Southwest Leadership Academy Charter School, occupying the second and third floor.
We think that the, I'm going to call it in my terms, the unity of use as an educational facility running from pre-kindergarten up through fourth grade is great for our community.
And we would ask you to grant this appeal
on a permanent basis.
Thank you very much.
Thank you for your testimony.
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
I see no more hands.
Planning Commission.
Amy Board with the Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends
no change to zoning at this location
from the existing multifamily RM1.
The proposed use is consistent with documented prior use, and there are unique physical circumstances or conditions that would prevent the property from being used in conformance with the zoning code.
The Planning Commission recommends the Board grant the proposed variances for daycare.
mi-2024-002-0705-6901 my vote is yes for permanent use of child care facility
michael johns my vote is yes
Joe Gaston, my vote is yes
Sonata Graham, my vote is yes
Hyawin, my vote is yes
Congratulations
Thank you very much
All right
Number 17, MI-2024-002793, 6518-20 Ridge Avenue, Richard DeMarco.
Number 17
MI-2024-0
Richard DeMarco has been promoted to panelists.
Good morning, Mr. DeMarco.
Please state your name and spell it for the court reporter.
There we go.
Took a while to link in.
Hello.
Hello.
Can you state your name and spell it for the court reporter?
My name is Richard DeMarco.
Last name is spelled D-E-M-A-R-C-O.
Can you please identify your client?
The client is 19128 Investments, LLC.
George Lezis is the principal and is on the call.
You swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Do you agree to wait to read another refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I can.
You emailed all the documents in five days in advance of this hearing.
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
So this matter is a...
And I will just add, Mr. DeMarco, we did receive the letter of support from Ridge Park Civic Association.
Yeah, I'll get into that. We signed a CBA, Community Benefits Agreement, with Ridge Park Civic. I'll go into a little bit more detail about that. And we have their support.
So I have the refusal on the screen. The property is zoned RTA1, which is a change from earlier zoning. The property is an existing seven-unit dwelling. Per the agreement with Ridge Park Civic, we are only proposing six units.
The property is a double lot. It's a longstanding multifamily dwelling use. The issue was the owner that sold to my client last year did not have a permit for the full seven units.
It looks like in the archive, the last approved use was a total of five units, one commercial space, and four residential units.
But as my client will affirm, the property has been a seven-unit residential multifamily dwelling for multiple decades.
So to make the point about the refusal I have on the screen, the RTA actually permits a duplex in each of the lots.
You can see here it's a double lot, 6518 and 68.
We're not seeing a lot right now, counsel.
Can you see my screen?
We see your screen, but we're still on the same page.
Right, right.
I'm circling with my cursor, the double address, 6518 to 20 Ridge.
It's too it's a large lot. I'll get that. Let me pan down. I'll show you. Anyway, last last point I want to make about the refusal, the parking. We are using part of the rear yard for parking. We have a total of eight parking spaces for this property. We erred on the side of including as much parking as possible.
There's a driveway leading back to the rear, and there's plenty of room for parking.
We included as much parking as possible, anticipating that the neighbors would require more than one-to-one or at least one-to-one parking for the lots.
So that's why we incurred that refusal.
So let me show you some photos.
This is the double lot, the overhead.
You can see it's a combined lot.
This is the driveway leading to the rear parking area.
Per our agreement with Ridge Park, we will use pervious coverage on that area, so the water will be able to seep into the ground.
We're also doing some facade improvements, which I'll get to as well.
Here's our posting.
The property is historic.
It's in a district, so we have to be careful about what we do with the facade, but we are promising to do certain upgrades to the facade.
We're going to cover these meter boxes with an aesthetically pleasing box that's accessible, but it won't, you won't, you know, you'll have a nice, you know, aesthetically pleasing box over it that'll be consistent with the facade.
Let me get to the, that's our posting.
I'll show you the multiple.
So you can see there were multiple utility accounts for these Unix.
for these units. It's been that way for a long time. There's separate utility counts for each
It's been that way for a long time.
unit. And you can see in the basement, there are multiple gas meters as well. But again,
we're going to reduce the unit by one to six per the agreement with the RCO. We did our plans form.
So I did upload revised plans showing the six units. We also promised and proposed
additional landscaping. I'll zoom in so you can see this a little better.
There's eight spaces in the rear. There's additional landscaping consistent with planning
commission guidelines. The second page that we uploaded, so what we'll do, we'll ask that the
board, if the board is willing to grant this and vote the case, we'll ask that two pages be stamped
by the board as the revised plan per the agreement with the neighbors. This is the landscaping.
We added landscaping to the front as well as the rear, all consistent with Planning Commission guidelines.
We're going to be redoing the front walkway and the driveway.
There's some cracking.
We'll be repairing the porch.
We'll be doing painting.
These are all listed in the CBA with the Ridge Park Civic, which we have signed.
This is the facade treatment.
This is actually listed on one of the plans, but it's part of the CBA.
As you can see, we're going to be doing some pointing, some filling in of cracks, obviously consistent with the commission.
Going to repair this porch, repair this railing, and redo the cracking along the front.
And, of course, this is the area where you see the new landscaping over here on the left and the right.
I just want to show you the CBA.
This is the community benefits agreement. Obviously, we're not asking that that be included in the decision, but the decision should incorporate the revised plans that we uploaded, two pages showing six units and the additional landscaping.
This is the signed community benefits agreement with Ridge Park Civic.
I think the only other thing I would want to show you is this was the original plan that I just included for reference only, by the way.
um we did the client did have some issues trying to pull an official tax clearance but there is
zero tax balance online uh he paid he paid all the taxes he's he did try to reach out to revenue
um hopefully that's enough i did attach the proof of zero balance uh for all taxes um i guess
Hillary can confirm that. But we we don't we don't have the official picture of the tax clearance, but we have zero zero tax balance.
Here's the certificates of mailing. We had two meetings with Ridge Park and we hammered out this agreement with Marlene Schleifer.
I was supposed to text Marlene about when she may not be able to join us today, but she did submit the letter.
um she said it would be okay if she talked she didn't care if she did or not i was supposed to
text her we were delayed today so i i didn't do that um i could certainly do that if the board
wants it uh that's the um zoning archive which shows a total of five units and on each side
two family in one of the units and then i'll just show you this real quick um this has to be
You see, for 6520 Ridge, there was a beauty parlor at some point and then two apartments above.
So there was a total of five units historically at the property.
And we're just going to be doing six per the agreement with the RCO.
So here's the deed.
And then I'll just show you the tax proof of the zero tax balance.
And I'll ask George Lezis to raise his hand virtually, and he can speak about some of this testimony.
One other thing I'd like to mention, Mr. Chairman, the reason why we believe there's hardship,
and I think the community agreed, if he were to try to convert the property to the current zoning,
which is now, the zoning in the past was RSA 5, R5, excuse me,
which would have permitted the seven units as of right due to the size of the rear yard.
But the property changed to RTA1.
There's a hardship, we would argue, because Mr. Lezis would have to basically destroy the building to convert the property to four units.
They'd have to destroy several kitchens.
They'd have to move out all the tenants.
There are tenants in each of those units.
He's going to be moving out one of the units in order to actually going to have to move out two of the people once their lease is up in order to combine the sixth and seventh unit into.
once their lease is up, in order to combine the sixth and seventh unit into one unit.
So there is some hardship already, but obviously we agree with the neighbors on this to go to six
units, but to go to four would be simply a non-starter for him. He'd have to move everybody
out, completely redo the entire property, and it would be an extraordinary hardship for him.
But we agree with the neighbors on the 6th. We're going to do all the upgrades that we promised. And let me go ahead and ask George to accept my testimony and answer a few quick questions.
Can we promote his client, George, please?
Yes, George Lezis is allowed to speak.
Hello, my name is George Lezis, George, G-E-O-R-G-E, Lezis, L-E-Z-I-S.
Thank you. Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you. Mr. Lazarus, did you hear my factual, the facts and circumstances in the presentation I made this morning in this case?
Yes, I did.
Are they true and accurate, to the best of your knowledge?
Do you adopt them as your formal testimony in this matter?
Yes. And are you in agreement with this Ridge Park Civic Association Community Benefits Agreement as far as the upgrades that you're going to perform and to convert the property to six units total?
Yes, that's correct.
All right. And do you also agree that in order to convert the property to four units, you would be looking at destruction of most of the entire property and it would be prohibitive for you to do that?
That's correct.
Mr. Chair, I think that's all I have. Happy to turn it over for questions and just let me know if there's anything else you want to see on this and I'll...
Sure. Questions from the board?
Questions from our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
Not at this time, Mr. Rice Chair.
Questions from the virtual audience?
There are no hands.
Planning Commission.
Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission.
The property was remapped to RTA 1 in 2018.
There are unique physical circumstances or conditions that would prevent the property from being used in performance with the Zone and Code, and the proposed use is consistent with documented prior use.
The Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the requested variance for seven-family dwelling and for off-street parking.
Thank you.
MI-2024-0027936518-20 Ridge Avenue. My vote is yes with proviso. Revised two-page stamp by ZVA on September the 18th, 2024, and also a maximum of six units, dwelling units,
as well as stamp photos of the existing driveway curve cuts.
Excuse me, Mr. Viceroy, there was one page of revised plans that needed to be stamped,
and then the other proviso was a maximum of six dwelling units.
Yeah, and Richard said he uploaded another page.
There is two pages.
One of them is the landscaping drawing, so I thought I was just being thorough.
I'll defer to Hillary on this.
It could be the one page.
This is the one page.
that the i'm sorry i guess this would be the one page to be stamped actually it's the other one
the other one okay fine yeah but it's the other page that i'm looking at the one that's revised
from what ellen i received so it's the one with the pictures of the the driveway oh right that's
what i thought because that shows yeah because this one is different than what was sent to ellen i
um originally so it's just the other one page so yep one page or what okay all right so uh one
page stamp by ZBA September
18th. No problem, Rich.
And then maximum six dwelling units.
And the maximum of six dwelling units.
Michael Johns,
my vote is yes with proviso.
Tanetta Graham,
my vote is yes with proviso.
Iowan,
my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl?
You're on mute.
You're on mute, Cheryl.
I'm sorry.
With provisives.
Thank you.
Thank you, council.
Thank you.
Have a great afternoon, everyone.
Thank you.
All right.
Number 18, MI-2024-003175.
6709 s18 avenue attorney is dennis george
6709, S18 Avenue.
Attorney is...
dennis george is coming in as a panelist
good afternoon mr george
good afternoon mr george
this is mr george
i did promote video yeah i got it i'm sorry my apologies good morning
2000 market street suite 1440 philadelphia 19103 on behalf of jk realty which is the owner of the
property and pacifico hyundai let me share you also state your name and spell it for the record
D-E-N-N-I-S, last name G-E-O-R-G-E.
Can you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
This use is for removal of one existing illuminating freestanding sign to install a double-faced illuminated freestanding sign.
Please proceed.
Well, hold on one second.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, we do.
And you have emailed in all of your documents five days in advance of this hearing.
We have.
I do not see a record of your RCO letter coming in.
The RCO letter was submitted this morning by the RCO, and I think Craig, he's in the audience and could testify.
Hillary, did we receive that?
I believe so.
Give me one second.
we did receive a couple letters from Mr. Melodosian this morning.
Yes, this is Essington Avenue. We did receive that, and it is a letter
of support. And as Mr. George mentioned, Mr. Melodosian is here as well.
Thank you. Okay. Please proceed, Counsel. Thank you. The application is for a replacement of
an existing sign. What I'd like to do for the board is go right to the current signage so you
could see what we would like to do. Hyundai of America has requested that its dealers change
its signage to a different color. As you can see on this photograph, there is the current Hyundai
sign, which is the silver and blue. What our proposal is, is to replace that existing sign
with a new sign with the new color scheme proposed by Hyundai on the existing foundation.
It would be the same exact size of the current sign. I would like to go to the revised proviso
which is number seven on our list and show you the color scheme that they have suggested.
this is the new hyundai color scheme and the sign would be basically the same as the existing sign
except it's a two-faced sign we would have to change the color we have gone before the
the rco which is has a letter of support i've also submitted the revised plans
which corrected the original submission, and that would be our request to the board.
All right.
Can we bring your client on?
Yes, Thomas Flynn.
Mr. Flynn, can you please promote?
Tom Flynn has been allowed to speak.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Good morning, Mr. Lane.
Can you please state your name as spelled for the court reporter?
First name Thomas, T-H-O-M-A-S, last name Flynn, F-L-Y-N-N.
Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Tom, have you heard the presentation I made to the board this morning?
Yes, I have.
And is it true and correct and accurate as to the best of your knowledge?
Yes, it is.
And do you adopt the testimony as your own?
Yes, I do.
Mr. Chairman, that would basically be our presentation.
We're more than happy to answer any questions the board may have.
I'm just a question from the board.
Understood.
Questions from the board.
Thank you.
You kind of add something.
Yes, I guess.
So let me make sure I understand the current sign is only one side.
It only has one face.
No, it is a double face sign.
The current sign.
and then this one would just be this this the same exact sign with a different color scheme
so it's just a different it's just the the manufacturers sometimes require that the
dealers change their signage to meet the manufacturer's signage requirements
and that's what we're looking at the pacifico has built a state-of-the-art facility
uh at the location with a brand new hyundai dealership showroom service center and as part
of that the manufacturer requiring the sign change okay because the refusal is making it well okay
so you're just it's going to be the same signs on both sides but just a different color and design
yes same size on the same foundation we're just removing the old one and have to put a new one
at the cost of the dealer this is what the manufacturers do sometimes okay all right thank
you any other questions from the board
uh questions from our attorney hillary emerson um yes mr vice chair um i i would just ask if
we could hold the vote one week because i need um i looked over the revised plans and looked over
the original plan submitted to lni and i'm not clear what should be stamped so i don't want to
suggest a proviso for a certain number of pages and stamp them and then have that confuse lni so
i just just need a just need the week to check with lni make sure we know exactly what um what
needs to be stamped and then we can vote it with the appropriate proviso next week i will do that
on the 930 list yes we will thank you questions from the virtual audience
yes I have Craig Melodosian will be allowed to speak
Mr. Melodosian you've already sworn yourself in
yes Vice Chair Shaheed this is Craig Melodosian I just wanted to confirm that
a community meeting was held 8-26-2024 that we are in support of it
This is consistent with other applications that we've received from dealers along Essington Avenue in association with the national manufacturer requesting a change in association with the rebranding of the image we supported.
The others, one of them was through the Pacifico family, as well as another one through General Motors.
So this is typical for Essington Avenue.
And we've done similar for an assembly and entertainment venue on the Avenue, too.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
There are no more hands.
Planning Commissioner.
Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning at this location from the existing
medium industrial I-2.
The proposed use is consistent with documented prior use.
The Planning Commission recommends that the board grant the variance for a second
free standing sign.
Council, as our council stated, we're going to hold this case and we'll vote for it
next Wednesday on
the 930 list once we
receive all the updated
plans from L&I.
All right.
Do you have any more questions for us?
No. Thank you.
Thank you.
Is there anyone else out in the virtual audience
that case has not been heard yet?
I see no hands.
Thank you. And board, I
apologize. A little cold in the beginning, but I had to get going. Thank you all. See
you all at 2. Good job, Mr. Vice Chair. Good job. You did well. All right. You have a good
one. Why don't we start? Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing
this afternoon's EBA hearings.
With me is Cheryl L. Gaston, our board member.
With me is Cheryl L. Gaston, our board member.
Cheryl L. Gaston, President, Ms.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Tanetta Graham, our board member.
Chairman.
Michael Johns, our board member.
Here, Mr. Chairman.
And Taya Wynn should be on very shortly.
Also present is our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
And also our deputy director for planning and zoning, Kathleen Grady.
Here's our virtual format.
proceedings are being recorded with your participation you agree to be recorded
the video will be available by contacting
zba executive director all one word at phill.gov that's zba executive director all one word
at phill.gov for our court stenography we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves
else before testifying. If you are participating by phone, press star 9 to raise your hand and
star 6 to unmute. To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548. Leave your email address
and address of the property in question. Finally, the question box on the screen is not for
testimony. All testimony requests or comments should be directed to Kathleen Grady, our Deputy
Director for Planning and Zoning. Let's look at our schedule for this afternoon. Number
number three, MI 2024, 002319, 4309-31 North Lawrence Street. That case is continued.
Number five, MI 2024-002-411-3212 West York Street. That hearing in this matter has been rescheduled to Wednesday, October 9th at 2 p.m.
Number six, MI 2024-002-412-3210 West York Street. The hearing in this matter has been rescheduled to Wednesday, October 9th at 2 p.m.
number 12
mi 2024 004 320 6560 north bouvier street that case has been continued
are there any other requests for continuances
good afternoon chair i see no hands thank you very much number one sorry chair um i
hand went up afterwards from wallace wade okay they will be allowed to speak
counsel could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer
good afternoon wallace wade
mr wade please spell your name for the court stenographer first name wallace w-a-l-l-a-c-e
last name wade w-a-d-e right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth yes i do counsel mi 2023 004 267 9900 east chelton avenue
this is the fourth listing we have no exhibits
correct uh correct um i just took over the case maybe a month a month a month and a half ago
i'm from another attorney i'm asking what would uh what exhibits or i thought you guys had
everything um from my understanding you don't i just
okay you're breaking up a little bit counsel let me let me tell you what we're going to do
counsel we're going to continue this one more time the next time it must be heard i would
recommend that you call the office the phone number will be in the in the chat center they
will tell you exactly what you need to proceed with this okay thank you i appreciate it all
All right. I understand. Thank you. And number 14, MI 2024-004-353-222 Hermitage Street, that case has been withdrawn.
If you want to go to our add-on list, number one, MI 2024-004-131-2520 North Front Street, TE-117074, I vote no.
dash one one seven zero seven four i vote no michael johns my vote is no
cheryl gaston my vote is no sonetta graham my vote is no thank you number two mi 2023
zero zero three one five nine thirty nine forty two wall street
i vote yes
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tana Graham, my vote is yes.
And number three, MI 2024, 003-915-4040 Walnut Street.
I vote yes with provisos.
Her refusal dated 9-16-24 and temporary variance expiring 10-1-27.
michael johns my vote is yes with proviso
cheryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso
tennetta graham my vote is yes with proviso
thank you we're going to go to our regular list
number two mi 2024 000 899
5231 greenway avenue frank turner is the attorney
Frank Turner, if you're in the virtual audience, can you please raise your hand?
There's no one with a hand raised by the name of Frank Turner.
And I do not see him in the audience.
So MI 2024-000-899-5231 Greenway Avenue. That case is continued. Mark must be heard.
Number four, MI 2024-002-348-2049-North Randolph Street.
Vern Anastasio is the attorney.
Yeah, Vern is coming back in as a panelist.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Mr. Anastasio, you've already been sworn.
Could you just state your name for the record, please?
My name is Vern Anastasio on behalf of the owners of 2049 Randolph.
um do you agree to the the stipulation of the reading of the refusal and its accuracy
i do please uh please start your presentation thank you
wasn't expecting to be called so quickly oh well that never happened that never happened
So 2049 North Randolph Street, we have an exhibit packet comprised of 59 individual exhibits, and we'll walk you through them relatively quickly.
The application is for construction of an attached structure, ostensibly for a two-family dwelling.
The reason why we're being refused here is because the adjacent home is an anomaly.
It's a very unfil...
I guess it was a Philly thing back in the 70s.
It's the only home on the block that has a setback in the front.
And as a result, the code requires this new home to have a setback because the adjacent
home has a setback.
The fact of the matter is, that whole side of the block was built out as one sort of development, and they all had been built out back in the 70s or 60s with a setback.
All of those homes are gone.
They've all been knocked down, and new homes have been built, mostly many of them multifamily and approved by this board.
The house adjacent to us is the only one left.
And it, of course, triggered the requirement, which is why we're here.
And with that,
we'll get to the plans.
We'll get to the plans.
This is a front elevation.
As you can see, it'll be a three-story home.
Here's the rear elevation.
this is the plot plan
this is the layout
i'll zoom in i think miss gaston's gonna ask me to move in any move in zoom in a little anyway
that's right
I think a couple of us may want you to
she usually is the first one
don't make me get out my magnifying glass
you and me both
so here we have the lower level
basement with the
there's a bedroom, there's a hallway
on the first floor
has living space,
a dining room.
Second floor plan.
Is there any way to close
the part of this page
that says pages?
Is there any way to close that
so it makes the drawing bigger?
Yeah, now if you can zoom down
so we can see the whole plan,
that'd be better.
All three of the floor plans together.
You want me to zoom out like this?
Out, yeah.
So there's a basement and first floor?
Still can't see the whole basement.
Still can't see the whole plant.
A little bit more.
I think you got to go the other way.
You got to make it smaller.
Yeah, yeah, that's fine.
Yeah, okay, good.
Now we can see it.
But Ms. Gaston is going to ask me to zoom in again, I tell you that.
But here's the second floor unit.
So this is one unit here.
basement and first floor and second and third floor is this is the second unit
that's ostensibly the plan so the really nice size here's the street I'm going to zoom in on
the photos this is the block itself and all of these are new construction all approved by the
board. That's the lot where the property will go. And across the street, we're actually facing
rears of properties. So it's not really conducive to a whole lot of single-family
development. But this is what we look at across the street. Here's the letter that went out to
all immediate neighbors, inviting them to the August 21st RCO meeting, Norris Square.
And here are all the addresses that were mailed.
I'm going to zoom out for this one.
172 individual households were invited.
It was pretty well attended.
is the poster, and we have proof of posting.
I'll zoom in for that.
Right there.
And as you can see, that's the house that sets back.
Here's a history of the property,
the long history of a two-family dwelling,
going back to 1949.
So our use, our new use will be consistent with the old use.
We have the deed and the tax cert being moved into evidence.
As you can see, there is some vacancies,
some significant vacant lots still surrounding the property.
and most importantly north square is kind enough to give us a unanimous support
for the project
because the proposed use is consistent with previous uses uh when there was in fact a
building there because other like similarly situated properties and uses have been approved
by this board relatively recently on the block and because the adjacent home that
relatively recently on the block and because the adjacent home that triggers the refusal is the
only one left and very well likely will be demolished and uh and uh rebuilt themselves
uh we respectfully request the granting of the variance want to bring your client on yeah i think
Mark Bennett, I believe, should be
on here today. Let me take a look.
If not Mark, then Andrew Friedman.
Andrew Friedman, if you're in the audience, please raise your hand.
I see no one by that name in the audience.
Mr. Anastasio, as an officer of the court, we'll accept your testimony.
I appreciate that. Thank you.
Questions from the board.
You have a question. Can you hear me?
Yes, sir.
On your plan, are you planning for a parking spot in the back? Is that what it is?
On the...
Can you go to the same plan?
Yep, I'm going there now.
so you're planning for a parking space in the back
it's not part of the application mr it's showing it's showing a curb cut and uh
oh i'm sorry it is part of the application one accessory surface parking space
can you go back to the site planning yep
is that an alley in the back or is that a street in the back
that's a rear street and is there no parking north reese is there parking on that street
or no parking on the street how is that because i'm looking at your your your your car you know
turning radius to get into a park this parking space which is kind of odd because it tucks under
the building but and then it's that is that a pavement in the back on the back street it'll
there'll be a sidewalk and a curb cut because it's hard it's hard to tell what the dimensions of the
parking the parking pad is yeah it did not come up under the review of the of lni right so but
it's in our first their first paragraph doesn't say that surface parking space no the application
says it yep a proposed curb cut at existing curb cut location see included drawings for the city's
standard okay and do do houses front on that back street north preston or is that a is that
a alley street um north reese is an alley street so that so that's an alley that's essentially an
alley street okay um i have a question the the first unit um is the only bedrooms of that unit
in the basement that's what it looks like let me pull back yeah the living space is on the first
floor and the lower level has the bedrooms i guess that's that that's always a concern with
the living space in the basement the other issue i'm sorry i'm sorry remember to grant you good
i was going to say the same thing but go ahead there's egress wells uh yeah yeah yeah no the
issue is if what's the height of the basement what's the what's the depth of the basement below
the grade you know we we find some situations where you know you literally go eight you eight
feet below grade doesn't look like you are here it's hard to tell no elevation so that that's
a concern with it if the architect is on i'd ask him to raise his virtual hand right and i and of
course i raise the same issue i raise a lot of times in these plans when the plans generally
don't work well for living space they don't show furniture and your living your living dining room
area is like 12 by it looks like 10 with a kitchen and it's a three-bedroom house right a three
family dwelling. No, it's a duplex. No, no, no, no. I'm saying it's a three person dwelling,
right? A minimum of a three person dwelling. So if you've got a family, you could have two kids
in each room, right? I'm just saying the living- Theoretically, yes. Right. There's not a whole
lot of living space. You got a three bedroom house, basically a three bedroom apartment
with a very small living space for families to gather.
with a very small living space for for families to gather that's my concern with this with the unit
with the unit size and you don't show furniture so we have no idea whether the bedroom really works
whether you can put a bed in there whether you can put furniture in there so that's
always a concern for me and and the size of the bedrooms are all over the standard size they do
they do they do they do but for example in your dining this says dining room where's the living
room see on your plan here it says dining room where's the living room where's the family going
to live is that is the living room someplace else maybe that's just the error on the plan
but i think so because this is the this is the kitchen area right and this is the living space
here right so i guess everybody's got to eat at the counter i don't know oh no there would be
there could be a kitchen table right here yeah that's a hallway i'm i'm i'm i don't want to get
into the detail of the plan it's a four foot looks like it says four foot or i can't tell
it looks like i don't know it looks like it said 11 feet but you know whatever it's the issue is
livability right real livability i have two issues issue with the bedrooms in the basement
and the depth of the basement below grade because we get some terrible snowstorms now
and if those windows get covered up these people are stuck in the basement literally and god forbid
there's something else that happens so the higher you can make the basement uh bedrooms out of the
ground the better for in my opinion okay okay the other thing is making units that it was if you're
going to do a three-bedroom unit to me in my opinion your living dining room should at a
minimum be the same size as the one you have upstairs i don't know and you don't show furniture
so that's a problem for me but those are all those are my issues i've raised those issues every time
why don't we do this
I only see two bedrooms Mr. Johns
unless I'm missing something
floor there's not a bedroom
first floor there's a bedroom behind the bathroom
bedroom one
I see it now
bedroom two and bedroom three
and this here is the living space
correct
so listen the owner wasn't here why don't we do this hillary why don't we have a resumptive
hearing let the architect and the owner come in i appreciate that that that would be helpful thank
you i'm not quite sure why we'll go from there and then you then then vern you're not trying to
figure out what the architect did yeah and i didn't i didn't make the plans and i didn't submit
them so yeah i was gonna say there's a david mcarthur with his hand raised is that the
architect yes it is i was hoping that the architect was here um to be able to get our
questions answered now at least some of them yes i'm still okay with the resumption hearing though
so we could maybe even put some furniture on these plans for you david mcarthur is allowed to speak
uh yes sir could you please state your name and spell for the course sonographer uh my name is
David McArthur, D-A-V-I-D-M-C-A-R-T-H-U-R.
We're affirmed to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Counsel, please proceed.
Mr. McArthur, did you hear some of the concerns of Mr. Johns today?
Yes, I did.
Please address that.
First, I'd just like to say that that dining room space is a typo.
That is the general living space at the rear of the first floor there.
We do realize it's about an 11 by 15 space.
if that's a little tight and it would be preferable i think one of those rooms in the
basement could be converted to a rec room or living space to um enhance that if it would be
more favorable to the board do you want to discuss uh how much above grade is the basement right
right um yes the um house currently is about the basement slabs about six feet below grade
and has an eight feet ceiling so um you have about two feet of um headroom in the basement
that would be above grade before you hit the ceiling in the basement what's the maximum height
what's the what's the are we at 38 feet maximum height for this area um let me take a quick look
at the elevation here i think we have a little space to spare on it though yeah we're about at
37 feet so we could go up about a foot or so so i i i'd have no problem with those those uh
recommendations of doing, making, not having one unit in what that space,
one space in the basement, not being a bedroom and being more living space.
not being a bedroom and being more living space.
You can definitely make those adjustments.
Right, without the door.
Of course.
So that is legitimately an open space and not a fake bedroom.
And raising it as much as possible out of below grade.
We'll push it to the 38-foot max so we can get it up as high as possible.
we could even remove one of the closet in one of those rooms so it can connect cannot be converted
to a bedroom mr johns if that would be helpful and mr chair i think that the resumption hearing
would be i think advisable this way we could come back with revised plan i think we i think we have
to see it on the plans yep that way we all understand it um don't worry do we want to go to
the general
public to just get that over with now?
Yes, we can see
if there's anybody here and if planning
would like to give their position now or
defer to the resumption.
Questions or comments from the virtual
audience?
Chair, I have
no, they put
their hand down. Thank you.
I see no more hands.
Mr. Bednar?
Yes. My name is Ronald, first name, R-O-N-A-L-D, last name, Bednar, B-E-D-N-A-R.
We're a firm to tell the truth, told truth, nothing but the truth.
Ron, do you want to take a position now or you want to see the plans?
I think we would like to see the plan also.
Thank you. All right. So we're going to have, we'll schedule this for a resumptive hearing.
Yes, I'm sorry.
If I may, we do have one hand if you will allow them to speak.
Can you hear me?
Could you please state your name and spell for the court sonographer?
My name is Delilah Colon, D-A-L-I-L-A, last name C-O-L-O-N.
Do you swear or form to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
please proceed
a neighbor and also my daughter
also goes to the school
I went to the last hearing
for the neighborhood
they were supposed to
come up with
safety precautions
for whatever construction
when it comes into play
I wanted to ask
did they come back to the safety
precautions because they have they have not but we're going to have this for a resumptive hearing
and we can cover that we could cover that at the next year okay okay thank you but but thank you
for taking the time to call us we appreciate is there anyone else in the virtual audience
okay we're going to schedule this for a resumptive hearing okay thank you mr chair
Number seven, MI 2024-004-256-2423 North 10th Street, Alan Nockamson is the attorney.
Letter of support from APM.
Alan Nockamson has been promoted.
Mr. Nockmson, could you please state your name and spell for the court's sonographer?
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members of the board.
Alan Nockmson.
Could you spell your name just for the record, Mr. Nockmson?
Alan, A-L-A-N, last name Nockmson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Do you identify your client, the relationship to the property?
Oh, yes.
My client is SDMS Properties, LLC, the owner of the property, and in the virtual audience
is its member, Daphne Jones.
Do you stipulate to the reading of the refusal, or do you agree with its accuracy?
Please proceed, sir, and share your screen.
Thank you.
All right. I'm here to present 2423 North 10th Street. So this is an RM1 property. We're just
short of the requirements to allow us to have this as a triplex. Currently, it's legally can
be used as a duplex. So we're here today in that respect. My client purchased a property
My client purchased the property in its current configuration as a triplex.
as in its current case.
So the hardship here would be to, you know, obviously convert it to a duplex would be a significant cost and structurally would be challenging to say the least.
We're not taking an RSA-5 property and making it into RM1 for multifamily use.
It's already RM1.
So during my presentation, we will review the notice of refusal. As the chairman stated, we do have a letter of support from the coordinating RCO APM. We'll also review aerial views of the neighborhood.
you'll see that 15 of the 19 lots, which are RM1 on this block, are vacant.
So in order to encourage the development of this property,
as well as the fact that we're near a commercial corridor on Germantown Avenue,
we're asking that the board allow this variance request.
Then we'll review maps of the area, which will confirm that we are an RM1 property,
photographs of the property inside and out and it it was done very well my client you know
purchased this property with the hopes to use it in in its current condition um and you'll see that
from the interior photographs um our plans and drawings which are just pretty basic um there is
no basement uh use other than it's an owner storage so there's no living in the basement
So unlike the presentation before, there's no concern about height, about living and stuff like that, or any type of safety concerns.
We then will review the RCO meeting notice.
We had a pretty decent turnout for APM, and the members of the community supported this project.
The deed to the property showing that my client SDMS properties, LLC is the owner of the property, and then the certificate of tax clearance.
At the conclusion of my presentation, I would ask that Ms. Jones virtually raise her hand and be sworn in, and I'll have a few questions for her.
So notice of refusal, again, we are an RM1 property, so multifamily is allowed by right.
We are in an overlay where, again, it's a little bit more restrictive in the sense of instead of 360 square feet of lot size per unit up to 1,440 units,
it's 425 square feet of lot size per unit. So we're slightly short either way. But again,
this property is rather large in size relatively and is one that is spaced out well.
So here's our letter of support from APM. Like I said, they were generally supportive of this
project. Again, we're not taking an RSA5 property to make it multifamily. More importantly, the
property was, you know, configured this way when my client purchased it. So again, the hardship
would be to structurally change it to make it into a duplex. And then the aerial view of this
property, as you can see where we are in the neighborhood, we're between Cumberland and
Boston Street. And then this is the commercial corridor, which is Germantown Avenue. So
what we're trying to do is just help support that commercial corridor by increasing density slightly
for this property but also hopefully maybe to incur some more development right here it's it's
really like a dead zone in the neighborhood 15 and 19 lots on that block are vacant and then maps of
the area as you can see here um and here's germantown avenue again is the fact that this
is an orange or or pink or red whatever you want to say and purple part of the neighborhood so
this is not a single family portion of the neighborhood. We're just trying to increase
the density by one from two units to three units. We're slightly short of the
loss size requirements. And then photographs of the property, very
nice property. You can see there are three mailboxes on here.
To the outside world, this looks like a triplex. We're just trying to legalize that
and get rental licenses for three units. And then these
are our hearing notice posters that we posted on the property 21 days
before today's hearing date and this is north 10th street to the right of the property
to the left of the property and then interior photos very nice like you know done well rehabbed
property they're all two bedroom one baths by the way they're each on its own floor there's no
roof deck but you can see here the basement is so if you walk in there's a vestibule area
Um, you can go down the basement. Everyone has access to it, but no one does. This is the owner's like just storage area. Um, or you can go into the actual units. You can go into the first floor unit. And again, there's a living room and a kitchen, a bed, two bedrooms and a bath. And I will say this, our firm created, creates these floor plans. So I have to say, I'm sorry that we would put furniture if we were more well-versed in that.
you can go down the basement everyone has access to it but no one does this is still
I try to, you know, keep it as straightforward as possible, but these units are approximately
700 square feet each.
And, you know, again, you have two bedrooms and you have a nice little kitchen area and
living area in the bathroom.
And the photos kind of show that as well.
Instead of going to the first floor, you go up a flight of steps.
You have floor number two, which is also two bedrooms, a kitchen, a separate living area
and a bathroom.
And if you don't want to go on the second floor, you go on the third floor, which is,
Again, a bed, two bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and a bath.
We had an RCO meeting on August 22nd at 6 p.m.
We emailed that notice a few weeks before that meeting.
96 addresses were notified of the community meeting.
These are lists of the addresses.
Proof of mailing to those addresses are applications for appeal that we filed on behalf of the property owner.
The notice of refusal associated with that application for appeal, along with the project information form.
The deeds of the property showing that my client SDMS Properties LLC is the owner of the property.
And then finally, the Certificate of Tax Clearance.
I'm going to stop sharing my screen for a second so I can ask my client to virtually raise her hand and then be sworn in.
before she comes on i i saw a comment in the uh from the rco about trash what what are you
going to do with that so again typically when you're starting from scratch it's easier to do
like right i understand so we defer to the board so the first floor unit has trash um access for
you know for the rear uh the second and third floor units do not if the board feels so inclined
to to grant it with a proviso of some sort either to like you know well the proviso would be stored
trash stored indoors so if that is what the board wants that's what we'll do okay okay bring your
client please yeah and while she's you know virtually raising her hand again typically
we're ones who recommend to our clients to put you know ventilated trash closets and such but
this has already been built out and so. Mr. Nackamson, would that be, did you say Daphne
Jones? That is correct. She's allowed to speak. Why could you please state your name and spell
for the court stenographer? Daphne Jones, can you please unmute yourself?
can you hear me can you hear me yes hi hi hi sorry about that yes could you state your name
please and spell for the court sonographer yes my name is daphne capital d a p h n e
last name jones j o n e s you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but
the truth yes please proceed counsel yes um miss jones you heard everything i had to state today
about your zoning matter yes is it true and correct yes and do you adopt as your own testimony
yes thank you questions from the board
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
there are no hands chair planning commission uh this is ron bednar city planning properties
indicated for residential use on the city plan or adopted district plan recommends no change to
existing zoning at this location the applicant is not in conformance with the dimensional
requirements of the code therefore we recommend aggressive variance not be granted mi2024
004256 2423 north 10th street i vote yes michael johnson my vote is yes
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes
Senator Graham, my vote is yes
Ioann, my vote is yes
Thank you, thank you, counsel
Thank you
Number 8, MI 2024-004-290-21 Wall Street
Ronald Patterson is the attorney
There's a letter of support from Whitman Council and a letter of non-oppositions from Councilmember Squiller.
There's a letter of support from Whitten Council
and a letter of non-oppositions from Council
Ronald Patterson has been promoted to panelists.
Patterson?
Patterson?
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman.
Could you state your name, please, to spell for the court sonographer?
Ronald, R-O-N-A-L-D, Patterson, B-A-T-T-E-R-S-O-N.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Could you identify your client and relationship to the property?
My client is the tenant.
It's under the name Mercado, M-E-R-C-A-D-O, Philly Fresh LLC, the principal being William
Alvarado.
a l v a r a d o manipulate to the reading of the uh refusal and agree with its accuracy
correct i do why don't you share your screen and begin your presentation
okay we can see the screen we can great thank you so this regards the address is 21 wall street but
It actually fronts on Swanson Street, as you're seeing in this photograph.
It's located on Swanson Street between Snyder Avenue, which is to the right here, and Oregon Avenue, which is further down here to the left.
It's in between an array of uses.
To the left here, you see the Fertile Donuts.
And within that building is the 2300 Club.
Further down is the IATSE, the Union Hall, Banquet Hall facility, and South Bowling.
To the right, there's a full block where the NLX facility is located.
It's going to be demolished and turned into a shopping center.
And, of course, once you reach down here at Snyder Avenue, there's all the Snyder plazas, Target, and then eventually the IKEA shopping center.
So this is an old building.
It's occupied on the second floor currently with an upholstery.
use there is another use proposed here that's going it would be a fresh bakery
and so what we're proposing here is a latin themed supermarket the property or the space
is approximately 1200 square feet i'll show you some additional photographs here this is wolf
street this is swanson street this is the side this is swanson this is a side alley here
As I mentioned, an entrance would be placed here on Swanson Street.
Deliveries through the side alley.
This is Wolf Street.
It's a view across the street.
Let me find this photograph here.
here's some photographs of the interior space which would occupy in a simple floor plan
not with any any racks or anything shown yet but uh here or every year 11 500 square feet
so again a proposed supermarket with fresh produce groceries meats and baked goods the
property is located in an I-2 industrial zoning district, and therefore we receive the refusal
for this commercial retail use. Days in operation would be between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.
The area, as I mentioned, is in transformation away from the I-2 industrial uses with CMX3
creeping up both sides. We believe it's been difficult to find permitted uses
in this building, having mixed uses in the building and mixed uses surrounding the building
with the trend being away from the I2 uses. Yet, we find that there would be no adverse impact
here on the public health, safety, welfare, or traffic by having a supermarket use here,
which is evidenced by the fact that Whitman Council thoroughly reviewed this use and does
support the use. So with that said, I have one witness, which is Mr. Alvarado, A-L-V-A-R-A-R-D-O.
If you could promote him, please.
Mr. Patterson, I see a note here that says the second floor is to remain vacant.
Um, correct.
Correct.
Is William?
Alvarado is allowed to speak.
Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Mr. Alvarado, can you please unmute yourself?
Can you hear me now?
Yes, we can. Could you please state your name and spell for the court's sonographer?
William Alvarado, A-L-V-A-R-A-D-O.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you. Hi, Mr. Alvarado.
Hello.
So you are the proposed tenant for this location?
And you have other supermarkets in Philadelphia, so you understand and you know what you're doing?
You've heard my testimony and presentation.
Would you agree it's true and accurate?
It's pretty much yes.
Would you adopt it as if it were your own?
I'm sorry?
You would say it's similar to what you would say?
Is there anything else you'd like to add about how you would operate the supermarket?
well you could basically cover everything okay mr chairman questions from the board
um i have a question just about anticipated parking where would folks park uh that are
using the supermarket the parking should be um uh in the front near swanson's in front
of Swanson, and some parking Swanson and the entrance to the warehouse in the back.
In the rear, is there a lot or is it just another street?
It's like a lot.
And what kind of groceries are we talking about?
we're talking it's just a regular supermarket you know um foods meats vegetables dry goods
okay thank you it is it well nevermind
the questions from the board
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson um just briefly mr chair um
where did he go mr patterson um who did who did you say your client was in this case you
said it was the tenant what was the tenant's name
hello mr patterson oh goodness okay
i think you said mr alvarez is the tenant oh i'm sorry i was on somebody i was muted sorry
it's a mercado m-e-r-c-a-d-o philly fresh llc which is being formed actually and mr alvarado
is the principal okay is there a signed lease for this property uh yes there is okay yeah we
provide that to you yeah we will need a copy of that just because you're representing the tenant
so um we'll need a copy of that before um we can vote on it um but yep that we could
get it to me today we can vote on it next week so i will i'll have it too today all right thank you
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands chair planning commission this is ron bednar city planning the property was
initially indicated for medium industrial use city plan 2014 it was rezoned to industrial commercial
mixed use the applicant's hardship is not supported with evidence of unique physical
circumstances or condition of the property they prevented from being used performance with the
code the proposed use is inappropriate for this location therefore we recommend the request for
We're going to hold the vote on this, Mr. Patterson, and we'll vote on this next Wednesday at 2 p.m.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Number nine.
MI 2024-004-293-438 West Wing, Hawkins Street.
Joseph Consul is the attorney.
Letter of non-opposition from Esperanza
Also 11 form letters of support
Also, 11 form letters of support, eight of the people live on the block.
Eight of the people live on the block
Joseph Consol is coming back in as a panelist.
Good afternoon.
Afternoon, Mr. Consol. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court sonographer?
Joseph Consol, J-O-S-E-P-H-C-O-N-S-O-L-E.
Do you require a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client, a relationship to the property?
Yeah, my client is the owner of the property, Mr. Kenyatta Anderson.
Do you play to the reading of the refusal and agree with its accuracy?
Please proceed and share your screen.
Good afternoon, board.
Joseph Consul here on 438 West Wingo Hocking Street.
My client purchased this property in May of 2022, and since that time, he's been renovating it to create his dream of having a short-term rental property here.
This property is very close to the Esperanza Health Center Hospital, and he believes, based on his research, that he'll have a lot of folks that are working there that would like to stay there for short periods of time.
and also other guests and it would appear based on our meeting at the RCO their letter and the
support he got from the block that that the the neighbors are in support of of this use as he
presented it so we have one refusal because the property is zoned RSA 5 and visitor accommodations
Permits require a variance. We met with Esperanza, as you mentioned, there was a letter of non-opposition to that to that variance request.
here's some photos of the work that he did of the photos of the posters in a second but
he wanted to show everyone the rehab work that he did all with permits those permits
are all open closed and inspected and he just made it into a really unique property it's
three bedrooms two baths
It was the exterior of the block itself.
Let's see.
Also included photos of the posters from the date, August 15th.
Tax clearance certificate and the other forms that are required.
And then we followed it up, as you mentioned, with the 11 petitions,
nine of which are block near neighbors and we're hopeful that the board will see fit to grant the
variance based on the local approval and the RCO approval and my client's testimony if he can raise
his hand to adopt it. Your client's name Mr. Counsel? It's Mr. Kenyatta Anderson. Okay. Kenyatta
Anderson has been allowed to speak.
Could you please state your name?
It's spelled for the court stenographer.
Kenyatta Anderson, K-B-N-Y-A-T-T-A, last name Anderson, A-N-D-E-R-S-O-N.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Please proceed, counsel.
Good afternoon, Mr. Anderson.
Did you hear my testimony just now regarding your property at 438 West Wingahocking?
Yes. Do you adopt it as your own? Yes. Is there anything you'd like to add to the board about
your intended use of the property? No. Okay. Questions from the board.
I have a question. Is there a particular reason that you chose to turn this into a temporary
rental instead of getting a rental license and renting it as a single family property?
Mr. Anderson, Mr. Anderson, Mr. Anderson, can you unmute yourself, please?
I'm sorry about that. I thought I still was unmuted.
I apologize.
I have my rental license as well.
But I thought the way I designed this, I have a few properties.
so this was getting better.
So I felt like it would be a better idea
in this particular neighborhood.
It's not a bad neighborhood.
It's surrounded by hospitals.
I know doctors and nurses, and it's by the highway, so I think it just was better for me to try to go for a variance for Airbnb for short-term rentals.
I know doctors and nurses.
And it's by the highway.
Are there any other short-term rentals that you're aware of on that block?
Mm-mm.
The questions on the board.
Actually, one more question. How close do you live to the property in terms of like maintenance? I just know, as a single family homeowner, the upkeep on a single family home is not always the easiest. And so just like, if there if this is going to be an isolated vacation rental in this community, how are you managing this property?
I actually live like 10 minutes away
and I actually just had
a order permit for
it was an outside water
issue that was clogging up
so I'm very responsive
so that guy took me care of the next day
questions or comments from our
attorney Hillary Emerson
not at this time Mr. Chair
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands chair planning commission it's uh ron bednar city planning the property is
indicated for residential use on the city plan adopted district plan recommends no change existing
zoning at this location there's no unique physical conditions nor circumstances of the property that
would prevent it from being used in conformity with the zoning code city planning commission
recommends that the board deny the proposed use variants for visitor accommodation.
MI 2024-004-293-4038-Weslinga, Hawkins Street, I vote yes, but a temporary variance that would
expire 9-19-27. Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with
proviso. Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso. Taya Nguyen, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you, counsel. Thank you.
MI 2024-004-295-6127 North Fish Street. Kevin Greenberg and Jennifer Landoffi are the attorneys.
There's a letter of support from Upper North Coalition of Community Councils.
Kevin Greenberg has been promoted to panelists.
Good afternoon, Council.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members of the board.
My name is Kevin Greenberg.
I'm joined by my colleague, Jennifer Landolfi, who has helped us with this application.
She's new to the Philadelphia zoning process, having crossed the river.
So I just wanted to introduce her to all of you.
Mr. Greenberg, just for the record, could you spell your name for the court?
Sure. Kevin, K-E-V-I-N, green like the color, B-E-R-G.
Where a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Of course.
Could you identify your client and relationship to the property?
So we represent the Sisters of St. Joseph.
The property itself is owned in the name of the parish priest in 1934.
It's all part of the Roman Catholic Church, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia,
sort of the larger family.
You stipulate to the reading of the refusal and also agree with its accuracy?
The referral. Yes, Mr. Chair.
All right. Thank you.
Why don't you share your screen and begin?
Are you going to do the testimony yet, Mr. Reber?
Okay. Thank you.
so let's uh can you see this correctly we can okay so what i'm showing you here on the front
page just so you see is this is the church itself on the right and then on the left is actually the
rectory the convents on the other side of the church behind the trees um but we didn't have
a good shot of both of them together because of the trees we'll get there in a second
um and i'll go through what's going to be on the site so this is the overhead side of the plan
And this is the St. Helena's campus on 5th Street up in the 6100 block.
There are actually three parcels on the plan, on the property.
The first one is the top, which is the rectory.
The second one, and that's the one we're talking about, is this one right here in the middle that contains both the church and the convent.
And then the bottom is a third parcel where the school sits.
Ignore the fact that it says St. Helena's convent over it.
The convent is actually the dark roof building in the middle of this image.
We have the notice of referral.
We have the notice of referral.
So let me step back and tell you what it is, and then we'll talk about what the sisters are doing.
So let me step back and tell you.
So this is a property, actually the church celebrated its 100th anniversary this weekend.
But since 1924, the sisters have been on this property.
Largely, the convent housed about 30 sisters at a time.
They largely worked in the school.
there is obviously, as we all know, less need for nuns housing in Philadelphia. The Catholic
Church's dynamics are changing. There are less nuns. And one of the programs the Sisters of
St. Joseph of Philadelphia have taken on is an immigrant welcoming process in transitional
housing. And the plan is to convert this housing that used to house 30 nuns into housing that will
hold 13 units for women and their children. And the idea is that they will be there for a year
at most for transitional housing as they're going through the process. They come into the country.
These are all legal immigrants who are referred appropriately. They come into the country,
whether they be from Afghanistan or Guatemala or wherever. We would house them and give them
some support with things like getting appropriate permits, social security numbers, driver's
licenses if eligible and if skilled, and some basic functional training to exist in the United
States. And as the individual women are ready, they will be migrated out to transitional housing
elsewhere. If there is a family, they tend to get individual single family homes. If they're
just single women, there are homes, there are longer term housing options for single women
and single men. This is one step in a multi-step process that the sisters take on, and when we are
done here, I'm going to ask Sister Eileen McNally of the sisters to talk a little bit about what the
Sisters of St. Joseph's of Philadelphia are doing, and I will ask Sam Miller, who is the property
person for this project, to adopt the rest of my testimony as her own. So we have an application
of reciprocal exception to, again, just allow this group home. It's been a group home since 1924,
but there is no record at all of any legalization in 1924 of this use as a convent on what is an
RSA-5 property. The entire block is RSA-5, and as you can see, there is no RSA-5 housing on that
block. Across the block in the back there is, and that is the RSA-5 neighborhood.
So that's the project form. This is the deed from 1934. So the first drawing I'm going to show you
is the block complex. Again, this is sort of broken out in more detail. The convent we're
talking about is right here. The only external work that's being done, we're trying to preserve
the entire thing, the only external work being done is this little block right here to the
north side of the convent where we are adding an ADA lift to be able to get people to the first
floor. But it's purely for ADA compliance. And then we may have to extend the sidewalk
right adjacent to that to allow access to that. But nothing else is changing. The property is
the campus large parking lot that's here. There's another one on the other side that serves the
rectory. And it's largely used for the schools during the day and the church at nights and
weekends. The convent itself does not have a significant parking need when they were nuns,
and they don't have a significant parking need as we anticipate this going on.
The rest of the stuff around it is grass and trees,
and we are trying to preserve as much of that as possible.
We may have to trim some trees to paint,
but that's basically all we're going to do externally.
So the first floor is going to house one family apartment, which is up here.
This is the ADA-friendly apartment, ADA-usable apartment up here.
And this apartment comes with its own bath, its own bedroom,
and its own common space, and its own kitchenette.
Again, this is the ADA-friendly unit.
Every other unit in the building that we're adopting has their own bathroom, but not necessarily connected, but they share kitchen and living spaces.
And so there are two different kitchen dynamics, one on each floor for individual families to do some prep and meals.
And then this kitchen and dining room space down here, which will be used for communal activities when that's appropriate.
There is also a great hall right here, which is a converted, I guess it's deconsecrated chapel is I believe the technical term. And this meeting room and these four offices here are designed to support the functions of the program of the sisters operations on site. So that's going to be a permanent staffed operation that will be on site managing this at all times.
The second floor is going to have some of the apartments, as you can see. So this is an apartment right here that's a two-room apartment, a living room and a bedroom that will be designed. It's designed for a single woman in most cases.
a living room and a bedroom that will be designed. It's designed for a single woman
in most cases. Again, here, same thing, although this one has a connected bath
to it. This apartment, apartment number three, does not have its own bath connected to it.
This right here is the bath for apartment three. So these four bathrooms, one is connected to
apartment four. It will also serve as apartment three, and then apartment five and six across
the hall that are also essentially two-room apartments with a bath immediately across the
hall for them. It's not ideal, but we're dealing with a historical communal bathroom on each floor
that the nuns used. And so we're trying to figure out how to retrofit this to deal with what was
essentially a dormitory-style bathroom on each floor. And so we're breaking that up so each
apartment has their own space and they don't have to share. They'll have their own locks. They'll
have their own controls. But unfortunately, for some of the units, they're not immediately
connected. It's less than ideal, but it's sort of the best combination. And then on this corner of
the floor and the other corner of the floor, there's a two-bedroom apartment with its own
bath that's designed for women with children. The policy is that no children over the age of 10,
we realize we are next door to a school. We do not want 15-year-old boys wandering around
unsupervised. So it's going to be children under 10 only. We're not even allowing 12-year-old
girls. It's single women, children under 10, and we may in some of these two bedrooms allow for
multi-generational families if it's a woman and her mother and their grandchildren or something
like that. But again, no children under 10 and no men will be permanent residents here. None of them
will even be allowed up on the first floor. And then the third floor is essentially a mirror of
the same thing. As I said, on the second floor, there is a laundry and common kitchen. The idea
is that people can prepare lunches and sandwiches for the kids to go to school or whatever they need
to do in this space on that floor. And there was a common living room. And then on the first floor,
there was some training space. And then on the third floor, it's exactly the same mirror idea.
Slightly different layouts for the shape. This is a one-bedroom apartment in the corner here
instead of two, but it's got a connected bath and a large living room. It's just the layout
of the floor is a little different. This is a two-bedroom apartment, and then the same
one bedrooms and baths connected or across the hall for these four individual units up here.
Very much a rooming house dynamic, but the idea is that people will be here for less than a year.
We get them trained and we get them moved on to more permanent housing. There's no tax balance.
I think this property has been exempt from taxation since 1924. We oppose to the property
appropriately, front and back. And then these are photos of what currently exists. This is the
kitchen on the first floor that's actually going to be turned into a meeting room when we build a
more appropriate kitchen. This is the existing dining hall space, again, going to be converted.
This is what one of the bathrooms looked like, very much a dormitory-style bathroom,
as you can see. We've started some of the demo on those bathrooms. And these are the stairs,
and there will be a lock on these doors at the first level to not allow anybody who's not part
of the program or living there up those stairs um and otherwise it's essentially you know as you can
see these are all very similar one one room nuns up nuns how apartments that shared kitchens and
bathrooms and that's that's the project um if there's any questions otherwise i'd like to bring
on um sister mr greenberg why don't you mention the uh the uh rco meeting oh so we had an rco
meeting thank you with the upper north community count the council of upper north community
coalitions unc3 um 46 people attended uh i think it was 33 to 9 was the vote in support
um we've got a letter 36 to 9 what 36 to 36 to 9 thank you thank you mr chair uh 36 to 9
And the nine individuals, we were not there for the vote, so I'm not sure, but the people who had challenges were largely about why we were helping these individuals and not others.
And with all due respect, that's not what we think is an appropriate distinction for why you would not support a special exception for this use.
There were two conditions to the letter.
One is that we meet with them on an annual basis, which we are more than prepared to do.
So, in fact, both the long-term program lead and the construction lead have committed to go back for the first year on a quarterly basis and thereafter on a semiannual basis just to touch base and be part of this engaged community because we do think that we're going to be long-term partners to them and we want to maintain that.
their ask is that we attend once a year which is fine um and then their second ask is that we not
get different zoning relief for five years um presuming this is granted we do not anticipate
So presuming this is granted, we do not anticipate anything else, although you never know if we have to come back for some technical reason when we need something else.
anything else although you never know if we have to come back for some tech
But it is our intention for this to be a long-term permanent issue.
The archdiocese is on board with us, with the sisters operating here for many, many years, and the idea is that this will work.
Hopefully it will even help the school because we'll be able to have some of the children living there attend the school.
But the monsignor who runs the church has been enthusiastically in support, and we were thrilled that Sheriff Balal and the rest of the board at the RCO were enthusiastically supportive as well.
Those letters are on file with the board as well.
Although I can pull it up here.
Here's their explanation letter.
And here's their meeting summary.
With that, I'd like to call on Sam Miller to adopt my testimony and then Sister Eileen McNally to talk a little bit about what the Sisters of St. Joseph's do and what the plan is for this location.
Sam Miller, can you please raise your hand?
Sam Miller is allowed to speak. Please unmute yourself.
Hi, Mr. Miller.
Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Sam Miller.
It's S-A-M-M-I-L-L-E-R.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Ms. Miller, are you a lay employee of the Sisters of St. Joseph's?
What is your title?
I'm their properties director.
And are you in charge of the redevelopment of this property in combination with the program people?
Yes, I am.
You heard my testimony or my summary of the project here today?
Is it true and correct to the best of your knowledge?
Would you adopt that as your own testimony?
I will, yes.
Do you have anything else you wish to add?
Not at this time.
Thank you. Oh, Mr. Bergman, one more thing I forgot to add before we turn to Sister Eileen. We sent the letters to 126 of the neighbors, and they received them all, and we had copied the RCO at the time that went out with that whole list. We have proof of mailing as well on hand.
Thank you.
Sister Eileen, can you raise your hand, please?
Sister Eileen's hand.
Yes, she's been allowed to speak.
Sister, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
My name is Sister Eileen McNally, E-I-L-E-E-N-M-C-N-A-L-L-Y.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Sister Eileen, can you tell us how long you've been a nun?
Oh, 58 years.
And you are a member of the Order of the Sisters of St. Joseph's of Philadelphia?
And what is your role with the Sisters of St. Joseph's?
I am the Refugee Coordinator for the Congregation.
Can you tell us what the Congregation's focus and goals are with respect to refugees,
and more particularly, how they will achieve that at St. Helena's?
our sisters inspired by the gospel and the mission of the sisters of saint joseph
want to provide safe and secure safe transitional housing for refugees and immigrants so we would
like them rooted in a supportive loving and compassionate care for the dear neighbor
and to provide some residential environment with opportunities to have basic human needs met
and a restorative atmosphere. And you service not just women and children like we're talking
about at this site, but a wide variety of people? Correct. But individual men, are they going to
be at this site or are they housed someplace else? Our men are at a different site. And large
families or families involving women and children and men or women with older children, how do you
house them? Families, intact families or blended families are put into two or three bedroom row
homes within the city. Thank you, sister. You heard some of what I said that was about the
policies of the sisters. Do you adopt that as your testimony as well? Yes. Thank you. Mr. Chairman,
I think that we've completed our presentation. We're happy to answer any questions the board may
have questions from the board i have a question so while while the men will not be living on site um
I have a question. So while the men will not be living on site, what about visitation? Will men be allowed to visit the site?
The plan is to allow individuals on the first floor in the public spaces. Again, there won't be any women and children there who are with a husband, a father, someplace like that. They're two different groups. When we have an intact family, they house them in a different location with a two or three bedroom individual row home.
so you're saying that any male engagement will be done on in a common area on the first floor
on the first floor where those four offices and the common spaces are down there under supervision
of the staff okay and then also for a couple of the units they have to uh go out there's no
interior bathrooms so um are they accepting just single women uh without children for those
possible units instead of having children going outside to go to their bathroom?
Correct. There are six of the units that have disconnected bathrooms. The idea is that those
will be single women or maybe a woman and a mother, two adult women who are connected in
some way in a family. The six units, the seven units that have intact bathrooms could be for
a mother and child dynamic where it's a one bedroom or a mother with multiple children
where it's a two bedroom. Thank you.
We have the questions from the board.
I have a question about what is the age where they're defining adult male?
Ten years old?
It's women and children under ten is the entire universe.
So we're not taking 11-year-old women, 11-year-old girls either.
It's women and children under ten.
That's the line we're drawing.
And my question, you said that there was going to be training programs or something that's going on there.
i don't see space for that but so ms gaston let me go back to the slides there there the what we
have marked as the as the great room and those things on the first floor would are designed to
be multimodal and multi-use facilities um so if you come down here on the first floor
uh you have this meeting room right here in the middle here and the and the great room over to
the side here that's 663 square feet in the 225 square foot meeting room. And those are designed
to be multimodal. So there'll probably be computers up against the wall or things like that.
We will not generally conduct those trainings ourselves. The sisters have partners in the
community. Every family here has their own caseworker. They all come referred from
higher. So one of the other Catholics family services, one of the other entities that provide
wider services so the idea is that we will be housing partner agencies who come in and do
individual trainings for the people who will live for the women who are living there okay and that's
in english that's in uh basic financial literacy how to get a social security card things like that
okay all right thank you of course good to see you questions or comment
question or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair question or comments from the virtual audience
yes a person's hand went up but it went right oh he's back nick huck will be allowed to speak
okay sir could you please state your name it's spelled for the court stenographer
first name is nicholas n-i-c-h-o-l-a-s last name is huck h-u-c-k
Where or firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Are you a neighbor?
Yes, in the fact that I'm the principal of the school that is on the same property as the convent.
Please, please give us your testimony.
We have about, we have 525 students at our school.
A significant number of them are from immigrant families.
And as you saw from the diagrams, there's a large amount of shared space with the convent and the school.
Our primary concern is that we can do as much as we can to maintain the safety of our children and for the staff and the community that is a part of our school.
Is that the end of your testimony, sir?
Yes, sir.
All right. Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, if I could just comment on that.
My client is committed, and frankly, the Archdiocese and the Monsignor who runs the parish are aggressively working to work together to accommodate all of the users in this complex.
They're all, you know, the ground is all owned by the Roman Catholic Church, the Archdiocese, and we're one big family in that dynamic.
Any other questions from the virtual audience?
I see no other hands, Chair.
Any commission?
Any commission?
This is Ron Bednar, City Planning.
So, Ron Bednar, City Planning.
The property is indicated for residential use on the city plan.
The applicant has demonstrated that the proposed use will have no more of an impact than would be expected to have given its location.
Therefore, we recommend granting the request for special exception.
Thank you.
MI 2024-004-295-6127 North 5th Street, I vote yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Iowa, my vote is yes.
Tynetta Graham, my vote is yes.
You have your four votes, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, members of the board.
May we be excused.
Thank you.
You can.
Thank you very much.
Number 11, MI 2024-004-318-135 South 18th Street.
Rachel Pritzker is the attorney.
There's a letter of non-opposition from Center City Residents and a letter of non-opposition from Council Member Young.
Also, the applicant has provided two form letters of support from neighbors.
Rachel Pritzker has been promoted.
Counsel, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Rachel, R-A-C-H-A-E-L, Pritzker, P-R-I-T-Z-K-E-R.
Where or firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client, their relationship to the property?
My client's 135 South 18th Street Associates, LP, and I have Stephen Ferraro here who is in ownership.
Do you stipulate to the reading of the refusal and do you agree with its accuracy?
Please proceed and share your screen.
Can we also promote Stephen Potts?
He's the architect.
We'll have him ready.
Can you see my screen?
It's coming up right now.
We see.
It's a little bit off to the side.
better maybe you want to make it just a little bit large a little a little tough to read
better it's better okay it's hard to see what you're looking at or what you can see
i guess from the way my screen is the calendar number percer if i may can you just um widen
your screen like make it a whole screen
can i widen it you drag it drag it get to the end of it drag it
like it's in like the minimize if you can there you go is that better yep thank you
sorry guys i'm the least tech savvy lawyer in the town so i apologize okay is that better though
it is it was we see everything okay great okay i'm gonna get to the refusal
Okay. This is for 135 South 18th Street. This is a CMX5 property located at the corner
of 18th and Walnut. This is the AK Rittenhouse Hotel, if you're familiar with Rittenhouse Square.
This project is for the installation of two illuminated accessory building identification
signs, size and location as per plans, which we'll go through. This generated one refusal
for accessory sign controls for specific zoning districts for maximum height. The proposed
accessory sign installation is above the second floor windowsill, which results in a refusal
exceeding the maximum height allowed for CMX 5. The sign is located on the exterior wall,
as the plans will show, just to give you an idea of this building. If you can see on my screen,
it's this corner where the aka is it's a historic building as well so I'll go through a hardship as
for the location of the signs but as you can see it's a long-standing commercial mixed-use building
high-rise on 18th and Walnut it's located on roughly 7,500 square feet given the size of the
property and its commercial characteristics the mixed-use nature of the building and its location
on this busy street 18th and Walnut we're needing a relief from the zoning code for
two illuminated signs that we'll show on our plans. Essentially, the code only allows for them
to be under the second windowsill. There is some, as you can see, historic detailing and facade on
this property. And so given that and the fact that it's a mixed-use property that has a bunch
of different retail tenants, restaurant, hotel, and also, again, given sort of the location of
um and also again given sort of the location of the sills and the historic details on this project
the sills and the historic detail.
location as per the code is not feasible or practical um on this site so this is just for
signs um and we're looking for relief from the code just to allow for the signs to be
above the second story windowsill um just going to go through we met with so we also have approval
given the historic nature and the review by the art commission we have approved from the art
commission we also have approval from the historical commission as well for the location
and for the design of these signs um your tax clearance the deed again this is cmx5 aerial
shots of the site zoning posters all in our exhibit packet
This is the part in the code that we are seeking relief from.
We met with Center City Residence Association back in August on the 27th, and as was mentioned,
we sent mailers to 231 people, and we have a letter of non-opposition for the signs proposed
in this application and for the refusals that I mentioned.
um i also believe you should have a letter of non-opposition as mentioned from
the council office um i'd like to bring up stephen potts from the architecture firm who designed
the project just to quickly go through the signs and the details of them and the locations
for our hardship okay stephen potts has been promoted
could you please state your name and spell for the sonographer
Absolutely. It's Stephen Potts, S-T-E-P-H-A-N, last name Potts, P-O-T-T-S, with Stanif Potts Architects.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Stephen, can you just share your screen and go through the plans?
Absolutely. And I'll try to be succinct and brief here.
um what you're looking at here is a a rendering a photoshop rendering we did to show these signs
in the proposed location um what what these signs are trying to accomplish is is helping
people understand the identity of what that what happens in the building um and the thing we
struggled with here and the reason we're looking for relief from the zoning code in this particular
case is that the the uh i think i can draw here and you'll be able to see the zone that would be
the sort of by right place to put just below the second floor windowsill where signage where this
signage as proposed would be just by right would be uh wouldn't present any need for refusal um is
quite tightly packed with actually a lot of really beautiful stone ornamentation and uh and also
architectural this sort of bronze window surrounds and the way uh i think i'm going to skip maybe just
while we're talking about this to the to the details so when you when you look at the um
this is the uh walnut street elevation um that zone that i was talking about it's sort of below
here's the second floor sill so each separate uh retail store has what would be sort of your normal
kind of identification of what happens inside that window,
let's say, if it's a retail store like Lagos or Toomeat.
What we were trying to do, and so I guess the difficulty
was how to apply signage to this building in such a way
that it would sort of, where was the lowest place
on the building you could apply signage,
but still be respectful of the architecture
and the historic nature of the building's sort of importance.
And I think one thing that's important to kind of start out with is that we work closely with the Historic Commission to kind of work together to work out this location.
It was by far the preferred location of the Historic Commission because this is a spot on the facade that has sort of smooth stonework without any crenellations or any kind of ornamental bronze work.
So hopping back to the rendering for a second, that's why that location made sense to them.
They were very pleased with this proposal.
um it the scientists otherwise in full compliance with this type of signage in terms of height
illumination it's not proposed to be facelit or blinking or anything like that it's actually
backlit metal letters so that it would actually just be a subtle glow around them um and that
was something that both with the historic commission and in our conversations with the
art commission that was appreciated as well um we also were careful to get the input of the
neighbors at the RCO meeting, we spoke with them about the color temperature of the lighting,
the sort of ways in which the intention here was to have building on a vacation,
building out a vacation but to do it in a way that fit with the architecture of the building and was
but to do it in a way that fit with the architecture of the building and was subtle.
subtle in impact not aggressively bright or anything of that nature i'm just kind of quickly
just going through the rest of the pages here this is a site plan that shows the two locations
the sign they're near the corner of 18th and walnut and just kind of completing out these
drawings the drawings we have here are the are the just they say approved because either the
copies of the drawings that were approved by the uh store commission they were actually approved at
staff level which i think is sort of speaks to um the uh so the supportive nature of the of that
that conversation with them we we um we work closely together to make sure we were sort of
all our connection points are at grout joints and things like that all the things we would want to do
to make sure that we're uh being respectful of the building so um that i i we could i could
could also touch on um why the signage is important to the client but i also don't want to over you
to you know over speak the maybe we could go to questions or i'd welcome uh kind of further
discussion that's fine steven thank you um chairman i just want to lastly bring up um just the letters
of support that we have um i'll stop my share i guess yeah and as you can tell from the photos
that were brought up it's important to be able to identify this building it's important to be
would identify the hotel use of the building and given the bus shelter and other uh mixed use on
the ground floor it's important that there's visibility so the location that was provided
by the code doesn't provide any of that and this is the lease modification um to present relief so
um i just want to share uh these letters of support that we got from your neighbors as well
just made the effort to make sure that the adjacent buildings that neighbor this and are
attached not attached adjacent were also in support so in addition to CCRA's letter and
non-oppositive from council if we could bring on Stephen Ferraro
to adopt my testimony and then I'm happy to pause for any questions
sir ferraro steven ferraro is allowed to speak sir could you please state your name and spell
for the court stenographer absolutely my name is steven ferraro s-t-e-v-e-n last name ferraro
f-e-r-r-a-r-o we're affirmed to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes i do please proceed counsel thank you steven you represent uh 13 sorry 135 south 18th street
associates lp is that correct i'm the vice president of legal thank you um and have you
heard my testimony today do you believe it to be true and accurate and would you adopt it as your
own yes i've heard it and i adopt it as my own thank you nothing questions questions from the
board. Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson? Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
There are no hands, Chair. Planning Commission. This is Ron Bednar, City Planning. The property
is indicated for a center of city commercial mixed use on the city plan or not the district
The plan recommends no change to the existing zoning at this location.
The City Planning Commission believes there are several other approved signs along this building, making the need for more signage redundant and necessary.
Therefore, we recommend the request for variance not be granted.
MI 2024, 004-318-135-South 18th Street, I vote yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
Cheryl?
I'm sorry.
It's okay.
My vote is yes.
Council, you have your four votes.
Thank you very much.
Number 13, MI 2024-004-343-3405, Walsh Road.
Hello.
Alan Nockamson is the attorney.
There's a letter of non-opposition from Holmesburg Civic Association.
And also the applicant has 19 form letters of support from neighbors.
And also, the applicant has 19 form letters of support from neighbors, three from that block.
Mr. Nockamson.
Alan Nockamson is returning as a panelist here.
Alan Nockamson.
Nockamson, you've already been sworn.
Can you identify your client and relationship to the property?
Yeah, my client is AI Management, LLC, the owner and operator, proposed operator of a daycare at this location.
In the virtual audience is Irena Frackin, its member.
You stipulate to the reading of the refusal. Do you agree with its accuracy?
Could you share your screen and start your presentation, sir?
Hi, so I'm here to present 3405 Walsh Road, Northeast section of Philadelphia.
This is an RSA 5 property, but looks nothing like it.
Given its long history of non-residential use, we believe that the proposed use as a
child care centers appropriate under the circumstances. During our presentation,
we'll be first reviewing the notice of refusal and a letter of non-opposition from the
Holmesburg Civic Association. That was a very well attended meeting. It was in person.
I made the presentation myself. I believe there was like around 15 individuals who voted that
night. Could have been a little bit more, but it's conservatively 15 individuals. Then we also
canvassed the neighborhood where my client did. And we have many letters of support from nearby
neighbors in support of this child care center. Then we'll review maps of the area, photographs
of the property in the surrounding area. We took photographs of the interior of the property.
My client intends to put a substantial amount of money into the property to make it a first
quality class, you know, daycare or child care center. Then maps, excuse me, then our floor
plans for the property. It's pretty straightforward open floor plan. Then our RCO meeting notice and
then proof of mailing that notice or applications for appeal that we filed to the ZPA. Deed to
property showing my client owns the property. Certificate of tax clearance showing they're in
good standing. And then at the conclusion of my presentation, I would ask that
Irina virtually raise her hand and be sworn in.
So a notice refusal is this. This is an RSA5 property. It's the corner
of Welsh and Crispin streets.
Actually, the front door is actually leaning on Crispin Street.
It's a rather large lot, almost 10,000 square feet.
And we're proposing to put a child care center on this one-story
structure. If you look at the notes on the notice of refusal, this property has a long history
of non-residential use. This was previously a meeting hall and a lodge and a catering hall
as well. Again, we met with the community. They kept it short and sweet, but they're in non-opposition
to this project. It was a well-attended meeting. There seems to be a significant need for child
backslash daycare here in this part of Philadelphia. Even one of the board members
mentioned and stated, oh, I can't wait till this opens because we need to find a good place like
this here. My client, Irina Fracken, is the one who's going to be the owner and operator of this
child daycare center. She has almost 20 years of experience in child care and education care.
She has education in it. She has experience in it. She's currently an operator. It's not an
operator, but more manages a child care center for a third party. So she's looking forward to
having her own child care center here. Letters to support, you can see that we limited it to
like the streets that are adjacent to ours. So Welsh Road,
Stanwood, which is also behind us on Welsh Road. So you'll see a lot of
letters signed by individuals who live or occupy properties nearby on Stanwood.
Craig Crispin. Again, that's the corner of Crispin and Welsh Road.
And then maps to the area here.
And then maps of the area here.
Here we are.
Here's Crispin.
Here's Walsh Road.
Here's Stanwood.
Those are the addresses we essentially focused our attention on because they're the properties
that would be most directly impacted by this proposed use.
There's a high school across the street, Father Judge High School.
And then you can just see this from a Google Maps perspective as well.
And then photographs of the property. This is our property from Crispin Street. These are the front steps that would lead into the child care center.
This is our property from Welsh Road. Again, this is more the playground area here that we hope to develop.
And then here's our orange notice posters from both Crispin as well as Welsh Road, showing proof of posting at least 21 days before today's hearing.
uh here's a side yard which will have a be alternative like play area uh for the kids
and then here's like where you saw uh you know in the pictures on welsh road that we showed
is is a closer view of that side yard as well and then this is welsh road to the right of the
property to the left of the property crispin street to the right of the property crispin
street to the left of the property. Interior photographs, again, more of an open floor plan
currently, needs a lot of TLC, has been vacant for some significant period of time. We're trying
to activate this corner of Philadelphia. During the meeting, it was discussed that they would
definitely like to see it be better lit, which we will definitely do. It had cameras because I guess
there's been some issues on that corner in terms of crime. And just the landscaping in general,
like to improve that landscaping, which we hope to do. It does have a commercial kitchen. It
vents through the roof. So this is an existing kitchen, which we'll obviously use, you know,
for our childcare facility. And then here's just pictures of the bathroom, the existing bathroom,
which obviously we're going to completely, you know, clean up.
And then these are just our floor plans.
So if you look at it, this is the property from Crispin Street.
You go through the front door.
There's an office here, a little reception area.
And then these are the different classrooms.
Here's one classroom for the younger kids.
It's about 50 students in total.
We're planning to have 10 to 12 teachers, five staff members, including maintenance, cooking, and management on site, our hours of operation for 7.30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
But this is the first classroom, and this is where the infants or the babies would stay.
You also notice that each of the rooms have a separate emergency fire exit, which was obviously important to not just us, but the community in general.
But this is a 360-square-foot classroom or room for the babies.
Classroom number two is 1,000 square feet.
And we expect to have, again, older kids, one to three years of age.
And then classroom number three, which is 800 square feet, would be three to five years of age.
RCO meeting notice.
We met with the community just recently, September 10th at 7.15 p.m.
We also emailed that notice to the RCO as well as Stan, the zoning aid for the council member.
You know, what we emailed them was proof of sending out the notice, and we sent it out to 83 addresses.
These are a list of addresses.
This is the proof of mailing to those addresses.
This is our application for appeal that we filed on my client's behalf, along with the
notice of refusal and the project information form, deed to property showing that my client
owns the property, as well as finally the certificate of tax clearance.
So I'm going to stop sharing my screen for a second.
I would ask that Irina virtually raise her hand.
I don't see it. I'm going to look for her. Sorry.
Irenna is allowed to speak.
Irenna, could you please state your name and spell for the court's sonographer?
Irina?
can you hear me now i can could you please state your name and spell it for the court
stenographer uh irena i r i n a f r a d k i n right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do please proceed counsel yes irena you heard
everything I had to state today about your zoning matter? Yes. Is it true and correct? Yes.
And do you adopt it as your own testimony? Yes. And in particular, you know, I just want to make
sure that the board understands, like, you have almost 20 years of experience in child
care and education. Is that correct? Correct. And you currently operate, you know, for someone else,
a child care facility in the region is that correct correct and um and that child care
facility is how many kids currently 180 and you're looking to put around 50 kids in this facility
for yourself yes all right thank you all right questions from the board
i have a question how many full-time employees are going to be on site at the facility
Yes, and Irina, correct me if I'm wrong, and I apologize if I am, but according to my notes,
there are going to be 10 to 12 teachers, and there are going to be five staff members,
which will include someone who's part of maintenance, someone who's going to help with the cooking,
and then management, which would be Irina.
Correct. According to the state regulations and according to the age of the kids.
So infants is one teacher pair of four kids, and then one is five to one, and everything is according to the state.
Okay, so I guess my subsequent questions then are around bathroom facilities, break facilities, and parking for employees.
I just was looking at your plans, and one, it seems like there's a lot of single-use bathrooms and not ones that are typical for daycares where they're, like, training bathrooms for kids.
I know most daycares have those as separate facilities and I think too just wondering what
is the thought and plan for parking given that it is an RSA 5 single family home district to have
both that number of employees on site as then as well as parents doing pickup at a corner
intersection during busy times of the day across from a high school and just wondering if there
were any parking or traffic considerations so yeah so we actually discussed it with the community
um from their experience there's not much traffic concerns the the high school is further down um
like across the street is more of the park area but the actual physical facility for the high
school is a little further down um so they actually even referenced it that that's like
a dead corner over there there's not much activity there um and then you know again
Irina has managed a facility much larger in scale than where it currently is, you know, so she's very familiar in how to, you know, navigate the pickup and drop off, you know, there'll probably be a few waves in the morning, like, again, Irina, correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember you saying from like 730 to 930, you usually have the initial wave of drop off.
and then you know you have the the wave you know in the for the pickup um you know where it's
probably going to be anywhere from four to six but not everyone does it at the same time it
usually comes in those waves is that correct irena yes this is correct and in front of the
building there's a big uh grass area with a lot of parking over the weekends they have a lot of
sport games coming or people coming different states and there's plenty of parking on those
streets and there's no traffic yeah and then um i i would defer to you irena to discuss um what
board member wind stated about the the bathrooms um can you can you explain how you you're uh
you're putting together the bathroom plan for the kids as well as the staff members
uh it's going also to be according to the ratio that the state requires and for the teachers
there's a separate bathroom with the door, closed door.
So there's plenty of room in there.
It's a pretty spacious bathroom.
There are two of them.
So we can separate men and even bathrooms with no parents.
Did you fade off?
i'm sorry i mean how about the i i think the question was the bathroom for the children too
I'm sorry?
I mean, how about the, I think the question
what are you going to do for that we are going to place small toilets for the kids and uh younger
kids they don't use the bathroom because they still have pumpers so for infants and young
toddlers you don't need the bathroom the only age that uh are going to the bathroom are older
toddlers that are party trained so it's close to three years old and the preschool kids which is
like going to be um if there is 50 so it's going to be around like 20 kids
uh so it should according to the state regulation it's played
in their bathrooms there so we will uh change the existing bathrooms and make it kids friendly
So I guess the most important thing I want to press, you know, to point this out is that, you know, there are certain regulations that the state puts on child care facilities of this sort.
So you can and those and by the way, there there's inspections of by the state as well on a yearly basis.
So if the you know, if your needs change, you have to change with it, your physical building to make sure you comply with those state regulations.
is that correct yes the requirements are one toilet per 15 kids so if talking about 50 kids
so we need for uh the most and we are planning to do even more than this
other questions on the board yes the play area
outside outside we can have two play areas dedicated for uh the daycare
but did this what i saw was first it's uh the one in the rear is elevated and it looked like
it was
it didn't look like grass or anything
like that it looked like
some kind of gravel
or something
what are you going to do
about making sure that
the play areas are
safe for
the children
the two play areas are on both
sides of the building and they are not
elevated there is the grass area
maybe why don't you bring up the photos yeah yeah those photos please yeah i do and we are going to
change areas and make it kids safe with rubber squares avoid any incidents or any injuries
so obviously it's not going to stay the way it is right now we are going to uh
um to do full landscaping and change those areas into kids uh uh safe place to play okay i just
want to shoot from the floor plan perspective in the site plan this this is the play area here and
this is a player here is that correct no no one player is on the left side and the other one is
on the right okay so we got here and here right okay i apologize and then let's just get to the
pictures because i think that will say a lot so i think it's a better picture let's see so here's
the one area and i think again but you're yeah i'm talking about okay okay that's one of the areas
correct? That's right. We are going to put a fence to protect the kids and to cover the play
area and the play areas where we're inside this space up that building that you see on the right
there's one play area so and the kids are their own schedule when they can use the playground
so one group go at a time and there is another place and now this is this area
is also going to be landscaped into our play space this safe and like rubber
squares that will be able to play there okay and there's going to be fencing
around that too yes yes absolutely and i do believe in correct me if i'm wrong i see it from
here but let me just see what i thought i saw there is a fence but yeah it's a fence here it's hard to
there is a fence but yeah it's a fence here it's hard to see but you're gonna have a much nicer
fence yes we would like to replace it yes and it could be private too i guess the concern i have
is that a lot of the things that we're discussing about are things that are that could be depending
on the design of it outlawed in the rsa5 district and without seeing a plan for what it would go
back in is this just going to have to keep coming back to this board to get this daycare up and
running because right now we're only improving use but like for example in our rsa5 district
you can only have a four foot fence the fence that's currently there is bigger if she were
to replace that fence with the same size fence she would get another variance so she would need
another variance so and like there's no signing we haven't talked about signage these are all
things that in RSA 5 are very heavily restricted and like should we look at everything all at once
with a plan well so typically with businesses can I say something else about the fencing
um if you I mean I'm not the one who would say but um you would probably want to have a
an offense that is one where it's partially opaque so that folks can't watch these kids or
maybe do something to these kids because they can see them through this
of fencing, and that's going to take some approvals as well.
And again, my concern, too, is about the ground.
I'm not so sure whether just putting those rubber squares is going to be enough to protect
these children.
Well, so again, with the state regulations and the regulatory agencies, again, a lot
of times this board sees, you know, uses that, you know, they approve, you know, the follow-through
is sometimes tough. Here, there are certain regulations that go even beyond zoning for
safety reasons and such. So, I definitely think you have that added protection as a board to know
that there are regulatory agencies from the state that are going to look at this, not just the day
it opens, but they look at this every single year. So, you know, IRENA will be held accountable for
this. As far as the signage, that's a lot of times we, you know, because there's a whole process
that's, you know, a little bit more intense with the signage. We, you know, our client,
Irina wants to open up for business, right? She bought this property some time ago. She's gone
through this process. It's a lengthy process. It gets either lengthier when you add signage to the
equation. So, you know, that's something that she's going to deal with, you know, and she's
willing to piecemeal that portion of it in terms of the fencing. You know, we think that there's,
you know, we can work with the fencing that we have currently. And if we have to come back for
that, that's what she's going to do. I mean, you know, but she was really looking forward to
opening up this business. And she's, like I said, she's been in operation as a manager of these type
of facilities for almost a generation. And she's looking forward to opening up her own. And I think
the community as well. I mean, I don't know if anyone, you know, represented from the communities
here, but, you know, they spoke very highly of this project. Is the dumpster site staying the
same? Nope. That's not, that's not, that's an older photo, but no, it's not. It's going to be,
the trash is going to be stored on the property.
This used to be a banquet hall, but we talked through that with the community.
so that is that's not part of her properly now i know what a dumpster was in that picture
no it's just that's on the public street okay all right thank you but we we probably all agree
at some point out you have to come back if you want a new fence we may have to come back for
the fence we'll we'll see what we can do here possibly signage as well um but you know we'll
go again it's she made a humongous event investment in this building it's going to
take some time to even get this building in the condition that's respectful you know respectful
to those children so um you know she's looking to spend almost probably a hundred thousand dollars
just in improvements in this interior in this property so any other questions from the board
what's the comments from our attorney
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
there are no hands planning commission this is ron bednar city planning while this property is
there are no hands
planning commission
this is ron bednar
currently indicated for residential on the city plan given the physical circumstances of the site
it's documented use history we recommend request for parents be granted
mi 2024 004 343 3405 welshry i vote yes
cheryl gaston
i'm gonna know
it's not a gram my vote is yes i own my vote is yes
okay so what we're gonna have to do with this is alan we'll uh have our other members not here
view it online
Mr. Chair
it's fine we have a quorum
it's a three to one vote
it's a final vote
thank you
Alan you have your votes
thank you very much have a great day
is there anyone else in the
virtual audience whose two o'clock
case has not been heard
yes I have a
Frank Turner with a hand up and will be
allowed to speak
Hi, sir. Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Frank Turner, you are allowed to speak. Okay. I've unmuted myself. Thank you.
My name is Frank Turner, spelled F-R-A-N-K-T-U-R-N-E-R, as it is on the screen.
Today, I represent ESPAN Trust, spelled E-S-P-A-N-T-R-U-S-T, who's the owner of 5231 Greenway Avenue, who I believe has a must-be-heard.
Hillary, didn't we continue this?
Yes, Mr. Chair, we called this case earlier and there was no response.
Mr. Turner, I called this earlier and you didn't answer.
My apologies. I had a little trouble getting into the Zoom meeting for the first maybe two minutes.
It'll be four minutes.
Are you ready to go with this?
Yes, sir.
Yes, Chairman.
MI 2024, 000899, 5231 Greenway Avenue.
Mr. Turner is the counsel.
Could you spell your name for the court sonographer, please?
Certainly.
Again, it's Frank Turner, F-R-A-N-K, last name Turner, T-U-R-N-E-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Identify your client, please, in relationship to this property.
My client is East Band Trust, and they're the owner of the property.
Mr. Ranparik should be...
Mr. Chair, Mr. Chair, the only problem with moving forward right now is because we already continued the case.
If there were any members of the public who were here to hear this case, they no longer would be here.
because we continued it a good probably hour and a half ago i see my 2024 000 899
5231 greenway avenue this case is continued and we'll be in touch there and for for clarity i
apologize was it continued at the beginning of the meeting just after two o'clock
yes okay thank you thank you anyone else in the virtual audience
there are no hands chair all right we're going to come back uh in five minutes and we'll we'll
we'll handle the uh 330 list okay take everybody take a five minute break all right thanks
Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this afternoon's EBA hearing.
With me is our board member, Cheryl L. Gaston.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board member, Tanetta Graham.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board member, Taya Nguyen.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also, here is our attorney, Hillary Emerson, and our deputy director for planning and zoning, Kathleen Grady.
Here's our virtual format.
The proceedings are being recorded. With your participation, you agree to be recorded. The video will be available by contacting email zbaexecutivedirector, all one word, at phila.gov. That's zbaexecutivedirector, all one word, at phila.gov.
For our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
For our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before a testimony.
If you are participating by phone, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548.
Leave your email address and the address of the property in question.
And finally, the question box on the screen is not for comments or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our Deputy Director of Planning and Zoning, Kathleen Grady.
Let's look at our schedule.
Number one, MI 2024-002-432-739 Tyson Avenue, this case has been continued.
Are there any other requests for continuances?
I see no hands, Chair.
Okay. Case number five, MI 2024-002-704-225 West Seymour Street. No exhibits, first listing. Sean Ward is the attorney.
there are uh hold on chair
um i don't see sean words hand up i do have allison weiss with a hand up
shall i allow her to speak
Allison Weiss has been allowed to speak
Yes, thank you
Allison Weiss
A-L-L-I-S-O-N-W-E-I-S-S
Solo Germantown Civic Association
Affected RCO
You swear or affirm
To tell the truth, the whole truth
And nothing but the truth
So I've called 225 West Seymour Street
There is an attorney listed
He has not answered
We do not have any exhibits
yes uh for 225 and 227 west seymour street there has been no rco community meeting there has
so that would be the reason okay thank you very much weiss for bringing that to our attention
we appreciate it mr ward is there mr ward in the audience at all
no he is not so number five mi 2024 002 704 225 west seymour street and number eight
mi 2024 002 714 227 west seymour street we have no exhibits this is the first listing
Both cases are continued. Mark must be heard. Thank you.
We're going to start here with number two.
Number two, MI 2024-002-512-2104 North A Street.
Vern Anastasio is the attorney.
Vern Anastasio is coming back in as a panelist.
Afternoon, Mr. Chair.
Counsel, you've already been sworn a few times today.
Could you just state your name for the record?
Yes, sir.
Vern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O, on behalf of the owner.
Could you identify who your client is, Mr. Anastasio?
It's a defram has say.
You stay played to the reading of the refusal and you agree with its
accuracy.
Why don't we start just for a point of information.
We do not have an RCO letter.
Is that correct?
We don't.
We had a, we had a meeting,
but they decided not to take a position on this one.
All right.
Please proceed, sir.
Thank you.
Mr. Chair, members of the board, this sounds like a pretty straightforward case, right?
But there's going to be a caveat at the end.
My client purchased this property, renovated this property.
It was a zone CMX 2.
He renovated the property as a three-family dwelling.
First, one floor per unit, one unit per floor.
and we'll get to the plans uh they're ample in size there's um he he pulled building permits to
do it the city of philadelphia came out and inspected the property he got a co for the
He got a CO for the three-family dwelling, which I forwarded to board council as well as the board administrator that just received that CO and passed that on.
three-family dwelling which i forward
I'm entering it into evidence along with this 61-page exhibit packet.
When he went to apply for his rental license, he was told he didn't have the zoning.
So we are here to legalize what he believed was already legal based on pulling the building permits, having the inspections and securing the CO.
So with that said, the basement is just mechanicals.
The first floor, I'll zoom in closer if you'd like.
Please.
First, in the rear, there's a rear alley, a breezeway that can be reached from the side street. All three properties will have access to their trash cans and their recycling bins. And of course, he will have commercial trash pickup.
as far as the first floor is concerned uh we have i hope mr johns is here because we have furniture
written in on on these uh we have a living room we have a nice size kitchen and a one bedroom
apartment in the rear second unit we have a living room ample dining space with an eat-in kitchen
and then another one-bedroom apartment with that apartment in the rear.
And it's identical on the third floor as well.
As you can see, the living quarters are quite large.
And now let me show you the work that was done.
This is the corner of the block.
This is where this breezeway here, where my cursor is, is how one would get to the rear yard for trash.
That's how the commercial trash pickup will come and go.
These here are multifamily dwellings right behind it, approved by this board.
This is the block itself.
Here's a three-family dwelling right across the street.
this is our property here three-family dwelling
here's the interior all very well made
high-end finishings
wood style floors
concrete rear patio stainless appliances
is washer, dryer in the units, three separate HVACs as well.
And there's the rear breezeway that folks can get to their trash cans to put their trash out and how the commercial trash pickup will be fetched.
Here's the letter that went out to all interested parties.
AMP is the APM, is the RCO in question.
We had a meeting on the 18th of, I'm sorry, on the 27th of June.
Today's the 18th of September.
Here's all the addresses that were mailed.
And here's proof of mailing of 205 individual households.
There's the proof of posting.
The electric meters.
here's the zoning permit
that but that was for two family and previous and the ceo is not in this packet it was
sent to the board separately
but i am moving it into evidence with this
uh these are just closing documents that showed that he purchased the property
uh in about two years ago now
and that's proof of tax compliance i'm going to zoom in here so we can make sure that we see
I showed you evidence of a three-family dwelling right across the street, and then right behind us is more multifamily dwellings as well.
showed you evidence of a three-family dwelling right across the street
There's a vacant lot on the corner on both sides of the street, and a couple more vacant lots down the block.
The meeting was sparsely attended, and therefore the RCO leadership decided to not take a position on this particular matter.
because my client reasonably on the department of license and inspection
had full inspections by city personnel and received a sign-off with all the building
permits and a certificate of occupancy because there are other similarly situated multi-families
brand new ones across the street from it on that same block and immediately behind it
And because of the number of vacant lots on the block, that would suggest that it could absorb density. I'm going to respectfully request that this board grant the variance in this particular case.
It would be a great hardship after having gone through that whole process with Department of License and Inspection to have to convert that first floor to commercial space when this portion of North 8th Street is not a viable commercial corridor at all.
As my pictures have shown, it's 100% residential or vacant lots.
And with that, if Defram could please raise his virtual hand
I think he's on a phone call
Is Defram
That's it
They have been allowed to speak
Hi sir, could you please state your name and spell for the court sonographer
defram i think he has to unmute himself
hello hi could you please state your name it's spelled for the court stenographer
yes defram hysa d-e-f-r-i-m m as a mary hysa h-y-s-a you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth, nothing but the truth. Yes. Please proceed, counsel. Thank you. Defram,
did you hear my presentation to the board this afternoon? Yes. Is it true and accurate to the
best of your knowledge? Yes. Do you adopt it as your own testimony? Yes. Did you personally
renovate this building, pulling all proper building permits, having inspections, and securing
the co that i've submitted to the board today yes thank you and vernie your only refusal is no
commercial in the first floor am i right that's correct and it's not a commercial space question
questions or comments from the board
i'm unclear what the hardship is that kept this from being rented as a single family home
it was it's not supposed to be a single family home uh the hardship is is this first floor
viable commercial space the answer is no because it's it's 100 percent the block is either 100
commercial of residential primarily multi-family or vacant lots there's no commercial
the other questions from the board
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
mr anastasia just to clarify what was the the co for that was obtained
it was for the three-family dwelling
the co said three-family dwelling on it i just you know i just received it the realtor
just sent it to me and i forwarded it to you when i asked him and so the property has been fully
inspected okay thank you questions or comments from the virtual audience
one final note mr chair there the property is fully sprinkled as well
is there anyone in the virtual audience there are no hands chair
Planning Commission Ron Bednar city planning this property is currently indicated for commercial
mixed use on city plan given the physical circumstance of the site and its residential
and its residential permit history, we recommend the request for variance to be granted.
permit history, we recommend the request for variance program.
MI 2024-002-512-2104 North A Street, I vote yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Canetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Iowan, my vote is yes.
Thank you, Council.
Have a good evening.
Number three, MI 2024, 002-514-1231 South 27th Street.
Henry Clinton is the attorney.
Unanimous support from residents organized for advocacy and direction.
Road RCO.
Henry Clinton has been promoted.
it. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. Henry, could you please state your name
and spell for the court stenographer? Sure. Henry Clinton, H-E-N-R-Y, Clinton, C-L-I-N-T-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do. Could you identify your client, a relationship to the property?
Sure. The client is Mark Clinton. The owner of the property is 1231 South 27 LLC.
You stipulate to the reading of the refusal and do you agree with the accuracy?
Share your screen, please, and start your presentation.
Is that visible, Mr. Chairman?
It is. Just make it a little bigger, if you would.
Certainly.
So did that work?
Just a little bit.
That's better.
And then maybe make the whole thing a little, like, drag the screen, make it a little larger.
That's it.
You're good.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Again, good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Henry Clayton here on behalf of 1231 South 27th LLC.
see. This is a request for a two-family dwelling in a currently zoned CMX2, not zoning district,
but this particular property is zoned CMX2. The area is surrounded by RM1 and many of the
other properties in this locale, Grace Freire, are also in a CMX2 zoning district, and all of them
are two or three family dwellings, which I'll show you as I work through this presentation.
presentation contains a table of contents a1 through a10 we also have zoning records of
other properties nearby that are two family the refusal again as i said there's a cmx
henry just one quick question i didn't mean to interrupt you we don't have tax compliance
i just sent that to yes we do mr chair we do yes that has that was updated since i sent you the
update. All right. Thank you. Yeah. Mr. Chairman, one of the unique things about this property
and the reason for the delay in the tax cert is this property was dilapidated, unattended for
decades and conservatorship applied to the court for ownership, which was granted. And then my
client bought that property through the conservatorship and there were a number of
liens, judgments, taxes, and via court order, all those got situated, but that was part of the
delay. Thank you, sir. So anyway, back to the refusal. This is the CMX2 zoning district.
And as the board realizes in the CMX2 or CMX2.5 district, in order to promote active uses at the
street level of commercial uses, the first 30 feet of the building depth must be commercial.
We are not proposing commercial, and I'll explain why as we go through the presentation.
We do have a letter of support from the residents organized for advocacy and direction, and as the chairman mentioned at the outset, it was unanimous support.
So here are the photographs. This is in the Grace Ferry section of South Philadelphia.
Where my cursor is is Grace Ferry Avenue, and where my cursor is now is Washington Avenue.
So this property is situated really in between two commercial corridors.
That's where the commercial activity is, and that's where it's drawn.
On Grace Ferry Avenue, the Fresh Grocer is here.
It's a large supermarket, you know, sells everything that a supermarket typically does,
offer sandwiches, hot food, you name it, they have it, including wine and beer.
And then on Washington Avenue, though our commercial spaces are growing further and further west,
There's some of them are vacant on the 22 and 2300 block.
Not all of them.
Not all of them. Maybe there's leases signed, but currently there's residential structures there, but at least a half a block of vacant commercial structures on Washington Avenue.
Maybe there's leases signed, but currently there's residential structures there.
Right now, this is a vacant lot.
Again, as I mentioned, the owner purchased this property from a conservatorship because the property, which was residential, was not used and had been vacant and the heirs could not be found.
So under Act 135, a community organization or a conservator can petition a court for ownership, the court granted ownership to the conservator, and that conservator sold that property to my client, and then the monies or the proceeds from the sale of that property went to pay for the demolition costs, which the city demolished the property in 2022, went to pay back taxes and back liens,
with the understanding that the purchaser will have to construct a new property on this parcel
and basically unplate this vacant lot.
So this aerial view is meant to show that there are numerous multifamily already on the block
and in the neighborhood.
In fact, I know the board won't recall this, but where my cursor is now, this is 1220 South 27th Street.
I was before the board for this project about two or three years ago.
All these three houses here are zoned CMX2.
The corner is a single family.
1222 is a single family.
1220 was a vacant lot and zoned CMX2.
I appeared before the board and basically had the same presentation then with the same architect, by the way, that I'm having today.
we ask that there be no commercial on the first floor and that the board approve a two-family
dwelling. And that is in my packet. And as we move further south, this is a corner property.
This is two-family, 1236, two-family, 1230, two-family. And as you go further down the block,
1254, 1256 are all two-family. And some of these, when I get to the zoning map, are CMX2.
So we really don't have any commercial other than this corner store, which is right across the street from the property, which sells groceries, sandwiches, sodas, Gatorade.
As I said, the main commercial corridors are on Grace Ferry Avenue and Washington Avenue.
Just by way of reference, this parcel of ground right here has all been completely developed and it's workforce housing.
This is a view looking east.
Again, the vacant lot on the right, the food market corner store on the north side of the building.
Again, this is looking south on 27th Street, some new construction adjacent.
Posting of the sign, the plans.
So this is the frontage on 27th Street.
Try to match up with the house next door to give the appearance of a single family home.
The tops of the windows are in line with the windows next door.
The stairs almost line up exactly.
The idea is to have limestone around the first five feet.
The rest will be brick facing on 27th Street.
Then when you get on Oakford Street, this is the entrance to the unit on the first floor and lower level.
And again, a lot of brick, which Grace Ferry likes, red brick, complementing the rest of the block.
We don't have any issues with height, open space, or rear yard, and there will be a rooftop deck.
So, in effect, you have open space for unit one, the rear yard, and open space for unit two, which is upstairs.
We will plant a tree in the front if approved by streets as well as trees on Oakford Street.
I'll move on to the floor plans.
So on the lower level, you'd have two bedrooms, two baths.
You would enter that unit by, as I said, coming through the side door to Oakford Street,
the kitchen, bedroom, and the front, and living.
And then you would go around the kitchen downstairs to the lower living area.
To access the second floor, you would come in through the front door, which is on 27th Street, go upstairs.
Immediately, the kitchen is there, your living area in the back, bedroom in the front.
And then you would negotiate the steps up to the third floor.
And you have a bedroom in the front, bedroom in the rear.
And there's even enough room for an office and then.
And then the access to the rooftop deck is through a stairwell on the third floor.
So this is the zoning map.
So this purple area is the subject property.
is the subject property so cmx2 you can see surrounded by rm1 right across the street cmx2
So CMX2, you can see surrounded by RM1.
that's where the store is this property is residential it's cmx2 those three properties
that i showed you one of which was approved in 2020 they're all cmx2 but again they're residential
across the street cmx2 residential the corner residential and residential so i think back in
the day, the idea was, you know, you would have corner stores at the intersections of the corners
for lunch meat, rolls, bread, whatever. But now the commercial districts have moved out of the
neighborhood and are really on Washington Avenue and Grace Ferry, as I mentioned. This is the deed
to the property. Again, this is a court appointed conservator through Act 135, and then it was sold
to my client. And there are docket numbers with the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas bearing
this out. The remaining documents, these are my letters notifying the surrounding neighbors,
sent out 219 pieces of mail. All the addresses, 27th Street, Manton Street, Latona Street.
And then these are the zoning records, Mr. Chairman and members of the board.
I pointed, I had an aerial photograph where I pointed out a number of properties were
two-family dwellings. This is reflective of the dots on that aerial map that I showed everyone,
and I can walk through this if the chairman wants me to or the board wants me to.
12-32, two-family. This is 12-20, two-family. Right here, two-family. This is the one I had
appeared before the board in December of 2020 with the same architect and same floor plan.
Uh, this is 1226, two family, a little hard to see, but basically over here, these are
condominiums, two condominiums.
I can blow it up for proof, uh, condominium, two units.
This is 1230 South 27th street.
And this is 1254.
That was one toward the end of the block.
Again, this is condominium, uh, two units.
um this is excuse here's another one 1256 two-family household living that's on a corner
and then this is the demolition permit for the subject property 1231 indicating that in 2022
the city of philadelphia demolished this dilapidated building
So, in conclusion, looking for the board to look kindly upon this application in that it was a former residential property.
I don't have any photographs.
I don't have any public records to show you that.
But my client can testify that he lives nearby the property, has walked by the property and driven by the property for at least six years.
And it was a residential property.
and I think it was recognized by some of the members of the community group when they were
on the call. But again, the errors of the prior owners could not be found, and I can't find any
photographs to actually prove that. But we know it was not a store or a commercial nature of any type.
The property is basically going to be in harmony with the rest of the block,
which is heavily residential, many two-family dwellings. We are not impacting anyone's light
air, we're not impacting the development of any adjacent properties, and we're in conformance
and in harmony with the code and with the community groups.
So with that-
What was the vote of the RCO?
It was unanimous.
Only six people showed six to zero.
Thank you.
So if Mark Clinton could unmute himself, I'll ask him without my testimony, Mr. Chairman.
mark clinton is allowed to speak or could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
yes my name is mark clinton m-a-r-k c-l-i-n-p-o-n where or from to tell the truth
the whole truth, nothing but the truth. I do. Please proceed, counsel. Mark, you heard my
testimony about your project, correct? Yes. And one of the things I said was that this property
used to be residential. Can you verify that? Yes. And how do you know that? Do you live nearby?
Yes. I live about six blocks away. And have you passed by this property over the last
the six seven years yes and can you just describe the condition that was in and
Yes. And can you just describe the condition that was in and what what the use appear to be?
Yes, the use appeared to be residential. The condition was, you know, it was vacant and dilapidated there.
The property was receiving violations for that going back to 2016.
And then you acquired this property through the conservatorship Act 135?
Yes, I purchased it from the conservator.
Okay. And if you had the opportunity to testify, would you adopt my testimony as your own and as true and correct?
Thank you. Nothing further.
Questions from the board.
Yeah, I have two questions.
My first question is, for trash storage, is it intended to be under the stairs like the unit adjacent to it, or do you have a different location for trash storage?
Yeah, we have a different location.
It's going to be in the rear yard.
We're not going to put it under the steps.
Thank you.
And the other question I have is, would the owner be amenable to be moving that basement-level bedroom?
Well, there are egress wells there for egress front and rear per code, and it would make
it, you know, you would still have living space down there.
So we would like to keep that hopefully.
Well, I would ask for no basement living.
I just understood that being no bedrooms in the basement to net up.
Um, all the questions from the board.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
There are no hands, Chair.
Questions or comments?
I'm sorry, Planning Commission.
This is Ron Bednar, City Planning.
The property is currently indicated for commercial mixed use on the city plan.
I recommended zoning change to CMX1, which permits residential use on the first floor, was sort of in the plan.
We recommend that the request of variance be granted.
MI 2024, 002514, 1231 South 27th Street.
I vote yes with proviso.
No bedrooms in basement.
Mr. Chairman, can I make a comment?
So I always be...
Senator Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
He wants to say something first.
Go ahead, Henry.
I didn't know you were going to start voting. So in my presentation, I did show the board.
And again, past history, obviously, there's no indication of where the board should go
in future instances. But I was before the board in December of 2020 with the exact same floor plan,
the exact same architect, and the exact same layout, Joe Serritor. And there were bedrooms
in the basement with egress wells front and rear and we did obtain full approval at that time
again i understand a new board new situation but just wanted to bring that to everyone's attention
henry i appreciate that and i'll start to vote again mi2024 002 514 1231 south 27th street i
I vote yes. Proviso, no bedrooms in basement.
Cheryl Gaston, same. My vote is yes with Proviso.
Senator Graham, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Iowyn, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Mr. Clinton, could you please stay on?
So MI 2024-002-518-520-North Preston Street.
letter of support from West Pounton's Saunders Park RCO
based on revised plans, 15 in support, 6 opposed.
Applicant also provided a petition of support
signed by 14 neighbors, 4 from the block.
um mr clinton could you just state your name for the record sure you've already been sworn
Mr. Clinton, could you...
and could you identify but talk about that could you identify your client relationship to the
property sure my client is roberto zaccarini z-u-c-c-a-r-i-n-i and he is a sole member of
the LLC. You stipulate to the reading of the refusal and agree with the accuracy. I don't.
Why don't you share your screen and start your presentation?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. Henry Clinton, on behalf of Zuccarini LLC,
Roberto Zuccarini is in the audience. And is that visible, Mr. Chairman?
It is. This is 520 North Preston Street. This is my
presentation table of contents A1 through A10, as well as zoning records of other properties
on the block. This is a request for a three-family dwelling in a block that's zoned RSA 5,
but as I will show you, there are multiple three and four family dwellings on the block. In fact,
the four-family dwelling adjacent, and we have overwhelming support from West Palatin, Saunders
Park, RCO, and from the near neighbors. Here's the refusal. As I said, it's RSA 5. The request
originally was for four units because the home next door has four units. These are rather large
lots. And that's why I think you see so many multifamily, over 90% of the structures on this
block are multifamily. We met with the community. They did not like the number of bedrooms nor the
number of units. So we shrunk the project from four units to three and we shrunk the bedrooms
from 12 to eight. We came up with the trash plan. We have trash storage in the rear and we have
trash disposals in each of the apartments. And we also have storage in the basement and the
first floor unit is going to be a handicap accessible unit. We do have an RCO letter of
support. I don't know if the tabulation was incorrect, but the letter indicates 21 people
present, 21 people agreed to support the project. But I believe Ms. Andrews may be on the call
and she'd be able to explain that. And this is the history that she goes through,
that we did have two meetings. We came back a second time. And while the community was in full
support of a multifamily. They just didn't want four units and the number of bedrooms that were
originally proposed. These are the signatures. And as chairman pointed out, there are four
from the block and one adjacent neighbor at 522, Preston. Photographs of Preston Street,
one side, because the other side really doesn't have any homes facing this direction.
So this is the layout of the land on this particular side of the street.
Three dwellings, three dwellings, three dwellings.
526 is two adjacent to our property.
And 522 is four.
Then there's three, three, and three.
So as I say, these are very deep lots.
The homes go back very far.
There are two single family homes on the block, but the remainder are multifamily.
And I think there was a recognition by the individuals at the meeting that they are in need of and support multifamily to bring more affordability to the neighborhood.
But again, if Ms. Andrews is on the call, she can speak to that.
This is an existing property, two-story.
It was a single-family property at one point, but it's in need of total demolition and rebuilding.
What's unique about the property is we have a side alley that we're going to be able to maintain.
And in the rear of the alley, as I'll show you on the site plan, there are going to be trash enclosures, one for each unit.
More photographs.
And in the front, we were asked to obviously tidy up the garden.
These are older photographs.
have some plannings here
and if permissible
have a street tree
in front of the house also.
this is the site plan.
I'll start on the right hand side.
This is a three story property
three-story property, all brick on the front. We do intend to install a handicap ramp for access
all brick on the front.
intenuance
to the first floor apartment, which will be two bedrooms. Second floor will be three bedrooms.
Third floor will be three bedrooms. But this is an accessible bathroom on the first floor
with an additional bedroom. This is the side alley that I showed you in the front elevation,
leading down along the side of the house into the rear, where there'll be three trash bins
in an enclosure, and then each bin will have its own self-closing top.
I'll work right to left.
This is the layout of the basement.
We have steps leading to the basement for storage units for each of the three apartment
dwellers, one, two, and three.
The entrance to the handicap accessible unit will come through the front door.
The kitchen, totally accessible.
the bathroom totally accessible and then two bedrooms in the rear you continue up the steps
go to the second floor and you would have bedroom in the front half bath kitchen area two bedrooms
in the rear with a full bath and then the second floor is repeated again on the third floor basically
the same floor plan a little bit more room on the third floor because you don't you don't have the
steps taking up so much room.
There is no rooftop deck,
no access to the rooftop deck.
These are the older plans,
which we're not going to use.
Let me just re-rotate this back.
Remaining documents,
our project information form,
our tax clearance,
zoning map.
These are rather large lots,
100 feet deep.
surrounded by RM1.
And down at the corner, there were 20 apartments.
The deed indicating ownership.
Zoning notice mailed out 118 pieces certified by the post office.
And these are the zoning records, again, of the properties on the block
that I showed you with an aerial photograph.
The three family, and I can walk through them.
534, 3 units
excuse me, 533 units
532, 532, 3 units
533 units
524, 2 units
522, this is the one adjacent, next door, 4 units
516, 3, 514, 3
512, 3
and this is the apartments at the corner 20 units
so that is the presentation again in summary we're not asking for any relief with regard to
height open space or rear yard we are not impacting the development of any light and air
of any adjacent property owners.
The property is in full need of demolition
and new construction.
New construction will match the brick on the property,
excuse me, on the block,
which we were asked to do by members of the community.
There's ample storage in the basement for three units.
There's a trash plan in place.
We are not overdeveloping the property.
We believe that the project is in harmony
with this particular block.
with the wants, desires of the neighborhood and the RCO, as well as in harmony with the zoning code.
And with that, I'll ask my client to unmute himself, Mr. Zuccherini, and adopt my testimony.
Mr. Zuccherini.
Your client has been allowed to speak.
Sir, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Dr. Zuccherini, could you please state your name and spell it for the chord stenographer?
Yes. So, my name is Roberto, R-O-B-E-R-T-O, Zuccarini, G-U-C-C-A-R-I-N-I.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Please proceed, counsel.
Mr. Zuccarini, were you on the call when I presented your project?
If you had the opportunity to testify, would you adopt my testimony as your own and as
If you had the opportunity to testify, would you adopt my testimony as your own
and as true and correct? Yes. Thank you.
true and correct?
Mr. Chairman, I have one more witness real quick.
Who is it?
Devis, D-E-V-I-S, G-J-U-Z-I,
Juzzi. Is he an owner, Henry?
He is going to testify about the cost of building a single-family
home davis is allowed to speak sir could you please state your name and spell for the court
stenographer my name is davis juzy d-e-b-i-s last name g-j-u-z-i swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth i do please proceed mr juzy uh how many homes have you built
in the city of Philadelphia? So in the past eight years, I've built about 85 homes. Okay. And are
you a registered general contractor in the city of Philadelphia? Yes, I am. Okay. And when you
were involved in this project with the owner, did you consider or did the owner consider building a
single family home? We looked at the property and the cost of purchasing the size of the lot
And the amount of work to be done, it became very costly to build a single family.
And would that cost have exceeded the likely sale price of the home in that neighborhood on that block?
Correct, most likely.
Okay. And then you decided to move with multifamily?
Correct.
Okay. No further questions.
And to be clear, you decided to move for four, and then after meeting with the neighbors, you dropped to three?
correct and then also uh there was living quarters in the basement and those were removed
at the request of the rco thank you questions from the board
oh i'm just curious is the accessible unit also affordable
yes thank you that's what was represented to the community group uh now everybody's definition
Ms. Graham, obviously, of affordable is different, but that's what the owner told Ms. Andrews and West Palatin, Saunders, Civic.
Questions from the board?
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Just briefly, Mr. Chair, sorry, give me one second.
um so um this one um mr clinton i just noticed on the the proviso form it said units reduced
from four to four so if you could just send a corrected proviso form that oh no that one's
corrected okay maybe there's a different one somewhere the one i read said four to four
so right and we did notice thank you miss miss emerson we did notice that and we we changed that
so thank you for picking that up and the basement plan first where it says revised for storage
use because we can't stamp the floor plans um so we can only stamp the site plan um so we would
actually want to if that is what has been agreed to the basement is for storage only that we would
want to include that as a provide though certainly so we just want to make a note of that okay
questions or comments from the virtual audience
yes i have a pamela andrews with her hand up
could you please state your name and spell for the court sonographer
Andrews
Ms. Andrews can you
Can you hear me now
Can you hear me now
Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer
Pamela Andrews
P-A-M-E-L-A
Andrews A-N-D-R-E-W-S
You swear or affirm
To tell the truth the whole truth is nothing but the truth
Please proceed.
Just good afternoon, Mr. Chair.
Just wanted to chime in for a second and let you know that we met with this developer twice.
Initially, we felt that what was presented to us was too dense.
We asked that it be reduced to three units with no living in the basement.
The first four unit would be handicap accessible and also be able to be rented at a reduced rate with only two additional units appropriate.
Only two additional units, appropriate trash storage in the rear, trash compactors in all units.
And we also asked for a contribution to our Community Clean and Safe Initiative.
With that said, the West Palton-Saunders Park RCO felt as if they could support this project.
Thank you.
Thank you for taking the time to call us.
We appreciate it.
Is there anyone else in the first audience?
Planning Commission.
So, Ron Bednar, city planning property is indicated for residential use on the city plan.
Our adopted district plan recommends no change to the existing zoning at this location.
The applicant's hardship is not supported with evidence of unique physical site conditions
that would prevent it from being used in conformity with the requirements of the code.
Therefore, we recommend the request for variance not be granted.
MI 2024, 002-518-520-North Preston Street.
I vote yes.
Proviso, revised plan, one page, stamped by ZBA on September 18, 2024, and basement storage only.
Mr. Chair, I just clarified the proviso.
So, use of basement for storage only.
I think that's just a little tool.
Use of basement for storage only.
Yes, thank you.
Cheryl Gaspin, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tanita Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Taya Wood, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you, Council.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, everyone.
We're going to do six and seven.
Thank you.
We're going to do six and seven together. MI 2024-002-706-2141 East William Street.
And number seven, MI 2024-002-707-2143 East William Street. Meredith Ferliger is the
attorney for both. There's a recommendation of support from Somerset Neighbors for Better Living.
20 in support, three opposed. Letter of non-opposition from Council Member Squilla.
An applicant also has a petition of support signed by seven neighbors.
Good evening, Mr. Chairman.
Council, could you please state your name and spell for the court sonographer?
Meredith Ferliger, F-E-R-L-E-G-E-R.
Are you a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
But you identify your client and relationship to the property.
My client is Mascoff, LLC, which is the owner of both of the properties today, represented
here today by Serge Mazlenikov.
You relate to the reading of the refusal, and you agree with the accuracy of the refusal.
I do, yes.
Why don't you share your screen and start your presentation?
Wonderful. You should see my screen now.
Let me zoom out a little bit. All right.
Mr. Chairman, members of the board, as you know, the request before you today concerns two adjacent properties,
roughly between Kensington and Port Richmond, located at 2141 and 2143 East William Street.
the proposals receive resounding support from somerset neighbors for better living
as evidenced by the letter of support in your packet at tab 16. and as you mentioned mr
chairman this did also receive additional expressions of support as represented by
the petitions included in your packet also at exhibit 16. allow me to first orient you to the
location of these properties. As always, we did submit two separate exhibit packets, but for
simplicity purposes, I'm just going to be showing you the packet for 2141 East William. They are
identical packets. I will identify where there are any differences. In each packet, there's tax
clearance at Exhibit 2, and at Exhibit 3, we have included the deed for each property. As always,
we would request that the board enter these exhibits into evidence at the conclusion of
our presentation as you can see on the aerials here at exhibit seven the properties sit on
william street roughly between trenton avenue which is at the lower end of your screen and
amber street which is up towards the top of your screen from the aerials the board may note that
The board may note that this is a diverse block with significant vacancy in both lots and structures.
this is a diverse block with significant vacancy.
Investment into this area has largely surrounded land bank parcels conveyed for little to no consideration in exchange for the construction of new affordable single-family homes.
Private investment has been quite limited, particularly in the last couple of years, and I do have some evidence to reflect that.
The properties at 2141 and 2143 East Williams Street are nearly directly across the street from the Cramco Distribution Warehouse,
which does have a loading dock entrance on this block directly diagonal from the properties.
If I turn to the photographs here at Exhibit 8, you'll see the existing vacant lots that are the subject of today's request, and again, they are adjacent.
The photos reveal a closer look at the varied character of this particular block.
These lots have suffered from dumping and unauthorized storage, which you can see here just even in this photograph.
The photographs do also include the zoning posters, which were timely posted.
Directly across the street, and I'll show you that, directly across the street from these properties,
you can see the entrance to a garage as well as the corresponding vehicle storage that you can
see here which occurs both on the lot and on the sidewalk. Turning to face Amber Street the board
will see the mix of two and three-story residential structures that are across the street as well as on
this side of the street. As noted earlier the Cramco distribution warehouse is directly across
and extends all the way to Trenton Avenue. You can see this is a view here from Trenton Avenue.
The properties at issue before the board are just roughly a couple lots in from this.
And again, the next photographs here show those active loading docks, which I mentioned earlier.
If I turn to the zoning map at Exhibit 5, you'll see the properties are zoned RSA 5.
Again, this one is 2141. 2143 is directly next door. You may notice the IRMX zoning that encompasses
the full Cramco warehouse and extending a little bit down Williams Street as well.
This IRMX zoning would allow for high-density multifamily redevelopment. This is not mere
conjecture, as a similar development is currently under construction right next to the Cramco
distribution warehouse, which I'm pointing to up on the screen here, at 2149 Rush Street for 72
apartments. The proposals for 2141 and 2143 Williams Street are shown on the zoning plans
at Exhibit 10, which will each include one new three-story structure. Let me zoom in a little
bit on the zoning plan so you can see that. The zoning plans are identical. They are simply just
a mirror image so where you see the steps on this side for 2143 the steps are on the other side so
everything is simply a mirror image in the other packet each structure is proposed to contain a
two-family dwelling so a duplex the total building square footage for each will be 2 312 square feet
which is significantly underbuilt for each of these lots. For example, while 75% occupied area
is allowed, only 62.6% is proposed for each. While a nine-foot rear yard would be required,
roughly 25 feet is proposed. Each structure is also under the maximum height, topping out at
around 36 feet. This is a slight increase from the originally proposed 33 feet 10 inches, which is why
we did submit revised plans to the board with a revised plan proviso form. But again, that is still
below the buy right allowable height. The proposed height is still compliant in full with the RSA 5
zoning provisions. Additionally, as you can see on these elevations at the bottom, each
first floor of the structure starts roughly 5 feet 8 inches above grade, which allows for
extremely shallow basement levels of just only 3 feet 4 inches below grade. That also allows this
design to include egress windows instead of the more intrusive wells, since the vast majority of
the basement levels here are above ground. We have included colorized elevations here at
exhibit 11. These will be built with traditional red brick with no paneling and no front bays,
with no paneling and no front bays and that was done very intentionally to better reflect the
and that was done very intentionally to better reflect.
character of this existing block. Each project has been uniquely designed to accommodate
considerable private outdoor space for each of the residents and let me bring up the floor plans
to show you that. There is a private roof deck on the top for the upper level unit and you can
see where they have access up to the deck here. And there's a private rear yard for the lower
level unit. And again, you can see that exit point here from the rear of the first level unit.
Each of these units is bi-level. Unit one will be 899 square feet, and unit two is slightly larger
at 1,065 square feet. Each unit has interior ventilated trash storage areas, and trash will,
of course, be stored within each unit prior to disposal on trash day. These specific projects
have been designed with the intent that each of these homes will be sold to somebody looking for
the opportunity to have supplementary income and investment growth. Here, these would be sold so
that the buyer can live in one unit and rent the other for additional income. This concept was
widely lauded by the community and, in fact, is a concept being studied and promoted right now by
a Philadelphia university in West Philadelphia. I've had a couple of developers in West Philadelphia
that are really aggressively pursuing this type of concept. Now, in regards to the refusal,
each proposal only received one refusal for the proposed two-family use. No dimensional variances
are requested, and both structures are proposed to be underbuilt in terms of dimensions that the
code would allow, further to the developer's goal of remaining consistent with surrounding new
structures. The applicant submits that literal enforcement of the RSA-5 provisions of the code
causes unnecessary hardship given physical characteristics of the properties and block,
the history of the properties, as well as the character of this neighborhood and the block.
This, all of these factors are highly relevant to the applicant's entitlement for a variance on each of these parcels.
Historically speaking, the lots at 2141 and 2143 William Street have been vacant and subject to blight for nearly 20 years, with zero evidence whatsoever that there have ever been any attempts at a buy-right development.
Prior to my client's purchase, which just occurred in 2022, these properties receive continuous violations every year due to persistent neglect.
In terms of the neighborhood, and let me bring up my fancy map here, just on this block of William Street, over 50% of these lots contain either vacant land or vacant structures.
By percentage, the vacancy is over 50% of the lots on this block, and that doesn't even include the Cramco distribution warehouse.
And as I mentioned, you're right now looking at a map of all of the vacant land just on this one particular block.
If you were to look at this area in general, this map would be, there'd be quite significant more vacant lots indicated on a map.
In addition, the context of this neighborhood suggests that at this time, new single-family development is unfortunately just not viable.
As I mentioned, many, if not most, of the newer single-family homes that have been constructed in this particular area have been done as a result of lot acquisitions from the land bank.
Those that were not land bank lots were all developed prior to 2021, with no evidence of any new single-family development since that time.
Single-family development has not been viable in this location in recent years, given the rapid rise of costs of labor, supplies, and development financing, in light of rents and sales prices that the local single-family market will bear.
For example, the property at 2120 William Street, just on this block, secured a zoning permit for a single-family home over three years ago, and there's no evidence to suggest that that owner is in pursuit of a building permit.
There's a similar but more compelling story at 2117 East William Street, again just on this block, which had a building permit in 2020, with no evidence that the single-family home is in process to be built.
with no evidence that the single family home is in process to be built at 2127 east william street
there is a property that secured a building permit for a single family dwelling
that has now been left mid-construction with no progress to complete that project for several
years now and i don't know if i have an image of that in the packet um but that actually i do so
that's right here. So this one is right now mid-development, no evidence that it's even
in process to be finished. Now, by comparison, there was a new construction single-family home
on the next block at 2042 East William Street. In support of the evidence that we've offered today,
that was a land bank parcel sold to a developer with a portfolio of 17 other properties for a
total of $60,000. Per property, that's about $3,500 a property. Now, by comparison,
public records on Zillow show that most privately owned lots in this area have been sold for around
$50,000, a substantial deviation from land bank acquired lots. The map at Exhibit 5
shows that there have been extraordinarily limited building permits issued either on this block or
even on the few blocks surrounding the properties and you can see that these maps were pulled from
open maps which is the city's own public data system and this shows there have been extraordinarily
limited building permits there have been even less zoning permits issued which is also shown
on the map that I've now shown you up on the screen. You can see here that in the several
block areas surrounding this property, there have not been even one zoning permit issued.
We would also submit that the proximity of these properties to the Cramco manufacturer
would further impair the viability of marketing new single-family homes on these lots.
And with the zoning of the Cramco lot, it's not inconceivable that the next active use of that
site will be a larger multifamily proposal. Additional density and investment here to remove
long-standing block vacancy is precisely why this proposal was met with such support from the
community. A two-family structure is the least minimum possible deviation from the requirements
of the zoning code to enable development and the productive use of these properties.
Earlier this year, the board granted three variances of the identical type requested on just the next block north at 2049, 2051, and 2053 East William Street.
Those permits are included in your packet at Exhibit 6.
While we certainly recognize that every case this board hears is different and must independently meet the legal standards entitling the applicant to a variance, these examples of precedent are particularly relevant given the similarities of each of the immediately adjoining blocks and the impact of abject vacancy on new single-family development.
And again, these were just on the next block north.
Furthermore, those examples did not have the added unique burden of a nearby industrial use, bearing zoning for a dense multifamily development that may or may not ever happen in the future.
The board similarly granted a variance for duplexes at 2055 and 2057 Rush Street.
And I can just give you a sense of where that is.
That is just two blocks over this way, which again are quite comparable mid-block RSA 5 duplex developments that this board heard not too long ago.
In fact, during the hearing for 2055 Rush Street, the Planning Commission's testimony noted its willingness to work with the local community and other stakeholders in this area in pursuit of rezoning that would allow for duplexes in the area if that is what the community would like to see.
To our knowledge, there has been no progress made in that regard yet, but we would submit that the community's letter for these properties clearly shows its intent and goals, at least for these particular two lots.
These proposed duplexes represent the most economically viable deviation from the code and only propose one additional dwelling unit above what the code would allow.
The variance assault will not increase congestion in public streets or in any way endanger the public. As the community recognized, this development will continue investment into this area and contribute to the elimination of vacancy and blight.
and contribute to the elimination of vacancy and blight.
The proposals will not harm neighbors' properties or impair light and air,
as evidenced by these structures which are significantly underbuilt based on code requirements.
The structures were designed to visually align with the varied character of other structures on this block.
A more detailed analysis, as always, is included in the memo of law that I submitted to the board at Exhibit 13,
and I'd be happy to touch on any point in more detail.
At this point, I would like to bring up my client
to just answer one or two quick questions.
So if the administrator could look for Serge Maslenikov.
Hello.
Serge is allowed to speak.
Sir, could you please state your name as spelled for the court stenographer?
Good evening.
My name is Sergei Maslenikov, S-E-R-G-E.
Last name is Maslenikov, M-A-S-L-E-N-N-I-K-O-V.
Care or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Serge, could you just identify yourself in relation to Mascoff, LLC?
I'm the owner of the company.
Thank you.
And your background is both as a GC as well as as a developer.
Is that correct?
Yes, sir.
And based on your experience in developing properties in the city of Philadelphia,
do you believe that the cost of construction as well as financing would exceed what you believe these properties would sell for if you were to develop them as a single family home?
Yes. For this particular area, based on the comps that happened not a long time ago,
yes, construction will be more expensive than the sales price.
And have you heard all of the other testimony and evidence that was offered to the board today?
Yes, I did.
Do you agree that that testimony was true and accurate, and would you adopt it as if it were your own?
Happy to answer any questions.
Before I put it to the board, the particular block that we're on, 2100 block, is there any multiple families on that block at all?
There is not, Mr. Chairman, but I would also point out that when the board granted them on the next block north, it was an identical condition. There were no other duplexes or multifamily on that block either at the time that these were granted.
Thank you. Questions from the board?
yes i have a can you pull up the site plan again
and what's the length of the the total length of the lot 75 thank you 75 i'm sorry 60 68 feet
68 feet so 68 feet deep and 15 feet wide each of them are they are they 14 by 60 14 by 68 okay
Other questions on the board?
Yeah, so you mentioned that prior board variances were granted for duplexes along the other end of the block.
Do we know if they're empty or if they're vacant?
They are vacant, and the guys, they just pulled the building permits on them, so they're planning to build relatively soon.
No, I meant in terms of just, oh, so they haven't built them yet.
So I guess what I'm getting at is there could be a move in that community to to reestablish single family living if the we don't know if the duplexes are actually would work there right now.
So I think in terms of hardship, there may still be some questions about whether one truly exists here.
Board member Graham, we certainly appreciate that. But, you know, again, they were they were just approved not that long ago.
And as you know, it does, they were just approved January, 2024. So it's, it's not even been a year, it really does take quite a bit of time to get through the building permit process. So, you know, these have really moved along based on what Sergei said, they've really moved along in sort of normal course.
And, you know, again, when we met with the community on these, they were really supportive of this. They, you know, they really felt like the vacancy in this area is far more detrimental to the community than this type of development, which they really are hoping will serve as a model for other developments in the future to really allow somebody to buy something like this, live there and also have the income of an additional investment unit.
So, you know, the community was really supportive of this particular development.
Any other questions from the board?
Any other questions from the board?
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commissioner?
This is Ron Bednar, City Planning.
This recommendation is for both properties 2141 and 43 East Williams Street, which are indicated for residential use on the city plan.
Our adopted district plan recommends no change nor remapping the existing zoning at these two locations.
The applicants' hardships are not supported with evidence of any unique physical circumstances or conditions of either of the sites that would prevent them from being used in conformity with the requirements of the code.
But we recommend that the request for variance for both 2141 and 43 East William Street not be granted.
Thank you.
Council, you want to respond to that?
Sure, Mr. Chairman, I would also just like to point out that that testimony is contrary to the testimony planning gave in 2022 for almost identical proposals two blocks to the west, where they acknowledge the fact that there are seemingly a trend of these types of requests in this community and that if the community was so desiring of it that they would be willing to work with the community on a rezoning.
As I mentioned during the presentation, we have no evidence to suggest it has happened, but given that the community did support this, that is clear evidence of the fact that they do desire this type of development.
So whether they have contacted planning to work towards a rezoning or not, planning's testimony on a very similar case was essentially that they acknowledge the community may have different opinions as to how development should occur in this neighborhood.
Thank you. I'm going to hold the vote on this. I want to hold this till next Wednesday at 2 p.m. I really want to talk to the three other board members and take a look at where we stand with this, take it into consideration where planning is now. I'm not worried about before, but we're going to take a look at this and we'll figure this out. And we will vote on this next Tuesday at 2 p.m.
Next Wednesday, you mean?
Wednesday, I'm sorry.
Wednesday, that's right.
Next Wednesday, yes.
Just making sure.
Okay, wonderful.
Thank you.
Next Wednesday at 2 p.m., and we appreciate it.
Thank you.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience whose case has not been called?
A 3.30 case?
Chair, I have a hand up by Daniel Almeda.
We'll be allowed to speak.
Ike, could you please state your name and spell for the court's sonographer?
can you unmute yourself please
he's still muted chair
Daniel unmute yourself
Daniel Almeda can you please unmute yourself he must be having some technical difficulty
all right thank you is there anyone else in the virtual audience there are no more hands
thanks everyone I think we got a lot of work done today I appreciate everybody
who was the one that helped us with the attorney that was late
who was our person who helped us with what
our lawyer our lawyer that came late
Frank Turner
Frank Turner the lawyer that came late
the lawyer that came late who was our staff member that worked on that for us
well Keisha was the one
And yeah, Keisha was the one, yeah, that made sure that we didn't move ahead.
Keisha, are you on?
Yes, Chair.
Keisha, we appreciate your work on that.
And thank you.
That was a good catch on your part.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for that.
And thanks, everybody.
And Cheryl, I think we got you out of here almost a long time.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you all.
Thank you, Cheryl.
Be well, everyone.
Good night, everybody.
Have a good night.
Good night, everyone.
Good job.
Good night.
Thank you.