I'm trying to find.
Hold on.
I apologize. Let's see what I got here.
I'm trying to share my screen.
Where's the share button here?
And by the way, while we're dealing with the technical difficulties,
I'm glad to see everyone in person.
thanks it's been a while a long time what yeah exactly i'm a lot taller in person
oh i just did sorry i was just like smiling too much all right
all right perfect
all right share screen
assume this is the one
here we go all right there we go and by the way i do have tabs to the right of my
documents as well so with table of contents we do that he did it real quick i i no no no i asked
i i actually stepped out i asked the younger member of my staff alex goldberg i always say
please put tabs on there because it makes it so much easier for people to go through the materials
it does and we even make sure that the tabs match the actual table of contents i'm very particular
about that. We're here for 3513 North 23rd Street. During my presentation, we'll first review the
notice of refusal, then the letter of support from the Allegheny West Civic Association.
Then I gave you an example of a nearby apartment building. Right now, we're proposing 12
residential units on a lot that's almost 5,000 square feet. On West Venego, there is a larger
property, but also has an apartment building nearby. Then we'll have an aerial view of the
property, zoning map, maps of the area such as Google, photographs of the property and surrounding
area, our plans and drawings, our RCO meeting notice, which it was a very well-attended meeting,
and we did get unanimous support there, our applications for appeal, our deed to the property
showing that HHS Realty LLC is the owner of the property, and our Certificate of Tax Clearance
showing that we're in good standing with the city of philadelphia with respect to real estate taxes
for this property at the conclusion of my presentation i will turn around um it can he
i'm gonna ask for just i don't know the answer to this is this the spot for witnesses okay i will
ask that mr hussein come to my left uh be sworn in and i'll have a few questions for you all right
so first a notice of refusal this is an rsa3 property but it's rather large in size it's
almost 5,000 square feet. We're looking to put 12 dwelling units here, and we have two refusals.
The first is for the use. Because this is RSA3, we're expressly prohibited from providing for
Um, because this is RSA three, we're expressly prohibited from providing for, um, multifamily
living and then the parking, like, you know, because we're RSA three, we're supposed to
provide multiple, uh, well, 12 units, 12 parking spots.
And that would be out of character.
And, you know, again, not in conformance to the surrounding neighborhood.
Um, I would also say that there's ample public transportation there.
There's the 1, the 56, the 447, the H, the R, the H, XH, and the 33 bus routes nearby.
So we did present in front of the Allegheny West Civic Association, and there was unanimous support.
They were very excited about this property because what you'll see architecturally what we did, we mimicked the architecture to the property to the left of us, which they were appreciative of.
They were also appreciative of the fact that we're not putting a roof deck on there.
We are respecting, again, the architecture, the porch nature of the neighborhood, and then everyone in that property is going to have access to the rear, so it will be a common area in the rear, substantial common area of 2,500 square feet, and then garbage would be stored as well.
So we could agree to two provisos, commercial trash pickup, as well as trash stored inside, and you'll see there's a garbage room, I believe, on every single floor.
So, again, unanimous support of seven to zero.
There were more people in the audience.
I believe that these were the people within the 500-square-foot radius of the property, the affected property owners.
And then, you know, an example of nearby multifamily at 2112 West Benango Street.
There's a 106-unit property there.
Again, not all of character to have that type of density.
We're near public transportation.
And just as – I know this is not enforceable from an affordable housing standpoint, but Mr. Hussein's model is completely affordable housing.
All he does is PHA housing, and they were appreciative of that as well.
Area view of the property, as you can see, there is a lot of vacant land nearby, and I believe this is the property on Benango Street.
but like there's a lot of vacant land and we're trying to activate parts parts of the community
in in a positive manner and then maps of the area again there's a there's a mix of zoning uh more on
the other side of west huntington park pike but even across the street is cmx2 there's some rm1
there's some cmx3 so there's definitely a mix of zoning nearby um and i believe that this may be
the property on venango which is also an rsa3 box excuse me i don't know i don't know whether
it's the mic but you're still a little low okay here is that better mr johns that is better yep
all right well hopefully i won't choke on this mic
all right um then the photographs of property we have a vacant lot here uh proof of posting
uh for today's hearing um and then this is the front of the property has been a vacant lot for
some time based on you know google street view and then this is the property how i looked in 2012
right so you see uh you know the unique architecture that's there it's very pretty and
we're trying to emulate that through our design which you'll see this is north 23rd street to the
right of the property to the left of the property and then there are plants and drawings um you know
i'm gonna i know mr johns is going to ask this question how deep are we in the lower level um we
are a little over nine feet deep in the lower level. It also, if you look at these drawings,
it slopes downward. So we're 33 feet 8 inches up in the front, and then if I can move my
page. Oops, it's not doing it. Let me go back. Go back to the next page.
let's see page up page up page up all right let me try to do it this way
right here we're at 29 28 feet 7 inches so if there's a it definitely the the grade changes
five feet from the front to the back of the property so there is some light in the air here
here in the front part of the property, and then we're on gray towards the back end of
the property.
And then you can see from the architecture, we try to mimic as much as we can what's left
of us.
This is just a rendering.
This is not actual what it looks like, but you can see we have the dormers.
We have the stone facade.
We keep the stone in the front too.
We have an ample front porch, which I believe is eight feet long or deep, and you can see that this is the opening for front to back, where people can go from the front to the backyard, and you can see it's an ample backyard of over 2,500 square feet.
And you can see it's an ample backyard of over 2,500 square feet as well.
So there's a lot of common area in the back.
Developing a sense of community back there, and that's not elevated, which is a problem with a lot of these, you know, some of these projects.
And then, you know, the floor plan is this.
You walk through the porch area.
You see here a trash room, by the way.
And then you have, let me just look at my notes, but you have eight two-bedrooms and four one-bedroom apartments.
So again, it's hard for me to see on this smaller screen, but this looks like a two-bedroom here, and then you have here, every floor has three bedrooms on here.
And then these are two one-bedrooms.
You go to the lower level.
It looks like a two-bedroom down here.
And then here, it's also one one-bedrooms.
And then you go to the second floor.
There's a two-bedroom here.
And by the way, you can see there's a trash room on every single floor.
And then these units are two two-bedrooms.
And then finally, you go up to the third floor and a two-bedroom here, a two-bedroom here, and a two-bedroom here.
So like I said, there's eight two-bedrooms, four one-bedrooms here.
RCO meeting notice, we met with the community in person December 17th at 6 p.m.
We emailed that notice a few weeks ahead of time to give ample notice to the community organizers that we sent out that notice.
and we gave them proof of mailing in that notice,
and we showed them that we sent it to 93 addresses.
These are the addresses.
Proof of mailing to those addresses,
our application for appeal that we filed on behalf of HHS Realty LLC,
our notice of refusal, our project information form,
our deeds of property showing that HHS Realty LLC is the owner of the property,
and finally, our certificate of tax clearance.
While there's a balance of $775.49 technically due, it's not really due until March 31st of 2025.
I'm going to stop sharing my screen.
I would ask that Mr. Hussein stand to the left of me, turn on the mic, so he can then be sworn in.
Sir, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Hussain Hussain, H-U-S-S-E-I-N, H-U-S-S-E-I-N.
Do you swear or affirm that tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Please, why don't you sit down, and Mr. Nakhlinson, please proceed.
Yes, Mr. Hussain, you heard everything I had to state today about your zoning matter.
Yes, I did.
And is it true and correct?
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Thank you.
So what's that block look like?
There is some multifamily.
There's next door, there's multifamily.
The problem is there's not a lot of active properties there.
So that's what we're looking at.
We're looking at, as you saw with the aerial view, there's a lot of vacant land there.
Questions from the board.
I have a question.
Can you go back to the basement plan?
And I just want to know how many units are in the basement.
and if there's any storage anywhere in the building?
There are three units per floor, which includes the lower level.
That's how we get to 12.
So there's three units in the lower level,
three units on the first floor, three units on the second floor,
and three units on the third floor.
In terms of storage, let me take a look.
I mean, each of the rooms have closets.
Can you enlarge the basement part?
Oh, yeah, sure.
It may make it easier not to go full screen here.
It's easier for me to maneuver.
So here's an example of the two-bedroom down there.
So you walk in, you have an open living area, 745 square feet.
That's unit number 10 as an example.
You have a kitchen, a living room, and you have a bathroom,
and then you have two bedrooms next to each other.
each of them have closets in them and the back units oh yeah sure and you also see the trash
room and then each of the units also have their own laundry facility and that's where the
mechanicals mechanicals are stored as well for each of the units and then if you go to the other
units let's just say unit number 12 you walk in living room kitchen laundry room here there's
here there's actually an office space i i that's why i don't call it a bedroom but there's an
actually an office space i that's why i don't call it a bedroom but there's an office space
office space because it and then they have one bedroom here in the bathroom and here's closet
Peace.
and i think this is just a twin of that they're both you know about approximately 1620 1647 square
feet yeah i i've got a serious concern when we see units where their living room
areas that have no windows, no
and not one of these units show a window in a
living room. In addition to that, the basement
units only are getting light from the light
wells on either end of the
unit. And I assume there's probably going to be some borrowed light
from the bedroom but again they're all internal living rooms no natural light no natural ventilation
and it's subterranean for the units that are in the basement no i i i i agree with you and
you know if the board feels so inclined i would you know respectfully request that
this project be limited to a maximum of nine units with a proviso no living in the basement
well i don't know that we can provide so that every living room has a window and no i'm talking
about we're gonna we would get rid of all the apartments in the basement well there's not just
the apartments in the basement if you look at your plans every floor there's not one living room
that has a window um you've got the ones that are on the right are on the property line so you can't
have a window there and then the ones that are on the left although they're set back you don't
sony windows uh let me take a look
so i understand i mean we can re it looks like we can reconfigure the the front portions to put
the bedrooms towards the back and the living area towards the front. I can't speak to that
as to the rear ones. Again, my client wants to put good housing together. This was
you know fleshed out i understand but when we say good housing and we don't have windows and
natural light and ventilation in the living room the main living space of a unit it's kind of hard
to argue that yeah um i can't speak to the right because i don't know if there's let me take a look
if there's a building a property to the right of us let's see so the address is according to your
property line the that wall is on the property line so you can't have windows no no to left yeah
i'm just looking to the right right to the left it looks like you've got some space because you've
got a door out that side so i don't know why you didn't put windows maybe no well to our left we're
a twin we're the right side of a twin okay yeah that's what i'm looking at the left um i'm trying
to look at from the deed section. I mean, either way, again, I can't speak from a building
code perspective, but to our right, there's no properties to the right of us technically
on 23rd. They intersect with Tioga. Again, I can't speak to whether we can put windows
on there. I would have to defer to the architect in that respect.
Again, we want to make these functional floor plans as well. We thought putting light and
air in the back. Again, we have ample open area too for this property of 2,500 square
feet on the 5,000 square foot lot. We actually purposefully conformed to the RSA 3 zoning