all righty you're recording this year let me know when we're going to work all righty i will
Thank you.
Good morning. My name is Bill Bergman and I will be chairing this morning's EBA hearings.
With me is Carol Tenere, our Vice Chair.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Ismail Shahid, our Board Secretary.
And James Snell, our Board Member.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also here is our Executive Director, Tanya Sunkit, and our Board Attorney, Sherman Toplin.
Morning, Mr. Chair.
Morning.
Before we begin, here's our virtual format.
Be advised, the proceedings are being recorded. By participating, you acknowledge your agreement
to be recorded. The video will be available by contacting our Executive Director, Tanya Sunkett
at phila.gov. For the benefit of our court sonographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses
to identify themselves before testifying. If you are participating by phone and you wish to testify,
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 lastly, please note the question and answer box is not for testimony or comments. Any comments
should be directed to our executive director, Tanya Sunkin. Let's take a look at contingencies.
Number 11 on this morning's list, MI 2021-002095-4319-Rawne Street.
Number 14, MI 2021-004387-6809-Woodland.
And number 15, MI-2021-004390-7121, Wissetkin Avenue.
All three of these cases are continued.
Does anyone have any comments in the virtual audience?
No hands at this time, Chair.
Thank you.
I'm also continuing number 12, MI-2021-00792-441 West Roosevelt Boulevard.
The packet would receive late and unable to process.
Anyone have any questions about that?
Chair, we have Francis.
Francis, you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
All right.
Francis, state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter.
Francis Cuthbertson, F-R-A-N-C-I-S, last name Cuthbertson, C-U-T-H, B as in boy, E-R-T-S-O-N.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
You have testimony relative to case 12?
uh i i was wondering which where we were on the docket because it's for application
zp-2021-003497 2013 poplar street calendar number 04-0420 i'm going to get back to that
sir that'll be cool then right now we're talking about case number 12 is case number 12 poplar
2013 poplar street i just i just tuned in no it's 441 west roosevelt boulevard all right i apologize
guys. That's okay. That's okay. Any virtual comments about case 12?
Any virtual comments about Case 12?
No, hands, Chair.
Okay, we're going to go to the add-ons for today's case.
This will be vote only.
MI 2021-004676-626-630 Bybury Road.
I vote no.
Harold Tanari, my vote is no.
my vote is no
mr snell you need to unmute okay mr snell you're on mute
okay um chair are you there jim i'm here no um i was thinking jim he might be having
technical difficulties. So the three of you have voted. That's fine.
Okay. Thank you. First case. MI 2021-004393-10201 Clark Street. Mr. Voorhees.
No RCO letter. Pro se case.
chair we have mr henry clinton with his hand up i promoted him to panelists
uh mr chairman henry clinton here i didn't see where it was asked were there any other
continuances i have one other i'm sorry i'm sorry henry that's my fault you have a continuance
yes sir which one 2967 amber street number 2021-004-024 yeah we met with the community
they weren't happy with our presentation, so we are going to pull that and ask for a continuance
and try to meet with the community again. Thank you, Henry. Any other people have continuances?
I think that all put their hand down until, unless you're asking about a continuance.
If you're asking about a continuance, leave your hand up so we can call on you.
Thank you.
I'm sorry, Vice Chair.
No, that's good.
That's okay.
Mr. Chair, was that seven or eight for Mr. Clinton?
I have it.
Wait, I just had it up here.
Amber Street, eight.
Okay, we have Shoshana Bricklin.
If the staff can allow her to speak.
Thanks.
Ms. Bricklin, please unmute yourself and please wait for the chair.
Hello?
Hi, Ms. Bricklin, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Shoshana Bricklin, S-H-O-S-H-A-N-A-B-R-I-C-K-L-I-N.
Right.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Do you have a continuous?
I'm raising my hand for the first case because it's not pro se anymore.
I'm representing the applicant okay all right we're just stay on any other continuances
yes chair we have someone by the name of David last name beginning with a d
bring them on sir please unmute yourself and wait for the chair
all right I'm unmuted
could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please
david delugos d-l-u-g-o-s-z do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but
the truth yes what case do you want to talk about continuing uh i am a rco for uh with regard to
4319 wrong street that's what they said they had contacted uh it's it's continued sir okay
Okay. Was the new date scheduled yet?
Not yet.
All right. Thank you.
All right. Thank you.
Any other continuances?
I see no more hands, Chair.
Case number one.
10201 Clark Street.
Ms. Bricklin, yours has been sworn.
Good morning, Mr. Chair and members of the board. Firstly, I'd like to make sure that Patrick Jones
is promoted to be a panelist. He will be displaying the slides.
Is it a chance that he could be signed in as your name?
uh i don't know he could be i'm just looking at the uh i don't see it on the um here he is
at the, I don't see it on the, here she is. It says Shoshana Bricklin. There he is. He has a
it says shoshana brickland
little hand raised. He's been promoted to panelists. Thank you. This is, let me just,
this is, I'm here on behalf of the applicant, Mr. Varghese, who is a city employee. He will not
be here. So I will be presenting the testimony and asking that it be adopted on his behalf.
Wait a minute. Before you do that, our vice chair has a few questions before you start.
Oh, yes. Thank you.
Hi, Ms. Bricklin.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with all the required documents?
Okay, you may proceed.
Yes, this is the exhibit packet for 10201 Clark Street. I'm going to go through this.
We also, I know you did not get an RCO letter. We have a copy of the RCO letter,
which is in support of this, but we can go through the rest. Let's go. I'll go through
the rest of the packet first. You can start with the refusal. This is a request for dimensional
additional variance of two feet. There's a setback requirement. This is a Mr. Varghuzzi would like to put an add on to his house of 20 feet of eight, an addition onto the house for to make a handicapped addition for his elderly mother. The setback requirement is 20 feet and he's asking for the variance because he can only do this for 18 feet. Please continue Mr.
jones this is the application for appeal this is the project information form thank you
this is the deed
i believe this is our tax clearance that's all good the certificate of mailing to the rco and the
near neighbors this was the letter to the rco for their for their meeting
and this is the pictures this is the front of the the um the residence
this is a rear a side view
another side another side view that is the back and side
that is this is where that patio is is where the addition would be it would be a handicapped
accessible access from the ground floor there would be a there's a request for a deck on top
of that and that patio that was the setback is not um it would not be 20 feet from the um
from the edge of the property it would be the request because it's 18 feet keep going
next this is the plans keep you can another plan of the uh this layout
the elevations
And this is a petition in support of these were these were petitions.
These were near neighbors who are in support of this project.
And this is this is the letter from the Somerton Civic Association.
I don't think you got it yet, but they're the essence of their letter is the 27 voted in favor
of it for or opposed they have no they they do support it and they do they describe their process
which is an all online process but it has a lot of opportunity for um and a lot of opportunity for um
in their interaction and transparency anything else is that the last is that the last slide
and with that that is our presentation and we would ask for the board counsel is your client
is your client here no he is not able to be here all right you're an officer the court
will take the testimony questions from the board no no mr no mr chair
questions from the virtual audience chair we have alice judovish please unmute yourself and wait
for the chair. Good morning, Chairman, members of the board. Could you state your name and spell for
the court reporter, please? My name is Alice Udovich, U-D-O-V-I-C-H, representing Councilman
Representing Councilman Brian O'Neill.
Brian O'Neill. Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth?
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
The Councilman has no objection to the granting of the variance at this location.
Thank you for calling in. We appreciate that.
Any other comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission?
Good morning, Chair Bergman and members of the Board.
Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
that's h-e-g-a-r-t-y you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes i do thank you members of the board the comprehensive plan recommends no change to
existing residential single family zoning at this location this proposed dimensional variance is
minimal and does not conflict with the purpose and spirit of the zoning code so the city planning
Commission recommends that the Board grant the variance. Thank you, Sarah. MI 2021 004393 1021
Clark Street, I vote yes. Carol Tenere, my vote is yes. James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes. Right. Thank you, Council. Thank you so much. MI 2021 003793
1241 to 43 South 57th Street. Counselor Michael Yanov. This is a resumptive hearing.
He's coming back in as a panelist, Chair. Thank you.
Morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. Morning, Mr. Yanov. Could you state your name
and spell for the court reporter? Michael Yanoff, Y-A-N-O-F-F. I'm the attorney for the applicant.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do. Since the last hearing, I think there were several things you were doing. Could you
bring us up to date? Yes, we made our full presentation at the last meeting, if the board
will recall. There were an issue about whether or not there was adequate notice to the RCOs,
And we rescheduled the RCO meeting. We sent a new mailing out to 144 near residents. And on February 28, 2022, we had a meeting which was arranged by the coordinating RCO. There is a letter that was sent in.
I don't know whether you have it. I saw a letter from Mark Harrell, who is the chairperson of the 51st Ward Democratic RCO, stating in support.
And we satisfied the request of the board from the last meeting, which was to make sure that adequate notice was provided not only to surrounding property owners, but to all of the RCOs, which was accomplished there.
Was the property reposted?
Yes, it was, and we sent it reposting the pictures into the board.
Thank you very much.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chair.
Questions from the virtual audience?
Chair, we have Leonard Brundage.
Please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Yes, I'm Leonard Brindage.
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Leonard Brindage, L-E-O-N-A-R-D, B-R-U-N-D-A-G-E.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do. Yes.
Proceed.
My concern with
I was here
I missed
hearing that I had
I think it was July
I have a
triplets where there's only
two and a half stories
I'm sorry
Are you on this case
1241 south 57th street oh no oh okay well sir thank you we'll we'll get to your case later sir
chair we have any other comments in the virtual audience for 1241 south 57th street
sorry about that chair we have minister enoch l right
good morning minister could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
good morning i'm with chairman and board of adjustment minister enoch e-n-o-c-h
A-M-E-N-R-A hyphen L.
a-m-e-n ra hyphen l okay
Do you swear affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I affirm.
Thank you, sir.
Proceed.
Good morning.
On February the 9th, we had a previous DBA hearing, and the applicant representative,
I believe by the name of Alexis, stated that there would be an intensive coordinating attention
for the use which consists of medical education and employment it's my understanding that mark
the alleged security spokesman for the applicant stated that security will be provided by way of
volunteer there was an additional second rco community meeting which is held as those affected
rcos addressed the proposed project there were two affected uh present rcos earth keepers being one
Southwest District Service being the other, both oppose the project, Earth Keepers and
Southwest District Service is not only a registered community organization with this red city,
but is a registered organization with the secretary of state as a corporation with
over a decade of community service with the city of Philadelphia.
And when these two great organizations oppose a project of this magnitude, it is definitely
of a great concern and for the following reasons um earth keepers opposed the project based upon
the community involvement as well as the rcos whereas the applicant felt to provide earth keepers
as a as requested a hard copy of the lead signatures taken from their neighbors for
the inspection uh the applicant proposed project uh is not in compliant with the l l l code
whereas the applicant proposed project will create a tremendous density burden on the community
it also will create a tremendous security issue based on the community's home ownership status
it also will create tremendous safety issues based on it being operated for 24 hours whereas
the applicant proposed project is a tremendous health issue to the community whereas the
applicant stated that some of these residents will have health issues and that was a major concern
with the RCOs as well as the community,
whereas the applicant proposed project creates a tremendous parking issue
based on a tremendous density burden it will put on the community
and the 18 to 24-year-old youths possible having automobiles
as well as staff, whereas the applicant proposed project creates a tremendous
trash issue based on the density and having no solid trash moving
plan, where for the above reasons, Earth Keepers
zoning committee request this honorable member board of adjustment to strike from the record
the applicant's alleged signature been as though it hasn't been validated and taken from the record
as well as concur with earth keepers and confirm the online denial decision and i yield my mic
thank you thank you very much you want to follow up counsel yes if i could first off we spent two
hours at a meeting with Minister L and the rest of the RCOs the other night. We addressed each and
every issue. We had our security team on the Zoom call with the RCO explaining how security would
be managed. Our security team consists of a 20-plus year member of the FBI and other representatives
from the Philadelphia Police Department. We addressed each and every issue raised by Minister
l we addressed his trash issue we told him that we have significant plans depending on on location
in the building for and we showed where in the building the trash locate the trash room would be
we have 24-hour security provided by a number of personnel there is a rigorous vetting procedure
for each and every proposed occupant of this resident and and um there are on-site resident
assistance who are in the building as additional support and with respect to density the the
individuals who are going to be the beneficiaries of this of this program are for the most part
aged out foster care individuals who are not going to have motor vehicles they're not going
to have the ability to purchase a car we are not imposing any unusual density requirements
upon the neighborhood. And quite frankly, Mr. Chair, we addressed each and every issue in a
two-hour meeting. And with respect to the signatures, I don't really understand what
Minister Ells... Thank you, counsel. Thank you, counsel. Thank you. Thank you. Any other questions
or comments from the virtual audience? Chair, we have Andrew Goodman. Good. Good morning. Hi,
good morning, Mr. Goodman. Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
yes andrew goodman g-o-o-d-m-a-n here representing the office of third
here representing the office of third district council member jamie gaudier room 586 city hall
district council member jamie gaudier room 586 city
you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes i do proceed thank you mr chair members of the board council member gaudier's office supports
the granting of the variance at this address um i won't belabor a whole lot of the points i'll just
hit on a couple um first we feel this application certainly well satisfies the criteria for hardship
given that this is an almost 14,000-square-foot existing building in a single-family zone.
Members of our office attended both meetings with the RCOs, including the
long one most recently on Monday evening. While we understand that some fear of the unknown is
natural and to be expected, we do feel the concerns about overuse are highly overstated,
given that there will be multiple levels of organizational support and oversight provided
at this site. And moreover, we'd say that this is an opportunity to welcome and support those who
are most vulnerable in our community instead of fearing them. And so with that, I'll leave it
there. And we ask that the board grants this variance. Thank you, Mr. Goodman. Anyone else
in the virtual audience? I see no more hands, Chair. Planning Commission? Thank you, Chair
bergman ian hegarty for the philadelphia city planning commission members of the board the
comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing rsa3 single-family zoning on this block
however the existing structure is configured as a multiple dwelling and is a substantial size
the city planning commission recommends that the board grant the variance thank you mi 2021
003-793
to 43 South 57th Street
I vote yes
Carol Tenere my vote is yes
James Snell my vote is yes
James Snell
my vote is yes
thank you everyone
thank you council
1331 South Percy
Street
Letter of non-opposition
from Pachong Square Association
If yes, revise plans
one page
Council Grigos
I have
Susan Savani with their hand up
Oh, okay
Mr. Grigos is coming back in as a panelist, Chair.
Thank you very much.
Good morning, Mr. Grigos.
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Good morning, Hercules Grigos, H-E-R-C-U-L-E-S-G-R-I-G-O-S.
Do you swear firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Our Vice Chair has a few questions for you.
Hi, Mr. Grigos. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
It appears that you've emailed the entire exhibit packet. Is that correct?
That is correct.
You may proceed.
Great. Thank you.
Good morning. May it please the Board.
Hercules Grigos, 1835 Market Street, representing 1331 South Percy Street, LLC,
owner and developer of the property located at 1331 South Percy Street. We're here today with
an application for the redevelopment of a former garage industrial former garage slash industrial
building what I would call a challenge block in the Passy Young Square neighborhood. I have with
me today Eli Clare owner and developer as well as Agata Reister the project architect. If I may
I'm going to share my screen and orient everybody.
This is the parcel that we're talking about, and we're proposing redeveloping this parcel,
basically doing an addition onto the existing and with the proposed use of a two-family dwelling.
um you'll note that this block has been uh historically um i guess i should say um right
from the top sorry uh challenged to say the least this is basically um a number of garages
we are around the corner from the chief state capital of the world in the past young square
neighborhood so according to my client a lot of not great things happen on on this street
um but things are changing and we're excited to be part of the change
but things are changing and we're excited to be part of the
so you'll note that this is the property directly adjacent has been approved for four units
and then there's additional properties that have been uh approved for multi-family you know two
four unit six unit redevelopment
so this is the parcel in question you'll see we're going to retain the existing garage
and go three stories above with two apartments
let's see here's the aerial you know Preston this is this is a 50 plus foot building
to our north and a lot of these properties back up to 9th street and Passio Gap
Let's get to the proposal. The refusal here essentially for the use because it is zoned RSA 5 and for height, which we are reducing based on our conversation with the community.
But I'll just back up. So proposal is utilize the existing garage and then come up with a three-story addition.
So with apartments, a one-bedroom on the second floor and a bi-level two-bedroom on the third floor.
I want to get to the pretty pictures so everybody can understand what we're doing.
one of these days we're going to see everybody in person
let me get to point the boards um so here's the proposal um utilize this existing ground floor
build up brick roof deck we're not using a pilot house we're going to have the roof deck
come up through a stair to reduce the height based on our conversation with
uh past young square who is supporting the project we've reduced the height to about 42 feet
and uh taking the parapet down to one foot um so we believe that um reducing the property from you
know a by right 38 feet with a three and a half foot parapet and a 10 foot pilot house
that this proposal uh is less impactful and i think that that is um shared by the community
as a result of our letter of support. Ultimately, and I just want to show real quick, these
are some adjacent properties. This is 1339 South 9 that backs up four units, 1332 South
9, all these properties on South 9 back up to Percy Street, additional four units. So
there is precedent in the neighborhood, two units on Paso Yonk Ave. So although it is
RSA 5, there is precedent for some of this smaller scale multifamily. We believe that this is an
opportunity to bring this block back to life, offering a diverse housing stock to the community
and hopefully puts more activity on the street that will chase away some of the criminal activity
that's found its way here since it's around the corner from the highly trafficked tourist area.
and i believe that's why we received the letter of support we believe this is the minimum relief
necessary will not alter the essential character of the neighborhood as noted by the multi-family
projects that are being constructed it's more in line and will improve the neighborhood will not
be will not impair appropriate user development or adequate light and will not substantially
increase congestion. And with that, I just ask that we have Eli Clare is here to adopt my
testimony, and Project Architect Agata Reister can answer any questions about the plan.
Have the owner raise his hand, please.
Mr. Clare, you can unmute yourself and please wait for the chair.
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
is he is he on yet i don't see him yeah i don't either
well we'll stipulate mr clare would have uh council you're an officer of the court
we'll take the testimony thank you questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman
Questions from the virtual audience or comments?
Chair, we have Suzanne Tavani.
Please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Yes, Mr. Chairman. My name is Suzanne, S-U-Z-A-N-N-E, Tavani, T-A-V-A-N-I. I chair the Zoning Committee for the Passion Square Civic Association.
Yes, Mr. Chairman.
My name is Suzanne, S-U-Z-A-N-N-E.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed.
Thank you. I am here to support this project. We did have a meeting back in December with Mr. Clare and Mr. Grigos.
at that time. We did ask them to revise some of the massing and height issues that we found with
the project. We are certainly not in opposition to the use, which we do believe will help improve
the neighborhood. Mr. Grigos articulated all the changes that I included in my letter of January
the 12th, and so we are happy to support this project if the ZBA will grant the refusal based
upon the amendments to the original variants that was submitted and that Mr. Grigos outlined
this morning. We have submitted revised plans. Thank you for calling in. Thank you for calling
in. You're welcome. Is there any other questions or comments from the virtual audience? I see no
hands, Chair. Planning Commission? Thank you, Chair Bergman. Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia
City Planning Commission. The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing
residential single-family zoning at this location. However, given the unusual existing structure
and the adjacent development context, we recommend that the Board grant the variance.
Thank you. MI 2021-004372, 1331 South Percy Street, I vote yes with revised plans, one page.
carol tanari my vote is yes with proviso james snell yes with proviso
thank you counsel thank you very much have a great day you too
mi 2021 004386 1519 cybert street rco fifth council district letter of support
sokoloff attorney
good morning mr chair members of the board oleg sokolov here on behalf of the applicant crete
llc could you spell your name for the court reporter please absolutely o-l-e-g s-o-k-o-l-o-v
address is 1700 market street suite 1005 philadelphia pa 19103 do you swear a firm
to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do the vice chair has a few questions
for you hello do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
yes i do miss vice chair it appears that you've submitted all the required documents is that
correct that is correct you may proceed thank you very much once again good morning mr chairman
members of the board Oleg Sokolov here on behalf of Crete LLC 1519 Seabird Street if we are here
seeking a a use variance and if I may share my screen please to go through our exhibit packet
Yes. Thank you.
I cannot tell. Are you able to see that? We are. We can.
All right. Once again, here is our refusal. We are seeking
to use the property as a two-family dwelling in an RSA 5 building, no dimensional variances of any
type. Here's our deed package, evidencing ownership, Crete LLC.
our tax clearance certificate
currently the property is an empty lot creed llc is developing a number of
vacant lots on this block in fact the board granted a exactly analogous variance request
for a property at 1513 Seabird Street I believe maybe a month or a month and a half ago and it
is exactly the same type of development so when I get to the pictures of the property itself you'll
see that we are keeping it completely in line with the character of the neighborhood and the
block including the bump outs as as you see in the current properties
once again just a picture of a property across the street
and some more images of the lot and the street itself here's the property itself it's located
and some more images of the lot.
between north 16th and north 15th street between ingersoll and thompson on west siebert cyber i've
you know members of the board i apologize but after doing i think the third variance
on this block i still don't know exactly how to say that street properly
here's a rendering of the property as you'll see as i discussed earlier the
bump out is you know to keep in line with the character of the neighborhood as is
you'll see the property is in an rsa5 district as i stated however the board has granted a
number of variances on this block including one to the current applicant at 1513
Here are the elevations of the property and some floor plans.
The first two floors will be one unit and floors two and three will be a second unit.
Both units will be a little over a thousand square feet.
the upstairs unit will be 1200 square feet and here is our project information form
our application for appeal
our certificates of mailing to the nearby neighbors the rcos
shows the affected RCOs. Evidence and photos of our zoning notice
posters hung at the property and then our letter of support from the friends of the 47th ward
at this time if i can ask a member of my client
Mr. Petroschansky to just raise his hand to adopt my testimony.
Could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter?
It's Robert Petroschansky. That's P-E-T-R-U-S-H-A-N-S-K-Y.
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes i do proceed council thank you mr petrosansky you were you were able to hear my testimony
given this morning i was okay and do you adopt my testimony as your own i do adopt your testimony
as my own is there anything you would like to add to the board no you covered everything okay thank
you very much questions from the board please
Questions from the board? No, Mr. Chairman. No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions from the virtual audience? Chair, we have Monica D'Antonio.
Please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Sure. My name is Monica D'Antonio, M-O-N-I-C-A, D-E-A-N-T-O-N-I-O.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, or nothing but the truth?
Who's she?
I'm just a resident in the Francisville area, and I just logged on today because we are concerned
about the growing density issue in this neighborhood. I think we have about eight
buildings right now that were single family and are now multifamily. So I think we're concerned
about this growing issue with these multifamily homes. You said that you sent letters out to
the neighborhood. I didn't receive any of them. And I know our block captain didn't receive them
either. Okay. Are you against the building there? Yes, I am. And there are a couple of
other neighbors on this Zoom that are against it as well.
Okay, thank you.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience
would like to make a comment. If it's the same as the last person, please refrain, but
who would like to make a comment?
If it's the same as the last person?
anyone else wants to make a comment? I see no hands, Chair. Thank you. Wait a minute. I'm sorry.
Well, it's okay. Someone just put the, they put it back down. Okay, thank you. I'm sorry, Chair.
Again, they put the hand up. I'm so sorry. Thank you. That's fine. That's fine. Caller with the
last digit, 6894. Please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Hi, this is Reverend Lewis Nash.
Reverend, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Yes. Lewis Nash, senior. L-E-W-I-S-N-A-S-H.
Map RCO.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Affirm. Thank you. Proceed. Yes. This is in the 47th Ward. It's not in the Francisville
District as well. And we have offered our support with this along with friends of the 47th Ward,
Ms. Louise Bundy
and she's here
and is also in the office to
give her support as well.
Thank you, Reverend Nash.
She can speak for herself.
Ms. Bundy, could you state your name
and spell it for the court reporter?
Ms. Bundy?
you have to mute can you hear me yeah miss bundy state your name and spell for the court reporter
my name is louise bundy l-o-u-i-s-e b-u-n-d-y and i didn't even realize that but that's why i
mentioned he can be long-winded do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth. I do. Proceed, Ms. Bundy. I would like for this to be a part of our
neighborhood, but I was told that this is the person that spoke ahead of us. They're dealing
with Francisville. This is not Francisville. Thank you, Ms. Bundy. Thank you very much.
i'm giving my support for it okay thank you miss bundy any other comments from the virtual audience
chair we have kristen platt please unmute yourself and please wait for the chair
would you state your name and spell for the court reporter
sure kristen platt k-r-i-s-t-e-n p as in paul l-a-t-t right do you swear or firm to tell the
truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do proceed i am also a uh live in the francisville
area and i just wanted to state that i did not receive any letters about this uh proposal either
and i am against it thank you very much planning commission
thank you chair bergman ian hegarty for the philadelphia city planning commission
members of the board in 2015 the zoning map was amended in this area in accord with
recommendations from the comprehensive plan and with the support of the community and city council
we don't believe the hardship claim here of the applicant is supported with evidence of
unique physical circumstances or conditions of the property however given that previous
variances granted by the board have drastically changed the surrounding context against the
adopted zoning city planning commission has no objection to the granting of the variance
thank you mr eckery mi 2021 004 386 1519 cybert street i vote yes carol tenary my vote is yes
james snell my vote is yes
thank you council thank you very much members of the board have a great day
MI 2021-002188, 2013 Poplar Street, RCO Francis' letter of support.
Pro se case, Jonathan Arthur Arnina Nuna Marchetti.
They're coming back in as a panelist.
Thank you. Chair, can you hear us? Yes. Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, both of you, please? Yes.
Yes. Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, both of you, please?
Yes. My full name is Jonathan Arthur, J-O-N-A-T-H-A-N, Arthur, A-R-T-H-U-R.
Nina, N-I-N-A-M-I-R-A-C-H-I.
Right. Do you both swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
A couple have a few questions from our vice chair.
Hi. Good morning. Have you emailed the exhibit packet with the required documents consisting of proof of ownership, tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral, photos under plans of the property, five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with an RCO, and do you have a letter?
Yes. The package was emailed over by our architect, Frank Cutherson, who's also here with us today.
Okay, great. You may proceed.
Thank you.
So we are the owners of this property, and this is around an overhead door that was installed in the rear of our residence.
After buying this property, we noticed a rash of different thefts, cars that were broken into in the area,
including some patio furniture that was tucked up against our house that was taken out of our backyard
and out of, you know, a desire for our personal safety and some large glass doors at the end of
the property, we contacted a contractor about installing this door. He installed that not
knowing about the zoning variance. It's six feet apparently that was allowed by Wright and a 10-foot
door was installed. The contractor then recommended Mr. Cutherson to work with us
to obtain a variance for that gate.
We met with the local RCO on actually September 21st of last year.
They gave their approval for the project and asked that we send out the required mailing
once those posters had been hung, which we've done and submitted as proof as part of that packet.
There were no formal responses to the project as a result of that mailing.
um if we could promote Mr. Cupperson as the architect um also to attest to Mr. Arthur let
me ask this do you have any photos or anything you can you could you share the screen with us
please I sure can
the full packet but i'll jump to the pictures which i believe are towards the end we don't
see it yes mr arthur on our screen pauline could you talk to we're good we're good we're
my back didn't hit share sorry about that okay um so the property photos here are before the door
um so this is the rear of our house um the air conditioning unit back in this corner is where
some um personal property items were taken um and a car next door and down the block was broken into
so the door has been placed here at the entrance to our property.
I don't believe we have any after photos in here, but Mr. Cutherson, our architect, may.
The drawings are right above that show the details of that gate.
The 10-foot elevation, and again, right at the extreme rear of the property.
So this is what is in question.
all right mr arthur i don't think we really need your architect at this point
questions from the board no mr chair
questions from the virtual audience
i see no handshare planning commission
thank you chair bergman ian hegarty for the philadelphia city planning commission
members of the board in uh 2018 the zoning map was amended in this area in accord with
recommendations from the comprehensive plan the fence requirements from the zoning code
are intended to maintain light and sight lines along public streets these gates we feel violate
this intent without a clear hardship requiring such a tall and opaque fence.
We would not be opposed to a shorter fence or one with some degree of
translucence or being able to see through.
So we would recommend that the board deny this variance.
Mr. Arthur, do you have any comments?
I believe the neighbor with a similar gate had this approved
um a couple of years back before the delays from the pandemic um okay thank you thank you
a couple of years back before the delays from the pandemic.
mi 2021 002 188 2013 poplar street i vote yes carol ternary my vote is yes
what was your vote is yes yes thank you that's three votes Mr. Arthur you you're fine great thank
Thank you.
MI 2021 002197 2056 Ellsworth Street, Point Breeze CDC letter of support, Councilman Kenyana
Johnson letter of support, Daniel Mita attorney.
Mr. Mita is coming back in as a panelist.
Good morning, Mr. Mita. Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Yes. My name is Dan Mita, spelled M-I-T-A.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
the vice chair has a few questions for you good morning mr me did you agree to wait the reading
of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy i do um it appears based on my notes that you've
submitted all of the required documents is that correct that is you may proceed thank you uh good
morning mr chair and members of the board uh as mentioned earlier my name is dan meta with duane
Morris and we're here on behalf of the applicant the Neighborhood Garden Trust of Philadelphia
Trust also known as the Neighborhood Gardens Trust which is a 501c3 Pennsylvania non-profit.
The relief requested is for a dimensional variance. The subject property is located in a
rsa 5 zoning district which has a minimum rear yard dimensional setback
of nine feet and our application is requesting for a proposed 0.89 feet
as the chair mentioned our exhibits package is timely submitted includes letters of support from
the rco as well as from the friends of the concert garden which the property is affectionately known
as which is a neighborhood-based volunteer group established back in 2017 that's responsible for
the upkeep and programming of the construct garden. Mr. Mehta do you want Mr. Mehta would
you want to share this your screen yeah that that would be great right
little little visuals never hurt right i think so
great so um i'm gonna just get into a little bit more background and then i'll be able to
introduce some visuals uh some other kind of background facts for the board's consideration
And then I'm going to introduce as a witness Jenny Greenberg, who's the executive director for the Neighborhood Garden Trust, if it pleases the board.
So and then, of course, as the chair mentioned, there's a letter of support in the exhibit package from the Honorable Councilman Johnson.
And by way of background, the property has unique characteristics featuring three different front yards, which I'll just note in, pardon me, as I kind of roll through the exhibits package, I'm going to jump to the plan, and then I'll get into some pictures.
This is a little bit easier.
You can kind of, this is a depiction of the subject property, and there is a front yard on this end right here, front yard here, and then this is also construed as a front yard as well.
just by way of general background the concert garden was established back in 1989
it has been under the stewardship of the neighborhood garden trust since 1995
who's kind of taken care of maintained and improved the property over the past 20
who's kind of taken care of, maintained, and improved the property over the past 25 years.
This is just kind of a brief introduction I'm going to roll through fairly expediently for the board's orientation.
These are some kind of depictions prior to, there's a, the property right now is subject to a two-phase redesign and kind of redevelopment, revitalization.
these are some before pictures that show the garden phase one was completed which i'll reflect
in the next picture and this is the current condition you can see there's been fencing
garden plots hardscaping as well as some seating areas as well as you know general upkeep
the next phase which is the subject of the current relief being requested
is to install a permanent decking structure
that'll be in the corner of the property.
I'll show that in just a minute.
This is a nice kind of rendering depicting the area
as well as a storage shed.
The purpose of the decking is it could be utilized
as the name would suggest
for certain community-based congregations.
it could be community-based small concerts I use the term concerts lightly as you can kind of tell
from the nature of it as well as it's been used historically for you know show little shows or
performances I know if I brought my two or four-year-old there they would put on a performance
every time going up on the stage as well as for movie nights things of that respect and then
And there's also proposed, which you can see here, which will also be subject to the relief
being requested as it's up against the property line, a storage set that will be used for
just general gardening tools, things of that for the upkeep of the community garden and
general property.
You can see that the position of the deck structure itself is in the corner, which is
flanking two kind of uh borders and the idea behind that is that it will maximize the open space
provide uninterrupted site view lines to the community park both from the outside and inside
and maximize kind of flow and circulation of folks working within it um
let's see if there's some more kind of these are just some helpful visuals
This is a general outline of the improvements being proposed as well as their general location
with some scene of the streetscape and then the shed portion would go over here.
This is kind of a clear depiction of the deck that's being proposed.
And this is what's construed as kind of the minimum yard setback.
At this point, if it would please the board, thank you, Mr. Chair.
Ms. Greenberg, could you raise your hand, please?
Ms. Greenberg, please unmute yourself and please wait for the chair.
Could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please?
Yes, my name is Jennifer Greenberg, J-E-N-N-I-F-E-R-G-R-E-E-N-B-E-R-G.
Right. Do you swear or firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
Thank you for the opportunity.
I serve as the Executive Director of the Neighborhood Gardens Trust, which is a land trust,
a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of community managed open spaces
in the city of Philadelphia. The property we're discussing today, known in the neighborhood as
the concert garden, as Dan said, has been under NGT's protection since the 1990s.
And our mission is to work with community members to make sure that it stays a well-used and maintained green space for the benefit of the neighborhood.
We worked with the Friends of the Concert Garden to do a community engagement process to develop a renewed vision for the garden.
Ms. Greenberg, excuse me a minute.
Counsel, would you have your testimony adopted, please, by her?
Your testimony adopted, please, by her.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Ms. Greenberg, would you kindly raise your right hand in adoption of my testimony?
I mean, she's already been sworn.
Okay, great.
Ms. Greenberg, did you hear my testimony just a moment ago?
I did.
And did you find it true and accurate in all respects?
There's one clarification I want to make, which is that the shed structure is actually
going to be constructed within the same structure as the decking structure. The original concept was
to install a separate shed, but because our goal is to maximize open space at the center of the
property um and to tuck the whole structure back in that corner the the storage space and deck will
be conjoined okay thank you miss greenberg for that clarification and uh that being as it may
it would not change the relief that's being requested it just consolidates
uh the structure uh that would be subject to that correct
Yes, that would be, that's correct. Thank you. So with that clarification,
do you adopt my testimony as your own? Yes, I do. Questions from the board? No, Mr. Chair.
No, Mr. Chair. No, Mr. Chair. Questions from the virtual audience?
i see no handshare planning commission thank you chair bergman ian hegarty for the philadelphia
city planning commission uh this proposed dimensional variance is reasonable to
accommodate the proposed jed and deck given the use of the lot for open space city planning
commission recommends that the board grant the variance thank you mi 2021 002 197 2056 elsewhere
First Street, I vote yes.
Carl Teneri, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you, Council.
Thank you, Members of the Board.
MI 2021-004-369-2323 East Susquehanna Avenue.
Petition from near neighbors.
RCO Letter, Fishtown Association, and Councilman Squill and non-opposition, Henry Clinton.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Henry Clinton here on behalf of the applicant.
Henry, could you spell your name for the court reporter, please?
H-E-N-R-Y Clinton.
C-L-I-N-T-O-N.
I'm not sure if I swore you this morning, but do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
All right. Our vice chair has a few questions for you.
Hi, Mr. Clinton. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
It appears that you've submitted all the required documents. Is that correct?
Yes, I have.
You may proceed.
Thank you.
Is the screen visible?
It is.
So this concerns 2323 East Susquehanna.
My clients are Aaron Pillhofer and Elizabeth Swanson, who I believe are on the call.
This concerns a replacement of an existing fence that was installed on the property prior to my clients purchasing the property.
I'm sorry, Mr. Clinton.
This is Tanya.
Could you maximize your screens, please?
thank you sir thank you miss honkett i'll visit the table of contents which i'll present to the
board today composed of exhibits aa through a10 appearance statement refusal refusal concerns
the height of the fence and the opaqueness of the fence and you'll see this is a corner lot
and if the fence was 42 inches high it would not provide any security or any privacy
for my clients. And in fact, it's a mere replacement of what was there when they
purchased the property, albeit it's about 6 to 10 inches higher in some
spots. We do have an RCO letter of support from
the Fishtown Neighbors Association, as well as
numerous signatures from surrounding neighbors and adjoining
neighbors. These are photographs of the property. This is my
client's property at the corner. This is somewhat of an iconic
fence in Fishtown, but over time it became kind of worn out, some rotting, some discoloration,
and really just unsightly, not only the fence, but also the supporting structure below the fence.
the supporting structure below the fence.
So before my client replaced the fence,
they did reach out to Fishtown
and see if anyone wanted to sign
and their local electrician did take the sign.
And we understand he's gonna use it somewhere else
in Fishtown, although that hasn't occurred yet.
So this is the fence that's been replaced.
Basically, you can see what the height was.
It's a little bit taller.
Like I said, six to eight inches.
you can see down here the difference. And this is the inside of the fence, and there's also new
decking on the fence so that you can come out your side door and then enjoy your patio.
So that's the reason for the height. When you're in the inside of the fence, it's probably about
six feet high. If it were four feet or 42 inches, as the code requires, basically everyone would be
able to peer into the fence and see what's going on in this nice little deck area. We don't have
any situation where it's at a corner and we're blocking any visibility or blocking any lighter
air from any adjoining neighborhood, excuse me, any adjoining neighbor or anyone in the neighborhood.
You can see the remaining houses are not affected at all by this fence. There's now a gate in the
fence. There's also new parging and new structure as well as a step. So the unsightliness of the
fence that was there, despite the fact it did have the Fishtown iconic mural on it. It really
does improve the neighborhood. There's our zoning poster, and I can show you the plans.
Basically, again, a corner lot. The fence runs along the side to here, and there's a new deck.
Again, we're not blocking any lighter air. We're not affecting any development of any other property.
The rest of the documents are the pro forma documents that I referenced in my table of contents, including the deed.
You can see when my clients purchased it in 2017, they basically were living with that Fishtown mural fence for about five years when it became obvious it needed to be replaced.
so in summary um this is unique situation we have a corner lot where if the tenants of the
code were followed to the t we'd have a 42 inch high fence which would provide no privacy nor
security we're not affecting anyone's use or development of joining properties it doesn't
affect anyone's later air it's in harmony with the code and it's certainly in harmony with what
the Neighbors on the Block support, as well as Fishtown Neighbors Association.
With that, I rest, ask that the exhibits be admitted, and entertain any questions from
the board, and also have my client adopt my testimony.
Could you have your client raise his hand, please?
Aaron, could you raise your hand, please?
I'm here.
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Yeah, Aaron Pilhofer, A-R-O-N, the last name is P as in Peter, I-L-H-O-F as in Frank, E-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Aaron, have you heard my testimony today?
If you had the opportunity to testify, would you adopt my testimony as your own and as true and correct?
Thank you, Mr. Pilhofer.
Questions from the board?
no mr chairman no mr chairman questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands chair planning commission thank you chair bergman ian hegarty for the
philadelphia city planning commission members of the board in 2015 the zoning map was amended
in this area in accord with recommendations from the comprehensive plan with support of the
community. The replacement fence, as we've seen in the photos, is substantially the same in height
to the prior non-conforming fence, and so the City Planning Commission recommends that the
Board grant the variance. Thank you. MI 2021-004-369-2323, East Susquehanna, I vote yes.
Carol Tenere my vote is yes. James Snell my vote is yes.
Thank you counsel. Thank you Mr. Chairman members of the board. MI 2021 004046 3230
North 15th Street, Nicetown, Tioga Improvement, Letter of Support, Proviso, lettered also Jermaine Harris Esquire.
Jermaine Harris, Esquire.
Mr. Harris is coming back in as a panelist.
Mr. Harris, state your name and spell for the court reporter, please.
Jermaine Harris.
Could you spell for the court reporter, please?
j-e-r-m-a-i-n-e harris h-a-r-i-s do you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
but the truth yes i do and as a preliminary matter uh my colleague council council wait one second
our vice chair has a few questions oh i'm sorry hi mr harris do you agree to wave the reading of
the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy i do it appears that you've submitted all the required
documents is that correct that's correct okay you may proceed now uh as a preliminary matter i would
ask that my colleague alicia kenslow be promoted as a uh panelist she's i'm actually the owner
of the uh owner applicant of the property my colleague alicia kenslow would be doing a
presentation who's on the call who should be raising her hand or has raised her hand now thank
you. Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter? Yes. My name is Alicia Kinchlow,
A-L-Y-C-I-A, and last name is K-I-N-C-H-L-O-E. Address is 100 South Broad Street,
Suite 1523, Philadelphia, PA, on behalf of Jermaine Harris for 3230 North 15th Street,
Philadelphia, PA. Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth? I do. Appreciate. Thank you. We are seeking to obtain a used variance from the
zoning board to construct a four-family dwelling at 3230 North 15th Street. This was originally
refused by lni and an appeal was filed on september 30th 2021 we are proposing to build a
three-story building with four two-bedroom one-bathroom apartments on the ground floor
first floor second floor and the third floor of the building um the building will be three stories
and each uh apartment will have one bare room in the front and one bare room in the rear of the
apartment council could council could you share your presentation with the board yes i can putting
it up please? Yes, one second. Okay. And are you able to see the screen? Okay. Okay, perfect.
All right. So our exhibit A is the letter from the RCO. There were two meetings with the RCO.
The second one was because there were some concerns raised. The first one regarding
trash and egress. So there were some revision made to the plans and then there was the approval
that was obtained. Over 20 community members were present at each of the two meetings.
here are the uh floor plans for 3230 and i do have the architect um who's able to walk through
the plans as well um on the call his name is jason uh jacob wessel if we want to have him
provide some testimony regarding that but these are the plans why don't you walk us through and
And if we have any other questions later, we'll call in.
So kind of as we described, there are going to be four apartments here.
And there are going to be apartments on each of the four floors.
There's going to be a one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartment there.
One in the front of the building, one in the rear of the building.
There are also means for egress there.
There will be sprinkler systems as well.
Uh, part of the concerns regarding the trash was that there'd be a dumpster provided in the back
of the building, um, as well as it being fenced off. Those, again, those provisions were made,
um, to the plans. And again, here are the floor plans here.
Are there any questions regarding the floor plans?
Not at this point. Okay. All right. And this is the affidavit regarding the posting of the zoning
notice and pictures of the postings.
And one of the issues here is that this area is zoned for a single family.
However, as you can see in the pictures, there are a number of empty lots and the
However, as you can see in the pictures, there are a number of empty lots in the area, and 13 out of the 15 buildings that are on the block are actually multifamily dwellings.
So actually building a single-family home here would be out of conformity with the rest of the buildings on the block.
And this exhibit here shows the licensing regarding the rentals there.
I'm just going to scroll through these quickly.
Here is a copy of the deed and the tax compliance.
And I believe that is it.
So again, we don't believe that development will impact the public health, safety, and
welfare of the community. Since, again, the property is on a block full of empty lots already,
there's ample street parking there. It will not create any unnecessary congestion to the block
or the community. And again, as I stated before, there will be a dumpster placed in the rear of
the property, which will be fenced off to alleviate any sanitation concerns. And again, this building
will place it in conformity with the other buildings that are on the block that are already
three, four, or five multifamily dwellings. Could you have Mr. Harris adopt your testimony?
Yes, Mr. Harris, you had an opportunity to hear my testimony. Do you agree
and adopt my testimony? I do. Thank you. Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman. No, Mr. Chairman. Questions from the virtual audience?
chair we have charles richardson
good morning mr richardson good morning chairman bergman could you state your name and spell for
the court reporter yes sir charles richardson from the office of councilwoman cindy bass that's
r-i-c-h-a-r-d-s-o-n room 312 city hall right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth and nothing but the truth? I do. Proceed, sir. Councilwoman has no objection to
granting this variance. Thank you for calling in, sir. Any other comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair. Planning Commission? Thank you, Chair Bergman. Ian Hegarty for the
Philadelphia City Planning Commission. Members of the Board, in the comprehensive plan recommends
no change to the existing RSA 5 single-family zoning at this location.
This zoning has been in place since a community-led remapping in 2006, which intended to encourage
single-family attached infill housing on vacant lots such as this.
This lot is a clear, flat, rectangular lot.
With respect to the use variants, the applicant has not presented any evidence of unique physical
conditions that would need to be addressed by developing a multiple dwelling here and with
respect to the dimensional variance which is a minimum balcony height from ground the applicant
hasn't presented any evidence of site conditions such as an unusual slope that would necessitate
such a variance either and so the city planning commission recommends that the board deny both
the use and dimensional variances. Thank you. MI 2021 004046 3230 North 15th Street. I
vote yes with proviso of trash in the rear. Carol Tenere, my vote is yes with proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso. Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso.
MI 2021-004451, 3757 North 18th Street, RCO 13th Ward, letter of support with proviso.
Mr. Consul is coming back in as a panelist.
good morning board mr could you mr counsel please state your name and spell for the court reporter
it's joseph consul that's o n s o l e consul madison llp one west third street suite 204
media pennsylvania do you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do proceed all right did my packet just come up yeah mr consul do you agree to wait
the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? I do. Have you submitted all the
i do um have you submitted all the required documents i did okay all right good morning
required documents? I did.
chair bergman good morning board joe console here for three seven five seven north 18th street
he said my packets up so here we go we only see your desktop file there we go
sorry i got two screens okay we got it going uh all right so this is a three five three seven
five seven north 18th it's 18th between erie and butler uh owner is leonard and joyce young
um the property is 1399 square feet uh previously zoned a two-family unit uh my uh request here
is, well, originally the applicant owner was seeking to renovate the property
to a four unit, and that's what our refusal
indicates here. However, after meeting with the RCO
on December 3rd and getting their feedback and provisos,
we reduced the number of units down to three. We met with them
again, and as you can see, we have their unanimous support
letter. My packet, as I said, contains the refusal,
contains the letters from the RCO, our proof of mailing, then we have photos and plans
showing the outside of the property. Here's what it looks like. It's in need of repair. My client's
going to repair it and seeking to renovate it as three units. We think that this is a reasonable
request for this block. Though the block is now zoned RSA 5, there are 13 multifamilies on our
side of the block, and I could count 11 on the other side of the block. So substantially more
than half are currently approved as multifamily properties. On top of that, we have almost 1,400
square feet, which is large enough to accommodate three units. This property has historically been
multi-family home we have the support of the rco and um we believe that this development will not
disrupt the character of the block as this is what the the block is and we believe beautifying
this property will be a benefit to the community i'm not going to belabor it too much longer
we've included our our top-down zoning plans in here um as i believe my my team also put in the
rest of the construction plans, which aren't filed yet, but they're in here. I could call
my client. Should be under Leonard Young. I'm sorry, could you have your client raise
their hand? Oh, I'm sorry. Joyce or Leonard Young, could you raise your hand? Mr. Young,
please unmute yourself and please wait for the chair. Could you state your name and spell for
the court reporter? Joyce Robinson Young, J-O-Y-C-E-Y-O-U-N-G. Do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Yes. Proceed. Good morning, Ms. Young.
Did you hear my presentation just now? Yes. Do you agree with what I said and do you adopt it as
your own? Yes. Is there anything you'd like to add this morning? No. Okay. Questions from the
board? No, Mr. Chair. No, Mr. Chairman. No, Mr. Chairman. Questions from the virtual audience
or comments? Here we have Charles Richardson.
Morning again, Mr. Richardson. Just state your name. You've already been sworn. Charles Richardson
from the Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass from 312 City Hall.
Proceed, Council.
Councilwoman has no opposition to granting this variance.
Thank you very much.
Any other comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission?
Thank you, Chair Bergman.
Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
In 2021, just last year, the zoning map was amended in this area.
from rsa sorry from rm1 to rsa5 this was done in accord with recommendations from the comprehensive
plan and with supported community however this structure does have a prior use as a multi-family
building with two units and as council has pointed out the adjacent properties have been converted
to two and three units on this block so the city planning commission recommends that the board
so the city planning commission um recommends that the board grant this variance thank you
grant experience. Thank you.
mi 2021 004451 3757 north 18th street i vote yes with proviso three units
carol tuneri my vote is yes with proviso james snell yes with proviso
thank you counsel have a good day
let me see here 11 12 13. mi 2021 004371
54-46, King Sesson.
First listing.
Vivian's.
I'm sorry.
Go ahead.
No, I was just saying I didn't see any hands for this case, sir.
Okay, thank you.
Vivian's Water Rice.
for me still no hands chair okay this will be continued must be tried
okay i'm sorry but i do see a a hand up i am uncertain
david can you unmute him miss yes therefore could you state your name and spell could you
state your name and spell for the court reporter david sprittle d-a-v-i-d-s-p-r-i-d-d-l-e
you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes is this your case yes are you prepared to go on today
Well, I submitted everything I was supposed to submit, and I had approval letters in my email from the RCOs saying they approved the project.
Do we have anything at all, Tanya?
I'm sorry, sir. Who did you submit your documentation to? What email boxes?
What are the emails, Deanna?
The two emails I got.
The two emails I was the
Okay, here we go.
R-C-O-Z-B-A
at ZBA.com
and then
S-U-L-E-T-A
ZBA at Gmail.
Saletta
Yes, Chair
if we could
I'll go to the last one first
And staff, could you please look for those
documents and then we're going to
send them to the attorney
Mr. Tompkins so he can review them
Thank you, Chair
So, sir, could you just wait for one moment
turn your camera and everything off
audio and we're going to just wait and come back to you
Number 16, MI 2021, 004398, 800 Corinthian.
No RCO letter.
Mr. Smith, Mr. Bourne, or Rotaract.
Who the ones?
Who the ones?
He's coming back in as a panelist.
Mr. Roderick, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Mr. Roderick, could you unmute?
Hi, yes.
Can you hear me?
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
John Roderick, R-O-D-E-R-I-C-K.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Our vice chair has a few questions for you.
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with the required documents consisting of proof of ownership, tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral, plans of the property, five days in advance of this hearing, along with photos?
And have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
Yes, to all those, we have met with the RCO.
So I'm not sure if we've received the letter or not yet, but we did get their approval.
I don't know if we, it says we have no letter from Fairmount, but we may have it.
We may have it.
Our executive director would know that.
Our executive director would know that.
You may proceed.
You may proceed.
Would you like me to share the packet?
Yes, on the screen.
Let's see if I can do that.
um sir do you have your documents open on your desktop if you're using a computer can you see
my desktop right now yeah okay uh i'm having i'm having an issue because of a security
a security thing uh i'm trying to share let's see here it is there it is you're up okay um so this
is our property situated on the corner of brown and corinthian um i'm trying to see if you can
tell what's existing maybe i should scroll down we can maybe i'll come back to this at the end
i'll show you some existing photos of property first um essentially uh the refusal was for
dimensional standards. So open space, we're asking for only 15% open space. And then as well as the
fence and walls for height and opacity. Here's the appeal.
project information page tax clearance here are posted signs the photo in the lower right
gives you a look at the property there is an existing on the first floor structure there
screened in porch in very poor shape as well as a existing six foot fence which consists of where
that ivy is grown over as well that fence continues to a iron gate which is the rear
alley access which that iron gate I believe is you know is very tall for security reasons
here you can get a better image in the lower right
And here's just some more views of the property.
My wife and I, we have a family of five.
We live on the top two floors.
We have a roof access, which is barely accessible as it's kind of in a treacherous spiral staircase
and not safe for kids to be at.
This is a view of where the proposed deck would come off the rear, which is a screened-in porch.
This is Certificate of Mailing.
And having gone through all those, let's see.
All right, so I'm going to take us all the way back up to the top.
So you can see the proposed image of the deck.
I have approval from direct adjacency to the north.
um and essentially the it'll be the same existing uh fence height on the first floor level
um it's it's going to be cedar slats but it will have a profile cut in there um like a tulip profile
um same with on the on the second story level mostly to provide safety for young kids
um the other added benefit of this is a well-functioning uh entry point for the ground
level uh tenant uh which will allow us to have uh separate entrances which um becoming less of
an issue now with the pandemic kind of winding down but um with the sharing the front uh egress
has you know gets harder and harder with strollers and things like that so um
my architect i believe jackie gusick is on the line here too if there's anything that you would
like to have uh her clarify no i i think you're if if the board has questions we'll call the
architect but at this point i think you're explaining it well okay thank you
is that whole back where that screened thing is going to be rebuilt
uh yes um it's going to be rebuilt the uh it'll be removed that first floor which has a slanted
roof that'll be removed uh new fencing and then the existing back bay on the second second story
there will remain get redone um and then one of those windows which you can see in the uh the
floor plan view on the right hand side will become a door which will be the the way to enter out onto
uh on the right hand side will become a door which will be the the way to enter out onto the
the second floor.
second floor deck um okay questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman
what questions from the or comments from the virtual audience
chair we have teresa holberg please unmute yourself and wait for the chair
Hi, good morning. Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
It's Teresa Hoberg, T-E-R-E-S-A. Hoberg is H-O-B as in boy, E-R-G as in girl.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
First of all, I apologize to the board that I did not get the RCO letter out to you. I am a board
member and the zoning co-chair simply got wrapped up in a business matter and lost the handle on
this but the community meeting was held january 27th 35 people were in attendance 18 voted on
this matter there was no opposition to the variance for the fence when it came to the addition
we take a vote on from the near neighbors and then all neighbors only two mere neighbors voted both
of whom opposed it um overall 14 members supported it two obviously opposed it and two took no
opposition i will note that subsequent to the meeting one of the near neighbors that voted in
opposition uh changed her vote um to support the uh matter but also note that while the board did
not take an official vote on this matter uh five of the seven board members were in attendance at
the community meeting, three voted in favor, two took a non-opposition position.
Well, thank you very much, and thank you for calling in.
Thank you.
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman.
Mr. Chair, if it would be okay, it would be all right to ask a clarifying question of that?
Absolutely.
Thank you very much, sir.
Sir, could you describe the extent of the proposed addition relative to the extent of the existing addition on the back of the main brick structure?
In other words, is it extending farther than the current structure, and if so, by how much?
Yes, so it does extend further than the existing one, and I believe it's three or four feet.
Which, in that plan view, you can see there's some massing for being able to fit a table out there.
So in order to have usable space on that deck, we're asking for that additional percentage of occupied lot space.
Okay, thank you.
Ian, would you want to talk to the architect?
No, thank you. That's perfectly clear. Thank you, Chair.
uh members of the board the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing
residential multi-family zoning at this location um these proposed dimensional variances we believe
will allow for an addition and a fence that are substantially similar to the existing structure
and fence and so the city planning commission recommends that the board grant the variances
MI-2021-004-398-800-Corinthian Avenue. I vote yes.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Miss Mercer, my vote is yes.
Mr. Roderick, you've got all yeses. Thank you.
Thank you for your time.
Okay. Tanya?
If we could, Chair, call the applicant back up.
We received a couple documents.
MI 2021-004371, King Sesson Avenue.
Mr. Curdle?
So I did receive a couple emails, but it wasn't the full packet.
you sent plan it was a list of items that was supposed to be submitted did you submit um all
the items in the instructions you received yes i guess you probably sent them in different emails
but what could you um it was just plans and we don't have a d we don't have um have
It was just plans and we don't have a deed. We don't have the letter from the RCO, pictures, the whole package.
So was all those things it? If not, we would have to do a continuance for this.
So this is my first time doing this. You think I need to hire counsel or something?
Because I don't want to mess it up next time. It's my first time doing this.
No, I don't think so.
If we could talk offline, we can do a short continuance because of not providing all the required documents, a brief continuance.
And then if you need assistance, you can call our office and someone there will walk you through whatever it is that you need.
Okay, so we will continue this case.
Tanya will wind up giving a date.
Thank you very much, sir.
No, she said she emailed me offline.
um yes we'll reach out to you i appreciate it all right mr chair you did you did request
an inquiry as to whether vivian's water eyes inc was a corporation or that's correct it is the
corporation no um that's the that's the former that's the former owner i bought the building
about six seven years ago so i'm just trying to figure out why why it's still in her name
so we would have to talk online because all that information should be changed
in a different agency okay and after we proceed to the point where you're going to have your
hearings you'll submit your documents with your deed and depending on who's on the deed will
determine are you the only person on that deed i brought the property like seven seven years ago
from the um from the um the city the uh 3801 i never got nothing in the mail but i mean everything
is my name in the city when i go down there you know when i change the forms everything's money
i never got nothing we will be in touch with you and we'll try to figure out everything for you
okay okay thank you is there anyone in the virtual audience still waiting for their case
from this morning's listings?
I see no hands, Chair.
Two o'clock, everyone.
I'm sorry, Chair.
Leonard Brundage has his hand up.
I'm going to allow him to speak, okay?
Mr. Brundage, please unmute yourself
and wait for the chair.
Sorry, you have to unmute yourself.
Yes, I did.
Mr. Brundage, can I help you?
Yes, I've been waiting since 2020.
I'm sorry.
There's a bit of confusion here.
I know.
What address are you about?
What address are you here about, Mr. Brundage?
what was that 42 30 out of street yeah that's this afternoon yes it's not scheduled for right
now okay so when we reconvene at 2 p.m you can log on and as it come up under the list
we'll hear your um testimony okay okay two o'clock okay someone will reach out to you
for my staff to speak with you okay thank you so much chair okay thanks everyone two o'clock
good afternoon everyone my name is bill bergman and i will be chairing this
afternoon zba hearings with me is israel shaheed israel shaheed our board secretary
here Mr. Chair. Thomas Holliman our board member present Mr. Chairman and James Snell our board
member present Mr. Chairman. Also our executive director Tanya Sunkett is here and our board
attorney Sherman Thompson. Good afternoon Mr. Chair. As we take a quick look at our virtual
format. Be advised proceedings are being recorded. By participating, you acknowledge your agreement
to be recorded. A video will be available by contacting our Executive Director, Tanya Sunkett
at tanya.phill.gov. For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses
to identify themselves before testifying. If you are participating in my phone and if you wish to
testify, press star nine to raise your hand and star six to unmute.
press star nine to raise your hand and star six to unmute to enter an appearance statement call
two six seven two seven zero five five four eight leave your email and the address of the property
in question and lastly please note the question answer box on the screen is not for testimony or
comments any comments should be directed to our executive director tanya sunken let's look at
continuances for this afternoon session.
Is there anyone requesting continuance for this afternoon session?
Chair, we have Sloan folks.
So you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Sloan, state your name and spell for the court reporter, please.
good afternoon chairman bergman and zba board my name is sloan folks s-l-o-a-n-e f-s and fire
l-k-s office representing the office of council member maria quinones sanchez 7th district uh
room 508 city all do you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
I do, sir.
What case, Mr. Folks?
Case number MI-2021-004835, 2320-40 North Hancock Street.
The council member is requesting continuance to further discuss the issues regarding the
various requests and to meet with the developer and possibly to have further discussions with
the community.
What's your address again, Ms. Will?
What was the address again?
2320 through 40 North Hancock Street.
Number five, Chair.
I got it.
Okay, thank you.
I'm sorry.
Let's see if the attorney's here.
Mr. Nockamson?
We have Clebenta, Chair, and she's allowed to speak.
Could you state your name as spelled for the court reporter, please?
Yes, of course. Clementa, Amazon, C-L-E-M-E-N-T-A. Last name is A-M-A-Z-A-N. Address is 123, South Broad Street, Suite 1600.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Mr. Folks has requested a continuance for Hancock Street.
Yes, we'd like to make that a joint request. We'd like to have, excuse me, continued conversation with the community.
Thank you.
Cases continued.
Thank you.
Are there any other requests for continuances?
No hands.
Chair, we have a phone number ending in 8-1-1-8.
Okay, let it up.
Caller, you have to unmute yourself.
Mr. Chairman, my name is Joe McCarthy, calling in reference to 78 East Penn Street.
Hold on one minute. Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Joseph McCarthy, M-C-C-A-R-T-H-Y.
Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Penn Street?
78 East Penn Street oh okay so that's the 330 the 330 meaning and that case well that's okay
that case will be continued good thank you very much I didn't hear anyone speak up so
well it's because it's just the 330 session yes I didn't understand that thank you very
that's fine that's fine right any other cases
any withdrawals no no more handshare okay so first before we start i want to call case 10
mi 2022 001137 5000 north 12th street with the owner of the property please raise your hand
if you're here for that case can you please raise your hand 5000 north 12th street
no hands at this time chair um we have a charlene samuels okay
okay because they have an older version i would have to promote them to panelists
because they have a
so they're coming back in as a panelist okay
yes good evening afternoon hi how are you all i am state your name and spell for the court reporter
please? Yes. Charlene Samuels, C-H-A-R-L-E-N-E, Samuels, S-A-M-U-E-L-S. Do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Yes. Is your case 5,000 North 12th?
So it's not my case. We're Logan. I'm representing the Logan Civic Association,
and we heard about that this case was coming up for like a, I guess, a re-evaluation.
Okay. I'm trying to get the honor on the right now. So I know your position. I see it here.
All right. Thank you. All right. Thank you.
No hands.
chair we have a caller from using a galaxy excuse me a galaxy s8 i'm gonna allow them to speak
okay hi yes my name is stephanie murphy i live at uh 50 i'm sorry i'm sorry ma'am ma'am could
you state your name and spell for the court reporter sure stephanie murphy s-t-e-p-h-a-n-i-e
murphy m-u-r p-h-y and i'm the block captain on um the 5,000 block
ma'am ma'am i'm sorry we're not there yet i'm looking for the owner all righty right
there are no other hands here the owner for 5,000 north 12
Okay. The reconsideration and rehearing for this case is dismissed.
Thomas Holloman, dismissed.
James Snell, dismissed.
Thank you. Thank you, everyone.
Case number one, MI 2021-00-4907-1117-23 Frankfurt Avenue.
RCO Fishtown Neighbors, letter of support.
RCO Fishtown County and the Area Business Improvement, letter of support.
David Aphrodites.
good evening or good afternoon mr chairman members of the board your name is spelled for
the court reporter please sir certainly david orphanetes from orphanetes and toner llp
to penn center 1500 john f kennedy boulevard suite 800 philadelphia pennsylvania 19102.
do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do and my last name is called o-r-p-h-a-n-i-d-e-s all right our board member thomas holliman has a
a few questions for you.
Certainly.
Good afternoon, counselor.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to its accuracy?
It's a referral and the answer is yes and yes
to both of the questions.
Okay, according to our records,
you have submitted all of the required documents.
Is that correct?
That's correct.
Please proceed.
Okay, may I share my screen?
hopefully you can all see that um good afternoon everybody again david orphanetes on behalf of
1317 bagel llc uh they are the tenant of the ground floor and cellar of this property you're
seeing in front of you located on the southeast corner of frankfort avenue and mercer street
um the above the units of the floors above the second third floor are residential
As you'll see later on in our exhibit book, the property was previously approved for a sit-down
restaurant at the ground floor and other eating establishments, food establishments. Those permits
had lapsed by the time my clients leased the space, so we're back here again today. And as I
indicated, this is a referral matter because we're in the North Delaware Avenue overlay. The property
you'll see is zone cmx2 which typically permits as you know sit down restaurants however again
because of location on property in the north Delaware avenue overlay you need to come before
the zoning board before that having gone to the community for relief for the special exception
we do have a letter of support from the fishtown neighbors association
unfortunately when it got added into my book it got a little jumbled up
Unfortunately, when it got added into my book, it got a little jumbled up, but you can see the community was supportive.
You can see here, it says the community was supportive of the following elements of the plan.
They wanted to know how trash was going to be stored, which we showed them in our plans, which you'll see below.
We also received a letter of support from the Fishtown.
By the way, the Fishtown Neighbors Association was the coordinating RCO for the project,
but another RCO was the Fishtown Kensington area business improvement district we met with them as
well back in December and and we also have a letter of support from them at tab two of our
exhibit book as indicated initially this is a referral matter at exhibit three of our book is
our November 15 2021 a dated notice of referral from the department of licenses and inspections
again confirming the CMX2 zoning classification for the property and the reason that we're
having to go through this process is that we are in a North Delaware Avenue overlay where eating
and drinking establishments are only permitted following the issuance or the granting of a
special exception by the zoning board. Exhibit 4 is our application for special exception in our
project information form, which you can take a look at if you'd like, setting forth the things
that we'll be discussing today. Zoning map for the property confirming the location of the property
is a CMX2. You can see it right here located at the corner of Frankfort Avenue as you're
heading northbound on Frankfort Avenue. It's on the right just at the corner of Mercer Street.
Here is the the atlas page for the property again confirming the CMX2 classification
and the North Delaware Avenue overlay. Zoning archives I mean zoning the zoning table use
table from the zoning code indicates here that in cmx2 a sit-down restaurant would be permitted as
a matter of right and then the delaware avenue or related provisions from 145038 are also included
at exhibit 5 of our exhibit book again confirming that a special exception is required i think this
board is very familiar with the criteria the requirements the standard of review for the
granting of special exceptions. We do meet all the specific requirements or criteria that apply
to a sit-down restaurant. And as you can expect, given the location of this property, we do satisfy
this, do meet the threshold, the initial burden of proof for addressing the specific detrimental
impacts on the neighborhood, both in terms of congestion in the public streets, the overcrowding
of land there will be neither associated with this it's going to be a small bagel shop there
will be no impairment on the adequate supply of light and air to adjacent properties we're not
proposing any increase to the size or area of the building we with our operations we will not be
burdening water sewer school park or other public facilities again it's a bagel shop we will not be
impairing or permanently injuring the use of adjacent confirming properties conforming
properties again it's a bagel shop and as you'll see in our exhibits there and as many of you
surely know there are restaurants up and down frankfort avenue it's become quite a restaurant
corridor there there's nothing about this bagel shop that will be endangering the public health
or safety by fire or other means and nothing about our application is inconsistent with the
comprehensive plan of the city again you can see on the zoning map where we are located here's an
aerial image of the property located on the southeast corner. Exhibit 6 includes a number
of other aerial images of the property from different vantage points in 2D and 3D. You can
get a full sense of our property and where it's located, again, right along the Frankfurt Avenue
business corridor. As I indicated, there are restaurants up and down, sit-down restaurants,
takeout restaurants prepared food restaurants up and down frankfort avenue here's our property
right here labeled as site but as you can see um and as you know there are restaurants all up and
down frankfort avenue above for art avenue photographs of our property are included at
exhibit eight um we started out with this one at the beginning of our package
if you scroll around you can see up and down frankfort avenue business corridor retail
businesses other restaurants across the street up and down the block all in close proximity to our
own business mercer street is a smaller residential street you can see it's very narrow that extends
away from our property away from frankfort avenue there's a vacant uh vacant lot to the uh behind
us on mercer street this is the rear of the property here at the bottom of page 11 of exhibit 8.
uh the interior of the property as i mentioned uh this is the current
The interior of the property, as I mentioned, this is the current condition.
It was last used for an eating establishment.
It was not a sit-down restaurant, but a lot of the equipment is still, as you can see,
is still in the interior downstairs is unfinished at the present time.
Here are our floor plans.
We're planning to have seating along the front windows that you saw in the photographs, and
And then fixed seating along the Mercer Street side and then on the opposite side to their service counter where people will come up and get service.
We're a sit-down restaurant.
We don't meet the requirements, the criteria for a takeout restaurant or prepared food because of the number of seats that we have.
And as such, we are here for, again, a sit-down restaurant as opposed to prepared food, which is what a bagel restaurant often would be.
but we wanted to provide more seating than is permitted to be deemed a prepared food.
My clients own a number of other restaurants, both on Frankfurt Avenue and nearby in Northern
Liberties. 1832 Frankfurt, they own and operate as a Kaia by Yanaga. And then down at the Piazza,
Piazza. They have Figo. They have Set No Libs. They have their first Bagels & Company. This
is going to be the second Bagels & Co. operation that they're going to be having here in the
city, but their first one is there at the Piazza at 1001 North 2nd Street. You'll see
we don't have signage as part of this application, but the proposed signage is going to be the
same as what you see here above the door and then they also have inejo it went also at the piazza
so they're established in this community both in in uh up in fishtown and in northern liberties
and here's the signage that we're proposing for the location but again not part of this application
as i indicated there were there are as you can see from the photos that i showed as long as well as
the zoning archives the property this ground floor and cellar has been used for eating establishments
in the past we're here because those permits have expired i do include exhibit 15 the deed for the
subject property showing 1317 frankfort lp as the owner our lease with that entity is at tab 16
showing our right to be here and right to utilize the property.
Copy of the zoning notice for today's hearing is included at tab 18.
Photographs of the posting of that notice and the notice of referral at tab 19 on Bow Street frontages,
Frankfort Avenue, and on Mercer Street as required by the zoning code.
And then at exhibit 20, confirmation from the Planning Commission at Fishtown Neighbors Association
was designated as the coordinating RCO for this matter,
a copy of the addresses to which we mailed,
a copy of our 14.303 notice,
which included the information for today's zoning board hearing.
Originally, we sent an original notice
without information regarding the Fishtown Neighbors meeting
because we were required under the zoning code
to do that within 20 days of the designation
by the Planning Commission at that time.
We did not have the information.
the specific information for the Fishtown meeting so then we subsequently sent another notice which
did have the information uh for the Fishtown meeting oh there we go um and uh with that I
would rest uh with the opportunity to for any rebuttal and to answer any questions by the board
counsel do you want to have your the owner adopt your question that would be great and then I'll
move my exhibits into uh into the record uh is derrick gibbons or and or tim lou on their names
would be identified and or as a glue glu hi guys how are you hey could you could you state your
name and spell for the court reporter yes sir derrick gibbons d-e-r-e-k g-i-b-b-o-n-s right
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Pristine counsel.
Derek, you are with 1317 Bagel LLC, correct?
Yes, sir.
And that's a tenant of the subject property?
Correct.
And did you hear the statements I made to the board this afternoon?
Yes, sir, I did.
And are they true and correct to the best of your knowledge?
Yes, sir, they are.
And would you adopt them as your own?
Thank you.
And with that, I will move the exhibits in my exhibits into the record.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
no mr chairman questions from the virtual audience
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions from the virtual audience?
i see no hands chair question from the planning commission
or comments good afternoon uh chair peter bernard for the planning commission my video has been
stopped by the host that's okay my name for the record my name is spelled p-e-t-e-r
B as in boy, A as in apple, R as in Roger, N as in Nancy, A as in apple, R as in Roger, D as in dog.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do, Chair.
You see?
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing CMX2 commercial mixed-use zoning at this location.
The proposed use will have no more impact than that which might be reasonably expected from this use.
accordingly the planning commission recommends the board grant the special exemption thank you
m i 2021 004907 1317 to 23 frankfort avenue i vote yes thomas toloman my vote is yes
james snell my vote is yes yes my vote is yes thank you council thank you mr chairman members
of the board. Next case will be number 2, 3, and 4. MI 2021 002546 2303 North 10th. MI 2021 002656 2307
North 10th. MI 2021, 002655, 2315 North 10th Street. APM is the RCO. No support after a vote
of 6-6, a tie. Sean Ward. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman. Sean Ward, S-H-A-W-N-W-A-R-D,
attorney for the applicant. Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth is nothing but the truth i most certainly do thomas hallman has a few questions
for you good afternoon counselor do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to
his accuracy i will waive a reading of it um uh i'll address the refusals they you know
the there's three refusals for these three properties all written by different examiners
and they all vary somewhat but we do acknowledge that 1275 square feet is required whereas it does
not exist so I'll leave it at that okay according to our records you have submitted all of the
required documents is that correct that is correct please proceed thank you very much
Mr. Chairman I've submitted my typical exhibit packet for the three properties as
as consolidated for hearing purposes. These are applications to permit the erection of attached
structures for use as three-family dwellings with accessory roof decks. Again, the refusals all
indicate that the required lot size is not sufficient for the three dwellings. However,
they're all worded different, but in essence, we acknowledge that 1,275 square feet is required,
whereas we cannot provide that. In addition, there was one other refusal issued on the 2315
application regarding maximum occupied area, 75% versus 83% proposed. Accordingly,
we seek dimensional variances today. A2 is the ZBA application of appeal. A3 is the project
information form. A4 is proof of ownership. A5, proof of tax clearance for all three properties.
A6 are parcel maps. A7 are site plans and elevation plans. A8 are the floor plans for
the three proposed structures. A9 are photographs. A10 is the RCO packet. It includes the RCO letter,
a community letter, and our petition of support, which we personally circulated.
I would ask that if Councilman Clark had submitted a letter that that be marked as A11 for the record.
A-12 is the relevant zoning history.
23-03 was historically used as a single-family dwelling.
All three are currently vacant lots, by the way.
23-07 was zoned as a three-family dwelling, and 23-15 has been zoned in the past as a two-family dwelling.
A-13 would be the zoning maps, A-14 aerial photograph.
and at 815 are two cases recently approved by the board about a month and a half ago on January 19th
which I presented 2317 North 10th Street and 2328 North 10th Street.
2317 north 10th street and 2328 north 10th street substantially similar if not identical projects so
real quickly we have the notice of refusal again 1275 is required 1144 is existing on 2303
2307 again 425 square feet per dwelling unit which equals 1275
so two units are allowed three are proposed and then the third refusal um this one's inaccurate
i believe he cited the wrong uh code section he should have used the overlay uh in any event we
acknowledge that um you know we we are shy of the required uh square footage and then he also added
the uh maximum maximum occupied area of refusal on on that one so um we have our petitions of appeal
which were filed with the board for all three properties our project information form 2303
2307 and 2315 my transmittal letter submitting all three properties for appeal
here's a copy of the deed you'll see the three multiple properties are on this
deed but the three subject properties are included again they point out the addresses for those
parcels moving on uh tax clearance uh 2303 you can see we're paid through 2021 2022 not due yet
till the end of the month 2307 same thing paid through 2021 2022 is not quite due yet and then
2315 paid through 2021. The parcel maps 2303 is the second property in from the end of the block
2307 and then 2315. The typical floor plans and elevations
as you can see it's a a combination brick and I guess a metal or siding facade they do comply
with the height requirements and the parapets I mean the penthouse for the roof deck all comply
the roof decks are set back in accordance so no refusals were generated there with regard to the
floor plans the typical floor plans are pretty much identical for each property
At the first floor, unit one, you have a living dining room at the front, central kitchen,
a bedroom at the rear. At the basement level, there's an entertainment or gym area for the
resident. And then the living space is provided with an emergency egress well, so the living
space in the basement complies with the building code. And then again on the second floor,
you have two bedrooms one at the front one at the rear with a central living area and kitchen
trash storage and the same on the third floor okay with regard to the photographs
this would be 2303 that would be 2307 2315 which is directly next door to 2317 which the board
approved on uh january 19th copies of the posters again google photos of subject properties
there's an aerial view the red dots indicate the subject properties 2303 07 and then 15.
with regard to uh the apm letter um uh there were two meetings held at the first meeting
to vote was six to one in favor of the application. They held a second meeting where additional
people were invited. We were not invited to that meeting, so they ended up voting
additional votes. It came out to six to six. At that meeting, they discussed various issues,
specifically possibility of single-family development. I point out that the property
is owned RM1, so it's not realistic to entertain the possibility of single-family development in
an RM1 district where other properties will or are developed as multi-families. So with a tie
vote, their final position was no support. It doesn't say they're opposed, but it doesn't say
they support either. Again, there was a letter submitted by a block captain, but she resides
on Arizona Street, not on 10th Street. And again, she was asking for single-family
dwellings on the block. We then, after obtaining that letter, circulated a petition of support
obtaining that letter circulated a petition of support where we have 11 neighbors in the immediate
where we have 11.
area who signed. I believe we have one resident from the area in the virtual audience who would
like to address the board in support of the application. I would ask that that person raise
his hand his or her hand at the time when they were permitted to speak. We also included the
the zoning permits for various properties on the block, and I will summarize those in a moment.
We also have a copy of the zoning maps. As you can see, this block is zoned RM1 directly across
the street from CMX2, again, which does not lend itself to the development of single-family homes
across from CMX2, and again, the other two zoning maps. We do have an aerial photograph.
i did include in my packet the approvals for 2317 north 10th street as you can see substantially
similar structures floor plans are basically the same again that was approved by the board
on january 19th for 2317. i presented these applications myself um similar refusals uh
with regard to uh some of those one of those was on cmx2 so uh we got a variance from providing
commercial use on the first floor it was a residence instead so uh three dwelling units again
1,275 square feet um moving on to the the other one 2328 north 10th street again january 19th
granted by the board again and that is for a three-family dwelling so we would submit that
the the same issues exist for these three properties as did for 2328 and 2317
north 10th street so based upon that we would we would ask that the board grant the variances
these these lots are just shy of the required 1275 square feet it's consistent with the
development that is occurring on the block and with regard to my summary comments again
Again, multifamily is specifically permitted in the RM1 District.
We could build two three-bedroom units by right with a total of six bedrooms.
We propose one one-bedroom unit to two-bedroom units for a total of five bedrooms.
We try to explain to those residents in opposition that we're providing a less bedroom count
five per building as opposed to six, resulting in lesser density.
They talked about rental affordability.
we submit respectfully that one and two-bedroom apartments are more affordable than three-bedroom
apartments and that three-bedroom apartments are more likely in a single-family home, not an
apartment. Additionally, there's 10 vacant lots on the 2300 block of North 10th Street. It's ripe
for redevelopment. The other side of the block is on CMX2. And then with regard to the existing
other existing properties, 2305 has starkly been used as a three-family. 2309 is a three-family.
2313 as an imminently dangerous violation on it one of them may have been one of these vacant
properties are unsafe or imminently dangerous may have been demolished at this point I'm not sure
2300-02 is a church and a two-family 2308 and 10 are both vacant properties 2312 and 16 are
unsafe structure violation properties and again 2317 and 2328 were recently approved by the board
for three family dwellings and again are substantially similar if not identical to the
projects at hand. So I would ask that my client raise his hand so he can verify and adopt my
testimony. Mayor Badoush or Roy Shemesh. There he is. Hello. Hi. Hi. Could you state your name and
spelled for the court reporter please yes uh my name is mayor badush uh spelling spelling is m-e-i-r
last name is badush b as in boy a d as in david u-s-h you swear or firm to tell the truth the
whole truth nothing but the truth i affirm thank you mayor you've heard my representations to the
board today yes sir are they true and correct to the best of your knowledge information and belief
yes they are and would you adopt them as your own testimony yes i will thank you very much
yes mr chairman counselor yes sir what is the hardship of these three lots that requires
three units each well again we we submit that the the properties are unequal in size compared
to the others on the block, some of which would be permitted to have three units based upon the square.
uh some of which would be permitted to have uh three units based upon the square footage of those
lots but the way the lots are configured along this block it creates a hardship to the property
whereas the next door neighbor might be able to do a three family uh but because we have a a less
less depth on our lot due to um alleyways and and whatnot it creates a hardship on the property
i'm not understanding what in particular these three lots does not allow you to put
less than three units well again we could put less than three units but we could we would have
more bedrooms and in order to reduce the density we're looking to do smaller apartments with less
bedrooms and in order to do so we we need a variance to build the third unit otherwise we
would build a duplex or a two-apartment unit with six bedrooms. And the three-bedroom units
are more expensive and harder to rent. So in this particular area, we believe that the smaller units
are more appropriate and in the same nature and character of the RM1 zoning that is permitted on
the block well you know six bedrooms will cause you a problem
only three related people uh into one apartment
well if you have three bedrooms in each unit that would be three persons unrelated by blood or
marriage we're not proposing a six bedroom unit we were proposing two units each with three bedrooms
or that we could we could propose but we're not we'd rather have three units with five bed
five bedrooms total thank you you're welcome questions from other members of the board
no mr chair questions from the virtual audience or comments
chair we have micheline erwin please unmute yourself and please wait for the chair
could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter please
Yes. My name is Micheline, M-I-C-H-E-L-E-N-E, last name Erwin, E-R-W-I-N.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
So my first question is, Mr. Ward stated that he circulated another
petition regarding support for the projects on 10th Street, and nobody on Arizona Street
received that notice. So I was wondering why we weren't given the opportunity to vote.
that would be for Mr. Ward or Mr. Ward if you want to answer that you can answer that
well it wasn't a notice it was a petition of support that was circulated by my clients
to uh to other residents you know on the block and and the surrounding area right it wasn't it
wasn't a meeting notice and it wasn't it wasn't a meeting it was a a petition of support which we
routinely have signed by supporters of projects right and i'm sorry i'm sorry this is tanya
sunkett the administrator i just want to be clear that we're not here for you to ask questions
you're giving testimony um just so we're clear thank you i'm i'm just going according to the
prompt that i got and it's right but you're not here to question an attorney just so we're clear
you can give your testimony thank you so very kindly all right so my testimony is that um many
of the residents on the 900 all of the residents of the 900 block of arizona street some of the
residents on north 10th street as well as some on north 9th street um do not support the project
um we're going to object i'm going to object mr chairman she is here to speak she's here to speak
on on her own behalf and not for other people all right mr wood i have it thank you question here's
the question. Do you support the project or not? No. Okay. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you. Is there
anyone else in the virtual audience who wants to testify? Chair, we have Raheem Stewart. Please
unmute yourself and please wait for the chair. Could you state your name and spell for the court
reporter? Brahim Stewart, B-R-Y-H-E as an elephant, M as a mother. Stewart, S-T-E-W-A-R-T.
My testimony for this case here is that...
My testimony for this case here is that- Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. Do you swear
Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute.
Do you swear to affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I stand to affirm to tell the truth.
Thank you. Proceed.
Yes, so in this case here, I support these projects 100%.
I've been a resident for over 20 years in that neighborhood,
and I like all the ideas of what this project consists of.
I've spoken to many individuals in that community,
and no one contested to this case besides Ms. Micheline, everyone I've spoken to.
Okay, so here's the thing. You support the project is what you're saying.
Thank you. We appreciate it.
You're welcome.
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
I see no more hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Good afternoon, Chair. Peter Bernard for the Planning Commission.
the comprehensive plan recommends a change to single-family residential at these locations
and have not been remapped yet the existing rm1 multi-family zoning allows for two units by right
the applicant has failed to demonstrate any hardship for either unit count or lot coverage
as there is no hardship for regularly sized vacant land and adjacency adjacency to a larger
property is not a hardship accordingly the planning commission recommends the board
deny the variances. MI 2021-002546-2303 North 10th. MI 2021-002656-2307 North 10th. And MI 2021-002655-2315 North 10th. I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is no.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shahi, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
That concludes my business to listen.
Thank you.
MI 2021 004832, 3135-49 West Montgomery Avenue.
We don't have the RTO in hand right now.
Attorney Jeffrey Young.
Mr. Young?
Good morning, members of the board.
Jeffrey Young here on behalf of the applicant of the property.
Mr. Young, could you spell your name for the court reporter?
Yes, J-E-F-F-E-R-Y, last name Young, Y-O-U-N-G.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Mr. Howellman has a few questions for you.
Good afternoon, Counselor.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I agree to waive the reading. However, I cannot stipulate to its accuracy, and I will, in my presentation, I will explain why.
According to our records, did you submit a RCO letter?
We, our RCO letter was not given to us in time, in enough time for us to submit it with our package.
In my package, I did submit proof that we had the RCO meeting, and I do have letters from the RCOs now.
Please receive.
Thank you.
May I share my screen?
I'm sorry.
This is Tanya.
May I ask a quick question, Chair?
Mr. Young, if it's okay with you after the presentation, could you send the letter to the RCO box so we can have it for our files?
Yes, ma'am.
Thank you kindly, Mr. Young.
again members of the board my name is jeffrey young i'm here on behalf of the equitable owner
of uh 3135 uh through 49 west montgomery um as well as uh 3133 uh west montgomery avenue
um the owner of the the properties uh mr joseph williams um is on the line uh today
it's a table of contents uh just to talk about what we have uh here in our packet um we have
the tax clearance uh the agreement of sale for 3135 uh west montgomery uh the deed
uh the agreement of sale for 3135 uh west montgomery uh the deed for 3133 uh west montgomery
um area map the zoning map refusals pictures uh the subdivision plans uh zoning plans elevations
our site plans uh ground floor plans floor plans pictures renderings um the notification letters
sent out to the community um our certificates of mailing um like i said we have proof of the rco
meeting at the time of the submission was due. We also have had some more information from flyers
from preliminary meetings and emails from preliminary meetings that we've also had with
the community. So we've met with the community more than once for this particular project.
Again, so the refusal states 3135 through 49 West Montgomery, but the actual plan is for 3133 Montgomery and also a consolidation of 3133 with 3135 through 49-Montgomery Avenue.
uh here's a tax clearance uh from my uh client mr joseph well dr joseph williams excuse me
um here's an agreement cell uh for 3135 through 49
and here's the deed uh to my client dr joseph williams uh for 3133 uh west montgomery avenue
it's an aerial map of the neighborhood just to show where the property is in conjunction
we're on the northwest corner of 32nd and Montgomery
and the zoning map here just shows that the property is on RSA 5 again showing the location
on the northwest corner of 32nd and Montgomery avenues in the strawberry mansion section of the
city uh here uh the refusals um again to to get to uh why i had to uh cannot agree to the accuracy
um it's because of the address location um again our address here states 3135 through 49 west
Montgomery. However, because of our zoning plan consists of a lot consolidation, it includes 3133
West Montgomery Avenue as well. So I just wanted to get that on the record and put that in front
of the board that this project also includes 3133 West Montgomery Avenue. Again, we're refused
For some dimensional issues for our lots, the main one being the minimum lot area, also some dimensional standards for some rear yard depth and front setback and for a roof access.
to give the board a picture of the property currently um it is a vacant lot uh it's a
formerly a uh church that was demolished by the city of philadelphia
uh because it was uh is dilapidated and blighted um conditions
and this is a view of the lot again looking toward the southwest corner
of 32nd and montgomery um this is a view looking north um onto the property
as i mentioned uh we had uh the surveyor was approved by the city to consolidate the lots
um as you can see here um it consists of 3135 through 49 montgomery which is this one uh big
lot here and also premises A which is 3133 Montgomery and our proposed subdivision here
you'll see it includes 3133 Montgomery as well and this was approved
by the survey district if I can find that stamp there there you go this was approved by the
the survey district. In our zoning plans, again, our zoning plans include the 3133 West Montgomery
Avenue, as well as 3135 through 49 West Montgomery Avenue. What we're proposing to build is 14
single-family homes on these lots. The homes are 34 feet in height.
um the homes are 34 feet in height um so lower than what the court requires um again each home
single family homes um consisting of approximately being a little bit more than 20 feet wide
um also with uh two car uh rear uh garages access through a curb cut um on the 32nd street side
Now, in regards to that curb cut on 32nd Street, as I mentioned, this property was a church, so there were no formal homes here.
It's not taking away. Our curb cut does not take away parking from any residents.
And in fact, our curb cut, our 122 foot wide curb cut will be potentially adding or taking away, excuse me, 28 cars from the street.
there's a sense of our zoning plan again we're 35 feet high at the roof line
with a 22 foot wide drop out in between so the properties will be fronting on
west montgomery avenue and also west moore street
currently on moore street there are about eight residential properties on the opposite
side of Moore Street. Here, again, is just a plan so you can see the lot lines. Our lots
are a little bit more than 1,000 square feet. And we do, again, we are not, we do not meet
the dimensional standards for RSA 5 lots. However, given that we are subdividing these
lots and the adjacent if these lots were not um subdivided into 14 uh lots uh each lot consistent
from montgomery to morse would be a total of 1600 square feet um and under the cool um meeting
certain dimensional standards we're allowed to subdivide the lots um if they're under uh if
they're uh 1600 square feet um or over um if they're used for single family use um as well
uh which we are uh compliant with again this just uh shows uh the plot plan um for the uh
the first floor garage area um again two car garages are proposed of a 22 foot wide
wide drive aisle um and the garage level will uh be on the the first level of the homes
um these homes do include basements uh we are proposing to put uh trees all throughout the
perimeter of the development to provide some greenery for the street and the neighborhood.
This is a typical floor plan for each of the units. Basement level, first floor level again
with a bedroom, two-car garage, second floor open concept living room, kitchen combo,
And then the third floor will have a two bedrooms and two bathrooms.
The roof will have access to mechanicals throughout the entire roof.
To give a sense of the board of what was here, this is the church that was formerly on the site.
As you can see, it has beige bricks.
What we're trying to do in the design of the units is to keep some of that traditional
look and also blend it with the modern.
So we're going with beige bricks for the corner property and with a combo of beige and red
brick for the interior units.
and this is a view looking northwest of the proposed site
and here is a view of our proposed drive aisle and garage
these are the rear of their properties this is the deck off the second floor level
to give the homeowners a sense of some outdoor space and some some backyard living
and here's a rendering from above now as you can see this rendering here you know one thing that
was contentious at our community meeting I'm sure there are members on the line who the members of
the community on the line who will want to speak more into detail about it is the roof access
As you can see, the roof access that we have now is through this, the roof access structure here that meets the code requirements.
But our proposal for the roof is to put all mechanicals, all HVAC, and solar panels throughout the roof.
But our proposal for the roof is to put all mechanicals.
70 to 80 percent of the roof will be covered in mechanicals.
There will be no living or recreation space available on this roof.
The roof will be totally dedicated to mechanicals and solar panels.
Again, here's a letter that was sent out to the community.
Here is my proof of mailing of those letters.
This was a, at the time, like I said, we did not have our letters from the community,
but this is proof that we did have the official RCO community meeting.
um this was a flyer that we sent out excuse me this community this rco community meeting was held
um uh in february on february 24th i believe it was um and uh we also had a preliminary
community meeting which we flyered the entire community on um for on january 27th
and we also this email shows that we've had preliminary meetings
uh with the community dating back uh to april now uh we do have a letter uh from the strawberry
mansion uh cdc um that are opposing the project because of our proposed um roof access um however
as i mentioned to the board our roof access um is only for uh the the uh solar panels the
mechanicals the HVAC systems that would power our facility. As they mentioned in their letter you
know there were no no solar panels displayed at the at the meeting and that's because for zoning
purposes solar panels are not do not need to be included in the zoning plans however when we have
our building plans. Those HVACs, those mechanicals, those solar panels will be shown throughout our
building plans on that roof access. And in this letter, they mentioned that the vote was, and as
you can see, there was a close vote, 11 in favor, 10 in opposition. That's from this letter from my
account at the community meeting that the vote was asked to take place in the chat of the Zoom.
And based on the chat of the Zoom, what I sent, I sent an email to the community right after that
meeting to correspond what I saw. And what I saw from that meeting was 11 people in support
and seven in opposition. I've included their names, their addresses of the folks that I saw
in that chat who voiced their opinion about this particular project. And as you can see,
all of those who are in support of our project are near neighbors. And most of those who are
in opposition to the project are not near neighbors. We also have a letter of support
from the 32nd Ward, who was an affected RCO in this area.
And with that, you know, I conclude my presentation
and ask my client, Dr. Joe Williams, to get on the line.
Mr. Williams, could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter?
mr williams please unmute yourself
can you hear me yes mr williams could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please
dr joseph williams j-o-s-e-p-h-w-i-l-l-i-a-m-s all right do you swear or affirm to tell the
truth the whole truth is nothing but the truth yes i do thank you counselor
one. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Dr. Williams, have you heard my testimony? Yes, I have. And do you
stipulate to the accuracy of my testimony? Yes, I do. And do you adopt my testimony as if it was
your own? Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Questions from the board? No, Mr. Chairman. No, Mr. Chairman.
questions or comments from the virtual audience? Chair, we have Tanetta Graham.
Please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
My name is Tonnetta, T-O-N-N-E-T-T-A.
Last name is Graham, G-R-A-H-A-M.
And I'm the president of the Strawberry Mansion, CDC, who was the court name.
Wait one minute.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Hello, everyone. As I mentioned, my name is Teneda Graham, and I am the president of the
Strawberry Mansion CDC, which was the coordinating RCO for this project. As mentioned earlier,
the project did have several communicating meetings with the community that was arranged
by the Strawberry Mansion CDC. And during those both sessions, you know, there was some give and
take um in terms of what the project looked like and we did see some uh some of our feedback was
incorporated however on the we had three meetings total uh so in our two introductory meetings um
it was portrayed uh the rooftop deck and the rooftop access was portrayed as for residential
living um survey mansion uh it has a neighborhood conservation overlay which prohibits uh roof deck
access and roof decks um that was made clear to the uh developer um and during the the current
meetings the roof decks kept occurring at no time during these three meetings um well i'm saying
during the two meetings there was a mention of the roof deck the access for utilities or solar panels
given that zoning does not require them to be on the plan they were never it was never stated to
the community until the meeting of February 24th that the roof decks on the roof access was needed
for solar panels and utilities. That being said, we asked for a continuous to further discuss this
as our overlay, which was in place, I think, in 2021, which was publicly supported. There was
some opposition to it, however, given all the opposition, the various meetings held from the
planning commission, the various meetings held for city council hearings. City council unanimously
passed our overlay to protect our community and it was signed by the mayor. So we respectfully
asked the developer to have a further discussion so that we can ensure that no rooftop living would
occur should a homeowner, because these are units that will be for sale, decide that they don't want
to have solar panels solar panels are not a requirement for this project so the suggestion
was that if you're going to have include solar panels that you can include them in your
construction and then that we could work on some type of provision where there would not be there
would be limited um it would limit any kind of future access to residential living as we are
working to protect the overlay that we uh we develop ourselves along with the planning commission
And like I said, it's been passed by city council and the mayor's signature.
So other than that, the other issues of the project, we had no problem with the variance.
The other variance that was required for the setbacks and for the minimum lot area, we
just would like not to have our overlay be disrupted by any roof deck or roof deck access.
Thank you very much.
any other comments from the virtual audience yes chair we have mary jones
proceed mary good afternoon members of the board mary jones from council president daryl clark's
office could you say spell your name please for the court reporter m-a-r-y-j-o-n-e-s
Do you swear or affirm that tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Rasheed?
Yes. Good afternoon. I'm just here to support the RCO and just reiterate that the roof decks were explicitly banned in the overlay that was passed at the end of 2020.
And that, you know, that at this point in time, the community is not open to having or we would like to keep that keep that overlay in place for these these homes.
And I also had a question about the pilot houses. Are those necessary for just storing mechanicals on the roof?
for um for just storing mechanicals on the roof so if i may answer that question um the zoning code
describes a roof access um as a pilot house as a hatch um and a couple other um devices um if the
pilot house is an issue we are willing to stipulate um and have a proviso stating that we won't have
pilot houses move and in fact have a hatch on the roof uh to gain access to the roof gotcha
um well i'm not here to negotiate on behalf of the community um because they they probably want
to look at it more but i yeah i was just curious about that because the the pilot house can add
um height and encourage people to use the roof deck um in other ways but anyway just here to
express support for the community thank you anyone else from the virtual audience
yes chair we have a caller with a phone number ending at 6517 please unmute yourself and wait
for the chair yes good afternoon all right could you state your name and spell for the court
reporter please sure my name is judith robinson j-u-d-i-t-h-r-o-b-i-n-s-o-n and i'm here tonight
today hold on a minute do you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the
truth i affirm thank you proceed so good afternoon thank you all for the opportunity i'm here to
represent the 32nd ward rco and we were in all of the meetings of the overlay and we attended all
of the meetings that were held for this development and we provided a letter of support based on the
fact that this is a new development on a vacant formerly uh a church synagogue church and that
um it's a very sustainable development and the access to the roof for mechanicals which we were
aware of uh would not impact the overlay as it relates to a deck on top of a roof um so we support
this project with a proviso for access to the roof there was no time in our
discussion of the overlay that access overall to a roof would be denied I
think it was more so concern of what has happened closer to where we have student
housing. This is absolutely different. These are single family homes. There's a lot of
sustainability that we're really happy about. And we represent the committee people in the area
and we support the project. And thank you very much for the time. Thank you, Mrs. Robinson,
for calling it. Is there any other questions or comments? Yes, Chair, we have Celine Poindexter.
Please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Yes, hi, my name is Salim Poindexter, spelled S-A-L-I-M-P-O-I-N-D-E-X-T-E-R.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
Yes, my wife and I both support this project.
We live at 3113 West Montgomery Avenue.
Thank you very much for calling in.
Thank you.
Is there any other comments that are different than what we've already heard?
Chair, we have about five or six hands up.
The next is Ashley Scott.
hi could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please
hi yes my name is ashley scott spelled a-s-h-l-e-y s-c-o-t-t right do you swear or firm to tell the
truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do proceed i had some some comments as well
as I'm Selene Poindexter's wife. I had trouble logging in, so I had him kind of call in and
make sure that we were heard, but I had comments about, you know, just the general RCO process,
general RCO process, the overlay, all that stuff. In the same recent hearing where we heard about
the overlay, all that stuff.
this lovely project, there were two other zoning presentations. The quote-unquote community of
Strawberry Mansion supported another project that also went against the precious overlay that
they claim they want to protect, but it seems like it's only an issue when it comes to roof
decks or rooftop access. Personally, living on this block, where this project that Mr. Jones
and Dr. Williams have talked to us about today, seeing it right now be a vacant lot,
seeing it previously be a vacant and decrepit building, it's just a blight. I don't understand
why there is so much contention over having rooftop access, especially on a block like the
one that we live on where rooftop access would be a great thing, even if it's not for solar panels,
if it was for leisurely activity. We personally don't have a rooftop deck, but I don't understand
why there's so much contention there. Also, it seems like a lot of the people that worked on
this don't actually live in the area of the overlay, which is frustrating as a resident who
actually didn't learn about the overlay until after purchasing their home here when we could
have actively participated. Again, voicing my support for this project, not only because I
live on this block, but because I am someone who supports forward thinking and futuristic
electrification, beneficial electrification of homes. I want to see this project go through for
sure thank you so much for calling for for calling it thank you any other hands show up
yes chair we have a serrano someone with the last name serrano please unmute yourself and
wait for the chair could you state your name and spell for the court reporter yes my name is
Thais, T-H-A-I-S, Serrano, S-E-R-R-A-N-O.
Right.
Do you swear, Fern, to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Fasheed.
I am calling to support this project.
I was not able to attend the CDC meeting, so I was unable to vote, but I want to vote yes today.
I also want to state that this overlay was passed without enough community involvement and involved a huge area of the, you know, strawberry mansion and not specifically this section, which had a lot of opposition from residents, including myself.
I think it's ridiculous that there's so much opposition against roof decks.
That's clearly something that everyone enjoys, that people purchasing new construction homes enjoy and is a pleasure to have in neighborhoods.
There's really little negative sides to having a roof deck, and I support.
Thank you very much for calling in.
Planning Commission.
Good afternoon, Chair. Peter Bernard for the Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing RSA 5 single-family residential
zoning at this location. The demolition of a church that had been listed on the National
Historic Register eliminated any hardship to developing the property in line with the
zoning code. Additionally, the neighborhood conservation overlay that prevents roof decks
was developed in partnership with and supported by a coalition of community organizations solar
panels and mechanicals do not need a stair access accordingly the planning commission recommends
the board deny the variances um mi 2021 excuse me mr chairman excuse me mr chairman can i recommend
that we hold the vote and we could we could do that Peter could you go over your comments one
more time yes Mr. Chairman once once also um as I've been hearing um from the applicant as well
as from the RCO some discussion loosely on both sides regarding a potential proviso that hasn't
been forwarded perhaps there could be some further discussion in that area we can we can do that
Peter, could you read, comment one more time?
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing RSA 5 single-family residential zoning at this location.
at this location. The demolition of a church that had been listed on the National Historic Register
The demolition of a church that had been listed on the National Historic...
eliminated any hardship to developing the property in line with the zoning code.
Additionally, the neighborhood conservation overlay that prevents roof decks was developed
in partnership with and supported by a coalition of community civic organizations. Solar panels
and mechanicals do not need an access stair. Accordingly, the Planning Commission recommends
the board deny the variances okay okay so we will take this under consideration um next wednesday
in our executive session and and look to uh take action at next wednesday at 9 30.
thank you mr chairman
okay mr young uh yes that concludes my business sure thank you thank you
Mr. Chair, I think you're on mute.
Mr. Chairman, can you unmute yourself?
Nope, go back.
Chair, you're still muted.
Chair?
Chair?
um we're going to pause for one minute all so that the chair can go out and come back in
as he's having technical difficulties thank you
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Okay, if we can continue
you waiting for the chair to return. We're going to have Secretary Ismail Shaheed continue the
hearings. Thank you very kindly. Good afternoon, everyone. We're going to continue on with the
two o'clock cases. Next case up is going to be MI 2021-004967. 3625 North 22nd Street.
Allen Ockamson. Use of refusal. We have the RCO letter from the 13th Democratic Ward.
Letter of support with provisions. Mr. Ockamson.
he's coming back in as a panelist
please let him in
mr notgerson are you there i am uh good afternoon mr chair
please state your name and spell it for the record please
Alan, A-L-A-N, last name
Nockamson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N
123, South Broad Street
Suite 1600, Philadelphia
PA, 19109
Mr. Nockamson, do you swear to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Good afternoon, Counselor
Good afternoon, Counselor
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
According to our records, you have submitted all of the required documents. Is that correct?
We have.
Please proceed.
Thank you.
May I share my screen?
All right, thank you.
ALL RIGHT, SO LET ME GET INTO FULL SCREEN MODE HERE.
ALL RIGHT, CAN EVERYONE SEE MY SCREEN? YES.
YES, YES. ALL RIGHT, SO WE'RE HERE TO PRESENT 3625 NORTH 22nd STREET.
IN OUR PRESENTATION PACKET, WE HAVE OUR NOTICE OF REFUSAL.
This is an RSA-5 property on the corner of Pacific and 22nd Street.
It has a history of multi-unit use.
It was most previously used as a rooming house of six units.
This board heard this appeal last year to legalize that rooming.
last year to legalize that rooming portion of the property and deny that, but we reached out to the 13th Democratic Ward, and they are supportive unanimously in creating a multi-unit structure, but with three units instead of a rooming house.
We have Exhibit 3 is our permit to show that this was a rooming house at one point.
The license lapsed, and that's why we're here today.
Maps of the area, again, we're a corner property.
Again, not uncommon to have multi-unit use for a corner property.
Photographs of the property that surround the area are plans and drawings of particular note.
There is no basement use.
We are storing our trash in the storage units that are connected to our property, which I believe is one of the provisos that we would embrace.
We had a meeting with the 13th Democratic Ward, which is our Exhibit 7 hearing meeting notice, along with proof of mailing of that notice to the affected properties.
Exhibit 8 is our deed to the property.
Exhibit 9 is our application for appeal.
and Exhibit 10 is her Certificate of Tax Clearance.
I have on the line Diane Williams, the owner's representative, who will dot my testimony.
First things first, and I apologize, this is actually an RSA 3 property, but it's the same refusal.
We're asking for three dwelling units, and three dwelling units are not allowed as a right
because of the zoning classification.
But we did meet with the 13th Democratic Ward, and we're glad to say that they're fully supportive of this project, unanimous support by both their board members and the community.
Again, we've presented many, many projects in front of the 13th Democratic Ward.
I don't know if Mr. Karn, who's a representative for the 13th Democratic Ward, is on here, but I don't want to misstate what he said in the past.
But, you know, these properties tend to be rather large in nature.
uh the lot size for this property is over 2800 square feet so this is a pretty substantial lot
um they embrace the fact of the multi-unit nature uh they just don't want too many units and three
is is what they are agreeable to and they just want illegal and they want a proper way of storing
the trash and maintaining the trash and they're disinclined to have basement use and that's why
we presented the project the way we did. And, you know, we're holding ourselves accountable
accordingly. So we would agree to, you know, trash storage, storage outside and not in the
units themselves. And that's what that letter for unanimous support states.
Excuse me, counsel.
Do you have a site plan or pictures or something?
Yeah, I do. I do. And here's our, here's our, and I know this has been a rather long
calendar list. I'll go quickly through this. This is our zoning permit showing that this was
a rooming house at one point. Maps of the area, again, just showing that this is a corner property
in the corner of Pacific and 22nd Street. Photographs of the property. This property
needs some TLC, which we're prepared to do from the outside. 22nd Street from the front end of
the property, then the side of the property in Pacific, and again, these are formerly
garages which are no longer being used as garages, but that's where each of the units
are going to have access to each of them for their own storage, but also to store their
trash, and then pictures to the right of the property on 22nd Street, pictures to the left
of the property on 22nd Street, pictures to the right of the property in Pacific, pictures
to the left of the property on Pacific.
And then it's not uncommon to have RSA 5 properties
in close proximity with multifamily use.
Here's a 53-unit apartment building at 2101 West Venango,
2104 West Venango, 106-unit apartment building.
And then just our plans and drawings.
Just very simple here, as you can see, no basement use.
None of the residents have separate access to the basement.
Here is our unit number one, which is on the first floor, which is two bedrooms, one bath.
Unit number two is on the second floor, two bedrooms, actually three bedrooms and one bath.
And then unit number three is just two bedrooms, one bath.
We met with the community on February 22nd at 6 p.m. There are 84 addresses within the
affected area. These are our addresses that we mailed it to.
These are our addresses that we mailed it to. This is our proof of mailing that we mailed it
this is her
to those addresses. And then here's our deed to the property, showing that Ms. Williams owns the
property. Our application to appeal with the ZBA, along with our notice of refusal and our project
information form and their certificate of tax clearance. She's in good standing with
the state of Philadelphia 2022 taxes are not due yet. With that being said, I would ask
that Ms. Williams virtually raise her hand so she can adopt my testimony.
Please allow Ms. Williams to speak.
Ms. Williams, please unmute yourself
and please wait for the chair
Is, can you hear me?
I'm back, sorry for any inconvenience
Could you state your name and spell
for the court reporter, please
My name is Diane
Williams
D-I-A-N-E
Williams
W-I-L-L-I-A-M-S
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
Mrs. Williams, you heard everything I stated today.
Yes, I did.
And is it true and correct?
It's yes.
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
I adopt it as my own testimony.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
Questions from the board?
no mr chairman no mr chairman mr chairman do we do we have a letter of support from
the actual council member see we have one from the 13th democratic ward
mr knockamson we have not received any indication from the council member of their position
but i would indicate that the 13th democratic ward unanimously supported this endeavor both
from a board perspective and the community and that has supported it as well.
Mr. Chair there was some testimony regarding the proviso. There are a couple items there
that perhaps the chair and the board could explore. The structure that is requested for
the storage of trash is that structure on the subject site or is it not?
Mr. Toppin, it is actually on the site. Those were the three garage structures or what they
used to be garage structures, and they are on site. And, you know, we would
agree to provide so that that the garbage would be stored on site on those in those structures.
Oh, thank you, Mr. Moxon. Thank you.
Would you want to leave the vote on this, please? Because I missed part of it.
sure thing uh any any more questions um from our listeners
chair we have charles richardson
i'm going to apologize ahead of time because we have rota rooter here doing some work in our office
uh mr richardson can you please state your name for the record and spelling charles richardson
from the office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass,
room 312 City Hall.
I've already been sworn.
So the councilwoman has no opposition
to granting the variance.
Okay, thank you.
Planning Commission?
Good afternoon, Chair Peter Bernard
for the Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends a change to RTA
one residential two-family attached at this location. The proposed zoning would allow two
units as of right. We feel the applicant has failed to demonstrate a hardship that would
necessitate an additional unit. Accordingly, the Planning Commission recommends the Board
approve the variance, but with a proviso reducing the unit count.
I vote yes with the provisos that have been listed on the Planning Commission.
Thomas Holliman, yes with provisos.
James Snell, yes with provisos.
I'm sorry. Ishmael, may I please request that Mr. Sherman-Tapkins can recite those specific provisos for...
recite those specific provisos for the record, please?
Sure, Tanya.
Yes, Tanya.
Thank you.
I believe the proviso, the only enforceable proviso would be the one indicated by the
Planning Commission, and that is a proviso relating to the units being three units.
or we can also we can also include the planning commission did not mention that the
there was a proviso required for trash to be stored in the in in on the premises it the
proviso written in the rco letter indicates adjacent structure but i've clarified that
the structure is the same structure so the um the board can also add as a proviso if it desires
to include trash to be stored on the premises in the on the in the structures that were
testified to yeah um this is alan occamson again i just want to make sure that we i understand what
the provisos are because we will have to go down to l and i um is the proviso with respect to what
the coordinating rco stated or what the planning commission is recommending because that was
unclear because it's it sounded like what the planning commission was recommending so if i could
add um just intervene just for a second um would it be appropriate mr knockamson for the proviso
to state trash stored and rare structure uh yes i just want to make sure because i i thought i
thought maybe and it's been a long day i thought that um mr shaheed stated the proviso was in
in conformance with the recommendations of the planning commission not the coordinating rco i
just want to make sure that we understand that is the coordinating rco maybe i misheard
ishmael would you want to clarify that we're not asking for the number to go down we're just asking
for the rco's request for storing the trash in the rear it's your call sir yeah so we're not
asking for the number of units to go down or the room sizes we're actually asking for the proviso
So for the trash to be set in the rear of the property.
Very well.
Thank you all so very much for your kindness.
Hi, Mr. Chairman.
It's Carol Tenere.
I'm back, but I don't know where we are.
All right.
We're going to have the rest of people vote, right, Isha?
So we have three votes on count right now, so we can actually move on with this if I'm not mistaken.
Perfect.
All right.
I'll pass it back over to you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you.
Sorry, Mr. Noctison, for the delay.
That's no worries, Mr. Chair.
I'm on your time.
Thank you.
Madam Vice Chair, we are at number eight.
MI 2020.
MI 2020.
000631.
4230 Otter Street.
belmont alliance civic association letter of support rco west belmont letter of support
rco people's emergency center letter of support and councilwoman gate to gautier supports leonard
and ida brundich mr brundich
Mr. Brundage
Jerry he's coming back in as a
panelist
Mr. Brundage, could you state your name
and spell for the court reporter?
He has to unmute himself.
I know.
You have to unmute yourself, Mr. Brundage.
He's actually not in yet.
I think we're having Zoom issues.
Can I ask IT Pauline,
could you assist with promoting
Thank you, Kylie.
Ms. Suckney, can you please repeat the name that I'm promoting?
Brundage, B-R-U-N-D-A-G-E.
And he's there.
We just all cannot promote him for some reason.
Thank you. Mr. Brundage, you can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in.
Thank you, Mr. Brundage, you can
Wow. There he is. Hi, Mr. Brundage, state your name and spell for the court reporter.
Leonard Brundage. L-E-O-N-A-R-D-B-R-U-N-D-A-G-E.
And I believe I swore you in this morning when you called in a few times.
Yes, you did.
Hold on for our vice chair.
She has a few questions for you.
Hi, Mr. Brundage.
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with the required documents consisting of proof of ownership, tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral, photos under plans of the property, five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
oh yes didn't you get a copy of that
that's cute i'm asking you if you did you you did all that right yes okay thank you so much you may
proceed oh hi mr brothers do you have your presentation on the computer
um my presentation yes the documents that's open oh oh yes could you please
could you share your documents with us on the computer please all right can you see it oh okay
no just go down to the bottom of your uh screen where it says share screen it should be like a
green button? Watch it, watch it. Here. Oh, right here. That's not here. That's not here, neither.
Oh boy. Well, he did a button right here.
Wrong one. I'm sorry, I'm having a problem. It could be a green button, Mr. Brundage Green.
When you hover near the bottom of your screen, do you see a green button that says share screen?
I don't see no green button. Oh, right here. But that's a Spotify, different button.
What are you, are you using a PC laptop or?
So when you drag your mouse down towards the bottom,
you don't have a little screen that pops up that says participants and polls.
So in the efforts of time, Chair, this is Sonia, I apologize, but would it be possible if the ZBA staff could find the exhibits, send them to you all personally, and then we can look at the exhibits on your screen and allow him to speak to it?
Because I don't think we're going to be able to do it any other way.
Well, I have on my right side.
I got the green buttons, but there are Zoom meetings, the senior law.
So why don't we go offline? Somebody talk to him offline.
We can also say. What about the recommendation?
For him to be able to speak to it and I can try to find. That's fine. Can we get that done?
ZBA staff, could you send me this exhibit package, please, and share it if you wish you can move on, and we'll try to handle that.
That's right. Perfect. Thank you. Perfect.
Thank you.
MI 2021-004966, 4460 North 19th Street, RCO 13th Ward, Letter of Support. Mr. Nocklinson.
Mr. Chair, what number are we on?
I'm on number nine.
Because we're going backwards. Okay.
Well, no, we're on eight now. Otter Street's number eight.
Oh, eight.
Yeah, right. Otter Street's eight. Nine is Mr. Nockamson.
Mr. Nockamson, just state your name for the record. You've already been sworn.
Alan, A-L-A-N, last name Nockamson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N, 123 South Broad Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia, PA, 19109.
And our vice chair has a few questions.
Hi, Mr. Nockamson. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
That's almost like a perpetual.
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with the required documents?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with the required documents?
It appears that you have.
It appears that you have.
I have, including a letter of support from the 13th Democratic Court.
Thank you so much. You may proceed.
All right. Thank you. May I share my screen?
Sure you may. We like screens.
Thank you. Exactly.
When will we see each other in person?
I don't know. I think tomorrow.
I think I've talked to Tanya about this.
i think we're in the july before it happens but oh really this year okay all right there you go
it's a year older exactly uh 44 60 north 19th street same exact essentially project as the one
i i uh described last time which the sports have just supported for 36 25 north 22nd street so we
have a notice of refusal we have a letter which you're going to see is the only refusal is because
multifamily use is now technically allowed for this property. Again, it's a very significant
lot size of almost 1,500 square feet. We met with the 13th Democratic Ward. They unanimously
supported this one as well. There's a history of multi-unit use here. And you'll see from the
permit in Exhibit 3, two residential units and one commercial unit. And we actually have an
active rental license for two residential units. All we're trying to do is essentially swap out
commercial component with the residential component we're going to see maps of the area again another
corner property where by way of having a corner property we'll be able to store trash in the rear
and we would agree to a proviso similar to the other one where was trash would be stored at the
rear of the property photographs of the property our plans and drawings again similar to the other
project, no basement living. Exhibit seven is the meeting notice showing proof that we met with the
13th Democratic Ward and we sent notice of that community meeting to the affected properties or
application for appeal. Our deed to the property, Candace Korber is online. She'll adopt my
testimony, and our certificate of tax clearance. So first things first, this is an RSA-5 property,
really in a name only. It has a significant history of multi-unit use, which we'll go over
really quickly, but we're asking for three units. Our letter of support from the 13th Democratic
Board, again, same thing as last time, unanimous support. I will indicate that these are two
separate meetings again we present very often in front of the 13th democratic ward they acknowledge
that the lots within their district is are are very large and they are encouraging you know
legal use of multi-family structures such as this again one of their biggest concerns is just about
trash storage and removal and no bedrooms in the basement which we have for this project
a lack of bedrooms in the basement. Again, same type of discussion about like making sure that
trash is properly stored and removed, which we will agree to in the form of proviso like last time.
And then just permit of, you know, from L&I showing that this was at one point a two-family
plus an office, so three units. All we're looking to do is swap out that commercial component for
residential component. We actually have a rental license of record for this property for two
residences. So this variance would allow us to have a rental license for three units. Just to
reiterate, my client is not renting out that third unit. She is waiting, hopefully, to get the board
support in terms of this variance. And at that point, she'll get a certificate of occupancy for
three units, and a rental license as well for that third unit.
Do you want to swear your...
Yeah, we can if you want.
I mean, you have all the documents.
You've seen all the documents.
You see my...
It's basically the same documents as always.
I'm going to unshare my screen, and I'm going to have my client, Ms. Korber, virtually raise
her hand.
ma'am please unmute yourself and please wait for the chair
hi could you state your name and spelled for the court reporter
candace corber c-a-n-d-a-c-e last name is k-o-e-r-b-e-r right do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do proceed uh miss corber you heard
everything I stated today? Yes. And is it true and correct? Yes, it is. And do you adopt it as your
own testimony? I do adopt it. All right. Thank you. Questions from the board? No, Mr. Chairman.
all right thank you questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman no mr chairman
No, Mr. Chairman.
questions from the virtual audience or comments here we have charles richardson
good afternoon again mr chair just say your name mr richardson i know you're doing some other work
there yeah charles richardson the office of councilwoman cindy bass the councilwoman has
no opposition to granting the variance thank you very much planning commission
good afternoon chair peter bernard for the planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing rsa 5 single family uh zoning at
this location the property has a long history of being used as a multi-family property we feel the
change from commercial use on the ground floor to residential will have minimal impact accordingly
the Planning Commission recommends the Board grant the variance. Thank you very much. MI 2021-004966
4460 North 19th Street, I vote yes. Carol Tenere, my vote is yes. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes. Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes. Thank you Mr. Knopkinson. Oh the one
thing because we did promise the 13th Democratic Ward if you may re-vote that with a proviso
uh trash to be stored at the rear of the property
okay i mean i i don't care but like no no no no i'll we'll vote
um i vote yes with trash being stored in the rear of the property
harold tenere my vote is yes with proviso
james snell my vote is yes with proviso
Thank you, Mr. Knopfler.
Thank you.
All right.
Tanya, I'm going to keep going until you tell me you're ready with the other case.
Yes, Chair.
Thank you kindly.
MI 2021 0049016228 Haverford Avenue, RCO HMC Squared, letter of support.
PROVISO TO BOARD MEMBERS.
STEPHEN BURTILL AND MELANIE LACEY, BOTH ATTORNEYS.
MS. LACEY IS COMING BACK IN AS A PANELIST.
Thank you.
Ms. Lacey, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Melanie Lacey, spelled M-E-L-A-N-I-E, last name L-A-C-E-Y.
I'm with Claire Harrison Harvey, Brandsburg, 1835, Market Street, Suite 1400, Philadelphia, PA.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Proceed.
And our vice chair has a few questions.
Hi, Ms. Lacey.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
It appears that you've submitted everything required.
Is that correct?
That is correct.
And you jumped right on sharing your screen.
Thank you.
May I proceed?
Yes, you may.
Okay, wonderful.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I represent the applicant Bo Ava Capital LLC, which seeks a variance to permit five dwelling
units in an existing multifamily building.
Here is a list of the exhibits that I'll be sharing this afternoon and I will be brief.
So I'm accompanied by a representative for the owner applicant, Maurice Demestine, and
the subject property is located at 6228 Haverford Avenue, as mentioned.
and the applicant received the refusal letter on November 28th of 2021 because five dwelling units
are prohibited in the RSA5 zoning district, which you can see here. Is everyone seeing my screen
well? We are. Okay, so we met with the coordinating RCO for the area, which is HMC squared on February
17th, and the group was generally supportive of the application, which you can see here from the
votes. So this is a letter of support and I'll note that the proposed provisos are unrelated
to the zoning relief. They're requesting that the applicant provide portable fire escapes
as well as that the applicant offer the efficiency unit at an affordable rate,
but the applicant does agree to uphold those requests.
So, here is the zoning map. You can see that the portion of Haverford Avenue where the property is located is surrounded by RM1 and CMX2 zoned properties located directly across the street, and those districts allow for multifamily uses.
So here is the zoning map. You can see that
In actuality, there are other multifamily properties on that block, and one or two that are under construction.
You can also see CMX2 zone properties located on the same side of the street, which I'm hovering over right now.
And so, you know, these existing conditions mean that the proposed use fits with the character of the surrounding area.
Now I'll show some photos of the area.
So these are simply aerials, map view, as well as satellite view.
As mentioned, the property is fronting on Haverford Avenue, and it's a corner property with side entrances on North Belton Street.
So these are photos of the block where the subject property is located.
The first one as stated is the south side, and the property is a little bit hidden in this photo,
but you'll see zoomed in images. It's this one on the end. This is the opposite side of the street.
This property on the end, which is on the opposite side of North Felton, is also a multifamily.
And this is the opposite side. This is the north side of Haverford near the intersection with
North Felton, which you can see seems to have some construction underway.
So this is the subject property. This is the front entrance, and then you can see the side entrances, and this is the side wall.
So we have the images of the posted notice on all entrances, as mentioned.
and I'd like to note that the applicant purchased the subject property in 2021 and it's been vacant
for quite some time but prior to that vacancy it was already a multi-family building so this
application isn't seeking to convert a single family home into five dwelling units and as you
can see the property is quite large the current layout does provide for multi-family as mentioned
Lastly, I will get to the architectural drawings.
Here is the site plan.
You can see that it shows the stairways, ingress, egress, and now the floor plans, which we
shared with the RCO and they have no objections to.
But specifically, I'll run through the unit mixes. There's one efficiency unit on the second floor, three one-bedroom units with one being on each floor, one two-bedroom unit on the second floor.
And I'll note that that efficiency unit that's being proposed would allow the applicant to offer all of the apartments at more affordable price points, and obviously the efficiency unit would be the most affordable, and that's the one that's referenced in the proviso with which, you know, the applicant is intending to comply.
Finally, I'll just run through some of those other documents. We have a copy of the deed.
We have tax compliance showing through 2021, no balance, the application of appeal and project information form, as well as the RCO notice and proof of mailing.
So in conclusion, given the zoning and use of surrounding properties, the historical use of the subject property, and I failed to mention actually, and I'll go back quickly, there's a garage that would accommodate two parking spaces, and that would certainly alleviate any additional parking that comes onto the block by way of these new units.
And then, once again, with the affordable price points for all of the units, but especially
the affordable, the efficiency unit, we're confident that the proposed variance will
have no negative impacts on the surrounding area, public health, safety, or welfare.
Very quickly, I will show you the garage.
So you can see it.
I'm zooming in right here.
This is the existing garage. Obviously, it's abandoned at this time, but it will be renovated and maintained as a garage use.
renovated and maintained as a garage use. So that summarizes my testimony on the application.
As mentioned, I'm accompanied by Maurice Demastine. So if you could please promote him,
I'd like to have him adopt my testimony.
I'm sorry, what is the name of your client? Because there's no hands up.
uh maurice if you could raise your hand that would help them identify you it's maurice
demastine d-e-m-o-s-t-h-e-n-e he can amuse himself he's free to speak
hello my name is maurice hi could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
maurice demastine m-a-u-r-i-c-e d-e-m-o-s-t-h-e-n-e do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth and nothing but the truth i do christy did you hear my testimony uh that i provided to
the board this afternoon yes and do you affirm that my presentation was accurate yes do you
adopt the testimony as your own yes thank you so we'd be happy questions from questions from the
board no mr chairman no mr chairman questions from the virtual audience or comments
i see no hands chair planning commission
good afternoon chair peter bernard for the planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing rsa 5 single family zoning at this
location the property is already being used as a four four unit multi-family however the applicant
has failed to demonstrate a hardship that would necessitate an additional unit furthermore we feel
that bedrooms not should not be located in basements and non-deed restricted units cannot
be enforced as affordable housing accordingly the planning commission recommends the board
out of the variance. May I respond to the last? Sure. Right. So we're aware that certainly that
proviso is unenforceable in this particular context, but the applicant is willing to
voluntarily offer that unit at an affordable rate in compliance with 50 or 60% AMI.
Thank you. MI 2021-004-901-6228 Haverford Avenue, I vote yes.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes. Thomas Holloman, my vote is no. James Snell, my vote is yes.
Dishmiel Shahid, my vote is yes. Thank you, Councilman. Thank you.
MI-2021, 004836, 622 East Wyoming Avenue, Mr. Nockamson, 42nd Ward, letter of support,
Councilwoman Sanchez, letter of non-opposition.
Ms. Amazon is coming back in as a panelist.
good afternoon chairman hi could you could you just state your name i remember swearing you
earlier today yes of course clinton amazon uh our vice chair has a few questions hi miss amazon do
you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy yes i do it appears that
you've submitted all the required documents is that correct that is correct you may proceed
thank you and i'll just go ahead and share my screen
can everyone see my screen yep yes so again my name is quante amazon today i'll be presenting 62
22 622 excuse me it's a long zoom day east wyoming avenue on my presentation i will go
through the notice of refusal we did meet with the 32nd democratic board on february 20th and
we have a letter indicating the unanimous support of the project we have the maps of the property
a permit showing that there is in fact multifamily history for this project so our request is not out
of sorts we also did significant community outreach and we have a petition indicating such
Our photographs of the property, the proposed plans and drawings, the notice for the February
20th meeting, the application for appeal, the deed for the property, as well as our
certificate of tax clearance.
So first things first, we have the notice of refusal.
My client is looking to have four units.
The property is currently zoned as RSA 5.
However, as I mentioned previously, this property does have a history of monthly family use.
However, as I mentioned previously, this property does have a history of monthly family use, in addition to commercial use, and it is a corner lot.
So we feel that it is an appropriate use of the property.
And we did receive a letter of anonymous support from the RCO from our February 20th meeting.
And they were particularly excited because my client does intend to provide one of the units for a single family, either a single mother or a single father.
free of cost utilities included as well as groceries. My client has a bit of a soft spot
and so she is looking to provide a program that would allow individuals to move into one of the
units while they get themselves together so it would be free of charge. And here we have a map
of the area showing again we are a corner property along East Wyoming. Google map view of the area
a permit showing that the property did have a history of multifamily use as well as commercial
use specifically there were three residential units as well as a real estate office and my
client did reach out to the community and received a full letter of support the community again is
very excited about this project especially considering the efforts that my client is
making to assist a single family here we have a view of the front of the property a view to the
side of the property along Tampa Street. Here we have a view of the rear of the property as well.
Views on the East Wyoming to the right of the property, East Wyoming to the left of the property,
Tampa Street to the right of the property, Tampa Street to the left of the property.
Our proposed plans and drawings. Again, we are looking to have four units here. So here we have
the first floor plan which would include unit one and two in the front and the rear of the property.
we do not have any basement living in this particular project. Our second floor is unit
three, and unit four is along the fourth floor. Again, we are looking to provide one of the units
at no cost for a family that is struggling, and we would also be providing utilities as well as
a stipend for groceries. And we did present this project to the community, and this is the notice
that we sent out on January 27th for the community meeting, which included the date, time, refusal,
as well as the DBA hearing information.
In total, 101 properties were notified.
Here we have a list of the properties that the notice was sent out to.
Certificate mailing indicating that we did, in fact, send that notice to all of the properties listed.
Our application for appeal.
Again, the refusal for the property.
Our project's information form.
And the de-choing that my client does, in fact, own this property.
and our certificate tax clearance 2022 taxes are not yet due so my client is
um tax compliant so with that if i can have my client melissa ramos raise her hand so that
she may adopt my testimony
ms ramos could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please
ms ramos could you state your name and spell for the court
reporter. Do we see a hand up? She's been allowed to speak. She has to unmute herself. Thank you.
um it looks like she's having some technical difficulties but you're you're an officer of
the court we will take that testimony questions from the board no mr chairman mr chairman no
mr chairman no question questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands chair planning commission
good afternoon chair peter bernard for the planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends a change to rm1 multi-family zoning at this location
the proposal is in line with recommended zoning accordingly the planning commission recommends
the Board grant the variance. Thank you. MI 2021 004836, 622 East Wyoming Avenue, I vote yes.
Carol Tsunari, my vote is yes. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes. James Snell, my vote is yes.
my vote is yes
thank you counsel
MI 2021
004908
North 18th street
no RCO
letter as of yet
attorney
Mattione states there was a vote taken
225-22
unanimous in support
Mr. Mattione
Mr. Mattione.
Good afternoon, Mr. Mattione.
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Certainly.
I'm Michael Mattione, that's M-I-C-H-A-E-L-M-A-T-T-I-O-N-I, Federal Reserve Bank Building, 100 North Independence Mall, Suite 5A Northwest, Philadelphia, 19106.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do, Mr. Chairman.
The Vice Chair has a few questions.
Hi, Mr. Mattione. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
It appears that you've submitted all the required documents. Is that correct?
That is correct, including the RCO letter, which I got this morning, and I did send it in, and I have it on the screen.
And it is a support letter. It was the anonymous support. Six in support and zero in opposition.
I don't know if you got it yet, but I did send it in, and I believe that Charles Richardson
from Councilmember Bass's office also received it and sent it in.
And I also submitted the tax clearance, the refusal, support petition from 24 nearby neighbors,
floor plan, site plan, prior use permits.
This is a single-family house on the top, and underneath it, it has a commercial use, and it's been a commercial use since at least 1961, according to the records at L&I.
And it's just a unique property.
It's at the corner of 18th Street and Stanton Avenue.
My client, Ira Bond, and his wife, Hawa Traor, they would like to open a hair braiding salon here.
I'm just going to go through quickly.
This is a map, and this is the property, and all the properties on 18th Street and all the properties on Gratt Street.
It signed the petitions of support, which I have coming down, and 24 people signed it in support.
I want to move on to the 1961 use permit.
This is to use the basement level, and I'll explain it when I get to the photos.
There's a house that faces 18th Street, and underneath it, facing Stanton Avenue, is a storefront.
The storefront is at the basement level if you're on 18th Street, but it's street level if you're on Stanton Avenue.
As you can see, in 1961, there was a permit granted for radio sales and service for the one-family dwelling on top.
In 2012, there was a change in use. It became a takeout restaurant. It was really where I stand.
and that was granted in 2012 and that continued until recently.
Here's the floor plans.
This is the basement level if you're looking at Stanton Avenue
and there is no access between this basement level
and the two-story home that's above it.
So you have a unique, really truly unique situation
of this end-of-row house that also happens to have a commercial use in it.
In the site photos, here's the house. As you can see, there's a tree in the way, so it's a little hard to see, but that's the house. And then if you go down, you see around the corner, connected as part of the basement level of the house, if you're on 18th Street, but at street level, if you're on Stanton Avenue, is the sewer front.
So this is really a truly unique situation.
We've got a change in use from where I send this.
This is the driveway behind serving the house.
Is it from on either 18th Street if you're on the left or Bradst Street if you're on the right?
Again, another photo of the commercial space.
This is just some surrounding uses.
There's a large church on the other side of Stanton Avenue.
There is a produce stand if you go a little bit down Stanton Avenue.
Again, another shot looking down Stanton Avenue, which is a large street.
The church again.
Across the street, there is a hair salon, different than the braiding salon, but a hair salon.
There is also an auto repair facility right there on Stanton Avenue.
And a vacant storefront on the opposite side, the opposite corner of 18th and Stanton.
Again, with a similar layout underneath the house, and that shows the great difference.
And we posted the property, we had our meeting with the RCL, it wasn't until last Friday night.
What you've got here, though, is a truly unique situation.
What you've got here, though, is a truly unique situation, you've got a long stand
You've got a longstanding, at least 60-year commercial use of the lower level of this property.
And you can see the difference, and it's been here forever.
We need a variance because we're changing from one commercial use to another commercial use, and it's zoned RA5.
But there's no way to use the commercial space as part of the residence.
It's completely segregated and separate.
There's no steps connected inside, and it does create a hardship to the land due to this truly unique situation that we have here.
Again, we have the full support of the community.
We have the full support of the RCO, and don't know anything else that you could do here.
We'd have seven chairs for customers, four to five employees, six days a week, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.,
There would be a private trash pickup, and it's just a long-standing continuation of the long-standing commercial use of this property.
It's in conformity with and less impactful than many of the other surrounding commercial uses, such as the produce stand or the auto repair facility across the street.
So it fits in with the character on Stanton Avenue, which is a large commercial street.
there's no there's less impact with this commercial use than many of the other
possible commercial uses including the recent order I stand. What I'd like to do
is bring on my client Ira Bond to have him testify and adopt my statements.
Is he available? Hello, greetings. Mr. Bond could you do me a favor could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
yes my name is ira ira and my last name is bond b-o-n-d do you swear a firm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth i do your honor thank you proceed thank you mr chair
ira did you hear my statements yes myself and my wife and are my statements true and correct
yes they are do you adopt them as your testimony yes i do nothing further unless the board has
questions or the public has comments or questions questions from the board no mr chairman no mr
chairman questions from the virtual audience chair we have charles richardson thank you
mr richardson just state your name charles richardson office of councilwoman cindy bass
Councilwoman has no opposition to granting the variance.
Thank you very much. Planning Commission.
Good afternoon, Chair. Peter Bernard for the Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing RSA 5 single family residential
at this location. However, there is a long history of the property being used as commercial mixed use
and the property would be and the proposed use would be allowed by right if the zoning
reflected its long-standing use. Accordingly, the Planning Commission recommends the Board
grant the variance. Thank you very much. MI 2021 004908 6332 North 18th Street, I vote yes.
Carol Soneri, my vote is yes. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes. James Snell, my vote is yes.
thank you hi mr kelly how are you holding up okay
yes chair thank you okay so we're going to have we're going to have a double case then one other
case then we'll break for about five minutes for the 330 case okay thank you very much chair
Number 14 and 15, we'll hear together.
MI 2021-004817, 800 Cotman Avenue.
MI 2021-004818, 800 Cotman Avenue.
No RCO letter as of yet.
Amy Farrell, Esquire.
she's coming in as a panelist thank you yes this is natalie young in place of amy farrell
from kaplan stewart could you state your name and spell for the court reporter yes it's natalie
n-a-t-a-l-i-e young y-o-u-n-g thank you do you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth. I do. Our vice chair has a few questions. I do agree to waive the reading
of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy. I do. Have you emailed the exhibit packet with
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with all the required documents?
all the required documents? Yes.
Yes, and we did send the RCO letter. We received it at 9 30 last night. We sent that this morning,
so it should be in the mailbox. Okay, great. You may proceed.
Okay, it's my understanding we're going to do the applications together. However, I'm going to
kind of go through them each one by one to the extent that they're separate. Both of these
These applications are for two units at an existing property.
The property is located at 800 Cotman Avenue, if I may, I'm going to share my screen.
Bear with me, I'm apparently having some technical difficulty, one second here.
All right, are you able to see my screen there?
All right.
So this property is at 800 Cotman Avenue.
It is a, it is known as the Regency Park Apartments, there's a large apartment building in the rear
and in the front there's historically um six i believe five to six commercial spaces one of which
is used as the rental offices for the regency park apartments um it's a multi-story residential
building that appears in the back and a one-story commercial building um in the front commercial
units in the front um the property is a history of long a long history of small-scale commercial
tenants on the first floor that cater both to the building's residents and also to the
surrounding community.
The first application, which I believe is 4817, is for health care use in Unit 4.
and so this property is zoned as R2 or RM2 residential and the variance as you can see
or I'm sorry the refusal as you can see is because we propose a child care use for a child
care day care center in units four. I will note that unit four was previously a child care center
I believe in both 2009 and 2003, and at one of those times it was combined to include unit 3 as well.
So it's now known as unit 4, but the space fills what would have at one point been unit 3 and 4.
This is the refusal for the daycare use.
As you can see, here's our appeal application.
We've also included as Exhibits 1 and 2, the deed, the applicant, Newtown Park Associates, is the owner of the building.
We have included the Tax Care Certificate as Exhibit 2.
The Notice of Refusal as Exhibit 3.
Exhibits 1, 2, and 3, 1 and 2 are the same for both calendar number 4817 and 4818.
For the Unit 4 daycare use, we have the Application of Appeal as Exhibit 4.
The Project Information Form is Exhibit 5.
Exhibit 6 is the notice for the RCO meeting.
The RCO meeting was actually held on January 13th before Burholm Town Watch and Civic Association.
It was a joint meeting for both applications 48 and 4818.
The proof of mailing to let the neighbors know, here's the zoning notice poster is
Exhibit 7, as well as the photographs of the posting of the zoning notice poster.
These photographs are the posting at Unit 4 specifically.
OK, and here we have the overview.
Here's where 800 Cotman Avenue is located.
These in the front here are the commercial spaces.
As you can see, the surrounding street, while this is zoned RM2, while our building is zoned RM2, there are surrounding, there was formerly a Wawa directly across the street of Cotman, down the street about a block or so on Cotman, there's a number of fast.
of Cotman down the street about a block or so on Cotman there's a number of fast food
stores and auto repair and auto service shops. As I said before this property is
in the as well as the surrounding area have a history of commercial use.
So we were here about two months ago with regard to the signs that were being installed and I'm
not sure if you remember, but we explained that we had kind of modernized and given a facelift to
the existing commercial units. The facade has been redone, kind of modernized, and this overhead
picture just kind of shows the new commercial spaces. Four and three, the unit four, is this
unit here in the middle of the building.
And here's kind of a close-up of the new modernized finished spaces.
We discussed the zoning overlay is RM2 and the areas surrounded as you can see are commercial,
residential and industrial in this area.
The applicant, the tenant who would be coming into this space is Brilliant Stars Learning Center.
I'll give you a little bit of an idea.
And then some of the key features.
They take children.
They do provide services for families with children ages 6 weeks old to 12 years old.
They cater toward frontline workers and teenage parents with a flexible schedule.
They offer service available as needed on a 24-hour basis, five days a week,
and it's dependent upon the family's need. There will be a representative available in
the reception area for the key pickup and drop-off times, so we don't see any
to facilitate basically the flow of traffic through that area. And those times, the key
Key drop-off and pick-up times are 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
And Brilliant Stars meets all child care guidelines from the state of Pennsylvania as far as caregiver to child ratio.
So we've included in the packet the proposed floor plan.
This is how they foresee it.
Again, like I said, it's already been kind of set up into the two units from the previous daycare that was there.
The front reception area would be here.
And like I said, during peak hours, someone would be stationed here at the door to facilitate the flow of traffic in and out of the building.
And then the former permit for a child care use was 2009.
um and basically it was a larger I believe a larger daycare with up to 85 children um they
are I believe beginning to have approximately 50 children um I do have with me today the
representative of brilliant stars who can confirm the number it's the smaller number than I believe
the original um 85 from that application and we did meet with the like I said we did meet with
Earl Holm Civic Association, they did provide a letter of support. It should be in your mailbox.
The vote was unanimous 8-0 in favor of this project. Just to turn briefly to the other
project, which would be Unit 6 of the same set of commercial buildings, we're proposing to use
Unit 6 as a personal service use. Specifically, it's a facial spa and skin treatment facility.
Here's the appeal application, which is Exhibit 4.
Project information sheet is Exhibit 5.
Like I said, it was a joint RCO meeting, so we will go through that.
It's the same notice of mailing and both applications were listed.
The zoning notice letter was posted specifically to this unit, Unit 6.
And just to go back, Unit 6 is the end unit, as you can see right here.
This is Unit 6.
and just to give you a little bit of an idea of the facial spa some of the key highlights for that
property so that the facial service spa would be skin aesthetics company which was formed in
The facial service spa would be Skin Aesthetics Company, which was formed in January of 2019.
The esthetician brings over 600 hours of training to the salon.
They offer not just lashes and brow treatments, but also skin health services, such as treatment for preteens with acne issues and treatment of skin aging issues.
um the spa will operate as appointment only for the foreseeable future the hours are tuesday
through saturday 10 a.m to 6 p.m um and for both facilities uh the applicant um has a dumpster on
the property and the applicant the landlord handles the trash removal there's an existing
service agreement for trash and waste removal. And prior use for another unit, or possibly
this unit, it's unclear exactly which unit it was, there was a prior massage and chiropractic
spa also offered at some point back in 2008 that was approved for these park agreements.
and i should have david waterman from newtown park associates here with me um david if you could raise
your hand i'd like to ask money um i do have both i also have angel brown from skin aesthetics who
should also be or should be specific questions either brilliant stars um who and and there are
people their representatives shalice and shanita nailer as well as marin moon here too
Okay, so why don't we do this? Why don't you do the brilliant stars first, right? Bring the rep for there. Have your testimony adopted?
Yeah, I mean, David Waterman, the applicant, can adopt it.
Okay, good. Then bring him.
Yeah, just in case there's any specific questions, I do have representatives from both.
Right. Let's bring David first.
Mr. Waterman is no longer um listed he was but now he's no longer listed
okay so so so Natalie you're officer of the court we will take your word for what he was going to
say thank you um I mean and to the extent that the tenants are here they're well okay so just
wait so members of the board any questions about either one of these properties
No questions for me, Mr. Chair.
Carol?
Carol?
I forgot I was muted.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Thomas?
Thomas Holloman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you.
Questions from the virtual audience?
Chair, we have Hillary Emerson.
Right.
good afternoon mr chair members of the board hillary emerson on behalf of councilwoman
sherelle parker e-m-e-r-s-o-n could you spell your name for the court reporter please sure
hillary h-i-l-a-r-y emerson e-m-e-r-s-o-n right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth and nothing but the truth i do proceed i thank you mr chair um regarding um both of the
applications for 800 cotton avenue uh the councilman is is not opposed to the child care center
and personal services uses um these properties do have a commercial history um and in these
commercial spaces and they're also on a major commercial corridor um and there is uh parking
available to accommodate, particularly the child care center, which involves pick up
and drop off and that sort of thing.
We know that the community did support the applications, and thank you to the council
for the applicant for showing the letter.
We just received it as well and then head forwarded it to Ms. Saleta.
So that's all I have in this one here, Mr. Chair, thank you.
Any other questions or comments from the virtual audience?
i see no other hands chair planning commission
good afternoon chair peter bernard for the planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing rm2 multifamily residential at this
location however there is a long history of the property being used as commercial mixed use and
the property use would be allowed by right if zoning reflected its long-standing use
Accordingly, the Planning Commission recommends the Board grant the variance.
Thank you very much.
On both cases, MI 2021-004817-800-Cottman and MI 2021-004818-800-Cottman.
and MI 2021-004818-800-Cottman. I vote yes for both. Carol Tenere, my vote is yes for both.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes for both. Ishmael? Ishmael Shaheed, yes for both.
Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Tanya, are we ready for number eight?
We can try it. Mr. Leonard, are you there?
Mr. Leonard Brumbidge, you can unmute yourself.
We're going to MI2020, 00631, 4230 Outer Street, number two.
Can you hear me?
Yes, Mr. Leonard.
We've sworn you in already
Now I still don't see that green button
So you're going to
You're not going to have to use it
The board was sent
The documents so that they can review them
Talk through your case
So that the board can understand exactly
What you want to do Mr. Leonard
Well yes I would like to have
Get the property certified as a duplex
I was at three herons, virtual herons, and I had a lot of difficulty because one of the
herons, my name wasn't there, or one of them.
There was another heron where they cut the, yeah, they cut everything short because it
was emergency.
And then the last hearing, virtual hearings that I was at, they never called my name.
So this is going to be a new day here.
So why don't you tell us what you want?
Tanya, do you have, is there any way we can look at the documents?
Can you put them up?
No, Chair, I can't.
And I'm using a phone device because I can't get on on my laptop because it's updating.
So I did send the documents to you all in your email or Karen did.
And just a little bit of background at this case was since 2018 into 2019.
And it kept getting confusing because we had a separate case that was Otter Street as well.
I do believe, let's see if he's here.
Nope, he's not here.
i thought andrew goodman might have been here to assist um because there's a background with the
with the case and andrew i thought was going to be available but he might not be to
discuss it so mr leonard would you be able to explain to the board what exactly it is that you
want okay mr mr chair one thing um i don't know if it would please the board i can share my screen
I see his documents
as an email to me.
Perfect.
There you go. Go ahead, Sherman.
I brought a...
Can you hear me?
Yes, we can, sir. Go ahead.
I brought this property
on a shelf sale
in 2004
in the West Philadelphia
community where I used to live at.
And I worked on it
I fixed the property up so that I could probably make, you know, make a little wage off, you know.
So, but the problem that I had with it is that it was a single family dwelling.
Right.
And so that was the problem.
I couldn't.
So the thing that I did, I couldn't make it a triplex.
So I was told that I could make it a duplex.
So I had an engineer come around and took the measurements and told me as well,
yeah, it could be a duplex, not a triplex. So I had three hearings, as I said earlier.
And so I wanted to get another hearing because the last meeting, that last hearing I had,
they never called my name. I called a couple times. I even called the RCO and he gave me
someone else a call. In other words, it was sort of go to this person, that person, neither
one of them was helpful. So I spoke with Mr. Goodman at the senior citizen law firm.
at the senior citizen law firm.
He's a higher lawyer.
No one told you.
Sir, you have support from all the RCOs.
We have support from all the RCOs,
and we have support from the Councilwoman's office.
Sherman, is there any photos in there?
Mr. Chair, I don't see any photo.
Oh, I see plans here.
but no photos of the actual property okay well and if if it pleases the chair i would um suggest
it's up to you all if you want to finish it the case hold it for photos to be submitted
and then you can make your decision at a later date that's fine i just really wanted to get him
heard because this has been a problem and it was our fault so sir did you hear that what we're
going to do is we just want you to take take photos of the picture of the building i do have
one or i do have one on the front of the building i didn't know well that's all that's all we need
we want to see what it looks like and what's around it that's okay let me see
so mr um albridge we're gonna um reach out to you i mean brendage we're gonna reach out to you
for those pictures because we don't want to hold this up we have another session
And once you submit those pictures to us, I will personally give them to the board to
assure they see them and can render a decision on this long-awaited project to begin, okay?
Thank you so kindly.
Thank you, sir.
How should I contact you?
I'm going to contact you.
Special contact.
Don't even worry about it.
I will have me or the staff reach out to you and give you the decision and explain the
next steps in your process, okay?
okay thank you so much thank you all so much it was my pleasure sir you can now walk off okay
okay is there anyone in the virtual audience who's two o'clock hearing
that it hasn't been pulled or you're still waiting
okay we're going to take a five minute break and then we're going to come back and we're going to
get through the 3.30 meeting. There's a couple of continuances. So we'll get through it very
quickly. Okay. So five minutes and we'll be back. Thank you, Chair. Yes, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I am back, Mr. Chair. Thank you.
Sure. Thank you.
You never complain, ever.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Tanya?
Yes, Chair?
Are we almost ready?
We are ready when you are, sir.
Okay, let's go live.
Sir, we're ready to go when you are.
Right now.
Thank you, Pauline.
You're welcome.
so you can proceed good afternoon my name is bill bergman
so you can proceed. Good afternoon. My name is Bill Bergman. I will be chairing this ZBA hearing
which was listed for 330. With me is Carol Tenere, our vice chair. Present, Mr. Chairman.
Ismail Shahid, our board secretary. Here, Mr. Chair. Thomas Holliman, our board member. Present,
Mr. Chairman. And James Snell, our board member. Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also here is our Executive Director, Tanya Sunkit, and our Board Attorney, Sherman Toppin.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman.
We advise these proceedings are being recorded by participating in the Knowledge Agreement to be recorded.
A video will be available by contacting our Executive Director, Tanya Sunkit, at phillip.gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you are participating by phone and if you wish to testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548.
Leave your email and the address of the property in question.
And lastly, note the question and answer box on your screen.
It's not for testimony or comments.
Any comments should be directed to our executive director, Tanya Sunkett.
Let's look at continuances for this afternoon.
So continuances I have, number five.
Wait a minute.
Number five.
Oh, I'm sorry.
There's a number difference here we changed.
So it should be number six, MI-2021-4501 Belgrade, continuance requested.
And number eight, MI-2021-78 East Penn Street.
Both these cases are continued.
Does anyone have a comment relative to the cases?
All hands, Mr. Chair.
Both cases are continuing. Number four, MI 2021-004-456-204 Spruce Street. That case is withdrawn.
So we're going to go to the first case. MI 2021-004-
I'm sorry, Chair.
Yes, go ahead. Go ahead, Tom.
We could request if anyone else has a continuance.
Does anyone else have a continuance?
Chair, we have Natasha Bass.
Ms. Bass, state your name and spell for the court reporter.
Hi, yes. Can you hear me?
Uh, my number is MI2021-002463.
What location?
Uh, 630 North 55th Street.
Do you want a continuance?
No, I don't want a continuance. I am a continuance from a previous date.
Oh, okay. We'll get to your case. We'll get to your case.
anyone else have a continuance or withdrawal i see no other hands chair okay case number one
mi 2021 004 367 150 west dauphin street rco letter of non-opposition from nara square
council member sanchez letter of non-opposition sean ward
good afternoon again mr chairman sean ward on behalf of the applicant name is spelled s-h-a-w-n
w-a-r-d right mr ward you've already been sworn our vice chair has a few questions
hi mr ward do you agree to wait the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
Yes, I do.
And it appears based on my notes that you have submitted all the required documents.
Is that correct?
That is correct.
Okay, you may proceed.
Thank you very much.
You're welcome.
Again, Mr. Chairman, I've submitted my typical exhibit packet.
Can everybody confirm that it's visible on your screens?
It is.
Thank you very much.
I represent Kazim Kupa.
Unfortunately, Mr. Koopa is on vacation today, so I am going solo.
Unfortunately, Mr. Kupa is on vacation today, so I am going solo.
The property is 150 West Dauphin Street.
The application at the notice of refusal at A1, the application is a permit for the erection of an attached structure for use as a three-family dwelling with an accessory roof deck.
It resulted in three refusals.
The property is on CMX, so commercial use is required on the first floor.
None is proposed.
The maximum occupied area, 80% is permitted, 85.7 is proposed, and the rear yard, 9 feet is required, whereas 7 feet is proposed, according to what we see use and dimensional variances today.
A2 is the ZBA application, A3, project information form, A4, proof of ownership, A5, tax clearance, A6 is the site and elevation plans, A7 are floor plans.
A8 are photographs of the subject property, aerial views, and street views.
A9 is the RCO packet. It's the RCO meeting notice, the ad address list, a certificate of mailing, and
the RCO's letter. A10, if a district council letter was submitted, I would ask that that be
marked as A10 for the record. I performed a zoning history search for the subject, found none, and I
did a Raul Benzoning Block, a history for the block. I'll discuss that at A15. A13 is the
zoning map. A14 is an aerial photograph. And then A15 is the applicant's reasoning for residential
use on the first floor, which was requested by the RCO as part of their meeting. So very quickly,
We have the notice of refusal, the application of appeal, project information form, my transmittal
letter to the CBA, copy of the deed, proof of tax clearance, as you can see.
There is a minor balance of $40 due for 2021, so that will be paid when the 2022 taxes are paid at the end of the month.
Otherwise, he's compliant.
With regard to the plans, the applicant proposes an attached structure, three stories high.
It complies with the height regulations.
There would be two entrances.
The side entrance would be entry for the first floor unit, and then the front entry would lead to steps which would take you up to the second and third floors, as well as the roof access for the roof deck.
As far as the floor plans, unit A would occupy the first floor and the basement.
There are code-compliant egress wells for emergency egress.
That would be a two-bedroom unit at unit A.
Unit B and C would each be a one-bedroom unit with a full bath and a kitchen living area.
All three units, again, would have access to the roof deck.
With regard to trash storage, trash storage would be stored in the rear yard,
which is accessible from the sidewalk for all three unit occupants.
Moving on, here's an aerial photograph.
This property is at the corner of Mutter Street, M-U-T-T-E-R, and West Dauphin.
As you can see, there's only one other structure on the block.
There's a vacant lot next to us.
And these lots here indicating are four lots together that are used as some sort of a community park.
In addition, the property across the street is fenced off and appears to be open space or some kind of a community park as well.
so looking at the property from the street level as you can see in the past uh you know apparently
someone was using the property as an outdoor auto repair uh based upon the photographs they
specialize in honda civics um so you can see additional cars here uh so again this is a
appears to be a single family residence next to us here is that outdoor community garden or park
uh no no commercial uses other than what is probably an illegal auto repair under a tent
on the block across the street again no commercial uses on this side of the block either
uh the next block down there's something on the corner um across the street again this is the
fenced-in uh yard or you know community park as well there is one corner grocery at the uh
at the next corner, but these are not commercial units attached. And diagonally across the
intersection, moving down the block, all residential uses but for this corner, which is a church.
So, yeah, we sent out the Registered Community Organization meeting notice.
So we sent out the Registered Community Organization meeting.
The meeting was held on February 9th.
It went to the addresses as provided by City Planning.
Here's a map of the affected area.
In all, 218 notices were sent out for this project.
They went out on January 28th.
I would point out to the board, I highlighted these areas.
This is the block and the pictures that I just discussed with the board.
Obviously, the oval is our subject property.
These two sides of the block are all zone CMX.
But again, the only current commercial use is the corner grocery store at Hancock and Dauphin.
Despite the fact that these two properties are zone CMX2, they are not used for commercial purposes.
The larger square here is the true commercial hub of the neighborhood.
and this is at that front and Dauphin and the the York Dauphin elevated train station is here
so you have a lot of commercial uses along Front Street and that is the true commercial hub.
Again we provided a you know an aerial photograph again you can see the the elevated line
over Front Street so that that is the true commercial hub. With regard to the reasoning
for the commercial use. Again, the RCO requested that we submit this to them.
Again, commercial use is required on the first floor, none proposed, but the existing uses on
the block tell a story. It is owned CMX2, but 138-44 is that community garden or park. 146 is
a single-family dwelling. 148 is a vacant lot, as well as 150, our subject property. Again,
across the street from us 152 to 56 is a vacant lot or being used as some sort of community park
158 and 160 variances are granted for three family dwellings in those units again evidencing
uh the lack of need for any kind of commercial use on these blocks 162 is the aforementioned
corner grocery store and three family dwelling 165 is the church and then 175 is a three family
dwelling so we submit that there are no commercial uses on the two blocks from 138 to 175 west
often which are zoned cmx2 with the exception of the corner grocery most commercial uses are
located at front street four blocks to the east there's no demand for commercial use at this
location commercial space would remain vacant everybody knows vacant spaces become an attractive
nuisance occupied spaces make communities safer so with regard to the proposed residential use
Again, the first floor and basement would be a two-bedroom, two-bath dwelling.
Second and third floors each would be a one-bedroom, one-bath dwelling.
The community wanted to know what the suggested rental rates, so we estimated that the two-bedroom would be $1,100 a month, and the one-bedroom would be $900 a month.
And again, we would just submit that vacant commercial equals zero rental income for that unit, and therefore, to pay for the construction mortgage, the project would probably be financially unfeasible.
So based upon that, as an officer of the court, I would submit that if Kazim Kupa were present today, he's reviewed this packet with me.
He does have a copy of it. He would verify that my representations to the board are true and correct.
And he would adopt them as his own testimony. Here is the RCO letter from APM.
They voted to support the application. It was a vote of 20 to 1 in support. I mean, actually, 16 in support, 1 in support were conditions, and 4 opposed. I stand corrected. But it was overwhelmingly in favor.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions in the virtual audience or comments?
I see no handshare.
Planning Commission?
Ron Bednar, City Planning. First name Ron, R-O-N, last name Bednar, B-E-D-N-A-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
So while this property is currently indicated for mixed use on the city plan,
And given the surrounding use context, we recommend that press referents be granted.
I'm sorry, Chair.
This is Tanya.
May I ask Mr. Ward a question?
Mr. Ward, am I to understand there is a minor tax balance?
A minor what?
I'm sorry?
Tax balance.
Yeah, Tanya, it's $40.
understood. However, we would need a zero balance before the board is allowed
Understood.
However, we would need a zero balance before the board is...
to render a decision, in my experience. Is that correct, sir?
My understanding is that the former chair would vote the cases based upon the lack of any
liens against the property for tax balances due. I would suggest that a $40
balance on a vacant lot is nominal at best and that the board is within their discretion to vote
the case. I would feel more comfortable. Mr. Ward, this is what we'll do. We have the planning
commission on record. Pay the $40, we'll vote the case and we'll report it out next week.
Okay, that's fine. Thank you both very kindly. All right, have a great night.
Thank you.
You too, sir.
MI 2021-003831, 1708 North Bodine Street, Old Kensington Neighborhood Association, letter of support.
Councilwoman Sanchez, non-opposition, Gabriel Falco.
mr falco
here he is mr falco state your name and spell it for our court reporter
i don't see him where i i see his name here i promoted him
good thank you you're welcome mr falco unmute
could you say your name and spell for the court reporter please
yes sir um gabriel falco g-a-b-r-i-e-l
f as in frank a l c o right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
but the truth i do our vice chair has a few questions for you yes mr falco did you um
submit the exhibit packet as we requested um five days before this hearing yes ma'am uh thank you
you may proceed okay yeah okay thank you you're welcome um so yeah thank you you're not i know
you're doing this per se but you're not an attorney are you no i'm not no okay go ahead
where the suit for the you know it was a court here you know it's all but yeah uh no ma'am i'm
not for the record yeah so um yeah thank you for the continuance i'm sorry it seemed to be an issue
with the documents last week uh at a different hearing so sorry to burden the court with that
i thought to be able to just can everybody see my screen do you see the documents we don't see that
yet you have to make sure you hit that green button on the bottom okay thank you
it's coming up now okay great um there's another one with the picture of the actual
property but this is the proposed elevation i thought um so mr taco we don't see it yet you
have to bring it up oh wait a minute you don't see the um it says you're starting to share your screen
sir you might want to try to stop sharing um pull up the document and then just try resharing again
It's saying something about optimized full screen video clip and it's doing that thing.
Did you click yes for the optimized full screen?
I don't notice that, but yes, I just clicked it.
and what kind of um computer are you using Lenovo laptop okay
there you go there you go so okay thank you guys sorry about the yeah okay so okay yeah thank you
all for being here today I'm sorry that it was a matter of the continuance it wasn't my attention
but in any event um the first image that we have here is just the simple
but in any event um the first image that we have here is just the simple uh floor plan uh not floor
people.
plan i'm sorry the elevation view and so following that i have a table of contents to run through with
and so after this follows the deed and uh other relevant documents of the application for
appeal you guys have the letter from the neighborhood association and so the I thought to go through
this just on basis of the refusal which I'll pull down to where's my documents
um you might need to just like time to load yeah say it again you just might need to give
them time to load when you get to each page okay thank you
so any well anyway yeah i do hope to answer any of your questions or concerns
on the project this year is the actual I don't know how to blow that up but where my cursor is
that's the actual site of the project so that's the site plan it's a blighted block as it stands
okay so this is the zoning refusal and so my thought was just to go ahead and address the
issues on there and then as necessary or requested to consider the other items in the pdf
and so the first item was a location of accessory parking and so um it mentions not accessible from
shared driveway alleyway or yard and so the issue on that is that this street i'm sorry
i can't see any of you guys just hold on please they can't see me either
okay so in any event i guess it's going to be that way um so the idea was to reduce parking
congestion in the area um wasn't taking away any parking from anyone who would pull up and park on
the street uh it happens to be a street that's only um well it's one way but there's no parking
on either side of the street so narrow street that doesn't allow parking on it and so in that
the idea was to reduce the parking from overflowing into the other parts of the
neighborhood. With regard to the second item, use is allowed in residential district refusal
because of a two-family household living expressly prohibited in the RSA-5. And so originally when
this was purchased, it was a CMX-2 property. I purchased it off of friends of mine, the Cologne
family, and I purchased in 2012. Around 2016, if not 2014, the city went through a sweeping change
and reduced all the zoning designations by one grade.
And so as an RSA5 property, this would have allowed for two to three units on the property itself.
At that time, the lots were 12 feet wide.
Originally, it was three 12-foot lots that we had consolidated into two 18s.
And so a good matter of thought was given to the amount of units and to reduce density as it was when the project began.
As time went on, that changed.
And so the hardship.
I'm sorry.
And so, yeah, regarding the multifamily, inherently it was that way for many years.
And then the city did a sweeping change to reduce it by one.
so the cmx2 became an rsa5 that being said the three sites would have allowed for six to nine
units today it would be three units the one property was approved and allowed as a single
family this property was designed as a duplex or a two-unit property on the third unit and there's
a letter from the streets department i guess i should bring that up um that they didn't have any
further um requirements for for that i'm sorry guys if you don't fast through this like this i
hate the burden of court with the wasting the time here
before that
yeah so this was um the letter from the can everyone see that
yeah okay thank you um so this is the letter from the street department dated 2021
i believe and uh it shows that it's a review of the application and plans for the subject
submission has been performed the philadelphia streets department now takes no further exceptions
to the most recently submitted current version of the proposed plans which are approved as noted by
proposed plans which are approved as noted by any conditions and so that was their um
any conditions and so that was
you know their position on the matter um now and so that goes to the accessory parking i believe
the third refusal or item of refusal back to that
i'm sorry guys a little disorganized i guess yeah so the third item was the dimensional standards
to the open area and so uh 80 is allowed and so we went and designed it as an 83.4 property
so the lot itself is 48 foot with the rear alleyway in the back and so it amounts to a 40 foot depth
with the proposal and the 3.4 percent comes out to about a foot or a little less than a foot
and so i the hardship that i have there is my truck is a 19 foot truck and so after we build
the walls i lose about two feet so to be able to have this space so it's sizable not just actually
um building rooms but rooms that actually can function and have you know um serve the purpose
are designed for. That was the reason for the encroachment on the open area. Finally, the
refusal 147011, the rear yard, a minimum of nine foot is required by RSA 5, and eight foot is what
I had proposed. And so the idea that, again, touches on the other issue where it allows me
to have the vehicle in the garage, allows me to have the vehicle in the property, but then be able
to walk in front of it behind it and then still have like a good 15 or 16 foot in the back room
and so that was the um the origin of that and how that developed it's worthy to note that the
parking is going to be built on top of a slab not on a foundation with a basement underneath it
the basement itself is a half basement the idea here is that since i have a next door neighbor
and oftentimes the garages are problematic and that they leak when guys build it out like that
The idea was to avoid that altogether and not have a basement underneath it in the first place.
So we avoid any of those propping opinions under his part of that foundation.
And the smallest allowable yard space in the city of Philadelphia, I understand, is five foot.
so the yard allows me to satisfy my needs allows the interior space to work work well for what i
have and um let's see what are the other issues so the thought is so it's two units to be proposed
so if i can i'd like to go to the floor plan so i hope you guys can see this but this is my screen
and that's the property that's the block bodine street it corners at cecil b more there are other
there are other multi-use families well there are other properties that are beyond RSA 5 in the area
on this block here we only have two houses well three houses but that house is addressed to Cecil
B. Moore the other two houses 1710 and 1712 I believe the owner of that property is here today
Luis if he's mentioned anything or not I don't know but he signed a petition to support the
project and the idea here um yep so it's a blighted block we have very little to no development
there were code enforcement violations on it when i purchased it we satisfied all those liens and
encumbrances so that the city of philadelphia would you know not have any deaths or anything
to that effect um so it's a four-story property as was mentioned in a letter from the neighborhood
association that they wanted it to be able to be brick which i have no problem with i'm happy to
built with brick and so the facade is to be built with brick and the exclusion of the bump out there's
a small bump out and that would probably have to be a product different than brick the floor plans
here just simply show the garage on the first floor the room in the rear and then the half
basement here with the yard and the easement in the back so all those requirements were satisfied
But in design, we have a one-bedroom, two-bathroom unit on the first floor, which is what these plans indicate.
We have one bedroom, that's the second floor, and the one bathroom here.
The second unit, or the upper unit, would be the third and the fourth floors.
And they allow, I guess that was part of that, part of them, yeah.
So this here, where the cursor is going through, is the one-bedroom, one-bath.
But there is another bath in that unit.
it's in the basement on the basement level the idea is to be able to wash off and not bring all
basement level the idea is to be able to wash off and not bring all the dirt and junk up into the
to dirt and junk up into the UL.
second floor bedroom apartment rather and so this here is the third floor this has a bathroom
a bedroom in the back it has the one bathroom kitchen utility area so forth
and then this is the fourth floor with two bedrooms and then the stairs leading up to the deck
i do hope that everyone did everyone receive a copy of the letter from the neighborhood association
it's in your file okay great yep okay and so this is just a letter from the
neighbors so far as what their um you know if they had any concerns on it so we wrote out this
letter in 2017 when I originally did the matter and subdivide and build a house for myself
on the address.
This is a petition to ask for your support if you have no objections and hopefully of
your own volition agree that the project is okay for your community as well, doesn't conflict
with any of your interests.
And so that was signed off by a number of the neighbors.
Plans were shown to the neighbors that signed.
This is the petition for the garage.
this was June 25th 2017 so they are older perhaps some of the neighbors have
changed by now but not too many and this is just the two building proposal
project and would include the garage as is noted here and the two units so I
went through a number of the neighborhood associations at the time
not knowing that I just needed to go through one that was my business so I
just put that up there so anybody could check I never had any lawsuits or any
um issues complaints with my company so that's just me being a carpenter furnish that so that
that could be verified this is the first letter originally in 2017 before the board met with me
in july 26th and uh or that we met and had the hearing it was supported at that time
notes that there was zero opposed seven affected address zero opposed attendees seven supported
two opposed but I don't understand that if zero were opposed but attendees did not vote two okay
that's what that was two people didn't vote and total was 11. and again the same letter from 2017
all that's been updated so if you're aware the application all the necessary documents I think
if you have any questions you're welcome to ask but that's the application form for license
inspection and the project intake form is required and then this would be the February 20th
letter I'm just there are two letters that the neighborhood association Old Kensington
had sent me I'm just looking for the one that's the latest they were both in support but I think
this is the one that the board would be concerned with or the final decision on it February 20th
It notes the refusals.
And in this case, the hearing represented four Zoom participants, zero opposed, non-Zoom, three supported, zero opposed.
Attendees did not vote, one.
Total attendees were eight.
So that was held on February 8th.
All the notices went out to the neighborhood, to the 103 neighbors.
and this is the this is this first letter she sent and then she updated it with the
revised it with the other one I believe and so I'm sorry there's not more pictures here because
it did include well anyway I may have sent them to you in your emails but I didn't include it
include it in this PDF I just want to check on something because I have another file yeah so if
that picture is a little bit bigger than the one in the site plan and so it shows a bit of the
blight regarding the trash we have the alleyway and then over on this area here there's a shared
alley as everybody comes out so there's access to it and so forth so those issues were given
consideration and so yeah it's my request today to you know and so that's my presentation uh
Questions, concerns? I can't see anybody, so I won't be able to. No, Mr. Chairman. No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman. No, Mr. Chairman. Questions or observations from the virtual audience?
I can't see anybody, so if somebody wants to. That's okay, that's okay.
individuals i see here oh wait a minute we have one uh nope they put their hand down
okay no hands um planning commission uh ron badnor city planning the prop
Planning Commission.
Ron Bednar, City Planning.
The properties indicated for residential use on the City Plan or 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 circumstances
or conditions in the property that would prevent it from being used in conformity with the
Therefore, we recommend the request for advantage not be granted.
Thank you, Ron.
MI 2021-003831-1708-North-Bodine, I vote yes.
Harold Tineri, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes.
Thank you, Mr. Fett.
Thank you very much.
Yes, sir.
I'm sorry I can't see you guys, but thank you.
Sure, sure.
MI 2021, 002193, 1804 Pratt Street.
No exhibit must be tried today.
Richard Smith.
I see no handshare.
The case is dismissed.
Dismissed?
Thomas Tolloman, dismissed.
James Snell, dismissed.
Ishmael Shahid, dismissed.
MI 2021-004-398-2333 North 10th Street.
RCO 37th Ward, letter of support.
Zhen Jin.
Mr. Jin is coming back as a panelist.
good afternoon good afternoon sir could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please
yes zen jen z h e n last name j i n 1617 john f kennedy boulevard suite 1838
Philadelphia PA 19103 here on behalf of the applicant right do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do our vice chair has a few questions for
you. Hi, Mr. Jin. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I do. Based on my notes, it appears that you've sent in all the required documents.
Yes, we have. Yes, you may proceed. Thank you. Thank you. I'm going to share with the board the
information we previously submitted. Has my screen shown up on everybody's monitor?
yes great thank you we had submitted a copy of the refusal the support letter from the rco photos
plans and related documentation this application is for the erection of a new structure which will
be used as a duplex however this property is located in a cmx2 zone district 10th street
has mixes of areas where it's heavily commercial
and then other areas like this one
where it is not as heavily commercial.
As a result, my client is seeking simply
to not have to put in the commercial space.
The area and the size of the lot
actually would support two residential units
above a commercial unit.
What we're asking the board's favorable review
is a variance to allow two residential units,
but waive the requirement for the required first floor commercial unit.
The reason for this, again, and before we move forward,
we did give full support from all the members who appeared and attended at the RCO meeting.
They're aware the block is not really an active commercial block.
In fact, the picture here pretty much shows that it is either residential or it's vacant.
That's really the makeup of this area. And this is true even up and down a block away of 10th Street.
And as a result, a residential use of this nature actually would fit the area.
We're proposing a three-story structure. There are no dimensional variances required.
The sole variance, again, is to waive the commercial use.
This will be a duplex. Basement first floor is one unit, second floor, and third floor is one unit
with a rooftop deck. Trash will be stored in the rear yard or on the deck, and both units will have
their outdoor spaces. So that is essentially the entire proposal. Again, because of the area not
really being supportive of commercial use, the sole variance we're asking for is the waiving of
The sole variance we're asking for is the waiving of the commercial component that is normally
the commercial component.
required. I'm happy to redirect to any exhibits or answer any questions and again also I believe
my client is available to verify my testimony. Why don't you call your client? Sure. Ms. Juergen,
can you please raise your hand virtually to be identified?
If not, I believe Mr. Gitterman is also available.
I think, I think.
Yurgita, it would be, yes, I see her hand raised.
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Hello, my name is Yurgita Rekavich, J-U-R-G-I-T-A, last name R-A-T-K-E-V-I-C-I-U-S.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Yugeta, can you verify that you heard my presentation and my testimony to the board
and would adopt it as your own testimony?
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
i see no hands chair planning commission this is ryan bednar city planning while the property
is currently indicated for commercial mixed juice on the city plan given the physical circumstances
of the site and the surrounding neighborhood use context we recommend the quest for advance
to be back. Thank you. MI 2021 004398 2333 North 10th Street. I vote yes.
Harold Tenere. My vote is yes. Thomas Holloman. My vote is yes.
James Snell. My vote is yes. Thank you. My vote is yes. Thank you.
M-I-2021-002-463, 630 North 55th Street, HMC Square Community Association, Letter
of Support, Natasha Bass.
Ms. Bass is coming back in as a panelist.
Hi, Ms. Bass, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
N-A-T-A-S-H-A.
B-A-S-S.
I'm the homeowner.
All right, wait a minute.
Do you swear or affirm, tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
our vice chair has a few questions hi miss bass have you submitted the entire exhibit packet as
requested uh yes yes i did you may proceed
go ahead miss bass miss bass do you have do you have their your presentation on a computer
uh yes i have a computer all right okay so why don't you share your screen with us
okay is it sharing it not yet did you hit the share screen button
yes okay can you see it now not yet no not yet
So, Ms. Bass, you have your document open, correct?
And when you scroll along the bottom, are you using that share screen button?
Or are you not on a PC?
I'm on a PC.
Okay, that's good. So when you scroll down the bottom,
do you see the green share screen with the arrow?
If you click that, does it have you choose the screen or the document?
It say entire screen, window, or chrome tab.
Try entire screen.
Okay, is that it?
no um let's try your are your documents in chrome or are they in a folder they're in a folder okay
They're in the folder.
So what are the other options when you do share screen?
Window.
Okay, try that one.
Let me just click share, please grant browser access to scratch your recording, say please
grant browser access to share recording.
Okay, is there, is there an okay or anything on your end?
Sir, would you like me to troubleshoot with Ms. Bass?
off here while you move on this is the last case of the day oh okay i think i hope
yes correct this is the last case
miss bass does it have anything different on your screen yet
uh yes i hit learn more
Let's see.
When you logged into Zoom, did you do so through one of your web browsers?
Here's the link.
I know Ms. Sunkit will know the answer to this, but is there a way that we can
you the thing where someone else shares
the screen
for her.
Do we have her documents?
Not readily available.
Staff, can you look for
the documents for this address,
please?
Ms. Bass, thank you for being
so patient.
You're not the only one this has happened to today.
Including me.
Do you have many other applications open on your computer while you have the browser or is it just this in your folder?
I just have the web browser open, the clone web browser open, and I have my files open.
Okay, that sounds good.
And this is a pretty simple case too.
Ms. Bass, do you think you would like to try going out and coming back in to see if it's
just a glitch with Zoom?
So you want me to leave meeting and come back in?
Yes, please.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I can see her and I'm trying to promote her to panelists, but it doesn't seem to be where
working um it's something wrong with you yeah there is something wrong today yeah um
it feels so good
okay so she's back on
Okay, but I'm trying to promote her, and it's declining.
Okay, maybe that worked.
Here, it's connected to audio.
Oh, there she is.
Could you unmute, please?
Unmute your screen.
Just along the bottom left.
okay okay can you hear me now you're back that's great okay
still no screen sharing
so chair it's all we call um if we want to talk through this without i think so here here's what
i would like to do i i'd like to talk her through this simply because i don't want to give her a
date and she's going to be worried so miss bass why don't you do this why don't you tell us what
you want to do right go ahead all right so what i'm trying to do is uh i'm trying to turn i just
broke the home in 2018 i'm looking to turn my basement into a studio apartment uh it has an
egress window um a closet a bathroom and the entrance would be in uh the back of the home
that would be uh there's like no demolition really because my uh basement is about i think
almost nine feet tall and there had to be an egress window when i submitted the uh documents
to the uh three email addresses with about nine photos so i'm doing this all because of uh you
know i have i have six sisters no five of us five girls i have six nephews and uh my grandmother's
getting very sick so what i'm trying to do is just make separate the home into two apartments
my upstairs uh the house is over 1400 square feet so i was looking to get the variance so
that i could start the process with the um approvals and the permits right so you wanted
you want to turn the basement into an efficiency apartment yes yes the rest of the house is your
home yes yes okay so let me ask you this where you live are there other multiple family units
on your block yes i had just i got the list and everything with my computer so there's several
there's quite a few units uh yes uh i believe there there are some single family homes but a
few on the corner uh just turn into uh i don't know how many units there is but there's a couple
units just one block away and there's two lots two vacant lots across the street from me
so there's more than enough parking on on this uh right and then when you went and you uh
you presented to the rco yes right and how did they vote do you remember uh i they voted it
passed the first meeting i had they had a problem with uh i had a one bedroom apartment
i had a one bedroom apartment but they wanted an egress window in both in both rooms so what i did
but they wanted an egress window in both
was i made it into a studio apartment instead right okay but the official vote was yes do you
intend to rent that out um yes to my to one of my sisters she has three kids right excuse me sorry
for interrupting sir if you if it's okay with miss tunkett i could try making this fast a um
co-host if you need to if you need to see the documents but if you're okay that will be fine
uh actually my uh my uh uh my engineer was supposed to be at this meeting are you there magna at all
okay if you're able to connect to the share screen now
so here's the thing um this is a late getting to be a late hour it appears as though she says
you had such an engineer or architect is here yeah and if she's prepared to share her screen
we can do that, but we don't want to prolong this at this late hour. So it's up to the chair if you
wish to allow her to come forward and she can share the screen if you still need to see.
If you want to share the screen, we'll take a very quick look at it if you can do that.
Natasha Bass, the other one, are you here?
We're going to bring her forward to swear her in. Does she have the documents this year?
uh i didn't uh
that i she yeah she is she has the blueprint
so i can get her on the phone we can also do this chair um don't want to be too fresh but i just
don't want to make her nervous about trying to share. I think I hear her mail. Somebody's saying
hi, good afternoon. I think it's the engineer. Could you do me a favor? Could you state your
name and spell for the court reporter? Magdalise Mello, M-A-G-D-A-L-I-S. My last name, Mello, M-E-L-O.
I'm the designer, so I did the space planning, not an engineer or architect. Do you swear a firm
to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth you don't have to testify just
if you can show us on the screen what it looks like after documents with me uh because natasha
was the one that prepared everything uh if she uh could send it to me i could share it on her end
Thank you.
i'm mr chair i i did look at the property on google maps i have it on my screen
if you need to send that up let me share that
is it the end property yes break the red brick the red and then so it's a corner property
Natasha, you have a corner property.
Yes, it's the corner property.
Right, okay, okay.
I'll stop sharing now.
Let me ask you this.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission?
Ron Bednar, City Planning.
This property is indicated for residential use on a city plan or adopted district plan.
recommends no change to the existing single-family zoning at this location.
The applicant's hardship is not supported with evidence of unique physical circumstances
or conditions of the property that would prevent it from being used in conformity with the code.
Therefore, we recommend the request for banish to be granted.
Thank you.
MI 2021-002-463-630-North 54th Street.
630 North 54th Street I vote yes. 55th Street. Carol Tenere, my vote is yes. Thomas Holloman,
I vote yes.
my vote is yes. James Snell, my vote is yes. Ishmael Shahi, my vote is yes. So Ms. Bashu,
it's approved. Thank you. Thank you for your patience. You're something else. Thank you.
Is there anybody in the virtual audience
still waiting for their case to be heard?
I see no hands, Chair.
Okay, so thank you, everyone.
Thank you, Tanya.
Thank you, Pauline, for getting people through this.
And nice day's work.
Thanks, everybody.
Good night, all.
Good night.
Good night.
Good night.
Good night, everybody.
Good night.
Good night.