ZBA Hearing - March 2, 2022

I think it was July

2020

so

I have a

triplets where there's only

two and a half stories

I'm sorry

Are you on this case

of

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

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

1241

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

MI

2021

004

372

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?

I do.

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?

I do.

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

No.

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