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