Thank you.
Okay, Chair, we have 37 attendees, and we can start as you wish.
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.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Thomas Holliman, our board member.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And James Snell, our board member.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also present is our board attorney, Hillary Emerson, and our ZBA hearing supervisor, Lakeisha Dandy.
Before we start, here's our virtual format.
Be advised the proceedings are being recorded.
By participating, you know the agreement to record it.
A video will be available by contacting tonyasunkett at philip .gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you are participating by phone, 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 address and the
address of the property in question. And lastly, the question answer box on the screen is not for
comments or testimony. Any comments have to be referred to our Executive Director, Tanya Sunkish.
So let's look at continuances on this morning's hearings.
Uh, my number three, MI 2022, 000406, 5947 North 13th Street. This case is continued.
And number 18, MI 2021 -004 -902 -5858 Woodcrest Avenue. This case is also continued. Are there
any other requests for continuances? Good morning, this is Jason Hand. I do not see any hands raised
at this time. Thank you. I also have two cases without exhibits. My number two, MI 2021 -003 -790 -5019
beaumont street ishmael henrich is the applicant this is the third listing
i do i do not see any hands raised at this time for that mi 2021 003 790 50 19 beaumont street
i vote to dismiss dismiss dismiss yes carol and tom can you say your names before your vote please
thank you sorry about that carol tenary dismiss thomas holloman dismiss james snell dismiss
Ishmael Shaheed, dismiss.
The second case is MI 2021 -005 -282 -3257, North 16th Street.
Wendy Ray is the applicant.
No exhibits.
This is the second listing.
once again sir i do not see any hands so mi 2021 005 282 3257 north 16th street
this case is continued mark must be tried
carol tenary uh no i don't continue no you say that sorry bill okay
Number, and then number two, MI 2022 -003 -145 -869 -North 43rd Street.
number and then number two
This case is withdrawn.
Is there any other requests for withdrawal?
I see no further hands, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you.
So we're going to go to our add -on list.
MI 2021 -004 -592, could Carol and Jim Snell certify on this case first before we vote?
Sorry, one second. Mr. Chair, can you just read the address into the record, please?
Sure, sure. 5901 Latona Street.
carol tenary i certified that i have viewed the video on this case and my vote is well
well we'll vote just certified that's all jim okay yes uh james snell and i also certified that i
saw the video on this latona case okay so mi 2021 004 -592 -5901 latona street
i vote yes carol tenary my vote is yes thomas holloman my vote is yes james snell my vote is
yes ishmael shaheed my vote is yes thank you
okay here we go withdrawal so mi number four mi 2022 003 185 1360 16 rittner street
raymond de rizio is the attorney letter of non -opposition from councilman squilla
and letter of non -opposition from lower moimenti civic association
Okay, Mr. Chair, Mr. Dorizio, we'll be coming back in as a panelist.
Thank you.
Good morning. Good morning. Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Can you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Yes, Raymond Dorizio, D -O -R -I -Z -I -O.
Right. Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client in a relationship to this property, please?
Yes, my client is Van Nguyen. She's the owner.
Okay. Our vice chair, Carol Tenere, has a few questions.
Hi, Mr. Dorizio. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Good morning.
Yes. Good morning. Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral, photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
Yes, yes, yes.
Yes, yes. Okay. You may proceed and begin with sharing.
Thank you.
I have it here somewhere.
Okay, so 1316 Rittner Street.
That is a three -story property.
It's right across the street from Methodist Hospital.
So the south side of the street where this property is located on has residences, businesses, and the north side of the Rittner Street is taken up by Methodist or Jefferson Hospital, whatever it is at this point.
So, my client's application was for a two -family household dwelling. The proposal is for two units, first floor and basement. Basement has utilities. The first floor would be a one -bedroom. The second floor is comprised of two bedrooms.
um there are you know the property would fit in with the fabric and the character
of the block there's other rm1 zoned properties on this block um we did meet with the community
that is lower moimensing this is the deed we spoke with them we did enter into an agreement
with them to uh plant a tree and build a flower box under the window sill on the first floor
Um, these are some of the plans that we have here. It's a 16 dwelling. My client bought this at sheriff's sale a few years back. Um, this is backwards. So I apologize. This is basically the street. There's other RM1 properties. Like I said, on the block, my clients is the second, uh, house in there with the, uh, white door.
these are some of the plans that we have here. It's a 16 dwelling. My client bought this at Sheriff's.
this is a picture of the street methodist hospital is on the right
she did post the uh not only the rco meeting notice but the zba notice of course
um these are some of the properties of the interior the roof
and basically for trash there is a backyard that's a picture of a prior to
um so this is the alley gate basically that goes from the street to the yard here's the backyard
residents can store trash there and we have some pictures of the utilities
um there was a petition signed by the residents of 13th street and um surrounding blocks
eismanger um and here is our tax clearance and my client is here and could sorry
adopt my testimony
could you could you identify the rest of the block i mean how do you have any idea how many
or multifamily net block?
Yes, I do.
There are, if I could just grab my notes.
There are a few and I attached that zoning map,
I'm sorry, and it was a little backwards.
I don't know why I'm stuck here on my iPad
if I can ever get back there.
So there are, sorry.
I'm having technical difficulties this morning. I apologize.
So there's some RM1 between Eiseminger and Broad Street. And from what I saw, there's at least four properties that are zoned RM1.
There's other properties on that block that we believe are used as multifamily. They might not be zoned that way.
But there are a good deal of multifamily on that block.
And there are some properties that have businesses on that block.
As a matter of fact, next door to my client, there is a business.
Thank you.
Could you have your client adopt your testimony?
Van, are you here?
Do you hear us?
Can you hit the raise your hand, tap that button?
Hi, could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please?
Sir or madam, please unmute.
Unmute yourself, ma 'am.
Better?
Could you state your name and spell it, please, for the court reporter?
so van win first name spelled v a n last name win and g u y e n right do you swear or firm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do proceed counsel okay ma 'am you heard
my testimony to the board this morning yes was it true and correct yes it is okay and you wish
to adopt it as your own yes i do okay thank you question questions from the board no mr chairman
no mr chairman hi questions uh from the virtual audience or comments
i do not see any hands mr chair planning commission good morning chair uh ian hegarty
for the philadelphia city planning commission last name spelled h -e -g -a -r -t -y right do you
Do you swear for them to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed.
All right, thank you.
Good morning, board members.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing RSA 5 single -family zoning on this block.
However, the proposed use is consistent with the existing physical configuration of the building
and with adjacent properties on either side of this building.
City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant this variance.
Thank you.
MI -2022 -003 -185 -1316 Ritten Street, I vote yes.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you. Thank you, Counsel.
Thank you. Thank you, counsel.
Thank you. Have a good day.
Thank you. Have a good day.
Number seven on my original list, MI -2022 -003 -078 -4011 Meriden Street.
Number six.
Lynn Nichols is the attorney, still waiting for a letter from the Holmesburg Civic Association.
At this point, anyway.
Sir, Ms. Nichols will be rejoining as a panelist.
Thank you, Jason.
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
Good morning.
The Holmesburg Association.
Hold on one minute, please.
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Yes, Lynn Nichols, L -Y -N -N, last name N -I -C -H -O -L -S.
Right.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
So first, why don't you identify your client relationship to the property?
Yes, there should be a Stanley Stein on the call, the owner of the property.
And there's also, I believe, Mr. Smith.
He's the developer or the contractor.
I'm not sure if he's on the call.
And then our vice chair will ask you a couple of questions.
Then you could talk about Holmesburg there, okay?
Yes, thank you.
Hi, Ms. Nichols.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral, photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing?
And have you met with the RCO and do you have a letter?
Yes. And with regard to the RCO, if I may, they did email a letter early this morning.
I saw that the I believe Hillary was copied on it. If not, I can forward it again.
okay oh no hillary wasn't copied on it it was just since i was going to say i did not receive
a copy of the letter this morning i apologize i'll email you right now okay okay thank you
miss nichols yes if i may okay you may proceed miss nichols yes it was their position was they
They opposed the rear yard addition, and they weren't opposed to the two -family addition, I mean, to the multifamily variants.
So I'm emailing Hillary right now.
Okay, and when she receives it, you may proceed and begin with sharing your screen.
Thank you.
Hillary, can you let me know when you get it?
why don't you start your case okay and then hillary will just tell us when hillary gets it
I've received the letter. Thank you.
Is it okay if I turn off my video so that I don't have that issue with the screen?
Thank you.
Good morning, members of the board.
This project is for the erection of a two -family dwelling on an existing structure.
4011 Meridian Street is currently a one -level property, and it's on the corner of a block
of residential properties. The plan is to develop it into a two -family unit for this structure.
The plan here is to make it two -family, one in the front, one in the back. Once I get there,
I will explain more about where the particular changes would be made. The property was purchased
in 2016, and the owner currently uses it as storage. He has done no development to the
property since he purchased it. As you see here, he has a certificate of tax clearance,
are proof of mailing to the impacted neighbors.
And we have a neighbor who was contacted,
who was in support, the next door neighbor at 4013
is in support of the project.
Here you see the front of the property.
This is the notice of refusal.
Now, we're looking at a view from across the street, looking across the street from 4011 Meridian.
Now, we're looking at a view from across.
This is a view looking to the right of 4011 Meridian.
But you're bringing up a little bit. It's hard to see.
Okay, I apologize. Maybe I should take it off of...
Okay, so this is a view looking to the left of 4011 Meridian.
And here's a view looking at the side of 4011 Meridian.
So currently there are two parking spaces in these garages. What the owner intends to do is to erect an addition on top. It would be an economic hardship. The meeting with the RCO, they were opposed to putting an addition on top because they think that this property can be developed as it is.
This is a view looking at the rear of 4011 Meridian. It would be an economic hardship for the owner to develop the property as suggested by the RCO.
As you can see on the plans, the first floor currently has the two parking spaces. He would have to level that entire building in order to develop it as the RCO is suggesting in their letter, because it is unleveled.
there's concrete on the floor in the garage. He would have to tear up all the plumbing. He would
basically have to level the entire building in order to do it in the way that they are suggesting
in their letter. His plan is to go up about six feet above because he wants to develop it to look
similar to the other properties in that residential neighborhood. He plans on putting in
one apartment in the front as you can see on the plans with two bedrooms and a utility room and
one apartment in the back with two bedrooms and a utility room as well as kitchen living room and
bath the lower parking spaces would be dedicated just to the residents because there's already
an issue I believe with parking on the block and he wants to make sure that he accommodates the
residents and doesn't impact the parking in the neighborhood. And the additional space on the
lower level would be for resident storage. In the letter from the RCO, somehow they believe that
it might be made into an efficiency apartment. I was on the meeting last night with the RCO and he
never stated that. The owner has been very clear that he intends on, after developing this with the
two families unit, he would make the lower level additional space for storage for the tenants.
Are there any questions about the plan?
Okay. And as you can see here from the letter from the RCO, they did oppose the variance for
the rear yard depth and didn't oppose it for the multivariance use. Again, as I stated,
That, you know, this property hasn't been developed since the owner purchased it, and he wants to make it consistent with what the surrounding residential properties look like.
And again, it would be an economic hardship for him to develop it in the way that the RCO is suggesting it because of its size, its shape, the contours, and physical dimensions.
The variance we seek is the least modification possible of the code to provide relief.
it will not increase the congestion in the public streets it will not substantially or
permanently harm the neighbor's use of their properties or impair their adequate supply of
light and air it will not substantially increase the traffic congestion and it will not create an
environmental damage pollution erosion or increase the danger of flooding at this time I would like
I'd like to call my client, Stanley Stein.
Hi, Mr. Stein, can you state your name, please, and spell it for the court reporter?
My name is Stanley Stein.
Hi, could you spell it for the court reporter?
first name stanley s -t -a -n -l -e -y last name stein s -t -e -i -n right do you swear for him to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes proceed counsel thank you uh mr stein
have you heard my testimony here today before the board yes i have okay and do you agree with
and adopt the presentation i've given in the testimony given here today for your property
located at 4011 Meridian Street?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
I have nothing further.
Counsel, is there any other multifamily dwellings in the area,
especially on the end of the blocks like this one will be?
especially on the end of the box like this one will be there are residential um rentals on the
There are residential...
block and um i can't say specifically what addresses but there are rentals on the block
okay questions from the board no
questions or comments from the virtual audience
sir mr david de mugo has his hand raised i have allowed him to speak at this time
Sir, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Yes, my name is David DeLugos, D -A -V -I -D -D -L -U -G -O -S -Z.
Right.
Do you swear, affirm, to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
So, again, I do apologize about the lateness of getting this letter to you guys.
We had some scheduling issues, so the public meeting wasn't held until late.
I want to start with that.
I want to say that I guess there's a couple of things which I think the council misinterpreted
from our letter.
Number one, we had a field meeting that she was not in attendance at, so the meeting I
was talking about was a previous meeting to the one to the public meeting.
Secondly, that looking at the plans and having been inside the building, in the front of
the building, if you can recall like the first page of the presentation, there is currently
an efficiency apartment slash storefront in the front of this property, which is not being
represented on the plans. There is additional space. So, you know, I'm not sure if their
intention is to get rid of that space in the front, which would otherwise be an efficiency
apartment or a storefront. Secondly, that I'm definitely not, you know, the civic service
change is not asking to level the building. What we were opposed to is maintaining the depth of
the building. So what we would be suggesting is to add a new rear wall to the building to make it
conform to the existing to the new zoning that's that's in place. Every other building on this
block has a rear yard. This is the only one that doesn't. While this was previously zoned as four
garages, as you can see in the refusal, it made sense because they want to maximize the parking
spaces in the four -car garage but now this is being used for two cars as you can you know again
if you go to the floor plan there is a you know there still is room for four cars but they're
only using it for two and as you can see there's a lot of excess space on the first floor so as that
they're going to have to be doing some demolition and major structural work modifying the rear wall
you know seems to be within the scope of of the work and not to be a hardship uh the last thing
to say is, as far as the commercial space, which I mentioned in my letter, is that the dead space
on the first floor, again, is currently being used as office space by, I assume, the property
owner. That is what Mr. Lee had expressed to me in the rear garage. So we are concerned about
the uses on the first floor being only parking spaces, but there is, again, as you can see from
the first floor plan a wide access of space that is outside of the garage doors, which is not being
identified in any kind of use or in their permit request. So hopefully that clears up what we were
asking for in the letter. And if Lynn has any follow -ups for clarifications, I'd be happy to
take them. Okay. So Lynn, why don't I do this first? Let me see if there's anybody else
in the audience that has a comment and then i'll let you respond to it okay
thank you is there anyone else in the virtual audience has a comment
i see no hands mr chair council proceed um is uh i'd like to ask mr stein if i could
um mr chair yeah mr stein are you still available
Mr. Stein please raise your virtual hand again and chair we um do have one hand um up now okay
let's see what that means hi who is this this is Mr. Stanley Stein is that the person you have up
yes that's who I would like that that's the owner of the property you've already he's already been
sworn thank you Mr. Stein you heard the comments from Mr. DeLugos with regard to
that front area in the property. What is your plan for that front area for the property?
We're going to use it for storage space. And with regard to, he stated it's currently in efficiency,
what are you currently using it as? Storage space. And that's for your personal storage space?
Yes. All right. And with regard to the interior garages, what would it require for you if you were
What would it require for you if you were to have to comply with the suggestion of the RCO?
to have to comply.
What would it require you to have to do?
I would have to tear up all the concrete because all the plumbing is actually underneath the concrete built in.
And the sewer lines and water lines and gas lines.
And would that be economically feasible for you?
it would be it i wouldn't be able to do because i wouldn't be able to afford to do it
and with regard to the rear of the property um would you be able to um economically afford
what it is that they're suggesting no okay thank you thank you planning commission uh chair just
one one hand is up oh sure
calling you so you can unmute yourself hi could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
please peter jacobs p -e -t -e -r j -a -c -o -b -s you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth i do you see okay uh good morning to the board and to everyone
uh i did communicate with some of the members of the rco after the meeting uh late last night
uh as i expressed to them and i know this board takes uh credibility into consideration
mr stein represented to the community members when asked by one of the i think it was a board member
if he lived in the neighborhood he said yes i live near the intersection of ryan avenue
and fairfield street uh mr board here i would i would object to this i mean excuse me i'm talking
ma 'am excuse me i am speaking now listen to me listen to me so we do take what we want to do is
this is about zoning we don't i don't i don't need any testimony about where he lives or anything
like that i guess my question would be where do you stand on the product project
sorry you can unmute yourself
hi why don't you just tell us where you stand on the project well i'm i'm opposed to it and uh
that building has been as it's been in its condition uh there is not as the i think you
asked mr chairman if there's other multiple housing obviously the answer was non -responsive
There is not other multifamily housing rents, you know,
rentals on the block of existing single family housings do not equate to
multifamily housing. So it is a different property.
And I'd also.
We lost you.
Okay. All right. Planning commission.
Hello. Yeah. Peter.
Hello.
he's been lost sir okay all right planning commission thank you chair bergman ian hegarty
for the philadelphia city planning commission board members the comprehensive plan recommends
no change to the existing rsa3 single family zoning at this location the existing structure
is a legal non -conforming building and uh it was the appellant's responsibility at the time of
purchase to know and understand the limitations of rsa3 zoning with regard to the dimensional
variance the dimensional requirements of the zoning code we don't don't feel create an economic
detriment for the applicant and with regard to the proposal to establish two family use here
we recognize the existing non -conforming structure presents unique physical condition however we
don't believe the applicant has substantiated why two dwelling units are the least variance necessary
to overcome whatever hardship may exist the city planning commission recommends that the board
deny both variances. Thank you. MI -2022 -003 -078 -4011 Meriden Street, I vote no.
Carol Tenere, my vote is no.
James Snell, my vote is no.
We can't hear you.
ish no saheed my vote is no mr chairman i had a problem with the internet oh it's okay thomas
that's fine and my vote is no thank you thank you council
number eight on my list mi2022 -003 -157 -425 -27 marple street
Douglas Stern is the attorney
Stern is the attorney.
Recommended support from the center
Recommended support from the Central Roxborough Civic Association
and also a letter of support from the neighbors at 431 Marple Street.
Mr. Stern will be rejoined as a panelist, sir.
Mr. Chair, this is Hillary.
I just want to note for the record that we did receive the tax clearance document that was requested.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Mr. Stern.
Hi, Mr. Stern.
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Douglas Stern, S -T -E -R -N, attorney for applicant.
Could you identify your client, please?
Yes, it's Urban Development Corporation and their corporate officer and owner, Paul Messick, is here.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Hi, good morning. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance a copy of the refusal or
referral photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing and have you met
with the rco and do you have a letter yes okay you may proceed and your screen's already up okay
wait i'm trying to do it get the
share the screen
okay so 425 -427 Markle Street we're asking for a zoning variant so it can be
used for storage for the business my client trades under nine property 911 recovery and
the property has always been basically industrial warehouse. It isn't adapted for overnight
accommodations. So the reason we're here is we got a zoning violation saying that it wasn't
properly zoned for this use. It's always been used as a storage warehouse. Says it on that
atlas paperwork i'll get to the pictures in a minute
and as you can see
well mr stern nothing's open as of yet we we see your different files but nothing's open
i thought it was shared
i thought it opened up it's on my screen i'm not sure why it's not appearing on your screen
Mr. Stern, I think you need to unshare and then open the documents and then reshare.
Unshare.
All right.
So, share.
is this coming up now no not yet because it keeps saying share screen yes so you will have to have
your documents open first before you hit that uh share screen button all right let me try to open
it no i think you have to go out first right yes you need to yep there you go you need to unshare
and then open the documents and then and then share you're still sharing your screen prior to
having the documents open let me see
is it working now well yes okay so i'm just going to go down it so that was the appeal
yep that's the refusal saying it's not zone the whole block is just residential except for this
property and as i was stating this property is continuous use from whenever it was developed
has always been some type of warehouse storage the only zoning activity and as you notice on
atlas it's you see all the owners were all a roofing company all businesses that just
all businesses that just use it for basic storage. Nobody's running a business out of it. It's just
use it for basic storage nobody's running a business out of it
for the storage. And then the building description, it comes up no matter where you look,
industrial warehouse, masonry. That's because when you'll see the pictures, it's only three
garages in the front, a lot, and then some structure that's not adapted for overnight
accommodation, which is a garage -type area for additional storage.
And, you know, these are the little dimensions.
There's not much to it.
So when you'll see the three garages, one's used for an entry, a little lot that's open area, and then the garage staff building.
And that's what my client runs his business out of.
And then I showed you that prior zoning history where the only thing that they asked to build were three garages in the front, sort of just to make it instead of a wall in the front, they just put garages.
which is granted 1948 nothing else has ever been done with the property since then
and then when my client bought it he saw that other businesses were using it and that's why he
got it and then so then you have a letter of support this is an RCO letter in support
the deed showing my client bought it in his corporate name and then
let's see do you have any pictures of the property yeah let me I'm trying to open up a picture here
let me just see okay
try to open this up
all right all right so you see this first picture yes the fourth garage is there but
this is from the inside a lot area you sort of see right here right looking out so the only way
to ingress and exit this property is you open up the one garage here and it sort of takes you right
in right all right let me stop that i i got to keep opening them up individually so hold on one
second
All right, sorry, let me get a, but that's, sorry, that's the same one.
All right, that's a picture looking from the outside in, and you'll see the second structure here, which is more of a warehouse.
okay type let me stop with that one um just give me one when the front of the building where
where it's yeah i'm sorry yeah let me just go down to that sort of had a number there
front of building okay let me open that one up
okay so here's the front this is what they did in 1948 that's fine that's fine thank you
brick and you see that and then that's the front okay so so so what is your client here
yes he is so why don't we get your client on he'll adopt your testimony yes basically what
you're saying is this property's been here since 1948 and the central roxburgh civic association
supports it yes that's all it's ever been used for and like i said the business he doesn't see
clients there doesn't do anything there it's just for storage so there's no additional traffic
Let's get your client on.
Paul Messa, hit the raise hand button.
Mr. Messa has been allowed to speak.
Yes, hello.
This is Paul Messa.
Sir, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Yes, my name is Paul Messa, P -A -U -L -M -E -S -S -A.
Great, thank you.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Council proceed.
Yes, Mr. Messa, you just heard my testimony.
Do you adopt that as true and correct?
Yes, I do.
Have anything to add?
No, I don't.
Well, I'll just say that we don't have customers or anything there.
We work remotely.
We just store in that building.
And just briefly, how long have you been in business before we got this code violation complaint?
Well, at that at that property, I was there since 2016. I incorporated in 1998.
No, I got that. I just want to know if that's how long you've been there before we got this complaint in 2022. Is that correct?
So I got that. I just want to know if that's how long you've been there before we got this complaint in 2020.
Yes, since 2016.
16. Thank you.
Okay. Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Mr. Chair, I have Mr. Hiram Patel. He had his hand raised. I have allowed him to speak at this time.
Sure. Sir, could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please?
Yes. Hi, my name is Hiran Patel, H -I -R -E -N -P -A -T -E -L. I hope you can hear me.
Right. Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed.
Yes. So I live directly next door at 421 and 423 Markle Street.
and um basically to begin with the fact that they say that it's strictly used for storage is
categorically false um the business property recovery 9 -1 -1 is a property recovery business
that from when you have fire water damage and what happened that's a 24 -hour business that
business is registered to that address the employees he has at least six to eight employees
they come here every day six days a week they run four vans out of here so it's not storage
okay this is an active commercial business on a completely residential street so that's the
problem this it's an rsa sir sir listen to me did you attend the central roxford civic association
meeting i was not able to attend that for prior obligations okay all right so you're you're you're
against the variance? Correct. Okay. Thank you for calling in. We appreciate your time.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Further answer, Mr. Chair. Planning Commission. Thank you, Chair Bergman. Ian Hegarty for the
Philadelphia City Planning Commission. Board members, the comprehensive plan recommends
no change to the RSA 5 single -family zoning at this location. However, the proposed use is
consistent with the physical configuration of the existing buildings on the lot, as we've seen
in testimony from council. The City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant
the use variance. We would just ask the board to consider a proviso that states no outdoor
storage of materials or equipment be permitted. MI 2022 -003 -157 -425 -27 Markle Street. I vote yes,
with proviso no storage of materials or equipment outside carol tenary my vote is yes
with proviso thomas holloman my vote is yes with proviso james snell yes with proviso
thank you council thank you so next one we'll hear three together
MI 2022 -003 -190 -3929 Fairmount Avenue, along with MI 2022 -003 -186 -3941 Fairmount Avenue,
and MI202 -003 -188 -3931 Fairmount Avenue.
Meredith Farrell -Lagger is the attorney.
We have, let's see here.
Recommendation of support from the Mantua Civic Association.
Ms. Ferliger will be rejoining as a panelist, sir.
Thank you, Jason.
Morning, Mr. Chairman.
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Certainly.
Meredith Ferliger, F -E -R -L -E -G -E -R, 1500 Market Street, Suite 3500E.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I sure do.
Could you identify your client in a relationship to the three properties?
Certainly.
My client is 617 Brooklyn Associates, LLC, which is represented here today by Burkeem and
Gladen.
And he is the owner of the property via deed in September 21.
You'll note that the refusals do still list the old owner.
Could you, our vice chair has a few questions for you.
Hi, Meredith.
is have you do you agree to weigh the reading of the refusal and stipulate to their accuracies
i do for all three okay have you emailed the exhibit packet for all three consisting of
Okay. Have you emailed the exhibit packet for all three, consisting of proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal, referral, photos, and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
Yes, to all of the above, and that would apply to all three properties.
Okay, great. You may proceed, and your screen's already up, so that's good.
Good morning, board members. Again, Meredith Verlager with Dilworth Paxson. The three properties that are before you today are located at 3929, 3931, and 3941 Fairmont Avenue. The exhibit packet in front of you has 17 exhibits that I will walk you through.
Allow me to first orient you to the location of these properties.
As you can see here on the aerials at Exhibit 10, the properties sit between North 39th Street and Union Street in Mantua, West Philadelphia.
This block contains a mix of vacant land and vacant structures, several existing structures, as well as a few newly erected buildings.
Now the arrows that I have here show you the general location of the three properties that
are before the board. 3929 and 31 are both the infill section here, and then 3941 is a little
bit farther down the block. You'll also notice the 39th and Olive playground, which is just to
the rear of these properties. Turning to the photographs at exhibit 17, you'll again note
the general mixed condition of this particular block. This first photo shows 39, 29, and 31
Fairmount in this vacant area here, which does sit next to an existing three -story home, a row
of three -story homes, as well as dilapidated structure to the left. The next photo shows you
the general vacant land area that does include 3941 Fairmount Avenue to the left.
Looking east, you'll note the mix of existing and this new three -story structure.
Now, if you refer to the zoning map here at Exhibit 9, you will see that these properties
are all now zoned RSA 5, having been one of the many blocks that was previously zoned
RM1 prior to the 2017 Mantua rezoning, which is included at Exhibit 4. Now, these three identical
proposals are shown on our zoning plans at Exhibit 6. I'll just leave one up on the screen. Like I
said, they are identical. All three of these proposals propose the erection of a new three -story
structure on each of the lots. Each of the new buildings will contain two dwelling units.
The elevations are shown here at Exhibit 7. Now, it's somewhat hard to tell on the elevations.
You can kind of see this white line here that is supposed to represent the porch. You can see it a
little bit better on the zoning plans, but these have been designed to be consistent with the
existing homes on the block, which are all three stories and include front porches. So you can see
here where it notes that it will be aligned with the adjacent properties, there's a front yard
setback, and there will be a porch. Each of these bi -level units will be roughly 1 ,700 square feet
with two or three bedrooms and three bathrooms. Consistent with the design for these quite large
units these units will be sold as condominiums the lower unit will have access to the large rear yard
while the upper unit will have access to the private roof deck so each of these units is
designed to have its own exterior space now regarding the refusals each of the proposals
received only one refusal each for the proposed two -family use no dimensional variances are
requested and in fact these proposed structures not only comply with the provisions of the code
but are quite a bit smaller than the code would permit for these lots further to the developer's
goal of remaining consistent with the surrounding three -story character of this block. Now we do
submit to a hardship given both the history of the properties as well as the context of the
neighborhood and this block. In regards to 3941 Fairmount, that property we were able to document
has never contained a single family use. Let me zoom out a little bit, but as you can see up on
the screen right here at exhibit 13, this property was a three -family dwelling dating back to the
This property was a three -family dwelling dating back to the 40s, and amusingly enough,
this history even shows that back in the 40s, a variance was sought, and the presumable attorney
at the time even noted the existence of other multifamily properties on this block even back
then. There was no history available for 39, 29, or 31, which both have appeared to be vacant land
for many decades and do not appear to have ever contained a single -family dwelling in any recent
history. Erecting a new single -family home on each of these lots would also represent quite a
deviation from the predominantly two - and three -family dwellings that currently exist on this
block. As you can see up here at Exhibit 14, this map identifies the multifamily uses on this block
of Fairmont Avenue, which are predominantly a mix of two and three family dwellings.
Now, this map, I only identified multifamily dwellings on this block of Fairmont Avenue,
but my memorandum of law that I included at Exhibit 11 includes a long list of additional
two and three family dwellings on the surrounding blocks on Union Street, as well as on North 39th
Street. Now, these two condominiums proposed for each of the dwellings here will represent a
natural blend of the existing multifamily with the several single -family homes that are on this
block as well. We submit that the number of proposed units is the least minimum. For comparison's sake,
if this property were still zoned RM1, the RM1 zoning would permit up to four units per property
based on the lot size. These duplexes are less dense than many of the surrounding occupancies.
We submit that these proposals will not increase congestion, harm neighbors' properties,
or impair light and air. As described in detail, these homes were designed to align with the
existing homes on this block. A full analysis is provided in my memo of law at Exhibit 11,
and I'd be happy to touch on any particular point in more detail. Now, with respect to the community,
we did meet with Mantua back in September in a meeting that included several of the near
neighbors that live on this block. That discussion resulted in the overwhelming vote and support
that's in your packet at tab 16, and I'll just bring that up on the screen. And I do believe
that at least one immediate neighbor is on today hoping to express her support for the proposal.
So at this time, I would ask for the administrator to look for Brahim Engladen to adopt my testimony.
He's been allowed to speak.
Sir, could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please?
Hi, good morning, everyone. My name is Brahim Engladen, I -G -H -L -A -D -E -N.
All right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do. Proceed, counsel. Thank you. Brahim, have you heard all my testimony presented to the
board today? Yes. And would you agree that testimony was true and accurate, and would
you adopt it as if it were your own for all three properties? Absolutely. Thank you.
Questions from the board? No, Mr. Chairman.
no mr chair okay questions or comments from the virtual audience
i have a miss monica waits with her hand raised i have allowed her to speak at this time
hi could you state your name please and spell for the court reporter
Yes, my name is Monica Waits, M -O -N -I -C -A, last name W -A -I -T -S, and I am the owner of
the property at 3927 Fairmount.
Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed with your testimony, and thank you for calling.
wanted to give support to this to this variance for the properties next to me and that I think
it would blend in with the neighborhood in with with having a mix of homeownership renters and
with them having a two unit versus some are three and some are one so I think that would be
helpful for the zoning and the mix of making this block a varied block and not homogenous
Thank you very much for calling in. We appreciate your input. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
thank you very much for calling in we appreciate your input
I do not see any hands, Mr. Chair. Planning?
Thank you, Chair Bergman. Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
City Planning Commission will recommend on 3929, 3931, and 3941 Fairmount Avenue collectively.
In 2017, the zoning map was amended on this block face from RM1 to RSA 5, and this was done in accord with a community -led neighborhood remapping.
This change was enacted intentionally with the support of the Neighborhood Association and City Council to encourage single -family infill on vacant lots in this neighborhood.
We acknowledge the presence of legal non -conforming multifamily dwellings on this block.
however, given the clear intent of the 2017 neighborhood remapping, we argue that these
buildings cannot be the only grounds for establishing hardship in this case. We further
argue that the appellant's hardship claim is not supported with evidence of unique physical
circumstances or conditions of these properties. The prior uses are not valid bases for establishing
hardship since all three lots have been cleared of all structures. The appellant is instead relying
on economic hardship owing to the conditions of the adjacent buildings and the estimated return
on investment the city planning commission recommends that the board deny the variances
for all three properties may i respond briefly mr chairman you you can thank you um just two
two quick things um this board knows that i am often in front of this board for for cases in
mantua and what mantua has explained to me and i certainly don't want to speak for them
is that they supported rezoning this area to allow the community to have more of a say in
what goes on in their community. And by rezoning everything to RSA 5, that allows Mantua and the
community to really have a participation in new proposals that go on in their community.
And the intent was not so much to encourage single family as much as it was to ensure that
where proposals like this came in front of them, that they would have the opportunity
to determine, does this fit within that community, within that block?
The other thing that I'll point out is that since 2017, the board should note that the
only new single families in this area, generally speaking, have been tax credit deals for
developers that are able to secure, you know, tax benefits for building single family.
Otherwise, generally speaking, there has been no single family development. And that is especially
true on this block, where a three family was just built by variance. So I just want to point
those two things out. Thank you for your input. Thank you. MI 2022 -003 -190 -3929 fair amount
and MI 2022 -003 -186 -3941 fair amount and MI 2022 -003 -188 -3931 fair amount.
I vote yes for all three.
Carol Teneri, I vote yes for all three.
Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes for all three.
James Snell, my vote is yes to all three.
James Snell, my vote is yes for all three.
Thank you, Councilor.
Thank you.
Have a wonderful day.
All right.
Number 10 on my list, MI -2022 -003 -150, 1301 North 27th Street.
Letter of support from Brewery Town, Sharswood Community Civic Association.
Joseph Consol is the attorney.
Consol will be rejoining as a panelist, sir.
Thank you.
Hey, Joe Consul. Hi, Mr. Consul. Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Yes, it's Joseph, J -O -S -E -P -H, Consul, C -O -N -S -O -L -E. Right. Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
I do. Could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
Yeah. Both of my clients, I believe, are on one Zoom, Ronald Cornwall and Sarah Fine, husband and wife.
Okay. And our, our vice chair has a few questions.
I'm Mr. Consul. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
i do have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance?
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 yes to all okay great you may proceed
and begin with sharing your screen that work that worked all right so just to orient you all to the
property it's the corner of thompson and 27th that's the view from 27th street it's the view
from thompson street uh this property uh its last approved use was a restaurant on the first floor
with a single family home above in 2018 when it was renovated it was zoned cmx2 and uh then
And so the builder put a commercial space on the first floor.
There's the one window and a single family home above.
So they mimicked the previously approved use on that property.
However, between 2018 and when the property sold, it got rezoned as RSA 5, which is why we're here.
And so the owners of the property now, Ron and Sarah, moved their family, their two children, into the single -family home above and wished to run a combination of a retail space centered around skateboard and skateboard accessories, as well as a coffee shop that's – there's no kitchen involved.
they'll just be doing takeaway prepared foods. So I've got my packet, the refusal. The refusal
is basically saying, hey, this can't be a CMX2 consumer foods and prepared food shop prohibited
in RSA 5 and multiple principal uses also prohibited, which is the single family home
and the retail space on the ground floor. We met with the RCO. We have full support,
both from the zoning committee and from the community everyone seemed to think it was a
great idea and also recognized the previous uses of the property as well as the fact that when it
was renovated it was uh a it had to be renovated that way or else i i don't believe that it would
have been but here we are we've got someone that wants to fill the space and live above
there's the letter with mailing we got our plans we submitted them just to
show everyone what the interior layout of the property would be it's gonna be a
retail space like we said and they already live above it's their house you
need those some more photos photos of our signs another photo from the street
proof of ownership and proof of taxes being cleared we sent over the tax cleanup certificate
earlier this morning we got it yesterday um there's not a whole heck of a lot to it
um i call ron and or sarah whoever is at the button to raise their hand and adopt my
testimony. Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
My name is Ronald Cornwall, R -O -N -A -L -D -C -O -R -N -W -A -L -L. Right. Do you swear or affirm to
tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Yes, sir. Proceed, counsel.
Good morning, Ron. Did you hear my testimony right now regarding your property? I did.
was it accurate and do you uh do you adopt it as your own i do okay is there anything you'd like to
add to the board uh not particularly just that um i guess that uh we want to run a little mom and pop
being pop and mom up top where we want to just have a little store below and um and contribute
to the brewery town neighborhood thanks ron all right questions further questions from the board
No, Mr. Chair.
No, Mr. Chair.
No, Mr. Chair.
All right.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I do not see any hands, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commission.
Good morning, Chair.
Sarah Bond, Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
S -A -R -A -H, B as in boy, A -N -H.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing RSA 5 single -family zoning at this location.
However, the proposed use is consistent with documented previous uses on this property.
However, the proposed use is consistent with documented previous uses on this property.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Zoning Board grant the variance.
Thank you.
MI 2022 -003 -150 -1301 -North 27th Street, I vote yes.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Thank you, and thank you, Council.
My number 11 is MI -2021 -004 -961 -1802 Harlan Street.
Jack Hubbard is the attorney.
A letter of opposition from the RCO, which met in the 5th Council District's office.
Mr. Hubbard will be coming back in as a panelist, sir.
Good morning, Mr. Hubbard.
Mr. Hubbard?
Sorry, can you unmute yourself?
I apologize. Sure. Good morning, Mr. Hubbard. Could you state your name as spelled for the
court reporter? My name is Jack Hubbard, H -U -B -B -E -R -T. I'm the attorney for Creative Home
Renovations, which is the owner of 1802 Harlan Street. Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. Our vice chair has a few
questions okay good morning do you agree to wave the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its
accuracy yes i do have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance
a copy of the refusal or referral photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of
this hearing and have you met with the rco and do you have a letter yes to all great you may
proceed and begin with sharing your screen. Okay. Can you see my screen right now? I have a
map up of the neighborhood. Yes. Okay. So the property at issue is a vacant lot, 1802 Harlan.
And the plan is, it formerly was two separate smaller lots, one 12 foot wide, one 14 foot wide.
They were consolidated last year in order to build something that would be consistent with the neighborhood.
After the couple of vacant lots next door, there are five three -unit multifamily developments.
The units both behind and sort of catty corner on Master Street are all multi -unit developments, apartment buildings.
so our proposal would be to make a two -unit multi -family house on this combined lot
we have three um variance issues and i want to uh i want to change my screen right now
are there any questions about this particular screen before i switch
what's again out of curiosity what's across the street across the street uh maybe my client can
tell us exactly what's across the street. I don't actually know what's across the street.
All right, so we'll get to him when he testifies, but thank you. Okay.
Okay. So these are the variances that we need. We have one use variance. We have
requesting a two -family use in an RSA 5 zone. We have the minimum rear yard depth. We're looking
at four foot proposed there's also the nine foot is the requirement and we're looking at a maximum
coverage of 85 .2 versus the 75 that's required.
Both of these parcels as I said before both parcels were undersized they were combined
into one so that we could build this project instead of two really skinny small houses
we would build just this one bigger property for the two units that would go there.
Just to look at this size, this over here on the right side is the shape of 1802 Harlan and there's a few vacant lots in between similar shapes and then we get into the larger lots down the street where there's all three family developments.
developments. I have a couple pictures just if anybody's asking about the posting. That was the posting of our
I have a couple pictures, just if anybody's asking about the posting, that was the posting of our original and our continuance. These are all the postings.
This is a current picture of the lot.
Just a few other neighborhood pictures.
This is a rendering of the architect's drawing of what we would propose to put on 1802 Harlan.
These are the neighboring multi -family houses a couple of doors down after the vacant lots.
1814, 16, 1820, and 22 are all three family apartment buildings.
this is across the street the neighborhood contains a lot of multi -family not just on
harland street so when we met with the uh the rco uh their only concern that they raised with us
was uh density and we went back and looked at our plans again and there's really not anything
we could figure out to do. I mean, it used to be two lots, so it would have been the same kind
of density, whether we built two small single family homes or this one multifamily project on
the lot, which is why we continued the case in the first place to re -examine to see what we could do
to address their concern, but we just weren't able to come up with anything practical.
At this time, unless there are specific questions for me, I would ask Mr. Perlstein or Mr.
Yaskov to raise their hand so they could adopt my testimony.
All right.
I have one of the owners raise his hand, please.
Mr. Perlstein has been allowed to speak, sir.
Could you state your name, please, and spell it for the court reporter?
It's Michael Perlstein.
It's Michael, M -I -C -H -A -E -L -P -E -R -E -L -S -H -T -E -Y -N.
Right.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Michael, have you heard my testimony to the ZBA just now?
I did.
Do you agree with it and adopt my testimony as if it was your own?
Is there anything you want to add that I forgot?
not really when we did uh have the the one thing i want to mention when we did have the the meeting
with the local community they did not really raise question of condensity uh they did have
uh uh some issues with some other builders that cracked the payment uh pavement around and i
assured the the local community that if we would have done anything like that we would have fixed
it and i i thought we uh had a good meeting i didn't um i think uh we would get a post but
that's what happened okay all right um questions from the board no mr chair no mr chairman
questions or comments from the virtual audience mr chair miss mary uh jones has her hand raised
I have a letter to speak at this time. Good morning, Ms. Jones. Could you state your name
and spell for the court reporter, please? Good morning. Mary Jones, M -A -R -Y -J -O -N -E -S,
representing Council President Daryl Clark. Hi. Do you swear for him to tell the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? I do. Proceed. Yes. Our office, actually,
because there was no active RCO at this time.
We hosted this meeting earlier this year.
I was in attendance.
It was a virtual meeting.
And we heard a few cases,
but this is the only one where we had high attendance
from near neighbors who live directly across
from this property in the um in the blocks that the attorney claimed to not know what it was it's
all single family houses um it they are concerned about the added density and they were also
concerned about the construction and just there's the street is very small and um if you can tell
there's just it's like a a tea basically and when they're coming down their street
to turn um on to harlan it's just there's not a lot of room so they were concerned
So they were concerned about construction and what that impact was going to be.
about construction and what that impact was going to be and it was
And it was something that there was no assurances really made or nothing put in writing at that time.
And we thought we were going to hear back from them, but no one made an attempt to reach out to the community again.
And so they were just very concerned about this property and adding more cars to a tiny area.
and um and so that's why they came to the position of opposite opposing this project
and the council president does support that position okay thank you thank you for calling in
um anyone else in the verse audience
i see no further hands mr chair planning commission thank you chair bergman ian hegarty
for the philadelphia city planning commission board members in 2016 the zoning map was amended
on this block from rm1 to rsa5 and recommend in accord with recommendations from the comprehensive
plan the proposed dimensional variances for rear yard depth and occupied area are warranted we
believe in this case given the shallow and small lot however the proposed variance for two family
use we find unnecessary and unrelated to the physical constraints of the lot city planning
Commission recommends that the Board grant the dimensional variances, but deny the use variants.
In my 2021 -004 -961 -1902 Harlem Street, I vote no to the use variants and yes to the
zoning refusal minimum yard and exceeds maximum occupied area.
Mr. Chair here, let me simplify that. You can vote yes with a proviso, dimensional variances granted, only granted, or something like that. Yes to dimensional variances only, yes.
okay so why don't okay fine so i i vote yes to uh dimensional variances only
and no two -family household living yeah that could that could work you could just
yeah that that that's fine yes we'll work with that thank you thank you uh carol tenery my vote
is yes with provisos. Tom Solomon, my vote is no. James Snell, my vote is yes with provisos.
James Snell, my vote is no.
Okay, so let's just get this straight. So what's approved is the size of a property you want to
bill but you can't have you can't have a duplex right that that is correct Mr. Chair the two
the two -dimensional variances were approved but the use refusal was denied all right and
everybody's okay with that right yes Mr. Chairman okay thank you thank you
thank you counsel thank you my number 12 mi2022 000401 6022 on the street
zhen jin is the attorney
letter of support from 40th ward republicans
good morning good morning good morning could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
please yes uh zen jen z h n last name is 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?
Could you identify your client in the relationship to the property?
Mr. Edward Pronay is the owner of the property.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Hi, Mr. Jen.
Do you agree to waive the reading out of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
have you emailed the exhibit packet with 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 uh yes to all questions okay great you may proceed
and begin by sharing your screen thank you i'm going to share with the board the exhibit that was
Thank you. I'm going to share with the board the exhibit that was presented as part of this application. Can the board see my screen on their screen?
presented.
Excellent. Thank you. So we have submitted a copy of refusal, the support letter that was emailed to us from 40th Ward. However, it is part of a coalition of RCOs that participated, photos, plans, and related documentation.
This application is essentially a legalization request for a property that is located in the RSA -5 zoning district.
My client purchased the property in its existing condition, which is structurally set up as a two -family duplex unit.
When we met with the RCO, and their letter is attached here, when we met with the RCO, we are receiving support from the local RCOs because the two -family residential unit set up is actually needed in the community.
This building also was a two -family before.
It's not something that was converted.
It's structurally set up as a two -family.
there will be no negative impact from the approval of this use because it has been there for some
time. The only thing they ask for is that they want to make sure that each unit's sub -metered
so that they don't have each unit paying for the common area. Now, there are two electrical
meters already. What the community is saying is we want the hallway to be separately metered so
that tenants won't be the one paying for what is hallway lights. And that's something my client
doesn't really have an issue with. We can work that out so that the tenants will not ever have
to pay for what is common area electric or it's properly attributed. Now, not every RCO participated,
but again, we have support from the RCO. The best way to understand the existing conditions is
through the photos. As you can see, this property is in the middle of the block. There are other
similar uses on the block based on my conversation with the RCO. That is part of the reason they
support the proposed use. The building has two kitchens, one on the first floor and one on the
second floor. The inside is all existing. It will be renovated in the sense that appliances will be
updated. There will be paint. There will be work to make sure the space is properly refurbished
before someone else is allowed to move into it. One of the unit is occupied. The other one was
vacated to make sure that we comply currently with the permitted uses. The floor plan, which
I'm going to show now, is what is existing. You can clearly see that the entryway itself has been
separated so that once you enter on the porch and the main entry, there's a second door that leads
to steps to the second unit. And then the first floor is the first unit. Each unit has its own
kitchen, and it's a two -bedroom, one -bedroom setup. So essentially, because it's pre -existing,
reconverting it would be a hardship to my client. Also, the community understands that this size
units actually works well with what
their needs are and support that
particular proposal.
My client is available to verify
my testimony and he is standing
by and I'll be happy to answer
any other questions or any questions
from the zoning board relating to this
application. Why don't we have your
client adopt your testimony?
Sure. Mr. Prone, can you
raise your hand virtually to be identified?
Mr. Prone has been allowed to speak
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Hello, my name is Edward Perone, E -D -U -A -R -D, last name P -R -O -N -A -Y.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Mr. Perone, you heard and saw my presentation to the zoning board?
Can you verify what I have represented is true and correct and adopt it as your own testimony?
Thank you.
Council, before I open it up to the board, could you show the rest of the block what it looks like with multifamily dwellings?
So I don't have a specific picture of the entire block, Chairman.
What I have was an overlay picture from the maps.
So it's essentially similar style buildings throughout the block.
Right. And there are a mix of single and multifamily.
uh and again this was represented to me at the community meeting that yeah they're aware of the
And again, this was represented to me at the community meeting that.
uses around it okay good thank you questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman no mr
questions or comments from the virtual audience
planning committee that's mr chair thank you chair bergman in hegarty for the philadelphia
city planning commission board members in 2019 the zoning map was amended in this area to promote
single family use on row home blocks such as this one however the proposed use is consistent with
the physical configuration of the existing building as has been demonstrated by council
the city planning commission recommends that the board grant this variance thank you mi 2022
000 401 6022 almond street i vote yes carol tenere my vote is yes thomas holloman my vote is yes
ishmael shaheed my vote is yes
thank you counsel thank you may i be excused yes thank you
My number 15, MI 2021 -005 -284 -2086 Hain Street. Diane Manning is the applicant pro se.
Hang on. Do we have an RCO letter here?
no mr chair we do not have an rco letter and we did not receive proof that notices went out for
an rco meeting all right let's let's we'll get we'll get the other one diane manning
miss manning if you're in the audience please raise your virtual hand
okay she's in okay thank you
miss manning can you unmute yourself
yes i'm here hi miss manning could you uh state your name and spell for the court reporter
diane manning d -i -a -n -e m -a -n -n -i -n -g do you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth yes have you had an rco meeting yes and do you have a letter yes
okay have you sent a letter into our office yes the person that um
from the rto said they sent everything on friday
okay to the zoning board
uh hillary do we have anything um i'll double check but i had not seen anything
um when was the so um Ms Manning can you um let me know when was the meeting held and what was
the RCO that you met with um that was May the 18th and it was
William Berg Bergman Bergman that's the zoning board chair
the 10th ward rco okay and you met with them back in may yes may 18th okay all right um i will look
to see if we have a letter but i may need you to to send that that in are you able to show it on
your screen yes it actually should be with everything else that i have i'm trying to see
how we'll pull that up. All right. Okay. So, why don't our vice chair ask you a few more questions?
And, Ms., can you start your video, please?
Okay. 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 and or plans of the property
five days in advance of this hearing and have you met with the rco and do you have a letter
yes to everything okay this application is for use as personal services on the first floor of
an existing structure there are no signs on this permit one use refusal whereas the proposed use
personal services is expressly prohibited in the RSA 5 residential zoning district.
So you may proceed and begin by sharing your screen.
So you may proceed and begin by sharing your screen.
So, Ms. Manning, you should open up your documents and then share your screen with
the green button on the bottom. Okay.
Then you just have it.
Okay, do you have your documents open?
I'm trying to get to it.
Okay, so someone can offer some help here.
so if you pull your thumb drop out and pull it back in will that do it
what kind of computer do you have uh macbook air okay
do you see your documents on the computer
no i did before i got called it was right up to my left hand and i don't see it anymore
i'm not um familiar with mac dp uh z
not too familiar but you need to find you you'd have to still find your documents
i we can only help with the zoom part
it was just up there like
so miss manning this is what we're going to do we have a couple other cases we're going to go on
with the other cases, we'll come back to you. So see if you can't find your documents. We'll
come back to you in like maybe 20 minutes or a half hour. Okay. Okay. Thank you. All right. Thank
you. My number 16, MI 2022 -003 -142 -3318 Bowman Street. Sandra Baptiste is the owner, Pro Se.
um we have a letter of non -opposition from the east falls community council
also the adjacent neighbor has has sent in an email
sandra bacti please we've been promoted to panelists sir okay
hi good morning good morning could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please
It's Sandra Bapte, S -A -N -D -R -A -B -A -P -T -I -E.
All right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
So our vice chair has a few questions for you, okay?
Hi, Sandra.
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal,
referral, photos, and or plans of this property five days in advance of this hearing?
and have you met with the RCO and do you have a letter? Yes to all of those. Okay great this is
an application for the erection of an addition to an existing attached structure including the
legalization of a deck at the rear for the documentation of one existing accessory off
street surface parking space and one existing accessory interior parking space for single
family household living there are two use refusals in the case of attached buildings
stairs from the ground level to the deck are prohibited and two the vertical where whereas
the vertical supports of a deck must be 18 inches from the lot lines but three of the vertical
supports are not compliant they are each 13 inches 10 inches four and a half inches respectively from
10 inches, 4 1⁄2 inches, respectively, from the side lot line.
on the sideline.
So you may proceed and begin sharing your screen.
Thank you.
So first, I'd just like to explain that my husband and I helped our daughter buy this
house um last year in june june 21 and um it's uh located about 10 houses down from henry avenue
at the top of the hill this is the reservoir in east falls um this uh zoning uh image from the
zoning from the assessor's uh rather um web page shows uh it has a front yard it's a row house
and it has a a backyard that is on a private alley and um when uh we bought this house we
knew we wanted to renovate the kitchen so that's what spurred this project we wanted to help our
daughter renovate this kitchen so here's a front yard view of the house um here's the view from
the alley um showing the existing deck with the non -conforming columns a parking space under the
deck and the garage door and then there's a back door here and I have some better photos are these
all um can you see the whole screen we're good we're fine okay um so here's a plan of what um
we're proposing to do the yellow is the renovation of the kitchen and then we wanted to add a small
addition here which is basically under the bedroom bay and over the garage so it's within the
footprint of the existing building and then on the existing deck we wanted to cut out a portion
and add a stair down to grade. This shows the stair footprint at the grade, shows the driveway,
the back door and the garage so here's a better photo of of the um where the parking space would
be this is the neighbor's car uh and the deck existing deck could you could you show them that
where the stairs would be um it would be cut out of the floor of the deck here oh i see okay would
start lined up with the edge of the deck and go up okay all right later I have a rendering that
shows this okay thank you and so when we applied for the permit we found out that the deck probably
wasn't applied but didn't have a permit when it was built um and the so the previous owner built
it without a permit and the columns were too close to the property line but we think they've
been there since the 1990s. We don't know for sure. So here's a view under the deck where the
stair would be and showing one of the other columns. So this is up at the deck level and
this area is the part we want to fill in. We want to break out through this wall, line it up with
this wall and so here you can see the bedroom bay above and the garage falls under this wall.
Interior view of the kitchen. This is the basement stair up to the kitchen which is
very steep and we consider it dangerous. Me and Zoe's father really are very uncomfortable using
this stair. Here's a floor plan of what the project will look like when it's done with the
new stair and landing. This part is the addition. This is the existing vestibule, but it's going to
be essentially rebuilt with a door and a window. And this is the existing brick wall that has to
be modified to open it up. Here's a rendering showing the new stair in this turquoise blue
color and the three columns that are non -conforming. Here's another view showing that you will be
able to walk under the stair to the to the parking space. In this diagram I've numbered
the columns so you know which is which in the following photographs. So number three and four
and five are the steel columns that we're asking for a variance for. And so starting with number
three, it's 10 inches from the property line. And you can see this is the neighbor's property.
um it's 10 inches from the property line and you can see this is the neighbor's property and they
have a column and a deck there too and then uh column number four is 13 inches from the property
line and then column number five is four and a half inches and this one is the most inboard one
you know and is least you know susceptible to being hit by anything like a car
um so again here's another view column number five and i just want to point out column number
one and two are wooden columns that we are replacing with new footings um and adding a
beam to support um before um we assume that before the seller put this house on the market
She added those columns and we want to properly, you know, have them supported.
This is a view from the alley, from the deck looking east up towards the reservoir.
So this is our deck. This is the neighbor's deck.
And this is the view in the other direction.
Our deck is this corner. There's one house that doesn't have a deck.
and then this is the the next property has a deck here's a view straight on you can see
these um three houses have a deck this is ours in the middle and um oh and so um my daughter's
here she's the occupant of this house and i wondered whether she could also speak
um i i think you've made a you you presented the case i i you know i'm not sure what was
she could she could add right now okay well she took this these following photographs i just want
that i just wanted to finish the presentation where's this steps there this is um these these
are photographs of neighbors with death showing that it's common neighborhood and so we added
those just to show you that you know other people have these stairs and then this is my letter from
the um the rco um hillary langer just uh no op no non -opposition and then both of our immediately
adjacent neighbors wrote letters of support for this project and i um added that to the presentation
and okay that's what i wanted to present and i have all the other documents i i noticed that
the attorneys you know presented the refusal and the letter we're fine we we have copies of all
that okay all right questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman no mr chairman
questions or comments from the virtual audience
mr chair we have a miss joey mender baptie with her hand raised i have allowed her to speak at
this time sure hi could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please good morning
my name is zoe linder bapty first name z -o -e last name is hyphenated the first part is l -i -n -d -e -r
second part is bapty b -a -p -t -i -e um i'm the hold on one minute do you swear for him to tell the
truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do proceed thank you um i'm the owner occupant of
house my parents are my mother is presenting the appeal and um thank you for the opportunity to
go through what we're asking for obviously i uh support the request for variants okay thank you
um and i just wanted to say it's the project is really a kitchen renovation project and we're
just trying to make everything else in the house legal and conforming with the request for variant
all right well well thank you very much for calling in we appreciate that yeah anyone else
from the virtual audience?
Mr. Hillary Langer
has her hand raised.
I have allowed her to speak at the time.
Could you state your name
and spell for the court reporter, please?
Hillary Langer.
H -I -L -A -R -Y
L -A -N -G -E -R.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do. Proceed, Mr. Langer.
I'm chair of the East Falls
Community Council Zoning Committee. We had our meeting and I would like to state that
absolutely as an RCO we are in support of legalization and improvements to properties
such as this deck but as to the specific nature of the refusals such as the proximity of foundation
uh to a property line that we don't feel that's our purview uh so we are uh this is why in our
non -opposition we're referring the refusals to your decision okay thank you very much
referring the refusals to your decision okay thank you very much for calling in mr langer
okay planning commission
thank you chair sarah bond for the philadelphia city planning commission
the proposed dimensional variance for the columns is minimal and does not conflict with the purpose
and spirit of the zoning code the proposed variance for the stairs from the deck to the
ground floor although prohibited with attached buildings is consistent with nearby properties
the city planning commission recommends the board grant the variance thank you very much
mi 2022 003 142 33 18 bowman street i vote yes harold tenary my vote is yes thomas holliman
my vote is yes james snell my vote is yes
thank you thank you thank you thank you for okay um my let's see here 18 is a continuance
Right. So, My19, MI2022 -001 -994 -2547 South Broad Street. Victoria Scarpato is the owner. Leonard Ruger will be on for the city.
This is an L &I appeal.
Ms. Scarpato has joined in as a panelist.
Mr. Rorder will be joining in shortly.
Ms. Scarpato?
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Victoria Scarpato.
it's v -i -c -t -o -r -i -a s -c -a -r -p -a -t -o right um and you're the owner of the property
yes okay and i have my brother here he's the one that maintains the property for me
right so you're the only one can testify so do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth nothing but the truth yes and mr reuter could you state your name and spell for the
court reporter please sure of course uh may it please the board leonard freuder that's r -e -u -t -e -r
senior attorney for the city of philadelphia right do you swear a firm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do thank you sir so this is an appeal for an l &i
decision uh this is an appeal from a uh a zoning violation that was issued to the property there
There was a single notice of violation that included several violations were indicated.
One of them was a zoning violation that was appealed here.
The other violations are still pending at the Board of L &I Review.
So we'll have Ms. Scarpetta speak first.
Is that okay?
It's, you know, it's up to you.
I think with the violation appeal, unlike an appeal against L &I, you know, involving
the issuance of a permit uh this is a straightforward violation i think i can just
simply represent okay what the issue is so um upon inspection of the and i do apologize an inspector
was unable to appear this morning however i as attorney for the city i can represent um what
happened here sure and also i proposed a resolution um so upon inspection of the property uh back in
i think february uh the it was determined that the use had changed the use of the property had
changed so that this is a cmx2 property that's located at the intersection of south broad street
and chunk and as a cmx2 property it's required to have first floor commercial use or non -residential
use which it does in this case i think there's a medical office on the first floor and they are
permitted to have residential units on the upper floors. I believe it's a three -story building.
So per the code, CMX2 property can have one residential unit per 480 square feet of lot size.
Their current zoning permit is for first floor for the doctor's office or medical office and
for two units upstairs so the inspector determined that there were now three units upstairs they
didn't have permits for that that was uh in addition to that um zoning being a violation
of their existing zoning permit that triggered other violations and ultimately and again this
would be dealt with by the board of l and i review but ultimately those uh if they want to keep the
third unit they will be required to get a new certificate of occupancy and go through a lot of
be required to get a new certificate of occupancy and go through a lot of other things, such as
other things such
probably having to sprinklerize the building and so on and so forth. Those are not zoning issues
at this time. So the only issue before this board is they went from two residential units to three
residential units. But the fact is, this is a 1600 square foot lot. So they can get, they should be
able again i'm not a plans examiner it would have to go through l and i but they should be able to
apply for and obtain uh a third unit uh a third residential unit for the upstairs by right so i'm
not really sure why i mean we would be willing to uh we would ask the board to have this this
appeal mark city affirmed and we'd be happy to give them an additional 90 days to obtain the
zoning permit now again i just want to let ms scarpato know that the mere fact that she gets
she can get the zoning permit probably by right again there may be some other factors i can't but
they certainly should apply for it um because i don't think there's any dispute uh that there
were some alterations made to add a third unit um and again they could decide to get rid of that
unit which would require probably new building permits to remove uh the work that was done
but that's that but but anyway so she can either remove the third unit uh again which would require
Some wouldn't require a new zoning permit, but it would require building permits to, you know, remove the kitchen or bathroom or whatever else was added for the third unit.
Or she can try to legalize the third unit, which she should be able to at least start that process by getting a buy.
I believe she should be able to get a buy right new use permit to add the third unit.
So, so Miss Carpenter, did you hear that?
yes but that that has been three apartments every since the last 50 years it's never changed
it's always been like that yeah but i think what he's saying is you got to go down and get it you
get a permit right leonard i mean that's yeah the the only the the last zoning permits that we have
on file just show that it was two unit two there was one again the first floor commercial um and
then uh the two units upstairs so again it's it's i mean i know you'd have to pay the 125 bucks or
whatever it is for a resident for actually because it's a rental probably you need this would be a
200 permit but again it should be uh considered by right um the only thing i think is that you
may have to submit uh the floor plan which would demonstrate you know um to make sure that there's
enough space for the third unit and everything like that but again the the use for the third
permit again for 1600 square foot property she should be able to get three residential units by
right is that okay mrs scarpata yeah i guess so that that originally was two buildings though
made into one okay so but i think what we have to deal with what we have now okay so
So what do I have to do exactly? Could you tell me?
Leonard?
Yeah. I mean, again, I think, again, we have to be careful.
I can't give her legal advice, but I know.
I know. But I think what he's saying is you've got to go to L &I.
Why for a use for the third apartment?
You're just applying for a new zoning permit for, you know,
existing unit existing uses to remain addition you know and adding one additional uh residential
unit now again i'm not absolutely saying that this would be by right but no i understand they're
pretty sure it is and then if that's denied or refused then you can come back to the zoning board
for that so uh but again and it doesn't address the other violations which is which will still
have to be addressed so hillary most of them are done hillary yes yes our move today is to appeal
granted yes we're if we are affirming um the the city's issuance of the violation it is um it is
appeal granted yeah i'm sorry i i'm not sure i it should be so it's an appeal from a violation so
like at the board of l and i review it would be marked city of city oh i'm sorry you're right
city affirmed uh with right 90 day stay of enforcement okay yeah i'm sorry i did have it
backwards it actually would be it actually would be appeal denied if we're if we're affirming i'm
sorry thank you leonard all right good but but again with the with the 90 day stay of enforcement
okay we can we can do that that's fine so we'll just say appeal denied with 90 day stay of
enforcement right to give her time to make the application mi 2022 001 994 2547 south broad
Street. Appeal denied, 90 -day stay of enforcement. Carol Tenere, city affirmed, 90 -day stay of
Carol Tenere, city affirmed, 90 -day save enforcement.
Thomas Holliman, appeal denied, with proviso.
Is there any way I can make it 120 days?
And Mr. Chairman, that should have said appeal denied, but I said city affirmed.
That's okay.
James Snell, appeal denied.
Ms. Snell Shahid, appeal denied.
Thank you, everyone.
Thank you, and good luck, Ms. Scarpato.
Okay, so I think we're back to...
Mr. Chair, can we go...
to um excuse me um the okay find the number um be number six on your list yeah that's what i have
okay great yes the attorneys advised me that he is now available oh good mi2022 -003 -077 -1521
watford avenue justin crick is the attorney letter of support from the 50th ward democratic
executive committee. I believe the attorney is coming in through Diana Thompson. Okay. Yes,
yes, they've been promoted to Panama, sir. Good morning, members of the council. Could you,
could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please yes justin crick k -r -i -k
address is 1500 jfk boulevard suite 630 philadelphia pennsylvania 19102 right do you
swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do could you identify
your client their relationship to the property yes uh my client is dara anderson on behalf of
her company, Uptown Event Venue LLC. She is the tenant of the property. Okay, our vice chair has
a few questions. Hi, Mr. Crick. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate
to its accuracy? Yes. 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? The answer is yes to all, but for the tax clearance, which the owner is resolving an
issue that just came up, does not understand the reason for it, but is resolving that
momentarily. Great. This is Hillary. In terms of the real estate taxes, there was a zero balance
on there, so you're fine on that end. Thank you. Okay, you may proceed and begin with sharing your
screen. Thank you. Sure. Members of the board, I am here on behalf of Uptown Event Venue and
its proprietor, Dara Anderson, seeking a special exception for the property located at 1521
Wadsworth Avenue in Philadelphia. This is a commercial property listed at CMX2, and we have
an application for the use as an event center or for assembly and entertainment, which, as you are
aware, the code does elaborate and includes nightclubs and private clubs within an existing
structure. This district requires that a special exception be obtained in order to operate this
type of business. To orient you, the refusal, again, the only issue here is the special exception
referral. The orientation is the property is located on a commercial corridor along Wadsworth
Avenue between Bayard and Providence Street. From a satellite view, you can see the entire
row of buildings on this are basically one -story commercial, as well as the opposite side of the
Street on Wadsworth. And zooming out, we'll show you one of the telling points of this is that
there is a roughly 180 car parking lot that is used in connection with this entire commercial
corridor. That parking lot was one of the main reasons why neighborhood concerns of parking
were kind of addressed and quelled, as is seen in the neighborhood's letter of support.
From a front view, this property is the property with the roll -down gate in the Wadsworth Plaza.
in the Wadsworth Plaza. They are separate and distinct properties. Each storefront is a different
They are separate and distinct properties.
owner. It should be noted that the property next door is a salon that is owned and operated by
this same applicant. So she is looking to kind of expand her business into this event venue space
and doing so right next to a business that she's been operating successfully next door
of a different type, but for many years. Here's a picture of one view of the interior and another
view of the interior. What you have basically is just an open space floor plan. There are two
storage rooms in the back and a powder room, but mainly the event is to be used as, I'm sorry,
the space is to be used for events such as birthday parties, wedding gatherings, bridal showers,
baby namings and other life cycle events. It is specifically not to be a nightclub. With that,
there is no liquor license associated with the property. The applicant has advised the
neighborhood association that there will be nothing, no space or time in the space offered
available after midnight on weekends and between nine and 10 on weekdays. There will be private
security personnel and our cameras that will be available for every event and management will be
on site at every event. We have copies of the posting notice on the gate and exemplar copies,
the first page and signature page of the lease agreement for the space. You can see 1521 Wadsworth
avenue and signature lines are at the bottom this is um you know contingent upon obviously zoning
approval and then we have the 50th ward who offered a letter of support and provided a very
good detailed explanation of uh the conversations that were where the the neighborhood understood
and approve this project. And then we have the application and project information form for the
record. Members of the board, the applicant has shown that the use of this property as an event
space would not do anything to exceed that which would be normally expected of an event venue,
that it would not increase congestion in the public streets, given that this is a commercial
corridor with adequate parking already. It will not overcrowd the land, impair any air or light
rights of neighbors, burden the public facilities, again impair or injure a neighbor, endanger public
health, or be inconsistent with the city plan. And with that, I'd like to ask Ms. Anderson if
she is available to adopt my testimony. Hi, Ms. Anderson. If you could raise your hand.
Yes. Hi, could you state your name and spell it, please, for the court reporter?
Good morning. Dara Anderson, D -A -R -R -A -H, Anderson, A -N -D -E -R -S -O -N.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes. Proceed. Thank you. Ms. Anderson, have you had an opportunity to hear my statements made to
the board today? Yes. And would you accept those statements as true and correct? Yes. And would
you adopt those statements as if they were your own if you were allowed to testify? Yes. I'm sorry,
you are allowed to testify. I mean, if you did testify. Yes. All right. Very good. Very good.
And just curious, you are the owner of Uptown Event Venue?
Yes, I am.
All right.
Thank you very much.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Mr. Chair.
Aye, Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair.
Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
board members the proposed use uh will not present any detrimental impacts to the community beyond
what might be reasonably expected for such use and therefore we recommend that the board uh grant
this special exception all right mi 2022 003077 1521 wadsworth avenue i vote yes
Harold Tenere, my vote is yes
Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes
James Snell, my vote is yes
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes
Thank you, counsel
Thank you very much, have a good day
We want to go back to Haines Street
MI 2021
005284
Haines Street, Diane Manning
Haines Street, Diane Manning.
You've already been sworn
You've already been sworn.
Mr. Chairman, what number is that?
It's 15 on our original list, Carol.
That's the one she had a hard time at the computer.
Yeah, I have some mixed stuff here.
That's all right.
Ms. Manning?
How's our computer?
yes i found it okay thank you so get your files and you you can start sharing your screen mr chair
this is hillary i just wanted to let you know that we did receive a letter from the 10th
democratic board rco um and that letter is in support of the applicant's proposal okay thank you
it was right here
but that's not how the format that wasn't the format before
when you click on it will it come up because that that wasn't the format before until they
zoomed you in. Mr. Chair, this is Hillary again. We had not received the tax clearance and I just
checked the tax payments and there is an outstanding balance on this case. So if we
are able to move forward, we will not be able to vote on this case until the tax balance is
address. Thank you. Excuse me. My name is Tim Manning. I'm Diane's husband. We were having
problems with the computer as far as the tax clearance was concerned, but I do have a letter
from the Annette S. Acklin, Operation Manager of Philadelphia, GRB Law, stating that the taxes are
paid in full okay all right so what let's let's do this we heard you say that we need diane to get
her miss do you see the uh green uh share screen button yes so you would um push that button
after your files is open once you hit that button it'll allow you to pick a screen
and you can pick whatever your document's at
and click on it and then she'll open right up.
Thank you, LaKeisha.
Do you see the green button at the bottom?
Yes, we're going back to the files.
We had it open.
Oh, it's showing different now.
It's showing different since they opened you up.
Click on that and see what happens.
You might have to click that view screen and then exit full screen.
Is that it?
If it's on full screen.
Can you see what it came up?
Can you see that?
Close that out.
You're not going to get it like that.
The share screen.
I'm sharing the screen now.
Now, after the share screen, what did she ask you to do?
Open up what?
Hit the documents.
After you hit the share screen button, it will be like another screen,
and it will be showing like other things that's open on your computer.
Just click on your documents and click share.
Why did that come up?
Go back.
I was looking for it.
Share.
What does that do?
so diane how do we think you're doing with that
we had it up and it just whenever you whenever you click this on like we had the format
where it was open to us but once you click this on a different format is coming up now that's
not allowing us to share the document and i'm just trying to understand what's going on here
So if you want to maybe continue the case.
so if you want to um maybe continue the case they can reach out to the that's what i'm saying
and i'll work with a good date first what we'll do is sir uh diane yes we want you to get a hold
of the office right the zoning office they will help you prepare for the next time and what we'll
do is we'll continue this case and i'll see if we can't you know get you in a little bit quicker
than we normally do with most cases we'll get you back in and then we'll get you the next time okay
thank you sir okay okay so but i want you to call the office and they'll try to help you with that
and and that that way by that time we'll also have your tax information yes i was going to say and
and mr um miss miss manning um please send in that tax information because um sometimes there's
a delay between when you address the issue and when it shows up on the city system as being
address so if you could please forward that information to the same email you sent your
exhibits that would be great okay thank you have a great day all right thank you thank you or anyone
in the virtual audience whose case has not been called
no hands chair okay thanks everyone we did a lot of cases this morning
they moved through really well thank you see everyone at two o 'clock thank you
Thank you, chair. Have a good day. Thank you, chair. This is the court reporter. I had just a few intermittent glitches. It didn't interfere with making the record, but I am going to step out and then come back in just to let you guys know.
Well, we're okay, but we're done for the day, right, Kel? No, we're not. We're done till two. That's what I'm saying. It's at two o 'clock. Yeah.
Yes. I just want to, I'm going to close out and.
Okay, good. Fine. Thank you.
My, my internet's a little unstable.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, everyone.
My name is Bill Bergman and I will be chairing this afternoon's ZBA hearings.
With me is Carol Tenere our Vice Chair. Present Mr. Chairman. Ishmael Shahid our Board Secretary. Present Mr. Chairman. Thomas Holloman our Board Member. Present Mr. Chairman. And James Snell our Board Member. Present Mr. Chairman. Also here is our Board Attorney Hillary Emerson and our Board Hearing Supervisor Lakeisha Dandy.
Before we begin, let's look at our virtual format. Be advised the proceedings are being recorded. By participating, your knowledge agreement will be recorded. A video will be available by contacting tanyasunkett at phila .gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you're participating by phone, 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 the club.
And lastly, the question answer box on the screen is not for comments or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sumner.
So let's look at our continuances for this afternoon.
Number one, 2022 -003 -506 -2013 Germantown Avenue, Parcel A.
And also, number six, MI -2022 -003 -511, 2013 Germantown Avenue, Parcelain B.
Both these cases are continued.
And also, number two, MI -2022 -004 -899 -2236, Mount Vernon Street.
This case is continued.
And number four, MI 2022 -003 -316 -5700 Wayne Avenue, that case is continued.
Number seven, MI 2022 -003 -505 -1500 West Tioga Street, that case is continued.
And our last case to be continued is number 13. MI 2022 -003 -311 -1023 -27 Susquehanna Avenue. That case is continued.
to 27 Susquehanna Avenue, that case is continued.
Is there anyone has any comments
about the cases that have been continued?
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair.
This is Jason Hand.
I do not see any hands raised at this time.
Thank you.
Is there any other requests for continuances?
Once again, sir, no hands at this time.
Thank you.
And case number five, we have no exhibits. That case number is MI 2022 -002 -766 -5843 North 2nd Street.
Helphus Perez is the listed applicant. This is no exhibits, third listing.
i do not see any hands for that uh person thank you mi 2022 002 766 5843 north 2nd street i voted
dismiss. Carol, you're muted. I always am. Carol Tenere, I vote to dismiss. Thomas Holloman,
I vote to dismiss. James Snell, dismiss. Ishmael Shaheed, dismiss.
Thank you. Is there any requests for withdrawals?
again i see no hands at this time we're going to go to the add one list
um carol you need to certify first i do um i believe i'm the tiebreaker on this this is
a very memorable address bill can you read the um the mi numbers and the address into the record
first then carol can certify thank you okay okay mi mi 2022 002 809 800 to 38 market street
and number two is mi 2022 002 808 800 to 38 market street both cases are being heard together
or voted on together.
Carol?
Yes, I can certify on the record
that I've watched the video
from September 14th, 2022.
And it's a no -brainer.
My vote is yes.
This is a very memorable address.
I have to put it on first.
So I vote yes with proviso.
Temporary variance to expire 11 -1 -23 for both cases.
Well, then my vote is yes for both cases with proviso.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes for both cases with provisos.
James Snell, my vote is yes on both cases with provisos.
James Snell Shaheen, my vote is yes on both cases with provisos.
Thank you.
Number three on our add -on list. MI 2021 -004 -665 -5832 -Old York Road. Let's see. I need Thomas Holliman and James Snell to certify.
Yes, I did watch the video.
Thank you, Thomas.
James Snell. I can certify that I did watch the video pertaining to the Old York Road case.
Thank you. Okay.
So for this, here we go here. I'll be right with you.
Did you all vote all over?
MI 2021 004 -665 -5832 Old York Road. I vote no.
no carol tenary my vote is no thomas halliman my vote is yes james snell my vote is no
thank you we're going to go to our regular list i'll be back in five minutes that's okay thank
Thank you. Number three, MI -2022 -003 -367 -3016 in Richmond Street.
Matthew Lay Lee is the attorney.
There's a recommendation of support from the Southport Richmond Civic Association.
Mr. Chair, this is Hillary.
I also want to note that we received a letter of non -opposition from Council Member Squilla.
oh that's great thank you sorry mr lindley has to promote it to panelists there yes
Sorry, Mr. Linley has been promoted to panelists. There he is.
good afternoon mr
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman. My name is Matthew Liley, M -A -T -T -H -E -W -L -E -I -L -I.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client and relationship to the property?
Yes, I represent Jillian Schlesinger, who is a tenant at 3016 Richmond Street and the applicant.
Okay. Have you, all of your materials, deed, et cetera, photos, plans, have you sent them in five days in advance?
I have.
Proceed and start to share your screen.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Okay. As I stated, I represent the tenant at 3016 Richmond Street.
We're here today just to seek a referral, or I'm sorry, a special exception for a tattoo studio that they're trying to open.
I have submitted the following exhibits, the real estate tax balance, excuse me, the notice of referral, an RCO letter of support, the floor plans for the property, photographs of the interior and surrounding neighborhood,
the application for special exception, the affidavit of service, and also the lease.
So to start with the referral again, as I stated, this is a referral for a special exception.
In the CMX2 district, a body art service is not permitted by ride. It requires a special exception
from the zoning board. We did meet with the Southport Richmond Civic Association. They
voted overwhelmingly in favor of the project. The vote was 45 in support with eight opposed.
I'll show you the floor plans for the studio. The use is just contained to the first floor of the
property that's actually the back that's on the screen here so we can see from the front
there's a reception area toward the front of the property
and then there's four stations this is four areas where tattoos could possibly be done
and the owner has a business partner and it's just the two of them that are doing
tattoos in this space. So really, there's only going to be about two customers at a time
with, you know, maybe a couple in the waiting room. It's not a very high impact use.
There's also a restroom and then a sort of break area for artists, for the tattoo artists in the
rear. There's a backyard and that is where the trash cans will be stored. I'll go ahead to
the pictures of the interior of the space they're obviously not open for business yet they're still
obviously pending approvals of zoning and other uses but the interior space has been redone it's
very clean very modern very up to date it's very well done it's a good space for clients to come in
it's going to be well taken care of. And just to show you the neighborhood,
this is the building here, 3016 Richmond Street with T rows up above the window there.
It has a history of commercial use and there are other commercial uses on the block as well.
There's the trolley that goes right down Richmond Street. You can see the tracks there for
There's parking out front. There's also additional parking that's been added under I -95, which is just a block or two away from the property.
Parking really is no concern, especially, again, considering that there's only going to be a couple of clients in here at a time.
Again, just more commercial and semi -industrial uses that are present on the block, as well as traditional residential uses.
um and this property does have two apartments above the first floor that are retaining their
residential use um the orange posters have been posted excuse me and the application i don't
think i need to take you through all of that but it is included in the um materials that were
submitted. Affidavit of service again, mailings to the neighborhoods about the RCO meeting and
the zoning board hearing and the lease agreement between my tenant and the property owner John
and the lease agreement between my tenant and the property owner, John McDonald.
mcdonald's
Just to touch briefly on the nature of the business,
the plan is for it to be open approximately 12 p .m. to 8 p .m. from Monday through Saturday.
Like I said before, there is parking under 95 that's been recently added.
There's really no concern about on -street parking.
um you know a lot of guests will come either by foot or by public transportation as well
with trolley running nearby matthew is your client here they are um why don't you have
your testimony adopted sure that's fine uh jillian schlesinger um please raise your hand
question good if you're in the virtual audience please raise your virtual hand
matthew you're an officer of the court we will
but we have a um jay nagel with their hand raised that that might be that's fine that's fine i believe
that's her business partner hi could you hi could you state state your name and spell it for the
court reporter please i um jillian m schlesinger g -i -l -l -i -a -n -s -c -h -l -e -s -i -n -g -e -r right do you
swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do proceed counsel
jillian did you hear all of my statements today yes are they true and correct to the best of your
knowledge? Yes. Yes. And do you adopt them as your own testimony? Yes. Yes. Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. Questions from the board? No, Mr. Chairman. No, Mr. Chairman. No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I do not see any hands at this time, sir.
Planning Commission. Good afternoon, Chair Bergman and members of the board. David Fecteau, F -E -C -T -E -A -U with the City Planning Commission. David, do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Yes, sir, I do. Proceed. Thank you, sir. Mr. Chairman and members of the board, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the commercial mixed -use zoning at this location.
the applicant has shown that the proposed body art services will have no more of an impact than
body art services would be expected to have and so the city planning commission recommends the
board grant the special exception thank you mi 2022 003 367 3016 richmond street i vote yes
carl tenary my vote is yes thomas holliman my vote is yes james snell my vote is yes
thank you counsel thank you number eight mi 2022 003 850 850 7801 state road
leonard reuter is the attorney along with mary costello
uh we're waiting on a letter from the holmesburg civic association
And there's a letter of support from Council Member Mike Driscoll.
Mr. Chair, this is Hillary.
We did receive the letter from Holmesburg Civic this morning.
It is a letter of non -opposition regarding the use refusals, and they were deferring to the Planning Commission and or Parks and Rec regarding the heritage tree special exception,
as they had not had an opportunity
to look at the tree themselves
or get a report from an arborist about its condition.
Thank you, Hillary.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
You've already been sworn?
Thank you, yes.
Well, I was sworn earlier this morning
on a different matter,
but I think that would carry over.
We're good with that.
Is there anybody with you?
You're alone?
Yeah. No, I'm here again with Mary Costello. And also, I would ask if you could promote Rustin Ehler and also Catherine Farrell and Mava Donnan.
OK. Is Mary Costello on yet?
Yes, Mary's here.
Hi, Mary. Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Mary Costello, M -A -R -Y -C -O -S -T -E -L -L -O.
do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do thank you and i would also ask uh if katherine farrell could raise her hand if
Catherine Farrell could raise her hand if she's in the audience.
she's in the audience
She may be.
She's been promoted, sir.
Okay, great.
And Maeve Donnan, I don't think Maeve will be speaking, but she may want to be promoted as panelist as well.
Ms. Donnan and Ms. Farrell are both principals for the entity that will be operating the proposed facility on behalf of the city.
all right katherine could you state your name please and spell for the court reporter
yes um katherine farrell c -a -t -h -e -r -i -n -e farrell f -a -r -r -e -l -l you swear from tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do and there's one more right mabel did i hear
that right? Yes. Mabel? Maiva. Maiva. Hi, yes, it's Maiva Donnan, M -A -Y -V -A Donnan, D -O -N -N -O -N.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I do. Thank you. Proceed. Mr. Chairman, I need to be sworn. Yes, I was about to say so. Thank you.
Okay. Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Sure. Rustin Oller, R -U -S -T -I -N, last name Oller, O -H -L -E -R.
All right. Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
Thank you. I want to just tee up the project briefly because it's a first for Philadelphia.
The proposal here is to take a portion of the property located at 7801 State Road, which is owned by the city, has been owned by the city of Philadelphia since roughly 1903 or thereabouts.
And we're going to use a portion of that property to construct 28 tiny homes.
And tiny homes is a term of art.
But these are very small residential units that can house a single person, will have a bed, there will be a microwave oven, a small amount of storage space.
And the intention of this project, which is called Sanctuary Village, is to take very vulnerable persons off the streets of Philadelphia, that is unhoused persons, and to provide a transitional safe space for them to feel safe and secure and to try to get back on their feet.
And after a period of time, they would then transition, hopefully, into a more permanent housing and living situation.
The property, the residents are going to be limited to single middle -aged women who are among, if not the most vulnerable unhoused population that we have.
so um without you know my going through uh all the specific details again i think the
the refusals we have uh one for parking uh we're not we're not challenging the refusal uh we but
that was that's simply the the we're using a portion of 7801 is a very large property there's
actually something like 500 spaces available on the property they just weren't shown uh we didn't
show the entire site on the plan but that's fine i mean we're not challenging refusal we're okay
with that um and then also again the remove the the use itself while um it is a it is technically
a new use this property historically uh has been used as a a site for persons who have
been somewhat deprived in life going back to the turn of the century this was the site of what
used to be called an almshouse uh and then for many years after that it was used as a home for
the for the aged and destitute and then it just became a home for the it was for the aged um and
that was again by that was most recently um at the riverside home for the aged which i think
dates back technically to 1984, although the use of the property for that purpose predates that by
some time. So, while - Leonard, do you have any documents you want to put up? I think what I'm
going to do at this point is we're going to pass it off to Mr. Oler, who's going to do a very quick
presentation, and then Ms. Farrell will then talk about the project itself. Okay, thank you. Thank you.
Hi, Mr. Chairman and board. I'll try and be brief, and then I can go back if you have any questions.
So again, Lauren went over the overview of the mission and what this is.
Because it's new and different, we have a presentation about kind of what the organization is, but I'll summarize and skip through that.
Just some examples of other tiny home villages that have been successful through Colorado and Seattle.
Just some examples of other tiny home villages that have been successful.
You can skip who the board is.
If you have questions about how the site will operate, I have all that info.
We can come back to it. It's not necessarily a zoning matter.
But so the site in question you can see here, basically all the buildings back here, which I'll zoom into.
so there's several buildings back here that as leta mentioned were for the for the home of the
aging uh we are behind the the prison that's on state road which is on a separate property
and then uh behind between us and the river uh you have a public park but that is gated
and separate from the from the site so the parks open to the public our site is secured and gated
um uh the property excuse me you're on the river you're facing the river you're not across from
the prisons no we are we are this blue area back here facing the park and the river okay
great location yeah i mean they're going to have better views than any of us probably
um so here's the part of the site in question you can see part of the parking lot here
And then off the page to the bottom here, number 12, there's an additional parking lot since parking was one of our refusals, but there is ample parking on site.
This is an existing building here that was previously used for a shelter pre -COVID.
It has not been used or in operations since.
and we're going to repurpose this building the common bathrooms kitchenette facilities
and lounge space which would be completely open 24 7 to all the members of the tiny home village
and then each one of these gray boxes represents a new single room occupancy tiny home that'll be
dedicated to one of these senior women who would stay there for a year or two. And then this is a
plan of what one of those houses would look like. So again, it is small. It is a tiny home. It's
for sleeping. So they have privacy, security. It's completely separate conditioned. It would
meet all the terms of the building code as far as energy efficiency and heating and cooling and
that sort of stuff. And we've already preliminary went to the BBS and had a preliminary building
code review to make sure that we can build these. And then here's a rendering of what that
essentially village would look like. So again, each one of these houses is meant for an individual
woman. There's common community space, garden space that would be on site. And then there will
be heated and lighted pathways, which will lead to the main building, which has bathroom
facilities, kitchen and laundry, and a common room for everybody.
And that's basically the summary of what it is.
And I can answer any questions that the board specifically has.
Mr. Chairman.
I have two questions.
Sure, Thomas.
What is the trash removal plan for this project? And also, what is the security plan for this project?
Sure, I can answer both of those. There's common trash storage within the existing building.
There's also trash facilities and pickup for the existing programs on site. We're not the only ones
on this site. It is a city maintained and operated property. So we would just tie into
that existing trash program. And then for security, the site is gated. It has 24 -7
security guard. You have to check in before you can even access the site
for all the programs that are there. And then our portion of the property, in addition,
will have added security cameras
and monitoring and staffing
in addition to what's already on site.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Any other questions from the board?
I would ask at this time,
Mr. Chairman, with your permission,
again, just because this is
an important project for the city
and this is an opportunity
to present it to the public,
if Ms. Farrell could just give
a brief description of the program
and why it's a good program and why it's necessary for the cities to start moving in this direction.
Kathy, if you could just briefly describe it.
Sure. Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone.
I am passionate about this project, and I'm convinced that it will be successful
just because it is successful other places where it's been put into place.
other places where it's been put into place um this is for as you've heard this is for older
This is for, as you...
women so women who are at least 55 years old and that sadly is considered older um when you're
living on the street so this will be a place for them to go and have security and stability uh
services are going to be provided they're being paid for by the city um and typically in seattle
in Denver, where this has been in effect for several years now, these people are able to get
their lives back on track and move to permanent housing within anywhere from six to 24 months.
24 months is really the outside. And then it's shown that they tend to stay in their home.
They don't go back to the streets. So it's a compassionate model. They're in community.
it's an effective model and it's also been shown to be cost effective so we're very excited to do
this in philly we're very grateful to the people of holmesburg who are supportive and our goal is
to make this a model for the city and surrounding areas after did you go anywhere else and look at
an operation i've been to seattle and visited several of these yeah and um i was really
impressed they they let me speak to whoever i wanted to speak to wow and everybody said and
it's in one of my slides they said this place has saved my life seattle how many how many units did
they have oh how many units um they currently have 17 villages oh oh okay yeah some of them
i mean they started out they started out small with about 12 um but most of the villages have
anywhere from 24 to 50 houses. Wow, that's great. And I would also add to that, you know, again,
there's some vetting for the persons who will be allowed to reside at the facility. There'll be no
drug use involved. Now, again, they're not going to be prisoners. They're allowed to come and go
as they please. But again, we do have that 24 -7 security in place. And we've also, after
discussions with the RCO and with city planning, we have agreed to a couple of provisors that
Molly Costello will just tell the board about. So the provisors that we have agreed to
will be that the site will only be for women. There'll be security cameras on the site and
that this is just temporary supportive housing. So the goal is, and the metric by which success
really, I think is, I believe is measured, Kathy, you could speak more to this, is the ability to
get people off the street, safe, and then move forward into a permanent housing situation.
Okay. I have a question. Can they be for formerly incarcerated women who wind up homeless?
As far as my understanding is that the requirements that are set by the Office of Homeless Services has certain guidelines, but they do have a fairly low bar because, you know, we want people off the street.
So the answer is, I believe, and Kathy, correct me if I'm wrong, is that there is not going to be a prohibition on persons being able to reside in the facility because they have priors.
Um, so, thank you.
I have one question.
So is there, I don't know if you all went out, but is there a designated area for a trash
removal?
I'm sorry.
I couldn't understand.
Yeah, I wasn't sure.
I could hear you all if you went out, but I said, do you all have a designated area for
trash removal?
Thank you.
I don't know what he said.
A designated area for trash removal, which was one of Tom's questions.
I have one more question.
Sure, Thomas.
How do you heat and cool the units?
Yeah, so each building has a separate wall -mounted condenser that's on the back of it.
And then there's a ductless mini split, which is a heating and air conditioning unit on the inside.
So each unit is individually temperature controlled and regulated for both heating and cooling.
And we'll meet all the standards of the building code.
Rustin, what are the dimensions of these units?
Hang on, I can give you the exact dimensions.
Just curious.
They're like 8 by 12.
8 by 12, and they have a really cute little four -foot porch in front of them.
Yeah, they get a designated private porch, window box.
they get to pick their color their door so they get some personal identity
the point is they get people off the street and give them a safe place that they can call home
the point is they have people off the street and give them a safe place that they can call home
and then all the amenities that they need are provided by the city and sanctuary village in
the common building yeah the multi -colors give it a great look it really does it doesn't look
so nice bill maybe we can look into that leonard anything else uh we have nothing else to present
leonard do you want to talk about the tree at all the heritage tree well my understanding i
think weston can also address this is that the tree itself is an older tree but it's very unhealthy
we have not uh commissioned uh an arborist report however the tree itself is is self -evidently uh
dying and so uh in order for the project to work unfortunately we're not uh going to be able to
uh relocate any of the proposed buildings without substantial additional expense but
Rustin, if you have anything you want to add to that.
No, I mean, I have a photo of the tree, which you guys can see here.
There was another building on the site that was recently demolished by the city because it had some issues.
And then this is the tree in question, which you can see is not growing anything, right?
Thank you.
Any other questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands at this time sir all right planning commission thank you mr chairman and
good afternoon david effecto city planning commission mr chairman and members of the
board the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the heavy industrial zoning in this location
representatives of the parkway and camp and occupants are advocated strenuously for this
type of development. Accordingly, the mayor's commitment to this project was critical to that
agreement that resulted in the disbanding of the parkway encampment. This proposal will provide
housing, food, and services for at -risk individuals. It is a pilot strategy that, if successful,
could be replicated elsewhere. The proposed development will not impact the use of adjacent
properties. The requested variance for parking is reasonable because of the population to be served
and because of the supply of off street parking nearby and the special exception for the removal
of the heritage tree will have no more of an impact than the removal of the heritage tree
would be expected to have so the city planning commission recommends that the board grant the
variances and the special exception thank you very much um hillary the uh the provisos they
talk to the neighbors about are they enforceable for us so not not the security cameras um
we i i didn't i honestly didn't get a request so i think what she said was
their provisos with the neighbors were only women cameras and this is only temporary housing
and and if i could uh just follow up it uh we had discussed those with the rco we're we're
we're not i guess they're not even really provisos because those were part of the
intention of the program that's right uh so they didn't specifically ask for those but
Everything that we mentioned is what actually the program is going to be about.
Okay. All right. So, so, so, all right. Okay. Fine.
MI 2022 003 850 7801 State Road.
I vote yes.
Carol Tenere. I very happily vote yes.
Thomas Holloman. My vote is yes.
James Snell. My vote is yes.
congratulations everybody thank you sir thank you mr chairman that concludes my business this
afternoon all right thank you and i'd be excused thank you thank you thank you um we have two
together next. MI 2022, 003, 541, 1003 North Forty Street, and MI 2022, 003, 542, 1005 North
Forty Street. Henry Clinton is the attorney. Letter of support from East Parkside Residence
Association, the RCO? Mr. Chair, this is Hillary. Mr. Clinton is out of the country, so he asked
if we could promote Rustin Ohler to show the slides for him, because he's not sure about
his internet access, but he's able to give the presentation. All right, that's great.
okay also mr chair i have a hand raised from someone's with the number ending in three seven
eight zero that's probably let's see if that's okay i'll allow them to speak real quick
okay i'll allow them to speak real quick
sir madam yourself
mr chairman this is henry clinton hi henry how are you i hear you're out of the country
yes i am so so i appreciate the conversation on letting mr over uh walk through the presentation
but I'm prepared to present our project.
Okay, so just for the record, state your name,
spell for the court reporter, and elsewhere are you in?
Sure, Henry Clinton, H -E -N -R -Y, Clinton, C -L -I -N -T -O -N.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client and their relationship to the properties?
Sure, the client is TIDA, T -I -D -A Investments,
and the principal of which is on the call, Damien, B -A -M -I -E -N, Breen, B as in boy, R -E -E -N.
All right. And our vice chair has a few questions for you, Mr. Clinton.
Hi, Mr. Clinton, do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
Can you email the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal referral,
photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing
and have you met with the rco and do you have a letter yes to all the above and this morning we
were able to finally get the tax clearance certifications uh that we sent in oh that's
great yes so you may proceed and i see that your screen is up uh thank you mr i appreciate it and
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, by way of background,
as Ms. Emerson mentioned at the outset,
Rustin Ohler, who is the architect of record
from Harmon Deutch Ohler architecture,
will be doing the walk through each of the exhibits
and I'll do the narration.
So again, thanks for the accommodation.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
With me is Rustin Ohler, as well as Damian Breen,
the principal of the applicant.
We're here today on two projects, 1003, 1005, North 40th Street.
These two properties, just by way of background, are long vacant lots, at least 10 years or so.
They're large lots.
They're 16 by 95, and they're just off the corner of 40th and Wild Losing Street in West Philadelphia.
A search of the zoning records really wasn't very helpful to tell me what the properties used to be used for.
I can tell you that the properties are in the CMX1 zoning district, and across the street is also CMX1.
Unfortunately, behind these properties, not unfortunately, but it's the residentially zoned, and they've been long vacant lots also.
And as I walk through the presentation, it'll become clear why I'm pointing these things out.
40th Street, just for a few more comments, is a commercial corridor.
its own CMX1, and the community also desires to have 40th Street commercial, but as East Parkside's
letter of support indicates, they felt it's really not ready for commercial yet, which is why we're
presenting a residential multifamily proposal for both properties. So, Rustin, if you could,
I just want you to show the table of contents, which shows exhibit AA to A10, which I asked
to be admitted into the record.
Then, Russell, if you could go to exhibit A1, which is the refusal for both 1003 and
And you can use your cursor to show the board, the zoning district at the top middle, CMX1,
both 1003 and 1005 or CMX1, but you can see the notation by the L &I examiner.
The CMX1 zoning district is attached to an RSA 5 zone. Therefore, this
resulted in a refusal, which indicates since the lot is attached to an RSA 5
zoning district, multifamily household is not permitted. And that's both with
regard to 1003 and 1005 next exhibit would be let's go to the letter of
support yeah correct the RCO is East Parkside Residence Association and we
have unanimous conclusion by the RCO in support of the project 14 to 0 what's
Significant is their letter, and Mr. Ola,
that's the next document, which is the explanation letter.
And in the second paragraph,
and in the second paragraph uh i think i'd like to point out to the board yes the vote was 14 to
I think I'd like to point out to the board,
zero but what the community wanted most was that the second and third floor to be in line with the
rest of the properties on the block in other words have a setback which when we get to the elevations
we will show you that we did uh and also along with that we reduced the height of the building
to match the cornice lines and also to almost match all the window elevations.
And then the second sentence there in that second paragraph, or the third sentence in
that second paragraph, commercial usage on the first floor was very important, but we,
that is the RCO, felt we are a few years away from a few more businesses moving up from
Girard Avenue to Poplar.
And if the board will recall, and I was involved in several projects with Mr. Orr five to seven years ago, on Ridge Avenue, we had similar situations where we would present projects that were commercial, but because commercial wasn't viable at that time, the idea was make the first floor look commercial.
And as Ridge Avenue changed to commercial, the residential use, which was a variance back then, the residential use could be converted to commercial.
And that's kind of the mindset that the RCO had here.
They wanted us to have a commercial use.
I shouldn't say they wanted us.
They were accepting a commercial use on the first floor with the understanding that we had to design, and Mr. Owe did a great job on this, had to design the first floor to look commercial so that when the avenue or 40th Street started to change, that the residential use could be converted to commercial use.
And that's what the idea is.
And I'll show you the elevations, and Mr. Oler can explain that to you when we get to the photograph.
But this is really the background here is even though it's CMX1 and commercial is allowed and permitted on the first floor with residential above,
because you have a condition that we're attached to an RSA 5 zone, the residential multifamily is ruled out.
And then the community agreed commercial was too early.
It's premature.
So let's make the entire building residential.
If and when 40th Street changes to commercial,
you then have a situation where you don't have to knock down the front to side.
You can just simply switch out the residential for commercial.
The next photographs, excuse me, next exhibits, Mr. Ohler, are A3,
which are aerial photographs of 40th Street.
Let's just look at the first one.
That's a top -down view, indicating 1003 is one off the corner of the small street, which is why we're losing, and then 1005 is to the left or to the north.
Next photograph in the packet is a closer view, just to show the board that if you look to the far left, there's a grocery store there, so you can see where commercial is starting to creep down toward Poplar.
The other buildings are residential.
And then to the right, you also can see a two -story and three -story residential.
The next ground -level photograph is we're looking north on 40th Street.
Again, you can see the vacant lots to the left.
You can see that even the residential structure to the immediate left has somewhat of a commercial look to it on the first floor.
And maybe that's the idea that that owner will have.
As the 40th Street changes, perhaps that will become commercial.
But when you see our elevations, you'll see that it's more defined for commercial use.
On the right -hand side, there's a large vacant lot, which is used for commercial parking.
The next photograph is a photograph, again, showing a streetscape and the vacant lot to the right,
the commercial parking lot to the left.
final photograph is just evidence of the fact that we did post the notices for the zoning
hearing uh today then mr or can you go to let's start off with sd 0 .1 which is the the site plan
which shows uh the surrounding uses of the properties on 40th street
it's up sorry zero i got it you got it so this is the site plan members of the board again 40
street it's a very wide corridor uh very attuned for commercial use at some point on the left you
can see an existing commercial parking lot and on the right hand side in blue are the two subject
properties you have no variances for open space rear yard height or any dimensional issues
rear yard, height, or any dimensional issues whatsoever.
whatsoever it can't be
It's simply a straightforward use consideration today.
And you'll see that behind the properties, there's a number of plots that are in green.
They're all vacant lots, and even adjacent to our client's properties are vacant lots.
So I think in the mind of the RCO, they're seeing this project hopefully as a jumpstart
to 40th Street as we move away from Girard to Poplar.
And then you can see it directly across the street on Wyalusing at 945 North 40th Street,
this existing multifamily, which our property hopefully will be.
And then to the top of that site playing at 1013 North 40th, you can see that the existing
mixed -use structure, that's the only one so far on east side of 40th Street.
And again, the RCO's hope is that that mixed -use approach will work its way further toward
Clappler Street over time.
Mr. Orr, I think maybe...
Henry, pardon me, Henry.
Where was the market at?
It's 1013.
Okay, thank you.
Mr. Orr, can you move to SD2 .0, the elevations?
I'm there.
And can you explain to the board, you do it far better than I do, the architectural features that will warrant this someday being commercial?
Sure. Yeah, the image on the right is the front facade of North 40th Street of what we're proposing.
At the request of the community group, we've modified this to bring the building down to grade
so it could have a future commercial ADA entrance and that first floor front unit
is accessible and wouldn't need any future adaptation as well as enlarging the windows
so it's a larger storefront type entrance and then our original application had the
entire building all the way to the street base and what we've done is we've recessed the second
and third floor backs and aligns with the neighboring properties to the south of us
So this front portion is a one -story commercial aesthetic, and then the residential facade is pushed back in line with the neighbors, lining the cornices as well.
Thank you, Mr. Orr.
And then, Mr. Chairman and members of the board, we could walk to the floor plans.
We have two bedrooms on the first floor and basement.
we have one bedroom on the second floor two bedrooms excuse me one bedroom on the first floor
at the rear of what hopefully will be the commercial space one day on the second floor
two bedrooms two baths and on the third floor uh two bedrooms two baths
mr or is there anything that you'd like to add that you think maybe i omitted or should have said
uh no i'm okay i have a question i have i have a question if it's going to be commercial if it's
going to be commercial one day why do you have living space in the basement uh because it's
residential uh for now until the neighborhood uh can turn around so that means you got to do
rebuilding for both first floor and basement so it wouldn't require any structural changes just
just aesthetics i that's a very expensive uh renovation it depends on the tenant you know
it would suit an office use as is without any modifications uh it would suit a retail
tenant with back of house storage or office space in the basement without any changes
thank you
thank you mr
um henry do you want to have your client do you want to have your testimony adopted
yeah i just mr general i just want to do a quick summation on the legal aspects um so
what we have here is a somewhat unique conditions really on 40th street we have the zoning uh
designation is CMX1 and we have the RCO with a commercial vision one day. It's surrounded by
residential. So we're proposing, you know, the residential use, hopefully with one day become
the commercial. And each Parkside's letter, you know, acknowledges that the area is really not
ready for commercial. And the best approach would be, let's start, excuse me, the letter acknowledges
It's not ready for commercial, and the best approach would be, let's start with residential
and move to commercial, hopefully, one day.
and move to commercial hopefully one day so we maintain that this current proposal is necessary
So we maintain that this current...
for the viable use of the property we have a large long vacant lot that is not being used in
any way there's a hope that this would jump start development in the neighborhood we're not altering
the essential character of the neighborhood the neighborhood is residential with some mixed use
It will help the block.
It will help spur development, hopefully.
It's not impairing the development of any adjacent properties, most of which are vacant.
It's not detrimental to the public health or welfare.
The proposed projects are in harmony with the code.
There's no impact on light and air on adjacent properties, and we see no adverse impact on 40th Street itself.
So with that, I would just ask the Board to keep in mind the flexibility of this project
and the ability for it to adapt as circumstances warrant.
And with that, I would rest and ask my client to adopt my testimony.
Damian Breen, can you raise your hand, please, virtually?
Breen has been about to speak.
Hi, my name is Damien Breen, D -A -M -I -E -N, D -A -M -I -E -N, Breen, B -R -E -E -N.
All right, do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed.
uh mr bream were you on the call when mr oler and i presented your two projects to the board
yes and if you had the opportunity to testify would you adopt my testimony and mr oler's
testimony as your own and would you verify that that testimony is true and correct yes
thank you mr green thank you so so henry one one one quick point could you show the drawings of
first floor i think it would help thomas to visualize what that would mean if you have to
adjust it in the future certainly does that make any sense back up yes sir yeah i i pulled it up um
so that the first floor front unit and back unit um are shown here first floor front is by level
to the basement. The front entry door and unit door are both commercially compliant ADA accessible
as well as the entire first floor unit is also on accessible route and path so that the building
would not have to be altered in any way to meet ADA compliance in order to access that unit in
event that it becomes commercial later uh excuse me bathrooms and kitchens are in the basement
uh right now the kitchen is at the first floor um and then there are two bathrooms in the basement
at the moment there's no kitchen in the basement i can't see the drawings that well but no there's
no kitchen in the basement none no okay just two bait two mechanical and two bathrooms
you have mechanical the hot water heat is the furnace and mechanical laundry two bathrooms
and two bedrooms that's a lot to relocate thank you mr holmer mr chairman can i ask mr holer
question yeah yeah so mr or the layout of the basement you have bedrooms and closets do you
believe that they could be used by an office or perhaps a commercial use other than an office
they would be code compliant for office or storage or they're also non -load bearing
demising partitions which could easily be removed right so in the event that more open space is
needed or that area in the basement needs to be reconfigured,
those partition walls could easily be removed
and would not affect the structural integrity of the building.
Correct?
Correct.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Mr. Sop.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chair.
No, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
So, no further answer, Mr. Chair.
Aye, Planning Commission.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members of the Board.
David Vecto, City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends a zoning map change to RM4,
multi -family residential, at this location.
Under the proposed zoning, the proposal would be closer into compliance
than under the existing commercial mixed -use zoning.
So the city planning commission recommends the board grant the use variance for 1 ,003.
so the city planning commission recommends the board grant the use variants for 1003 and 1005
north 40th street thank you mi 2022 003 541 1003 north 40th street and
where's the other one here be right with you and mi 2022 003 542 1005 north 40 street
i vote yes with proviso hold on one minute
i vote yes with proviso revised plans one page stamp by zba on october 19 2022
Harold Tenere, my vote is yes with proviso for both cases.
Thomas Holliman, my vote is no with both cases.
James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso for both cases.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso for both cases.
Thank you, Henry.
Thank you. Enjoy your trip there, Henry. Okay. MI 2022 -004 -233 -3001 Chestnut Street. Letter of support from Patent Village Civic Association. Council Member Jamie Gauthier also supports this request.
jared klein is the attorney
mr klein will be coming back in as a panelist thank you good afternoon mr chair uh if the
board could actually promote peter kelson he's going to be the attorney uh leading the president
i'm just going to share my screen today mr mr kelson
you had this hand raised a moment ago okay
all right here it is
good afternoon mr kelson he's coming back in as a panelist okay thank you jason you're welcome
Mr. Kelsen?
Thank you, Jason.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Peter Kelsen on behalf of Spark Therapeutics.
It's K -E -L -S -E -N, Black Rome, LLP.
and I have not been sworn, Mr. Chair.
I'm going to swear you right this moment.
Do you swear, affirm, tell the truth, the whole truth,
nothing but the truth?
You've already identified your client.
Our vice chair has a few questions for you, sir.
Absolutely, Ms. Denary.
Hi, Mr. Kelsen.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet
with proof of ownership tax compliance,
a copy of the refusal or referral, photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of this
hearing, and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter? Yes to all of those. The exhibit
package is in, and our provisor plan package is in and has been in for at least five days.
We have support of the RCO as well as the councilwoman. Thank you so much. You may proceed
and begin to bring it's good to see you good to see you as well uh if i may mr chairman i would
like to promote cynthia pucinan please uh from spark therapeutics because she's going to affirm
my testimony okay all right but i'll begin while that's happening so once again good afternoon
members of the board really delighted to present to you the application um regarding 3001 chestnut
Street. The site, as you will see, consists of a vacant lot located and bounded by Chestnut Street,
30th Street, both upper and lower, Ludlow, and the Railroad High Line, which is immediately
adjacent as indicated by the cursor. The site is zoned I -2 Industrial. Anecdotally, this used to be
the site of Abbott's Dairies many, many years ago. It was a former industrial use.
It's currently used as an open air parking lot and has been for
It's currently used as an open -air parking lot and has been for quite some time.
The lot itself consists of approximately 93 ,000 square feet of area.
And what we are proposing is to reuse this parcel and to construct a state -of -the -art six -story, 415 ,000 -square -foot structure, which will be utilized for a state -of -the -art gene therapy manufacturing, research development, and office facility.
Let me show you a little bit about what we propose to do at the location visually.
I should point out while we're going to get those renderings up, the property will be served by 199 below grade parking spaces.
That's one of the variances before you today, the parking ratio, as well as seven loading docks, and also one of the variances today.
So if you look at Exhibit 5, currently existing is the vacant parson, as indicated at the top.
Below that, as we scroll down, you're beginning to see the proposed development.
This will be, as I said, brand new construction, lead silver, and will offer the opportunity to manufacture transformational gene therapy products by Spark Therapeutics.
A couple of illustrations as we scroll down, giving you different views.
chested at 30th street views, an interior lobby view. And this is important, I think, for the
board's perspective. The building has been designed purposely to enhance visibility from the outside
as well as from the inside, to create a connection between people walking by the building,
viewing the building from the outside, and those within the building.
And you can see that the lobby itself has been designed to also create connections within the space to facilitate collaborative efforts.
But the whole idea is to show the public the science that's going into creation of this gene therapy programming.
It's critical. Here you have an illustration of how the building abuts the high line, the freight line.
And then one more shot of the facility.
So what are we here for today in terms of variances?
Well, the subject property, the proposed use is by right under the I -2 designation.
But the code requires, from a parking perspective, that because of the nature of the uses, manufacturing, offices, research, and development, that we would provide 413 parking spaces.
As I mentioned earlier, we are providing 199.
The code requirement is excessive.
It's actually counterproductive because what we'll be doing if we were to meet code, we would be creating a tremendous amount of traffic congestion, negative environmental impact, and there is absolutely no rational reason to have almost 100 % additional parking required.
Incidentally, members of the board, as you are well aware, this property sits in a sweet spot when it comes to public transit.
30th Street Station, regional rail, numerous bus and other local transit amenities abound.
So in terms of the other variants required, it's loading, something you and I have discussed with other similar facilities.
The code requires 12 loading spaces. We are providing seven. Those are more than enough to meet our needs with regard to deliveries and transportation of product.
I should point out, we control, we spark, control the operation, and therefore will fully control delivery times and access to the loading facilities.
Parking will be accessed, if we could just stay on that last slide for one moment. Parking will be accessed off of 30th Street. And the loading will be accessed off of Ludlow Street.
Parking will be accessed. If we could just stay on that last slide for one moment.
I would also point out to the board, the loading, parking, streetscape have all been extensively reviewed and are continuing to be reviewed by both the streets department and PENDA.
There's mutual jurisdiction.
part of our exhibit package contains at exhibit six the proviso plans there are some slight
changes that have been incorporated in the proviso set virtually all of them if you review
the proviso plan form are streets issues minor changes that are not impactful of zoning there
There are maybe a handful of zoning changes.
They're extraordinarily minor.
They relate to augmentation of a setback in order to accommodate streetscape off of Ludlow.
Slight changes to the building footprint, again, driven by streets comments.
Streets actually asked us to make one of the loading docks 60 feet, which we have done.
And that's shown on the plan.
And then lastly, they've asked us to augment, and we have augmented the footprint very, very slightly. You can't really even tell the difference between the revised plan and the original in order to accommodate certain street furniture and fixturing.
Finally, I would point out to the board with regard to streets department involvement, they have actually instructed us to remove certain street trees in planters that were located on Chestnut Street because of utility and interference.
So we have taken those off from the original plan.
And with that, let me discuss the benefits of the proposal.
Members of the board, this facility will create a cutting -edge manufacturing facility supporting the gene therapy programs that SPARC has undertaken and is actively involved in in Philadelphia.
In fact, surrounding this site are numerous SPARC facilities.
It will take a vacant, underutilized parcel and create a gateway project within the core and entryway to the university city.
It will be heavily supported by public transportation.
And I think equally importantly, it will promote job creation at virtually every level, literally, from dock workers, warehouse staff, individuals that will be given the opportunity to qualify for certificate programming,
not having a college degree, but getting a certificate to allow them to participate and
gainfully employed in the manufacturing process. And then we move up the chain to PhDs and so forth.
So this is really something that will activate the community, enable the local community to have
meaningful, life -changing jobs, again, I repeat, at every level of the operation.
Members of the board, I will actually say that in a case like this, the denial of the variance
relief will work a hardship to the property as well as to the community. Overpopulation
of vehicles is not a healthy thing. It's not necessary. And it will also undermine our ability
to achieve the highest levels of sustainability that Spark not only aspires to, but has designed
to. And with that, I will certainly answer any questions. I will point out, thank you,
Jared, for putting this up. We've had a number of meetings with Palton Village as the convening RCO.
They've taken a position of support for this project. We've introduced a number of elements
into our project operation and design. And I'm proud to say that we'll have continuing dialogue
with Palton and with our neighbors, including the University City District.
with Palton and with our neighbors, including the University City District, as the project evolves
and as operations continue. We are really delighted at the reception we've gotten from the community
and we will look forward to, we have been looking forward to working closely with the
Councilwoman's Office and the Councilwoman with regard to local hiring initiatives and that
educational programming I spoke about before. Very important to all of us. And with that,
I would ask the board if you're disposed to grant their relief, the proviso plan
has been submitted as well as the project form. If the board has any questions, I have available
Our design team from Jacobs Engineering, excuse me, as well as our civil engineer.
And I'll have Cynthia Boussinen from SPARC also be available to answer any questions that you might have.
Mr. Kelsen, will you want your testimony adopted, please?
Yes. Can we, Cynthia, are you in the room, so to speak?
Cynthia, could you raise your hand?
There we go.
Cynthia, it's been a lot to speak.
Can you hear me okay?
Could you state your name and spell it, please, for the court reporter?
Certainly.
My name is Cynthia Pusinan, C -Y -N -T -H -I -A.
Pusinan is P -U -S -S -I -N -E -N.
All right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you. Ms. Bucinan, are you employed by Spark Therapeutics?
And have you heard the entire presentation I made with regard to this matter today?
Yes, I have. Thank you.
And if you were to present this matter to the board, would you have presented it in the manner that I did and with the facts and conclusions that I provided?
Yes, I would have, Peter.
Would you adopt my testimony as your testimony before the board?
Yes, I will.
Great. Thank you very much.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Sir, I have Deborah McCarty with her hand raised.
I have allowed her to speak.
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Sure, Ken.
Hi, this is Deborah McCarty, D -E -B -R -A -M -C -C -A -R -T -Y.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Yes, I do.
Proceed.
Hi, I just wanted to, I'm the president of our civic association, Pelton Village Civic Association,
And I just wanted to reiterate what was stated in our letter, you know, the public art and the interactive pedestrian experience is important as well as the whatever plan or streets department will allow on the benches.
the commitment to local hiring and support of scientific education with our local public schools
is a really welcome part of this project, as well as the financial support for UCD
and supporting improvements of the public realm in the area. And so we are hoping that
this is granted and we welcome the continuing dialogue with SPARC. Thank you.
Thank you very much for calling. We appreciate your comments. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
I do not see any hands, Mr. Chair.
My planning commissioner.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, David Fecto, City Planning Commission, Mr. Chairman and members of the board.
The comprehensive plan recommends a change of zoning to commercial mixed use five at this location.
This is one of our densest and most lenient zoning districts.
With that zoning, the applicant's proposal would be short only approximately 10 parking spaces from the required parking count in the zoning code.
So the applicant has demonstrated that the proposed loading requirement will also be impractical if applied to this location.
And so the City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant the use variances.
Thank you.
MI 2022, 004 -233 -3001 Chestnut Street, I vote yes with proviso.
Revised plans, two pages, stand by ZBA, October 19, 2022.
October 19, 2022.
Carl Sennari, my vote is yes with proviso.
Carl Stenari, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
James Snell, yes with proviso.
Yes, yes with proviso.
Counsel, thank you so much, members of the board.
Counsel, thank you.
Exciting project.
Thank you, members of the board, for making it happen.
All right, thanks.
Thank you again.
Bye -bye.
Number 11, MI 2022 -003 -469 -750 South 10th Street, Adam Laver is the attorney, letter of non -opposition from Vela Vista Neighbors Association, letter of non -opposition from Council Member Mark Squilla, and two emails of support from property owners and or residents of the block.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Hi, Mr. Laver, could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter for the record?
Yes, Adam Laver, L -A -V -S and Victor, E -R, blank Rome, 1 Logan Square, Philadelphia, 19103.
Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, Mr. Chairman, I do.
Could you identify your client and their relationship to the property, please?
Yes, we represent 750 South 10th Street LLC, the owner of the subject property. With me today is
Henry Sullivan, its principal. Okay, and our vice chair has a few questions. Hi, Mr. Labor. Do you
agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? Good afternoon,
Mrs. Tenera. Yes, I do. Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership,
tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral,
voted 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?
Yes, we have, and we have a letter of non -opposition
from both the coordinating RCO as well as the district council member.
That's great. You may proceed, and you've already started
the screen share. Thank you. Thank you very much.
To begin with, I have on the screen an aerial photograph. The property is located here where my virtual hand is within the Bella Vista neighborhood on 10th Street between Fitzwater and Catherine Street on the same block as Dante and Luigi's right here at the corner, which is a landmark for many of us.
Here you can see the zoning map showing that the subject property is RM1 and it's solidly RM1
along this stretch of the block. And here is an exterior photo. We're looking at the property
that has the yellow shutters at the ground floor and is to the right on your screen.
The property itself is nearly 4 ,500 square feet. It is owned RM1, as I mentioned, and it's professionally managed by Altera Property Group. Altera has appeared before the board many, many times over the years.
Henry Sullivan, who I mentioned, and is the principal of the owner of the property, lives within walking distance of 10th Street, very close walking distance with his family.
He purchased the property along with the neighboring property 752, which is not before the board, but I mentioned it by context, in October of 2021, just one year ago.
Sorry about that. At the time of purchase, there were eight apartments at this property.
This application seeks to document the existing conditions and actually confirm that once Henry purchased the property,
he reduced the actual use of the property from eight apartments that had been there undocumented
to six families now. The L &I records, however, reflect five. The reduction in units that I
mentioned that occurred right away was at the first floor. On the screen before you is the refusal,
and I've taken the liberty of highlighting what I think is at the heart of what we're looking at.
This concerns one use refusal, a de minimis variance. There would be a requirement of 2 ,400 square feet of lot area for six families. The square footage of the site is 2 ,072 .37 square feet. That is a difference of 327 .63 square feet. Very minor, I've highlighted.
27 .63 square feet. Very minor. I've highlighted the number up here on the screen.
I'd like to show you what some of the property looks like. And these are some photographs.
It's, although the property is not certified historic, it really is beautifully restored
and in great condition. And the existing configuration respects the exquisite interior.
It's replete with original millwork, crown moldings, plaster detail, as you can see in the ceiling, and the doors.
To conform with the code would require the partial demolition of historic elements within the interior.
Even with the historic nature of the property, we have a modern touch by keeping the brick wall that you can see there, and complete new kitchen fittings, etc.
etc. Moving to the floor plans, the basement does not have livable space. It has storage
and mechanics. The first floor in its current configuration has one unit at the front,
one unit at the rear. The nice thing about the rear unit is it has a private garden in
the back. So you're going to see that it's a three -story property with two units per
floor and with the staircase preserved at the interior. At the top, we have the second floor
front, second floor rear, and then third floor front, third floor rear, slight change in elevations
there with the existing conditions for the third floor. So once again, in sum, two apartments per
floor separated by the central staircase. Bella Vista Neighbors Association Zoning Committee,
the coordinating RCO, has submitted a letter of non -opposition.
Noted in the letter, if I may, quote, the applicant purchased this RM1 district designated
property in late 2021, learning that it contained eight dwelling units, where only five are
permitted as per zoning variance granted in 1963. In an attempt to bring the use into zoning
compliance, and given the considerable expense of the conversion, the applicant is seeking to
reduce the total number from eight to six by legalizing one of the excess units. I'm paraphrasing.
Three nearby neighbors within 250 feet offered support for the application,
none opposed. And the letter also notes that they received support from another neighbor who could
not attend. Similarly, the district councilman, council member Mark Squilla, stood by the
coordinating RCO offering non -opposition. And near neighbors submitted letters addressed to
coordinating RCO, reflecting on the non -conforming nature of large number of properties on the block
and the investment put into this property to preserve the non -conforming nature, the
historical conditions, etc. I leave you on this page. On the right, you can see
the property looking towards Dante and Luigi's. There on the right, you can't see it, but it's
there. This is in line, very much in line with the block, which is why from a coordinating RCO
perspective, this case was really a non -event and there were expressions of appreciation for a local
Henry being so involved with preserving a property. Members of the board, this proposal
fits into the surrounding neighborhood as evidenced by the non -opposition of the coordinating RCO
and the district council member, the support of nearby neighbors. The proposed variance would
represent the minimum variance to afford relief and will represent the least modification possible
of the one regulation at issue. You'll recall that square footage difference of 327
feet and change. The grant of variance relief will not substantially increase congestion in the
public streets, increase the danger of fire or otherwise in danger of public health, safety,
to your general welfare, we are actually proposing a decrease in the actual density conditions.
This will not adversely affect transportation or unduly burden water, sewer, school park,
or other public facilities. There are no environmental issues. At the appropriate
time, Mr. Chairman, I believe that Mr. Sullivan is present to adopt and affirm.
That's fine. Absolutely.
Mr. Sullivan, would you kindly raise your virtual hand?
mr sullivan has been allowed to speak hi mr sullivan could you state your name and spell
for the court reporter please yes it's henry sullivan h -e -n -r -y s -u
Yes, it's Henry Sullivan, H -E -N -R -Y -S -U -L -L -I -V -A -N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Proceed, counsel.
Good afternoon, Mr. Sullivan. Have you been present for the entirety of the hearing this afternoon in this matter?
And would you adopt and affirm the testimony that I've offered as your own?
Thank you, sir.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands mr chair planning commission thank you chair bergman david effecto city
planning commission mr chairman and members of the board the comprehensive plan recommends no
change to the residential multi -family zoning at this location the applicants requested dimensional
variance is a result of previous existing conditions at the property and so the city
planning commission recommends that the board grant the dimensional variance for a sixth dwelling
unit thank you mi 2022 003 469 750 south 10th street i vote yes carol tenary my vote is yes
thomas holliman my vote is yes james snell my vote is yes
thank you council thank you mr chairman members of the board good afternoon
is there anyone in the virtual audience whose case has not been called from the 2 p .m list
no hands mr chair okay let's take a five minute break and then we'll move into the 3 30 list
and i think we should go through that pretty quickly thank you everyone thank you
Good afternoon. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be doing the 3 .30 ZBA hearings. With me
is Carol Tenere, our vice chair. Present, Mr. Chair. Ishmael Shaheed, our board secretary.
Present, Mr. Chairman. Thomas Holliman, our board member. Present, Mr. Chairman.
And James Snell, our board member.
Present Mr. Chairman.
Also, our board attorney here, Hillary Emerson, and our ZBA hearing supervisor, Lakeisha Dandy, is here.
Here's our virtual format.
Be advised, the proceedings will be recorded.
By participating, do knowledge agreement to be recorded.
The video will be available by contacting TanyaSunkett 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, 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 finally, the question answer box on the screen is not for comments or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our executive director, Tanya Sumkin.
Let's look at this afternoon's continuances.
Number two, MI 2022 -003 -196 -332 -232 West Penn Street.
That case is continued.
Number three, MI 2022, 000397, 2005 South 4th Street. That case is continued. Mark must be
tried. And number four, MI 2022, 003195, 230 West Penn Street. That case is continued. Are there any
questions or comments relative to those three cases? Afternoon, Mr. Chair, this is Jason Hand.
I do not see any hands at this time. Are there any additional requests for continuance?
Once again, sir, no hands for continuances. Thank you. We have two cases that I see no exhibits.
Number five, MI 2022 -003 -171, 3421 -35 Richmond Street. No exhibits, first listing. Attorney is Leo Mulvihill.
Sir, I do not believe I see Mr. Mulvihill in the virtual audience today.
No hands?
No, sir.
Okay. MI 2022 -003 -171, 3421 -35 Richmond Street. That case is continued.
3421 to 35 Richmond Street.
That case is continued.
And I have one more case with no exhibits.
MI 2022, 000290, 5651, 63 Walnut Street.
CGI Construction is listed applicant.
There's no exhibits.
This is the second listing.
Once again, sir, I do not see any hints.
So MI 2022 -000 -290 -5651 -63 Monastery.
That case is continued as marked must be tried.
We're going to go to our list.
Number one, MI 2022 -003 -143 -3769 Glen Street.
Sean Ward is the attorney.
recommendation support from West Tarsdale Broad Park Civic Association and also petitions signed
by approximately 24 neighbors. Mr. Ward. Mr. Chair. Yes. Sorry. Sorry, Jason. Mr. Chair,
we also have received a letter of non -opposition from Councilman Brian O 'Neill. Okay, great. Thank
Thank you, Mr. Ward.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members of the board and go Phillies.
We see your uniform, Mr. Ward.
Could you sedate your name and spell for the court reporter?
Sean Ward, S -H -A -W -N -W -A -R -D, attorney for the applicant owner, Joanne Murphy, and her son, Joe Murphy.
My address is 331 East Street Road, Trevos, PA, 19053.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I certainly do.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Carol?
I'm on mute again.
Hi, Mr. Ward.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
have you emailed proof of ownership tax compliance a copy of the refusal or referral photos and or
plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing and have you met with the rco and
do you have a letter yes to all the above and in addition we received uh earlier this afternoon
a letter of support or i mean non -opposition from councilman brian o 'neill and i have that
ready to screen share as well. Thank you so much. You may proceed and begin to share your screen.
And yes, go Phillies. Excellent. Thank you very much. Mr. Chair, I've submitted my typical
exhibit packet. Present with me today on the call is Joseph Murphy, son of Joanne Murphy.
Joe is a Philadelphia police officer, resides with his mother at Glen Street, and he is available
today to verify and adopt and answer any questions. In any event, the notice of refusal.
This is an application for a permit for the erection of a shed and covered deck
adjacent to the rear of the property at Glen Street. It resulted in two -dimensional refusals
simply for rear yard setback, whereas 20 feet is required, one foot, eight inches was,
you know, constructed. And a side yard setback, 10 feet minimum is required versus three foot,
which was constructed. So we're seeking dimensional variances. And very quickly,
I would point out all the other dimensions of the structure comply with the code.
We're just talking about the setbacks at the rear yard and a side. So A2 is the ZBA application
of Appeal. A3, the Project Information Form. A4, Proof of Ownership. A5, Tax Clearance.
A6 is the Site Plan. A7 is the Deed Map. A8 are the photographs. A9 is the RCO Letter of Support
from West Tarsdale Civic. In addition, I added A9 .1, which was the Petition of Support as
referenced by the Chair. A10 is the District Council Letter, which we do have a copy of and
was emailed today by Alice Udovich, U -D -O -V -I -C -H, councilman's assistant. A11, relevant zoning
history, A12, the zoning map, and A13 is the aerial photograph. So very quickly, again,
the refusal resulted in just dimensional setback, variance requests. We have our application of
appeal. We have our project information form, copy of the deed. Mrs. Murphy and her
a copy of the deed. Mrs. Murphy and her husband, John, purchased the property back in 1971.
I believe new construction at that time. We have tax clearance. We have the site plan.
I think I want to go to the photograph first before we go back to the site plan.
So you'll see in the site an aerial photograph at a property front on Glen Street down here where it says Google.
That would be the front of the house. It's a two -story frame construction home. It has a built -in swimming pool, as do many of the other homes in the neighborhood. And the structure at the rear of the property is what we're here to talk about today.
um here's just another shot of it um let me go back to this photograph okay so basically uh
uh what uh what joe murphy constructed for his mother was a shed and then basically a covered
uh patio you know adjacent to the pool uh to provide shade and uh and respite so she could
you know basically spend time out there with her grandchildren to you know and but but remain in
of shade. So we have other, you know, again, photographs in a neighborhood. So, you know,
despite the fact that it's close to the fence, there appears to be some activity on the other
side of the fence. But again, there's a high fence separating the two properties. And I believe we
have the support of those neighbors anyway. So let me go back to the plan just to show you.
Okay. So when we look at the plan itself, again, the property fronts on Glen Street. Glen Street, if you're not aware, is off of Academy Road across from the Northeast Philadelphia Airport.
It's a very quaint little area known as West Tarsdale.
Again, we have a two -story frame dwelling, the in -ground pool, and then the area that we're talking about is the 20 by 12 shed.
And with a 12 by 12 covered deck, all incorporated into one unit.
so if we look at the elevation so again looking at it from say the pool or the back of the house
to the right is the storage shed this small area here is an enclosed area that has an open
or a window that can open to the patio behind there is a refrigerator a tv you know in order
to be able to serve refreshments on the outdoor patio deck.
So looking at it from above, again, this is the storage shed.
This is access to the window serving area for the covered deck with a ceiling fan.
So then we have the deep map.
Again, property is located on Glen Street.
Academy Road would be up towards the far top left corner, and it's just before the intersection with Berea Street.
So we have our posting.
And again, the Google aerials.
We do have our letter of support from the West Tarsdale Morrell Park Civic Association in support.
um three committee members present voted in support 16 unaffected members in the area voted
in support five affected who received the rco meeting notice voted in favor however it was
one individual who voted against the application
um again the chair referenced the petition of support that is attached
um and then there was some zoning history again the property was you know built in 1971
uh there was some additions for you know miscellaneous items such as retaining walls
etc etc uh filed over the years so um again the property is uh you know the the pink area here
would be the airport and academy road you know meandering to the left here property is located
quite towards the back near the requesting bybury creek and again just another aerial photo
and again as mentioned uh councilman brian o 'neill's office submitted a letter earlier this
afternoon uh for the property of 3769 glenn street advising that he had no objection and i
I would add that he was present at the meeting, the RCO meeting, and was aware that we were making our presentation that evening.
uh the rco meeting and was aware that we were making our presentation that evening
uh mr chairman that's all i have i did ask joe murphy to raise his hand when the meeting started
so if he can be uh allowed to speak i can have him verify and adopt
mr murphy could you state your name and spell it please for the court reporter
uh my name is joseph murphy j -o -s -e -p -h last name is m -u -r -p -h -y right do you swear for him
to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do proceed counsel thank you chair
uh joe you've heard my representations to the board yes are they true and correct at the best
of your knowledge information and belief yes and would you adopt them as your own testimony today
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no further hands, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commission.
This is Ron Bednar, first name Ron, R -O -N, last name Bednar, B -E -D -N -A -R.
Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
This property is indicated for residential use on a city plan or adopted district plan recommends no change to the existing residential single -family zoning and dislocation.
The applicant's hardship is not supported with evidence of unique physical circumstances or condition of the property that would prevent it from being used in conformity with the code.
Therefore, we recommend a request for variance not be granted.
Thank you.
M -I -2022 -003 -143 -3769 Glenn Street.
I vote yes.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
Sorry.
Sorry about that.
I'm sorry about that.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you very much.
Have a great day.
Okay. Number six, MI -2022 -003 -086 -1122 Dickinson Street. David Orfanides is the attorney. Letter of non -opposition from Councilman Mark Squilla and letter of non -opposition from Passchung Square Civic Association.
Orfanides is back as a panelist, sir.
There we go. Good afternoon.
Good afternoon, Mr. Orphanides. Could you please state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Certainly. David Orphanides, O -R -P -H -A -N -I -D -E -S.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do, sir.
Could you identify your client in a relationship to the property?
Certainly. My client is Dickinson Partners, LLC. That's D -I -C -K -I -N -S -O -N, Partners, plural, LLC.
Right. Thank you. Our vice chair has a few questions.
Hi, Mr. Orphanides. Do you agree to wait the reading of the refusal to stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed 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?
We met with the RCO. We have a letter. We also have a letter from the councilman.
I did email everything. We were a couple hours after the deadline. We had problems getting the PDF in the proper format. But I think given that, given the position of the community and the council person, that few, few hour delay shouldn't hopefully prevent us from moving forward today.
Okay, you may proceed again by sharing your screen.
Thank you.
Can everybody see my screen?
Okay. So again, my name is David Orfanides. I'm here this afternoon on behalf of Dickinson Partners, LLC. I have John Micah Zimmerman with me, who's here representing Dickinson Partners, LLC. He's one of the members.
He's identified as such, I believe, on the Zoom call that at some point I'd be promoted so that he can either answer questions or adopt my statements. I also have Richard Miller here with me. I think he's identified as Richard Miller. He's the architect on the project and the same thing.
At some point, we'll have him either promoted so that he can answer questions or adopt my statements.
The subject property, the property that we're here for today is 1122 Dickinson Street.
You can see a photo of it up on my screen.
It's an existing two -story building.
I can show you the interior photos.
It's in a pretty bad state of disrepair.
um what's interesting about this this property is that or the structure is that it occupies
What's interesting about this property is that
All right.
two things first of all it occupies presently the structure occupies 100 of the lot you can also see
that it's sandwiched um encircled or include completely enclosed by the buildings to either
side of us the one building is this building over here to our left which would be to our east
which is not part of this project obviously but you can see how it comes back here and then the
other property is this property here 1124 to 28 dickinson street which my client also owns which
is right now a vacant uh building with had has a history of commercial use uh with a garage and
accessory parking there and here you can see part of that building right here i have other
photographs of that so it's very unique uh in the fact that it's completely enclosed by other
buildings. You can see that it's also extremely unique in its shape because of the way some of
the streets come together and meet down in this portion of Philadelphia, of South Philadelphia,
off of Paso Yonk Avenue. On the one side, the west side here, it's 27 feet 1 3⁄8 inches long.
On this side, it's 47 feet 2 3⁄4 inches long. Per the definition of the zoning code,
and coming up with lot depth, you measure to the in -between and you'll see then the refusal
with what we propose, we're not being held to the nine foot required rear yard depth that you
normally see in RSA 5. This is an RSA 5 zone property, but seven feet. So the lot depth is
obviously given that requirement has been deemed by LNI to be less than 45 feet. And then obviously
you have this angled portion here that runs along the other building that my client owns. So two
sides of it are along sides along building or a property that my client owns. And then the other
side, the third of the four sides is a budding of building that we do not own. As mentioned,
the property is zoned RSA 5. The application is for a single family dwelling. So we do not have
a use variance here. We have two dimensional refusals. One is because we at the present time
have two two -story buildings to either side of us. Again, you can see here, and then you can see
here. Again, this is the building that we own. This is the building on the other side,
and you can see that to the west of us, there are existing three -story buildings. If we had
developed this building first, the three stories, we wouldn't have a refusal here, but we wanted to
get the single family underway um so um you know we if we had done it differently we would not have
that refusal um and we feel that given that this is uh these are three stories that we have an
application in for a three -story structure here that that that refusal um is one that um is not
of uh very much materiality here the other refusal has to do with the rear yard deck this is we are
calling this a complete demolition because we're removing we're we're maintaining part of this
structure but we are we think we're probably going to be removing more than two -thirds
of the uh the structural members that roof choice and and one of the walls and so it's been deemed
and it was applied since we thought it would be close enough to call it a complete demolition
but we are maintaining portions of the structure but again as you can see from the aerials
our building it's you know the two stories towards the front it's the one story at the back it does
it does occupy 100 is the lot depth again as you can see from the survey that we had a professional
engineering firm prepare and we're essentially what we're doing is we're building uh you'll see
here in the zoning drawings we have revised zoning drawings with some minor kind of dimensional
changes, informational changes, but nothing of substance. You can see here that we're maintaining
that ground floor area that's open. And then here we're putting the two stories above that,
basically rebuilding the second floor and then putting the third floor. There will be a roof deck
with a roof deck access structure that's all compliant, set back five feet from the front.
The pilot house, that's less than 125 square feet and not located closer than five feet to the rear of the structure.
Again, the use is a single -family use.
In terms of that, you know, we mentioned the setback already.
So essentially what you're looking at is you're looking and going back to the aerial.
You're looking at a rebuilding of the second floor structure and then just putting a third floor directly above that.
do have some interior photos you can see you know the interior is in a pretty bad state
and you obviously saw from the exterior
and you obviously saw from the exterior, the photos that we have, you know, you've got boarded
up windows. My client has cleared off a lot of the, you know, of the, you know, the vines that
were growing on it and whatnot. He maintained it as best that he can in its current condition.
We do have floor plans here. Again, single family dwelling, ground floor, common living area.
You have a second floor.
You have a bedroom with a home office and a master suite up on the third floor and then leading up to the roof deck.
A copy of the deed that shows my client owns the property.
We did provide a tax compliance showing that all the taxes are paid, recurrent on our taxes.
We did have a community group meeting that was indicated when there's tax compliance.
And we did have a community meeting.
that's a zoning board hearing I'm sorry and zoning board hearing notice for today the posting of the
notice and a copy of the notice of refusal at the property 21 days in advance and then I was about
to say that the 14303 notice here's the email from the planning commission notifying us that
the coordinating RCO would in fact be PSCA a list of addresses we pulled from the planning commission's
website uh that the architect pulled from the website um the notice of the meeting with the
with psca that took place on july 12th that included a copy of the notice refusal and then
here's the evidence of the cert the certification of the first class mailing again as you had noted
there is a letter of non -opposition from psca and then a letter of non -opposition from councilman
Mark Squilla. We do have revised zoning drawings, one sheet. Again, those are some minor
clarifications, clarifying on the elevations that there is a cellar to be maintained or
constructed below, and some other various dimensional clarifying or confirming some
dimensions and some materials. Here is a rendering of our project of how it's going to look.
So the architect is, you know, Rick Miller, RKM architects are well -established, do beautifully designed buildings throughout the city of Philadelphia.
And again, we'll be coming back and doing, and again, it's dimensionally compliant in terms of height.
We're going to be doing a similar type of structure directly next to us to the east.
And that'll be between this structure we're proposing and the three story structures to the west.
So it's pretty straightforward.
forward, we have a non -opposition from the community. It's a blighted property. It's a
regularly, clearly irregularly shaped, located in a very unusual situation, surrounded by the
properties. We're not going to be impacting, again, as you can see from the survey, we're not going to
be impacting anybody's windows. We're not going to be impacting anybody's rear yards in terms of
shadowing. Our property, actually, the abutting property actually runs all the way down the back
here, down the tail. These are just the buildings located to either side. So this built property
actually runs all the way down here so our property runs behind here the abutting property
and for these reasons we feel that the two variances or the refusals that were issued
that we meet the uh criteria for the granting of the um of the variances that are being requested
by the zoning board i mean requested of the zoning board excuse me and with that i would
have my uh i would have my client um john michael zimmerman adopt my statements and richard miller as
well it's been a lot to speak sir hi could you state your name and spell it please for the court
reporter sure john j -o -h -n micah m -i -c -a -h zimmerman z -i -m -m -e -r -m -a -n right do you
swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do proceed counsel okay
good afternoon micah um you've been on uh you've been on this you've heard the whole case that was
presented to the zoning board i have and what were the things that i stated uh true and correct to
the best of your knowledge they are and uh would you adopt those statements as your own i do okay
thank you and then real anyone else david yeah mr miller mr rick miller real quickly rick you're on
Mr. Miller, please raise your hand.
He's been allowed to speak, sir.
Hi, Mr. Miller, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
My name is Richard Miller, R -I -C -H -A -R -D -M -I -L -L -E -R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Sure. Rick, have you been on for the full hearing this afternoon in this matter and heard what I
Have you been on for the full hearing this afternoon in this matter and heard what I say stated to the zoning board?
And you are the architect of record for this project, correct? You prepared the drawings?
Yes, correct.
Okay. And are the things that I stated related to the drawings, the design of the property, the surrounding area, correct to the best of your knowledge?
And would you adopt those statements as your own?
Okay, thank you.
I rest and just reserve the right to rebut anything that might come up.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I do not see any further hands, Mr. Chair.
By Planing Commission.
Ron Bednar, city planning properties indicated for residential on the city plan.
And we recommend that the requested rear yard variance be granted, provided that the third floor eight foot setback be as required by the code be fully maintained in the final design and construction.
And again, you want to respond to that?
Yeah, just real quickly.
Again, we're going to be we already have an application and we have a refusal in for the property next door.
That's a three story structure because we have the three stories located again to the west of us.
you can see that here um that will not generate a refusal and now you're going to have a third
three -story structure right next to a two -story we would not be required to set it back so yes
there's a possibility that that project next door never gets developed but again um at some point
somebody's going to develop that it's our client or somebody else is a three -story without a setback
by right because of the three stories located adjacent to it to the west or budding to the west
And as such, while I understand Mr. Bednar's statement, I think in this case, given the circumstances of what's happening, the existing structures and what's going to happen adjacent or budding to us on the one side that there will be a three -story, there are three -stories and will be, that the zoning board should take all that in consideration in the value of Mr. Bednar's opinion, which I do respect, and still grant the variance as requested.
Thank you.
MI 2022.
003 -086 -1122 Dickinson Street. I vote yes with proviso. Revised plans, one page,
stamped by CBA, October 19th, 2022. Carol Tenere, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso. James Snell, yes with proviso.
So thank you.
You would be excused.
Thank you, Ish.
Thank you, Mr. Ophanidis.
Thank you.
Have a great day.
Is there anyone in the 330 virtual audience whose case has not been called?
I do not see any hands, Mr. Chair.
Thanks, everyone.
A lot of good work today.
A lot of nice cases.
Thank you.
Great job, everyone.
Great job, everyone.
Take care.
Good evening, everyone.
Have a nice night.
good night
good night
good night everyone