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This case is withdrawn.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,