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