I'm sorry I have pictures of the actual home
this is the backyard area
One of the bedrooms, another bedroom, the fourth bedroom, because it's a four.
the fourth beer room because it's a fourth beer room property
two baths
this is another beer room this is the living area the common space
the living area the common area again this is the front property
that would be the notice that i placed on yep yes i had several just to prove that
this is the kitchen area
all the documents that I actually sent to we have all your documents so have you done this before
no this is my first time do you have any experience in this kind of work oh I thought
you were speaking a reference to me being in the hearing and this I definitely have experience in
this time of this type of work that's the whole purpose of the project I have over extensive
history in managing home care home health care home care agency I'm
currently certified in personal care as an administrator right and people on
either side of your property are they in favor yes okay did you talk to anybody
else on the block because there's we all seem to sign that 26 people signed this petition so we had
an open uh meeting which was i sent 150 letters out myself personally the they appointed the block
captain nicole islam to attend the meeting with myself michael ross my administrator and another
gentleman during that meeting they asked questions in regards to group living in that house that was
not zoned in the past so they were kind of basing that off of the individuals who prior to me or the
owner buying a property was not aware that they were operating a group living not licensed in
in the past. I assured them that in my background as well as me being my own individual entity
who is going to have a structured setting, there will be supervision, there will be house rules,
there will be contracts. We have a targeted age group so that we can alleviate any chaos and
nonsense. I assured them that there will be no disruption to their neighborhood to their block,
that we would have open communicationally with the identified block captains or
anyone else I would also give them our telephone number our 24-hour number so
that they can contact if anything comes up the owner of the property also
extended his hand if any issues occur that they can contact them as well you're
renting the property? I'm renting the property. Okay. I would say Nicole Islam is the person
who sent us the letter. Right. She was the young lady that we met with. All right. Questions from
the board. So any residents? There will be a maximum of only six residents. And what kind of
residents are we talking about? We're soliciting veterans that are in need of stable housing.
that may need more of a structure just a little help up to transition more independently on their
own okay how many bedrooms there's four bedrooms okay and how many bathrooms two baths how are you
providing for meals we will you said how am i providing we will prepare me and my staff will
prepare distribute time i timeline when they get the meals breakfast lunch and dinner and snacks
okay all right that's included in their overall residential fee how many staff are you planning
to have we will have two staff per shift which would be like a seven to three three to eleven
11-7. 11-7 would be one person, but throughout the day, the first and second shift, there
will be two staff.
Okay. And I didn't see this in your pictures, but where will the staff be as opposed to
be as opposed to the residents like can you kind of oh there's a lower there's a lower level
the residents? Can you kind of...
which we're going to station our office inside of there so that way we'll be able to have our
paperwork files and everything stored and conduct whatever daily business while we're on the
premises okay and then you're going to have a living like space or area for the residents
yes a common area okay um and again can we see some of those pictures yeah again please
so so do you have an agreement with the veterans or uh organization um that you
that you plan to get these uh clients from yes i currently have a referral partnership with caring
llc um when i contacted the veterans affairs they let me know that i had to go through
zoning and l and i be approved first and then they can partner up with me as a referral source
okay and you mentioned that you have a history an experience in uh home health care etc but you
didn't mention sort of where and for how long can you explain what your background is yes so i
currently well i'm a licensed therapist in drug and alcohol so i have over 20 years experience
in behavioral health human services i also um own and operate a licensed home care agency
people embracing care that I have done since 2018 okay and how many was
certified for I took a course via Penn State I'm now a personal care
administrator okay i'm sorry because i had a oh yeah you should you showed some pictures so i
know i had a whole powerpoint for you guys that i made up but my eye i think that cannot see it
on here but i'll just go back to the pictures so this is the backyard
yep okay which of course upon um being approved for the special expectation
this area here will also be groomed maintenance i also assured the um
black captain that we will make sure that the grounds is maintained maintenance on a weekly
basis this is one of the bedrooms another bedroom another bedroom
another bedroom a common area this is from one angle on the first floor that's on the first floor
yes that's the first floor this is another common angle this is the front of the property
Again, that was the zoning letter.
This is the kitchen area.
Kitchen area.
So why don't you tell us, why do you think there's so many people signed this petition against it?
Well, as they reported, again, they told that there were two other individuals who must have operated a group living without being legally zoned.
At that location?
At that location, which may have caused a little rift in the past.
I assured them that, again, that wasn't under my operation, that we have a strict program
in place.
We have an ideal targeted age group to alleviate any nonsense or nuisance to the area.
They will be monitored.
And again, like I expressed to them, I don't think those individuals went through the proper
channels as I did to ensure that we are all connected and united in a basis where it wouldn't
be any disruption.
I frequently visited that block just to check the area to see about the neighbors, was able
to speak to some people, but because of that, I believe the owner of the property was not
aware that they had group living there in the past either.
Prior to this application, there was a single family.
Prior to this application, there was a single family that lived there.
They did not say it was any nuisance from them.
They were basing it off of years ago, which, again, the individuals who didn't legally go through the channels.
You said you went through the block. Can you describe the block? Is it mostly single family?
Well, I can describe the homes in terms. They all are similar.
it does it's no apartment buildings there's several side blocks that
intersect it was quiet I went there during the day during the evening in the
afternoon just to see so overall how it would be and it was pretty calm and so
do you know if there's any other group living there's no so you're you don't
know if the block is primarily single-family or not well in turn it
looks like it looks like it's a single-family but it doesn't look like
any other business of operations are um being operated at this time there they pretty much
look like family homes single family homes and and you know how to integrate uh your residence
with this block i'm sorry could you repeat that is there a plan like uh a community type of plan
to integrate the residents or is it just basically no just to make sure that everyone understands
the nature of this project be open be more watchful of each other once we were
operating I had planned to have a like a meet-and-greet with the individuals at
the home maybe a little black event not to cut it off but you know within the
home so that they can feel comfortable who the neighbors is also for the
residents to feel comfortable who they're neighboring with as well and my
last question is um what is the average stay of a resident and in this situation
with so it's not a long term where it would be five or ten years it's
basically a transition so they have up to a year maybe a year and a half worth
though they can transition so that we can rotate you know the setting okay so
there will be different people coming right it won't be permanent but that the
residents that are there will be there for a substantial amount of time okay
thank you all the questions do you know yeah do you know how long the owner has owned the property
i believe you know the property for several years i i don't have an actual time frame but i know
that under his ownership like i said he was just recently running it to a single family
i have a question about the pipeline for tenants i know you've mentioned them being veterans
but um like when a spot comes available how are you getting them into the rooms are you are they
coming from a like a hotline list is a referral a referral source it'll be it's i had like i said
i partnered with one individual who goes exactly to the va hospital in coordination with the social
workers they will contact me which they had done throughout this time already but because i didn't
go through this process I was unable to take anyone or do the intake process we
would do a thorough screening to make sure that the individual is mentally
stable financially stable with with other resources that they may need we
will also provide them a system or getting any type of help that they may
be looking for in terms of transitioning into their own independent living okay
Right. And then I think my second question is around, I know you've mentioned that they're there for a year. Is that restricted in the lease? Is this rapid housing vouchers? Like, what is the mechanism that restricts them to only being there for a year?
Well, again, this is a transitional living space. It's not a permanent or long term.
Sure, but I've worked in housing for many years, and I know that transitional housing can be up to three years for some individuals.
Depending on the individual and the circumstance,
our target would be that.
But if the individual is able to pay their monthly rent
and stabilize within a setting, I'm
not going to just say that, oh, you're terminated.
You have to leave.
It's upon their success in the environment.
No, I understand that.
I'm just, you said a year.
So I'm wondering, are there any instances
where it would be longer than a year?
There may be.
There may be.
And if that may be the case, that is fine.
I just have a question about the last photo you showed, the bedrooms, is any of the bedrooms on the first floor? Is it an open space bedroom? The last photo that you showed of a bedroom looked like it was connected to a kitchen.
and oh no i'm sorry that was just the arrangement of the photos they're all on the second floor okay
okay and they're um regular bedrooms very spacious um i was thinking to dependent this
is where we do the screening because if someone has mobility limitations or may need the assess need
have mobility limitations or may need the assess need further assessment or help with navigating
through the home we can also provide that if they need to be on the first floor again we have that
lower level but for the most part of our intake we'll have individuals who can transition mobilize
throughout the home okay so there's four bedrooms on the second floor yes ma'am okay all right I do
have one other question yeah um why did you pick this particular place um this is you know as it
seems to be a single-family neighborhood there's not rentals around and what have you and so um
you know why why this particular well that location is close to transportation um it's
also close to several other resources in the community where they can go shopping they can get
the bus they can navigate it's a good school district near and it was a quiet neighborhood i
didn't want to go somewhere where it was kind of busy a lot of chaos or disruption just to give them
a peaceful environment thank you you're welcome questions for our attorney
no questions at this time what's your comments from the virtual audience
chair we have a hand up from nicole islam she's being promoted to pan
good morning
Is this one?
Is she coming on?
They're currently a panelist. Can you unmute yourself, Ms. Hizlan?
Ms. Hizlan?
do we hear she's just it's not unmuted
sure they're currently a panelist they have to uh unmute themselves
You have to unmute yourself, ma'am.
Chair, she is unmuted. Maybe she's having technical difficulties.
Ms. Islam, are you having, could you give us an idea that you're still there?
Chair, I'm afraid we're going to have to move on because Ms. Islam is unmuted, but
is not producing any sound that we can hear. So I'm afraid they're not going to be able to
testify here is there anyone else in the virtual audience no further hands at this time chair
planning commission good morning liz usually on behalf of the philadelphia city planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning to the rsa5 residential single family
zoning district at this location there is a history of failed inspections and violations
related to habitability dating back to 2024 the block and surrounding neighborhood is made up of
predominantly single-family residential units uses there is no unique physical condition or
circumstances of this property that would prevent it from being used in strict conformity with the
zoning code the city planning commission recommends the board deny the special exception for group
living in an existing structure thank you um so mi 2026 002 224 5631 whitby avenue i vote no
michael johns my vote is no it's not a gram my vote is no ryan mcadams my vote
Michael Johns, my vote is no.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is no.
is no hi i win my vote is no layla bb my vote is no thank you thank you
Let's go to number 6, MI 2025 006-674-1212 South 51st Street, Michael Yanoff is the attorney.
They're being promoted to panelist.
Thank you.
good morning Mr Chairman members of the board my name is my name is Michael Yanoff that's
y-a-n-o-f-f do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
I do would you identify your client the relationship to this property
Yes, my client is Sia Philly, who is the owner of the property, and I represent her.
All right, and I noticed there's a letter of support from the 51st Ward Democratic RCO.
Our vice chair has a few questions for you.
Good morning.