good morning everyone my name is bill bergman and i will be chairing this morning's meeting
of the zba with me is our vice chair tenetta graham president mr chairman board secretary
cheryl l gaston present mr chairman board members michael johns he's here tye winn
president mr chairman brian mcadams president mr chairman layla bb mr chairman also here is
our attorney lynn reuter uber our executive director ian haggerty and our board administrator
lakesha dandy this hearing is being recorded and will be posted on the zba website by participating
you consent to be recorded this is an in-person meeting with remote participation whether in
person or on zoom if you're called to speak please state and spell your name and wait to be sworn in
once you're sworn in each time you before you testify please state your name to enter an
appearance indicate the property address on the zoom webinar speak with a staff member
call the zba office by the close of business tomorrow call 215-686-2429 and provide your name
email and the case address remote participation raise your virtual hand when directed so that
that we can call you to speak.
When we do call on you,
please click the Join as a Panelist button.
Use the Q&A for procedural questions only,
nothing to do with the individual cases.
If you are called to join by phone,
please star nine to raise your hand
and star six to unmute.
In person, if testifying, get close to the mic
so that all and the court reporter can hear you.
no talking eating or drinking during the hearing aggressive behavior will not be tolerated
in an emergency follow the staff instructions the main exit is the rear double doors in the back
also the stairwell is to the left if we evacuate go to love park which is directly across our street
and please remain there so that we call on we can call on you so let let's look at our schedule for
today. Number one, MI 2025-001-315-2704-06 West Allegheny Avenue. No exhibits. This is the
third listing. The owner is West Allegheny Property, LLC. Muhammad Wadad is the listed owner.
good morning mr chair this is jason hand i will be your co-host for the session
i do not see any individuals responding to the case in the virtual audience this morning so
thank you so mi2025-001-315-2704-206 west allegandy avenue this is the third listing i
vote to dismiss john's my vote is to dismiss cheryl gaston my vote is to dismiss tenetta graham
my vote is to dismiss brian mcadams my voters to dismiss tya win my vote is to dismiss layla bb
my voters to dismiss number two mi 2025 004 106 53 30 north penn street michael lament is the
listed owner third listing no uh exhibits
mr chair once again i do not see any hands raised for the matter
in my 2025 004 106 53 30 north penn street i vote to dismiss michael johns my vote is to dismiss
daryl gaston my vote is to dismiss tennetta graham my vote is to dismiss mcadams my vote
is to dismiss iowyn my vote is to dismiss they have a bb my vote is to dismiss number three mi
20 25 004 109 1930 spark street um this is the third listing um god help is the llc the listed
to the owner is Michael Lambert.
I'm sure I have a hand up from this Anthony forward.
I will go ahead and allow her to speak right now.
Right.
Right.
Good morning, Chair.
Good morning, Board.
This is Antoinette.
How are you doing?
Could you please state and spell your name for the stenographer?
Antoinette.
A-N-T-O-I-N-E-N-E.
Last name Fullard.
F-U-L-L-A-R-D.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Could you tell us your relationship with this property?
Yes, I'm actually calling in on behalf of Councilwoman Bass's office. I know that I didn't know what was going to happen with this case today, but I know that we did not have an RCO meeting for this case. So I was going to ask for a continuance, but I didn't realize it was already continued so many times.
yes so it looks like you guys may dismiss it anyway but i want to see if there's anyone else
in the audience but thank you very much for taking the time we do appreciate it
is there anyone else in the audience for this case
mr chair i do not see any further hands so mi 2025 004109 1930 spark street i vote to dismiss
michael johns my vote is to dismiss cheryl gaston my vote is to dismiss tenetta graham my voters to
dismiss ryan mcadams my voters to dismiss kyan win my voters to dismiss layla bb my voters to
dismiss so number four mi2025-006-110-2736 north dover street um michael lambert is the listed
owner. This is the third listing. No exhibits. Once again, Mr. Chair, I do not see any further
hands for the matter. So MI 2023-004-110, 2730 North Dover Street, I vote to dismiss.
Michael Johns, my vote is to dismiss. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is to dismiss.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is to dismiss. Amy McAdams, my vote is to dismiss.
Taya Nguyen, my vote is to dismiss.
Layla Bibi, my vote is to dismiss.
Number five, MI 2025-004801, 3344-52 North 10th Street.
This case is continued until 3-327 at 9.30 a.m.
Mr. Chairman, we were informed that attorney orphanetes may be on the Zoom to talk about this, if we want to hear.
Well, hold on a moment. Let's why don't we get your counsel? I don't have anything to add. That's okay. I appreciate appreciate the board's consideration. Okay. So.
This case is being continued, sir. You heard your counsel.
Okay. All right. All right. So that.
was continued to 3327 at 9 30 a.m. Thank you. Number six MI 2025 007 529 6249 Haverford Avenue.
this case has been withdrawn. Number seven, MI 2026-003-446-226
Duran Street, this case has been withdrawn.
Number 8, MI 2025-001-198-6610 Hasbrook Avenue. This case has been continued to 3-3-27 at 9-30.
Number 9, MI 2025-006-729-4255 Main Street. This case is continued to 3327 at 930.
Number 10, MI-2025-002-8283-8036, Frankfurt Avenue.
This case is continued to 3327 at 9.30 a.m., and Mark must be heard.
number 11 mi 2026 003 148 4308 frankfurt avenue this case is continued to 3327 at 9 30 a.m
Number 12, MI 2026-002-172-390-Monastery.
That case is continued to 3327 at 9.30 a.m.
Number 13, MI 2026-002-178-1255 South 22nd Street.
1255 South 22nd Street, that case has continued to 3327 at 9.30 a.m.
That case is continued to 3327.
Number 7, MI 2026-003-446-223 Durand Street, this case has been withdrawn.
Number 8, MI 2025-001.
Excuse me, Mr. Chairman.
I went the wrong way.
i'm sorry you did yes a lot of continuances here guys you should be on number four number fourteen
mi twenty twenty six zero zero three three three one seven oh four christian street cases continue
to 3327 at 9 30 a.m number 15 mi 2026 003 um 3 3 2 3 33 31 oakmont street uh can i have a spanish
interpreter please mr chair the spanish interpreter will be promoted to a panelist
they should be coming back in shortly sure
okay mr chart the spanish interpreter is on the line all right could you please um state and spell
your name for the stenographer uh yes my name is juan diaz uh that's j u a n ds d i a z
do you swear or affirm that you will interpret accurately completely and impartially from
spanish to english and from english to spanish yes thank you could you please call uh would you
please let elisa your reina u-r-e-n-a is the listed owner would you please tell her that her case has
been rescheduled to three three twenty seven at nine thirty a.m okay eh señora elisa brena
eh su eh caso ha sido reprogramado para eh and i'm sorry what was the date again at nine thirty
3 3 27 at 9 30 a.m. para 3 de marzo de 2027 a las 9 y media de la mañana
la dirección de la propiedad es la 33 31 oakmont street
yes he said yes thank you thank you very much for your help
what was the date again please three three twenty seven at nine thirty a.m
3-3-2027, 9.30 de la mañana.
Thank you.
Interpreter, thank you very much.
You're welcome.
Interpreter, let's go ahead and disconnect.
We're going to take a look at our add-ons.
Number one, MI 2025-006074, 222 Hartel Avenue.
i vote yes with proviso per amended refusal dated may 11th 2026. johns my vote is yes with proviso
gerald gaston my vote is yes with proviso tenetta graham my vote is yes with proviso
ryan mcadams my vote is yes with proviso tyia when my vote is yes with proviso
Number two, MI 2025, 006, 000622, 644 North 20th Street. Could I have a Spanish interpreter, please?
Yes, Chairman.
Thank you. You've already been sworn, just for the record, state your name.
Juan Díaz.
Could you please call Ramon Jaquez, J-A-Q-U-E-Z?
El señor Ramon Jaquez, por favor.
Mr. Chair, Interpreter, I do not see anyone answering to that name in the audience today.
Interpreter, could you please announce that this case, the vote on this, is going to be rescheduled to 10-7-26 at 9.30 a.m.
to 10 7 26 at 9 30 a.m okay el voto en este caso va a ser reprogramado para el 7 de octubre
2026 a las 9 y media de la mañana and mr interpreter can you also interpret the address
in case the um applicant listens to this so they know what number this is sure hold on
i'll give that to you thank you that's six four four one north 20th street
la adicción y está en este caso es la del 6441 norte de la calle 20
interpreters again thank you very much you're welcome number three mi 2026 002 176 3856
fairmount avenue i vote no michael johns my vote is no daryl gaston my vote is no tanetta graham
my vote is no ryan mcadams my vote is no hi owen my vote is no layla bb my vote is no
number four mi 2026 000 809 4112 peachen street
i vote yes with proviso maximum eight dwelling units height to code
michael johns my vote is yes with provisos charles gaston my vote is yes with provisos
tenetta graham my vote is yes with provisos ryan mcadams my vote is yes with provisos
tyah winn my vote is yes with proviso number five mi2025 007 322 4841 fairmount avenue
new I vote no John's my vote is no Cheryl Gaston my vote is no it's not a Graham my vote is no
Brian McAdams my vote is no Taya Wynn my vote is no Layla Beebe my vote is no and number six
MI 2024 006 086 7777 State Road the vote in this matter has been moved to October 7th at 9 30 a.m
we're going to go to our our regular list now number 16
number 16 mi 2026 002 179 2601 north 12 street
Michael Mattione is the attorney.
Mr. Mattione, could you please state and spell your name for the stenographer?
Michael Mattione, M-A-T-T-I-O-N-I.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client in relationship to this property?
My client is Alpha Acquisition LLC.
They're the owner of the property, and Bernardo Rezai, the principal, is here today.
The vice chair has just a few questions, sir.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Have you submitted your documents and exhibits 14 days in advance of this hearing?
And do you weigh the reading on your refusal and stipulate to their accuracy?
All right.
Thank you.
You can see your screen.
I'll see you with your case.
Thank you.
Thank you, and good morning.
Again, I represent Alpha Acquisition, LLC, the owner of 2601 North 12th Street, and
Renato Rezai is here with me.
He's the principal.
We are seeking two variances today to allow development of this property.
It's a CMX2 property to develop this into two residential units rather than one commercial
and one residential unit.
it. We have one refusal for the use being exclusively residential and the other is because
of the overlay that requires there be 425 square feet of lot area per residential use
or 850 total square feet of area. This lot is only 840 square feet so it's a de minimis
variance of 10 square feet that we're short. The property is shown on the photo on the
page. It's a vacant lot at 12th and Huntington. It's been a long standing vacant lot. We do
have, we met with the RCO and they sent in their letter of support. It was 15 in support
and three in opposition.
We also spoke to numerous neighbors
We also spoke to numerous neighbors and got eight additional letters of support.
and got eight additional letters of.
There's a map, and then each letter of support showing up on the screen.
You also have a letter from the councilman?
I didn't receive a letter from the councilman.
No, I'm not. You're right. You're right.
No, we did receive one, a non-opposition.
thank you i didn't receive they didn't send it to me thank you thank you um anyway
the site plan is up on the screen it's basically four floors um
with a lower unit three bedrooms uh three bathrooms it's about
1,040 square feet. The upper unit is two floors, three bedrooms, three bathrooms, and it's 1,395
square feet. It's got the bump out, so that creates a little additional space. There's a
rooftop deck for the upper unit. There's a rear yard for the lower unit, and the trash is stored
in the backyard. In this CMX2 zoning district, you're required to have commercial use. Out of
the 13 CMX2 properties in the area, only two have commercial uses. The remainder are either vacant
lots, there's six of them, and the rest are either a church or solely residential. This includes
neighboring properties such as 2603 right next door to the property which is two units that's
an rm1 zoning district but it's two units and it also has a substandard size lot 1144 north
huntington directly across the street is five units it's a long-standing five-unit structure
Again, the other structures in the area are either commercial use with vacant residential
use above directly across the street and another commercial use of takeout beer store with
again, vacant commercial uses above or other properties in the area that are five residential
units three residential units two residential units all of which have no
commercial use other than the church none are being used as provided for in
the zoning code this property that is shown by the support of the community
there's no support for commercial uses in this area there's only a few that are
able to even survive and they supported us and said we would like to see the
multifamily units two units here that's not an overbilled it's in conformity
with the remainder of the area, most of which is RM1 zoned.
So granting the variance would allow for this property to be redeveloped after many years
of sitting vacant.
It would remove the vacant parcel and the likelihood of illegal dumping that are out
there cleaning the lot all the time.
It would add eyes and ears to the street.
and again most of the area is rm1 on the corners it's cmx2 so a multi-family structure is in
conformity with basically everything in the area and will allow this to be developed in a manner
that conforms with other properties including the property right next door 2603 and 1144 across the
which is five units so you know we believe that it's a very small deviation in the required lot
size and that in order to properly use this property that the variance is required um so
we're requesting the two variances to remit this proper project to move forward uh with that i
would like to call mr reside is the duplex next door in favor yes okay thank you please call your
client renato rezai r-e-n-a-t-o right r-i-z-a-j do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth nothing but the truth sir yes counsel did you hear my statements to the board yes and
are they true and correct yes and do you adopt them as your testimony yes nothing further mr
chair questions from the board yeah can you pull up the plans for a second sir sir what's what's
the the height of the building is it it's under 30 35 feet i believe it means we meet all the
dimensional and other requirements you know height requirements all those okay did you have the floor
plants yes and they're two okay so the two bedrooms in the basement and that's really
and that's really five feet out of the ground and if you see on the the site plan there's no real
five feet out of the ground and if you see on the site
window well there it's yeah yeah i saw that i saw that and appreciate that because that's one of the
things that always concerns me when the um the basement unit is so far below the low grade um so
um all right thank you i have a question for the upper unit what's the plan for their trash storage
all the trash goes in the back this is on a corner so you can walk out of the unit and walk
walk behind the structure there'll be a fence so you're going to have access to that rear okay yes
i have a question about um the other commercial uses on the adjacent uh four corners so there's
a current store right that's operating and then there's another store is that store closed
or that you know of?
I went by that the other day.
It was open at night.
It was basically a takeout beer place
with plexiglass inside.
It's closed a lot of the day.
It's closed during the day, open at night.
Okay, so there are other,
those two commercial uses are still available
for the community?
They're available, yes.
Okay, all right, thank you.
Questions from our attorney?
Not at this time, but I apologize.
I was looking at something else. Did he adopt your testimony? Yes. Okay.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience or the
occurring audience here?
Mr. Chair, I do not see any hands raised.
Planning Commission. Amy Wood with the Planning Commission, AYBOID.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth. I do.
Please proceed. The Comprehensive Plan recommends a change in zoning at this location
from the current CMX2 commercial mixed use to RSA5 residential single family.
The proposed deviation from the lot area per dwelling unit ratio
is de minimis deviation from the requirements of the north-central Philadelphia overlay sub-area B.
The proposed ground floor residential would be allowed by right under the proposed zoning.
Further, of the eight-corner zone CMX2 on this block, there is low commercial activity,
so the residential nature is characteristic.
the planning commission recommends that the board grant their requested variances for lot
area per dwelling unit and ground floor use mi2026-002-179-2601 north 12th street i vote yes
michael johns my vote is yes daryl gaston my vote is yes teneta graham my vote is yes
brian mcadams my vote is yes
thank you my vote is yes my vote is yes thank you thank you council
number 17 mi 2025 006 455 12 51 levick street uh spanish interpreter please
good morning your honor this is uh leonel guillen uh leonel spelled as an l-e-o-n-e-l
Gillen spelled as G-U-I-L-L-E-N
I am the Spanish interpreter
Do you swear or affirm that you will
interpret accurately
completely and impartially
from Spanish to English
or from English to Spanish?
I swear
Would you please call for us
Hector Toredo
Yes, Your Honor
Muy bien, está presente
el señor Héctor Toredo
or Hector Teredo Valles?
El señor Hector Teredo Valles.
it can be on standby why yeah i think i think we should do that okay i'll be right here i know
you'll be right there thank you very much uh sir could you please state and spell your name
my name is uh hector xavier dorado vales do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth i don't and just for the record could you spell your name uh is h e c t o r
x for xavier uh and then my last name is uh tirado t-i-r-a-d-o and my second last name is
vales v-a-l-l-e-s thank you our vice chair has just a few questions for you
good morning have you submitted your documents and exhibits 14 days in advance of this hearing
Yes, yes, I did. Okay. And is it your understanding that you're here for application for visitor accommodations? That is correct. Okay. And also, is it your understanding that you've been refused that application because the visitor accommodations is prohibited in the RSA five zone industry? Yes. Okay. All right. Thank you. You can share your screen and see to put on your case and describe your photos. And Hector, just one, one quick issue.
yes yes i did okay and is it your understanding that you're
I see that the RCO is in opposition to this as well as the council member.
Okay, please proceed.
Yes, so I would like to begin with, first of all, thank you for the opportunity of letting me present this case.
Also, I would like to express that my English is not my first language, so I apologize if I need a question.
That's right. You have backup there.
Very good. If I had to, any questions that could be repeated or explained, I would do my best to answer all of the board questions currently.
So I do understand that L&I issued a refusal because of the visitor accommodation.
And we have come up with a plan for the resident.
I just want to mention that the property will continue to maintain as a residential appearance.
And we are proposing to do this.
Why don't you put your documents up?
The documents that I have.
Let me share the screen.
That way, as you talk, you can refer to documents.
Very good.
Let me let me share the screen.
And how do I share the screen?
There is.
bear with me so i can now look here is it's coming up now very good
Can you see my screen?
We see unopened documents.
That's what we see.
You see an unopened document.
All documents are unopened.
All right.
Let me look and see.
I found a plan here for whatever reason.
Let me look.
this is this one here yeah
can you see the uh plan floor the floor pan we still see on open documents
let me stop cheering and share it back okay thank you
how about now
can you see the plan now no no
so Mr. Tirado good morning this is Ian Hegger the executive director I'm going to give you
um some instructions on this the uh best way to do this is to open the document that you want to
share first and then um select that as an application window when you're given the uh
the option to share your screen the other way to do it would be to just share your whole screen
which is i think the first selection when you open that window that says share screen and that'll
share everything that that you can see with it with the board very good i think then it should
do that now there again yes perfect thank you ah very good so um all right so this is our our plan
that uh is a three bathroom uh one bathroom uh it's gonna stay as a residential um property
uh we are not adding any any extra um uh space for the building um any additional uh it's just
going to stay as as a residential property and we have the entry of the property the floor plan
plan one as you can see
this is the basement
this is the uh the dining room the kitchen so the living room the entrance so you have the entries
an exit through the basement and this is a floor plan for the second floor it's a bathroom
And this is a floor plan for the second floor. It's a bathroom, bathroom, and also the two bathrooms in the back.
and I would like to also share the pictures
this is the front
the front house
this is also the inside
where the living room is
the dining room
and also the kitchen
for the first floor
and also the kitchen
This is the front door with also an access sign and one of the bathrooms, the main master
bathrooms and the second or third bathroom as well, also the bathroom.
this is more a picture of the first floor
and this is the
basement
with the laundry
also the basement
storage room
this is the exit
door rear
with also
you guys can see that
we have a smoke alarm
and this is the
back of the house currently and I would like to put the operation plan let me open here
Let me send it from my other computer.
One second, please.
Operating at Airbnb?
We are not operating at Airbnb.
Our request is to operate at Churton Rental.
But are you currently doing that or this is your first time?
No, we are currently doing...
We're not necessarily using Airbnb, but we have Verbal, we also have Booking.com, we host for professional business people that stayed in the city, such as nurses, and there's multiple different platforms, not necessarily have to be Airbnb.
be yep so this is this is our plan our plan is simple um so the prop the property and proposed
use the property is an assisted single family row house run home and uh the three bathroom
and one full bathroom one of the second floor living room uh we have a local property management
accountability which her name is rosemary pass and also this is uh her phone number
as well which you live very nearby to the uh to the property uh so the way how we're going to
operate this in and and we are currently operating this uh i know we allowed to only rent the property
for 30 days or more uh no less than 30 days so we are requesting to be able to um
post and and have our guests to stay less than 30 days uh and we have a system in place which
is a guest screening and reservation control which uh review the available guest identifications
um and also uh through it's going to be through the booking platform uh review the um the prior
guest ratings uh reviews uh and and it'll also requiring the reservation holder to provide
appropriate identifications as such as an id um and and and this is this is going to help us to
know who we are hosting the property to and and also we have in place that there's no party we
are not having a property to have any event uh it's very strict to no party and event and no
event policy and and gathering uh so it's more such as that uh renting the property for family
members of the uh of the community and people that also comes to the area for work uh we also
have a noise control and quiet hours, which is from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m., and neighbors complain.
We understand about the neighbors complain, and it was very helpful to sit down and have the,
to hold the RCO meeting that we had for the community.
uh to hold the RCO meeting that we had for the community and and we also put a plan for
any concern that the neighbor has because we don't we don't want for the neighbors to have to
deal with any situations uh and this is the reason why we we are very strict to in the policy that
we have and screening and and make sure who is it that is in our property before we allow people to
stay in the property um and and and to to do whatever we have to do in our in our power to
make sure that everything runs smooth and be a beneficial for the community um so if the
complaint receives a concern noise parking trash or unauthorized gathering uh this is going to be
taken care of promptly um to the customer through a phone call test message the same platform
whether it be Airbnb, Virpal, Furniture Finder, any of the sources that we're going to be
communicating with the customer. So it's definitely something that we're going to address. And also
we're going to avoid any confrontations. But after we communicate with the guests,
if this continues, we will help our manager to the place and hand in a letter for
to end the contract of staying in the property.
Also, we have, as I mentioned before,
we have the signs, we have small detectors,
we also have noises monitoring
to monitorize sounds and gathering,
not to record any conversations,
private conversations, anything like that.
We have also security cameras
that is in place at the outside
to record and make sure who's entering to the property.
The parking management, this is something else as well.
Well, I want to mention something about the neighbor's complaint.
I think that this is serious and we want to respect any violation which,
any violation will result into the appropriate action under the reservation agreement and applicable law.
So police or emergency service will be contacted if there's any required to be involved and also make sure that everything runs smooth for the neighbors.
Parking management, guests will be instructed exactly where to park the vehicles.
We have a space in the back of the unit, which the car can be parked in there and also not blocking any driveway or garage.
All the instructions will be in the platforms that they book the property.
And also, there's instruction for the trash and waste management as well, where the trash is going to be placed and appropriate containers.
And also, so I think I cover most of the stuff, the cleaning management.
We have our team that's going to be cleaning and managing the cleaning professionally.
between guests that stays in the property and sanitize bathroom kitchens and and and changing
changing cleaning lines and and towels um chicken house rules we have in the chicken's house rule
we have uh all you don't have to read every rule i mean right she's a whole list there right yes
let me ask you this how about your next door neighbors where do they stand so i we have a
very good relationship with the nest door neighbors uh we spoke to them um and uh because
we have put a plan together they have our phone numbers and and we live in that home for my god
we have the homes for 14 14 15 years and what was the biggest complaint that the rco had so uh the
biggest complaint from the neighbors was that there was uh at one point uh when we begin to
setting up the list and they were held a party on this property because it got booked for one night
and that was an incident like six seven months ago and and we we obviously took a plan for this
not to happen because it's not our goal to have people that interrupt disrupt the neighborhood
and even destroy our property.
And the biggest complaint was more of a held parties
and gatherings in the property.
So that was the most concern of having a short-term rental
in the property.
All right.
Questions from the board.
On your photo, I saw three meters.
So I want to know why you have three meters,
three electric meters.
Let me share the screen back on the photo. I don't know why it removed.
Let me share the screen back on the photo.
I don't know why it removed.
Let me go back in there.
So there's no three meter.
It's actually two different mirror.
Okay, so two meters, right.
Two mirrors.
And the reason why we have two different mirror is because our intention was to separate the electricity from the whole entire third floor, which is the basement,
to the second and first unit, but we haven't, we haven't done anything. We have two different,
also, if you look, we also have two different panels. We have two different panels and it was
intentioned to, to, to see how much, to, to separate the utilities and understand how much
money we spend in, in, in the first, in the first floor, in the basement floor compared to
second and third floor.
So is your ultimate goal to do a duplex,
to do a completely separate unit in the basement?
No, I don't think we're going to do such a thing like that.
We just thought for the moment that that could be an opportunity,
whether in the future we want to sell it
and somebody thinks to do something like that.
But currently right now we are not looking to do a duplex.
Other questions?
Yes. Why this kind of thing? Why didn't you, why have you tried to rent this as a single
family property?
I have this property rented for a few years as a long-term rental for the family. However,
I feel like it's a great opportunity for for family members that visit families that live from the neighbors.
And and and also we we travel a lot to the city of Philadelphia.
And we also like to stay in a house when we travel.
And we also have family that travels.
And also we we are we are we are pastors.
and in a way we try to also have a place
where we can send people for retreats
and things like that
where people can stay for a week, two weeks.
So that's our goal.
To have a place more for people
via temporary time
whether if it's going to be three weeks,
two weeks or a week.
Thank you.
Thank you.
questions or comments from our attorney um yes i just wanted to clarify um you're looking to
have a visitor's accommodations for the whole entire um your property correct correct yes okay
and secondly you mentioned parking um when you were describing um your structure and just so you
know if parking was not previously approved at this location that you're going to have to apply
for that separately because it's not included in this um application okay so uh question do i have
to apply for parking in the back of the uh unit is that for a permit for a permit for that um
i believe you do because you have not been approved for parking at this location but if
you have any questions you can call the office um with regard to this but right now all you're
asking for is for visitors accommodation at this location correct thank you thank you
questions or comments from the virtual audience
mr chair i do not see any hands raised any commission amy boy with the planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa 5 residential single family zoning at this
location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 1973 and the council supported map change
there are no unique physical conditions or circumstances of the property that would
prevent it from being used in strict conformity with the zoning code the planning commission
recommends that the board deny the requested variants for visitor accommodations thank you um
hector what i'm going to do is i'm going to hold this vote until next wednesday at 9 30 a.m i just
want a chance to talk to the board members simply because there was some opposition so and i'm not
saying i agree with that opposition i'm just want to sit and talk to the board members to see where
we stand and we'll vote next wednesday at 9 30 a.m okay and mr chairman it would be october 7th
october 7th right i also would like to um include um mr charmer if you don't mind i have a list of
signature of neighbors that we went personal and they and they
so why don't you send why don't you send that in okay i i would like to also send that i have that
I would like to also sign that. I have that. I can also share it to you if you want.
i can also share to you if you want but i can you don't have
No, you don't have one. We're fine. Just, if you would, email it in.
Yeah, by the close of business tomorrow, so that, Mr. Chairman, the record would be closed pending the receipt of the information that the applicant just indicated.
Thank you.
Thank you.
All right.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Interpreter, Spanish interpreter, are you still on?
Yes, Your Honor.
um are you scheduled for the next case uh to be honest your honor i don't know i think there are
three interpreters okay yes uh leonard this is ian hegarty we're going to keep you on for the
following case thank you perfect i'll be right here so mi2026 002 284 40 63 north 6th street
sean ward is the attorney and in spanish interpreter just state your name for the
record sir you've already been sworn yes sir leonel gillen spanish interview thank you very much
mr ward just be coming back in as a panel shortly mr chair
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
Good morning. Counsel, could you please state and spell your name for the stenographer?
Yes. My name is Shawn, S-H-A-W-N, last name Ward, W-A-R-D, Attorney for Applicant.
All right. Could you give us your applicant's name?
I am here on behalf of Lourdes, L-O-U-R-D-E-S, Chavez, C-H-E-V-E-S, I'm sorry, C-H-E-V-E-Z.
And her LLC, which is, just to be clear, L&R Property Investment Partners, LLC.
And Sean, let me ask you, have you communicated with her?
I have not communicated with her directly.
I've been communicating with Benita Cadillo.
Why don't we do this?
Why don't we call his appellant that owns L&R Property Investors, interpreter, please call her one for us.
And what's her name again, Sean?
Lourdes Chavez.
Lourdes Chavez.
Muy bien, la señorita Lourdes Chavez, ¿se encuentra presente?
La señorita Lourdes Chavez.
La señorita Lourdes Chavez
¿Encuentra presente?
But they say you need to unmute yourself.
I'm out of the country so she is connected by Lutex Chavez on your panelist I don't know why
she's not coming up if she connected by phone or she connected by connected on the computer okay
hold on i'm trying to figure it out she says she's raising hand and nobody's giving her
panelists okay jason so i believe that the
okay can you check she says she's raising her hand i see i see someone else
named pedito they have their hands raised right they're already a panelist yes they just need to
They have no audio or video option, so they...
Yeah, disconnected.
I'm on mute because I'm going to call them real quick, so give me one second.
Yeah, this is the interpreter, she's right there.
Maybe she joins with the same link as Bedita Cadillo, and that's why they have the same
It could be.
In the meantime, Chair, you didn't swear me.
In the meantime, Chair, you didn't swear me.
Did you state your name and spell for the sonographer for us?
Yeah, again, Sean Ward, W-A-R-D, Attorney for Applicant.
Sure. Do you swear or affirm the truth, hold truth, nothing but the truth?
Sean, while we're waiting, give us a sense of what you're doing with this case.
All right, Mr. Chair, this is here. Let me just share my screen real quick.
As typical, I've submitted my exhibit packet of Fort Lotus.
Just give us a brief because I don't want to have to interpret everything.
Just tell us what the case is.
It's a permit for a vacant commercial and a three-family dwelling in an existing structure.
It's on CMX-1, but it's adjacent to RSA-5, so the multifamily is not permitted pursuant
to the...
Let's see.
Can we get her one?
Chair, this is Ian Hegarty.
We've tried to ask the appellant to unmute, but she's not able to.
It seems she might be using an older version of Zoom or is unfamiliar with that work.
So I'm not sure where we are at this point with getting the appellant to be able to testify.
All right. Mr. Chair, if it makes sense, I've reviewed everything that has supplied to me.
I've taken her submissions and created my own exhibit packet as the board is accustomed to that.
It's not a complicated application.
We do have a RCO letter of non-opposition, as well as a letter submitted by Councilwoman.
So as an officer of the court, you want to testify?
Yeah, I believe it's not a complicated application.
And you'll be able to explain it to her later what happened?
Absolutely.
Proceed.
And Interpreter, please stay on just in case you would come on, okay?
Yes, Your Honor.
Thank you, Interpreter.
It's a pleasure.
Go ahead, Sean.
All right. Mr. Chair, I've shared my screen just to confirm that everybody can see it.
We have all your documents, sir. Okay. It's just a whiteout of the exhibit packet. It's for Lourdes
Chavez, L&R Property Investment LLC, 4063 North 6th Street, calendar ending in 2284.
It includes A1 through A13, and now I'll blow it up.
Oh, wait. I'm sorry. I didn't share.
Oh, where did I go? Sorry.
Okay. My packet includes A1 is the notice of refusal. Again, it's a permit for vacant commercial on the first floor and a three-family unit above in an existing structure.
Again, multifamily use is not permitted in the CMX 1 when adjacent to RSA 5.
Accordingly, we need a variance for the three-family use.
A2 is the zoning appeal.
A3 project information form.
Deed as proof of ownership.
Tax clearance at A5.
We have a site plan, photographs of the posting, subject property, street views, and an aerial view.
I've also included a copy of the RCO meeting and certificate of mailing.
Received late to the party was the ROC letter from Nueva Esperanza in non-opposition.
Received yesterday was District Councilwoman Lozado's letter of non-opposition.
I have some brief zoning history.
Dating back to 1939, it was a bar in one family.
Similar uses up to the most recent, 1998, it was a grocery store and a nine-rooming house, nine-unit rooming house.
A12 is the zoning map.
A-13 is the aerial photograph.
So, let me get this out of my mind.
So, again, we have the notice of refusal, the application.
We have what we see all your documents.
We have the PIF.
We have a copy of the deed.
We have proof of tax clearance with a certificate.
kit. The property is located at the corner of 6 and Lyoming as per the site plan. Here's a
picture of the subject property. It's an existing three-story structure. As you can see, the first
floor was, you know, commonly used for some kind of a non-residential retail or commercial
use. Here's another angle from Lycoming Street. Another view from Lycoming at a side of the
structure the deeds have posted the property in accordance with the rules
and regulations two posters are up we have an existing kitchen existing bath
as you can see the utilities there are multiple meters for units retail space
and the common areas as you can see it has existing hot water heaters at
multiple units another photograph of the interior a bathroom
Another photograph of the interior, a bathroom, a kitchen unit, another bathroom unit.
These are some Google Street views. This is North 6th Street.
Another Google Street view, Google Street views.
Here is an aerial photograph.
this is the meeting notice and it says certificate of mailing sent out to 193 properties
don't need to see every sheet of that let's go and then Esperanza and Nuevo Esperanza submitted
their letter on September 24th indicating non-opposition to the application with regard
to the district council person's letter that was received yesterday from Ketsi Lozada
indicating non-opposition to the property again the non-opposition letter from Esperanza
and I included all of the zoning history as previously discussed as an exhibit
and let me go back down with regard to the zoning map as you can see
The property is in the CMX zone. And again, another copy of the aerial photograph.
And that would be the exhibit packet as submitted or supplemented, I should say,
because Bodice originally- Can you tell us, how many units are you looking for and where
are they at in the building? The three family units, my understanding, there is
two units on the second floor and one unit on the third floor.
And we're not doing anything with the first floor.
First floor is going to remain vacant commercial until we can find a commercial tenant, which would be the subject of a new use registration application.
So you're going to get the two units on the second floor and the unit on the third floor approved?
Correct.
And what's the history?
Have they been approved in the past?
As far as the history goes, you can see on the exhibit list.
The bar, yeah.
Yeah, from 1939, it was a bar and one family, 56, a business and two family, 61, a bar and two family, 71, a bar and one family.
And I would point out to the board, you know, I've run across this many times.
Sometimes when you have an applicant filing an application for the first floor, they don't know how many units are above.
So, you know, they just assume it's a single family.
But, you know, as you can see, there's a history of two family on the, you know, above.
But in fact, it's three-family, right?
Yeah, and now we're seeking a three-family approval.
And the first floor remains vacant until you get it.
Yeah, until we can find or identify a suitable retail or commercial.
Why don't you do this?
Why don't you go back to your plans, right, or your photos of the second and third floor?
Want a second?
Mr. Chairman if I can make a comment can Council produce the floor plan for the first floor also
yeah because it looked like there was residential use on the first floor unless that's changed
it looked like it was a split between commercial and residential on the first floor so if you could
show that for the board to make sure do you have plans for the first floor Sean I don't have any
floor plans whatsoever. I had a site plan, but I was not provided floor plans, but we do have
photographs. Here's an existing kitchen. The utilities. Clearly, there's multiple different
uses in the property. Based upon the window, I would presume that this is an upper floor.
that's again that's a bathroom here's a second kitchen given the window i would assume that's
on an upper floor a bathroom again here's a third kitchen
and going by the exterior photographs i i i don't see any indication of a residential use on the
first floor well it actually it does if you look at it looks like that addition that second door
at the back with that addition on top that looks like a residential but that would be at the second
floor i think i saw four hot water heaters too right yeah there's multiple hot water heaters
it's four right so yeah well one one for the one 49 one for the commercial use and then three for
the apartments above okay and again you can see there's still a vent in the side window side of
the wall here um so how do how does one get to the second floor
So how does one get to the second floor?
I imagine this door right here, Michael, would be an entry with a staircase.
Obviously, the door in the corner would be for the vacant commercial space.
Again, you've got the vent, which would signify some cooking apparatus or reformer cooking apparatus on the first floor.
um i imagine the the door in the back is to the the rear of the commercial space generally if it
was a bar you know you would have the bar area towards the front and a kitchen in the back or
here's here's what i think we we need to do uh we need to come back and i and i think you you
probably should have photos of the first floor and see what's in there okay and and you want
Some better plans for the whole building that will give us an understanding of how.
OK, some some some zoning sketch floor plans indicating uses and size.
So I'm going to I'm sorry to interrupt, Sheriff.
This is the integrity. I don't know if this is helpful, but Miss Cadillo is contacting us to let us know that she does have additional floor plans that she can share.
I don't know if that's something that, Sean, you want to go ahead with, but that's just want to let you know that's a possibility.
if she has floor plans right now that would be awesome otherwise why don't we put the floor plans
up specifically we want to see the first floor too she's coming back in as a panelist now chair okay
i'm just going to let her put photos up and sean you'll do this conversation okay very good
I'm going to mute myself.
Ian, do you see her?
She's already been promoted, Mr. Chair.
Here she comes.
All right.
So we could have Sean call her as a witness.
Am I correct?
Well, Sean, why don't you call her as a witness and I'll swear her in.
Okay, Mr. Chair.
But she can adopt his testimony.
She can what?
Adopt his testimony. Sure, sure. Unless she's the. Yeah, she's going to be a witness. This is the expediter, correct? What's that? This is the expediter. Yeah. Okay, that's what I'm going to say. Correct. All right, Mr. Chair, I call, I call Bidita Cadillo to. Could you please state and spell your name for the stenographer?
Muy bien, señorita Bidita Cadillo, ¿puede decir su nombre y deletrearlo, por favor?
I think Bidita, I think she speaks English. Oh, ok, correct. Oh, yes.
thank you guys okay yep now i'm connected please b-e-d-i-t-z-a c-a-d-i-l-l-o and i'm
the expedited working with miss ludes all right well you're a witness at this point
you're a witness at this point okay do you swear or affirm to tell the truth told truth
talking about the truth yes sir go on go ahead uh but they said wait wait wait uh for the record
please uh you have to state your relationship to this application train
for the record please state your relationship to this i'm the expediter okay and i see that you've
shared your screen yes are these the floor plans for the existing site at 4063 north 6th street
these are the proposed plans for 4063 north 60. okay very good uh could you please identify for
the board uh the the the current first floor or the proposed first floor area
right here we see the first floor commercial use with the handicap bathroom and then in the rear
you'll be able to see the side entrance that has always been there you can see it has the
staircase to go upstairs but it also has the entrance to the first floor rear apartment so
they will go in through that entrance on the left and the right will be to the second floor and on
the left will be to the unit on the first floor which is going to be bi-level to the second floor.
to the unit on the first floor which is going to be bi-level to the second floor
okay and do you have floor plans for the second floor yes this is your second floor
a three-bedroom apartment unit very comfortable and nice um
then we see the third floor which is a two-bedroom unit
All right, wait, just to be clear, unit number one is a bi-level?
A bi-level, yes.
Okay, so the kitchen and family area would be located on the first floor?
Yep, you see it right there.
Okay, and the cursor down.
If you can cursor down and show the second floor of that area that Michael was referring to,
And that is the bedroom for that unit number 1.
Yes, right here, 2nd floor.
And currently, do we have any.
Hold up, Sean. Is there a bathroom on the 2nd floor with that?
Bedrooms for the unit. There's not a bathroom, but it could be accommodated. If you like, that won't be a problem.
Yeah, Mr. chair, I see a bathroom, a full 3 piece bath on the 1st floor for that.
I saw that. I saw that. Yeah. Okay. Keep going.
All right. Wait for me, please. With regard to the first floor commercial,
the applicant currently has no proposed use or tenant for that site?
Not at this time. We want them whatever they want to put, they go back to the zoning board
and the community has the opportunity to vote on it. Okay.
mr chair are there any questions from the board for pizza with regard to
well why don't i have the board ask you and her both for questions questions
okay i have a question about this unit number one and i just walk me through the like reasoning uh
to turn that into a residential unit instead of keeping that whole first floor commercial?
That's never been a first floor commercial. That was always the front and the rear. That rear used
to have five units. So I used to have that one on the first floor, another one on the second floor,
two on the second floor front, and one on the third floor, five units. But I told her that
was too much density to continue that use you know because of the parking and all the new constructions
that even though i could have got the five units because that's what you had that's what's been
living there we wanted to do three units so we downsized and then the front is one apartment on
the second floor then the third is one apartment and the rear was the buy level to make it look a
little bit more private and different but that rear was never if you look in the history of the
building it was never used for commercial it was always used residential the rear of the apartment
actually is it is like that as we speak it was bought like that because that was the use that
they had before okay i would add to that if i may uh there is a physical barrier you know the access
hallway uh separating the front commercial area from the rear uh so it's it's either practical or
you know, to separate them and not have the proposed commercial area extend all the way to
the rear, given the access, which takes you upstairs to the stairs. So because there's
residential uses above proposed to provide a barrier for, you know, from the commercial use
to the residential use, you know, makes more sense from a planning and use standpoint.
okay and then just to confirm a lot of damage to take a structural wall wait wait hold up hold up
okay so my yeah second question is about the access to the basement and i just want to confirm
only the front commercial unit on the first floor has access into the basement
the access of the basement is only the commercial unit i'm sorry i said i'm confirming
that only the commercial unit has access to the basement no the owner has access to the basement
because these utilities all the meters all the water heaters are in the basement i understand
that but there is a stairwell that leads to the basement that is in the middle of the commercial
space so what it goes through the hallway if you see the first floor hallway i am looking at the
one that's in the front like four staircases it goes from that they both have he we don't know
We don't know who it is yet, so we cannot say what he would like, but if he would like to use part of the basement, there is no problem because the basement is empty. It's just for utilities and an emergency. The first floor would need to have access to that.
who it is yet so we cannot say what he
I'm not saying that they should. I think all people should have access to their water meters. I'm just stating that in this plan, there are stairs that are only in the commercial space that have access to the basement,
which means that the commercial space is going to have a connection to the basement somehow, like whether.
Yes, ma'am.
Yeah, that's correct.
The plans as proposed would eliminate that staircase from Unit 1,
and then the only access would be from the proposed commercial area.
Whether or not everybody has free access, the basement would be used for storage and mechanical and utilities only.
and that door would obviously most likely be locked if it's accessed by the landlord
only or if proposed use of that basement is going to be entitled to the commercial tenant,
then that tenant would have access to the basement as well.
Okay. I have a question. So there's no rear yard space, correct?
um i don't think so there's never been no okay no i i believe this uh lot is 100 occupied okay
it looks like it i see the alleyway um so how is trash being managed uh for all the units and the
commercial space that's something we will have to think about yes
I mean, is there an opportunity to have interior trash storage?
Yes, actually, I believe there's a staircase on the sidewalk that the tenants could actually go
and store the trash and we'll put trash cans in the basement. But if you see on the first floor
plan, site plan, it shows like there's a staircase from the outside to the basement.
And I would like to reiterate my question because it seems that only the commercial space
has access to the basement so how are the tenants going to store their trash
there's a bilko door um um there is but nobody's going to use it nobody's going to come from the
third floor and put their trash go to a local door put their trash it's not going to do it
also the local door is not shown on the plans so i can see it on google maps but nobody had
mentioned using it. Nobody's going to do that. Nobody's going to. Obviously commercial trash,
I mean, you know, trash would have to be stored indoors in the unit and placed out for municipal
collection or commercial collection, depending on what the board would be inclined to support.
So just want to point out that none of the units currently have an interior trash,
ventilated trash closet, and that would be a preferred best practice with this one in any
unit, but specifically with the density here. Understood. And I would also add that, you know,
given the previous use of the property, you know, trash had to be stored indoors by the occupants
and placed out for collection. You know, given the fact that it occupies 100% of the lot,
there is no rear storage area. You can't store the trash in the alleyway because you'd be
obstructing adjacent access. So we would submit that trash would be stored indoors and placed out
for either commercial or municipal collection. And by the way, and by the way, if I may,
on my exhibit packet, the proof of tax clearance indicated commercial trash
was one of the items that was up to date and zero balance though. So obviously,
or some sort of commercial trash fees assessed by the city for use at this property
then you go to the second floor third floor plan as i've got a real concern with the density of
these uh units uh both are two bedroom units and the living room kitchen is really just a kitchen
so i don't know where the living room space the living space is on either one of those units
right so that's a concern for me um just that just the overall density of you know having
these two bedrooms you got two on the second floor you've got two bedrooms two full baths
right and a kitchen that's what you got
that's it same thing on the third floor you got two full space something sir yes
Yes. Usually now the layers are like the open kitchen layout with living room. That's why we.
usually uh now the layers are like open kitchen
Okay. Where would you put your sofa?
Well, first, when I move there, I'll take the refrigerator out of there and find another place for the refrigerator.
You understand my point? You understand my point?
the fact that you even had to say that that in order for me to live here i'd have to move that
refrigerator because it doesn't work because it's only a living room it's only a kitchen right we
arrange the study sir yeah it's it's too small for two bedroom units on both floor it's just too
too small it's too dense
one bedroom could probably work or reconfigured could probably work i don't know but it doesn't
work the way that you have it the way that they're laid out they're under understood and
and and i'm sorry but am i seeing on this is that the second floor where it says bedroom unit one
and then it says bedroom two and then in the front it says bedroom one so is that supposed
to be three bedrooms no cheryl the uh bedroom the bedroom at the you know the far right the
back of the property yeah that is with the by level from the first floor is that what correct
that is that is that is the stall bedroom for the rear uh dwelling unit number one which is by level
kitchen living area on the first floor with the full bath and a a a one bedroom unit on the on
the second floor okay and then the bathroom then for that first floor unit is where on the first
on the first floor so the data if you can scroll down a little bit okay first floor unit has two
unit number one first floor okay so then you mean the commercial okay no no no the rear
apartment two floor rear apartment there you go there you go yeah you have you have a bathroom
a three-piece bath off of the kitchen and family area and then you have steps going up
That will take you to the bedroom on the second floor.
So then you have one of my pet peeves, and that is that you have a bathroom, but it's not anywhere close to the bedroom.
So somebody gets up in the middle of the night.
They have to wander down these steps to go to the bathroom.
I have a problem with that as a layout.
well and and and i think the same thing goes with this in terms of the actual living space
i mean there's no real living space in this by level i mean there's there's the kitchen
and there's this bedroom which is upstairs um well my preference my preference would have
the bathroom on the second floor as well. But given the existing conditions of the building,
this is not something that we're building from scratch. To put a bathroom on the second floor
with the bedroom, you're going to reduce the size of the bedroom, number one. And then,
could we put a powder room on the second floor? Probably, but looking at the size-
a one bedroom apartment too right it is a one bedroom apartment okay unit number one is by
level the kitchen and family area and the full bath are on the first floor and on the second
floor you have the bedroom associated with that unit the steps the steps at the rear that are
leading down are going to be replaced with steps that go up to the bedroom so the bedroom has a
closet you know if it was good could it could a bathroom be installed on the
second floor up you know I imagine so but then you have a problem with the
size of the bed that you can you know insert in there yes sir this was
already existing five units so we really I saw it five units was not approved I
I've noticed in the notes, right?
Right.
That's the five units.
So I saw no evidence of any permits for a five unit use at this site.
Here's what I want to do.
I'm going to go counsel.
No, our counsel.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Counsel?
um yes uh lynn reidel huber board council i just want to make sure it's clear for the record that
Lynn Reidel-Huber-Board Counsel.
I just want to make sure it's clear for the record.
the expediter is not the owner and she was just um there you just called her as a witness so a lot
of testimony she was talking about she was kind of indicating like we would do she's the expediter
and also i just want to make sure it's clear on the record um mr ward that attorney ward that you
are adopting i guess you know your testimony as an officer of the court because um the client wasn't
able to come on the zoom is that correct that is correct all right thank you questions from the
board i have questions from the virtual audience mr chair do not see any hands raised commission
amy boy with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change in
zoning at this location to the current cmx1 commercial mixed use the property has a documented
history of one unit and a commercial space there is no evidence that the conversion to more units
Plus, the commercial space was done with the benefit of permits.
The proposed use is more intense than other properties on this block and is therefore
not characteristic.
The Planning Commission recommends that the Board deny the requested variance for three-family.
Mr. Chair, I would respond to that, that there is documented use of multi-family at the site
and consistent with the Planning Commission's recommendation.
All right.
But, so, Sean, I think there was a lot of questions raised and I, and I-
Of course.
i want to like i'm definitely going to vote on the 7th at 9 30 a.m but i want some time to talk
to the board because this is a complex issue okay okay is there any additional information
that the board would require i would say i'm going to close the record but if you send something in
we'll reopen it for that but at this point i'm closing the record yeah okay very good so council
the record is going to be closed and as the chairman said this is going to be voted next
uh wednesday october 7th uh 2026. thank you sean thank you i'll see you at 3 30. sure number 19
mi 2026 002 177 47 44 to 46 north broad street sophia park is the applicant um your honor do you
you require my services at this point yes sir and i want to thank you for sitting there we
appreciate it and then i hello you may hold on a moment you made really good suggestions about
just being there ready in case we needed you so thank you very much thank you everyone have a
beautiful day all right okay um miss park could you please state your name and spell for the
sonographer my name is safia park s-a-f-i-y-a-h-p-a-r-k you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes our vice chair has a few questions um i understand we
may hold this am i correct here and hold this is going to be here and hold possibly mr chairman
you can decide if you want to hear on hold with regard to a potential rco meeting thank you okay
all right you have an rco meeting coming up no there is nothing that's scheduled but we don't
know what her testimony is going to be i was actually uh present at an rco meeting on the
14th at 6 30 p.m um i was told from the logan logan civic association to be present at that
rco meeting i'm also having an email when i showed up to the meeting they told me that
i wasn't on their list of cases to present my um all right thank you our vice chair has a few
questions good morning have you submitted your documents and exhibits 14 days in advance of
this hearing? I submitted it within 14 days. Okay. All right. And is it your understanding
that you're here for your application for an event assembly facility? I'm basically just
really just trying to get a multi-use. It's a boutique plus beauty bar. However, I host like
pop-up shops and like small classes. So they told me that in order to be able to continue doing what
i'm doing that i had to apply for assembly use so i'm not changing anything in my building or
anything like that no structural changes or anything i'm just trying to comply with ellen i
um and he told me that i had to apply for assembly use okay that's that's good so and then you um so
you were you understand that's why you were refused because you needed to have the approval
um to do that in your zoning district all right so you can begin your case um show us any documents
some photos and explain what you want us what you want to do okay
okay so again my name is sophia park um i've been at 4744 north broad street for the last six years
um it's currently a boutique plus beauty bar however we host a lot of like small classes for
a lot of people in the business i met in the community so right here i don't know if y'all
so right here i don't know if y'all could see it i won't be able to like share my screen like share
could see it i will be able to like share my screen
my screen oh let me hold on you turn your computer on for us oh it's share my like share my screen
basically like that yeah okay thank you um allow workplace okay zoom omg it says zoom may not be
able to record the contents of your screen until it is quit you can choose quit now you don't want
to record your screen just hit that uh share button at the bottom just make sure your documents
are open and ready to be shared hold on hold on let me share okay i'm so sorry uh share
is there a green button there at the bottom um content only share okay um okay all right so
dang i was trying to okay cool so over the last six years i've been here at 4744 north broad
street it is a boutique plus beauty bar however we offer like i've rented out to local businesses
um we have pop-up shops we have different classes so here is like different pictures of some of the
things that we did inside of the store um my boutique plus beauty bar again pop-up shops small
classes um trying to go up here is the outside of my store um this is the inside of my store
um and then this i also give back to the community as much as possible um again i said i've been here
since 2022 so this is just me giving back on multiple occasions i'm honestly you guys i'm
really not trying to do nothing besides continue doing what i was doing um i have
a proof let me see i was trying to get i did get it um notarized and approved from my landlord he
said that he was okay with me um going in to get the multi-variance or the multi-use for the building
so this is like a screenshot this is my signatures from the people in the community i went i got 10
signatures from different people within 250 square feet um these is just like confirmations from like
the confirmations of them telling me to be at the the RCO meeting um and then I'm not sure what else
I will I can provide to share my claim again I do have all of my um the people in the community said
that you know they was okay with me doing what I've been doing because I've been there for the
last six years again I'm not changing anything inside of the building I'm just trying to get
a multi-use to be able to comply with l and i um why don't you show us the inside of the building
again okay one moment i'm so sorry okay this is the inside this is this half well not this is
just half of inside right now because it's blocked off so this is basically like where
mainly the guests be it is a bathroom here I have a I wonder if I would be
able to share a video one moment please there's two exits it's an exit in the
front and it's also an exit in the back is one bathroom one moment please want
to see if it will allow me to share a video um are you able to see this video
i guess if you turn it on yeah okay cool
and would you be able to make it full screen or move it over a little
is it full screen now
oh one moment
um these heaters is not there eleanor told me that i had to remove them
so they're not inside of the space there's my exit over there
there's my exit over there um the bathroom is on the opposite side
um let me see if i get the bathroom in the video i will go to the bathroom my bathroom is here
and this is my space
um hello questions from the board i have a question how often do you have events i have um classes or
events at least once once every week so every maybe one saturday one sunday the next week
might have a class on a Friday the next week I'll be trying to aim to have at
least two but it's kind of slow for me right now so yeah and you said you've
been operating this for a couple years now yes I've been here since 2020 I
signed my lease July 20 I'm at July 31st 2020 and I had my grand opening
September 19th 2020 I've been in business for the last six years okay and
haven't had any other any issues no i have not okay thank you so is this a is this but this is
this is you have parties here or anything like that or these are just these are classes and
things so it's basically like classes people do have like launch parties for example if somebody
was selling um like lip gloss and they wanted to have a like people to come they'll be at my store
and they'll decorate it they'll bring in all of their products they'll have
people to come there and like support them for their business it's basically
like for small businesses um I had one girl she um okay so I got you so somebody
but my point was you're not having like a cabaret no no all right that's that's
kind of what I wanted to hear okay no all right thank you
Other questions?
I'm sorry.
So can you explain a little bit more about what you actually are doing here?
I know you know what you're doing, but I'm having a little trouble understanding.
Are you providing a space so that other people can show their business or is it so that other businesses can show people their products or your products or how does this work exactly?
okay so mainly i promote like i'm an entrepreneur as well so i also have my own events here i have
my own pop-up shops for different business for different people in the community like right now
thanksgiving is coming up so i'll host different pop-up shops for smaller businesses in the space
who want to share you know things that they have um but i do want to rent it out for other small
businesses or other people to use this space for like i said pop-up shops classes launch parties
different things like that okay all right i'm still having a little trouble with understanding
the business model here so so i'm oh so you use it for your own as you put it pop-up shop so
yeah so it's a boutique it's a boutique plus beauty bar so i have a closing business called
posh fly gals um however it's kind of hard to bring a lot of traffic in for just me for one
person so i'll rent out small tables for other people for other small businesses to come in and
share what they have but other people outside of me want to rent the space so that they can
maybe have their own pop-up shop but like I don't have to be I wouldn't have
to be present because it won't have to be mine like I would just give them the
space I'll obviously make sure that everything is okay so me or a team
member that worked for me will be there but when I say like it's not mine like
I'm not hosting it so I want to allow other people to be able to host there
understood and then you said something about classes what would the classes be
um so again we are a boutique plus beauty bar so i had a couple of classes like nails of the girl
do nails if a girl do eyelashes she might host the last uh eyelash class or maybe she they might do
dancing so they might host a dance class it's just little small stuff that small businesses want to
that small businesses want to do um i had one lady she did like a um like a basket making class but
do. I had one lady, she did like a
it was just for kids so it was like really really nice but it's just small places okay all right i
understand now thank you thank you very much yes questions from our turn oh and then i guess i have
my other question how how did you how did it come to the attention of ellenai that there was some
um because i actually i actually had they actually didn't tell me they basically told me that
somebody gave them a complaint um and once they gave me the complaint ellenai came out to my store
um and then they told me like oh like you can't you can't host events here because you're not
registered as an event and i'm like well i didn't know i've been here for the last six years and
then they just told me what i had to do to basically comply because i'm like i've been
doing this for the last couple of years i didn't do anything different than what i've been doing
since i opened my store um so okay all right thank you you're welcome uh yes uh miss park
where is your business located in the property? It looks like, well, first of all, is 4744 and
4746 connected or are they separate? So we share, we shared a basement. Like we have one basement
downstairs. We shared a basement. So it's 4744-46, 4746. It's a Chinese store and 4744 is
Blackout's Glamour Room, which would be my business. Okay, so you're only on the 44th
side of it. Yes, I'm on a one-story side, so it's not two stories. It's just one story. It's nothing
above me. I was doing a lot of research trying to make sure that it's nothing above me. It's just
a basement under me that I do. I have my own part of the basement. We just share entry to the
basement so underneath my store i have my own basement underneath 4746 they have their own
basement but we share entry to get to our basement okay so you're only on the first the property
that only has one floor correct yes okay so um the board if you're gonna grant this the proviso would
be uh the use would be limited to know that we can't put that address because the address is
the combined address so we would have to put the um the use is limited to the first story portion
of the property okay if that makes does that make sense okay um the question the building that the
building that only has one you know one but it's 44 46 but right yes all you have to say limited to
the first four four the prop the pro the part of the property that only has one story on it
okay well i know i know what questions from the virtual audience
mr chair i do not see any hands raised planning commission
amy boy with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change in
zoning to the current cmx2 commercial mixed use the proposed assembly and entertainment is
be accessory to the existing commercial activity at the space and would have minimal impact on the
surrounding commercial corridor the planning commission recommends that the board grant
the requested variants for assembly and entertainment mi 2026 002 177 4744 to 4744 to 46
north broad street i vote yes with proviso that the use is limited to the portion of the property that
only has one story wow john my vote is yes with proviso charl gaston my vote is yes with proviso
tenetta graham all of this yes with proviso brian mcadams my mode is yes with proviso
tyo win my vote is yes with proviso mayla baby my vote is yes with proviso um thank you thank
you and you have your votes okay so that means that is yes yes it means you're okay you're okay
okay thank you so much and no cabaret yes thank you
at my 20 m number 20 mi 20 26 002 180 39 54 paris street meredith furliger is the attorney
it's a shame this is an application for cabaret
could you please state your name and spell for this tonight meredith berliger m-e-r-e-d-i-t-h-f-e-r-l-e-g
Meredith Ferliger, M-E-R-E-D-I-T-H, F-E-R-L-E-G-E-R.
Swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Yes, I do.
So you identify a client in a relationship to the property.
My client is R-E-K-R-Wrecker, LLC, which is the owner of the property, and that LLC is represented today by Roslyn Nikon, who is sitting to my left.
And we do have a letter of opposition from Mantua Civic, right?
um so we have here and that we may have to are your taxes straight
uh so let's look at each other here yeah uh we are aware that council has presented documentation
and indicates that um since the taxa went forward that all the delinquent taxes should have been
resolved but as we indicate in an email to you we're checking with revenue with regard to that
so it's going to be uh here and hold just to confirm if it is tax compliant i know that
council disagrees with it with the concept but we do have to confirm on it she should disagree
that's what they do i mean listen with the with the known issues with the sheriff's office uh
you know all right our vice chair has a few questions and we are yeah we have reached out
to revenue got it thank you our vice chair has a few questions good morning have you submitted
your documents and exhibits 14 days in advance of this hearing yes i did and do you weigh the
reading of your refusal and stipulate to its accuracy i do yes i think you can share your
screen to proceed with the case i don't know if it's an issue with how they brought me in but the
share button is not functional oh there we go okay i got it
wow that's slow well i'll get started while hopefully this is coming up
ah there we go all right
before the board today is one property in mantua located at 3954 paris street
the board has seen significant activity on this block in the last couple of years
having approved a similar proposal at 3956 parish street in 2023 a project at 3962 parish street in
2024 and most recently a triplex at 3960 parish street just in April all of these are just on
this block that you will see in all of the aforementioned cases two of which I happen to
TO BE INVOLVED WITH, THE COMMUNITY DID PROVIDE A LETTER OF SUPPORT.
AS YOU SAW THIS TIME AROUND, THE VOTE WAS QUITE NEARLY SPLIT, PREDOMINANTLY AMONG PEOPLE
WHO WERE NOT PROXIMATE NEIGHBORS BUT HAPPENED TO BE IN ATTENDANCE AT THAT MEETING BECAUSE
OF AN IMPORTANT PWD PRESENTATION THAT HAPPENED TO BE ALSO SCHEDULED FOR THAT EVENING.
AS THE BOARD WILL SEE TODAY, THIS PROJECT IS IDENTICAL TO THOSE THAT WERE ALREADY APPROVED
and built so let me just reorient you to the location of the property we did already address
the tax clearance issue and i did also include the deed at exhibit three again you'll see this
property was purchased at sheriff sale in 2025 so all of those taxes pre-2025 should have been
removed by revenue as you can see here on the aerials at exhibit nine the property sits on
parish street just east of north 40th street in mantua now from these aerials again you'll start
to probably re-familiarize yourself with the unique nature of this block of parish street
prior to some of this new construction that you can see here this particular block and all of the
immediately adjacent lots fronting on parish street were completely vacant all the way to
union street until recently the investment in this particular area of mantua predominantly
focused more on the north 40th street corridor this has changed owing predominantly to the
board's recent approval on this particular street now from the south view looking directly at the
block that we're talking about you'll see the corner of north 40th street and paris street
has a brand new five-unit multifamily building, and then directly next to that fronting on Parrish
Street is a new six-family building. I'll go through some of the other contexts in a little
bit. Now, across the street, but further towards Union Street, are a row of residential homes.
And then across the street in, let me see, this next image here, you can see there is still a
commercial use across the street right at the corner of north 40th street
now again if we look at the photographs at exhibit 17 you'll see the existing
now again if we look at the photographs at exhibit 17 you'll see the existing vacant lot that's the
subject of today's request at 3954 parish street you'll see in these photographs the varied
character of this particular block which is fairly rapidly at this point seeing some additional
investment the long-standing vacancy of this side of parish street was a long-standing
impediment to new development but fortunately that tide has turned and this block is now
seeing some revitalization now across the street you can see there are some existing single family
homes and that is in contrast to the development that has now occurred on the opposing side of the
street that we're talking about today and then again if you look towards north 40th street you'll
see two of the new constructions that i mentioned earlier in the presentation there is another one
that was approved and should be under construction shortly and then if we look towards union street
again you can see that this eastern half of the block still remains fairly vacant and then you
know again just looking from north 40th street you see the commercial use that's just diagonal
from this property and then that five unit at the corner and then i did also include photographs of
our timely posting if we look at the zoning map at exhibit five you'll see that the property is
zoned rsa5 having been one of the many blocks that was previously zoned rm1 prior to the 2017
mantua rezoning initiative and again you'll notice that that rm1 line stopped just a couple of
properties short of 3954 parish street with that commercial use across the street retaining the cmx
one that would permit multi-family density if that were to ever be redeveloped
we did include the zoning site plans in the exhibits and you'll note here that we did
submit revised plans and i will address that as you can see here this is a new three-story structure
which has been designed to blend with the new construction on this block obviously when blocks
like this are developed by different developers one of the things that the board often sees is a
difference in design but what rosslin decided to do here is to look at his immediate neighbor
and essentially mirror that to try and add a little bit of that consistency that is lost
when you do have many different developers developing on one particular block so that is
ultimately the um the vision for this particular new construction to match the immediate neighbor
this building will contain three dwelling units which is consistent with the board's
recent approvals on this block accepting the sixth unit that was approved some time ago
just sort of at the book end of all of these and as i mentioned uh the the design intent
here is to match the one that is immediately next door so i included that as a rendering
since that is the intent here now although a roof deck was originally proposed
uh mantua has started to express some considerable concerns stemming some from some recent incidents
that they've been seeing in the community and so they did ask uh that rosslyn consider removing the
roof deck which he happily did and we did submit the revised plan and the revised plan proviso form
now although the plans themselves note the rear yard as being for unit one the rear yard itself
is actually common and you can see here that there is an alley that leads out to the street so it is
NOT IT IS NOT IN DESIGN ACTUALLY A PRIVATE REAR YARD AND CAN BE ACCESSED BY ALL THE TENANTS
AS YOU'LL SEE HERE ON THE FLOOR PLANS AND AGAIN THESE ARE ALMOST IDENTICAL FLOOR PLANS TO THE
LAST PROJECT THAT THIS BOARD SAW AT 3962 I BELIEVE THE UNITS THEMSELVES ARE ALL QUITE LARGE
THERE IS A TWO-BEDROOM UNIT WHICH OCCUPIES THE FIRST FLOOR AND THE PREDOMINANTLY ABOVE GRADE LOWER
level that measures over 1800 square feet you can see here this is two bedroom unit with
two bedrooms on that first floor each with their own private bathroom and then kitchen and dining
area on the first floor and then on the lower level some additional living space and office
for somebody that would want to work from home internal designated trash storage and an additional
powder room as well and then on the second and third floor uh you can see these occupy their
their own floor uh they are also two bedroom units and they are one of them is
They are also two-bedroom units, and they are, one of them is 1,090 square feet, the other is just over 1,100 square feet, so these are also quite large.
They also have their own in-unit ventilated trash storage areas, as well as washer and dryer and Juliet balconies in the rear.
Now, regarding the refusal, this proposal, like many of the others, only received one refusal for the proposed multifamily use.
no dimensional variances are requested or necessary and as many of the structures on this block it is
proposed to be a bit shorter than the code would actually allow here and again that that has been
designed to be as consistent as possible with some of the other new construction the applicant
submits to a hardship here given both the history of this particular property as well
as the considerably transformed character of this neighborhood and the block which are all highly
relevant to the applicant's entitlement to a variance now historically speaking and as you
can see here at exhibit 11 this lot at 3954 parish street was granted a variance back in
the 1950s to accommodate a four-family dwelling. Now, although this block has some remaining
vacancy, the available zoning history on this block shows that it was exclusively a multifamily
block until all of the structures were demolished over the last couple of decades. The historical
use of the lot and the block is consistent with this proposal and how the block has transformed.
confirmed building a new single-family home on this lot would represent a deviation from
the predominantly multi-family dwellings that currently exist and have all been recently
constructed on the block and even in the immediately surrounding neighborhood many of which this
board has granted via variance and as you can see here on exhibit 12 I have included a map
showing you some of the locations of new and existing developments with densities ranging from
two-family, there's really only one on this map that's two-family, all the way up to six-family,
five-family. You can see the six-family four doors away, and then the two more recent triplexes
next door that the board granted in the last year or two. Although there are some much more
DENSE DEVELOPMENTS, THIS ONE IS PROPOSED TO BE THE LEAST MINIMUM REQUEST AS IT IS PROPOSED
TO BE ENTIRELY CONSISTENT WITH THOSE TWO MOST RECENT APPROVALS ON THE BLOCK AND THOSE
ADDRESSES ARE 3956 AND 3960. SO THIS PROPOSAL WILL REPRESENT A NATURAL
BLEND OF THE PREDOMINANTLY MULTIFAMILY RESIDENTIAL USES AND IS ENTIRELY CONSISTENT WITH THE HISTORICAL
USE OF THIS PARTICULAR LOT. ASIDE FROM SURROUNDING DENSITIES, THREE
UNITS HERE ARE MOST APPROPRIATE FOR THE INTERIOR LAYOUT AND IS NOT OVERBUILT FROM A DIMENSIONAL
PERSPECTIVE TO ACCOMMODATE THE DENSITY. AS ALWAYS, WE SUBMIT THE PROPOSAL WILL NOT
INCREASE CONGESTION, HARM NEIGHBOR'S PROPERTIES OR IMPARE LIGHT AND AIR.
MORE DETAILED ANALYSIS IS INCLUDED IN THE MEMO OF LAW THAT IS SUBMITTED AT EXHIBIT 13.
And at this point, I would ask the chair to swear in my client.
Will you please state and spell your name for the stenographer?
My name is Ruslan Nikan, R-U-S-L-A-N-N-I-K-A-N.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Counsel?
Rosalind, have you been present and heard all of the testimony and evidence that I offered in front of the board today?
Do you agree that—
Can you get closer to the microphone so they can be heard?
do you agree that testimony was true and accurate and would you adopt it as if you had given it
yourself yes thank you and happy to take any questions questions from the board
i think the big question is that this is in you know not a corner property so what's going to be
the plan for trash sure so all of the units themselves do have the interior trash storage
area and because it is designed to have that internal alleyway so you can see here there is
there is uh the rear yard does have that alley that goes directly out to the street
so that that will provide uh perfectly sufficient access to store a can in the rear yard
uh and then rustling manages his properties himself so uh he can you know make sure that
the tenants actually are bringing the trash back uh to the extent that they would need to do that
And then with that, are you going to have lights on that side alley?
Lights, of course, yes.
yeah and are they going to be flood lights are they going to like
And are they going to be floodlights?
Are they going to, like...
uh we haven't we haven't decided yet but most likely it's going to be motion sensor lights
and is it going to be locked or secured with like a gate uh the gate to the rear yard but
the alley is going to be open okay all the questions probably want more than just motion
on that side the only i have one comment i think that the layout works i think you kind of hit the
issues that i generally um have um when these um units are designed um is if this picture
actually exemplifies it i know it's the pico but if you can work with them in some way to
get those meters off the front of that unit would be would be great which your alley should allow
because pico's whole thing is they just need access yeah i i was honestly surprised to see
Davis, I think, is that something that you are willing to work with them to see if they'd allow it on the side?
Yeah, we have to confirm with a coat, electrical coat, I'm not sure.
It's not a coat thing, it's just Pico.
Because the way that this is now, if somebody had to exit that basement, they'd hit their head on the meters.
Yeah, I will tell you, I was surprised when I saw that picture as well, that it was not on the side, since there is an alley.
location of the city infrastructure whether it's in the sidewalk in front of your property or it's
running down the alley in the rear that is the only thing but but definitely an aesthetic thing
that just makes that makes not a bad looking building ugly yeah for sure understood all right
questions from our attorney uh no questions at this time mr chairman questions or comments from
the virtual audience i do not see any hands mr chair why would the
planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning at this location
from the current rsa 5 residential single family this property has its historical uses for family
and all the dwelling structures on this side of the street are multi-family with similar density
the planning commission recommends that the board grant their requested variants for three dwelling
units and how long we want to hold for the we're going to hold it right now for one week so till
well, October 7th.
The 7th?
At 9.30.
We'll see you then.
We're just voting.
We're just voting.
But I will actually see you then, so.
Thank you.
And we'll let you know how it goes with it.
Thank you.
Yeah, you'll let us know if there's any issues.
Appreciate it.
Number 21, MI 2026-002878, 317-19 Dickinson Street.
Justin Crick is the attorney.
Mr. Chair, I shall be coming back in shortly as a panelist.
Thank you.
Understood.
Good morning, members of the board.
Good morning, counsel. Could you please state and spell your name for the
stenographer?
Yes, my name is Justin, J-U-S-T-I-N, Crick, K-R-I-K.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
could you identify your client a relationship to the property yes my client is 317 dickinson llc
represented here by its member jordan katz and they are the owner of the property and i see
non-application is from penn sport civic and also the council member our vice chair has a few
questions good morning have you submitted your documents and exhibits 14 days in advance of this
hearing yes and do you weigh the reading that your refusals and stipulate to their accuracy
yes i do all right thank you you can see your screen and proceed with your case thank you very
much all right um members of the board i am uh assume you can see the outline that is on on the
page we do and we have we have all your documents thank you very much um so this is an application
for the property at 317-19 dickinson street and what we're doing with this property it's currently
located in an RSA 5 zone, but it has, since its construction and for the knowable history,
the property has been used in a commercial manner. So, what we are seeking here today is for
technically, I guess, the legalization of the business and professional offices and for the
use in the existing structure. Again, the refusals that we received.
Just out of curiosity, how did you get here?
I'm sorry? How did you get here? Did Ellen and I tell you to do this or tell me what?
Yes. So the client, they were told while they were just took ownership of the building and
trying to square away all of their proper licenses and registrations and were informed
that the zoning wasn't allocated properly or designated properly for this. All right. Thank
Allocated properly or designated properly for this. All right. Thank you very much. Yep. And so the refusals we received are very straightforward and boilerplate because this is commercial in an RSA 5. It was just a blanket refusal for the uses and the fact that this building has multiple spaces in it.
you very much. Yep.
The idea of multiple uses in the district were also refused. So we are talking about the property in the center of the screen here bookended by residential properties.
But as you can see, the nature of how it was constructed from, you know, historically, and that we're talking back as far back as 1984, and I'll show you the old prior permit there.
But the building is constructed in a manner that invites commercial use to it.
Not too far down, there is another residential garage, or at least garage in use.
It's also still designated residential, but just to let you see that there is another garage on the frontage and then the other way down Dickinson Street.
The property is situated somewhat central to the block or at least off of the corner, not on the corner.
And you can see from this picture and the following picture, and I have a zoomed in.
I'm sorry, these are the zoomed in.
that it's an extremely large building that is, you know, extra wide, and the building itself
was constructed at full depth of the property. And then what's notable here is that everything
around is RSA 5. We do recognize, and the neighborhood took note, that there are CMX 1
on the corners to promote some commercial activity. But again, this property has always been
and existing as a commercial structure just some some additional photographs and i'm going to take
you inside pictures of the zoning posting are here so the first floor is all open space you
can see that from these pictures right here that the garage door in the front the roll down is
there this is an open space that we believe would be prime for a tenant who would do something such
as building services or store materials in the site not for a retail sense but for that sort of
storage use associated with building services these are some photographs of the second floor
office space and just before that i'll show you that it looks like this it is broken down into
a common area with half baths and four office spaces at the moment there are they are all
technically occupied two of the offices are occupied by an accounting firm that has been
there for 15 years there is a theater company that operates one of the rooms strictly for their
administrative purposes and one of the and the last unit was recently rented by a contractor
for administrative office space and there is a possibility a good possibility that that contractor
would store supplies etc in the downstairs if this variance is granted back to some of the
photographs we want to let you know so here are the office spaces as they've been established for
quite some time. This was one of the vacant spaces, but again, we have a tenant now.
These are the half baths and other restrooms in the building. Here's a copy of the deed,
at least actually the whole deed, just showing that they recently purchased it in November of
last year, Dickinson LLC. And then I wanted to show you historically, this was a variance that
was granted back in 1984-85 that indicated that the property was a one-story garage
and it was previously used as a gas station and body repair shop. We are not looking to do any
of those services in the premises, just strictly office professional office use and building
services. It was brought up at the meeting, and I'll just point it out here, that we don't
anticipate medical of any sort because second floor use would not be appropriate for that
without the necessary means to get upstairs. So this is really truly business and professional
office and for building services. Tax balances have been cleared, and we did meet with and
had a non-opposition from the Civic Association. And with that, truthfully, I will keep it simple
and ask the board for any comments. We just believe that based on the characteristics and
the historic use of the building, it would be a hardship to re-characterize or re-situate this
property for residential single-family use at this time. Could you bring your client on,
please, and have your testimony adopted? Yes. Mr. Katz, if you are in the audience,
can you kindly raise your hand i'll be coming back in as a panel thank you
JORDAN KATZ. Hi there. Can you hear me?
hi there can you hear
JORDAN KATZ. Can, sir. Could you please state and spell your name for the stenographer?
JORDAN KATZ. Sure. My name is Jordan Katz, J-O-R-D-A-N-K-A-T-Z.
JORDAN KATZ. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
JORDAN KATZ. Yes.
JORDAN KATZ. Counsel.
Thank you. Mr. Katz, are you a member of 317 Dickinson, LLC?
And are you authorized to speak on behalf of the company?
Have you heard the testimony that I've provided to the board today in relation to this application?
Was the information given true and correct to the best of your knowledge?
And do you adopt my testimony today as if it was your own?
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
Questions from our attorney?
not at this time mr chairman questions your comments from the virtual audience
i do not see any hands mr chair planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning to the current rsa 5 residential single
family the property has an apparent configuration in history as commercial property the planning
commission recommends that the board grant the requested variances for business and professional
office building services and multiple principal uses when we don't have to use it but no because
it looks like it's the whole property so mi 2026 zero zero two eight seven eight three seventeen
to nineteen dickison street i vote yes michael johns my vote is yes cheryl gaston my vote is
yes tennetta graham my vote is yes ryan mcadams my vote is yes i win my vote is yes layla baby
my vote is yes thank you very much thank you thank you anyone in the audience who uh their 9 30 a.m
case has not been called i do not see any hands thank you everybody see everybody at two o'clock
thank you very much for this morning thanks oh you feel any better no i like the way you say
at least i'm not
lakisha let me know how many
okay thank you good afternoon everyone my name is bill bergman i will be chairing this meeting of
the zoning board of adjustment with me is our vice chair tinnitus graham president mr chairman
our board uh secretary charl l gaston present mr chairman remember michael johns president mr
chairman hiya win president mr chairman brian mcadams president mr chairman layla beebe president
mr chairman also here is our attorney lynn reuter uber our executive director in haggerty and our
board administrator lakeisha dandy this hearing is being recorded and will be posted on the zba
website by participating you agree to be recorded this is an in-person meeting with remote
participation whether in person or remote if you're called to speak please state and spell
your name then wait to be sworn in after you've been sworn in each time before you start your
testimony state your name to enter an appearance indicate the property address on the zoom webinar
speak with a staff member
Call the ZBA office by the close of business tomorrow.
Please call 215-686-2429 and provide your name, email, and the address of the property in question.
To a remote participation, raise your virtual hand when directed so we can call you to speak.
Before you testify, please click the join as a panelist button.
Use the question and answer for procedural questions only.
Do not ask questions about individual cases.
If you're joining by phone, press star nine to raise your hand
and star six to unmute.
In-person participation.
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so that all attendees and the court reporter can hear you.
No talking, eating, or drinking before the hearing.
Aggressive behavior will not be tolerated.
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The main exit is the double doors at the rear. The stairwell is to the left. In an evacuation, please go across to Love Park, which is directly across Hart Street. Please remain there so that we can call on you before we leave.
Okay, let's look at our schedule for today.
Number one, MI 2026-003-255.
MI 2026-003-255-1511 West Cuyahoga Street at Cases Continued until 1-20-27 at 2 p.m.
Are there any other requests for continuance?
Good afternoon, Chair.
This is Doreen, and I will be your co-host this afternoon.
There are no hands.
We're going to go to our add-on list.
mi-2025-007-183-2483 to 37 east finango street
the board is reopening this record
opening this record in this matter so that the appellant the applicant can obtain an amended
refusal once the amended refusal is obtained we will have a hearing on 2-2-27 at 9 30 a.m
we're going to go to our first case here oh mr chairman just we're going to clarify on the
record that is a resumptive hearing oh okay resumptive hearing thank you very much all right um
number two mi 2026 002 448 621 tree street
alex goldberg is the attorney we'll call so we have a spanish interpreter
on way to like get the interpreter on tell him what i need from mr goldberg okay spanish
interpreter has been promoted thank you hello your honor good morning uh well you've already
been sworn in just for the record state your name yes my name is leonel gillen leonel spelled l-e-o-n-e-l
gillen spelled g-u-i-l-l-e-n all right so um we believe we're in a situation that
uh we need you as a backup just in case we have a problem with with interpreting all right
understood goldberg could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
sure my name is alex goldberg a-l-e-x-g-o-l-d-b-e-r-g you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth i do could you identify your client a relationship to this
property sure my clients are joaquin salazar espinoza and consuelo martinez sanchez and
joaquin is sitting to my left okay and our vice chair has just a few questions good afternoon
have you submitted your documents and exhibits 14 days in advance of this hearing i have do you
the veto of your refusals and stipulate to the accuracy i do all right thank you you can share
your screen and proceed with your case okay um so this is a unique property on what i would say is
a unique street um mostly tree street serves as a rear street for properties that front on moya
mensing but there are several properties some commercial some residential some vacant along
tree street this property is currently a storage garage storage building for my client's grocery
store he's got a small grocery on 2312 south 7th street that he went through the variance process
for several years ago and obtained a variance for so what you're seeing on the screen is a rendering
what's you'll see photos of what it looks like now it's essentially just the garage portion and
we're proposing a two-story addition with two residential dwelling units above the existing
storage garage legalizing that storage use which was previously only permitted for a garage garage
and and obviously the the two residential dwelling above we have a notice of refusal
with four refusals the first one being multiple principal uses this property is zoned rsa5 but i
would note there are other mixed use properties on this block including 22 15 south 7th and
2217 south 7th those are mixed use and multi-family properties the second refusal is the storage use
the third refusal is the multi-family use and then we have a rear yard depth refusal
which is an expansion of an existing non-conformity currently the building occupies the full lot and
the proposed addition you know matches the massing of what's already there i'd note that
you'll see in the plans that full lot size uh conditions are not out of character here
we met with the coordinating rco they supported us unanimously it was a positive meeting they
acknowledged that this street could use some investment and that you know the the units that
he's proposing which you'll see are spacious and and affordable and my client has a lot of positive
relationships on this block most importantly because he lives there but he also owns eight
uh importantly because he lives there but he also owns eight of the 13 properties on on the 600 block
of the 13 properties on on.
of tree street so he knows his neighbors he's spoken to them they're supportive of this he got
a petition of some of those neighbors as well as neighbors on seventh jackson and moya mensing
and he also separately met with the seventh street um community civic association which is
is an associated RCO which also supports this project. As I mentioned before, nearby comparable
coverage is not out of character. It's including the two-story structure that's directly next door
to us at 617 Tree Street and the properties in front of us along Moy-Mensing. An aerial view
of the property you can see the same here's a zoning map we're sort of right at the corner of
this tree street which runs from the cmx 2.5 down the street onto west boyam dancing ave
here's the front of the property so that garage door is essentially
going to be sort of scooted over and there's going to be a an access door on the right side
of the property here that you'll see here's a zoning poster to the right of the property so you
can see you know we are um on a mixed block in terms of height of three and two and one story
structures including a vacant lot that's next door to us and as i said these properties you
see on the left side of the screen are mostly garages for properties that face the other
direction on west moya mensing and then this is um sort of looking the other way this is the full
lot coverage property i referenced and then this property on the corner which is 615 west moya
mensing is also a two unit structure right here plans and drawings so this is the site plan
here is a rendering um that shows you know a brick facade added on top of the existing cinder block
garage lintels you know very sort of standard south philadelphia look to it not trying to do
anything exotic looking there the height of the building structure in total is 38 feet
obviously well within or within the the the rsa5 height regulations and then here are the floor
plans so you can see that on the right side of the screen is the storage room for the garage
as i mentioned he has a grocery there so that's where he stores his materials
it's just an open floor plan and then upstairs through the the staircase here
you have two residential dwelling units they are both two bedroom one bath units they both
have ventilated trash closets off of the kitchen you can see you know sizable kitchens living
spaces both with lots of natural light facing towards tree street and then bedrooms facing
the rear of the property and one thing i mentioned that i should correct myself is um you know what
i stated earlier was that the proposed addition was covering the entirety of the lot um on top
of the existing garage but there's actually sort of a carve out here in the rear which allows for
additional natural light you know in those back bedrooms he's going to self-manage the property
as he lives uh close by at 627 tree street he also owns 637 tree street 635 633 623 and 625.
most of the block agreed eight of the 13th yeah uh some he rents to friends or tenants
i think he has some family members living in some of them uh we met with the coordinating rco
application for appeal, deed to the property, and certificate of tax compliance. So, with that,
I'd like to ask my client to adopt my testimony. Okay. Sir, could you please state and spell your
name for the stenographer? My name is Joaquin. It's J-O-A-Q-I-N. The last name is Salazar, S-L-A-C-A-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
¿Jura decir la verdad, toda la verdad y nada más que la verdad?
Joaquín, ¿escuchaste mi testimonio hoy?
Joaquín, ¿escuchaste mi testimonio hoy?
¿Era verdad y correcto?
¿Era correcto y cierto?
¿Y lo adopta como su propio?
testimonio yes thank you questions from the board thank you counsel uh thank you interpreter
questions from the board uh not a question but more of a comment I noticed like just
questions from the board not a question but more of a comment I noticed like
just the way you have the ventilated trash closets laid out give them
differently on each floor and in one of the versions like typically you wouldn't
want to have the ventilated trash in the same room as the hot water heater
because it's already heated it surely creates a smell and I think there's some
ways that you could reconfigure it but yeah I would agree there's there's a lot
of space there so I think that that's reasonable I want to stay it on the
record just because i think the first closet is actually really great so other people you know
when they showed it like i think it's a great best practice for a ventilated track
all right so we'll match this one on the we'll match one the other other questions
questions from our attorney uh yes i just want to make sure on the uses um because the um
refusal doesn't necessarily separate them out i just want to make sure for um the equipment
and material storage yards and buildings non-accessories uh storage that's on the first
floor correct only right only and then two family household living would be on the second and third
floor only that's correct okay thank you um mr chairman um i have that language if you want
to do a proviso on the location um when it comes if you guys want to question too about location
that's what i just did i just clarified all and i have the language i'm going to do you want to
trash stores and i'll cook okay thank you point all right questions or comments from the virtual
audience there are no hands planning commission good afternoon liz fuselay liz last name fuselay
f-u-s-e-l-i-e-r planner with the philadelphia city planning commission you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth please proceed comprehensive plan recommends no
change to the rsa5 residential single-family zoning at this location there are unique zoning
circumstances of this property with no detrimental effect to the neighborhood the planning commission
recommends the board grant the requested variance for a two-family residential structure multiple
uses rear yard depth and non-accessory storage thank you mi2026 zero zero two four four eight
621 uh tree street i vote yes um with proviso interior trash storage and and equipment and
material storage yards and buildings with the parentheses non-desk accessory storage on first
floor only and two-family household living on second and third floor only michael johns my vote
is yes with provisals. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with provisals. Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes
with provisals. Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with provisals. Taya Nguyen, my vote is yes with provisals.
Layla Beebe, my vote is yes with provisals. Who are you taking the next one? I think he is. Pardon
the interruption. Pardon the interruption, Chair. Could we please have the interpreter read the vote
and the provisos for the appellant?
Interpreter.
So, the vote was yes.
The first part would be
interior trash storage for a proviso
and then I'll give you the second one
after you do that.
Perfect.
Muy bien, entonces,
los resultados de la votación
para la primera,
lo cual es
el almacenaje interno para basura,
el voto es sí
con condiciones
y para la segunda parte
lo cual es
un área de almacenaje
para materiales y equipo
y para en el primer piso nada más se pasa la votación
y para el segundo y tercer piso se pasa la votación para la construcción de una área de vivienda para dos familias
Okay, thank you both. We appreciate it. Yeah. So number 3, and I interpreter. Thank you very much. We've got a lot of good work out of you today. I appreciate it. Thank you very much.
MI 20260029461844, North Van Pelt Street. Alan Nockamson is the attorney.
Mr. Nockamson, I have a letter of non opposition from Council Member Young that we received not too long ago. All right. Great.
received not too long all right great mr knock comes in could you please state and spell your
okay mr knockamson could you please state and spell your name
name alan knockamson a-l-a-n last name knockamson n-o-c-h-u-m-s-o-r do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do could you identify your client a relationship
to the property yeah my client's ran pelt properties llc and in in the virtual audience
is its member colby kennedy and our vice chair has a few questions good afternoon have you
submitted your documents and exhibits 14 days in advance of this hearing yes we have and do
you wait to know your refusals and stipulate to their accuracy i do all right thank you
you can share your screen and proceed with your kids i was having computer problems so i asked
mr goldberg just to help me along so he will all right so you can see here this is uh our property
is the lighter three-story structure with the window boxes in the front um we have been here
before for other matters on this block where the board has similarly granted similar variances
uh we're seeking a three-family dwelling household living next page we have 12 exhibits we'll share
those exhibits with you and again at the conclusion of our presentation uh we would ask that um colby
virtually raise his hand to be sworn in we also have justin coleman the architects representative
if any of the board members have architectural related questions mr coleman can also answer
those questions. Thank you. Next. So the refusal is threefold. We're an RSA 5 property, rather large
in-law area of 1,238 square feet. We have refusal first because we're an RSA 5 property,
multifamily living. We have a refusal for law coverage where 75% is required, where we're
proposing 93%. Again, not out of character to what the board has similarly approved. This is a block
THAT IS TRYING TO BE FILLED IN WITH MULTIFAMILY LIVING THAT IS, AGAIN, COMMON TO THAT BLOCK,
BOTH NEWER CONSTRUCTION AND OLDER CONSTRUCTION, AND WE HAVE MANY EXAMPLES OF THAT.
AND THEN IN TERMS OF THE REAR YARD SETBACK, WE'RE PROPOSING FIVE FEET WHILE NINE FEET IS REQUIRED.
AGAIN, NOT OUT OF CHARACTER TO WHAT THIS BOARD HAS PREVIOUSLY APPROVED.
WE HAVE A LETTER OF NON-OPPOSITION, AND THIS IS THE SECOND TIME A PROJECT OF THIS SORT HAS
has been on this block where strawberry mansion community concern has given us that non-opposition.
They acknowledged too that this is a block where there is a lot of multifamily use and
they do have some provisos which start on page to bottom page two of that letter.
We have no issues with the three family household living only.
That's what we're seeking.
We do say that there, we do have an issue in terms of living in the basement.
it's four feet out of the ground so there's you know there is some light in there down there
we would ask that the board consider allowing us to have basement living the board under similar
circumstances did the same recently I think about six months ago on that block individual trash
closets they we have one on each floor for the second and third floor units we have I believe
on the first floor we have trash stored outside we you know we we think there's adequate room
outside for trash laws for storage outside but if the board feels so inclined obviously we we
leave it to the board's discretion as to unit number one household storage we think there is
adequate household storage or it's not unreasonable what we're proposing so we think the floor plans
are adequate as is and um we we have no issues stating on the record here today that what we
presented to the community and what we are presenting to zba today is what's going to be
built and i think that's what they're asking of us excuse me with item five next uh that's just
a previous letter so we presented from the board 1838 north van pelt street where again extraordinary
mansion community concern was in non-opposition this board granted i think it's almost exactly
the same provisos excuse me uh review granted this the variance request that we're asking for today
nearby comparable recently granted variances so 1846 uh again multi-family living three units
and you can see here has the same type of refusals regarding rear yard depth and occupied area as
12 which is next door thank you uh again would have no adverse our our application would have
no adverse effect on that project either 1838 again multi-family living again you look at the
refusals uh very similar to what we're seeking uh today uh eight i think it's still 1838 uh 1812
north band pell street also multi-family living i can't see that it's so small 43 1843 uh 1816
1816 around the corner 2108 buck now aerial views. You can see, like, we're trying to fill in this block, you know, property by property. Um, and so again, it's, you know, we're hoping that the board grants the variances. So this block could be further developed, uh, to provide affordable housing. Uh, here's the aerial view. Again, you can see, again, just the building structures. This is from Atlas, but there's not as many building structures here that there should be.
around the corner 2108 buck now ariel
so we're hoping to fill in the block maps of the area while this is an rsa5 zoning classification
block based on the you know the history of the properties nearby and what's being built there
this is really multi-family in nature and there's mixed zoning as well nearby rm1 and such
photographs of the property it's vacant lot then this property has been vacant for some time you
can see their war structures there at some time as far back as 2009 nearby but they're not there
now uh our hearing notice poster of trying to put you know uh focus on showing the actual
language in there uh north brand pell street to the right we've told all of our clients so some
of them you know you'll see it more and more now uh north brand pell street to the right of the
property to the left of the property and then our plans and drawings uh again the rendering
you can see it's really raised out of the ground uh the height of the building is 37 and a half
feet again we purposefully to give as much light and air downstairs as possible uh next uh again
just a site plan again confirming you know if we can zoom in to show the four feet out of the ground
all right there we go showing the four feet out of the ground window wells um showing the height
as well we can go zoom out a little bit showing the 37 and a half feet that we're within the
height limits and then this is unit number one oops you're number one you come in um you have
a kitchen and dining room area you have a light well that was specific to make sure that there's
enough light you know for the downstairs unit as much as possible so creative architecture to help
when you're mid-block it's really hard to get as the light in the basement so we're trying to
by way of this light well and then there's a bedroom and there's actually two bathrooms and
you know the bathrooms are close to the bedrooms right so that's a good thing uh who are you
talking to i don't know i see miss gaston and there's a hallway leading to the rear yard mr
johns that's right there's a hallway so we're not going to bed we're not putting a hall you made
them both smile exactly so all right uh and then we have some bedrooms down there as well um but
you know an extra living area but with the light well i think it's going to be helpful plus the
we're out of the ground so we have the light in the front and the back as well all right uh bedroom
two pretty straightforward you have you know the windows in the front you have the kitchen you have
the living room uh you have the light well kind of going up there as well the two bedrooms and
again the bathrooms are right next to the bedrooms and then finally and there's washer and dryers in
all the units um and then you can see the trash closet in there as well and then the third unit
is just like that i don't believe that yeah we don't have a a roof deck access structure obviously
to you know you know to respect strawberry mansion and their concerns as well all right continue
uh we met with the community on september 14th
and uh we emailed notice of that community notice and just going back to the envelope
how we try to like we're very flexible our firm and our clients you know it's asked of us to make
sure that you know a lot of times unfortunately these notices look like trash mail and so what
we put in there we try to whatever the community asks us within reason and they asked us to put
public community meeting information so it doesn't get trashed hopefully next and then we sent it to
uh 131 addresses this notice these are the proof of mailing to those addresses the addresses
behind it our applications for zoning variance along with our notice refusal and the project
information form the deed to the property showing van pelt properties llc is the owner of their
property and then filing our tax clearance um i would ask that colby virtually raise his hand
colby you're allowed to speak now
sir could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
hello this is colby kennedy uh c-o-l-b-y last name kennedy k-e-n-n
uh c-o-l-b-y last name kennedy k-e-n-n-e-d-y do you swear or affirm the tell the truth the
whole truth nothing but the truth yes counsel colby you heard everything i had to state today
about your zoning matter that's correct yes and what i stated was that true and correct
yes and do you adopt it as your own testimony yes thank you questions from the board can you pull
Pull up the plans again, just 1 more pull up the site plan. Yeah, no, that's a plan that basement plan. The 1st floor plan.
Okay, I'm trying to figure out. I'm trying to figure out how the units work out.
Sure, can you walk us through the sort of how the meeting went? Cause it seems that they had a number of concerns and provisos, and I just want to see how they're being addressed.
were you aware or okay with the provisos that they suggested well some of them a lot of them
are not enforceable provisos um what i said only two yeah so i um again the trash one is always
i i think i specifically acknowledged i can't remember the other one that would know household
living in basement yes well i and i addressed that too like the one i think yeah yeah that's
why I addressed each one separately during the presentation. I personally gave that
community meeting. It was not well attended. But again, getting a letter of non-opposition
from strawberry matching community concerns speaks volumes about the viability of what
they think of this project and the merits of it. So the other, you know, again, I think
we address those concerns, just like the other variants request, but a project, which they
supported as well. And I think in that one, they mentioned nothing about household living in the
basement. We can pull that up. But it's a mirror image that the presentation, where we're four
feet out of the ground. I think that one didn't even have the window, the well. So like, I think
the light well, the light well, yeah. So I thought that was a great job by Justin to like, kind of
get as much light in there and there um i just wanted to know because i mean to me to have no
household living in the basement objectively changes what we just looked at and so it's still
a recommended proviso from them which is why i wanted you know your team to address it yeah i
think it's you know it's something we could still do the project without household living in the
basement i think it's the way we designed this is a really interesting unique way to get as much light
in there down there and can we see that basement yeah i guess just to clarify because it looks at
me that there's two bedrooms in the basement is the first unit a three bedroom three bath or a
four bedroom three bath yeah i don't know if that's i think yeah the label it's a four bed three bath
yeah i mean that's what's drawn yeah okay yeah
how are you getting light into i'm trying to figure out the light well so you've got the light
well on the first floor going up but there's no light well in the basement yeah i think in that
same location i think there may be a mislabeling there obviously there could be a reconfiguration
with that light well there's more than enough light uh opportunities down there to have that
light well so i do see or or or a skylight or something you know what i mean a ceiling you know
somewhere okay i just i just couldn't because i didn't see it sort of going all the way down to
the basement so i'm trying to figure out where where it landed okay if if you want we can promote
justin uh coleman who's the architect for the project and he can further explain no i'm i'm good
i i can i understand it now just i didn't see it so i was trying to figure out how that how that
work so your your your living room for the first floor for the first level unit is in the basement
and the kitchen and dining is on the on the upper floor yes and this was asked of us the last time
we presented in front of strawberry mansion community concern and this board granted these
are the i think they may be the exact same floor plans other than the light well um you know i
i don't know the dimensions are different for this property versus the other but i do think
that we can definitely like look at you know making sure that we we mimic uh the light well
in the basement so all the questions questions from our attorney
i don't think so at this time questions or comments from the virtual audience
Yes, I have strawberry matching community concern.
They will be allowed to speak.
strawberry mansion community concern you're free to speak you hear me good afternoon hi can you
hear me sure could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer good afternoon
chairman bergman and the board um my name is bonita cummings b as in boy o-n-i-t-a is the
first name cummings c-u-m-m-i-n-g-s is the yes i do we're referring to tell the truth the whole
truth nothing but the truth i do please proceed okay um our position i'm i'm i'm not sure if you
all received the the letter um we have it okay so our position is non-opposition with caution
and recommended provisos we recognize that the board approved a similar development at 1838
north van pelt street on this same block in april which um if you review was with no basement living
um so we had an extensive conversation about that and why it would be today that
it we you know we discussed no basement living so they're saying something different than what
was presented however we want to emphasize that our non-opposition should not be interpreted as
an endorsement of these dimensional departures lni requires a maximum occupied area of 75
93 is proposed the required rear yard is nine feet only five feet is proposed our concern
The concern extends beyond this property what happens to Philadelphia's future housing when substantial dimensional requirements repeatedly become exceptions.
Rare yards and open space are not simply numbers on a zoning form.
They affect sunlight, air circulation, ventilation, separation between buildings, and the quality of life of existing and future residents.
The community should not have to choose between welcoming new development and preserving
reasonable living conditions.
We therefore ask the board to carefully consider these consequences and if approval is granted
to incorporate the provisos contained in our written decision letter into the approval.
Of course, it seems that it's going to be three units, but we talked extensively about
this basement living particularly we're cooking in the basement 38 was without any basement living
from my understanding of the uh granted all right thank you very much for taking the time we
we appreciate your your input is there anyone else in the virtual audience there are no other hands
planning commission good afternoon liz fuselay on behalf of the philadelphia city planning
commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa 5 residential single family
zoning at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 2014 in accord with recommendations
in the comprehensive plan this block face contains a mix of single family and multi-family dwelling
units the city planning commission recommends that the board grant the proposed use and
dimensional variances with a proviso for three units mi 2026 002 946 1844 north van pelt street
i vote yes with proviso maximum three dwelling units interior trash storage michael jonathan
my vote is yes with proviso cheryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso tenetta graham my vote is yes
proviso brian mcadams my vote is yes with proviso tywin my vote is yes with proviso
taylor bibi my vote is yes with proviso thank you who's doing number four
are you leaving him yeah i figured that yeah number four mi 2026 002 987 200 uh monastery
avenue um alex goldberg is the attorney mr goldberg you've already been sworn just for
the record could you please state your name alex goldberg okay um could you identify your client
a relationship to the property sure my clients are the equitable owners of the property justin mendez
and kirsten helmuth and i believe justin is in the virtual audience um we're going to hold this
i need to stand for a corrected refusal i did i wasn't aware of that oh i checked with ellen i
about the refusal a month or two ago they I thought there may have been a
mistake in it they told me I was wrong and it was correct but I guess I was
right but sorry Lynn Reidel Huber board council yes I was gonna tell you you
um yes i was going to tell you you needed to get a correct refusal because the parking
needed to get a correct refusal because the parking
is that that's what i i did i asked her about it i'll be blunt outside inside and both of them
are they were on your plans so they were there but they weren't noted in the refusal but before
you do that um we're going to advise you to go to streets to get approval prior to seeking the
corrected refusal okay we aren't i mean understood our site plan isn't asking for a surface parking
space there's there's room for a car there so okay for the whether it's understood regardless
it park a car somewhere got it which i honestly and the rco raised it at the pre-community meeting
and i reached out to ellen i yeah i saw it on the plans first and then i read the rco okay all good
like there's not parking so um is l and i going to issue that automatically or is there something
i need to request okay okay i can do that they want you to request we don't request anymore for
i understood so we're going to hold it for that okay our uh vice chair has a few questions good
afternoon have you submitted your documents and exhibits 14 days in advance of this hearing i have
and do you wait that we know your issues also stipulate to their accuracy with the exception
of the one we just spoke to i do okay thank you see your screen and proceed with the case okay
uh so this is a single family home my clients are residents of manny on groxborough they're
renters there now and this is a lot that they own and and hope to be homeowners and build this uh
this home and my client justin is uh he owns his own construction company so he'll actually
be building it himself as well um we have we we will have three refusals but the notice of
refusal is showing too. The first one is for minimum side yard width. This is an irregular
shaped lot, so we have a varied side yard width that at its smallest point is the minimus variance
of 13 inches, 3 feet 11 inches where 5 feet is required, but at its largest it's 9 feet 9 inches
with plenty of space to sort of get front to back and back to front. The next refusal is an odd one
because of the position of this lot um the code is essentially asking us to match the front our
front setback to the side setback of a detached garage of a property that is on a different street
we are not right on the corner but we're the last monastery property before fleming street which
i'll show you when we get to the map and fleming street has a decent amount of frontage on
monastery there's a detached carport there and um the code is asking us to match the front of
our building with that detached carport um we are significantly set back i actually would object to
the to the accuracy of this refusal saying it's a zero foot setback um and and we'll i'll show you
what that looks like when we get to the plans we met with crca they had the same questions about
the refusal um and you know generally they were supportive of having a young couple being
homeowners in their in their neighborhood um area of views this is what our property looks like so
essentially this is the fleming street property um this is the detached garage and then on the
other side we have a lyceum property uh which fronts you know which the home is back here and
you essentially have this very uphill rear yard so we don't have a monastery property on either side
the code looked to the Fleming Street property, which would certainly make more sense than
matching a setback of the Lyceum property. And that's how we got that second refusal.
And then here's a map view where you can see all the same things.
There is a history of parking here. This property was approved for
parking and storage of personal items in 2012. So it's not sort of like a clean curb cut. It's
of like a depressed gravel entry but there's a history of legal parking on this property
and there's a history there's also many examples of parking on this block which you'll see
property is owned rsa 5 single family we are proposing a single family home
here's the what the front of the property looks like there's a whoops there's a sliver of that
carport we're as a part of this development project we'll be adding a sidewalk here
so it'll have be a little bit more pedestrian friendly there's our notice of appeal
Here it is in 2008.
Here's the property towards Fleming.
So this is the side of that Fleming property.
And then this is up Terrace Street.
So you can see here the parking that we are proposing and we will be seeking a refusal for is not out of character as many of these homes have parking as well.
And there's no street parking allowed directly in front of our property.
So we're not taking a publicly available space off the street.
Here is the rendering. Obviously tons of natural light, a garage door. The RCO asked for a couple
Here is the rendering.
obviously tons of natural light.
things. The sidewalk, which I referenced, which you can see on this rendering, kind of additional
landscaping at the front, which we will be doing. We show a garden bed here. They also asked for an
opaque garage door, which we complied with. Here's the rear of the property. There's no
roof deck just the gabled roof so in lieu of that we obviously have a significantly large rear yard
measuring 24 feet as well as a large deck that's coming off of the main living space
and then the side yard which you'll see on the site plan is this staircase side yard that runs
from front to back and here it is on the plans you can see at the front it's four feet 10 inches
In the middle here, because of the shape of the building structure, it's 3 feet 11 inches.
And at the back, at its widest point, it's 9 feet 9 inches.
And you can see, my apologies, the garage here with a flex area.
Obviously, the building is built onto a slope.
So, you know, the garage enters at grade, and you saw sort of what the massing looked like at the rear of the building structure.
On the second floor, you have a large living space, dining room, kitchen, and balcony at the front and deck at the rear.
Third floor, you have three bedrooms and three bathrooms and some skylights you can see on the roof plan where there is no roof deck.
we met with the rco september 10th we mailed notice to 111 properties
here's the application for appeal
deed to the property is owned by an alex ramos i have our agreement of sale and our materials as
well that is contingent on the approval of this zoning matter
with an addendum
and then tax clearance with that i'd like to call my client to adopt my testimony
what's your client's name again justin mendez okay
hey uh can everyone hear me yes i can could you please
Please state and spell your name for the stenographer.
My name is Justin Mendez, spelled J-U-S-T-I-N for my first name, and my last name is Mendez, M-E-N-D-E-Z.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Counsel?
Justin, did you hear my testimony today?
Was it true and correct?
And do you adopt it as your own?
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
questions from our attorney um just one question well two questions um if you're doing a sidewalk
i would assume streets has to be looking at it also kind of surprised also are you building a
fence or does that fence already exist the fence that we're showing is illustrative if we you know
if it wasn't contemplated in this permit application if we build a fence obviously
it has to be by right or we have to come back for further approval that's what my but the fence on
rendering is just for illustrating purposes okay thank you questions or comments from the virtual
audience mr clark they will be allowed to speak questions or comments from the virtual audience
hello hello can you hear me yes i could please state and spell your name
my name is james clark spelled j-a-m-e-s-c-l-a-r-k my wife is present also all right all right just
what you're going to testify sir yes all right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth told
truth nothing but the truth yes please proceed sir are you a neighbor i am a neighbor this
property that is proposed to be built is directly behind our home okay and we got to look at the
plans it says it's going to be 40 foot high four stories that's going to actually we're going to
be looking at a wall now we're looking at trees and everything like that but we'll be looking at
the wall. That's one issue. The second issue we have with it is the fact that you have to dig
to get to your sewage. And you have to have a pitch to do that.
from, and you have to have a pitch to do that. And I believe the fourth story is kind of like
going to be the reason you have the fourth story is so you can be able to get that pitch.
That's why you have the house so far up. We're concerned about the digging as far as
messing with the foundations of the houses behind it and on the side of us and did you have lyceum
avenue because the deterioration of the the uh soil around there it it every time it rains you
lose soil it runs downhill so how how is that being dealt with and last but not least that
picture that's rendered from the rear that's not our fence our fence is four foot back and we own
the four foot up to the wall so you are you planning on tearing that wall down to match the
fence our fence line with our neighbors match but it does not match on that rendering
so if i could mr goldberg do you want to respond to some of this i'll respond to a couple things
and then fortunately my client is in the construction business and i had to ask him
to respond regarding the foundation and the the plumbing and sewage stuff but regarding the massing
of the building structure it's 33 feet to the roof line and then we have the gable which is
an additional seven feet which ordinarily would be 40 feet on a flat lot but this is not a flat
lot we're measured from average grade so by code which has been reviewed and stamped by lni
this is a 38 foot high building or 33 foot high building excuse me um and you know so
from a height perspective we're code compliant i understand that you know the gentleman is
not thrilled about losing his view but this is a buildable lot here and this is a single family
home that is in character with the neighborhood and none of the variances were that we're asking
for have anything to do with the effect of his natural light and air um i would and by the way
with regards to what the rendering is showing from the rear of the property you know i would
just say again just like the fence at the front the the building structure and the sort of
surrounding illustrations are from an illustrative perspective so i apologize sir if your fence was
not accurately represented um but i would i would just ask justin my client uh yeah sure um to my
knowledge sir i think your home is two stories high correct questions yeah justin can you there's
no reason that just tell us tell us about the foundation what you're going to do for his
retaining wall things like the things that we spoke you spoke to him about at the community
meeting all right go ahead yeah and i'm sorry if uh the question was definitely in preparation to
answer the thing about the sunlight and blocking his view and all that so if you don't want me to
answer that i can just move on but if you want to address it okay um yeah i was a little bit confused
about your um your kind of inclination on the digging with the pitch and because it's four
stories high i have to dig um deeper in in my experience the height of the building
doesn't really affect the depth of your trenching for your utilities because all of it goes to a
lateral plumbing in the basement and then that goes into the underground so um to my knowledge
the height of my building doesn't really affect that that trenching and then i will say that
usually we do have um like a project like this will require a very detailed excavation plan
especially because this is in a steep slope area so you know as far as that that plan hasn't been
made yet because we're still at this at this stage in the process so my inclination and knowledge
would be that that plan would be fully approved passed and make sure that all these details are
addressed and ironed out at that point um i will say that when you're working on a steep slope
there are additional precautions and there will be definitely significant shoring and um shoring
in regards to i-beams going into the ground and and wood post um to protect your retaining wall
if, um, if that's the goal there. And I'm not sure if it is, but when we discussed it, um,
at the RCO, I did say that anything that is, um, that is damaged or as a result of the
construction would be replaced with brand new, brand new materials. So, um, the way that I see
it is, uh, I guess the best thing that could happen is you get a free retaining wall out of
me, which, uh, for that, for, for that length is definitely over six digits. Um, as far as a cost
that would be associated if you had to do it yourself and um and and the one thing i will say
is the condition of that wall is not is is not great anyway so i think it would be um advantageous
you know to have me build a brand new retaining wall uh there for you as well so
to have me build a brand new retaining wall uh there for you as well so um can i can i speak
sure first and foremost i was not invited to that meeting that you claim i was at so i this
i found out when it was posted okay second as far as the retaining wall is concerned
you wouldn't have to rebuild one because the one there is wall built third i know
that the height of the building has nothing to do with the pitch of the pipes
nothing to do with it the hill has everything to do with the pitch of the pipes
so my question is where were you going to start digging to go into the ground because you had to
have your pitch to get into the sewage and you also mentioned the fact that you was going to build
put i-beams and stuff into the ground you have to dig to do that i'm my house is directly
behind and actually your that house will be directly behind ours so therefore that digging
will affect it'll cause a chain reaction because it already has in this type of neighborhood okay
all right justin you don't justin you we're gonna go ahead no i was what do you have anything else
no i was going to say what we're going to we'll address all his issues if and when this gets to
the building permitting process i have a clarifying question is steep slope under 25
or is that also something that was i don't believe that we're ex that that it is over 25
i have a steep slope plan but i can check in with ellen i about that as well because yeah yeah can
you that was going to be my question and i have another one um and i missed this in the beginning
i apologize um who is mr mendez because we have the deed listing you're showing it right he's the
equitable owner he's under he's under agreement um not have that we only have a deed for alex ramos
that needs to be provided to us we're holding it anyway yeah i i have it in the presentation
materials i know i resubmit these materials many times you might have in i think it's been
resubmitted but i would suggest okay put it on the record when little things like that are added
at the end if it can be put in an email or something identified because sometimes we get
we just got one that was 145 pages well something was added we can't tell so totally fair there
can you just let us yes absolutely indicated was alex that's why understood thank you planning
commission good afternoon liz fuselay on behalf of the philadelphia county planning commission
comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa 5 residential single family zoning at this
location there has been recent three-story development on this street in the recent years
the refusals are de minimis and will have little to no effect on this block face the city planning
commission recommends that the board grant the proposed dimensional variances okay so
if i could just and i this isn't in our materials but i do have a steep slow plan that shows that
we're not disturbing portions of the lot which are greater than 25 percent grade why don't you send
has got sure i can do that all right so how are we going to hold this am i correct we're going
to hold it for a corrected refusal so we can hold it uh we can hold it as quick as i can get the
refusal oh yeah i mean we can hold it if it isn't for next week but we'll hold it for the the seventh
right now okay on the seventh we'll look for the seventh okay yeah okay so we'll vote on the seventh
yeah sure thank you very much thank you
all right so our next
i i thought i did ask for comments all right come on come on i did i said go ahead hey what's that
she'll she'll take it okay and whatever he has taken all right
i think he's the next door neighbor i think he's the next door neighbor on fleming
which is who i thought the guy on the uh come on up no no you don't don't don't worry about
that's okay one ups come on take a seat i've trained in 20 minutes oh okay all right well
then you've got five minutes yeah i do all right so could you put oh wait a minute please state
and spell your name for the sonographer michael robinson m-i-c-h-a-e-l-r-o-b-i-n-s-o-m do you
swear or affirm to tell the truth told truth nothing but the truth and mr robinson your neighbor
yes i am please proceed i'm a neighbor adjacent on 4360 fleming street sure um i just want to say
i'm not opposed to development on property i understand that's something a house is going
to be built there um i i do have concerns with the designs and making sure that the designs
correspond with the actual lot available because what james mentioned earlier in terms of the way
it's it's shown on the plan it's that that's directly adjacent what the speaker on sorry
it's directly adjacent my fence which would mean that it was three to four feet over from where
their actual property lines are so just to make sure that that is taken care of before it goes you
so just to make sure that that is taken care of before it goes you know i don't want the some of
the three-story properties that they refer to as being already there were built incorrectly on over
their proper signs so i don't want that to happen um then um that's the first one and then the second
question is how the average ground level was calculated on this because it shows three three
stories plus the gable roof and that would add up to be about 37 feet 38 feet which is what they're
saying but it's that i'm questioning what the average ground level is being calculated out
because it's a the ground level of the structure that declines significantly uh given the uh the
so i want to make sure that that is being correctly calculated in getting arriving at that 38 feet
um and then um sorry just make sure i have everything here uh
i think those are my he also covered the you know the steep slope concerns um but those are
two concerns i want to make sure that those are mystical are you okay with that i'm fine with it
you know you'll agree to it to my understanding i know there's architects on the board i believe
average grade is measured from the four basically the four corners of the building structure
did i butcher that explanation you're close
and averaged yeah right all right all right thank you by the way thank you for waiting and get your
train thank you okay all right so we're moving on thank you we're now going to do number five six
and seven together so five is mi two two five zero zero seven five seven three fifteen forty one north
franklin number six mi 2025 007 577 1543 north franklin street and seven is mi 2025 007
five seven eight fifteen thirty seven north franklin street um could um
uh net netana levy or sh or uh sharon levy please come forward
we're going to hear all three together and we'll vote on them one at a time
good afternoon good afternoon could you please state and spell your name
netanelle levy n-e-t-a-n-e-l last name l-e-v-i all right do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do um let's see what we have here
um our vice chair has a few questions for you
good afternoon um have you submitted your exhibits um documents and exhibits for i guess four five
six and seven uh cases uh 14 days in advance of this hearing i did ma'am okay so and you understand
that you're here um because you want to uh uh for the erection of an attached structure with roof
deck and roof deck access um structure about about balconies at front and rear and one off
street garage parking space for each of yes okay and correct that go ahead uh if i can join uh my
brother is the architect on the project just to share the screens i'll i'll testify we'll do that
you'll testify bring him on for the yep i just wanted to make sure you know you that you um and
know why you've been refused for um your proposed project yes ma'am okay all right thank you because
you have a lot of refusals i have a letter from uh apmi correct correct yes it's in the exhibit
your brother can come on and i'd say he'll work the screen for you thank you i have promoted bar
levy i am promoted everyone can you see my screen okay you're fine and uh we're going to let him
testify okay wonderful all right so here we have the refusals um we have accessory parking refusal
and uh uh i believe on the one it's really the allowed uh occupied area 75 and we have
one that is 76 the other one is 75.7 percent uh and then the height the allowed is 38 feet and
and we are requesting 40 feet 4 inches. If you can move up. I mean, that's the refusals
are identical to all three of them. Thank you, Bora.
Bunch of these. Bunch of these. Bunch of information. Those deeds.
Yeah, the deeds that are showing me as the owner, you can scroll down, we have the tax
You can scroll down, we have the tax certs for all three of them, same things, the tax
search.
so it's for three properties. Zoning posters for the three. You can scroll down, you can
see it to the different structures. These are just pictures of the blocks, the 1500
block and 1600 block of North Franklin. Okay, that's the street department curb cut calculations.
bar correct me from butchering yeah it's both the zoning submission and the street prerequisite
we submitted the same material listen listen listen he'll do the testimony and if he has to
later he'll call you as a witness okay so let him testify and then we'll figure out if we need to
thank you mr chair uh these are proof of mailing yep all the three
And we have the letter from APM.
I guess they're specifying all three properties we presented at the same time.
As you see, it was a big meeting, two of support, one opposed, and one of non-opposition.
Just a sign-in sheet for the APM meeting.
And here we start with the rendering for the three properties.
So I'm basically going to build a single family homes, asking for parking.
Those three lots I owned since 2015 and actually they were approved for triplex as before.
um i do live in the neighborhood not too far from there and uh well there's really
a lot of density of multi-family in my in my opinion and i decided to change that uh
that application and just build a single family i'm not sure if it's for rent or for sale as of yet
if you can continue bar that's the aerial map of the three sites
Sun study. And again, pictures of the North Franklin Street. I guess this is the 1500 block, and it's all the 1500 block, actually.
and more renderings
and here are the floor plans so on the first floor we're going to have um grade level parking
and the first bedroom we're going to dig down only three feet and the first bedroom will be there
um so not really too deep into the ground as you see there is actually a door from the
from the parking area um going into the bedroom and another interior door
with access to the stairs to take you up to the to the first floor supposedly of the
of the house which is the living room kitchen and it's a kind of a split level
that you go up two steps from the living room into the into the kitchen um on the second floor
of the of the house we have a front bedroom uh and then an office study in the rear you know
all of them are a nice size bedroom in my opinion um one bathroom and then a washer and dry room on
the second floor and very typical Philadelphia townhouse uh other than in my opinion the design
is a little bit uh nicer and cooler but uh going up to the third floor is the master bedroom um
with a large walk walk-in closet and a large master bathroom and then access to the roof deck
right there. A nice small mini bar on the third floor, so they don't have to walk down
all the way to the kitchen to grab a drink. And it's, yeah, if you have any questions
about the plant or...
All three are the same?
oh yes yes they're all the same size lots 17 by 66 uh all three and exactly the same design okay
oh yes yes they're all the same size lots 17 by 66 so
here are the elevations as you see three feet uh three feet down just in a
in a in a certain area of the house where that bedroom is
I think it'll be a nice addition to the to the block.
So just out of curiosity, behind the garage, is there a light for that bedroom back there?
A light?
No, light coming in.
You know what?
I was right before the meeting.
I was asking Bar and we're going to put a very large window that overlook in the backyard.
And you can see in the other plans that there is an egress window.
but obviously it's not enough light in my opinion so yes we are able to put a
a nice window for that bedroom although there is already an egress window but uh
definitely adding a window is a is a must
how many other properties on the block already have curb cut and um like within lot parking
opportunities bar can you show me that
so a lot of them uh just a general answer but uh
here is um here are some pictures of the
this is actually you see the address 1531
north franklin uh that prestige pavilion
and 1519 or Franklin has a curb cut and 1533 and 1535. Basically, I labeled all the pictures
just to show you all the curb cuts that are on the block. And then has your curb cut already
been approved by streets? Yes. Yes, ma'am. Including the one on the corner? Just to like
make sure you get the correct okay yes these are just the same unit designs that we saw
for another site yeah yeah okay but 14 25 note 7 correct on september 2nd yes
yes i have a question about the um the support for the uh development um so there was a small
number of folks that voted um were there residents from franklin street at the rco meeting that voted
in support and particularly i think one of the houses is next door to another property um do
you have their support um i didn't directly approach the neighbor i just sent a mailing
and whoever came to the meeting had the opportunity to support or object
and which which are you talking about which one of the direct if you go to the rendering that
you had of the block I'm not sure which address but it looks like that the one that's further
down I don't know which one that this is they're adjacent to homes already so there will be adjacent
homes already so you don't have the support of those residents who you haven't reached out to
those residents? I didn't specifically talk. I believe one of them is a rental and actually 1537
North Franklin is next to 1539 North Franklin. And that is a three unit building. That is all
the units are two unit building. I'm sorry that the units are rented. And the other side of 1537
is a house with a curb cut already.
But no, I think you're asking about 1541 North Franklin.
I did not specifically talk to that property owner.
Questions?
Questions from our attorney?
No questions at this time, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience or the audience here?
yes mr chairman i'm sorry i i was i was muted so you would give me coffee okay i have a question
about the um this this bedroom that's on the same floor there with the garage yes so it's just a
bedroom there's no bathroom down there at all no there is where is that right
here if you can see on the the cursor where right there as soon as you come
where right there as soon as you come down the stairs if you look at the door
down the stairs
for the garage that you're walking down the three stairs and right to your left
there's a door to the to the full bathroom okay all right um okay did you
see it no I'm not seeing what I usually see which is you know the shower the
Okay. Sorry. Okay. I see it now. All right. And then I guess, is there some reason why
we have this other bedroom down there in a single family?
A reason? I think it's our design that that property honestly doesn't have
uh um it's not gonna have a rear bedroom on the second floor i we thought i thought that it's nice
to have almost a separate uh unit for it for a teenager or uh a nanny if somebody can uh can
afford so it's uh almost kind of uh utilizes the separate area all right okay thank you thank you
comments from the virtual audience yes chair there are two hands the first one is
last name beginning with the s okay they will be allowed to speak thank you you're welcome
hi everybody hi could you please state and spell your name for the stenographer yes my name is
cecilia schlinitz c-e-c-i-l-i-a-s-c-h-l-e-i-n-i-t-z and i affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth i do are you a neighbor i am a neighbor please proceed i live at 1539 north
Franklin Street this is a two-unit rentable home and we me and some other
neighbors have a couple of concerns namely affordability this is an up-and-coming
area it's close to Northern Liberties it's close to Fishtown which already
have really high rents as opposed to the rest of the city and this was really a
great area to move into, especially just graduating out of college. And our issue is if this if these
three units are single family homes, the price of these homes is really going to drive up the
cost of our home, the cost of property taxes, and then our rent, which is our first concern.
Our next concern is that with the current sidewalk cuts and the garages on the block,
people park their cars in front of their garages, which they're not supposed to do, but they do
anyway, which really makes the sidewalk inaccessible for us to walk, to run on the sidewalk. There is
one of our disabled neighbors at the corner of Jefferson and Franklin in a wheelchair who could
not get down the sidewalk if you wanted to because people park their cars in front of their garages.
And then the other thing is across the street from me on Franklin Street, there are a lot of
single family or duplex homes with yards which are really nice and fenced in but we on this side of
the block like not everyone can afford to have a yard attached to their house so it's nice for us
to have this green space right now part of it's being used as a garden people walk their dogs
there so we're concerned about that space being inaccessible for people who can't afford to have
their own yard. Thank you very much for taking the time and expressing yourself.
Do we have anyone else? Yes, Isabel Helmich. Okay. They're allowed to speak. Hi, Isabel,
could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer? Hi, my name is Isabel Helmich.
It's I-S-A-B-E-L-L-E-H-E-L-M-I-C-H.
All right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Isabel, are you a neighbor?
Please proceed.
My name is Isabel, and I am a neighbor at 1551 North Franklin.
The first thing that kind of stood out to me was the seeking the exception for the parking spot.
My top concern was definitely the fact that people do park on the sidewalk or on the, yes, on the sidewalk in front of their garage.
on the sidewalk or on the yes on the sidewalk in front of their garage this is an accessibility
issue for me personally I wish that people did not do this but they do um when there is a garage
constructed in this way um I understand that the ownership of those four adjacent vacant lots so
there's a third property in this discussion but I'm not necessarily talking about that one I'm
talking about the 1547 and 1543 so there's an alternating ownership of the city um
nataniel and then it's the city again and then it's property owners again and so with one of
those being owned by the redevelopment authority one by the philadelphia housing authority i am
I have curiosities about how this could potentially impact the city and their ability to build affordable housing because we really don't have any concept of whether or not this construction will be a place that our neighbors can afford to live.
I do have concerns about like just disruption in terms of stability and noise.
I think that 1541, there needs to be a closer look at the stability of the construction of a building attached to 1541.
And my last comment is that I saw that there was not a civic design review on one of the postings.
I couldn't find it right before this, but that is something that I would be curious about, like, what is that?
What would those findings have been?
And so, therefore, what are we missing in terms of just understanding what the overall impact of this property will be?
And generally, just the seeking of exceptions.
I'm not necessarily understanding why new constructions cannot be built into the pre-existing zoning requirements.
Thank you.
Thank you very much. We appreciate your comments. Anyone else?
Yes, Chair. There's a phone number. Ending in 0287, they will be allowed to speak.
Calling user with the last four digits, 0287, you're allowed to speak.
Yes. Good afternoon, everyone.
hi could you state your name please state your name and spell for the stenographer
my name is paul de gazon first name is spelled p-a-u-l last name is spelled d-e
capital g-a-z-o-n do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes sir well are you a neighbor i am sir please proceed thank you so i reside on the
on the corner house at 1520 and i was actually present for the last um zoning meeting um my
concerns are still the same i pretty much um you know concur with with both of the previous ladies
and what they said my main concern is the parking um you know i had discussed that previously there's
this a shortage of parking around here and because i do live on the corner um i get the overflow or
the excess of parking and for a safety standpoint and from a trash standpoint um it's uh yeah it's
not in my best interest um that's uh oh lastly let me say this i'm sorry uh my last comment sir
yes across the street um yes that field um i know a lot of people individuals bring their dogs over
there uh we you have a lot of neighbors who come over there and plant um and that in that field as
well uh from uh you know from outside perspective so um yes thank you for taking the time we do
appreciate your input is there anyone else there are no more hands planning commission
good afternoon list usually on behalf of the philadelphia planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa 5 residential single family zoning at
this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 2017 in accordance with recommendations found
within the comprehensive plan the proposed dimensional variances are minor and in keeping
with the purpose and spirit of the zoning code there are several front-loaded garages on this
block base but most of the homes do not have this feature the city planning commission recommends
that the board grant the proposed dimensional variances but deny the proposed variance for
parking not accessed from the rear street alley or shared driveway
not accessed from the rear street alley or shared driveway okay number five mi2025-007-573-1547
north franklin street i vote yes with a private uh proviso approved use is single family household
living michael johnson my vote is yes with proviso cheryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso
Trinetta Graham, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Brian McAdams, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Taya Nguyen, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Layla Beebe, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Number six, MI2025-007577-1545 North Franklin Street, I vote yes with Proviso.
Approved use is single-family household living.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with Proviso.
tanetta graham my vote is yes with proviso ryan mcadams my vote is yes with proviso tyowin my
vote is yes with proviso rayla bibi my vote is yes with proviso and number seven mi2025
007 578 1537 north franklin street i vote yes michael johns my vote is yes cheryl gaston my
vote is yes tanetta graham my vote is yes ryan mcadams my vote is yes hi when my vote is yes
Laila Beebe, my vote is yes. Thank you.
Thank you so much. Thank you so much.
I just want to say it's so interesting.
I did the Hope 6 for PHA in Ludlow
and those other houses that have the garages were ours.
And so it's interesting, years, years later,
we couldn't get people to move in that neighborhood.
And now it's just so different. It's just so changed.
i i live here since i live here since 2008 and i love this neighborhood that's why i'm
yes we literally had to convince people to move there yeah that's how the city progress
right there you go which is great thank you so much i thank you number eight mi2026
6-0-0-3-0-1-2-24-20 East Somerset Street, Mary Ann Finger is Fingal, Fingan, is the
council.
Mary Ann Hujan Finnegan, M-A-R-Y-A-N-N-E-H-U-H-A-F-I-N-I-G-A-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
could you identify your client a relationship to the property my client is the owner of the
property kazim nabavi he's present here okay in the back yep um our vice chair uh has a few
questions good afternoon have you submitted your documents and exhibits 14 days in advance of this
hearing yes i have okay and do you waive the reading of your refusals to stipulate to their
accuracy yes okay okay all right thank you you can see your screen before you before you start
there is a letter of support from the southport richmond civic association the vote was 16 and
two in opposition and there's also non-opposition from council member squillman yes that's correct
your honor start your presentation yes at this time i'd like to introduce my co-counsel an attorney
philip g italiano who's also entered his appearance and he's going to present our case okay could you
please state your name and spell for the stenographer philip with one l last name italiano
i-t-a-l-i-a-n-o do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes i do do you have a computers we do not we had it in previously asked for assistance with
it now are you are you ready yes sir it's displayed now okay thank you i understand we have all your
paperwork so what i would try to do is concentrate on your plans and photos yes sir all right well
what i'd like to tell the board today is what we propose who we are the history of the property
how the neighborhood views our proposed use and the character of the current use of the neighborhood
first who we are to my left we have the property owner chasm nabavi a resident of port richmond
since 1965. Kaz is a fixture in local community in the business and civic scene. He lives directly
across from the subject property, probably closer from where I'm sitting to the hallway.
There you go. Okay. Next is Ali Nabava, Kaz's son, also a Port Richmond resident. He represents the
next generation, if you will, committed to strengthening and growing the community and
adding to the richness of Port Richmond's shared urban experience. And finally, we have Valdemar
Strajusku. He's not here today. He's our chef who learned his trade in the world-renowned kitchens
of Georges Perrier, and he's excited to be bringing to Port Richmond our blend of fine dining,
and he's excited to be bringing to port richmond our blend of fine dining and as he describes it
and as he described
some new takes on some old favorites what we propose is a unique locally sourced locally
staffed dine-in takeout restaurant featuring special cuisine and some local favorite dishes
seating for approximately 40 guests this will be exhibit a6 page 13 showing the seating operations
would be from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. five days a week close monday and tuesday it would be be worthwhile
if we could look at the ian could you bring up the photos of the property of what it looks like and
then maybe where we're going to go with it right because you're going to design yes right okay well
what you can see on the screen now is the side of the property the side yard where the ada access
ramp will be and the adjacent property which as you can see here it also illustrates the ample all
street parking in the neighborhood it also demonstrates the to the immediate west is the
tire center actually owned by mr nabavi showing the mixed residential and commercial use of the
neighborhood and again a demonstration of the ample all street parking and where the location
is at the end of the block right before the tire center okay now if i could that's the
block there that's the that's the rear of the property which by the way when we're talking
about mixed use this could arguably be industrial directly behind this yard and all the backyards
on this block of somerset are the operating tracks for freight freight trains that go by
as part of the railroad that's been there since probably the beginning of the last century
right if i made the history of this property unless we'd like to look at this this is more
of the side yard all of which will be cleared out and the ada ramp will be installed there
okay all righty now exhibit a11 which we had submitted with some 40 pages in length but let
me just summarize it three parts here in 1951 this property was acquired by the tetsy reitz
foreign war veterans home association and for some 29 years they operated as vfw post 250.
it was approved by the board as a private club for that time and then in 1980 it was acquired
by the polish police association of philadelphia they held it for another 36 years with similar
use as a social and gathering hall with various use and various expansions approved by the boards
over the decades the current owner mr nabavi acquired the property in 2016 that's exhibit a1
and in fact a use variance was approved by the board for takeout restaurant in 2019 a cheesesteak
shop i believe but the permit was allowed to elapse that's exhibit a12 page 7 showing the
grant of that residence so in short since at least 1951 or three quarters of the century
This property has never been or been used as a residence.
Now, as to how the community views us, we had our meeting with the RCO on August 12th of 2026, met with overwhelming and I may say enthusiastic approval.
You have the letter for Exhibit A3 showing the support of the RCO, the Southport Richmond Civic Association.
Councilman Squilla's letter shows his letter of non-opposition.
he of course is the councilman for this district since posting the property and that's exhibits
a4 pages 1114 showing the posting numerous neighbors have expressed approval including
our nearest next door neighbor who personally expressed her approval and support to cad uh
mr nabavi okay now i'd like to talk about the character of the neighborhood per the photographs
that we've already seen uh it demonstrates that this is a mixed use of residential and commercial
The immediate next-door neighbor is the tire center, which Mr. Nabavi has operated since 1977. Before that, it was apparently a car wash and used car lot. And, as I mentioned, the railroad, which indicates the even arguably industrial use. And the next main street to the west is Aramingo Avenue, which is, of course, a major commercial thoroughfare.
Now, if we may, I'd like the board to hear from the owner, Mr. Nabavi.
Why don't you show what you think it's going to look like?
Okay, if we can go to exhibit a 6, yes, we have the drawings on do that. I think. Okay. You should probably say, hey, this is what we're going to do. And you're not changing a lot. But no, if we go to a 6 people where the seats aren't there.
Okay, are we in a 6? Excuse me. Maybe you try to just make that a little bit. All right.
All right, and this this shows the, uh, the seating plan on the 1st floor.
as you can see there the tables this is where the servers would be the second the proposed
seating on the second floor the basement for storage and for the utilities basement storage
yes second floor is what that's the additional restroom and
Yes. Second floor is what? That's the additional restroom and propose. If there's overflow seating, the main seating is the first floor. Tell me this will be a sit down restaurant. Yes. Okay. And what kind of like, I mean, just food in general or? Yes. As I had mentioned before, it's a trying to bring a kind of unique dining experience to Port Richmond. Okay. Sure.
so some some wonderful food in fact when i was at the rco and the chef testified
i wanted to make a reservation that night they didn't take it yeah i didn't have a tie at the
time all right okay and if i may can you scroll so that we can see the kitchen please it's a sit
down and take out you're asking i'm sorry did i not say that i apologize go back and show the kitchen
Yes. Okay, so this is our kitchen showing where the service, the food prep stations are the sanitation as well as the main cooking stations at the rear of the property.
If we want to scroll forward, we can see you think you'll vent to right? Yes, everything will be properly vented. Yes, exactly.
all right and then you can see on the second floor the overflow seating if that becomes
necessary and the um and the additional restroom upstairs as well as some additional storage
okay all right okay if i may i'd like to call mr bobby yeah sure okay why don't you get close
to the mic if you can sir all right yeah just state your name and spell it for the stenographer
K-A-Z-E-M, that's a K-A-Z-E-M, last name is N-A-B-A-V-I-A.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
You do? Okay. You said I do?
All right. Counsel? Mr. Nabavi, you heard and saw everything about which I testified before the
zoning board this afternoon. Did you not? Okay. Is everything? Yes, sir. Okay. Yes, sir. Is everything
I said all true and correct? Yes. Mr. Nabavi, do you now adopt all of that as your testimony to
the board yes mr bobby how long have you lived in the neighborhood it's 1965 i don't know how long
about 60 years how long have you operated kaz's tire center
last 50 okay 50 actually june 15 1977. okay and as the owner of 2420 east somerset can you verify
that this property has never been used as a residence since you've owned it and since you
have lived in the neighborhood oh it has not been used it has not been used as a residence
is that correct yes thank you all right all right all right uh i have mr nabavi's son ali to be
sworn in sure questions there with the board's permission as the younger mr bobby is a physician
and to avoid confusion the record may i address him as dr nabavi you can whatever you want to do
okay council could you please uh council please state and spell your name for the stenographer
Good afternoon.
It's Ali Nabavi, A-L-I-N-A-B-A-V-I.
All right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Counsel?
Dr. Nabavi, you've had extensive interaction with the architect.
You're familiar with the electrical, plumbing, mechanical drawings that we put up on the screen?
Now, you know our proposed use of the building is overall takeout, dine-in, and I did walk the board through the proposed use of each floor.
Is what I said correct and true?
Everything's correct. I do want to add the ventilation.
I just wanted to correct everything else was correct that the ventilation would be through
the back as opposed to up through the roof. Just to clarify that.
Okay. Dr. Mbavi, is there any roof deck or roof access plan here?
Okay. And did everything I say about the use of each floor, was that all correct and true?
That's all I have.
Question on the board.
Real quick question.
So there was space on the side of the building.
You said that was for the ADA accessible ramp.
Is there any plan for outdoor seating?
Or is this not enough room?
i don't know they have it yet yeah something you might think about but not now if we can do it we
I don't know they have it yet.
Something you might think about, but not now.
If we can do it.
all happily do it and if we need to apply for a variance then we will you might need to apply for
a variant most likely so it's not included in these plans just so you know okay okay thank you
all the questions i have a question about storage just because it doesn't seem to be specifically
listed in the kitchen or the basement and like where are you planning to store your dry goods
and have deliveries uh dry goods and deliveries you know obviously we'll have refrigeration in
the in the kitchen so some of that will be in there um i believe on dry goods aren't in the
fridge which is correct uh some of that will be in the basement uh any shelving units in the kitchen
and then we also have plans uh you can see on the proposed first floor plan in the backyard there
there is space for a uh a walk-in uh refrigeration unit and you know a rugged storage that's not
existing correct got it okay and then are you planning to have take out services like uber
eats deliver uh doordash and grubhub we do what's going to be the plan to sort of manage pickup for
that um as far as just like some places have a dedicated door some places have a dedicated table
um the way that your first floor is laid out there's not necessarily like a maitre d stand
in the front so like how are you what's going to be the plan to have them because sometimes
they have to wait yeah we don't we don't have a fixed space for that but it would either be
through the side door there through the uh ada access they can come in or through the front
uh and then we'll you know make space for as much as we need hopefully we're too busy to turn the
apps on it's okay questions more attorney um wait a minute oh go ahead i'm sorry um you said that
you were gonna have a uh freezer say in the back it's like a standalone unit is that what you said
uh i believe i believe that's included on the plans there uh you can uh on the uh and you asked
for you asked for permission for that as part of this plan yes i think we did i think that's one
of two that's one of the proposed submitted plans that is on those plans uh on the mep plans uh there
okay well this is the floor plans not the map plans um yeah sorry right yeah but i mean showing
the floor plans yes all the plans were submitted including the electrical and the plumbing we can
go to that if we need to well i don't i'm not but usually like a standalone kind of unit like that
is considered a structure of some sort i think um so i was just submitted del and i yes
as part of your your site plan and your other plans yes it was submitted with with all the plans
that's correct okay okay all right thank you thank you thank you our attorney
you no question but i just want to put on the record that a missing refusal for multiple
principal uses um is missing for an rsa lot just it's nothing you need to do putting it on the
record questions or comments from the virtual audience there are no hands planning commission
good afternoon liz fuselay on behalf of the philadelphia planning commission the comprehensive
plan recommends no change to the RSA five residential single-family zoning at this location
prior approvals occurred in 2019 for a similar use as well as other use types over the past 50 years
there have been no recent clip or failed inspections at this location the city planning
commission recommends that the board grant the proposed use variants for sit down and take out
restaurant mi 2026 003012 2420 east somerset street i vote yes
so guest in my body chest yeah it's not a gram i recuse yes
ryan mcadams my vote is yes tyo in my vote is yes wait would be my vote is yes
but just to clarify is did board member board member john's vote or not no i'm i'm recusing
i'm recusing from this i didn't hear that sorry about that yep sorry about that i sent a text
i just realized okay thank you very much thank you thank you everyone thank you all right number nine
All right, number nine, MI 2026-003-065, 1640 Pine Street.
MI 2026-003-003.
Brandon Saverin is the attorney.
We have everything we need with this.
Brandon Saverin is coming in as a panelist.
What's that?
a couple of letters here, right? Yeah. Yeah. Letters.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman. Counsel, could you please state your name and spell for the
sonographer? Yes. Brandon Saverin, B-R-A-N-D-O-N, S as in Sam, A, V as in Victor, R-A-N as in Nancy.
okay um do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes i do can you identify your client in relationship to the property my client is
mental health matters llc who is the tenant of the first floor and basement all right um we did have
an extra letter a letter of non-opposition from center city residents association um and then
there's a uh a valid current lease that was also submitted is that correct yes that's right our
vice chair has a few questions brandon good afternoon have you submitted your documents
in exhibits 14 days in advance of this hearing yes i did and uh this is a referral so you need
a special exception do you either read know your referral and simulate to its accuracy yes i do
All right. Thank you. You can see the screen and proceed.
Okay. Thank you.
Let's see.
So, members of the board, as mentioned, I am here on behalf of Mental Health Matters, LLC,
who is a multidisciplinary mental health therapy practice that is located in the first floor and
basement of 1640 Pine Street, which is the subject property. And I have submitted 15 exhibits, which
I asked be moved into the record following today's hearing. Okay. So the first of those exhibits is
our notice of referral. This property is already permitted as a sole medical, dental, and health
practitioner, and our special exception application requests that that essentially be upgraded to a
group practitioner because this is an existing therapy practice which has operated elsewhere in
the city. It has three state licensed practitioners whom I'll identify in a moment. And when you have
more than one state licensed practitioner, you're required to carry a group practitioner permit
rather than a sole practitioner permit in order to occupy the premises. So before the practice
can occupy the premises. We need this special exception. Exhibit 2 is a memo of law that I've
offered to the board that describes why our application satisfies all of the code's
qualifications for a special exception. In the interest of brevity, I'm not going to walk you
through all of those arguments, but if you have any questions about them, please feel free to ask
me following my presentation what i will just highlight is that this is a very low impact use
as far as any commercial use and as far as a group practitioner use goes it does not create
any detrimental impacts that would be unexpected from a group practitioner use it is smaller than
most group practitioner uses at only three practitioners it is a really mental health
counseling practice so there is no dispensation of medicine occurring on the site it is by
appointment only there should be only three appointments going on simultaneously at most
at any given time and as i'll show you in a moment this already is a mixed use block with
many similar businesses on the first floor so it fits in with the fabric of this cmx1 block
perfectly so for all those reasons and for the other reasons detailed in the
memo we believe that we are entitled to this special exception and exhibit three
is a zoning map that shows you the location of the building which is near
the corner of 17th and pine streets and here is an aerial of the building at
exhibit four or a couple of photos of the building from across the street at
At the Red Arrow is our building, 1640 Pine. It's a three-story building with residences on the upper two floors. Those are remaining as is and is not subject to this application. This application is only about the ground floor and the basement.
the Red Arrow is our building, 1640 Pine. It's a three-story
and here is a slightly closer photo and you can almost see the sign on the left
our immediate neighbor there to the east also has a therapy practice on the ground floor I believe
there is another therapy practice about three or four down doors down further to the east and then
to the west on the corner with 17th here if you can see my hand is a bakery that used to be called
gem and is now called mighty bread all just to say that this is a mixed use block very common
uh to have you know a low impact business like ours on the ground floor with residences above
here are just some photos of our hearing posters this is our floor plan now this plan has already
been built out under the sole practitioner zoning permit and a building permit but just to briefly
walk you through it. We have a lockable entry vestibule, then a reception area, and then the
three therapy offices. We have an ADA restroom and a rear yard. We also have basement space for staff
and storage. Just to continue, here are some photos of the space at Exhibit 7 just as the
renovations were getting underway here's the ada accessible bathroom in the center just to show
you where that is that would be in this space where my hand is here and in the center of the
first floor and this is facing pine street that's the stairs to the basement
this is midway through construction when we were framing out some walls for the uh the the
counseling rooms. And now this is what it looks like now that the work is largely completed.
This is a view towards the rear yard with the furnished hallway there. This is one of the
counseling rooms. This is another. This is the finished basement. This is the practice's website.
As I mentioned, the practice already is in existence. Rachel Barnett is on the line to
Adopt My Testimony. She is a licensed professional counselor with a Master's of Science in Counseling
Psychology. Her colleague is Dr. Ashley Seaver, who has a doctorate in occupational therapy.
And her other colleague is Rachel Hoppenstein, who has a Master's of Occupational Therapy.
And Watermelon the Dog, of course. This is our letter of non-opposition from CCRA.
The lease, as you mentioned, Mr. Chairman, contains a clause that allows mental health
matters to apply for this special exception, and it contains an 11-year term, including
extension rights for the 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th year.
So under this lease, they can be in there until 2037.
The other documents are sort of your standard copy of application, tax clearance, proof of mailing, et cetera.
So I'll stop there and ask if Rachel can adopt my testimony.
Okay. Rachel?
Rachel, would you raise your hand?
You should be coming in in a minute.
you have the wrong rachel oh yeah i would love to support brandon oh my god you have the wrong
rachel but my vote is yes i just promoted rachel barnett okay okay thanks that's the right rachel
Rachel Barnett
do we see miss Barnett yes she's about to speak now sure thank you very much hi can everyone hear
me? Yes, we can. Could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer? Sure. My name
is Rachel Barnett, R-A-C-H-E-L-B-A-R-N-E-T-T-E. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole
truth, nothing but the truth? I do. Counsel? Okay, thank you. Rachel, are you authorized to speak
today on behalf of Mental Health Matters, LLC? Yes, I am. And you're one of its principals? Yes.
Yes, I am.
And you're one of its principals?
Okay. Did you hear my...
Did you hear my testimony in your case this afternoon?
I did.
Was it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge, information, and belief?
Would you therefore adopt my testimony as if it had been your own?
Thank you.
Questions from the board.
Is it possible to pull up the floor plan again?
Mm-hmm.
And then I just have a question about the number of patients that we anticipate having or people that we anticipate having in the space.
Sure. I'm going to get the floor plan up. Feel free to ask Rachel your question while I while I do that.
OK. I think my question is just trying to get a sense of like number and flow of people across the day.
And, yeah, I was trying to see how big the reception area was. That's why I asked.
The reception area is actually, it is one of those pictures that probably could hold, I mean, it could, if people are standing, it could hold more, but it has four seats with like a bench seating, right?
You know, what we perceive, it would be no more than three, unless one of us is perhaps seeing like a family or a couple, so maybe it would be four.
That's not very common.
And most of the time we are each all seeing one individual person.
And as you know, and that's really as our current caseload is not, it's got to grow to that point.
So hopefully it'll get bigger and can, you know, can't be any more than that because we don't we don't have that that type of time.
But as of right now, it's usually two people in the waiting room at any given time.
OK, understood. And it seems like so you said there's four practitioners and there's four, three practitioners.
and then there's everybody has a dedicated um space office we're gonna call it yeah okay
all the questions oh i did my other question is uh about um did you do anything in the space to
sort of try to dampen the sound i just know like obviously yeah we did um we we put in special
insulation and there's you can't really see it but in the wall of the adjoining the offices that
share a wall there's like a window to help with like natural lighting and that was like special
made glass that's like supposed to you know help with soundproofing um and we have noise machines
and other things like that that are pretty common in all therapeutic spaces and i know that's so
that's mostly for the interior walls did you do anything for the party walls for the building
between like on the walls between you and the building next door no or the front no we didn't
um ty it was um for what it's worth it was it was last in office um and actually i think long
enough ago was already a doctor's office so i think they would have had a difficult challenge
convincing the landlord that like you know interventions in the party wall were necessary
because i think in his eyes this is sort of a sufficient space for this purpose and i think
did the best they can under the circumstances it's fine i mean i was it wasn't uh i think
that wall was actually i was just sort more so wondering because i saw the destruction was
happening yeah and i think that outside wall is brick line too like i don't think that's
an issue sound can travel through brick it's true it just it hasn't seemed to from being in it that
you know we haven't all the questions questions from our attorney um yes i just wanted to make
sure i know you said basement and first floor but i believe in the lease or at least the other lease
it was unit one is that correct uh yeah i mean that's that's that may be how the space is
identified um i'm trying to get to the lease right now i believe miss barnett was like shaking her
head is that correct it's unit one we need to identify it for our you know i believe that's
how it is labeled on the lease yeah if you can just confirm that thank you
Yes, that that's right.
You don't want questions or comments from the virtual audience.
I see no hands chair planning commission.
Good afternoon, Liz usually on behalf of the Philadelphia planning commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the CMX 1 neighborhood commercial mixed use zoning.
at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 2019 in accord with recommendations
filed within the comprehensive plan the proposed use will not cause detrimental impacts to the
neighborhood beyond what would normally might be expected the city planning commission recommends
that the board grant the proposed special exception for commercial business use mi20260030651640
Pine Street, I vote yes with proviso. Use limited to unit one. Michael Johns, my vote.
with proviso use limited to unit one michael johns my vote is yes with proviso
daryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso tenetta graham my vote is yes with proviso ryan mcadams my
vote is yes with proviso tayo and my vote is yes with proviso layla beebe my vote is yes with proviso
okay we're going to move to number 10 and number 11.
number 10 is mi 20 20 26 003 115 150 101 to 23 south 52nd street
and number 11 is mi 2025 003 576 101 to 23 south 52nd street brett feldman is the attorney
mr feldman could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer
Yes. Good afternoon, Brett Feldman.
Why don't you get that a little closer to you, Brett, the mic. You always get a little, not that you don't speak loud, but the mic is a little further away.
So please state your name. It's spelled for the stenographer.
Brett Feldman. Brett Feldman. B-R-E-T-T. Feldman. F-E-L-D-M-A-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
i do could you identify your client for both locations yes and they're it's the same location
um um that that's that's the subject here um 52nd and chestnut street right i represent mcdonald's
of north america so i see let's see here we have yeah there's recent information um
here is 10 11 added pedestrian access from samson street does that sound right correct right and
then there's also address cross crosswalk and speed hump right and then uh lod um decreased
from zero six one to point six zero correct down right correct okay and uh our vice chair has a
few questions. Good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits 14 days in advance
for both cases? We did. Okay. And do you wait that we didn't know your refusals and stipulate
to their accuracy? We do. All right. Thank you. You can see your screen and proceed with the case.
I'm just trying to try to find the exhibits here Mr. chairman if I could just make a comment just to just so given that you've submitted revised plans concerning a change in parking.
that's going to result in you requesting an amended refusal yeah we didn't we didn't think it
we didn't think it would in this case because there wasn't any parking requirement in CMX 2.5
well we believe because you have a change in parking that you should go for amended refusal
request one okay here yeah I'm sorry I'm when I share right now it's not showing
media is he is he in the unit here do we
is he ready to go what's that you're saying you're like it's not it's not yeah i'm saying
yeah i'm gonna make sure you're yeah i'm sorry
becomes our master at this kind of there we go
I want to be able to get that PDF down there.
there we go there it is okay there we go always it's always the toughest part just getting the
exhibits up so again Brett Feldman 1835 Market Street I am real proud to be representing
so again brett feldman uh 1835 market street i am uh real proud to be representing uh mcdonald's um
at this um for this application to take this location this is at 52nd and chestnut street
um probably a lot of us are aware of this location uh it is a over 40 year old um restaurant location
it is to say the least it is obsolete it is outmoded is that 40 years you said i think it's
back from the RDA, back in the day.
I grew up in Upper Darby.
I remember coming through here, coming into West Philly
and to University City and Center City as a child,
coming to this location.
It is the structure itself, outmoded, outdated systems,
electric, plumbing.
But beyond that, the vehicular circulation here
is something that, as Justin, our project engineer, will say, you'd never design in
2026. Just to give some context, here is in context, 52nd Street, 52nd here, Chestnut
here, and the Y is to the right, there's a library to the left, and a SEPTA bus stop
right on 52nd here. And what we're looking to do is, this isn't a remodel, this is actually
just to demolish the whole the whole restaurant and um it would be this uh our state-of-the-art
prototype blow that up just a little yeah yeah and we've got it we've got it on the boards we've got
it on the boards here um a significant increase in landscaping street trees stormwater management
uh our most recent prototype uh new interior um a drive-through uh that that makes sense and that
is efficient. We're keeping the parking spaces with traffic calming. I think you mentioned
some of the changes. We added in speed bumps. We added in crosswalks. We added in signage
with flashing signage at the different crosswalks. That's the site layout here. And as far as
what it would look like significant upgrade and in glazing glass you see
this is the the front this is the back this is the the window is looking now
into into the parking lot and then at the bottom there most of the McDonald's
locations on the drive-through because it's back of house there's usually not
tremendous amount of articulation working with the community group those
those we added this french fries that are like i think the first time in in phil in pennsylvania
um you know some type of architectural um um embellishments to uh to jazz up uh that that that
frontage there's two cases um first case is um a permit to you know what would be helpful
like there's opposition to this right um yeah there's a community letter right yes so there's
opposition yeah what might be helpful is to say here's the opposition this is what we've done
try to work that in there did you go to the meeting yeah absolutely okay so why don't you
talk about yeah yeah we had um i think it was five meetings uh five meetings we had we had two
meetings um with uh walnut hill with the the full the full group um and then we had uh numerous
meetings with um their zoning president and if you look at the letter um here's the refusal
i'll get right back to it the cmx 2.5 requires that this building um that the restaurant be
built right up to the property lines both on chestnut street and on 52nd street which is
basically what we have now um and what they wanted they wanted um the building to remain
up on those frontages on Chestnut Street, on 52nd Street, and it was really kind of a philosophical.
That was their position. This is what the zoning code says.
Our drive-through right now, because the building on Chestnut Street, it's not all the way up.
There's a setback. On 52nd Street, it is up against the property frontage.
The only drive-through configuration that you can have with the building,
with the restaurant on those two frontages, is what we have now.
and let me just let me just get right to this here
this is what we have is what we have right now you see you see the building set back off the
chestnut street it's on it's on 52nd street and that drive through uh and justin you know maybe
we'll we'll get right in if you'd like i can get right into john why do you why don't you state
If you'd like, I can get ready to jump.
Why don't you state your name and spell for the stenographer?
your name is bell for the stenographer yes justin clee
Yes, Justin Klee, J-U-S-T-I-N-K-L-E-E.
Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, told the truth, nothing worth the truth?
Go ahead, Campbell.
Well, Justin, you're a professional engineer?
Correct, yes.
I'm a licensed professional engineer in the state of Pennsylvania.
I'm a senior project manager at Bowler Engineering.
And you've worked at Bowler for how many years?
Roughly about 10 years.
And you've designed, how many McDonald's restaurants have you designed over your career?
Hundreds of McDonald's.
Okay. And you've actually been working on this location since I think it was 2017, correct?
Correct. Yes. Yeah. So we looked at originally back in 2017-18 a remodel to put a new facade, upgrade the ADA parking.
And then for the last probably two or three years, we've been bouncing around ideas as to how to maximize the efficiency on the lot,
Not given the zoning ordinances, working with city planning, making sure that we have the best possible site for both the community and the applicant, in this case, McDonald's.
And the current drive-thru right now, let me just, I'll show you this.
The current drive-thru, there is, how many access points?
You've got an access point off of 52nd Street?
correct there's a there's a one-way ingress only off of 52nd and then there is an ingress and
egress onto chestnut and is this is this the is this the uh ingress off of um 52nd street that is
yes and what are the what what are the the failings right now of this hole this configuration here
so the main the main challenge with the configuration in a whole you have two
separate drive-through lanes, one coming from Chestnut Street, the other one coming from 52nd
that merge into one singular point. The amount of stacking you can actually achieve before that
merge point that goes around the rear of the building out to 52nd, you can really only hold
two cars before it starts to stack out into 52nd and onto the sidewalk blocking vehicles in 52nd
and pedestrians on the sidewalk. The challenge with Chestnut, the Chestnut access is that's
supposed to be in from chestnut through the site a two-way access right now there's the drive the
drive-through taking up a portion of this uh this driveway access lane so any vehicles trying to
enter the site to get to the parking um has to fight with the existing drive-through configuration
and right now just with how busy that location is it's stacking out not only out to 52nd but
out to Chestnut, which also, it blocks the vehicles trying to leave the drive-thru. It
also blocks vehicles that are parked in the ADA stalls in the rest of the parking spaces
on both sides of the drive aisle. It makes it very difficult for any vehicles to be able
to pull out and to circulate the rest of the site. And during times of there's large stacking,
say vehicles coming in from chestnut wants to wants to park um if if there's a lot of stacking
they would actually have to drive into oncoming you know the the oncoming lane in order to find
a parking space there so right now there's several inadequacies along with the the tight
turning radius to get even get into that drive-through lane and that's and that's and that's
right here correct yes you're asking vehicles to make either a complete u-turn coming from chestnut
or a hairpin left turn okay so you've got the car the cars who are this inadequate queuing area
on the 52nd street you've got the cars coming off of chestnut street who are literally blocking the
cars that are parked because the queuing lane is in the middle of the parking lot that is correct
the reason why we show this and we put so much emphasis on the existing conditions is because
Because to meet the zoning code, we basically have to have the same design that we have now as far as the location of the restaurant on 52nd and on Chestnut Street.
And again, Chestnut Street, we're actually set back now.
And so you talked about in 2017, we did like a freshening up of the location, right?
And that was to try to extend the life of the restaurant.
Right, stay close to the mic.
And that was to try to extend the life of the restaurant as much as was possible.
as much as possible from from the applicant's view is more putting a band-aid on the location
yeah but it is at this point in dire need of a rebuild right and it's not only because of
the interior condition of the restaurant the systems uh the challenges in the systems the
inefficient kitchen um but it's all primarily also because of this this drive-through configuration
and the parking configuration and the conflicts that are that exist and have now existed for many
many years correct yes okay and i i know you've been studying this since 2017 if there was a way
if there was a way efficiently and safely to design this and to be able to meet the code as
efficiently and safely to design this and to be able to
far as um having the building up against 52nd street and having the restaurant up against
chestnut street is there a way to do it we would have designed it that way if there if
if there was a way to do it because there's no other there's no other refusals that were issued
for this application other than this this one correct correct fully compliant as far as use
yes use landscaping um any other setbacks or buffering that's related yeah yeah great
do the board have any other questions for for mr clay at this at this point
but why don't you go back to the drawing this is past drawing yes yes back to the original yeah
and what we'll do is when you finish up then everybody will be actually is that the two of
them side by side could we leave that one up yeah let me just go to the
you're looking at it
I WANT TO PUT THEM SIDE BY SIDE?
I WANTED TO SHOW THE BOARD WHAT THE PROPOSED IS RIGHT NOW.
yeah right there here we go now justin this is the this is the proposed correct well he's
he's got a chart here yeah this one has both okay yeah okay so if you just pull that one
up and make it full screen it was exhibit a yeah there we go we'll go back
how many meetings did you say you had with the community we had two we had two um meetings with
the full with the full community and then we had um four meetings uh with the zoning chair
where is that here i'm just trying to find that in here
and i will tell you that
the walnut hill right yeah and if you look at the if you look at the ladder let me just find
this right here where is that here here we go all right here we go
did you have a specific question this one
yeah no no we had we had we had um we met with the um chair of the zoning committee four times
and it really it was you know as they said as they said in the um as they said in the letter
um we we made change after change after change here we added in um the pedestrian crosswalks
from each one of the frontages, from Chestnut Street, from 52nd Street, from Sampson Street,
also from each one of the sides. We added in speed bumps throughout the site. We added in
signs, flashing signs. So, you know, I think in every way, what we've tried to do here is-
Freddie, you're trying to interpret the letter. You're about to say,
if you read the letter i think it's done yeah yeah yeah tell us what you're saying yeah
i guess yeah before you do that can you get hide on the zoom notification that you have
that's blocking the drawing there we go there we go yeah if you look if you look at the letter i'll
The Walnut Hill, they oppose this because what they really see is this, it was really kind of an aspirational that we don't have a drive-thru, and that's really what this became about.
This became about us getting rid of, you know, I think getting rid of the drive-thru that we've had, you know, throughout the whole history of this restaurant as far as I know, and it is an absolutely critical nature to the restaurant.
52nd and Chestnut. Chestnut Street, I think, as we all know, is a major east-west thoroughfare.
It's probably the most important thoroughfare coming from
Upper Darby, coming from West Philly, coming from University City into Center City.
Upper Darby, coming from West Valley, coming from University City into Center City. It's very important to our customers to be able to use that drive-through. They have used that drive-through. And what we're trying to do is balance, making sure that that drive-through is as efficient as possible. At the same time, this restaurant is critical to the community. And I think you've seen some of the other applications for McDonald's where they've been getting away from having a good-sized dining room.
we are keeping in this plan we are keeping a over 60 I think it's about 60 seat dining room
this this location if you go in there in the mornings it's full of seniors who are having
their coffee who are having their breakfasts and you know Mr. Glantzman here who's on behalf of
McDonald's that was that was a value and a priority for this location to keep to make it
safer to have the drive-through, the circulation, but also to keep that sit down. It's really one of
the main community centers in this part of the neighborhood. So that was what we were balancing
in. But we had, to make this many million dollar investment, we had to come up with a circulation
pattern that was just so much better than what right now it is. It's a mess out there, to be
I live within walking distance. It backs up on 52nd. As Justin said, our engineer, we have problems on Chestnut Street. And that was really kind of the balance here. And that's the one refusal. We couldn't get away, we couldn't get around it.
We worked with city planning. Streets department, if you look at exhibit tab 6, streets department approved this. We worked with city planning. We added in landscaping. Again, there's a significant increase in the landscaping.
We want to be good neighbors to our vehicular customers, but also to our pedestrian and the customers. And that's, I think, what we've really done here at this location.
um you know that's but that was the philosophical issue that we ran into it and what i would say
here is and i've never had a letter like this um if you look at the letter um even though we have
put this is what the this is what the this is yeah this is what the community yeah this is what the
community group wrote even though we oppose this proposal we want to note that the applicant engaged
repeatedly with the community to address our concerns including adding seating speed bumps
installing legged crosswalks adding a new crosswalk and improving the building design
we wish all applicants were as open to listening and revising the plans so we we it it basically
came down to we we just want you on the corners you know right right up against the corners
and the hardship here you know is we don't need to guess whether that's possible or not we've
had years of experience of what will happen if this restaurant is built up to you know up to
chestnut up to 52nd street and the drive-through and we know it's it's it's it's not a plan that
I don't think we could I don't even think we could get that approved by by the streets department
anywhere I mean Justin you said to me you said to me this the existing configuration of the drive
through is is which is the only way to meet the code is the one that you would I would I would
never proposed at this point. It's inadequate. The stacking distances are inadequate and will cause
public health and safety issues out on the connecting streets. So it's something we would
steer away from. Yeah. Let alone blocking the sidewalks and stuff like that. Are you done
your presentation? I'm not. I'd like to introduce Gerald Glantzman. Yeah, but I mean, just to have
your testimony adopted. Excuse me. Remember, there's also another PLS designed that we need
to address yes there's a there's a there's a second case here i saw that yeah
again we're putting four signs up is that yeah there's there's here i'll just show you real
quick here the um did the neighbors mention anything about the sign no there was there was
there was there was no issues with that was why is that not okay
I THINK THE SIZE OF THIS FILE IS SO BIG THAT IT IS GIVING US PROBLEMS.
NOW IT'S LOCKING UP.
JUSTIN, CAN YOU CREATE THE BOARD?
HERE'S THE, IF I MAY SHARE THE BOARD.
THIS IS RELATIVE TO THE SIGNS?
yeah yeah this is the sign so we've got here's the here's the drive here's the drive through here
right um we have in philadelphia you can have you can have four you can have two menu boards
In Philadelphia, you can have four, you can have two menu boards. We're proposing four, which is what we do on, I think, every one of these applications. Again, this is for efficiency of the drive-thru.
Sure, this is for efficiency of the drive-thru. We have a pre-browse, and then we have, you look at the menu items, and then you actually order from here from the order board.
So, we have two lanes here. So, there's a pre-browse on each one, and then there's the actual order board. That's the only refusal on signage that we're seeking. Otherwise, we're fully code compliant.
And Walnut Hill's never said anything.
No, there was no issues. There was no issues with Walnut Hill. And, you know, they were very clear. Like, this is, I mean, we were even clear with the zoning committee and the zoning chair that the investment
that McDonald's was looking to make here,
many, many millions of dollars,
that this would be a tremendous sign
and vote of confidence for the corridor here.
This would be, I think, give confidence
that others can make investments here.
McDonald's, when McDonald's comes
and makes these types of investments,
that's not a good look right now.
That's what's out there right now.
That is a building that is 40 years old.
if you look at the back of that on 52nd street this was built as a multi-tenant building so the
whole back of this building is is empty vacant is boarded is boarded up um this is not a good sign
for the community but making the investment uh is you know and i think everyone acknowledged
it would be a really positive sign uh for this community and for this corridor so okay
no no i'd like to i think to now introduce your doctor testimony is that what you're bringing
them up um i'm gonna have justin the dot i'm gonna have joe glanceman from mcdonald's just
talk a little bit about mcdonald's and the branding and what they're looking to do mr glansman can you
hi sir could you please state your name is spelled for the stock sure it's gerald glansman it's g-e-r-a-l-d
Last name Glanzmann, G-L-A-N-Z-M-A-N-N.
Do you swear or affirm and tell the truth, told the truth, nothing but the truth?
Right?
Mr. Glanzmann, in your capacity with McDonald's, what does that look like on a day-to-day?
I'm an area construction manager.
I oversee construction projects of all nature all over the Bethesda region, which is the region that we exist in in Philadelphia.
yeah and i know you have been working on this with it's owned by a franchise operator correct
that's correct okay uh grant grant scholars who i don't believe could be here today but you've
been working on this for two years with mr skyless on the redevelopment of this location
correct that is correct yeah and as i understand it from you and from mr skyless you've been very
clear that um from mcdonald's perspective this building as is you know not just the restaurant
itself but the configuration and the vehicular and pedestrian access is just below what you want
represented by mcdonald's correct correct at this point um we're inefficient in the kitchen
we're inefficient in the drive-through we are unable to add any of the new upcoming items
in the kitchen to make whatever we're going to make the dirty sodas all these things that are
coming out uh we have very limited space uh we also have some issues with plumbing and electric
that are ongoing. Our operator stated he sees the restaurant as unreliable at times just from
the output that we can do because of our inefficiencies and our constraints of the
current kitchen. Great. And I know you met several times with the community, correct?
Yes. With me, yes. And we made a series of changes to come to this look that you see here,
correct we did and we we added in the glazing on the front the glazing on the back um the glazing
and windows looking into the parking lot and then even even when they said hey what else can you do
on the 52nd street side which is you know kind of back of house and it's tough to put windows on
you came up with just adding an architectural feature that has never been seen in pennsylvania
correct that's yeah that's correct um even the windows on the on the what we would consider the
back of the building, which faces, um, I'm sorry, chestnut stream. That is not a standard. That is
our, our freezer cooler area. So we listened to the community group, gave them an added feature
that they were expecting and hoping for. And as, uh, uh, Brett said, we, we added that additional
architectural feature. I, there might be five in the country, those French fries. I know they're
it's kind of abstract, but there's only five in the country. Um, and we will be the only one,
um as i know in pennsylvania and philadelphia has no others and we're we just built a new one in a
university pen and we're building another new one on 15th and walnut i believe it's 15th walnut
on 15th and walnut i believe it's 15th walnut and neither one of those locations will have this so
and neither one of those locations will have this
we will be exclusive this will be exclusive to our location at 50 seconds yeah and then just
can you just talk about like so the the interior you'll be using the uh modern uh new mcdonald's
motif in the interior correct correct it'll be a newer our seating and decor package will be a
newer package it's only existed for about two years now so that that'll be a major upgrade over
what's existing um the front counter layout will be different from what you've seen we'll have
additional ordering kiosks which will make the customer experience better and
anytime you can get in and get off the site in the restaurant and faster food
hot food not waiting around for 30 40 minutes it's better and that's what we're
trying to do with this kitchen is to you get the order in we're pushing it out
to you as fast as possible and as warm as possible and ideally to the standard
that we want to be hot fresh and made to order in a restaurant that looks absolutely
outside and that is warm and hospitable to the residents who live in this community correct and
that's i think one of the things that we as we're going through this process we want to upgrade the
building not just for for our own sake but it is it is a little bit of a blemish on the community
that that's there um we this is not a mcdonald standard that we'd want to show everywhere and
we're trying to upgrade those things you mean the existing restaurant that's there right now
you wouldn't accept this somewhere else uh we would not not at least not as long as it's been
there yeah so is there anything further you want to add as far as i i think the investment i mean
this is i mean there was any other way to avoid all this yes and to to have this restaurant we
talked about this a lot correct if we could if we could put it on chestnut if we could put it on
52nd street we did avoid this whole process we would have and ultimately you said to me what
we weren't able to do it and that's because it's just uh the the drive-through it's a huge portion
of this of this um operator's income and um i'm sorry yeah you're all aware um no the services
are at yeah i apologize yeah um and if we if we take that away it does impact him significantly
also it's going to impact the community i mean we have a high percentage of people coming into
the drive-through right now as inefficient as it is it they're they still want to use it so it isn't
something that's going away um and we're not going we're not getting and you're serving you're
serving customers 24 7 correct we are 24 7 out of the drive-thru um we are closed 10 to 6 in the
lobby um you can pick up orders at the pickup window um on the building but inside you can yeah
and you have a lot of customers who are coming in going into uh university of pennsylvania the
hospital night shift to get food coming in coming home to get breakfast using for breakfast from
from the medical complex that's very close by that's correct yeah and as brett said i just
want to reiterate we this is a major investment that we're prepared to to do and i you know
philadelphia is a union town and we will be using union labor in this location as we rebuild it which
mcdonald's in general does get away from but it is something that we know how significant and
important it is in the city so it's something that we want to make sure we do let me ask you
one question this was this was the the operator one of our calls describe the restaurant net right
now is unreliable meaning the operations because of the infrastructure of the restaurant are
unreliable but for customers it's unreliable because of the drive-through and all the concerns
that we've talked about correct is that is that characterized kind of how you look at it from
i would exactly right yeah is there anything further you'd like to add no no did he adopt
your testimony um you heard my testimony otherwise yes sorry yeah you heard my testimony otherwise
i did yes and is it true was it too inaccurate yes and you adopted as your own yes yeah and
justin you also heard my other testimony um was it true and accurate yes you adopted as your own
yes is there anything further you wanted to add you've been living this project for 10 years
I think, don't start the 10 years again.
We've been all living this for years.
We've got to move on a little bit.
Go ahead.
Yeah, I was just going to highlight, again, we highlighted a lot of the new interior,
just summarizing what we've done, what we've worked on.
We've touched on it a little bit, making it as walkable, as community-friendly as possible
with three pedestrian access points, one from Chestnut, one from 52nd, and one from Sansom.
All of those being strategically located at the highest pedestrian generators.
So the one on 52nd is right at the bus stop.
That's right. That's right here. Correct. That is correct.
Yeah. And that was something we worked on with the community.
That is correct. Yes.
And then the nicely landscaped access from Chestnut, that is right adjacent to the Y.
And then the nicely landscaped access from Chestnut, that is right adjacent to.
So trying to keep that as, you know, pull the pedestrians into the site as much as possible
and make it so that they don't have to walk through any drive aisles or minimize that travel time
where they have to cut across any sort of drive aisles there.
And then, again, from Sansom, located right across the street from the library.
So, trying to strategically locate those with the crosswalks that are proposed, the traffic calming speed bumps, the flashing pedestrian crossing signs, and then I think Brett touched on it earlier, the additional landscaping and landscaped areas.
So, we've reduced impervious cover on the site by about 1,000 square feet.
So, that's reduced runoff, that's improved water quality on the site, and the landscaping currently is very sparse.
right now we have there's about one tree and maybe a handful of shrubs uh proposed we're
we're proposing 23 trees and over 130 shrubs uh it's just to help uh make this as an attractive
location as possible um and combined again with reducing that impervious cover increasing the
landscape space we are installing a new stormwater system which again helps reduce stormwater rate
leaving the site uh improve water quality uh so overall it's going to be a benefit to the community
did he adopt your system yes he did yes he did are you done i am for now yes yes i am i am
questions from the board yes i have a question about the proposed changes and just specifically
is the new building a reduction in total square footage of the restaurant to the current it it is
a Justin help me on this it is yes the rest the building is smaller and as I mentioned it used to
be there was multi-tenant I think there was I don't know there's a tax preparer in there at
some point like in that that's that whole back half on 52nd Street that's all bunkered so then
my clarifying question is, is the McDonald's square footage smaller in the new building or
larger? Understanding that the old building had multiple tenants. It's slightly increased.
Slightly increased. Okay. How many seats could have been there for the old one? How many seats
in the old one? Because you said 60 here, right? In the old one, there were 68 seats, I believe.
You said 60 here? Yes. Yeah. And that was another change. I think we were down in the 50s.
Okay, and we again that was referencing the community letter how we increase the seating we had a we had a redesign the whole restaurant to get an additional 10 seats, but we did that to accommodate my second question is in this now parking.
It looks like the parking lot has a few less parking spaces to accommodate all of the stormwater and green infrastructure, which I commend you for because I think it's important.
Are any of these designated spots for short-term pickups?
Like people who are running in to do quick deliveries or pre-order,
because I know now you can do a McDelivery in the app
and can be ready for you for pickup.
We do.
Right now there are six spots.
You can see them in the upper right-hand corner there.
With the dots?
That's correct.
Yeah, those are off of Sanford Street.
yeah and then i think just the my last comment is like i understand a lot of the conversation i
think you guys have done a commendable job trying to accommodate all the commentary from the
community um but i do think like part of the problem that we have on these commercial quarters
in philadelphia this is a demonstrated precedent that we'd be setting on 52nd street i do
understand why that sentiment was made um and i think you know uh as we are trying to improve
these commercial corridors across the city and especially these targeted corridors which 52nd
street is one of them um you know a lot of this is really made around trying to make them as walkable
and as pedestrian friendly and to like really focus on street traffic and i think you guys have
done a lot of work here but it still feels like from like the sidewalk side it's it's still a car
thing like you know on your money shot you know view of mcdonald's is going to be people picking
up their food from the drive-through even if you do have some tree screened so um i think you know
just keeping that in mind like i've seen and i mean i grew up in the mcdonald play space era so
i have a very different idea you used to have one in the front that that's the setback i didn't grow
up here in philly but that's the step back in the front but you know i think there were like
outdoor seating there was like a lot there was garbage kids there was a lot of things there was
mcdonald's play pace there was things that were created to kind of create more of an outdoor park
like access that was like people focused rather than car focused and so I do think that just as
a statement I think to be able to find some way to get something in here because I think the only
to get something in here because i think the only other car focused thing does still have partial
other car focused thing does still have park.
frontage on 52nd street and they kind of turn the parking on the side it's a much smaller building
so not 100 applicable but they do have outdoor um what is it picnic table seating um to try to
create like an outdoor seating area and gathering area and i think like something like that might
be like might mitigate some of the commentary coming from the rcos and community can you tell
me what what um that's the barbecue joint it's like two blocks away from yeah all the questions
yeah i have a question so what percentage of your business is the business is drive-through
versus walking walk through walking uh currently right now we are at 40 percent uh typically we do
see that number go up um as we become more efficient uh what ends up happening especially
on the current layout is as justin mentioned we have four um basically get four cars in queue
and then you're done so people abandon the drive-through and they'll either park
uh in our lot if there's a there's available space or they'll park off lot and walk in
so by being able to accommodate more sites we do expect that drive-through number to go up okay and
in this diagram that you have up now um the cars come through i think there's two ways you can
order right two two window order windows so how many pickup windows do you have um when they come
in in a single lane on the southern portion of this uh diagram that i'm looking at sure um the
actual pickup windows there will be two uh what we we call them uh the cash booth which is the
first booth when you have to actually pay cash or pay the card if you didn't do mobile okay where
where is that on here it's where the pedestrian crosswalk is to the left okay it's right in that
area uh it's probably hard to see here but um right there yeah and then we have our present
booth which is the second booth it's probably right now where you see the the last car before
the space uh and thank justin that's the present booth and that will be an actual pickup with your
food portion and then we have a third window where you see that last car and that is the
if we're overly busy or you have a very large order you pull for it there one of our team
uh members will give your food out of a window so you have two technical pickup boots and you're
entering and exiting out of chestnut street yes yeah one one way direction
okay and does this build one last question so does your building i could the rendering of the
building um those those fries are they are they painted or the building or are they like a
different type of material that's attached to the building so are they obstructing any view of like
52nd street oh uh no um so there's two options and we haven't gone to that to that extent yet
so it's just proposal um we can paint them on or there are metal fabricated um pieces that we can
put onto the building itself so you would be able to save from 52nd street for sure okay all right
thank you welcome can you go back to that site plan for a second the um i guess the the concern
i guess that the the overall community has is that it's it's a very suburban model in a very
urban context right it's just it just is so i guess the question is did you ever consider going
up um as opposed to just a one-story building when everything around there's either two stories or
three stories the other thing is um on the corner where the um um bus stop is it's a pinch point
it's very tight i used to go to the gym there the y so i know this is very well yeah absolutely
it's like very well i know the drive through i know the inside and out um i remember when it
built but that whole area right on the corner of 52nd and chestnut is just very tight and it seems
that with this plan you have the opportunity to give some more back to the um to the public way
by even creating something more and nicer on this this corner here since you're set so far back so
that may be a consideration in what you can do there. The other question that I have is
how do you get from the Sansom Street? I see the walkway, but where's the pedestrian
entrance, the main entrance? Right there. It's right there. You come into the restaurant right
there. Okay. So is that the back entrance or is that the main front entrance? That's actually
the front entrance so if i'm coming off of 52nd street and i'm and i'm walking i have to go to
that entrance to go into the into the uh the store well if you're on 52nd you can either
go up to samson and come in through the the crosswalk right there or you can
crosswalk right where from where the septa um the second crosswalk that's right here okay so
um the second crosswalk that's right here okay so so so what's what's so so this is actually the
back and this is the main entrance the main pedestrian entrance is that what you're saying
is that which is i'm trying to understand yes on samson on samson street correct correct yeah so
although the the the main sort of thoroughfare is 52nd and chestnut your actual front entrance
to the supermarket is on sansom street which is like a back street sort of correct correct yes
yeah and that's why what we did was we added glazing on both sides um so it is um
it it looks and so gotcha so so the pedestrian yeah oh yeah and so the pedestrian so the
pedestrian walkway go back to your plan again i'm just trying to understand this thing yeah so if
If you're on the corner and you're walking, so you have to walk across the traffic, go to, so you've got this walkway that's here.
Where are you?
It kind of goes through the site, right?
Where are you right now?
Where I put their line, right?
But that's really the back of the building.
So you can't enter from this side at all, you're saying.
Correct.
Oh, wow.
That's messed up.
that is that's that's that's kind of it's kind of messed up because it makes that whole side
that fronts on chestnut street that sort of back end of the the building yeah so um and the other
question was did you ever consider going up i've gone to a number of mcdonald's and other cities
where they they're they kind of are more urban and and and and have more than one story seems
it seems a waste of space to some degree did was that i mean you worked on it for a long time was
that ever ever a consideration um to be honest with you it's a two-story building is not it's
not something that's that's good for mcdonald's it typically it's not good for operations or for
your the customers um so we don't typically do two-story buildings that's a last i don't say
it's it's like a last resort but it kind of is um i i know we have a few but it is it isn't common
so no we never approached this from a two-story perspective gotcha real quick question so
i noticed on the road enormous tractor trailers for mcdonald's well how do you handle that there
uh we we did have a truck turn um exhibit done uh with our tomorrow as our service i i think justin
you so I can touch on that the accesses are maintaining exactly in the same location as
they currently are today right here on on 52nd and on on chestnut that truck is making the same
turn into the site through through uh from 52nd and and we've we've run a truck showing that it
can make that turn in and around the site and exiting onto chestnut as it does okay I you know
I think in summary here, the challenge that we, yeah.
Why don't you wait to see if anybody else has a question?
I just wanted to miss you.
Do you have a question?
So just the last comment, I would say,
I would encourage you all as you move forward,
if you are granted, I guess if you're not granted,
because you've still got the site,
to reach out to the Enterprise Center, CDC.
They are the corridor manager for 52nd Street,
which is different than the RCO,
because I think they might be able to work with you all
around tactical urbanism opportunities and things that like there's a lot of city programs that
might address some of the things and with funding outside of uh the site yeah mcdonald's does a
tremendous amount in the community yeah no i was just gonna i was gonna say hey the challenge here
is you know the code says that we're supposed to that that you know they're required to be up on
justin street on 52nd we have usually that's one primary frontage um but city planning said we had
two primary frontages so we had to do it on both sides and we we know if that's the if that's where
the restaurant has to be then the drive-through has to be basically where it is now and that's
really ultimately this this conundrum this hardship that we faced here is the drive-through if it's
going to be where it is now. It just, it just doesn't work. And it hasn't worked for many
years. And we tried to put a bandaid on it. But, you know, we're now at a point where
we, we looked at this over and over. And, you know, we made all these other changes
and we're trying to balance between the pedestrian between between the vehicles between the drive
through this is a major thoroughfare. There was a tremendous, you know, there are people
coming in and out uh all all all day and um so it's it's not you know where i was here on 16th
and chestnut we've been here in multiple locations where it's an inline store and we understand
but this is a this is a this is a different location it's a it's really a hybrid location
but this is a this is a this is a different location it's a it's really a hybrid location
between
between the community but also um you know a history of vehicular here and um we we did
everything we could do the community you know acknowledged that we really did everything we
can do here and um i think at the end of the day if it is approved um with the landscaping um this
is going to be looked at as a really a vote of confidence in the community so and i think it'll
looked at as a very very positive development and that the the variance that was granted and the
relief um you know i think this is a an exceptional exceptional situation here um there aren't a lot
of other situations on 52nd street so i know the precedent issue you you raised i get it
i get it here but we know what we know what diazza right looks like and it just isn't good
okay questions from our attorney um when i mentioned earlier about the amended refusal
that's only with regard to number 10 which you don't know number 10 it's the actual building
itself not to the signs excuse me remember i mentioned that you need to get amended refusal
that's just to the building with regard to the drive-through you have two appeals i just want
you to know not to design one and again i make sure i didn't think we needed an amended refusal
because there there isn't there isn't a requirement that we have any that we have any um parking here
we we're providing parking yeah we're going to do it that's fine that's fine that's fine
it's funny to know it was to them yeah it's not it's not it's not to the signs and i think we
explained you know the need for this such a sign comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands planning commission good afternoon liz fusely on behalf of the philadelphia planning
commission this property was remapped in 2022 to cmx 2.5 or neighborhood commercial mixed use
to promote pedestrian friendly mixed-use development within the toc or transit oriented
communities overlay of the 52nd station area code section 14-513 toc or transit oriented communities
overlay district prohibits drive-throughs due to potential pedestrian conflicts and the pedestrian
nature of the corridor and other desired land uses the appellant has not demonstrated that
there are unique physical circumstances or conditions that would prevent the property
from being used in conformance with the zoning code.
The Planning Commission recommends the board deny the requested variance for the building's setback.
So I think you're going to have to get an amendment, right?
So give me a timeline.
We can do either next week or the next week after.
We have a lot of stuff for the next week.
Why don't we do the next week?
That would be the 14th.
the 14th okay um and i'm going to close it except if you guys come back and say we want to do
something else you've heard a lot of stories today right right well we it's closed except
for the amended refusal yeah right but when i'm the point i'm making is they can come back and
say i want to reopen it and take a look you're saying if there was some additional right there
was something that you heard today you think you have to do then i think you've got to come back
I can say one in Rio for another hearing, for another, for another hearing or for closed, except for the amended refusal. And we'll do that on the 14th. If we don't hear. Okay. All right. Thank you. Excuse me. Um, Miss Wim, can you, if you don't mind, you just please tell me that, um, organization that you recommended. Yeah. The enterprise center, CDC, they're going to be your, your coordinated CDC, and they're going to be the manager of the, um, corridor. You want to talk to the corridor manager. Yeah.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. chair. I'm part of the interruption. This is Ian. Was that held disposition for both cases? Then, uh, number 10 and number 11, both foreclosed, right? I think he made his presentation for the second one, but, but still both foreclosed. Yeah. Other than if we hear from him on either one that he wants to be open.
yes thank you chair time and consideration thank you all right and for the amended refusal correct
chair yes correct all right so i'm going to move on and chair i'm sorry to interrupt pardon i'm
sorry to interrupt again uh we have a portuguese interpreter on the line uh for case number three
on the 3 30 p.m list 6058 castor avenue um could you please uh briefly call that case and dispose
of it um so we can get that interpreter in and out okay thank you mi2025-007-961-6058 castor avenue
Is the interpreter present?
Yes, Chair.
Yes, Chair. The interpreter is Giovanna Braga, and she's just been promoted.
The interpreter is Giovanna.
Good afternoon. Can you hear me?
Yes, I can. Could you please state and spell your name for the stenographer?
Of course. My name is Giovanna. It's spelled G-I-O-V-A, double N as in L-C-A. I will be the Portuguese interpreter.
right do you swear or affirm that you intend you will interpret accurately um completely and then
partially from Portuguese to English and from English to Portuguese I swear okay so we're on
number three and i'd like to call um qb r a pennsylvania corporation qb r link and the name is um
s o b e y d a v e l e z could you please call that person for me
I'm sorry can you repeat the spelling so that the name is first name is s-o-b-e-y-d-a and v-e-l-e-z
I don't see anyone with that name chair okay so
So MI 2025-007-961-6058, Caster Avenue.
This is the second listing.
We have no exhibits.
I vote to dismiss.
Michael Johns, my vote is to dismiss.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is to dismiss.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is to dismiss.
Ryan Gadams, my vote is to dismiss.
Tia Nguyen, my vote is to dismiss.
Layla Beebe, my vote is to dismiss.
All right, so number 12.
and share if we could just have that uh disposition interpreted by the interpreter
and then we can move on to the rest of the cases on the two pm all right interpreter
thank you interpreter thank you very much thank you have a great day all right you too
Number 12, MI 2026-003-248-1225-29, North 7th Street.
Rachel Pritzker is the attorney.
Rachel Pritzker is coming in now.
Good evening.
I think we got the Rachel correct this time.
Yeah, thank you.
Please state your name and spell for the stenographer.
It's Rachel, R-A-C-H-A-E-L, Pritzker, P-R-I-T-Z-K-E-R.
You swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Did you identify your client, a relationship to the property?
Yeah, so my client is Craig Deutsch and Rustin Oler on behalf of 7th Street Properties East LLC.
They are the owner of the property.
Vice Chair has a few questions.
Good afternoon.
Good evening.
Have you submitted your documents?
and exhibits 14 days in advance of this hearing yes do you waive the veto of your refusal and
stipulate to its accuracy yes okay thank you you can show your screen and proceed with your case
thank you you have a letter of support from the popular community organization yes
okay so can you see my screen we can okay
okay so here is the refusal this is for 12 25 to 29 north 7th street this is the proposal
for all uses permitted in cmx2 in in the existing first floor and basement commercial space
We have one use refusal, the property is zoned RM1, and so we have a use refusal for use
of all uses permitted in CMX2, which is not permitted in RM1.
It's worth noting that, and I'll go through this a little bit, that the current setup
is as a commercial space.
the property was previously zoned up until 2017 as cmx2 and then was changed to rm1 but it is
a complete commercial space that has been used for commercial this is just a quick guide and
we have the chart for all the commercial uses, the RCO and
um for all the commercial uses um the rco and uh and us agreed on one proviso which i'll i'll go
through that we have no issues with just our application project information form
tax clearance deed for the property okay here's the zoning chart or sorry the zoning maps
for the property. This is a single refusal for 1225 to 29. There was a consolidation of these
lots that occurred. And again, the only use refusal relates to the fact that we
are proposing to continue the commercial space, but open it up to other commercial
options in RM1. Aerial views. This is an aerial view of the building.
Front view, so you can see the commercial space.
Just showing some of the visuals of the property and sort of the unique physical characteristics
of this existing building.
Also, just showing the zoning posters, they were posted on both sides of the property.
Again, it was the current, I guess it was the former current home of Harman-Deutsch
Architecture that used the first floor and basement for architectural offices.
some interior photos of the site the property again was originally built I think around 2017
the lots were consolidated and vacant lot and a three-story building was built under permit
number 780911 approving the building with offices on part of part of the first floor
a basement and there's 15 units and nine bike spaces as well both permits prior permits show
that the site was on cmx2 at the time and so this was built uh based on the city approval
the site was then down zoned to rm1 which obviously kept the existing non-conforming
use but now the space is just limited to office use and so the hardship was not created by
the owners. It was created by a down zoning of an existing CMX2 property that had been
long-standing since 2017. Again, some interior photos, beautiful space.
Given the down zoning to RM1, the only use that can be had is office space, which makes it a
bit hard on north 7th street getting different tenants that might be a good fit for this location
so you well know rm1 is a residential multi-family one so it doesn't allow for
commercial services almost all these categories are no and uses like that are approved here like
a community garden or a market or community supported farm just are not reasonable for
this location. We met with the RCO on Thursday, July 9th, and as mentioned, we have a letter of
support from them. We sent out all the mailers to the neighbors and got a letter of support
from them with a Proviso no-smoke vape or cigar store, which we are fine with.
Just shows the vote sheet, 6 in support of the 7 attendees and a near neighbor, 18 total
attendees.
And we also have a letter of non-opposition from Councilman Jeff Young's office.
if i can just bring on um rustin oler um one of the owners but also an architect to just go through
the plans very quickly we can promote him sure
and he's coming back in now as a panelist thank you very much thank you
hi chairman and members of the board how are you could you please state your name and spell for
the stenographer. Rustin Ohler, first name R-U-S-T-I-N, last name Ohler O-H.
Rustin Oller, first name R-U-S-T-I-N, last name Oller, O-H-L-E-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, told the truth, nothing but the truth?
Counsel?
Rustin, if you want to just go through the plans for your building, and then we can stop for any questions.
Yeah, sure.
So as Rachel mentioned, we bought, purchased, and developed this building for the purpose of maintaining our office.
If you want to go to the next slide, we have about 8,000 square feet of office space here.
um which we no longer fully need unfortunately um just nature of the office market and you know
semi-hybrid remote work so this is the first floor um entrance is on the side up the ramp
that rachel said in the pictures in the front um reception area and meeting rooms in the front of
the building and then open workspace in the back and then rear outdoor space as well just for like
lunch and breaks and then a full set of stairs up and out of the basement not a typical basement if
we need to look at pictures we can go back to that so we fully excavated the rear of the site
so there's windows all the way around the rear and perimeter multiple doors and means of egress
out the back spiral staircase up to the rear yard and back through the building as well as along the
side up a full concrete stairway back up to the street so open kitchen lounge space in the middle
bathrooms and private meeting rooms print room storage utilities and then additional open work
space in the rear this is just our office space which is what we're here for the building itself
also through the residential lobby which is on the northern left side of the building in this photo
has a full interior condition trash room wash bay that's also where we store our trash commercial
trash pickup um i think that's it yeah um thank you yeah that's uh it from our on our end too so
again we're just asking for use um of the existing commercial space for all uses permitted in cx
cmx2 minus a smoke uh or vape shop uh as a proviso um did he adopt your testimony rachel
Yeah, Rustin, have you heard my testimony today? Do you believe it to be true and accurate, and do you adopt it as your own?
Yes, and I do.
Thank you.
Questions from the board.
I have a question about this first floor commercial space. Since it's currently combined with the basement, and I think it sounds like the, you know, the, Herman Deutsch is going to, Euler is going to still stay in the basement.
Are these going to be subdivided into two legally separate commercial spaces?
So it depends on the tenant that we get.
We've had the property listed for, I don't know, well over six months before that for about a year.
We softly within our own, you know, network of individuals tried to see if there was any availability for co-working space.
Unfortunately, with the office market and the amount of cheap space available downtown, nobody wants to cohabitate with us on North 7th Street.
So the tenants so far that have looked at the space brokers, you know, either want the entire space or only the first floor.
So that is flexible. And once we have a tenant, we would submit use applications and compliance with this variance if you so approve it and then submit tenant fit out and amendment plans to the building department of L&I.
So I don't know the answer yet because we don't have any tenant yet.
But we built the building as a CMX2 building and basically just want to continue to use it that way.
And then just understanding that you don't know who the tenant's going to be, but it sounds like you all are prepared to move out should the tenant want both floors and look for a new space?
Our intent is to stay.
So we basically built this building as that would house up to 60 people, right?
we were a 40 person office when we moved into it um with remote and hybrid work we have about 14
people there on tuesdays right um and other than that i mean it still has our server in it it's in
our benefit to stay in the neighborhood and in the building so that is our intention so if that's the
case then we would you know rate and separate the tenant spaces and share any common amenities that
you know works for both parties bathrooms and that sort of lounge area in the basement
be the main thing that we're thinking about
is mostly the shared, like that
and the trash room, the infrastructure
piece? So the trash, yeah, so the trash
room is actually outside through
the adjacent lobby. That's where it gets
picked up. So we have cleaning staff
that takes the trash there every night
and it gets picked up from there, I think,
twice a week. So that would still remain
the 15 units above the next
door also use that same
room. But yeah, so
basically you could come down the stairs in that bathroom
lounge space, we assume it would remain
common space okay i was just i'm thinking less so about you all specifically but like long-term
okay i was just i'm thinking less so about you all specifically but like long-term longevity of
this it's not a typical setup for two commercial spaces so just wanted to think through yeah i
think it only works as i think it works as two commercial spaces as long as we stay one of the
tenants and spaces right and then otherwise it would be you know collectively to a to a new
tenant that would take the whole space but um other questions questions from our attorney um
i just want to make sure your your request is for both the um ground the basement and the first
floor still correct correct yes correct okay you indicated you were going to stay i just wanted to
make sure you still want both floors we would like the variance to be approved for both floors yes
okay great thank you questions or comments from the virtual audience no no hands at the stop
chair planning commission good evening liz fusely on behalf of the philadelphia planning commission
this property was remapped from cmx2 to rm1 within the district plan remapping of 2017. there is an
existing ground floor commercial space built as part of the three-story residential building
the planning commission supports the intent to use the commercial space as noted within cmx2 zoning
however we ask that the uses be limited and in keeping with the extreme residential nature
nature of this block the city planning commission recommends that the board grant the proposed
variance for commercial business use with a limiting proviso to reflect the residential block
mi 2026 003 248 1225 to 29 north 7th street i vote yes
can we use uh use the proviso uh rachel yeah i was just gonna suggest can we do the proviso no
smoke vape or i just wanna we can't do that sure no wait a minute we're we're figuring out it's okay
i don't know our council's saying no okay all right well it's reflected on the record that
we i don't want the community field all right all right michael johns my vote is yes
there'll get in my vote is yes another graham my vote is yes ryan mcadams my vote is yes
tywin my vote is yes layla bb my vote is yes thank you council thank you thank you
All right. Number 13, MI 2026, 003-404-7601-51, Lindbergh Boulevard. Ronald Patterson is the attorney.
Mr. Patterson, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Sure. Hello. Ronald Patterson, P-A-T-T-E-R-S-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client, a relationship to the property?
Sure. I represent the tenant, which is Advanced Stores Company, doing business as Advanced Auto Parts Store.
And someone sent us a letter from Southwest Consortium of RCOs. It's a letter of opposition. Complaining about mechanics working in the parking lot and illegal dumping from the mechanics.
Yes, I'm aware. Vice Chair has a few questions.
I'll address. Thank you.
Good evening. Have you submitted your documents in exhibits 14 days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, I have.
okay and this is a referral so uh taking a special reception here do you leave the reading
of your referral and simply to its accuracy uh i do thank you all right thank you so you're
screening to proceed with the case perfect thanks
so uh this application regards property at 7601 lindbergh boulevard
it's at the northeast corner of lindbergh boulevard and uh island road or island avenue
It was Island Road when I was living there.
It's a commercial intersection, the largest in, I'd say, the Eastwick area of southwest Philadelphia.
And over here is the Penrose Shopping Center and a lot of independent other uses here.
Pet Boys. It's just a service bay now. I think Dollar General and McDonald's.
or a mcdonald's so on on this property here we're talking about uh over here um it's um
So on this property.
right now there's three tenant spaces in the building on the right here is a is a occupied by
a dialysis uh business uh the middle used to be a staples it's vacant i'll know for how long it's
been and what we're here today for is this uh space here we'll call it space one used to be
a Rite Aid. It's been vacant for some time. It's about 15,000 to 16,000 square feet. Over on the
right here is a Dunkin' Donuts, and this building here is a vacant building. To the north here was
the Eastwick Library and the Eastwick Health Center, I'll call it.
So the property, I'll go through some pictures here, give you acclimated.
you see it's pretty much delineated the right eight front
counsel do you have an actual like unit number right i'll call it space space one is it yes space
one what this one doesn't make it it it does make it because uh 7615 is not addressed that
is recognized by l and i and i looked at your lease and you didn't have like a unit one or
various stuff it's the property is like a joint you know the property is 7601-51 right so that's
what they recognize the property as like a bulk property and a lot of times we look for like unit
unit a unit b five anything like that well we know it is unit one i don't know what else to say
when you get an approval for the property it's the entire property it's not per
per space anymore that's not what are it okay okay thanks
uh is the side of the building um and we'll get back to that photo this is important because
we're going to talk about the loading area here um i'll skip these
the property is located in a ca2 commercial zoning district as we know this allows for the
largest size shopping centers our proposed use is an advanced auto parts store and while it's
retail use it's categorized under the personal vehicle equipment sales and service category
which is primarily allowed in um industrial zone i'm not sure why but again i speculate we were
here in august for a similar for the same store down at swanson and snyder but you know that that
category also includes some repairs and body and fender which obviously we're not doing um
it's a large space has been uh difficult to lease as i understand and that's why it's being
remain vacant. So, you mentioned potential opposition, and I wanted to address that.
So, we had our meeting last week on Wednesday. In attendance were four RCOs, the 40th Ward
Republican, headed by my long friend, Craig Maladozian, the Eastwick Friends and Neighbor
Coalition, the Eastwick United CDC, and the Paschal Betterment League.
The meeting went on for two and a half hours.
All the groups attended.
I believe only two persons not with the group had attended.
My official list that was given to me by the Planning Commission shows six
addresses to receive notice within the 250 feet and from my guests and looking
at the addresses none of them were residential buildings residential say
single-family units there they would include and encompass the the shopping
centers on the other three corners and to across the street there is I believe
the Korman Apartments.
So the discussion, obviously, and apparently, as we heard before, centered around the illegal
car repairs as a secondary effect to the auto store.
And look, we all need auto stores, and I prefer going to auto stores other than the dealers
because it's way more economical.
So it's definitely a needed use.
So, it's definitely a needed use, it's just we had to figure out, you know, put these uses in the right place, and I believe this is the right place, as you'll hear.
It's just we had to figure out, you know, put these uses in the right place.
Sorry for scrolling through this, but give me a second.
Okay. So the discussion, you know, there's an auto zone store, not an advanced auto store,
but auto zone store at 70th and Onwood Avenue. And it's received a lot of complaints over many
years for the, what we learned as shade tree mechanics. And not only that, you know, I hear
that it goes beyond that, where there's food and there's music. And I did, there's a picture I want
to show you here of that center. You know, it's a very small center for an auto store, I would say.
And, you know, the issues that are going on there, unfortunately, you know, that brush is,
has a broad stroke and it's bringing us into the realm here. There's also an advanced auto store
at uh island and um wooden avenue which is our one of our stores which we're going to relocate
to this location um again that's a small location as well um
but you know as i said there's a distinction between i believe
helmet avenue and and here i was the cottage industries that started here you know how to
address i understand the trepidation of bringing in an auto parts store i guess however you know
this location where we are there's a major artery it's a major street major intersection
two issues that were brought up the repairs on site and the repairs off site in the streets
apparently it all is going on on the street at 70th and unwood and so how do we address that
that's really an issue off the property um and i'll get to that um you know that's not going to
happen at this location if you know island road and limber boulevard there's nowhere to park on
those streets so what we're left is was dealing with the property within our property balance
craig kindly sent me a list of issues after our meeting with proviso conditions that we were
considering and i did put this together uh which is a part of our package which we'll go through
and i spoke to the police department at the 12th district to get an idea of if they knew what was
going on what the issues were how they were going to address it and we could have an outreach with
them um so they told me that with respect to uh repairs on the street they could enforce that
they wouldn't do it by tickets and they could confiscate um tools i don't know about arrest
because it's a business operating illegally i don't know if it's a crime um but so you know
they said if we called if we saw that they would come and respond um on site is a little different
issue it's private property um but as a result what i was told was that if we adequately uh
sign uh put signs up on the property saying that your uh illegal repair i'm sorry repairs
and installation of parts is prohibited plus we have a towing company uh sign on the building
that we will call the police and the police will respond they will issue a ticket um and they will
try to say that's a an illegal business operating which i think is more of an
you know and i issue but nonetheless they said they would respond and they would try to deter
those activities
The, which we'll go through with Ashton, the provisor conditions, again, were proposed, and then yesterday I was told by Craig that, and he's here to speak, I'm sure, that they voted, they changed their mind and they voted no.
but i would say that these provisions here are very thorough we've edited them up through the
national company and they would adequately address any adverse potential adverse impacts of the
public health safety welfare fare and traffic and i believe that the use falls in within the
character of context of that large commercial area which would have no impact even if those
things did occur on any residents or any other buildings so with that said if we could swear in
Ashton.
Why don't you state your name and spell it for the stenographer, sir.
Ashton Quinton, spelling Ashton, A-S-H-T-O-N, last name Quinton, Q-U-I-N-T-I-N.
Do you swear referring to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Counsel.
Thank you.
Ashton, what's your position with Advance?
Senior construction manager.
And you've heard my testimony so far.
Would you agree it's true and accurate?
And you would adopt what I've stated as if it were your own?
uh and you're familiar with this location obviously yes and what you're proposing to
And you're familiar with this location, obviously?
and what you're proposing to do here is to solve
do here is to sell parts correct correct and some courtesy installations of what
uh a windshield wipers and batteries um days and hours of operation uh so mondays through saturdays
7 a.m. through to 9 p.m. Sundays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. And you have studies and have information
about what the customer traffic rate would be for Rite Aid compared to Advance here and the number
of vehicles per hour? Yes. How does that compare? It's less traffic. Okay. So therefore, you would
conclude that there's less of a traffic impact, right? Yes. Okay. So, let's go through these
proviso conditions. So, is the company willing to have an outreach program with the 12th District?
Yes. And you use your reasonable efforts to deter these activities? Yes, absolutely. And what would
that include? That would include the store team members notifying the police district of any
infractions when it comes to the illegal repair work on the site and you maintain a log of those
calls made to the department yes yes and I'm just going down my list on the proviso conditions
and the next thing we have regards signage you would agree to that correct yes inside and outside
inside and outside and you're going to keep the property posted for towing correct and and when
would you call to have someone towed do you think they got their car there when we see the the
activity the illegal activity in in process okay somebody pop a hood outside of a team member
from our store then we'll address and i'm going to switch to a photograph but tell us about the
security cameras and what what the plan is for that so the plan is to install um possibly a
handful maybe two to three security cameras on specific vantage points on the building
facing the parking lot and relaying and connecting to our asset protection team
and upon request from the police district if they would like you know any footage for any
incidents that may happen on the site we will you know just coordinate with releasing that footage
to them and so this photograph shows the rear of the building here right here right over here is
the Pembroke Park and the playground this is the side of the building is this where a loading
whitaker correct and uh community had asked if we would install cameras here correct and uh you
agreed that you would allow the police if they requested videos uh that you would provide that
to them yes of any activity okay um and let me go back to this
there was a proviso regarding loading locations and time is that fair to say what was that proviso
That would be deliveries once a week for our trucks within the hours between 10 and midnight, which is after our store closing.
Okay, and how would you manage trash?
Trash, we will have trash within our space for standard employee trash, and then we will have some waste bins on the exterior that we will bring inside of the building at the end of every closing.
and the next proviso regarding truck routing and i think the comment at the meeting was made that
the uh not to have or discourage the tractor trailers and you could tell us what size they are
um driving through the neighborhood and the suggested route would be probably from i-95
but they would exit and then they would go straight down island road into the
the location is that correct that is correct what size trucks would they be using uh they range but
But our largest truck is a WP67, which is the standard tractor trailer with the 53 foot.
And I think it's obvious looking at this location compared to the other locations that there's adequate parking here.
And is the position that the company would accept these conditions, proviso conditions, if the community group agreed?
Yes, we have internal conversation.
Is there anything else you'd like to add?
okay thank you let me ask a question you you were here before right with snyder avenue
right have you opened snyder avenue yet not yet okay all right questions from the board
i have a few questions and comments my first question is i know there are some courtesy
installations that your team will do and where do those happen because if i remember correctly on
the other location you had a bay where like the cars could pull up at the front of the store
that was part of the building, right?
right or Snyder was a drive while in front of us yeah so they wouldn't pull
Or Snyder.
I thought it was for Snyder.
Or the drive-out.
up in the main drive off because that would affect the other businesses we
would park in the closest parking space and our team member will have a cart or
dolly yeah so let's see maybe this this is actually here not occupied so this
might be a space here if they able to use that because I know that was
probably what a bank or something before in it yeah it was for a long time do we
any restrictions on the parking spaces you're allowed to use no restrictions the landlord is
fairly open to us using whatever we need when it comes to that and it's not designated so it's not
like a target where there's a sign that prohibits people from parking in it no it wouldn't prohibit
any other customers if we open another business next door okay i mean i think like one thing is
having even if it's your store people if there's a place where it's not like branded like this is
the car installation site it's gonna it's then it's gonna lead other people to mimic the behavior
so i mean i do think not having like a dedicated this is a loading zone specifically for people
getting this service done that's like very obviously branded that makes it clear that
it's like we're the one like that's a question is something that i think is is would be helpful
even if it was somewhere along the back like you know where you have the loading area it looks like
there's a lot of space in the back where it could potentially also even be accommodated um there
i think the second question i have is like obviously this is a this is not like a philadelphia
specific problem and i think you talked a lot at the last hearing for the other location about how
you've addressed it um but like in the letter we got from the rco there they are also you know
targeting your store on island avenue in addition to the former auto zone knowing auto zone is your
competitor when you have employed some of the techniques you suggested to us as remedies
have you seen a reduction in the kind of illegal activities that we've talked about or the
unlicensed activities we've talked about outside of other stores and other locations not yet
because we didn't open the the no i mean like outside of philly like have you seen it in jersey
Jersey and New York, like, have, are they working?
What's, if you want to take Island Road, for example, there's nothing going on in the street
because it's Island Avenue, correct? So what's, anything going on on the property there? Is
there repairs going on there? Or a reduction of repairs that you know of?
Not that I know of. Not at the moment, no.
Because I think I'm just, you know, the RCO's brought up a lot of valid points.
Yeah. And I mean, I live near, unfortunately, I live near AutoZone. It's, it's the reason I don't walk through the gross, the like area in my neighborhood for the same reason. And so I think you put forward a lot of things that seem like they might be solutions. But I'm just wondering, like, have we seen them have any kind of efficacy anywhere else to kind of indicate? Yes.
so i would give you an example for a location that we have in the bronx bronx new york and
it's our main practice is just to call the nypd and the nypd would tend to come out
sometimes they'll do uh routine patrolling of the area just to kind of discourage those those same
type of mechanics in the lot and that has caused a cause of reduction and we also implemented
signage um in and around of the in in the property for from what i remember what they were doing and
then are there any cameras in the front because I also feel like if there's cameras in the front
that give someone the idea that they're being surveilled it might cut down on activities because
even if you're not necessarily watching the camera they know they've been caught on camera and that
you could come back so well yeah for that location that location always had cameras in the front of
the building because it was just it had a history of certain uh crimes that were committed so our
asset protection just were diligent and just putting that upon store opening is that because
it was not mentioned for here. I think you mentioned potentially having cameras on the rear
in the agreement with the RCO, but not in the front. Is that possible?
No, it would. I was just using that as an example. Yeah, we're not. Yeah, we want a camera.
Third question is, have we already met with the 12th police district at all? Because I think it's
one thing to say, our solution is we're going to call them. It's another thing for them to say,
we understand that and we're planning to be responsive, just knowing that the Philadelphia
police department currently is heavily underfunded um just making sure that that's something or even
meeting with their community constituent um well we we didn't get that far i said i did speak to
um one of the officers and he and he said listen to you know if you want to talk more here's my
number and uh you know just give us a call we're happy to you know coordinate some effort so i
So, I mean, I know your instruction, but I would recommend that the operations lead for the company.
I mean, I know your instruction, but I would recommend that the operations lead.
I mean, this actually has been a good exercise, I think, through all the issues.
I think this will serve as a template for the others to come.
I think just to add to your template, I would add in the 311, right?
Like we have L&I, we have a process where you can also start submitting these businesses.
I think oftentimes we train community members on how to do it.
But I think if it became commonplace for the whoever's working the store to also file those same three one one calls, then like you can have a much more believable system.
And then my last question is, would you be opposed to a temporary variance so that we could give this time to see if I'd have to respectfully say we would be because we're on long term leases.
how long is the lease uh the first term is 10. okay all right with with renewal options yeah with
five-year renewals um who's responsible for keeping the parking lot clean that'll be on
the landlord our team members just um are diligent to pick up the trash that's left behind from
anybody and that's why we're putting the trash cans that's why we have the trash cans on site
So if there's trash left in the parking lot, and we know it's trash coming from AutoZone because it's products that you sell in your store, you will wait until the owner comes and clean it, or would your staff go out and clean it?
Our staff will go out and pick it up if they happen to see it, if it's something recent, or if they're walking by.
If something is brought to their attention, they will come out.
So that would be part of our image, and our operation stresses the…
And let me clarify, because what I heard at the meeting, so we would put trash cans out and take them in at night.
right and as part of that you would you would do the cleanup of the parking lot as close at closing
yes okay yeah and that's what you're building okay so you're so when you say by the building
because most of the times when you have the mechanics they're not going to be up on your
building they'll be maybe a couple parking spaces away from your building and they will leave debris
and that's something that the rco pointed out so are you committing your staff to go beyond
maybe those one or two spaces that are close to the building but to the parking lot itself where
you know especially if you know it's just bought the product from your store yes yes yeah our team
will not let it sit um obviously if the if the landlord does catch it before our team members
catch it but at the end of the day if they're walking to their car or during the day or if
they're coming from lunch and they happen to see waste or oil bottle or something they'll pick it
up and take it into proper trash and the other question is so and the hope is that this doesn't
happen but we know what happens um what kind of assistance are would you give to help clean it
like if there's oil spills like are you guys contributing to maybe buying some sand to clean
it up like what what contribution are you prepared to make uh you know when you experience these
things yeah so we do have product within our stores for oil spills so they would um put down
the um the chemical to help clean up the oil if it's something that's spilled in the parking lot
but the number one thing is for us to discourage that type of work that's supposed to be done
so if somebody is trying to change their oil we'll report to the authorities to let them know to
address that but if they happen to get it done faster than the authorities are able to come
well well our goal is to kind of just maintain the image of the plaza in our business because
it is discouraging to see a mess in front of our own personal business so we will try to be diligent
on taking care of that type of stuff and cleaning it up as best as possible
other questions just one one basic one basic thing to add there are signs that say do not
repair your car you know what i mean do not perform any uh repair work on this uh parking lot
you know we we welcome all all language we're not yeah yeah we're not opposed to anything
whatever works that type of signage with inside the store upon a customer's checkout as well as
on the building along the walls and if there's any poles that we could put on especially nearby
further parking spaces i mean the challenge that you will have at this particular location is that
there's so much other vacancy that you know folks can buy stuff at your place and you know
drive to the front of the two doors two stores down and they're still working in cars on the
on the parking lot itself so having that relationship with the landlord and making
sure that they're following the same sort of protocol that that you've committed to is important
okay questions from our attorney
not meeting to uh beat a dead horse but and look
Not meeting to beat a dead horse, but in looking at the letter from the RCO, I just saw this.
It indicates that your unit is suite B.
Do you know anything where they would get suite B from?
I have no idea.
Okay, I didn't know.
They were like suite A, suite B, suite C, suite D, C.
Okay, you didn't provide that to them.
No, I did not.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Craig has got to be there.
Craig Melodosian
there you go
there you go
there we go
hi Craig
he disappeared
but his hand is back
he'll be back
Is he coming back?
Yes, he's there now.
Thank you.
I had to promote him again.
craig maladocian you're muted can you unmute yourself please
all right i'm unmuted and my video is on all right craig could you state your name and spell
for the stenographer yes craig c-r-a-i-g last name melidosian m-e-l-i-d-o-s-i-a-n all right do
you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do chair bergman
please proceed with your presentation first personally it's unfortunate that this type of
problem which is across the city brings us together in this manner today that wasn't part
of my uh prepared piece which i'll give you which is approximately 500 words i i wanted to thank
ron for the kind words you'll always soften up the adversary ahead of time but i i can say the
same thing for ron he's been a friend an absolute gentleman and a leader in this industry so thank
you, Ron. Thank you. And do understand that though I have personal opinions, I'm part of a consortium
or a team. Team makes a decision and that's the direction we go in. There's no time or place for
autonomy and action within this organization. There were in fact five RCOs that took part in
the meeting with Ron on the 23rd. Four of them were jurisdictionals that he mentioned,
And the fifth was a member of the consortium, but not jurisdictional to this case, Empowered CDC.
In terms of the introduction, I am here representing the Southwest Philadelphia Consortium of RCOs.
And with this appeal, our five distinct registered community organizations.
Thus, I'm here to express our opposition in this matter for seeking zoning relief.
Our core legal issue is the failure around the Code Section 14-603.
The Advance Auto Parts Team has the burden to prove this use will not cause injury to
its neighbors who are residential, commercial, and municipal or generate street congestion.
We do not believe the Advance Auto Parts Team can readily overcome such a burden given they
are not directly in command of the necessary enforcement tools to stop illegal auto repairs
on the subject premises, let alone the adjoining municipal properties or the immediate neighboring
streets and highways. An auto parts retailer is not a standard retail store. In southwest
Philadelphia, these stores function as an extreme attractant for illegal, unregulated
shade tree mechanics performing vehicle repairs on the retailer's parking lots and on our adjacent
streets the hard facts are advance has been an operational failure not type of not a hypothetical
worry many of us have personally witnessed over the course i'm going to object to his speculation
statements globally i i i withdraw it let me continue hold on hold up i mean he's testifying
so let's let him continue i know okay okay before i forget uh many of us and i i will
i'll say i have seen what i believe to be a lack of good stewardship
on their current sole tenant site at 2210 Island Avenue.
on their current sole tenant site at 2210 Island Avenue, only eight-tenths of a mile north from their proposed site at the northeast corner of Island Avenue and Lindbergh.
Despite having total control over 2210 Island Avenue, the Advance Auto Parts team has been unable to stop illegal repairs and the abandonment of associated hazardous waste products on their lot and on the conjoined premises immediately to their west.
Additionally, Advance's competitor, the AutoZone at 70th Street and Elmwood Avenue,
experiences the same industry-wide parking lot public nuisances,
which routinely exhaust our 12th District Police resources.
The illusory towing promise is that Advance Auto Parts team promises to use private towing to solve this.
But under the Philadelphia Code Section 9-605, a private tow truck cannot legally touch a vehicle until a police officer first physically tickets it.
Through the years, we have experienced the 12th Police District's inability to provide timely response for private parking lot enforcement or the cessation of associated illegal repair work.
Therefore, the Advance Auto Parts team tolling promise is legally hollow and will be frequently
unenforceable.
If an exception is granted, the zoning runs with the land, leaving the community permanently
confronted with a very hard to police hazard.
That initially is why the consortium only considered a time-limited proviso, time to
the first term of the lease, which the owner disclosed to us as being 10 years.
In closing, we respectfully ask the ZBA to deny this special exception.
Alternatively, if the Board is minded to grant zoning relief, we ask that you hold the decision
until Advanced Auto Parts Team and its lessor sign a legally binding community benefits
agreement with the community through our consortium and the District Council
office. The CBA was previously given to Mr. Patterson as he acknowledged in his
testimony. Additionally, we request Advance voluntarily implement in our
community Advance Auto Parts corporate philanthropy programs that they make
available elsewhere nationally, which we believe they have not done in Southwest
Philadelphia. Our Southwest Philadelphia community and the consortium thanked the
board for their client consideration and I would just indicate we did submit it
with the count. I personally supported this application with proviso. Three of
my cohorts which I've worked with through the years opposed it and the
fourth cohort since they weren't jurisdictional abstained. I guess the one
message I would leave with you, the board, as I'm going to say friends and we have a strong
relationship with the executive branch of government. This is a problem that needs to be
cured, not at this location, but citywide. We need stores like Advance and I know that you worked
with Darwin Beauvais on an AutoZone and approved it on Allegheny Avenue, as well as the one that
you work with on law, and I'm referring it to as Swanson Street as an advance. And personally,
I'm happy that you did that. This problem is not isolated to the Southwest Philly.
I've driven by the lot. There's another retail outlet at the Baltimore Avenue Shopping Complex
at 58th and Baltimore. It also goes on in South Philly. What I would tell you is if you drive
out of the city into Delco on Baltimore Avenue, it does not happen in Lansdowne, a block or two
away from the police station. It does not happen in Ridley Township, where both firms are located
on McDade Boulevard. It does not happen on Chester Pike and Glen Olden, which I think
the Derby Township police. So what I would ask you to take back to the mayor, as the head of
the executive branch of government, we need to put together a program that effectively addresses the
property, employing tools available to us through the Department of Commerce, through L&I, and through
the police department. Until we can network a comprehensive program, we're going to have this
problem all over the city. We're going to lose opportunities to have companies like
Advance come into the area who are economic magnets for our shopping center and businesses
on two sides of the street. And I would indicate I started working with Darwin on
And I would indicate, I started working with Darwin on an AutoZone project for 2512 Island Avenue back in 2024.
There was a change in legal representation in 25, which went to Pritzker.
I consider both of them to be excellent attorneys and you're familiar with them.
The neighbors were absolutely livid with the thought of this, something like this coming up the street at what was Island and Elmwood.
And we had one of the worst in-person confrontational community meetings I've ever participated in.
And Ron can tell you, we've been doing this for more than 25 years.
So we need to find a way to pull together our community, put an end to this.
And the reason I raised the issue of AutoZone at Island in Elmwood was the owners of an investment group became so upset with the lack of ability to knit together a comprehensive plan, they sold the property.
I'm now dealing with the new owner who will be making settlement in December, and his proposal is less desirable than an auto parts store.
So I would ask you kindly, please, to take back the message to the mayor. We need to come up with a plan. I've reached out where I can. I've spoken to John Christmas about going to the PPA to bring them into the network, but we will not be able to solve this for the betterment of the city until we work together.
And I would simply say, God knows we need the tax revenue and the other associated income coming into the city's revenue stream to keep this city going.
Thank you kindly. I appreciate the board listening.
Craig, hold on one minute. Do you have any questions or comments to Craig?
So I'm going to take what Craig has said as his testimony.
And now I have no questions for him.
I just want to put the objections on the record respectfully that I object to the comments about alleged activity because there's no evidence that was introduced here today.
And I object to any legal conclusions made in the statement.
Thank you.
Is there anyone else in the audience?
I see no hands.
Planning Commissioner.
good evening liz fusely on behalf of the philadelphia planning commission
comprehensive plan recommends no change to the ca2 auto oriented commercial 2 zoning at this
location this property has historically included a variety of big box auto oriented uses the use
will have no detrimental impact on the neighborhood beyond what might be expected
The City Planning Commission recommends the board grant the proposed special exception for vehicle equipment and supplies, sales and rentals in an existing structure.
So, Ron, there's been a lot of comments about this.
I'd really like to have some time to talk.
Absolutely, I understand.
I want to hold it for two weeks.
That's the 14th?
Correct, it's the 14th.
And we'll probably vote on this one 2 p.m. on the 14th.
Okay, I expected that.
And I'll take it back and we'll have a conversation about where we stand.
other than that it's closed right except if we hear something from you okay correct thank you
very much thank you everybody okay thank you all right uh is there anyone um in the audience from
the two o'clock list who case is not being heard there are no hands why don't we take
five minutes and we'll be right back right five minutes
somebody when there was a fire apocalypse well yeah but it's where everything to take is
all right we need all right we get cheryl you're back i see michael
so we here we go no yeah here we go
cheryl's cheryl walked away a minute she's got her one michael's there
so we we got enough people right okay good afternoon everyone my name is bill bergman i
will be chairing this meeting with me is our vice chair tenetta graham president mr chairman
our board secretary cheryl gaston is here she just walked away for a minute
Our board members, Michael Johns.
President, Mr. Chairman.
Ty O'Wynn.
She's here.
Ryan McAdams.
President, Mr. Chairman.
And Layla Beebe.
President, Mr. Chairman.
Also here is our board attorney, Lynn Reuter-Huber,
our executive director, Ian Haggerty,
and our board administrator, Lakeisha Dandy.
The hearing is being recorded
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let's see what our schedule looks like this afternoon i'm present mr chairman oh we i told
him you were here i i was no doubt in my mind of course all right so number one mi 2024 007
246 30 43 germantown avenue claude page is the listed owner this is the fourth fourth listing
um could we see if mr page is here
do we see anyone
there are no hands here okay so MI 2024 007 246 3043 Germantown Avenue
fourth listing i vote to dismiss michael johns my vote is to dismiss
cheryl gaston my vote is to dismiss tennessee graham my vote is to dismiss ryan mcadams my
vote is to dismiss layla bb my voters to dismiss thank you number two mi 2025 007892 403 north
41st street um donna don lay uh tien is the listed owner this is the second listing uh we have no
exhibits there are no hands and no one by that name in the audience chair so my 2025 007892 403
north 41st street i vote to dismiss michael johns my vote is to dismiss gerald gaster my vote is to
dismiss sanetta graham my vote is to dismiss ryan mcadams my vote is to dismiss i win my vote is to
dismiss layla beebe my vote is to dismiss so number four mi 2026 002 288 2866 north stillman street
um Tyrell Green is the listed owner um and also the applicant is Frederick Murick mural mural
this is the first listing we have no exhibits there's no one in the audience by that name and
So this is the first listing. So MI 2026-002-288-2866 North Stillman Street. This case is continued until 3-3-27 at 3-30. Mark must be heard.
and then number five mi 2025 000 792 2061 bybury road this case is continued until 3 3 27 at 3 30
p.m is there anyone else in the audience whose case has not been called
well i know there's not um no man okay thanks everybody um next week we're tuesday and wednesday
both can't wait and we did get done a reasonable time tonight so i i appreciate everybody's work
and i like the way the new list is put together every numbers are right in a row so it's really
good. And I thank Ian for that. He does great work. And see everybody next week. Thank you.
I thank Ian for that. He does great work. And see everybody next week. Thank you.
Thank you.
Night-o-o.
Thank you.