Well, Mr. Chairman, you want him.
are you calling him
on the
There are no more hands.
Um, we could let.
Planning take a position yet planning, take a position.
Nina Salmonic with the planning commission.
the comprehensive plan recommends no change the existing rsa 5 residential single family attached
zoning at this location the proposed multi-family use is reasonable with the larger size of the
corner property however the planning commission recommends the board grant the requested use
variance for multi-family housing limited to two dwelling units and mr chair uh you know given that
coming back i would ask for the record to remain open i'll have my client provide measurements both
of the interior yeah of the unit and the exterior so we can always reopen it yeah what i'm saying
we're going to close it now right and you know what you have to bring relative to zoning and at
the same time we'll let him know the other council will know what we're coming back so in my mind
this is closed now but you're going to come back with some drawings and things like that that would
make sense we'll look at it and then we'll see where we stand on the 6th if we have to we'll
reopen all right yeah just knowing there could be a possibility yeah yeah yeah yeah to this
year standing and stuff well not only that i mean i would go to even showing my case for undue
hardship given that it's configured as three units we're not changing that configuration
the expense that's involved but i'll defer to the board in that respect right okay all right
thank you i think you have one more right yes um mi 2025 003 311 2725 west berks street mr
knockam says the attorney mr knockamson just for the record state your name alan knockamson right
and um could you identify your client a relationship to this property yeah my client is 2725 w berks
st llc in a virtual audience is one of his representatives shlomo levy right and i notice
also that strawberry mansion community concern has a rather letter support but it's a lot a long
letter here right um am i right yeah i don't know well we'll take a look i i i don't remember it
being i thought it was pretty straightforward but let's take a look am i am i right there's a
right yeah right yeah i mean it goes on a couple pages i i i i'll take a look i didn't notice it
being that long but okay i thought this was a straightforward one you say that you always say
that i hold it back for this one last one seemed to take a little turn they always do good afternoon
have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing i have and
you wave that we didn't know the refusal and simply to us i do all right thank you
you can proceed with your keys okay thank you oh where's my cursor kind of disappeared oh here it
is let's see if it works oh there it goes hi 2725 west berk street rsa 5 property we're seeking
single family use. This is a dimensional variance. This is undue hardship. We have 12 exhibits. At
the end, I'll ask Shlomo to virtually raise his hand. Very simply is this. You have, we are
required to have a rear yard depth of seven feet. We have five feet, five and three eighths, but
that's in name only. That's the smallest part of our rear yard. There's another part of our rear
yard that's over 25 feet in rear yard depth uh so it's a regular shape lot we're not trying to
cram any units in here we're just one single family unit um i honestly maybe i didn't look
at the letter because i was like well you know miss cummings talked to our client uh and mr
goldberg i won't be surprised she'll be on yeah i'm sure she will and i was like well i got support
from manning on neighbors council and i got this i was like wow and so it looks like he's unanimous
support yeah um i didn't really see anything else but i will leave it to her on that um but
yeah she mentions about i said i thought something about roof for roof deck access structure and but
it doesn't look like our plans show that but um we oh maybe this is why she asked us to remove
the bay window we did that by way of revised plans she told us to change the facade material
to brick we did that so maybe that's what the letter has to do oh here's it i know you have a
oh here's it i know you have a long list um here is our five and five and three eights
long list here.
here is our 24 and eight and a quarter so this is a regular shape lot this is the quintessential
undo hardship okay we can't change it um i'll just quickly go through the other stuff by the
way we're not out of character on the other side uh is also another building uh that kind of kind
is similar to us so you know that's what happens when you have irregular shaped properties um
you see here 2715 westberg's uh zoning map again single family
photographs it's baking lots been a baking lot for a lot long time orange notice poster
westberg's uh streets till right of the property to left of the property architectural plans and
drawings i have tony masso here if you need him but it's just a single family house we got rid
of the bay window we have a pronounced cornice line brick facade um lentils
you know a single family but i can quickly go through the floor plans you come in living room
kitchen uh bathroom uh you have a lower level which is a flex area and then second floor you have
uh two bedrooms here and a bathroom and then you have a primary suite there's no roof deck
access structure so we're not planning to do that you know and also respecting the fact that we're
in strawberry management as well yep that's it you know august bring your client yep let's do it
bring your client homo
slow mo levy has been promoted
hi everyone can you hear me we can could you please state your name is spelled for the
sonographer my name is shlomo levy s-h-l-o-m-o last name levy l-e-v-i were you on once before
today no okay do you swear we're referring to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do counsel shilomo you heard everything i had to state today about your zoning matter
yes i did including the provisos regarding the removal of the bay window and and adding some
brick to portions of the facade did you hear that say it again you heard are the revised plans
include removal of a bay window and to add some brick to some portions of the facade you heard
that right yes and is it true and correct what i stated yes and do you adopt it as your own
testimony yes thank you questions from the board questions for our attorney no questions at this
time questions or comments from the virtual audience yes one hand from strawberry mansion
community concern okay coming in now thank you good afternoon can you good afternoon i most
certainly can could you state your name please and spell for the stenographer good afternoon
Mr. Chairman and the board. My name is Bonita Cummings. It's B-O-N-I-T-A. Cummings, C-U-M-M-I-N-G-S.
All right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
I just wanted to particularly acknowledge the responsiveness of the applicant and architect
um during our public community meeting um concerns were raised regarding natural light
and air circulation because of the unusual configuration of this property and rather
than dismissing those concerns the applicant listened and revised the plans by adding
additional windows while also addressing privacy for neighboring properties so this is an example
of how the rco and public community process can work positively when developers are willing to
listen to community concerns and make reasonable adjustments the process does not have to result
simply in support or opposition it can result in a better development we therefore ask the board
should it approve the application to give careful consideration to the provisos contained in our
decision letter particularly that the property remain a single family dwelling
um that the that the basement remain accessory to the dwelling and not become a separate unit
um that the that the basement remain accessory to the dwelling and not become
and that there be of course no rooftop deck and that the revised window design and other
commitments presented to the community be maintained and that trash and recycling
containers be stored inside the property or in the rear yard we indicated in the letter something
about screening but that was an error so we would you know hope that they would keep the
tread they have yard space um for the trash so we do give um this property 2725 westberg street not
just um normally we would say non-opposition but we do want to say we do support this project and
um it'll be a great addition to the properties that are single-family homes coming to the 1800
block of edding street as well that'll turn the key so first of all i want to thank miss
cummings for constructive dialogue and i do want to say though because this is a for sale by owner
property single family use typically um i i defer to the board about the trash storage i want the
owner to decide like you know whether they want to store it outside or they want to store it indoors
that's really an owner's decision this is not a multi-family structure um i think they can decide
on their own okay um anyone else in the audience there are no more hands planning commission
ina solomonic with the planning commission in 2014 the property was remapped from rm1 residential
multi-family to rsa5 residential single family attached the appellant's property is an irregularly
shaped triangle which impacts the rear yard setback planning commission recommends board
grant the requested dimensional variance mi-2026-003-311-2725 west burke street i vote yes
with proviso revised plans one page stamped by cba on september 2nd 2026. michael johns my vote is
yes with proviso cheryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso tennetta graham my vote is yes with proviso
ryan mcadams my vote is yes with proviso ayewen my vote is yes with proviso layla baby my vote
is yes with proviso thank you thank you so we have one more case left on this list and then we're
going to switch to the 330 list even though it's 521 but besides that point all right so number
8 mi 2026 002 531 2206 fairmount avenue rachel pritzker is the attorney
pies the pies are coming
good evening
counsel could you please state your name it's belford stenographer yes it's rachel r-a-c-h-a-e-l
pritzker p-r-i-t-z-k-e-r do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but
the truth yes uh could you identify your client the relationship to the property yes um my client
is um little susie's um coffee shop which is the tenant for the property um we're going to go
toward your our vice chair has a few questions for you but i want to tell you when this came
up everybody said the same thing here come the pies if you're interested good good afternoon
have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this
hearing yes and do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its
accuracy yes thank you all right thank you can show your screen to begin yes
support from Spring Garden and also Councilman Young yeah so speaking of
pies I have to bring this on the screen for anyone who's not familiar with
Little Susie's. This is a local staple and they've been expanding. They were founded in Port
Richmond in 2019 and have been expanding since then. And so this proposed Fairmount shop at 2206
Fairmount Avenue will be their fifth Philadelphia location. As mentioned, they specialize in
handmade sweet and savory pies, coffee, espresso, and other non-alcoholic beverages
in a small primary walk-up and takeout format.
In front of you, we have the refusal.
The property is zoned RM1,
although it has a longstanding use for commercial.
And the application is for use
for eating and drinking establishment takeout restaurant
in an existing attached structure
with all of the uses as previously approved.
And per RM1, the eating and drinking establishment
for takeout restaurant is not permitted in RM1.
Let's go down to tax clearance.
go down to
This is the copy of the lease.
Here is the zoning map for the property, the property is on Fairmont Avenue, and as mentioned,
it's zoned RM1.
aerial photo of the property on Fairmont Avenue, more aerials.
Okay. So this is the front view of the property. So you can see,
this is an existing mixed-use building with two residential units above in an
approximately 475 square foot ground floor commercial storefront um so this requested
relief is limited to just one variance to permit the existing food um eating and drinking
establishment takeout restaurant which isn't permitted in our um rm1 um there'll be no
customer seating public restroom alcohol entertainment expansion of the building or
dimensional relief um so this operation just includes no commercial cooking or equipment
requiring an exhaust and as you can see really small previously existed for many many years
commercial front to this building in the I think for the last 80 years it has been used for
commercial purposes including an electrical appliance store a dry cleaner and most recently
an insurance office which was authorized by the ZBA in 2017 so sort of the long-standing function
here has been neighborhood serving commercial storefront rather than you know trying to
break this down and make it a residential use this very sort of passive but exciting use sort
of fits the commercial character of the neighborhood and as mentioned there's support
from the RCO and the council office this is the zoning posters on the property
let's see the space
this is just an interior view of the space again like 475 square feet so
really small no room for an exhaust
just some of the other locations all most of the locations are again small commercial storefronts
and again it's sort of a neighborhood based neighborhood serving staple
this is where in the code we don't comply as you can see for arm one eating and drinking
establishment for takeout requires a variance we met with the rco fairmount or sorry spring garden
civic association back in may 26 and they sent zero notices of mailing and they sent us a letter
support they wanted us to have this meeting sooner i know we all tried everyone was very
excited about this uh expansion um and they uh most of this letter is about how good the pies are
but it also does talk about you know the fact that this is great for the the corridor and it fits in
and it will attract additional foot traffic and all good things on fairmount avenue so um
the community group is in support of this project and we appreciate working with them on this we
also again have a letter of support from councilman jeff young's office as well
just to go through the floor plans um as mentioned it's really small 475 square feet
of this space um similar to most other takeout spaces um where there's not you know public
bathrooms there's not seating it's really meant to come order grab and go and most of the space
is used for you know food prep and the minimal equipment um that there is so
um and that's sort of it on our presentation um obviously the hardship is that it's an existing
commercial it's been commercial and this is sort of a similar use as has been there and also is
complemented to the neighborhood all right why don't you bring someone on to adopt your testimony
sure um daniel martino should be in the audience okay
yes daniel should be coming in shortly thank you you're welcome
you're welcome
hello hi could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
yes my name is dan martino that's d-a-n-m-a-r-t-i-n-o do you swear or affirm to tell the
truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do counsel uh hey dan um have you heard my
testimony today do you believe it to be true and accurate and do you adopt it as your own
i have and i do thank you questions from the board um is there any plan to use the basement for
this um business not at all okay thank you okay so how do you bake these pies or are you baking
the pies on site or so they're produced we make them at our commissary uh bakery on lehigh avenue
um and then we deliver frozen to each of our locations oh okay and then they warm them up
there they warm them up on site yeah okay so you're because i heard no venting so i'm just
trying to figure out how that's how there's ovens correct dan you have an oven but if you think