for a group pediatric practice to be located in the Whitman Square Shopping Center, which is in
the northeast section of the city. It sits in a CA1 commercial auto district. And we have with me
today in the virtual audience, Mr. Nick Gentile, who represents the tenant, and Mr. Don Sonatag
from the Goldenberg Group, who is the landlord and applicant. If they could be recognized by one,
if Nick and Dan could raise their hands so they could be recognized later on in this presentation.
By way of background, Mr. Chairman, the Pediatric Associates, the Tenet, is a pediatric practice that's originally founded and based in Florida.
that's originally founded and based in florida they we are all excited to have them here in
We are all excited to have this.
pennsylvania this will be their first office they will be they they will be present monday through
friday from 8 a.m to 5 p.m and saturdays from 8 a.m to 12 p.m there will be no more than 12
people working at this location if i may we have our exhibits here ranging from exhibit
1 through 14, which includes our refusal, our tax clearance, deed, renderings, as well as our
letter of support, certificates of mailing, and photographs. If I can, let me start the board with
Exhibit 5. This is Whitman Square. If you can see here, it's a very active commercial shopping
Center. Its name comes from the former Whitman Chocolate Factory, and way over to the far left
is our location. If we can scroll down, this is a better view of the building. It used to be a
former restaurant i forgot the name offhand but it clearly it's a restaurant that i'm glad i didn't
go to because it closed down so with that we are looking at um this there are no signage on this
application however we wanted to give the board an idea of how we're going to replace the signage
whatever this big bulky red, the letterings, right?
This will be so much classier, and it's for children.
Here's another view of the building after we get done with the exterior renovations.
And here are the floor plans.
Now, we are looking at, let's look at this.
all right we are excited to present to the board a pediatric uh practice that will have 20
examination rooms all along the outer perimeter and we'll have administrative offices and a waiting
room you know this is a breakout room administrative offices and then the examinations this this
this practice focuses on kids from from birth to i believe you can go to the age 19 in some
instances depending on insurance so with that i i highlight that we're still a commercial auto
district but yet i do want to stress to the board our refusal so let's start there
our refusal was generated by the northeast overlay district right for use the it is clear
that the use make that this portion of the code makes it clear that medical dental and health
practitioners have to seek a variance. Although it does say in a residential district, this
refusal, right? And this could be a misnomer by the examiner, but nonetheless, we're presenting
it before the board under the clear guise that we're sitting in a commercial auto district.
Now, with that, we ask that the board grant our application because, one, if you notice, and if we can go to page 51, if you notice, our building is a standalone building.
There's plenty of parking around and intended for our building.
We submit that we will not conflict with any vehicle or pedestrian.
We won't create any pedestrian or vehicle conflicts as a result of this standalone building.
And because we are in a strip mall and in a commercial corridor, we also submit that the use is appropriate.
we also submit that the use is appropriate you know we have we have an outlet as you can see on
it you know we have
that photo we have walmart which is part of whitman square we have lowe's right you know
families will go shopping and if they can they can also take care of their personal matters
which would include their children so we we submit that this is an appropriate use
And when we met with the RCO, which was led by Councilman Brian O'Neill, he made it clear that he was supportive of the use.
And his letter clearly states he has no objection to the granting of the variance.
um i would like to show the board some interior photos
as you can see this was a run this was a restaurant that did not have um that wasn't
i don't i don't know what kind of restaurant that was but the seating wasn't appealing and
And all of this, Mr. Chairman, will be torn out and replaced with examination rooms for children.
So at this time, I would like the board to recognize and allow Dan from the Goldenberg Group to be recognized and be able to speak.
Dan Sonentag has been allowed to speak.
Sir, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Of course. Daniel, son and tag, D-A-N-I-E-L, last name son and tag, S as in Sam, O as in Orange, N as in Nancy, N as in Nancy, E as in Elephant, N as in Nancy, T as in Thomas, A as in Apple, G as in George.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Dan, you heard everything I said today, correct?
And would you adopt that as your testimony?
Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, we conclude our presentation, and we're happy to answer any questions that the board may have.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
There are no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good afternoon.
David Fecta with the City Planning Commission.
Chairman and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from commercial area one to commercial area two.
The proposed medical, dental, and health practitioner is what a reasonable person would expect to find in a shopping center.
The City Planning Commission recommends the board grant the proposed use variants for a medical, dental, and health practitioner.
MI 2024-000680-9801 East Roosevelt Boulevard, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed my vote is yes. Thank you counsel. Thank you. Let's go back to number 14
MI 2024 000 671 1231 to 33 Federal Street Ernest Anastasia. Mr. Chair this is Hillary um I am
hopping off um Mr. McSherry will be serving as counsel for the remainder of hearings this
afternoon. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you to Mr. McSherry. Thank you. Vern, how are we doing?
Looks pretty good right now, Mr. Chair. Why don't we do it? All right. Sounds good. So 1231
Federal Street, as I said, this is a long time, long history of commercial mixed use.
The last known use was warehousing with single-family drone above, and we're just looking to have a print shop, Stockbridge Print Company here with mounting and printing and a photograph studio, very low impact, maybe half a dozen clients a day coming into this space.
and we're here because it's owned rsa 5 and there's the interior layout
if you had any apartments available we hello
We have nothing to offer.
please whoever's talking please mute
Please, whoever's talking, please mute.
Thank you.
Go ahead, Vern.
That's fine.
We did meet with the RCO on March 12th.
They did include a letter of non-opposition.
We had lots of mailings that did go out to all immediate neighbors, 184 individual pieces of mail to the near neighbors.
Overwhelming majority supported the proposal.
Obviously, this is going to be less impact than a warehouse facility with trucks coming in and out.
It's going to be a print shop, mounting, artisan reproduction.
We got a letter from Passion Square Civic Association of Non-Opposition.
And subsequent to my meeting with the city council office yesterday, I believe Mark Squilla did send a letter of non-opposition as well.
I do have it, but I do believe Ms. Emerson did receive it.
So I'm just going to separately move that into evidence with the rest of my 70 page documents of evidence.
So with that, because of the very long history of commercial mixed use on this property, because of the community support, as well as the support of the district council office, and because of the beneficial use that will positively impact the neighbors.
I respectfully request the granting of this particular variance.
And with that, I'd ask Mr. Jeffrey Stockbridge to raise his virtual hand.
Jeffrey Stockbridge has been allowed to speak.
Sir, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
My name is Jeffrey Stockbridge, spelled J-E-F-F-R-E-Y-S-T-O-C-K-B-R-I-D-G-E.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Stockbridge, did you hear my presentation to the board this afternoon?
And is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge?
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Yes, I do.
I have nothing further, Mr. Chair.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
questions from our attorney mr mcsherry mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
no hands here planning commission thank you chairman and good afternoon david effecta with
the city planning commission chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no
change to the residential single-family zoning at this location the configuration of the current
building does not lend itself to strict compliance with the requirements of the RSA 5 single family
zoning district. The property has a documented history as a gasoline service station dating to
at least 1942 according to the Works Progress Administration land use maps. The proposed use
is far less intensive than that historical use. The City Planning Commission recommends the board
grant a proposed use variance for artisan studio and artisan industrial. Thank you. MI 2024
four zero zero zero six seven one twelve thirty one to thirty three federal street i vote yes
thomas holliman my vote is yes james now my vote is yes
dismal shaheed my vote is yes thank you thank you have a good evening okay thank you council
Number 16, MI 2024, 000681-5716 to 54 Baltimore Avenue.
George Krolok is the attorney.
No RCO letter, but we do know that there was a meeting on March 27th.
And Council Member Gauthier has taken a position of non-opposition.
george krakulik has been promoted thank you you're welcome
good afternoon mr chairman my name is george krakulik could you spell your name please for
with a court stenographer? Yes, sir. It's last name is spelled K-R-O-C-U-L-I-C-K, first name
George. Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do. Thank you. Could you identify your client in a relationship to this property?
My client is Philicob's Development LP, and they are the owner of this property.
Our vice chair has just a few questions.
good afternoon council do you agree to wait to read another
views or stipulate towards accuracy i do but i must note that there's a typo in it in that we have
I do, but I must note that there's a typo in it in that we have 16 accessory surface parking spaces rather than the noted 15.
Understood. We'll note that. Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that's needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, we have.
All right. Thank you, counsel. Please proceed to share the screen.
Okay, that's an overview of the site. This is a shopping center along Route 13,
Combs Creek Parkway between 57th and near 57th. You'll see there's a Family Dollar Store,
AutoZone, there's Dunkin' Donuts, and it shows a checkers there. That is the site that we are
talking about today where that checkers is. My client does not own that corner property,
the Luke Goyle site. Just quickly going through some of the items for your information.
We have the tax clearance. We do have the deed.
I've included the refusal. I've included our appeal.
I've included the notice and proof of mailing.
I would point out also that we did receive, we did receive, and I'll put it on the screen now,
a letter of support from the RCO, Southwest Philadelphia District Services.
Will you make sure you send that copy over to our attorney?
Yes, I will.
Thank you. And as you can see at the end, based on the outcome of this meeting, the position of the coordinating RCO is one of support to grant the necessary variances to move this project forward.
Yesterday, I received an email from Andrew Goodman at the Councilwoman's office indicating that they would not be in attendance today, but would submit a letter of non-opposition to the ZBA by the end of the day yesterday.
I take it that has not been received.
Yeah, we have it.
Oh, you do have it.
We have it.
Okay, great.
Okay, so let me go back to, okay, let me find the site plan, and this is an overview.
This is the overall site. We have highlighted our engineer who's also on the line.
Our client, my client, Greg Peel, is also on the line. And at some point soon, he'll raise his virtual hand.
This is this is where this is the site we're talking about. This is a former Checkers fast food restaurant.
I should note that although there will be some, it'll look like there's signage on the elevations that you have in front of you. There are no, there's no signage with this particular application.
application. I should also note that our plans have been revised. I've submitted a proviso plans
form for you to consider, and I can go over those changes. We've already indicated
to the board what those are, but I'll just summarize right now that the,
So, and I know these are out of context, but I'll get to them later.
Proviso, so we, on pages 65 to 72, we've highlighted the plans to show the changes.
We've put in the elevations there, which have been slightly revised.
There's an overhang for the location of the ATM or color renderings there.
And the landscape plan was slightly revised as well.
we've put Planning Commission and the ZBA on alert to both of those, as I indicated.
So, back to the site plan. Here is a closer view of what we have.
We are seeking two-dimensional variances, not a use variance.
This is in the C2 zoning district, the primary purpose of which is to accommodate a very
broad range of uses, often in the physical form of shopping centers and other destination-oriented
Often in the physical form of shopping centers and other destination-oriented uses, in which a large percentage of customers will arrive by automobile.
Last year, the Checkers organization closed a number of its locations in Philadelphia, including this one.
It's been boarded up with chain link around it.