So here's some photos.
This is a photo of the front of the office building from the perspective of Germantown Avenue.
from the perspective of Germantown Avenue. Here is a photo standing in the parking lot area. This,
Here is a photo.
as I'm pointing to here, is that line of 20 parking spaces. And so this is the part of the
building that juts out, as we saw, but this is the main part of the building that's one long
rectangle. This is another view of the parking. This is standing at the back of the building
looking towards the the rear of the parking area.
This is now inside space D so you're going to see it's a fairly large space so you're going
to see a few this is an area up here where there's office space up a stairway.
This is an entrance into the space from the outside.
This is the door that enters into the space D. This is also a portion of it.
This part of space D enters into an outer area.
More views of Space D. This is the stairway we looked at before that goes up into an office.
This is another enclosed area inside of Space D. Here's the restroom.
And another stairway that goes into an office area.
This is a separate room, and in that separate room it is decorated with the church's imagery.
This is that room we saw earlier, pointed with some chairs and tables. Then this is space C.
This is where the worship services are held, and this is the area where the pastor stands and also plays music up there.
The upper area of showing the skylights in that area.
Here's our zoning posters that were placed at the front of the office building.
And in the presentation for the RCOs, we shared with the RCOs a number of photos of the church
in operation. So here's a service in the space. And then there's various flyers and advertisements
of various activities that the church is holding. This is Pastor Nathaniel Coe, who's here today.
more images of prayer services this is a children's uh activity at the church
these are some instagram pictures that uh describe what's happening and also have dates
this is a study session for children
More children's programming.
Let's start a photo of a service on Sunday.
Part of the service.
Steve, I think we understand what's going on there.
Yes, I'm going to move it forward.
I'm going to move it forward.
Thank you.
That was a repast, a backpack giveaway.
We have a tax clearance.
The deed that Mr. Smith, when he purchased the property, we also have two leases in our packet, one lease for space C and one lease for space D, that were requested by the RCOs.
our application for special exception
our project information form
we have a property history supplied by the owner we have a copy of the contract
for trash and recycling service from waste management.
This site and these other addresses
are all owned by Mr. Smith
and they all have commercial trash pickup.
These are some sustainability aspects
of the construction of the building.
This was our RCO letter.
We did not get pretty much just one
I think community person came to the first RCO meeting so then we had a second RCO meeting
where we circulated a flyer we went door to door to a larger group and we got six as we said earlier
neighbors who came and all supported the project this was the larger area that we circulated the
flyers to for the second meeting these are those addresses of the first flyer I mean the I'm sorry
the mailing this is our proof of mailing for the first notice and then this is the additional
addresses for flyer distribution i am going to call on stan smith to raise your hand so that you can
testify this is smith if you're in the audience please raise your virtual hand
he's been allowed to speak sir could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer
sure my name is stan smith s-t-a-n and my last name is smith s-m-i-t-h do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i do proceed counsel
um good afternoon um mr smith um did you hear my testimony that i just gave
in this case? Yes, I did. Do you believe that it's true and correct and would you adopt it as
your own testimony? Yes. Is there anything that you wanted to add that I didn't mention
that you want to say to the board? Yes. I'm a real estate development in Germantown for 34 years.
My office has been in Germantown for 34 years and I've learned many lessons in my 34 years
and real estate developments,
one of the best ways to make a difference
and change and make an impact
in the neighborhood.
And one of the things I've learned
as I got older and wiser
is finding great tenants
that are going to make a difference.
The pastor is that kind of energy
that I want.
And even though he came in as an office space
because of COVID,
he's expanded
and the activities that he does
touch the neighborhood
and that's important to me it's important to the neighborhood and uh it's part of the mission my
34 years i've learned being germantown making a difference anyway thank you mr smith thank you so
much thank you questions from the board oh i actually wanted to um to present the the pastor
um because okay there's a question there's a question on the on making this a temporary
special exception and we want to address that. Okay. Is Nathaniel Coe in the audience? Could
you raise your virtual hand? He's been about to speak. Hi, Mr. Coe, could you state your name,
please, and spell for the court stenographer? Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Nathaniel
co n-a-t-h-a-n-i-e-l last name c-o-e do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth i do proceed counsel um pastor co there um
Proceed, counsel.
Pastor Coe, you've seen that we've presented a lot of the programs and the richness that your church has in this location.
Can you talk about why you chose this location and whether it's important for you to have the certainty of an ongoing special exception for permission to remain at this location for quite a long time?
Absolutely. Because Philadelphia is heavily saturated with ministries, especially ministries that do not always have the buy-in of the community, I believe that in this particular Germantown area that we have a very great opportunity to have the full buy-in, the full support of the community.
And so no matter what happens, you know, even as the ministry grows, 5245, our goal and our vision is to always retain our space and our lease here so that we can continue the amazing work, not even just in the community, but with the community.
Thank you. I do have one member of the community who wanted to speak also, Mr. Chair, very briefly. If Angel Roman is in the virtual audience, can you raise your virtual hand?
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes. Angel Roman. A-N-G-E-L-R-O-M-A-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Proceed, counsel.
Good evening, Mr. Roman. Can you tell the board where you live and how close it is to the church?
Yeah, sure. I'm a neighbor to the church, 5241 Apartment B. So the church is right next door to me.
Is it like two doors down or one door down?
Like a door down.
Okay. And what's your experience been with the church? What can you tell the board about how the church has been as a neighbor?
It's a big influence, positive influence. I believe that it's a pillar to the community of Germantown.
Although we have the Powell Center, I believe that the church plays a big part in the community with activities for the young kids and the surrounding area in the neighborhood.
why um why did you decide to take the time this afternoon to to speak to the board and
in support of the church what what is it that that um you want to let the board know is so
important about this this church being at this location uh being in germantown for the past
15 years of my life i've uh noticed a big change in neighborhood and uh the church is something
that we need uh not because um i'm a neighbor but because of the positive impact that it has
in in the community with the activities that it offers um i've seen them you know do the drive
the food drives um you know we we live in a it's you know whether we like to say it or not it's an
impoverished environment you know germantown 19144 has a lot of corridors that are business
corners, but it's also a struggling neighborhood, and the church makes a positive impact, and
you know, I believe that it's a necessity to the neighborhood.
Thank you so much. I have no further witnesses at this time.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
no further hands Mr. Chair
Planning Commission
Planning Commission
yes this is Ron Bednar
City Planning
property is zoned for neighborhood
commercial mixed use on the city plan
proposed use will have no more
of an impact than would be expected
given its specific location.
Therefore, we recommend the request for special exception be granted.
Hillary, what were the provisors that were recommended?
So the provisors that were recommended,
So the provisos that were recommended, and I just want to note that we didn't, there was a third RCO letter that we didn't receive on the BNVA, I think it was.
and I just want to note that there was a third RCO letter.
Mr. Masters, if you could forward that to us for our records, that would be great.
um but just just be clear mr chair the the main rcos um who who have the the larger
constituencies the 12th ward and faith cdc did not put any provisos or conditions on
only only the the minority solo germantown right and one of the rco but and i i see um
miss weiss has her hand raised um from solo germantown um but they did recommend a temporary
special exception interior trash storage and interior mailboxes and mail storage among other
provisors but these are the ones that bring this bring this weiss one bring this weiss one please
it's been a lot to speak sir i'm miss weiss yes hello state your name please and spell for the
court stenographer allison a double l i s o n weiss w e i s s solo general town civic association
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Prasheed.
Yes, I just wanted to say that, yes, we did suggest a temporary special exception,
and as did our other affected RCO, the Baton Hill Neighbors Association, Joe McCarthy,
who did submit a letter.
I don't know if he received it.
I have a copy of it.
But they have been operating there for some time, and we feel that it's important to make sure that this use doesn't continue after this church leaves.
So we have no assurance to know what will come in after this particular use.
And therefore, we would like to see that there be a temporary variance granted.
Thank you for taking the time to call us in.
Pull in. We appreciate it.
If I may, Mr. Chair, we believe that a temporary use would be substantially damaging to this church.
the the community came out overwhelmingly a hundred percent for them they have many
charitable programs both for children and for and for adults and the stabilization is is something
that's quite critical for them to be able to thrive and and to grow there was no there was
no support for the for that temporary special exception from anyone in the community and from
the two major RCOs who were there. The fourth one, BHLV, didn't even appear at the RCO meeting.
They acknowledged that in their letter. They never talked to anyone. They just decided to give us
their opinion on their own. So we do believe that it would damage the good works that this
church is doing if there was a limitation put on them. Thank you for your input. MI 2022-007-582,
5245 to 47
Germantown Avenue. I vote yes.
Thomas
Holloman, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed,
my vote is yes. Thank you, counsel.
Thank you so much.
Number two, MI
2023, 002
809, 1401
on South 13th Street.
Mr. Movahill is the attorney
to reconsideration hearing.
Mr. Chair, I just want to note for the record
that all testimony and evidence previously submitted
for the prior hearing is incorporated
into the record for this hearing.
Thank you.
Counsel, you've already been sworn.
Just state your name for the record
for the yes good afternoon members of the board this is leo mulvihill m-u-l-v as in victor i-h-i-l-l
could you identify your client and the relationship to the property yes my client on the line today
is patrick duffy he and his wife camille baziglou are the owners of the property okay um
this is a reconsideration here and so i why don't we proceed i think
uh we don't need to go over what you've said in and all that stuff so why don't why don't we just
start certainly so members of the board we're back here from november 2022 hearing
With respect to this property, we're here with a new client, which I think, pardon me, a new proposed tenant, which I think will help alleviate some of the concerns as originally outlined in the community group letter, which was Passion Square Civic Association.
with respect to this property uh we're here with a new client which i think
1401 South 13th Street is a three-story structure located on the corner of 13th and Reed, right across from a bakery, I believe another commercial property, and the park right there directly across the street.
we had taken some time to get a brand new refusal for this matter which we received i got in my hand
today because what we're proposing is on the ground story a vegan bakery known as dotty's
donuts previously just been marked as commercial to be some sort of other sort of shop with two
residential units above so what i have not in my table of contents members of the board but