is not in question with the board and more importantly you can see the venue and the size
of the space on the second floor that is fitted out for this purpose and has been in the past
used specifically for this purpose with approval uh during the meetings with the neighborhood
association they have voted in support of this uh as the letter with the with the board should
state uh they did have some concerns that we addressed mostly that this banquet hall is to
to have private parties and booking events and not necessarily open to the public.
The parking options, as I indicated, we've gotten the neighborhood approval by having
adequate parking separately from this parcel itself, but located around the corner holding
those 20 cars. We've also indicated to them that we have private trash removal. There is security
on the site sufficient for the neighborhood, and we do intend to have security guards on the
premises during events with a maximum occupancy of 147 people. There are several exits to the
property. However, we've agreed that the outdoor terrace is the space that will allow smoking and
we will do what we have to do to direct the patrons to limit smoking to those areas.
Hours of operation that they have requested are listed in their letter and we are willing to
work with them on that and comply. And the only the only thing that they had asked for that we
would ask a little bit differently is the neighborhood in their support asked that this
variance have a two-year limitation on it in order to for the applicant to prove in that time period
its willingness to work with the neighborhood. I would only ask that that be potentially extended
to three to four years considering that even with the granting of this variance should the board do
so uh we have several months lead time ahead of us before we're able to open and operate
giving given current covid restrictions we don't anticipate being able to actually do anything with
it in the in the foreseeable future um it will be using a shared kitchen and and obviously have
all of the necessary approvals and licenses to do so and essentially that is the conclusion of
the presentation and i have mr castillo available to verify the testimony that i have given and then
we are prepared to answer any questions from the board bring on mr cassillo
frank we can't hear you buddy hear me now yes
you're muted again
hear me now
Mr. Castillo is available to be sworn in
thank you
Mr. Castillo
Mr. Castillo
speak. Are you there? Yes. Yeah, please, sir, identify yourself. Give us your full name and
address. Sure. My name is Ismael Castillo. Can you spell your name, please, first and last name?
I-S-M-A-E-L, last name C-A-S-T-S in Thomas, I-double-L-O.
and you should affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes i do thank you please proceed mr castillo have you heard my statements to the board
during this presentation thank you and do you accept my testimony as your own and accept the
the statements i've said as true yes and just curiously is there anything you wish to add to
the statements that I've given to the board no thank you very much members of
thank you very much members of the board we are prepared to answer questions
the board we are prepared to answer questions regarding the application
regarding the application thank you any questions from the board no no one else
who would like to testify on this in this case please raise your hand here we
have slung folks from the council person's office mr. folks you're under
Chairman DiCicco and ZBA Board, Sloan Fuchs, Office of Councilwoman Maria Quinonez Sanchez,
room 508 City Hall. The applicant has met with the coordinating RCO and has
garnered a letter of support. Therefore, the Councilwoman is supporting this request for
variance. Thank you. Thank you very much. Anyone else who would like to testify in this case?
no hands chair thank you planning commission
ron are you there
sorry property is indicated for neighborhood commercial mixed juice
just give us your name again ron okay ron bednar city planning
this property is indicated for neighborhood commercial mixed use on the city plan
given the site's history we have no objection to the granting appearance
thank you ron mi-2020-000980 4760 rising sun avenue my vote is yes
my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes
I believe that
thank you
I believe that
the 330 list
thank you very much
or is there another case out there
I saw something in your notes to me
Sharon about
number seven
I don't have that
let me see
no we're done
I think that's what happened
was you hit number seven
it should have been number four
no no worries no problem all right any unfinished business yes we forget it don't forget to call
carol everybody she already texted me twice so chair we have people with their name up i mean
their hand up okay at least it was um isaac slepner did you have concerns
Mr. Slepner
Shimon Shane
Yes, can you
Can you hear me?
Shimon Shane
Yes, can you hear me?
Yes, please, what's the purpose of your call?
Yes, I'm with Isaac Slepner
Actually, I don't know why he's not able
To respond
but we're supposed to be heard
1925 North 4th Street
we're supposed to be heard today
that was
I believe was that earlier today
I think I saw that earlier today
and it was
if memory serves me correct
we were told
3.30 maybe you can
try to unmute Isaac Slepner again
maybe he can
I don't know if he's able to
I don't know if for some reason he wasn't able to answer
Yes chair
This should be for 3.30
I apologize
I don't have that sheet
I apologize
There's an error actually on the listing
Okay so give us the
Calendar number
um i don't i don't i can look it up um i don't know isaac isaac i'm asking staff for that sir
okay thank you
it's mi2020
000044
000044
1925 north 4th street
this was the one that was listed for yesterday
I remember I remember now
yep okay isaac here but i'm just confused he's not responding
maybe we can do this uh at least to get started mr schlepner if you can hear us
oh there you go there you go are we here in this case yeah yes we apologize to you when you're
slept no you swear the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do do you agree to
wait the reading of his refusal and stipulate to its accuracy yes i do also have you emailed
an exhibit packet with the required documents proof of ownership proof of tax compliance
copy photos and plans five days prior to this hearing uh yes we have great have you met with
the rco and have a letter uh yes we did and yes we do please identify yourself you may proceed
one second let me promote you to panelists thank you
mr slepner is this the original hearing or the continuation of a hearing
sharon he went out for a second okay
all right good afternoon um mr chair members of the board isaac slepner with matione limited
100 north independence mall west suite 5a northwest philadelphia pa 191
mr slepner uh miss sharon saletta has a question for you i'm sorry go ahead
Mr. Sefner, is this the original hearing or is it the continuation of a hearing?
No, this, well, I think it was administratively continued from yesterday's list because of some confusion with the printing of the orange poster, but this is effectively the original hearing.
Thank you.
Please proceed.
um isaac sleptner with mattioni limited 100 north independence mall west suite 5a northwest
philadelphia pa 19125 i am counsel to shane brother inc which is the owner of 1925 north
fourth street and with me on this zoom call is my client simon shane um my clients simon shane
and David Bedar, who are the principals of Shane Brother Inc. I don't want to, I will try to
streamline all this. If I can share my screen, I will be glad to share all of our documents with
you. So there we go. If you'll allow me, I will walk everyone through our documents. Sorry, I'm
scrolling up um 1925 north fourth exhibit one is our notice of refusal which we have waived but the
only um just briefly the only refusal is for use the proposed uh construction is a new construction
duplex to family on this site our second document is our date stamped appeal application date
It's damped February 13th of 2020.
Submit 3 is our floor plan and site plan, and I'll rotate that so everyone can see it.
This is, as I mentioned, planned as a duplex.
At the top here, you can see the elevation.
It would be three-story plus a roof deck and cellar.
Over here is our site plan as it relates to the surrounding parcels.
1925 north 4th borders on one side a vacant lot and on the other side is a an abandoned
existing brick structure um there's no demo plan for this the site the site itself is a
empty lot these are the floor plans um and simon can address that a little bit more in depth but
basically your one apartment is basement and ground level. Ground level containing the bedroom
and access to the rear yard. Basement containing kind of an open living space with one bathroom.
The second and third floors are either a one bedroom or two bedroom. Simon will be able to
address that with access to the roof deck. Three bedrooms, three bathrooms. I'm sorry?
Three-bedroom, three-bathroom. Second and third floor is one unit.
Okay, thank you. I just wanted to make sure we were clear on all that.
Exhibit 4 are our site photos. 4A are photos of the site itself, and I can show the board exactly where 1925.
So if you see this stuccoed brick wall, that's 1927 North Forth.
So 1925 North Forth is basically to the end of that first fence before the gap in the wood fences.
That's another shot of 1925 with neighboring 1927.
And 1923 is the next open grassy lot there with the tree upon it.
Exhibit 4B are some photos of the immediate neighborhood.
Exhibit 4B are some photos of the immediate neighborhood.
This is a little bit further north, back up 4th Street,
and you can see there's a bunch of new construction.
That is a triplex.
The next one is a triplex.
And the other two brand new ones there are also triplexes.
So there's a lot of multifamily going on on this block.
This is a shot of immediately next to 25,
That's 23 and 21, and 19 is the house, 1919 North 4th is the house that you see in this shot.
This is across the street, 1930, and there's a whole block of multifamily, I believe they're duplexes or triplexes, multifamily, a whole half block of these red brick ones.
this is 1930 north fourth um this is a little this is actually the same shot looking northward
on fourth street again and exhibit 4c are our photos of our orange poster taken um
21 days or more ago there's a photo one as you can see posted on one of the fence posts there
here is well you'll see it in a second i'll rotate it back there is it's all the way over
there at the right edge of the photo but you can see our orange poster there and on the fence post
and there again on the fence post is and there again on the fence post is our orange poster
exhibit five should be exhibit five is our project information form which we filled out
during our initial appeal application in early February, February 6th of 2020.
Exhibit 6 is an affidavit of service of our mass mailing notice to the neighbors
as provided to us by planning, and this is a certificate of service
which was signed on September 10th, attesting that our mailing was done on August 20th.
Exhibit A is our notice letter to the neighbors dated August 20th.
Exhibit B was our notice of refusal, our letter and refusal.
Exhibit B is the long list of addresses that we noticed by mail, about 100 or so, maybe
even a little more than 100.
It goes on for some pages.
Exhibit 7 is the letter from North Square Community Alliance to the Board dated August
28th of 2020 uh which is the summary of our meeting and the rco took a position of support
with a vote of six in favor zero opposed and one not opposed non-opposition uh and exhibit
eight is the deed in favor of shane brother inc which was recorded on april 24th 2018 in the
recorder of deeds office uh there's the deed tax certs and exhibit nine is the tax clearance for
Shane Brother Inc., which was run on September 30th.
And I would just like to call my client, Simon Shane.