Could you please state your name and spell it for the
stenographer hi yeah my heart just dropped um because it said call ended when i tried to join
my name is wasim al-mashadani that's spelled w-a-s-i-m get ready stenographer i'm about to
test you a-l-m-a-s-h-h-a-d-a-n-i all right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth i do uh please proceed sir all right good evening mr and madams of the board
All right. Good evening, Mr. and madams of the board. First, I'd like to make a point of personal privilege. I am sitting about a foot and a half away from my air conditioner. Are you guys experiencing any issues hearing me? If so, I can turn off the AC.
first I'd like to make a point of personal
We're hearing you, sir.
Okay, great. I'd like to ask for unanimous consent to make a brief general statement.
Go ahead.
um i just wanted to commend you guys for serving the community because this is like extremely
boring i've actually been sitting here since uh 2 2 p.m when this started um i want to tell you
that the people have given their whole life to this a little depressed right now but that that's
okay i mean i see at least four lawyers in the room shaking their heads like so i just you you
they got the whole legal community depressed right now but go ahead yeah well i mean i commend you
guys for like showing concern for things like quality of life,
parking, concern for parking, and especially I was impressed
with the first case about you guys being concerned about
heritage trees and that they were planning on planting trees
that were considered local to the area, like the service
berries and things like that. So why don't you tell us what
you think about this case? Okay, yeah, I appreciate
everything you said okay well um i have no issue with um the case first of all i'm the son
of the people who live in 1437 uh right next door and so um they they told me that the um
that uh mr and mrs cohen that they met them and they thought they were very nice
and everything my parents are kind of aging and they like to you know keep to themselves and not
bother anybody and stuff. So my concerns are I'd like to commend them for have for thinking about
parking and everything they said was accurate as to not having parking on that side and that it
would be saving a space for them doing it. And I like that they have a tree right there to keep
anybody from turning too close to the curb. And so that is my first concern is that that block has
a lot of issues with major sinkholes. It's right next to the river. There was a large sinkhole in
the middle of the block for like way, way, way too long with a lot, way too many 311 calls to
get to it. And it's not something that is like. Yeah, I understand the sinkholes, but I think
what we ought to do is concentrate on are you okay with this garage i'm okay with it but what
i'm trying to get to is that if you look at the curb going up 1437 1439 1440 that entire curb is
already like kind of collapsed and when you guys start doing that construction um they're
they're the pipes and the things like all that that has to be um that it has to be reassured
and it has to be taken into consideration that they're going to do that sidewalk all the way up
to there and provide the proper support once they dig that up to responsibly create that.
Otherwise, I have no problem with the actual building and I'm also happy that it's going to
be a single family dwelling instead of multiple apartments. My second issue that I'd like to raise
is the fact that that apartment I moved back from Pittsburgh roughly two years ago and I noticed in
the backyard there was a huge issue with highly invasive Japanese knotweed and I'm not sure if
you guys know much about Japanese knotweed but the reason it's so highly invasive is because
even the smallest little bit of the root when you're trying to pull it out and get rid of it
can create a whole new colony of this knotweed. And the way that the knotweed propagates is by
sending runners all over the place. And so these runners have enveloped their entire property
and have enveloped most of my parents' property, including the front and all the way into the next
door neighbor at 1439 and going out in the other direction and so anything that gets done when
they're digging this out and replacing all this has to take into consideration that this Japanese
knotweed has to be professionally destroyed by somebody and I have no problem with anything
except that as long as they you know that they take care of noise try to keep the dust down as
try to keep the dust down as much as possible and just you know give do their due diligence and like
much as possible and just you know give do their due
informing everyone when um utilities might be turned off and try their best to you know
minimize that amount all right all right thank you very much for calling we appreciate your
input ron do you have any questions for uh no i don't okay is there anyone else in the virtual
audience planning commission amy boy with the planning commission am i still on the mic
no you would know we're one of something else sir i moved to postpone what's that
i moved to
we're fine thank you sir please proceed planning amy boy with the planning commission the
comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning to the existing rsa 5 residential single family
The appellant has not shown that there are unique physical conditions or circumstances of the property
that would prevent it from being used in conformity with the zoning code.
The Planning Commission recommends that the Board deny the requested variance for parking.
Thank you.
MI 2026-000450-1435 East Oxford 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.
Tywin, my vote is yes.
Great. Thank you.
Thank you, Kim.
Have a good afternoon.
Thank you, everyone. Have a good evening.
All right. Thank you.
Number six.
Number six.
MI 2026-000-492-4055 West Gerrard Avenue.
Henry Clinton is the attorney.
mr clinton
what what time was he supposed to be on
you know what we did give him a later time um
who's uh
why don't you why don't somebody give him your call i'm sure he'll answer right away
yeah we're we're a little bit ahead of where we thought we would be
about that being ahead that's great
we're a little ahead
Thank you.
I think, I think I actually remember that's the health place they wanted to put up.
How about if we go to Jennifer's case, all right, we'll go to Jennifer and we'll come
back for Henry. And then I think you're the last case, right? Okay. So MI 2026 000 494 1122 Walnut
street jennifer bazillo was the attorney thank you
oops let's see let's get the light better there okay hi guys how are you could you please state
your name and spell it for the stenographer sure it's jennifer bazillo b-a-z-y d as in dog
L's in Larry, O's in Oscar.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I did. I do. You did. Well, that's okay if you did. That's right. Could you identify your client,
I did.
You did?
Well, that's okay if you did.
That's right.
their relationship to the property? Sure. My client is Yummy Picks, Inc., who is a tenant
of the property. Okay. Our vice chair has a few questions for you. And I do notice that
there's a letter of non-opposition from a council member and also from Center,
is it walnut street washington square one square west okay yep good um evening have you submitted
your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing yes most of them were um i
supplemented with a few later okay thank you and do you waive the reading of the referral i think
this is okay yep um and simply to its accuracy i do okay all right thank you you can share your
screen to proceed with the case okay okay so I submitted the just a list of the
exhibits that I submitted was the referral a copy of our lease it is a
ten-year lease so it's a substantially with renewal option so it's a
substantial lease tax compliance there's lease we have property taxes
being paid, the unanimous letter of support from Washington Square West Civic, and then we're going
to go through the rest of these exhibits. So I'm going to try to keep this simple because it is a
referral and not a refusal, and it is unopposed, I believe. So right now, let's just go here.
Here we have Yummy Picks is a store that's operating, it has a permit right now for the
retail sale of food and beverages and groceries.
And we're looking to expand the use to having a small sit down portion and take out restaurants.
So these are photos of the inside of the store right now.
the proposal would be that you would order right here at this counter that you can see on the
right hand side it would be prepared over here there's a you know there's actually all of the
equipment's been installed with proper permits I have a I submitted a copy of all the electrical
mechanical that sort of thing permits and then this little front area of the store is going to
used as the seating area. There would be about 14 seats there. The sit-down portion would be open
from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. The rest of the store is a 24-hour operation but that's due to the location.
It is about a block away from Jefferson Hospital and it is looking to be able to service
the workers and visitors to that hospital so that they could get sandwiches and things like that.
That was presented to the RCO, just to be clear.
So I can show you there is a bathroom at the rear of the store for public use.
And we will just go to the floor plans just so you get a little bit better idea here.
Let me zoom in.
So this is the front area.
This is where you would come in off of Walnut Street.
This is where we have a few places to sit.
and the food prep area back here and then the other areas are retail sales
uh we have the coolers the bathroom and then all the way to the back is uh the offices um
there is a dumpster in the rear of this property and there's commercial trash pickup three times
week on monday thursday and saturday um and like i said uh while the area is already constructed
they did obtain permits. So there is the use permit for the retail sales. There is, I just
want to show you this, mechanical permits in place for the hood, interior plumbing permits,
and also the necessary fire permits and food prep license. So the business is trying to do
everything right. They've been operating since last fall. And the RCO in particular noted that
there has been no issues with the business since that time. So let's just go here. Like I said,
so this is only a referral, right? So we have to show that this use would be no more detrimental
than you would expect it to be and in fact it's a referral not because it
wouldn't be allowed in the CMX4 zoning but because of the overlay for Center
City so I guess in argument of that it wouldn't be any more detrimental we this
Um, we, this is a relatively small operation. The whole store is 1800 square feet. The sit-down portion is only 14 seats. Um, it is on a main commercial corridor, um, of Walnut Street with many other businesses, um, that are restaurants and takeout.
is a relatively small operation the whole stores
So just on this block alone, just on the 1100 block, we have a Starbucks, we have a Dunkin' Donuts, we have the Caribou Cafe, we have Morty Arty's, Scoop DeVille.
So this is, there's a juice store right next to it.
So this is a very inline use for this block and this neighborhood.
It's serviced by public transportation.
It's really for, like I said, the local people, so it shouldn't add any traffic or congestion.
And, yeah, I think that's basically it.
like I said, we met with the community group. I'll show you their letter.
We had a good conversation. They asked questions. We had a full discussion
and they voted to unanimously support
the granting of the referral.
Sure. I know they were trying to log on when I started this.
So it should be maybe Malik
is the owner of the business. And if not, maybe Charlie
is there, who's our expediter.
Do you see any hands council? You're an officer of the court. We will take your testimony. Great. I appreciate it. Questions from the board.
Yes, what are the hours going to be for the sit down and take down the sit down portion is 6am to 9pm and the takeout portion is 24 hours.
and that's to service the hospital staff in the area
other questions and you said there would be what 14 seats 14 seats yeah okay so the majority of this
is really going to be takeout and the retail sales the retail sales are going to continue so
it's it's really like kind of like a deli type situation um it's a deli is really what it is in
its most common term but you know it's having some falafels and work maybe some it has your
typical sandwiches and things like that but it also has you know some wraps and things like that
some juices okay um and any kind of real cooking or is this mainly there is cooking um you know
there'll be cheese steaks and things like that um they were issued a permit for their fire
suppression systems and the hoods have been installed let's see here we go there's plumbing
one let's see the mechanical um the gas lines um and it is vented to the the roof okay that was my
question about the venting all right thank you i have a question i know you guys are planning to do
24 hours for uh take out are there any other places that are 24 hours in in that surrounding block
I am not 100% sure.
I know that, you know, the hospital is definitely open 24 hours a day.
So that's why they were looking to have food service for the staff.
And have they had any issues with neighbors or anybody in the neighborhood?
Not at all.
They're operating 24 hours right now and they've had no issues since September of last year.
okay great thank you questions from our attorney hillary emerson um just a quick question um you
had mentioned that there's there's a significant like retail sales component like presumably of
food beverages and groceries do you already have a permit for that i realize it is yes yes and i
and just so you know i submitted those permits earlier today so you probably don't see them yet
but there is a zoning permit in place from 2024 for um although where is it for the retail sales
of food beverages okay thank you questions or comments from the virtual audience
all hands mr chair planning commission may be boy with the planning commission the comprehensive
plan recommends no change in zoning at this location from the current cmx for commercial
mixed use the appellant has demonstrated that the proposed use will not cause detrimental impact
beyond what would reasonably be expected the planning commission recommends that the board
grant the requested special exception for takeout restaurant and sit down restaurant thank you mi
2026 000 494 1122 walnut street i vote yes michael johns my vote is yes cheryl gaston my vote is yes