and let me i can't zoom in with
exhibit 9 are our zoning notice posters that were posted at the property on july 13th and we posted
both street frontages for fronting front street and also the wing of hawkins side of the property
our rco notice is at exhibit 10 we met with the rco on may 20th 2025 it was about a two-hour zoom
it was very well attended and we had some near neighbors that had some questions comments and
concerns we actually had a second follow-up meeting in person at the property on june 2nd
to address the concerns of the immediate near neighbors which led to the the letter of non-opposition
from the the rco along with some provisos and did the board receive a copy of that letter from the
directly yes non-opposition and also the council person excellent and i included at exhibit 12 a
copy of the retail sales use that includes drug paraphernalia sales. That was one of our requests
and the proviso in the RCO letter is to eliminate our request for drug paraphernalia sales. So I
included that just for the items that falls under that category. The owner's property,
the deed is at exhibit 13. My client's lease for the property is at exhibit 14.
I had the owner of the property sign an authorization form to pursue the zoning
variance separate from the lease, which is at Exhibit 15. And the subject property is tax
complied. Exhibit 16 shows the zero tax balance as of July 29th, 2025. Going back up to Exhibit,
Exhibit 1 in my packet was the RCO letter, which I received after I submitted it.
Exhibit 2 is our refusal. So the application is for retail sale, food, beverages, and
groceries and drug paraphernalia sales in an existing structure. It's an approximately 1,000
foot tenant space. The property is owned I2, industrial, medium industrial, and the retail,
the drug paraphernalia sales requires a special exception approval, which results in the referral.
And then the request for food, beverages, and groceries results in a refusal. And we were
originally seeking those two uses in the existing structure. As part of the RCO letter,
we did agree to remove drug paraphernalia sales as part of the application. So we're really just
proceeding on retail sale, food, beverages, and groceries. The RCO wanted to make sure that we
had clear hours of operations in accordance with the city code and that there was a sign on the
And that there was a sign on the front of the property to show when it's open and closed, which we are going to do.
front of the property to show when it's open and closed, which we are going to do.
And that we clean up the property at the beginning of the day and at the end.
We've actually hired a neighbor to the east who cleans up property to clean up our property as well.
I'll go to the aerial view of the map.
This property is this, I'll call it an L-shaped parcel.
I2 with RSA 5 to the north.
Some RSA-5 properties to the east, CMX-2 properties directly across to the east of us, RSA-3 to the south, which is a big cemetery.
We have other I-2 properties to the south, and then to the west, we have RM-1, RSA-5, and CMX-2.
So it's a ton of uses at the intersection of North Front Street and Wingahawken.
Going to photo three is just an aerial view looking to the north.
As you can see, it's like a zigzag Z-shaped building with many tenant spaces.
and again residential to the north commercial to the east and residential to the east and
then industrial to the south and then the additional photos are just looking at all
the angles north south east and west showing that aerial view of the context of the neighborhood
and the block and i'm going to go to
page six is again just showing a close-up of all the tenant space the tenant space that we're
speaking of is really just this little corner, the bottom right hand corner of the building,
which is about 24 feet wide. So photographs of the exterior are at Exhibit 4. As you can see,
it's Calabra Snack and Vape Shop. It is a blue building. To the north of us is a retail use,
personal services for a hair salon. And then farther to the north is a auto use,
detailing, alarms, painting, tinting rather. Farther to the north is the auto use continues.
And then the rest of the block going to the north on the west side are single family twin houses and
row houses. And then looking on the east side, we have a bunch of twin residential properties.
And then coming back closer to the subject property, we have more residential properties.
and then directly across the street from us is the commercial use,
which is an auto shop that does transmissions and auto sales and stuff like that.
Looking to the south, across Wingahawken, we have some residential properties
and then behind those properties is the large cemetery.
And directly to the south of us, opposite Wingahawken is another auto use.
And this is a view of the property showing the Wingahawken side of the property.
And then behind us is other tenant uses in this big industrial building, which there's retail uses for U.S. Mattress Factory maintains the large percentage of the building.
And then behind the subject property, again, are just other auto uses as you go back towards Rising Sun Ave to the west.
And I'll take you into the exhibit five are the interior photos of the tenant space.
it has a main one window and a main entranceway on the front of the property inside there is a
foyer area and all the products are displayed in the window and there's a point of sale at
the service counter for customers to select what they'd like and purchase and these are just views
of the service counter showing the products we have candies we have medical type items we have
smoke shop type items, vape products. And then the rest of the photos are the interior of the
actual store space where the clerk runs the business. We have snacks and chips. We have
some clothing, some vape products, hookahs. This is the clerk working at the service counter
servicing customers. And again, we have the Snickers and other food products, some vape
products and then a whole bunch of snacks chips ahoy chips crackers we have ice cream
the downy downy product we have a ton of drinks soda milk orange juice cokes diapers so a real
convenience store and now the next photo is the back half of the retail space where the client
uses the space for storage of products as supplies run out they bring it out and restock the shelves
and at exhibit six is a overview of the tenant space it's approximately 1,000 square feet
the front of the building is about 24 feet wide we have that foyer space and then the actual
retail space is around 450 square feet or so and then the back half of the building is the storage
space that also has access to the outside of wingahokken street for trash removal and the
back storage is mainly for the trash storage and supplies. And the front is for the actual
the front is for the actual retail operation. So a very small, approximately 11,000 square foot
retail operation. So a very small, approximately 11.
retail use. This use, I included at Exhibit 7, just an old zoning record at this property
where it's been used for different retail spaces over the years. It's had all kinds of uses,
this multifaceted building. Most recently, this tenant space was actually an office building for
an all-state insurance office until this client took over the space and then realized they need
a zoning permit to operate retail sales of food, beverages, and groceries. So with that,
after meeting with the community and addressing their concerns, we've agreed to all the provisors
that the community was seeking, which is really no drug paraphernalia sale. So that's out of our
request and make sure we have those hours of operation clearly posted along with opening
and closing signs, and again, make sure the trash outside is cleaned up, which we've hired an
individual to address those concerns. So with that, members of the board and Mr. Chairman,
I believe that this is in keeping with the community and the characteristics of the
uses on this block, and it's not going to have any negative impact on the community,
especially when we're complying with the code hours. There's no increased traffic, noise,
congestion, and no impact on the environment. So we would request that the board grant the
a variance request for retail sales of food, beverages, and groceries.
And if I may call Amar Muhammad to raise his hand.
Yeah, why don't you bring him on?
Mr. Muhammad, can you please raise your hand?
Amar Muhammad, please accept the promotion to panelists.
Yes sir
Did you hear that
Hold on
Amar could you please state your name
And spell for this stenographer
Good afternoon
Board my name is Amar
Muhammad
A-M-M-A-R
M-O-H-A-M-M-E-T
Do you swear or affirm
To tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Please proceed, counsel.
Mr. Mohamed, did you hear the statements that I presented to the board today?
Were they true and correct and accurate to the best of your knowledge, information, and belief?
And would you adopt my statements as if they were your own?
No further questions, Mr. Chairman.
Questions from the board.
Questions from our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
um mr mcelhenny did does this property already have a tobacco permit because it's not you're
saying you're not going to sell drug paraphernalia but you're still selling hookah and tobacco
products that's a good question um mr muhammad you know if there's a current tobacco license
at the property i believe we'll have a an application submitted um i believe it is in
the waiting list, we do have a Pennsylvania tobacco license guarantee. Okay. So just to
be clear, because I just look at this area, if you don't, yeah, this is capped. So you cannot
sell tobacco products at this property without a city tobacco permit. A state license is not
sufficient. So I just wanted to be clear on that because I know sometimes it's confusing what's
drug paraphernalia, what's tobacco. But if there is no tobacco permit, tobacco products cannot be
sold at this property and that's a city license correct you said this that's a city it's city
permit specifically the state is a license um but the city permit has caps and this is a capped
area so that's why you're on a waiting list no okay i want to clarify the issue relative to the
unit oh i did i did want to know because there are multiple um there's even multiple businesses
at this address is there a specific unit designated for this look for for this business
i wasn't clear from the lease that's like everything refers to mainly unfortunately
4500 north front street because they all this side of the building fronts on north front street so
informally um i think if not that's okay i just wanted to make sure that wasn't something we
missed yeah no there's nothing specific i was looking to see if they've designated the i've
seen like if you can look at the auto use they have 4504 yeah or they've tried to make their
own designations 4502 north front that that's not the official opa address right you wouldn't want
that's that's not the official opa address right you wouldn't want to put that in that's right i
to put that in that's correct i mean that could be
mean that could be a man like that could be a federal mailing address but it's not the city
it's not the city yes okay not a problem not a problem thank you questions or comments from the
virtual audience i see no hands lady commission thank you churn one second for one second um
um this is a question for hillary i believe um are vape project prop products considered
tobacco products i believe so i'm looking at the department of health uh website right now um that
that is my understanding but i would that's something that um i would verify with the
department of health it's not just vapes they also have loose tobacco for hookahs for sale right
can I comment
this is Ammar
I just wanted to add
that the vapes and the hookahs
both include nicotine and non-nicotine
options and
they're all packed
they're all in package
there is nothing that is sold in loose
well even so
you can't sell tobacco
without having a city permit
gotcha
thank you
all right um planning commission
thank you chairman and good afternoon david fechter with the city planning commission
chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the i2
medium industrial zoning at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 1982
at that time this property's zoning was left unchanged from the original 1933 zoning the
The appellant proposes the retail sales of food and beverages.
The proposed use matches a prior approved use in one of the tenant spaces.
The City Planning Commission recommends the board grant the proposed use variance for the sale of food and beverages.
Hilary, are you looking at the proviso there?
It just says retail sales of food, beverages, and groceries only.
Do you want to put in there no tobacco until...
Well, that is understood.
I don't think that's within our purview, but that is the use that the RCO asked for, and I understand the applicant is agreeing to.
And that's the zoning code definition.
Right.
So what do we want to say relative to the tobacco?
I don't think we need to say anything, Mr. Chair.
They need to have a permit to sell tobacco products.
If they're not, the health department will address that.
Thank you.
MI-2025-001-082-4501-North Howard Street, I vote yes, with Proviso, Operation of Hours 7-8-11-P.
Michael Johns, my vote is...
And approved use and retail sales of food, beverages, and groceries only.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with Proviso's.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with Proviso's.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with Proviso's.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with provisos.
I win.
My vote is yes with provisos.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
Let's go back to number nine, MI 2025, 000989, 6227 Callahill Street.
Vito Canuso is determined.