is zoned RSA-5 single family. It's within a block of Frankfurt Avenue to the east,
Girard Avenue to the north, and right beside I-95 to the south. This is a 3,000, approximately
3,000 square foot lot. It's uniquely larger than the neighboring lots. And as you can see,
it's wedged between the much taller I-95 overpass to the south, the Old World Warehouse condos
to the north, and the Frankfurt lofts to the east. Here's another area where you can get a
better view of those warehouse lofts to the north and see the scale of the surrounding properties
here. Here's another street level from the north. Again, you have I-95 here on the left,
the Old World lofts on the right, and the Fishtown lofts in the rear. Additional site
photographs are enclosed in your packet. Here are some of them. The subject application
is for four single-family homes, all with all three minimal refusals shown here
in direct and specific response to the request of neighbors that Scott met with to provide
parking for each of the four homes, specifically with built-in car stacking to provide for
additional spaces and all through a shared drive aisle in the rear that is accessible from a single
curb cut off Shack and Axon Street. So the first item here is a technical multifamily refusal
for the planned unit development that allows the driveway to be shared and maintained
amongst the four owners of what are ostensibly four single-family homes, but technically
because of the PUD. This qualifies as a multifamily refusal. And the other two
dimensional items are for approximately seven-foot allowances for one, driveways.
seven-foot allowances for, one, driveways, the shared drive aisles in the rear yard
that I mentioned, and second, garages connecting the driveways to the homes beneath each of those
three-story homes, which the other homes on the block are also three-story homes.
The approximate five-foot height differential that I mentioned includes the need, as noted in the proviso plans here, for two feet of ground floor space to allow for Philadelphia Water Department-required sanitary sewer connections in the shared drive aisle,
with a corresponding one foot decrease in the garage depth for the larger stair footprint
that's shown here. We want to thank the board's council and Fishtown Neighborhood Association
for your review of those proviso plans in relation to this application. Otherwise, Mr. Chair,
The plans for each of the four new approximately 3,000-square-foot, three-bedroom homes
remains unchanged.
Here's the garage with the access to optional car stacking as well as trash storage
directly connecting to the first-floor living room, shown here,
all with open layout for the living and dining areas.
Upstairs on the second and third floors, you have spacious bedrooms, each with access to open space area, including the roof deck picture here, which is set back from the streets and outfitted with solar canopies.
Here are renderings from Wildey Street without the street trees, so you can see all the attention to detail on the facade and here with two new street trees.
And here is rendering where you can see the Shackamaxon Street side of the property.
I should note here that the latest collaborative design discussion with the Fishtown Neighbors Association
has been a discussion to add lighting to the Shackamaxon Street area between this subject
property and the I-95 underpass. Throughout this process, as I mentioned, there was a lot
of collaboration between Scott Sperry, the owner, who's an active member of FNA, as well
with the neighbors, as well as with the architect, Carrie Jackson Yance, who is here with us today.
Here is the support letter from the coordinating RCO, Fishtown Neighbors Association,
summarizing how the applicant fully engaged neighbors at and before a May 6th meeting
with regards to every detail of the project, including the refusal items, which, as I mentioned
earlier and is highlighted here, all relate to the neighbor requested parking spaces for each unit.
Here is the vote. You can see there's unanimous support from the nearby neighbors,
from Councilman Squilla. We have a letter of corresponding non-opposition and we have a few
pages here of 34 signatures of near neighbors. You'll see these are all Shackamaks and street
addresses within a block of the subject property. For those neighbors who couldn't attend today but
wanted to send a letter, we have additional support letters from near neighbors referring
to the design of this project as, quote, considerate and generous, collaborative in the way that
they, quote, preserve, activate, and brighten the blend of traditional, industrial, and
modern buildings in this area near I-95, and again, with reference to Scott's personal
commitment to FNA and the neighborhood, again, from trash day to community events, large
and small. Mr. Chair, in conclusion, we submit that grant of the proposed variance relief
advances the spirit of the code, will not alter the character of the neighborhood,
or be detrimental to public welfare. Rather, as you've seen from the aerials and support for
this project, this thoughtfully designed proposal fits the type and scale of buildings
in the neighborhood. The proposal is consistent with recent prior approvals and represents
the minimum variance to afford relief and least modification possible of the regulation.
The minimum variance to afford relief and least modification possible of the regulation
at issue, specifically all three items in the refusal, as I mentioned, the PUD and the
minor height and rear yard accommodations are specifically to serve a neighbor request
for parking in the rear with a shared driveway accessed by a single curb cut on Shackamaxon
Street.
And lastly, all of these features, particularly the parking, ensure that the proposal will not substantially increase congestion, adversely impact trash, unduly burdened public facilities, or otherwise endanger public health, safety, welfare, or the environment.
Members of the board, thank you for your time this afternoon.
Scott Sperry is here to adopt and affirm my testimony.
If it promoted to panel, they'll be coming back in shortly.
i think i see scott on the screen
hello hi sir could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
sure it's scott sperry s-c-o-t-t s-p-e-r-r-y do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth nothing but the truth yes please proceed counsel thank you mr chair and good
afternoon mr sperry how are you this afternoon good thank you eric uh mr sperry have you heard
the entirety of my testimony from the virtual audience this afternoon?
Yes. And is it true
and accurate to the best of your knowledge? Yes.
And will you now adopt my testimony as your own?
I will. Thank you, Mr. Sperry.
Questions from the board?
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Comments from the virtual audience?
yes sure i have a hand up um robert fna chair yep okay go ahead and
promote them this will be back in shortly all right thank you
i am here hi mr everett could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
certainly first name is robert last name everett e-v-e-r-e-t-t and i do swear or affirm you know
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do please proceed
sir well you have our letter so if there's any questions about anything i'm here if there's
other people from the community as uh was noted earlier all right thank you very much thank you
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
No further answer, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chairman, and good afternoon.
David Vecto with the City Planning Commission.
Chairman and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the RSA 5 residential single-family zoning at this location.
This is a 3,158-square-foot lot.
lot if this lot were able to be divided assuming all dimensional requirements could be met the
appellant would be allowed to create three house Lots the appellant proposes four the city planning
commission recommends of the board grant the proposed use variance for multi-family dwellings
but with a maximum of three dwelling units grant the additional height due to the location of a
sanitary soar and deny the proposed dimensional variance for not providing a rear yard
Okay. On MI 2025, 001-797-1034 Shackamackson Street, I vote yes. Proviso, per refusal, dated 4-4-25. Revised plans, two pages, stamped by ZBA on August 6, 2025.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes, with Proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes, with provisos.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes, with provisos.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes, with provisos.
Iowen, my vote is yes, with provisos.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you all for your time.
All right, number eight, MI 2025-001-822-1925.
mi2025 001 822 1924 to 36 washington avenue justin crick is the attorney
we do not have an rco letter at this point it should be coming back in as a panel of short
mr chair okay good morning members of the board hi mr mr crick could you please state your name
and spell for the stenographer yes justin j-u-s-t-i-n crick k-r-i-k right do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do but you identify your client
a relationship to the property yes my client is 1936 washington avenue llc it is the current owner
of the property having acquired title back in may of this year prior to that at the time of the
application. It was a tenant that had access and control over the property, but has since taken
title. And I have the representative, Ori Fibush, available to testify, as well as Amher Scott,
who is a proposed tenant, if the use is granted. Board member, Graham has a few questions for you.
Good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents five days in advance of this hearing?
yes and do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
i do okay thank you you may share your screen and proceed
okay all right members of the board thank you uh we're here today seeking a use variance for
the property it's located at 1924-1936 washington avenue um and we currently
have the Point Breeze Community Development Coalition as the registered RCO.
The refusal and application show that this is broken down. What we're looking to do is use
this first floor area, which is approximately a total of 6,220 square feet, for food beverage
grocery store to include fresh meat shop, which is a halal butcher. And then a portion of that
is used for the eating and drinking establishment that will have prepared food shop for sit down
and take out food. I will explain a little bit more of how that breakdown looks, but we don't
necessarily have an exact floor plan because the concepts will be revised as the development is
done if the zoning is granted. But these areas will be matched because that is what requires and
triggered some of the refusals we got. So we don't anticipate changing the necessary square feet
of what the sections will be used for, but you'll see from the conceptual designs that this is more
of an open floor plan for this establishment and just trying to explain where the uses shift.
So because this is an I2 property, which is basically a medium industrial, we are looking to
And we need a variance because the commercial uses that are intended, there are three here that you'll see that all receive that refusal, one for the retail food and beverage sale and grocery, another for the sit-down restaurant portion, and another for the takeout.
And I'll go into the reason why we believe the refusals and the variance should be granted for the uses.
And then because of the square footage of the use and the type of use, there are parking requirements regarding the sale of groceries and then the eating and drinking establishments.
As you will see, we did not propose any parking.
I will explain and show the nature of the building and surrounding area and why we believe that this is also a hardship on the applicant.
If you would, I'd like to note that this board has previously granted, as recently as last November, for second floor of this building to be used for personal services as a fitness center, and that did get approved with support from the neighboring community as well as this board.
And we already have existing uses in this building on the first floor of an artisan bakery, as well as office and office space.
So the office space located on the first floor is what is going to be leaving in the event that this is granted and the proposed tenant would be entering with this grocery and food market.
So the property is a fairly large property located at the corner of Washington Avenue and 20th Street.
I'll note that in the rear of the property is Alter Street.
And this is important because when we talk about trash, this is a related street because currently there are two dumpsters that service this property in the back here.
And I will go into some of the neighboring concerns and what the landlord, I'm sorry, the current owner has discussed with the neighboring community about what trash.
uh, has, uh, discussed with the neighboring community about what trash might look like.
Um, but existing conditions of trash, uh, there is an existing contract with commercial pickup,
uh, with a company, with a company called Philly wide. Uh, they, they're, it's regular, uh, and,
and it is seamless with what is existing there and including the bakery, which does have food,
as part of its services.
So as you've seen the refusal, I just pointed that out.
You can see that this is an I-2.
A lot of the I-2 that is surrounding this property
have already been converted to either commercial mixed use
or even residential use.
But there are still some, I guess, industrial uses scattered throughout.
But commercial use has been widely introduced into this area
over the last several years. And notably, we have a lot of residences directly behind this
property. And I think that's relevant because the type of establishment that is looking to be put in
here lends itself to be walkable. That is because it's a sit-down spot to grab a quick bite or
coffee and pastry in a section of it, which is more the prepared foods aside from the sit-down
restaurant, the seating area would be somewhat intertwined. But as you'll see, there is some
parking along the Washington Avenue side that is, you know, cut out for parking. And as I'll
discuss further, there are some concepts on how to improve the parking area that the landlord's
willing to take an effort to obtain, but there is no guarantee that that would be achievable,
but the effort would be made. This is a current, basically the current layout of that first floor.
This was a real estate agency in office and business use that was approved. And the intention
is to make it look basically as a very large open-air space
for prepared foods, seating, and in the back here,
a little barista area, et cetera.
So these are other conceptual plans for the space.
It's fairly large as a grocer and as a halal butcher.
And what I can tell you about the proposed tenant
His name is Amir Scott, and he is opening what would be known as Prime Halal.
His father is and he is a longtime Philly resident.
His father has a similar but much smaller style establishment at 20th and Lombard for the last 50 years.
So they are very well versed in how to maintain and manage food service industries and groceries of this nature.
And just for some background, there is postings and notices of the community hearing.
we notified the rco and provided proof of mailing there are no taxes due on the property and that
is in part due to the fact that um this was the prior lease between uh the the former owner and
the app the original applicant which had rights to the building to the entirety of the building
through the lease agreement. However, for your noting, the former owner landlord did transfer
the property to my client, which is a similar principle to the former tenant. That deed was
recorded in May of 2025. And we then have the tax clearance certificate for the new owner and the
property. So I did not originally receive a copy of the RCO's response and letter to the board,
but I have since received it. And that is why it's just not included in this package. But
I am pleased to say that there was approval in community support, a vote of approximately eight
votes, seven yeses and one no. It seems as though the neighborhood had a few concerns, again, one
being trash and with respect to trash um we understand that that there is just just for
point of view you make sure hillary gets a copy of that you have it okay thank you yes yeah thank
you um and respectfully i think the issue with that is that my my client uh handled the rco
meeting directly and so their communication just was not sent to me i i'm i know it was sent to the
board and to my client. But ultimately, that letter is very thorough in explaining what each
resident was concerned with or not concerned with. And I will first address the trash in that
in that the existing trash, again, there are two dumpsters that are in the rear of the property.
the existing trash, again, there are two dumpsters that are in the rear.