by storing trash in the basement, excuse me, not in the basement, in the rear yard.
So the letter of non-opposition, again, just to point out, it's non-opposition. So again,
we did meet with the community uh there was no opposition at the community meeting and then they
waited some time to hear from both the rcos that were affiliated with this property as well as
anyone in the surrounding area and no one opposed this project that's why the council member the
council president uh issued that letter of non-opposition to this project and again just
Again, the zoning permit from 1952, this was a three-family plus store, and then it became a three-family plus vacant store.
So it does have this significant multifamily history, and we're only looking to put three units rather than three units plus a commercial there.
And then maps of the area.
Again, you'll see that we're at the corner of 24th and Montgomery.
There is a significant commercial corridor on Ridge Avenue as well.
So we're looking to support that commercial corridor by way of this increased density.
And as you can see, here is all the commercial use.
Also, there is a significant commercial corridor on Cecil B. Moore that we're trying to support as well by way of this project.
Photographs of the property, as you can see, we're just a vacant lot at the corner of 24th and Montgomery.
This is from actually Montgomery Avenue. We went on Google Earth to see the history of this property, and we went back as far as September of 2014, showing that this has been a vacant lot since at least that period of time.
So it's almost a decade. This has been a vacant lot.
And then here are pictures from Montgomery, 2348 West Montgomery Avenue from 24th Street.
West Montgomery to the right of the property, as you can see, there's vacant lots of pressure
streets. West Montgomery to the left of the property, again, significant vacant structures
throughout. North 24th Street to the right of the property, again, significant vacant lots.
And then North 24th Street to the left of the property, again, a lot of vacant lots. We're
trying to fill in this part of the community, hoping that a significant corner property will
help that walk. And then it's not uncommon to have RSA 5 properties that are multifamily structures.
So we looked and researched and we found 1737 North 23rd Street, 1733 North 23rd Street,
1723 North 23rd Street. And again, this property is being developed by Kumas Homes. Kumas Homes
has been in business for almost 20 years.
They're headquartered in Point Breeze
on Point Breeze Avenue.
They are not just property owners.
They also do the general construction
and the property management.
But just this is examples of some of their product.
Again, hardwood floors, that's the living area.
Give you an example of a kitchen with their kitchens,
stainless steel appliances, granite cano tops.
Again, another example of their kitchens.
and then their bathrooms as well and bedrooms another bedroom another bathroom so these are
our plans and drawings as you can see this is a corner property each unit
As you can see, this is a corner property.
Each unit is going to be its own floor.
Let me just see, I'm trying to find where it is right there.
All right, so these are our floor plans.
I just wanted to make sure we note this,
but we're gonna be storing the trash in the rear.
We would agree to our proviso
that trash would be stored in the rear yard.
But each of the units has its own floor.
Unit number one is a bi-level first floor, lower level.
unit number two is on the second floor and unit number three is on the third floor we also have
our roof deck and our meeting notice we met some time ago with the community february 24 2022 at
5 30 p.m there were 163 addresses affiliated with this property these are the addresses
and this is our proof of mailing
and there are applications for appeal that we followed with the zba in june of 2021
it took us some time to get a community meeting with this group as well
and there are deeds to the property showing that ira development
and kumas homes are the owners of the property
and our certificate of tax funds showing that they owe no money with respect to this property.
With that being said, I have the corporate representative, Mr. Eze.
If he can virtually raise his hand about my testimony, and then we can take questions from the board.
Mr. Eze has to speak.
Would you state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please?
Yeah, sure thing. It's Ifani Chukueze, I-F-E-A-N-Y-I-C-H-U-K-W-U, last name E-Z-E.
All right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
Yeah, Mr. Eze, you heard everything I stated today.
Is it true and correct?
and do you adopt this in your own testimony i do questions from the board and mr chairman
no mr chairman no question questions or comments from the virtual audience
do not see any hands mr chair planning commission
good afternoon david vecto city planning commission mr chairman members of the board
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single-family zoning at this location.
This is a 1,206-square-foot lot.
There is no unique physical condition that would prevent this lot from being used in conformance with the zoning code.
We are aware of one legal multifamily dwelling on this block.
The remaining homes on the block are single-family.
The City Planning Commission recommends the board deny the requested use variance.
Mr. Knackinson, do you want to respond?
Yeah, so there are examples of other multifamily uses we did point out. So we're between 23rd and 24th on West Montgomery Avenue. I believe there were three or four instances, and I could bring it back up, of multifamily use that were RSA 5 properties, as well as the fact that we do do our homework in terms of how long this lot has been vacant.
It's been a vacant lot since at least 2014, could have been a little bit longer, so basically a decade.
So this is a decent-sized lot for an RSA-5 property of 1,200 square feet.
The district council member, who's also the council president, was in non-opposition, given all those factors.
Plus, the history of the property has not shown to be single-family in nature.
It has had a history of three-family plus commercial.
And all we're asking to do is allow that type of usage, eliminating the commercial to put three units in there.
We also have a responsible trash management plan in place, along with a responsible developer.
Thank you. MI 2021-002-825-2348, West Montgomery. I vote yes. Proviso, trash stored in the back of the property.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes with Proviso.
James Snell, yes with Proviso.
Is Snell Saheed, my vote is no.
Thank you.
Number five, MI 2022-000-772-2617 East Venango Street.
Esteban Alavarez is the owner, Pro Se.
letter of support from ProPAC.
Mr. Stepani, it's been a lot to speak, sir.
Could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please?
Could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please?
Mr. Stephanie, are you?
Yes, I'm here.
Could you state your name?
Benjamin Estepani, the architect of the project.
you're the owner no I'm the architect the owner is on on the call as well no we need to talk to
the owner yeah he's okay he should be raising his hand he's on the call
okay I just promoted the owner to Panama sir
sir could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
mr guinness if you're available please unmute and wait to be sworn in
hello yes could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
uh hi my name is esteban gines is e-s-t-e-v-a-n-g-i-n-e-z okay i'm the you what are you
the owner yes okay do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the
truth yes okay our our vice chair has a few questions for you okay hi do you agree to waive
the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy am i saying that is this person
an attorney no he's not he's the owner okay okay sir have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof
of ownership tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral, photos and or plans of the property
five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
Yes. Okay, you may proceed and share your screen, which is already up. Thank you.
All right, so here's what you, sorry, you're going to have, tell us what you want to do.
Okay. So I'm the owner of this property, 2617 East Benango Street. I recently purchased this corner property on September 16th of 2021. The building currently has an apartment on the second floor, and it's a vacant space on the basement on the first floor.
so we're looking to propose a sit-down restaurant at the first floor with a food storage in an
office in the basement. I have another restaurant located at 4653 Rising Sun Avenue that we are
looking to move into this new building. The property has a previous history as a bar and
So it has already the hood and some kitchen equipment that we are planning to reuse.
And what's on the second floor?
The second floor is an apartment.
Okay, thank you.
Yes, and it has a separate entrance and it's ready to be used for tenants or we can use it as well.
And in the basement is empty basement.
so we're planning to do our storage there and i'm planning to to do like small small uh office
small office okay do you have a pick do you have a copy of the uh the pro pack letter
the letter from the rco yes right there could you blow that up a little bit for us
okay thank you
questions from the board no mr chair no mr chairman questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands mr chair planning commission good afternoon david vecto city planning commission
mr chairman members of the board the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the commercial mixed
use of zoning at this location the zoning archive shows that this property has a history of
commercial use so the proposed restaurant will not have an impact on the use of adjacent properties
the city planning commission recommends the board grant the use variance thank you very much
mi 2022 000 772 2617 east venango street i vote yes carol tenary my vote is yes
Thomas Hullman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
I don't know if you can hear me, but I want to say yes also.
Okay, good.
Thank you, Ish.
Okay. MI 2022-000-765-5200 Whitaker Avenue. Attorney is Gussie O'Neill. Letter of non-opposition
from the Coordinating RCO 35th Ward Democratic Executive Committee.
He's been allowed to speak, sir, and promoted.
Good afternoon.
dude. Hi, how are you? Can you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Sure. Augusta O'Neill, A-U-G-U-S-T-A. My last name is spelled O-N-E-I-L-L.
Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, because nothing but the truth?
I do. Could you identify your client in a relationship to the property?
Sure. My client is Northeast Donut Shops. They are the sub-lessee of the property at 5200
Whittaker Avenue. Our vice chair has a few questions for you. Hi Augusta, do you agree
to wait the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? I do. Have you emailed the exhibit
packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral, photos under
plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with the RCO,
and do you have a letter? Yes, to all of the above. Great, you may proceed and share your screen.
Thank you so much. Sure.
So good afternoon, members of the board here today on an application related to the property at 5200 Whitaker Avenue.
My client is the Northeast Donut Shops. Its owner, Sunny Ho, is with me this afternoon, as well as our project architect, Dave Kiefreiter of Albert Taus.
this property that we're here for this afternoon is actually this site that's on this aerial that's
on my screen this is the aldi store that's on 5200 whittaker avenue so this is currently just
an empty lot which i have some more pictures of but mr ho currently operates a duncan store that's
in this shopping center so the intent would be to relocate the business to this location because
the current location does not have drive-through capabilities, which since the advent of coronavirus
drive-through has become more popular, so the intent would be here for the really location
so that the store would have its own standalone site. So I included in my exhibit package just
a few pictures of what is currently on the property. Just resize it for
okay so currently this is just a weed strewn lot that's surrounded by concrete blocks
So, currently, this is just a weed-strewn lot that's surrounded by concrete blocks.
It seems to be a dumping area for trash and appliances, and there's quite a bit of graffiti at the property, as you can see from pictures I've also included.
so the intent would be here to take what is currently this empty lot again that's not being
used and to beautify it and to put a nice store which would also be held to duncan's standards for
cleanliness and maintenance so again this would require improvement of not only this pads this
pad, but also the neighboring areas, which seem to be, as I said, a dumping area for trash.
So this property is zoned CMX2, and in the CMX2 zoning district, the drive-through requires
special exception relief. Pulling up a copy of the refusal, which I also included in my exhibit
package. So the proposed use is consistent with the other retail that's in the location. Again,
there's a shopping center that's adjacent to the property it's right behind an aldi and i also
wanted to point out there are no dimensional uh variances that we're asking for as part of this
application it is by right with the exception of the need for the special exception
on page 44 of the exhibit package i provided a copy of our site plan and the site circulation
is going to work so that drivers can come in off of Fulkrod Avenue, come into the drive-thru,
and then it would go around the building, and it would start at the side of the drive-thru that's
closest to the Aldi, so here's where the existing Aldi is. Again, cars would come in, circulate,
and then go back out onto Fulkrod. We did meet with the assigned RCO for this property, which is
the 35th Ward Democratic Committee. We met with them on April 5th, actually out at the site.
After meeting with them, they advised that they had no opposition to this application. They agreed
with us that it would be a great improvement over the situation that currently exists at the
property. And before I close, I just wanted to tell the board a bit more about Sonny Ho,
who's with me this afternoon. Mr. Ho is the owner of the Northeast Donut Shops. His franchise has
over 44 different locations. He employs over 1,000 people in the Philadelphia area. He's been a great