Rachel Pritzker or Brandon Saverner are the attorneys.
Rachel Pritzker or Brandon Savron are the attorneys.
Recommendation of support from the Southport Richmond Civic Association.
Letter of non-opposition from Council Member Squillin.
Good afternoon, Chairman, members of the board.
Hi. Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Sure. Rachel, R-A-C-H-A-E-L, Pritzker, P-R-I-T-Z-K-E-R, 1521 Locust Street, Suite 605, Philadelphia, PA, 19102.
Right. Could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
Yeah. So my client is Corpse Flower Collective LLC, and they are the tenant.
Okay. Our Board Secretary, Ishmael Shahid, has a few questions.
Great.
Good afternoon, Counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refuser?
and stimulate to his accuracy?
Have you emailed all the documents
that were required five days in advance to this hearing?
Thank you.
You may proceed and share your screen.
Thank you very much.
I'm going to share my screen.
can you see that yep okay so this is 3146 riftwin street again i represent the tenants which is
corpse flower collective llc of which are on the call as well i'm just going to go to the refusal
this is a cmx2 property and this is a referral for a special exception we are proposing the use
of the space for body art services also known as a tattoo shop in a cmx2 zoning district
um essentially this business Rachel could you do me a favor you're on your last page of your
presentation could you go back and show us you're right now we're looking at page 38 oh
that's not what I have up I have up oh you know what let me redo this I think I have it on the
other screen okay my apologies um yeah got it there we go is that better it should be coming
on any minute yep we're good okay just a little bit bigger okay
we see it we see it okay awesome this is uh like i said 3146 richmond street this is a cmx2
property we represent corpse flower collective llc who is the tenant and this proposal is for
cmx of cms2 property for use of body art services also known as a tattoo shop and this is a referral
for a special exception. Essentially, this location is on Richmond Street at Allegheny,
so sort of two commercial corridors. This is our tax clearance certificate, the lease,
which we provided to the board, and I'll thank Hillary for working through all that with us.
a copy of the floor plans as you can see is exhibit a of the property so not a very large
property but small enough to have a nice storefront and a tattoo parlor it is two young
women who have operated combined eight years of tattooing experience and worked together at
another tattoo shop. As you can see, the area is all CMX2, some R01, RSA5 in the rear, and then we
have Allegheny Avenue with some additional CMX2 at the corner. The proposed facility, given this
is a special exception, has to provide that this would not be sort of a worse use or cause any
issues to the public space, public safety, water, sewer, surrounding properties, and the like.
Again, just some aerial photos.
I think it's helpful to see the front facade of the structure as well.
You can see this is with the zoning posters, but it's a very nice location and an already
built-out commercial property, perfect for a storefront and a small space, again, for
these women to work together to provide a tattoo shop.
The business will comply with all the hazardous waste regulations, including proper storage
and commercial disposal.
There are no other tattoos operating on this commercial corridor, so it's not an overuse of this use on the site.
Here's the zoning chart just to show that you're not allowed to have, without a special exception, a tattoo shop or body services studio.
um, or body services studio. Um, again, um, this is, uh, something that we presented recently to
So again, this is.
the RCO, well, actually on the 10th of August of the RCO, which was SOPO, the Southport Richmond
Civic Association, who is the coordinating RCO. Um, we actually had a great turnout at the meeting.
I think it was like 43 to 13 in support of the project. Um, as you can see from the letter on
the screen and chairman, as you mentioned, we have a letter of non-opposition, um, to, from a
Councilman Squilla's office. I just want to mention for purposes of the special exception
that basically Richmond Street and this block of it is already an established commercial corridor.
There's on-street parking, there's SEPTA and trolley services, and this, because of the size
of the space, we don't anticipate serving more than a few clients at every given time, so the
impact on the transportation system would not be overcrowded. Additionally, the special exception
will not cause overcrowding of the land beyond what would normally be expected from the proposed
use, and will make use of an existing commercial structure in the midst of a mixed-use block.
Again, not going to burden water or sewer, school park, or other public facilities expected from
the proposed use, and it can accommodate the desired use, and we will, again, comply with
all other regulations of the code. Again, we are just seeking a special exception for use as body
Art Services, and this will be a great opportunity for these entrepreneurs to start a career together
here in Philadelphia. I'm happy to pause there and take anyone. You want to have your testimony
adopted? Absolutely. We should have Vanessa and Lauren. I think they're just probably together,
so Vanessa, if you could raise your hand. I see that you're on.
hi this is vanessa hi could you state your name and spell it please for the court reporter
yes my name is vanessa sabater v-a-n-e-s-s-a last name s-a-b-a-t-e-r right do you swear or
affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes proceed counsel vanessa
have you heard my testimony today do you believe it to be true and accurate and do you adopt it as
your own yes thank you very much questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman no mr
chairman questions or comments from the virtual audience i see no he is shared planning commission
thank you sir david fechto with the city planning commission mr chairman and board members the
comprehensive plan recommends no change to the commercial mixed use zoning at this location
the applicant has shown that the proposed body art services will have no more of an impact than
body art services would be expected to have the city planning commission recommends that the
board grant the special exception mi-2022-004-364-3146 richmond street i vote yes thomas
holloman my vote is yes james snell my vote is yes ishmael shaheed my vote is yes thank you
thank you council are you doing the next one i am okay so mi 2022 004 363 180 west gerard avenue
letter of support from northern liberties neighbors association letter of non-opposition from
councilman squilla awesome i'm going to share my screen again are you able to see that chairman
members of the board yeah could you uh identify your client in relationship to the property please
yeah so my client in this matter is veterinary emergency group llc which is the tenant they
will be occupying uh suite 102a okay and ishmael shaheed has a few questions sure you agree to waive
the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy yes to email all of the documents that
was required that was required five days in advance to this hearing? Yes. Thank you. Please
proceed. Thank you very much. One thing is, are we okay with the lease, Hillary?
Yes, Mr. Chair. Yes, we are fine with the lease. I did want to note if the board is inclined to
grant in this case, we should include a proviso indicating that this used to be limited to suite
102A, as Ms. Pritzker just indicated, as there are multiple suites at this location.
102A. Perfect. Thank you, Hillary.
Okay, proceed. So as you can see on my screen, this is a copy of the refusal. This property is
on CMX3 and is on Girard Avenue, 180 West Girard. We only have one variance that we're requesting
here which is for animal services specifically for boarding and other services which is expressly
prohibited in cmx3 commercial as the board may know from other cases that we've done
prohibited in CMX3 commercial. As the board may know from other cases that we've done or that
they've seen, unfortunately, animal services, boarding and other service, which includes a
use as an animal hospital, is not permitted in any zoning district in the city except for I-1 and I-2.
That creates a hardship in and of itself, given the fact that in specifically where this property
is in the central district plan for the 2035 comprehensive plan, only about 10.5% of all the
land in the district is zoned industrial and meets at least the I-2 zoning classification.
If this code was strictly enforced and no variance was prohibited, the vast majority of people in
this district would not have access to an animal hospital or animal boarding services use. Again,
specific for here, we're looking for the boarding and other services because that includes a use
for an animal hospital. VEDGE is a 24-hour emergency veterinary service provider. They do
not have animal boarding. This is not an animal daycare. This is an express use for emergency
animal services. The only animals that stay over are ones that require treatment and are being seen
by a physician or additional staff. Related to this location on CMX3, it would seem, especially
in this day and age, that commercial mixed use and commercial quarters like Girard Avenue
should be able to provide for uses like animal services and animal hospitals. As many people
would want the benefit and the amenity to walk to an animal service provider in the event that
they have an emergency with their animal. And again, if there was strict enforcement of the
code, they would have to try to venture to some industrial areas and or go outside of the city
to service their animal, especially in an emergency. Again, the only ask we have related
to the use variance is for animal services for an animal hospital. And as previously mentioned,
the code is incredibly limited as to where you can even provide that here in the city of
Philadelphia and specifically in this district in particular. We have our tax clearance. This is
just a letter that was just explaining to the board. This is suite 102A and that the LLC is
Veterinary Emergency Group, which is the successor of a former LLC. We have the deed of the property.
We did have the landlords, owners of the building on earlier. They had to jump off,
But they are in support of the project. And more importantly, well, not more importantly, equally as important, we met with the Northern Liberties Neighbors Association, who were very helpful in giving their support and also giving us some feedback related to some of the exterior considerations, given the sort of odd shape and access of this building, which we incorporated into our plans.
As the board can see, this is located in CMX3, which is a medium to high density commercial mixed use.
The building is already existing, so this is just going to replace a use that's already been there, a space that's already been there, and will be retrofitted for this use if this variance is granted.
um additionally just some photos of the exterior of the building um so that the board can see
this is the zoning posters but this is uh again sort of on gerrard avenue commercial corridor and
will be a great addition to the area and is not out of character uh for commercial mixed use in
that area um again we had a meeting in august with the northern lake neighbors northern liberties
Neighbors Association, and we have a letter of non-opposition from them, which is on my screen.
I just want to show where Suite 102 is, just in the event that that's of any interest to the board,
if any members live near here or know anybody near here and are familiar with the building,
and those in the audience as well, 102A on the ground floor. This is the tentative floor plan,
open kind of an open floor plan with different types of rooms for staff break rooms and x-rays
and exam rooms and again as you can see there's no kennel boarding or daycare or outside you know
dog areas this is really an emergency veterinary services provider this is kind of sideways so
just for the benefit of the board although we're not here for signage wanted to provide some just
better photos to show how we plan to have the space. There's an entrance in the garage where
people can drive in. As you may know, in an emergency, you kind of just throw your animal
in the car. We'll not throw them, place them in the car, drive over and want to rush in. So there'll
be two access points. And just so the board can see kind of the exterior of what we're hoping to
achieve as well with the space. There's also some kind of, you know, filming and things on the
outside to cover the glass that was requested by the RCO. We think helped make this kind of a great
project for us. Other than that, I believe I have Jen Hanlon from Veg who can adopt my testimony if
I can bring her on. Sure. Hi, can you state your name and spell please for the court report?
hi can you state your name and spell please for the court reporter yes hi jennifer hanlon j-e-n-n-i-f-e-r
h-a-n-l-o-n you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do proceed counsel thank you jen have you heard my statements today in front of the board do you
believe them to be true and accurate and you adopt them as your own yes i do thank you okay
Okay, questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no handshare.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, sir.
Good afternoon, David Defecto
with the City Planning Commission.
Mr. Chairman and members of the board,
the comprehensive plan recommends no change
to the commercial mixed use zoning at this location.
Although not allowed in the commercial mixed use
three zoning district,
the commission staff has argued in other cases
and will argue today
that this is a necessary service if granted its impact would be limited by the code's performance
standards for animal services so the city planning commission recommends the board grant the use
variance for animal services boarding and other services mi 2022 004 363 180 west rod avenue i
vote yes proviso variants only for suite 102a thomas holliman my vote is yes with proviso
james snell my vote is yes with proviso ishmael shaheed my vote is yes with proviso
thank you council thank you and we're going to do number 14 and after that we'll take a
five-minute break, and then we'll come back and get through the 330 list. Number 14, MI 2022-004-385-1520-28
South 7th Street. Julie Bernstein is the attorney. There is a letter of non-opposition from Council
Member Squilla. Hi, Mr. Chair. I just wanted to give a brief summary of this case. This is for
use in an existing structure for wholesale distribution and storage um the there is one
refusal and that is for the use because the property is zoned rsa 5 in addition to the
letter of non-opposition from council member squilla we've also received a letter of non-opposition
from pass young square civic association thank you thank you hillary council good afternoon
members of the board my name is julie bernstein and i will attempt to share i think if i
remember correctly i already swore you in today right you did earlier okay so so first could you
identify your client and the relationship to this property so my client is lose wholesale
distributors inc and they are the owner of the property and our board secretary ishmael shaheed
has a few questions good afternoon counsel do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to his accuracy. I agree. Have you emailed all of the required documents in
five days in advance to this hearing? Yes. Thank you. Please share your screen and proceed.
Okay. Can everyone see my screen? We can. Great. Good afternoon. Again, my name is Julie Bernstein.
I'm with Kaplan Stewart. I'm an attorney representing Luz Wholesale Distributors, Inc.
They're the owner of the property that's located at 1520 to 28 South 7th Street in Philadelphia, PA.
This is improved with a single-story warehouse-style building with an industrial-style garage bay.
Luz Wholesale has operated out of this building for almost 20 years, since 2004,
selling products such as beverages, gum, candy, snacks, paper goods, cigarettes, et cetera,
to local convenience mom-and-pop type stores. I have Lou Manor with me. He's the owner of Lou's
Wholesale, which is seeking a variance to permit the continued use at this property, which is
located in RSA 5, of this wholesale distribution and storage use. The current use is also in line
with the historic use of the property, which has been continuously used for industrial and or