questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman questions from the virtual audience or
statements no hands chair planning commission good afternoon david vecto city planning commission
mr chairman members of the board the comprehensive plan recommends no change in the single family
residential zoning at this location this is an 890 892 square foot lot there is nothing unique
about this lot that would prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning code there
is one legal two-family home on the block face all other homes on this block face are single families
so the city planning commission recommends the board deny the requested use variance
Thank you. MI 2021 002826 2713 Montgomery Avenue. My vote yes.
Carol Tineri. My vote is yes. Thomas Harleman. My vote is no.
James Snell. My vote is yes. Ishmael Shaheed. My vote is yes.
Thank you. MI 2021-003220-2801, Grant Avenue. Letter in support, recommending three-year proviso. Councilman O'Neill, letter in non-opposition with three-year proviso.
Attorney is Ami Farrell.
Chair, we have a Natalie Young
with her hand up.
So let's see who she is.
I will have, yes.
Ms. Young, you can unmute yourself.
Good morning, Chair.
Or good afternoon, Chair.
I'm Natalie Young.
I'm here for Amy Farrell from Kaplan-Stewart
on behalf of the app.
are you an attorney yes for 28 on behalf yep yep okay state your name and spell it please
yes it's natalie young n-a-t-a-l-i-e uh y-o-u-n-g all right do you swear for him to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes our chair our vice chair has a few words for you
i'm sorry chair she's coming in now as a panelist okay
Okay. Is this go? Okay. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its
accuracy? Yes. According to the notes we have, everything has been submitted as required. Is
that correct? That's correct, yes. You may proceed. Okay. And I'd like to ask permission to
share my screen. That would be great. Love screens. So just to give a little bit of background,
this property is located at 2801 Grand Avenue. It's zoned as an I-2 and it's presently used as
a fitness center and gym. The applicant is actually looking to continue the use of the
fitness center and gym, but they're looking to add two additional uses for a fresh grocery market
and for use as a sit-down restaurant. The property is located in an area that's basically known as
a food desert. And there's no really cost effective, nutritious options nearby. So the
owner who's here with me, Tony Chowdhury, of Fusion Gyms is looking to kind of add to the gym
a healthy option that both his customers of the gym and the public neighboring community can have
that area. Many of the neighboring community members travel, I think, over to Ben Salem
for groceries, and so this would give an option, something fresh and local for making sure.
um something something fresh and local for the thinking uh so we are seeking relief and i'm gonna
see if i can share this here
all right are you able to see that yep okay so this is the refusal um again we received a refusal
with regard to the use for food, beverages, and groceries, because it's an industrial zone,
I-2, and then also the refusal with regard to the sit-down restaurant, because it's an industrial
zone. Just to kind of streamline the process, I'd like to include my exhibits, which, let me bring
the list up. I'm just going to kind of quickly go through and read them in. Exhibit one provided is
the deed. Exhibit two is the lease to Fusion Gems with the amendment that makes it current.
I believe the amendment goes through 2028 with two five-year additional options. Three is the
tax clearance certificate. Four is the amended refusal that we just took a look at. Five is the
appeal application. Six is the project information form. We were actually here, well, we were actually
before the RCO before. With regard to a use as a takeout restaurant, that has since changed,
so we sought leave for an amended refusal. That's Exhibit 7. Exhibit 8 was the approval
for leave to get an amended refusal. Exhibit 9 is the RCO notice letter, and Exhibit 10
is the posting of the zoning photos, the zoning notice and photos. And if you turn your attention
Attention to Exhibit 11.
Oh, I apologize.
Alright, so Exhibit 11 is the aerial of the property.
To kind of give you an idea, here's the building here on Grant Avenue.
There's a better look at the building on Grant Avenue.
And here's the shopping center where the building is located. So Fusion Gyms is back here.
I believe this is in Autism Speaks here. There's an existing pylon sign in the front.
And then to give you a little bit more of a close-up, here's Fusion Gyms, where Fusion Gyms is located.
And again, as we discussed, it's in an I2 industrial zone right here in the middle.
and we are continuing the use. So we're looking to continue the use as a gym. So here's the
historical permit. This has been a gym since 2016. I believe he currently has 3,500 existing gym
memberships. And so this is the proposed use. And so let me see if I can bring this down here.
Oh, maybe up one. All right, so the gray portion in the middle and the gray portion to the left,
those are the continued space that will be occupied by the gym. He's seeking to add in
this blue portion here to the right. This is where he's seeking to add the dine-in restaurant.
We'll get to it in a minute, but essentially there's a service counter that people would walk
up. There are six sets of tables for larger groups and then six sets of tables for smaller
groups that are proposed. And then over in the green on the left here, this would be where the
produce market location would be. Both the produce market and the dine-in restaurant are accessible
from the outside. There's, I believe, an existing door at each location already and also would be
look accessible through. Okay. So here is how close to the
boulevard is this? Um, I'm so are you talking about off of
Grand Avenue, you're saying 2801 Grand Avenue. How close to the boulevard?
So off of Grand Avenue, this is set back quite a bit.
I believe there's a grassy area before the parking lot and then a parking lot and then the building is set back inside.
Let me see if I can go back to my picture.
The one picture kind of shows where it's located a little better.
the idea that's the northeast airport behind your northeast northeast airport is back here
the idea that's the northeast airport behind your northeast northeast airport is back here
i now i know where i am i mean you a little um and then here if you want to see there's
a grassy area before there's the parking lot and then the building
okay we got it thank you
um all right let me pull my floor
And to kind of give you an idea of the proposed restaurant space, we're proposing to have
a service counter that's approached to order the food, then you would have a space to sit
down or here's the service counter, you would have a space to sit down at a larger table
and then smaller tables along the back of the restaurant. Okay, to give you kind of an idea,
these are renderings, concept renderings. This is what we perceive the restaurant space would look
like. Here's the tables. These are the larger tables. These are the smaller tables. This
would be the service counter area. These are the types of dishes. So we're going to offer
a variety of dishes. The idea is kind of to have a fresh option, kind of fresh bowls with a variety
of foods. I believe international foods as well as, you know, common options. But the goal is to
offer quite a bit of food to choose from. And the dishes are prepared to order.
And again to give you kind of an idea of what the restaurant space would look like.
For the produce space it would kind of be set up along this line where there would be
different options where you could just go up and pick up your apples or your
berries or various vegetables. And this is kind of how how we expect that would be laid out.
So, we did meet with the, very recently, I believe you should have it in your packet
with Walton Park Civic Association, it was a very well attended meeting.
And I believe at first there was potentially some concern for the use, as they are concerned
that the building itself is quite large and so that the use, you know, while we intend
only use a portion of the building for a restaurant, a portion of the building for
produce, and the remainder of the building is the gym. They were concerned that should
fusion gyms leave this location somewhere down the road, that this could be adopted for an
entire grocery store or an entire restaurant. However, when we met with the community, they
were very, very interested. They agreed that this area is kind of a grocery desert or a produce
desert, and so they were very interested in the fresh food options and the variety
of dishes that the restaurant would carry. So we were able to come to a proviso agreement
where they would like to see the use be temporary for three years, and then we would come back to
see if it could be accepted. I would like to point out too though that the lease that
Fusion Gyms currently has is 12 years with two options for five years, and so they intend to be
there for some time they're sinking quite a bit of of funds into the development of this property.
And then also Councilman O'Neill was in attendance at the meeting and so his office
supplied a letter in agreement with the with the proposal with Proviso.
So I should have Tony Chowdhury here. Chowdhury if you could raise your hand I'd like to
Mr. Chowdhury, you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Sir, could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter?
Yeah, my first name is Sadagar, S-A-D-E-Q-U-R, Tony, T-O-N-Y, last name Chowdhury, C-H-O-W-D-H-U-R-Y.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
Mr. Chowdhury, did you hear my full testimony today?
Do you agree with the accuracy of that testimony?
Do you adopt my testimony as your own?
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions from the virtual audience?
I see no hands at this time, Chair.
Planning Commission?
Good afternoon, Chair Bergman, members of the board, David Fecto, City Planning Commission.
Good afternoon, Chair Bergman, members of the board,
David Fecto, City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the medium industrial zoning at this location.
We did want to note that the area that the property is located in does not meet the definition of a food desert.
There's a giant Walmart, Wawa, and Aldi all within a half block of this property.
Although the proposed food and beverages and sit-down restaurant are not allowed in this zoning district,
They are businesses. And it's more important for the city at this point that we prevent
residential encroachment into the industrial zones than it is to maintain a specific type
of business here. So the City Planning Commission is going to recommend that the board grant the
variances for food and beverages and a sit-down restaurant. Hi, Chair. This is Tanya, the
administrator. May I make a quick request that Mr. Jim Snell go out and come back in?
You absolutely can.
Jim, are you there?
Does it sound like he hasn't?
Yeah, he just.
Okay, his technology is a little messed up.
All right.
He went out.
He was out.
Let's see what if he comes right back in.
Very well.
Thank you, Chair.
MI 2021-003-220-2801 Grant Avenue.
I vote yes. Three-year proviso ending March 2nd, 25.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
Mr. Chairman, Jim Snell here. Can you hear me?
We can hear you perfect now, Jim.
All right, I'm sorry about that. I must have lost Wi-Fi or something. My vote is yes.
Jim, you got to say with proviso.
Oh, with proviso. I'm sorry. With proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, yes, with provisos.
Thank you very much.
And Chair, this is Tanya again. I just wanted to be certain that it's going to be March 2nd.
Not February. Okay. Thank you, Chair.
No, I said March 2nd, 25.
Thank you.
Okay. MI 2021-004-453-3301 Solly Avenue. Special exceptions required for educational facility. Approved by Councilman Heenan. No RCO letter from Homesburg Civic, but Councilman Heenan's letter quotes the RCO.
who's coming back in as a panelist now hi Mr. Ransom please state your name and spell for the
court reporter uh good afternoon chairman my name is Robert Ransom uh first name Robert spelled
the typical way last name Ransom spelled R-A-N as in Nancy S-O-M as in Michael uh just like the word
from the law firm, Ostradley, Bronin, Stevens, and Young.
I'm here today on behalf of the-
Wait a minute, wait a minute, one minute.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
All right, and our vice chair has a few questions for you before you start.
Hi, Mr. Ransom.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
It appears, according to my notes, that you've submitted all the required documents.
Is that correct?
That is correct.
okay great you may proceed yeah thank you i'm here today on behalf of the archdiocese of philadelphia
with regard to a special exception application
in connection with the father judge high school campus located at 3301
sally avenue and if you'll allow me to share my screen