Thank you, Interpreter. I appreciate you doing that for us. Number five, MI 2024-005-737-3301 West Gerrard Avenue.
Atusa Sharath is the attorney.
They're coming as a panelist now.
Thank you.
good afternoon counsel could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer
my name is atusa a-t-u-s-a and my last name is shirass it's s as in sam h-i-r-a-s as in sam
b as in boy you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client and relationship to the property?
My client is the Philadelphia Water Department, and the city owns the property at Fairmount Park, and that's my relationship to the client.
Do you stipulate to the reading and the refusal and agree with its accuracy?
Share your screen and please do your presentation.
Thank you.
Give me one moment, please.
There's a letter of support from Brewery Town, charged with Civic Association.
And a letter of non-opposition from Council Member Young.
So the Philadelphia Water Department, EWD, is proposing to replace an existing water pump station that's currently located at 3199 West Girard Avenue,
with a new pump station facility nearby located at 3301 West Gerrard Street.
The existing pump was constructed in the 1930s and supplies about 7 million gallons per day to parts of West Philadelphia.
PWD has designated this pumping station for replacement due to its age and critical functionality within PWD's water system,
i.e. the equipment is reaching the end of its useful life.
So, for this project, we are requesting a de minimis deviation from the height limitation of the code. The proposed height of the building is 40 feet, which is taller than what the zoning ordinance allows for, which is 38 feet.
So we're requesting two feet variance.
So this building height is required for the water pump equipment, installation and maintenance, and for the necessary structural and architectural components, which my client can certainly explain during testimony.
The first document I have here is the notice of refusal, which, again, explains that the height difference, the allowable height is 38 feet, whereas we are requesting 40 feet.
My client will testify that the nearest commercial properties are about half a mile away from this location.
um the second uh exhibit is the uh application for appeal uh here again requesting the deviation
from the height limitation um there won't be any increased uh congestion in the public streets or
pose a danger to the public um there is a uh house next door that's called the hatfield house it's a
historical building that's used for entertainment purposes and in the community, mostly, we will
not be touching that property. It shouldn't, there won't be any shadow or any light issues
with the property or the residential housing across the street. So this is the zoning appeal.
and then we have the project information form yep okay we have that we have that we're good
all of it okay great um this is just a screenshot of opa but i also supplemented with um a joint
memo of agreement between the department of parks and recreation and the water department
um for this location right here you okay um we have the tax clearance which is valid until
december 27th and then here are the plans uh the current building uh is over here
and they're trying to build over here and i'll scroll down more
So this is the plans for the building itself and this is a mock-up of what the building
would actually look like.
any um vegetation that is taken out will be replaced
and then i will share photos of the zoning notice
the date and time so that's the house that i was talking about that hosts the community
concerts and other entertainment purposes, and it would be next door.
And it would be next door.
And more postings.
Is that the current one?
I'm sorry.
Is that the current one you just showed?
This is from 11.11.
So, oh, I'm saying that's the current location.
Yes, this is the current pump location.
So, we put signs in front of that and then also where it's supposed to be.
Okay, thank you.
All right.
And then this is where the new pump station will be, right here, where these three trees are.
This is the old pump station, or the current pump station, I should say.
And this is the location of where the new pump station would be.
This is that house.
And then again, the three trees where the location of the new pump station will be.
And another view.
And the RCO documentation, this was the letter,
it's dated November 7th.
There's emails, email correspondence
with the RCO granting support for this project.
I believe you received the letter.
We do.
And these are just more.
So, for the project, they had a list, a spreadsheet with a contact list for near neighbors.
The public meeting notification letter was mailed on 11-8 to the contact listed for near neighbors.
The actual zoning, the RCO meeting was held on November 21st, virtually on Zoom.
a presentation was provided um during that time and i won't go through the whole presentation
but i just wanted to show you one photo um that i think has shows a better
depiction of what the uh current station is the existing pump station here
and then the proposed pump station over here
And then this is just the letter from the RCO with support.
So with that, I will end my presentation and ask Brian Sparks, if he's here, from PWD to raise his hand and be sworn in.
Sparks?
Brian Sparks has been unmuted and allowed to.
could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer yeah my name is brian sparks b-r-i-a-n
s-p-a-r-k-s where are firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do please proceed counsel okay mr sparks um did you hear my testimony yes i did and did you see
the exhibits i shared i did okay and can you please verify that everything i represented
it is true and correct that's to my understanding everything was accurate yes okay um does the board
have any questions for questions questions from the board i do just just for clarity are will you
have to demo the old structure to erect the new structure no that's going to be decommissioned
but the structure will remain to be repurposed for future use.
Okay. Thank you. Yep.
So that was my, yeah, that was my question.
Were we going to get rid of the one building and build the new one or how are we
going to do this?
And how long do you think this project is going to take?
um i don't know if dennis jatilan or steve britt are also on the call there are design engineers
um i would have to look at the specifications to give you the precise uh construction duration
i don't i don't want to misspeak i don't know dennis could what's the way in i guess my real
question is you you said that this this uh property this this station provides water for
uh like i thought you said like west philly that's right yeah that's for like west philadelphia so
West Philly, that's right, yeah.
That's sort of like West Philadelphia.
So the idea would be to use this facility until the new one is built and then bring that online.
the idea would be to use
That's correct, yeah.
The existing pump station will remain in service while the new pump station is being constructed.
That's right.
Gotcha.
Any other questions from the board?
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands.
Planning Commission.
We are boarded with the Planning Commission. The comprehensive plan recommends no change
in zoning at this location from the existing SPPOA.
The requested height variance is de minimis.
Moreover, the comprehensive plan objective 5.1 calls to
ensure adequate utility capacity to serve customers and modernize and bring
conditions of existing utility infrastructure and good repair, City Planning Commission
recommends that the Board grant requested variance for height.
Thank you.
So MI 2024-005-737-3301 West Gerard Avenue, I vote yes.
John's, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Tywin, my vote is yes.
Thank you, Council.
Thank you.
Number six, MI 2024-005-738, 5200 South Broad Street.
Michael Mattione is the attorney.
Letter of support from 26 Republican Ward RCO and letter of support from Council President Johnson.
Mr. Mattione's company is the panelist.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman.
Good afternoon, Mr. Mattioni.
Could you please state your name and spell it for the core stenographer?
It's Michael Mattioni, M-A-T-T-I-O-N-I.
Swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client in the relationship to this property?
Certainly. It's Moran Towing Company, and they are a long-term tenant at the property.
Do you stipulate to the reading of the refusal and agree with its accuracy?
There is an issue with the refusal. I spoke to Hillary today about it.
It fails to mention the parking that is at the site.
So the refusal will be revised, according to when I spoke to Hillary, she said it will be revised and sent back to us almost immediately.
So that is correct, Mr. Chair, in reviewing the refusal and the plans, I realized that unfortunately the scope of the project wasn't completely put into it.
So we can hold this for one week, and I will immediately request a corrected refusal, and we should be able to vote this next week at 2 p.m.
And Mattione, please share your screen and start your presentation, sir.
Certainly. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
okay so again i represent moran towing company and i have nathan hawser with me today he's the
regional vice president for the northeast based in the philadelphia office for moran towing and
as i stated moran towing is a long-term tenant at the navy yard pier one at the navy yard
they're also a long-term uh tenant at the navy yard in general and we submitted our exhibits
including there's a tax clearance now, the refusal, background information regarding Moran
towing, support letter from the 26th Republican Ward RCO, the coordinating RCO, support letter
from Council President Johnson, a site plan, floor plans, elevations, photographs, additional
support letters from various public officials. The zoning permit for Pier 1 reconstruction,
which was granted in 2023, which is where there was some confusion and thought that the parking
was included in that, but it apparently wasn't because the pier itself has been rebuilt. And
this is an application for the engineering and operations center to be built on the pier
and the lease and tax cleaners, like I said.
um or in towing was formed in 1860 and as you can see they are all up and down the east coast
As you can see, they are all up and down the East Coast, in the Gulf of Mexico, and also in the Caribbean.
in the gulf of mexico
And they've been around for 160 plus years.
They have more than 2,000 employees.
They serve 17 ports.
They have 94 tugs, 14 barges.
So they are a substantial company, and they are making a large investment in the port in Philadelphia.
In 2019, they entered into the lease, which is included in Exhibit 13, to redevelop Pier 1 at the Navy Yard that's at the foot of Broad Street.
That's as far south as you can go in South Philadelphia.
They entered into a 47-year lease down there for this.
They are totally rebuilding the pier all at their own expense, and the pier construction is basically done because that was part of the 2023 zoning permit.
The second phase is to build the engineering and operations facility, and that's why we're here today.
The refusal shows that the marine-related industrial use office and storage space is prohibited in the zoning district,
which for some reason is CMX-3, even though this is a marine industrial use, it's on CMX-3.
It allows things like marinas, but this is not a marina.
This is an industrial pier, and it's been there for a long time.
Moran's spending more than $20 million reconstructing the pier and building this building.
And at Exhibit 12 is the permit from 2023, which allowed me to lean industrial use here.
So phase two of this, again, is this operations center, which is proposed to be built down here.
And here is what the pier looks like today.
It's been reconstructed.
it's almost all done. Basically a brand new pier. I just want to show some photos so you
understand what it is. And there is the pier looking north. And again, some of the other
vessels that surround it. One of them ran tugboats. It's already down there. Some other
vessels, including an aircraft carrier on another pier surrounding this. And then some
additional photos just showing the the context this is the present little office for Moran
towing that is surrounded by urban outfitters it's not adequate for the new pier it doesn't
have enough room it doesn't have enough space it doesn't have an adequate dispatch facility and
conference facilities as well and then just some additional photos
again another large vessel on the Moran tugboat
just some other photos showing what surrounds it this is at the foot of Broad Street
I'm just showing some of the construction and again just off the pier looking north on Broad