case five days in advance of this hearing yes thank you council please proceed and share your
Okay, thank you. I'm just going to bring up.
Okay, so this is 1741 South 5th Street. My clients are husband and wife. They're seeking a special exception to for their project. Here's the refusal.
They're seeking to actually make bubble tea and do prepared foods like a deli.
No cooking, just making sandwiches, making the bubble tea and having their corner establishment, like a food, basically a food shop.
Um, they purchased the property in 2019. This is their deed. Um, here are the plans. Basically the basement is going to be for utilities, for storage. Uh, the first floor will be for the actual establishment where there'll be a counter. There'll be a section to make bubble tea, which only requires boiling water.
They purchased the property in 2019.
um second floor is an apartment um they do have a tenant in there so there's a second floor and
when i get to the photo um i'm sorry second floor is like a apartment with the third floor being
like a small piece to the floor it's not even a whole floor that covers the entire footprint
there is a garage on the side as the property goes down
um marsh street um here is a picture of the property sorry a corner uh property it's already
has been a store for in the past for several years um this is the side view as i said that
third floor area is kind of like a small piece to the property which is basically living quarters
for the second floor um there is a garage moore street i'm sorry i said morris but moore street
fifth and moore um this is the side part they have a place to park and unload uh deliveries
that they get or items that they will obtain for the store um cross the street from the store
across 5th Street. There's a couple community gardens. This is the inside. My clients didn't
make any changes. They're not seeking to make any changes to the exterior.
It will do some cosmetics to the inside. This essentially is what it is.
Here's my application. We did send out notice to the neighborhood. We did meet with the neighbors
and the RCO this is a copy of their zoning notice it was posted to the property
and these are copies of the mailings the certified mail but essentially they're going to run the
store their hours are going to be around 7 30 a.m to 7 30 p.m the neighbors seem receptive to having
some bubble tea in the neighborhood um and then essentially they want to hand it down to their
son who's a minor right now but eventually he is going to run the store and live there live in the
property um to to run the the store in the deli and my client is here to adopt my testimony
why don't you bring your client on sure her name is uh miss chen connie chen
if you're in the audience please raise your virtual head
they have been obedient and allowed to speak to you could you please state your name and
spell for the stenographer yes hi good morning everyone my first name is r-i-x-i-n-g last name
c-h-e-n where are firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes please
proceed counsel thank you miss chen you heard my testimony and my presentation to the board
this morning correct yes okay and was it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge
information and belief yes and do you wish to adopt it as your own yes okay thank you i have
no further questions questions from the board yes um uh are you are there plans for sit down
no sit down no sit down just take out only just take out and is there um
okay there's my question the questions from the board yes um what was this used for before
i believe it was a corner store and deli in the past several years ago um and when my clients
took it over they rented it for a bit but they're going to take uh ownership and run the business
themselves with the bubble tea which is my client's idea to start so um i'm sorry so when did your
client take this property over they bought the property in 2019 okay
and they're running it they've been running it as this corner store they had in the past right
now it's vacant there's no one in there and the properties there's a tenant in there but
there's a tenant in there but the store is not there's no nothing being run on the first floor
the store is not there's no nothing being run on the first floor
okay and this bubble tea you said there's no did you say there was going to be no seating
no seating um the bubble tea just basically take out they boil the water it's leaves it's
water i don't know the exact recipe my client if you need to know certainly can
provide a better explanation than me, but it's essentially boiling water
with the leaves. That's all really, it's a big pot
that you boil and that's how you make it.
Okay, and it's all going to be takeout. Yes, there's no tables or chairs.
All right, thank you. 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'm sorry mr i did want
to note we did we did receive a copy of the letter from um dickinson square west civic and it was in
unanimous support thank you very much uh questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see the hands here planning commission thank you meg cadena planning commission staff
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing CMX-1 commercial mixed-use zoning at this location.
The proposed use is consistent with documented prior use of this property dating to the 1970s,
and the proposed use will not cause detrimental impacts to the neighborhood beyond what normally might be expected.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the special exception for eating and drinking establishment prepared food shop.
Thank you. MI 2024-004-704-1741 South 5th Street, I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Tywin, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Have a good day.
Number 13, MI 2024-004-695-4708 East Roosevelt Boulevard.
Do we have our Spanish interpreter?
If there's a Spanish interpreter in the audience, please raise your virtual hand.
Chair, we have Rosa Martinez with her hand up.
She's been unmuted.
She's the applicant.
That's right.
But do we have an interpreter first?
Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that we do.
I think the request might have been sent in with the exhibits instead of being submitted a couple weeks in advance so that we could reserve the interpreter.
So, unfortunately, it appears we'll need to reschedule this matter.
So, number 13, MI 2024, 004-695-4708, East Roosevelt Boulevard.
This case is continued.
Number two, let's see here.
Hold on a minute.
Number 14, MI 2024-004-699-4715 Pearson Avenue.
Marlon Valadares is the owner applicant.
It's a pro se.
Marlon Valladares, if you're in the audience, please raise your virtual hand.
They're coming back in as a panelist now, Chair.
There's a letter of support from the East Tarsdale Civic Association.
good morning
can you hear me
i i can could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer
marlon valladares my last name b-a-l-l-a-d-r-e-c like zebra the last one right do you swear or
affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes um our vice chair
has a few questions for you sir good morning sir have you emailed in all the required documents
and exhibits that's needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing yes
thank you sir please proceed and share your screen
and can you please turn your uh video on as well
thank you
and request spanish interpreter because my english is no no so we can't do that
and request
sir we can't do that okay what let's not hold on hold on what we're going to need to do is
we're going to have to get you an interpreter and reschedule the case okay i had my cousin
they can be my interpreter he's speaking but but but but we can't we can't accept that we need
an interpreter that's approved okay okay sorry about this but we'll be in touch with you
but we'll have to order an interpreter to handle your case and sir please please send us please
send us an email to make that request because we can't we we need a couple of weeks to be able to
make that request and have it confirmed we can't just do it the day of the hearing or the day before
I'm saying already in the 15 and the,
I sent twice the email to request the interpreter.
Okay, well, we will look into that.
But unfortunately, we don't have an interpreter here today.
I'm very sorry about that.
I sent twice because, you know, I don't understand,
but I don't want to be, say something wrong.
No, no, that's okay.
That's okay.
All right.
We will get you,
we will find you an interpreter for the next case.
Thank you.
Thank you.
So MI 2024-004-699-4715 Pearson Avenue, cases continued.
Let me just see here, number eight, did we handle eight?
We did.
Shoot.
Number two, MI 2024-001-631-2732, West Montgomery Avenue.
Teona Brown and James Mathis are the owner applicants.
Letter of Opposition from Strawberry Mansion Community Concern.
Burt was three in support, five in opposition.
Chair Teoda Brown is coming back in as a panelist now.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, Teoda Brown, T-I-O-N-A, Brown, B-R-O-W-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Our vice chair has a few questions for you.
Good morning, ma'am.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits as needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, I have.
Thank you.
Please proceed and share your screen.
Good morning.
My proposal is to bring group living to 2732 West Montgomery Avenue for young children.
I believe that this is imperative to our neighborhood.
We have over 8,000 children that are homeless and in need of care.
A little bit about myself.
I am a foster parent.
I am a teacher.
I've taught at Vox El Centro, Strawberry Mansion.
I've also been a mentor at the Bridge Intensive, which is on Lancaster Avenue.
I'm a mother, and I'm a proud person to work with young people.
We have over 8,000 homeless youth in the city, and the need is there.
We are only asking for a maximum of six young people to have group living at this address.
And I believe that when we work together as a team in the community that we can thrive.
These are some of the young people that over the last two decades that I have worked with,
having youth that would have dropped out of school, return to school, get their diplomas
or other certificates, helping teen mothers go to parenting class and getting interview
skills.
And I have a heavy base of dealing with young people who have been traumatized.
as a child of a parent two parents that were drug addicted and i have lived in every shelter there
was in the city of philadelphia being as though my mother had 10 children we have been placed
We have been placed multiple places, and I understand the need of someone to actually
multiple places and i understand the need of someone to
have love and care in their heart to offer this service.
As it is not a business, it absolutely must be a passion because it requires so very much.
We have had children who've gone on to be artists and understand how important conflict
resolution is because we understand in our challenging community at times, our children
need to be prepared to handle what's going on around their environment so that they can grow
and be successful adults. These are some of the children who have graduated high school, being
the first members in their family to receive a high school diploma, and I'm very proud of that
work. We understand that some members in the community feel like we can't have this in our
backyard, but the reality is our children are in our backyard, whether they are living in DHS,
foster care couch surfing the homelessness of our youth is in our backyard and our children
there's a federal law that man states that our children stay in the school system that they live
in and to prioritize staying in the community and i believe having the children in this community
stay in their community get enrichment and resources they will thrive some of the information
that is put out to the community is unfortunate there's always negative things put out about our
young people but we have young people changing the face of the world we have young people that
are innovative they use social media in a very positive way they are finding ways to make strings
of income come in through ways that we could never have imagined they are creating creative forces
whether it be through music or art design our children are doing amazing things and i would
believe that we should shine a light on the positivity that our children do. Our program
will also assist with cleaning our communities, something that we've been doing. I've been doing
volunteer work, having young people go out and see how important it is to be a positive asset
for the community, and we will continue that line of work. Again, our purpose is to serve homeless
youth we have age criteria we want to go with what is the most need so young people are categorized
young youth can be categorized from 14 to 18 with us only asking for one to six youth whatever the
greater need is what we would like to serve if you anyone is familiar with dhs young people can
be in the home and they can also ask for a board extension because say if we have someone 18 and
they're turning 19, they can get a board extension. And our hope is to help the older youth transition
if they are with us into independent living, because that is accessible as well. We are going