they've been promoted thank you could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
my name is gwen mccauley
gwen mcc a u l e y and i am the executive director of manioc development corporation
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes i do and could you turn your video on please yes council
uh ms mccall you just uh want to make sure the record got that that you are the executive
director of the manual development corporation i am and were you in the virtual audience and
you hear my testimony i did uh is my testimony truthful it is and you adopt it as your own
i do and on a scale of one to ten how great would it be having this facility
in one location that close to the office about 11 and a half thank you
questions from the board i have just a few questions one in one of your renderings it showed
the third floor roof deck as an l-shaped deck that wrapped onto crescent street but in this
view here it shows it as a deck that's really facing uh what street is that levering street
and i just wanted clarity yes this is the only deck and it faces levering street
and there is a refusal uh that is one of the refusals bear with me i can go back up
yes because you didn't have the setback yeah
i just wanted to check because in one view you had it up against the train
right now that's the only there's one deck and it's on the second floor levering street
Right. There's one deck and it's on the second floor, Levering Street facing.
and faith.
Second floor? Because I thought your plan showed it attached to the residential unit on the third floor.
No, it's on the second floor. I can show that again.
Okay. Yeah. And then that was going to be my second question.
Because I think the second floor was listed as just storage.
And I guess because you talked about storage on the first floor as well as the employee brink room.
I just wanted more clarity about what types of things are being stored.
and what's the access to get to the second floor, since there's two entrances.
Let me see if I can bring that down.
So the staircase to the second floor is through this first floor.
All right.
The entrance to the third floor apartment is from Levering Street.
okay and this is the storage that's accessible at ground level on the first floor the second
floor storage is all dry storage the development corporation runs many events every year and
there's equipment that is used and reused there's christmas decorations that are used and reused
right now they're stored in various locations in the district in containers and we're going to be
to save the expense of those container rentals and have it all here okay all the questions and
then my last question was about the curb cut have those already been approved and reviewed by streets
department yes yes that was my question that was my question yep it's not in my materials but
they have been approved okay thank you all the questions questions from our attorney
no questions at this time questions or comments from the virtual audience
you will not see any further hands mr chair planning commission
madison matera planning commission staff the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the
existing rsa 5 residential single family zoning at this location this is an irregularly shaped
vacant corner lot the appellant issue that there are unique physical conditions or
circumstances of this property that would prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning
code planning commission recommends that the board grant the proposed variances for roof desk
deck setback maximum occupied area minimum rear yard depth and equipment and material storage
mi2026-002-287-121 levering street i vote yes michael johns my vote is yes
cheryl gaston my vote is yes tennetta graham my vote is yes
ion my vote is yes thank you counsel thank you all right number 13 mi 2026
002 396 123 to 29 chestnut tree leonard altieri is the attorney
Good afternoon, counsel.
Good afternoon, everyone.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, my name is Leonard, L-E-O-N-A-R-D.
Last name is Alteri, A-L-T-I-E-R-I, with the law firm of Claire Harrison Harvey Brandsburg.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, told the truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client, their relationship to this property?
My client is J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, who is the tenant of the subject property.
old city district has sent a letter of support and non-opposition from council member um
squillip and also a letter from uh preservation preservation alliance the vice chair has
questions for you good afternoon have you submitted your documents and exhibits five
days in advance of this hearing i have and do you waive the reading of the refusal and
super late to his accuracy i do okay thank you you can show your screen and proceed with your case
Thank you very much. So again, good afternoon, everyone. Leonard Altieri with the law firm of Clara Harris and Harvey Brandsburg for the property at 123 Chestnut Street. As you can see on my screen, it is an existing Chase Bank. What my client is proposing to do is to remove the existing flagpole, which is associated to a projecting sign along Chestnut Street, which extends currently 18 feet, three inches from the building.
If you look at the screen where my cursor is, this is the flagpole that we are speaking about.
Put another angle, you can see it again, this flagpole right here.
What our intention is, is to replace that flagpole with a new projecting sign, a new flagpole that will extend 10 feet from the building.
When you look at it from a side profile, again, the base of the pole will measure 27 feet from the sidewalk, from the grade to the top of the pole will measure 30 feet, and the proposed flagpole will also match the existing angle of the existing flagpole that we have.
When you look at it from a side profile, again, the base of the pole will measure.
What we're proposing to put on that is essentially just a projecting sign. It'll be a flag that just says Chase Bank. The flag will be 15 square feet total. It'll be 3 feet wide by 5 feet long.
it'll have weights at the bottom to stop it from really going crazy when the wind starts
blowing and the changes for a more stronger and updated pole but also it's smaller because it's
less weight that needs to be supported with regards to similarities of other projecting
signs in the neighborhood it's pretty consistent to what we have as you can see on the screen here
there's other projecting wall signs in the immediate vicinity buena vista glory kyber
pass royal fair brownies irish pub buffalo billiards etc the property itself is located
in the cmx3 community commercial and mixed-use zoning district this right here is just showing
you because it's important for the historic preservation letter what we will be doing as
noted in the historic preservation letter is removing and replacing in the exact same location
because there is a historic facade which we'll get into later but that that's just what showing
you on that. Again, CMX3 community commercial mixed use zoning district. It is also under various
overlay districts, none of which are necessarily applicable to the present application. We received
a refusal from LNI because the proposed sign is proposed to extend 10 feet, whereas four feet is
otherwise permitted. So essentially we're asking just for a relief of six feet to allow that sign
go out there as the chairman noted and as i uh alluded to earlier we do have two letters one
from the philadelphia art commission uh dated january 14 2026 uh with with conditional approval
that the flagpole is to retain the same overall design as the existing flagpole including the
anchor the color the detailing again we will comply with that and then we also have a letter
from the preservation alliance just for the record since september december 23rd 1988 the
preservation alliance is held a facade easement on the property which encompasses both the south
and west elevations this letter dated november 12 2025 shows that the preservation alliance supports
the variance in the same exact location as the existing flagpole using the exact same holes
which is exactly what we plan to do so it's a pretty straightforward simple application that's
all that i have with regards to my presentation i'd like to just have joey martino from martino
signs who's the sign vendor gets sworn in to adopt that testimony sure why could you please why don't
you get a little closer to the mic why could you please state your name is spelled for the stenographer
joseph j-o-s-e-p-h last name martino m-a-r-t-i-n-o right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth i do counsel uh mr martino were you present when i made the
presentation? Yes. Is everything that you heard accurate and true to the
best of your knowledge, information, and beliefs? Yes. And would you adopt the testimony as your own?
Yes. I don't want a whole dissertation.
What's the history of that building? That's a great question, Mr. Chairman, and I don't
have the history.
Ms. Gaston looks like she might know the history of the building.
Have you seen it once?
Yeah. Oh, I will. Next time I see you, Mr. Chairman, I'll have that in my fingertips.
That's okay. Cheryl will get it for me. I'm sure Cheryl's going to get questions from the board.
Yes, I guess just basic question. Why not use the existing flagpole?
Again, because we're going with a smaller sign, we don't need that long of a poll. It would just
look a little bit out of character. I have no question.
other questions I actually just how long is the pole right now just 18 feet 18 feet six inches I
think a huge pole yeah that's what I thought I just wanted to make sure so we're shortening it
it's eight two I just didn't know how that's almost above the street right it's 18 feet three
inches long from the facade of the building so if you look right let me show you the existing so
this is a good angle oh yeah it's 18 feet three inches from the building over from the base of
the building to the side excuse me from the base of the pole to the sidewalk is 27 feet
you know up and down but it is an 18 foot pole and all we're looking to do is a 15 square foot
sign so it's a little all right uh anything else from our questions or comments from the virtual
audience i do not see any hands raised mr chair any commission madison matera planning commission
staff the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing cmx3 commercial mixed
use zoning at this location this proposal was reviewed before the art commission on january 14
this proposal was reviewed before the art commission on january 14th 2026. the proposed
2026, the proposed
flagpole is shorter than the existing pole bringing it closer to conformance with the code
planning commission recommends the board grant proposed variants for projecting signs
mi 2026 002 396 123 to 29 chestnut street i vote yes michael johns my vote is yes
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanada Graham, my vote is yes.
Iowyn, my vote is yes.
Thank you very much, everyone. Appreciate it.
Thank you.
Number 14, MI 2026-002-739-2509 Welch Road.
Vern Anastasio is the attorney.
no not that i no a three nine i'm coming back in as a panel shortly mr chair
okay afternoon mr chair members of the board
oh you know i was talking about the other one um verne could you please state your name and
spelled for the stenographer yes it's verne anastasio a-n-a-s-t-a-s-i-o i'm here on behalf
of mr muhammad guba all right do you believe do you uh do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth i certainly do our vice chair has a few questions
for you yeah good good afternoon have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance
of this hearing i have and do you waive the read and other refusals and stipulate to its accuracy
Thank you.
You can show your screen and proceed with your camera.
Council, we have a hearing hold on this?
We do.
We have an RCO scheduled for beginning of September.
That's it.
That was it.
Thank you.
Thank you.
This is the property in question.
We're looking at an aerial view of an older part of the archives, which I'm also moving into evidence today.
This property has been a Rite Aid for the last 30 plus years.
it is zoned residential single-family home although obviously it has never been as you
can see across the street we have other commercial uses as well it's also surrounded by mostly
rm1 properties just wanted to give you some sort of perspective on the aerial of the
building itself and of course the the parking lot
so we go from a right aid to uh some family aid uh what we're looking to do here is a group
child care uh in this property that's a pretty good line did you like that okay you practice
that one well i had all day to rest you know this is my first hearing today everybody laughing that
does it that doesn't usually happen right but anyway yeah we're going from red aid to family
aid um a little less um a little less uh uh impactful uh but still the refusal of course
is because it's prohibited in the rsa3 uh district let me show you what right a looks like today
unfortunately it's just an empty space as you know right about 30 some odd years ago right
aid infiltrated neighborhoods in philadelphia causing many of the smaller mom-and-pop
pharmacies to close and then just as quickly as they came uh just recently they all evaporated so
that's this is the property in question
there's a posting as well let me get to
this is the general layout you'll see better soon i mean this is it's a big box store i mean
that's what it is there's not much to that but let me show you the vision if i may
this will be the daycare center
and I have two or three
witnesses today who will discuss what their plans are
and why it's exciting for the community. This is
some rear portions. Right now, of course, it's in pretty bad
you know, condition. That's the rare area for trash. There is a, you know, Rite Aid used to
have a drive-through for pharmacy, pick up and drop off or whatnot. We're going to be using that
for pick up and drop off of children in a way that is make sure that
Pick up and drop off of children in a way that is make sure that Welsh road is not overtaxed and that we're going to have a really nice canopy on there for folks. And of course, there's still ample parking as well.
Give you some idea of existing conditions here.
Here's the notice letter that went out, inviting everyone to both today's hearing and the September 9th RCO meeting at the Penn Crisp Gymnasium.
Northeast Community Civic Alliance did try to get us in earlier, but they were unable to do that due to their summer schedule, so the Zoning Board staff was kind enough to allow us to present today.
88 individual households have been mailed.
Let's talk about some changes to the streetscape. What we're looking at is a new facade and a glass
entrance. There will be signage against the property and of course the site will be full
cut off LED lighting for safety. It will be directed away from the neighbors. There'll be
fresh landscaping and fresh pavement with new trees shrubs and planting beds and a fully restored
parking lot the sidewalk will have full repairs there'll be curb ramps and accessible routes
throughout this is the parking situation i mean the i guess uh traffic situation is what i should
So here's Wells Road. There'll be signs for entrance and exit.
And this is this will be a covered drop off canopy around the facility where folks can drive in, drop their children off and head out.
There's also plenty of visitor parking or staff parking.
and there'll be play zones as well on the other side of the building itself
for both toddler preschool and pre-k