have letters to support across the street um you know these neighbors have have agreed that it's
not you know that they've supported it everybody that came to the meeting but again you know his
the way his property is set up is a little different because it's right on the side there
and literally anybody walking by is going to be driving by walking by will be able to see directly
into that yard if, you know, the four-foot opaque requirement, you know, if that had to stand. I
mean, at the end of the day, again, if there was a pool, we actually think it would benefit the
neighborhoods. People can't get into it so easily, especially if nobody's home.
Okay. Confessor?
Do you want me to?
That's fine.
do we have any questions no no question
say that again tom you're breaking up no questions oh okay i might get my phone is on the line as
well that's brown anyone else here that would like to speak in this matter chair we have alice
Udovich, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Carol, you sore her?
Alice, do you want to put your name in it?
Ms. Udovich, do you want to put your name and address on the record and spell your last name, please?
good afternoon madam chair members of the board alice udovich from councilman brian o'neill's
office city hall room 562 the councilman has no objection to the granting of the variance at this
location. Thank you. Do you swear for him to tell the whole truth and nothing about the truth?
I do. Thank you and thank you Ms. Sunkett. Are there any virtual other witnesses wanting to
testify
i see no hands madam chair okay
Okay. And the Board has no questions, Planning Commission.
and the board has no questions planned
Good afternoon, Vice Chair Tonari, members of the Board. David Fecto, City Planning Commission.
The Comprehensive Plan recommends this property for single-family use. We do not believe the applicant has shown an adequate reason for why they need a fence that is taller than the code allows and less than 50% transparent.
It is out of character with the rest of the block. We recommend the Board deny the requested variances.
this calendar number one five five nine my vote is no
my vote is uh no my vote is no my vote is yes
calendar number two oh mr chair do you want to take over can you hear me now
Yes, I apologize. I was shut me down on everything, but I'm back. All right. Calendar number MI 2020-002-706-3800 Palton Avenue.
Mr. Patterson, West Poulton, Saunders Park, 24th Ward, People's Emergency Center, Community Development Corporation, Poulton Village, Civic Association, all send a letter of support with a revised plan.
Hi, Mr. Patterson. Can you put your name and address on the record and spell your last name, please?
Sure. Thank you. Ronald Patterson, Claire Harrison Law Firm, 1835 Market Street, Philadelphia EPA 19103.
Do you swear a firm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Do you agree to wave the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral,
photos under plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing and have you met with the
RCO and do you have a letter uh yes to all the above okay great you may proceed okay thank you
um sure can you hold to see my screen
yep we can see it is it the map can you say
is it the aerial photograph yes okay great i just want to make sure what screen's working
so thank you this regards uh the address of 3800 palton avenue um it concerns and it is a
pen presbyterian hospital it encompasses a large footprint a property here spanning 38th street
Palton Avenue, Filver Street, and Sloan Street. It's approximately 12.5 acres,
which equates to about 546,000 square feet. As a picture show.
there's some of course i think we all know where this is uh here's kind of the area where we're
going to talk about so um of course there's a hospital here and related buildings that are all
permitted as a matter of right there's also a parking lot which you're looking at here
and at a parking garage that exists, it's a five-story parking garage having 676 parking
spaces that you see in this picture. So this application involves demolishing that garage
and constructing a new eight-story garage of approximately 481,000 square feet with a retail
space height of about 88 feet having 1456 parking spaces we're also looking at revising and
reconfiguring some of the open area which would create some additional
surface air parking if i can get this here is our site plan so where i'm denoting here
is the existing parking garage and the denoting here up on the left hand corner is the new garage
and below it here you'll see some additional landscaping and reconfiguration of existing
parking lot so the property is located in the cmx4 commercial zoning district as i mentioned hospital
use is allowed so is parking and what is proposed as i mentioned is this garage it's an above ground
garage the parking garage use itself is not prohibited it's it's permitted but the fact
that the garage is above ground requires special exception approval from the board and so
requires special exception approval from the board.
And so, you know, with respect to that,
we will show that this will have no adverse impact
on the public health, welfare, traffic, and safety
by showing that we've met numerous times
and had our outreach with the various RCOs,
both officially and officially noticed meetings
and also, you know, informally and formally
throughout the year or so.
as well as a traffic impact study that Pannoni has prepared to satisfy the criteria of the Zoning Code 14-603 that's required for this above ground garage.
We also were subject to and went to civic design review for this building since it is greater than 100,000 square feet of new floor area.
And that meeting was held on May 4th, 2021, and the completion letter is in my exhibit package, Exhibit 11.
So with that said, I have two witnesses, first one being Mr. Steve Cobb, if you could promote him.
Good afternoon, Mr. Cobb.
Please identify yourself, spell your last name.
I swear you in. Good afternoon, Chairman DiCicco, members of the board. My name is Steve Cobb,
S-T-E-V-E-N, C-O-B-B. You're going to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I do. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Hi, Steve. Could you tell the board
by whom you're employed and what your position is there?
i sure i'm the government director the government relations director at penn medicine
okay and obviously you're aware of this project that's why you're here and uh would you agree the
testimony and present presentation you've heard me provide is true and accurate and you would
adopt as your own so far yes uh can you briefly just tell the board uh and i'm sure it's inherent
because this is a beneficial use you know what the purpose and nature of this new garage is and what
will serve? Yes, so the current garage that Mr. Patterson mentioned is currently obsolete
and must be replaced. It's costing around $250,000 per year just to maintain in working order.
We are also looking to create sufficient on-campus parking for employees so as to
discourage parking in the neighborhood. The new garage will also allow for the campus to
accommodate for future expansion. Thank you. And as I mentioned, there was a significant
outreach effort that was undertaken. And can you kind of summarize how those meetings went
and the results? Yes, we have been meeting with the four RCOs that cover this area,
as well as near neighbors on Sloan Street for over a year now. Since September of last year,
we've met at least eight times in a group setting to discuss the plan and to discuss,
you know, the future of the campus and how to work together. We have, as of April,
was signed on April 20th, a letter of agreement with the four governing RCOs, whereby they
agree to support the project, and we set forth a number of items we're going to work together
on some features of, you know, some community benefits that are incorporated into the project
and other things like that.
And what I have on the screen, Steve, represents the culmination of those meetings and the
support by all these groups both with respect to the design pursuant to civic design review
and this requested special exception relief for the garage is that fair to say yes okay
thank you if there's no questions for Mr. Cobb I'll move on to Craig Bryson b-r-y-s-o-n
Bryson please uh identify yourself spell your full name and I'll swear you in
Mr. Bryson, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Hello?
There you go.
I hear you.
Yes, my name is Craig Bryson, B-R-Y-S-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you, Mr. Patterson.
Thank you, Mr. Patterson.
Hi, Craig.
Hi, Craig.
Again, should you tell the board where you work?
Again, she's...
Yes, I work for Pannonia Associates.
And what's your position there?
I am a vice president.
And you're familiar with this project?
And you're familiar with the plans that we've shown the board and submitted as part of this zoning permit application?
Okay. And also, Mr. Chairman, we did submit revised plans a few weeks back, which would be part of this application we'd ask you to consider.
Is it one page?
It's one page, yes.
So, Craig, you heard my testimony presentation. Would you agree it's true and accurate and you would adopt this if it were your own?
Yes. And so as to the garage, how many spaces are in this garage proposed?
The garage is proposing 1,456 parking spaces.
Okay. And then along with an additional 27 surface parking spaces, is that accurate?
That is accurate.
And we've also revised the plans to show additional landscaping and shrubbery. Is that true?
That is true.
And, you know, this is a large garage, obviously, and has some impact on the area.
And so naturally, this has gone through vetting by the streets department. Is that fair to say?
And they reviewed, such as the locations of the curb cuts, traffic circulation, the density impact and the like along that area?
Yes, they have.
And what have they concluded?
They have approved the traffic impact study.
And as part of that, they've asked for several public improvements at various intersections.
In which we've committed a lot of dollars and time, mainly focused around pedestrian safety at these intersections.
Okay, thank you.
And lastly, as I mentioned in my opening, that because this is an above-ground garage and requires special exception approval, we commissioned Pannoni to conduct a traffic impact study under the guidelines of 14-603 of the zoning code.
Is that correct?
That is correct.
And that traffic impact study can be kind of summarized or described as a level of service study?
That is correct.
And a level of service would mean that you look and you count the number of cars at the nearest lit intersections during rush hour at 15-minute intervals.
Is that accurate?
That is accurate.
and the result and the determination in accordance with the zoning code
would be that there shall be no degradation of the level of service
at those intersections?
Correct.
And what does the level of service mean?
If you could just summarize that.
It's a grade given to the operation of basically a time delay
that you're at the intersection, A being perfect, F being failure.
and you would assign a level of service A through F.
So it just means how long you wait at the intersection.
Correct.
And whether this garage will cause you to wait any longer.
You know, it's not acceptable.
And so in your report that it's on the screen here,
you concluded that there would be no degradation of the level of service?
That's correct.
we've determined that all intersections operate at an acceptable level of service.
Okay, thank you. Are there any questions for Mr. Bryson?
If not, I just wanted to include that based on the above and what we have submitted
and the testimony you've heard, that we feel that we prove there's no adverse impact on the public
health, safety, welfare, traffic. No one has, at least that I know of, has raised an objection
that that would happen. And so that coupled with the fact that we did submit to prepare the traffic
impact study, that meets the criteria of section 14.603 for granting a special exception for an
above ground garage, namely that there is no degradation of the level of service. As I
described, we would ask the word to grant this special exception relief.
Thank you. Any questions from the board?
Anyone else like to testify in this case? If so, please raise your hand.
Chair, we have Deborah McCarty. Please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Good afternoon, ma'am. Please spell your full name, and I'll swear you in.
Good afternoon, ma'am. Please spell your full name. I'll swear you in.
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon. Deborah McCarty, D-E-B-R-A-M-C-C-A-R-T-Y.
Where from to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you. Please proceed.
So I'm here representing the Pelton Village Civic Association,
and I think it's worthwhile noting that I believe Mr. Patterson misspoke