proposed use? Sure. So over to the right there, that is the actual room where the residents would
be staying. There's 20 bunk beds, which would accommodate 40 persons. They are strategically
marked at six foot apart. So that way that it does provide ample space for people to be able
to get around, but also to decrease any potential for, you know, spread of the virus and things of
that nature. As we progress, I'm sure things will be more sufficient when it comes to the virus
itself. However, it does provide six feet of space in between each bed. Over to the, as we go out of
the door over here, we have an open area and there is a storage room, which actually used to be the
old bolt to the bank. And then there is a shower bathroom area there. And then going through that
door, there is a laundry room there. And then out the, there's a door that's there off the laundry
room that goes up the steps and goes out the back towards Mount Vernon Street. And then there's a
utility room, which people don't go in, of course, it's the boiler room where you have the heater
and the hot water heater and things of that nature.
If we come back to the room itself,
over here where the cursor is,
there is a window there.
It was an old window that was already there
with an existing window well.
It was covered up with a plywood
and two pieces of plywood with some cement in between.
We had a window person replace the window.
and then also cleared out any debris that was in the window well, and then, you know, replaced the grate.
There was an old grate that was below the cement that we pulled out and then replaced the grate with a smaller one,
but that was within, you know, the requirements of the 36 inches wide.
Excuse me. Excuse me, Pastor.
What percentage of the building is in the ground?
so um when you have the lower lower level um there is about maybe about about two feet that
is above the ground and then the uh rest is uh below the ground i think the total height of that
room is about um at nine feet in some places they have columns that go down so some places
is eight feet some places is nine feet a bit um it seems to me that the original building was a bank
and the bank building is usually a secured building which means that it's difficult to
get in and to get out well actually let me uh if you don't mind the reuse may not be the best
i'm sorry i didn't i didn't hear the last part of your question i apologize
The reuse, the occupancy reuse may not be the best for that particular building.
So if I can answer there, we actually did already get approved for occupancy previously for actually a capacity of 100 people below here, but we never used it because there was really couldn't come up with the use for it.
However, there is actually four ways of exit, and if I can just re-point those out to you real quickly.
There's the window well that we mentioned here that we've, you know, installed the ladder, and that with a grate that does open.
It's actually hard aluminum, so it's very light, so people can easily open it and get out.
Over to the right of that, there's a stairwell that actually goes upstairs to the front door,
and there's also a window in that stairwell that people can you know go through as well
so you have that there for the emergency as well and then there's a second stairwell over to
the left there which they can go upstairs and either they can go out the back door on the
first floor they can go out the front door on the first floor and then we have our fourth exit there
where's the exit where that goes out to Vernon Street if it's possible one of my representatives
is actually at the facility right now.
And she is prepared on camera
to be able to do just a virtual tour real quick.
So you can actually see the setup of the room
um the uh setup of the room and also um the exits and all of that if it pleases uh the
and also the exits and all of that.
If they please just.
board i would love to be able to do that it's important to mr chairman i would object to that
mr chairman i mean uh uh that's the hard to authenticate it's the well what's up to the
board. I mean, okay. No, my objection. I'm not sure that that's something that you know.
Do you want us to continue or do you want us to reach out to the person for the visual tour?
Mr. Chairman, please proceed. You say you're calling somebody to work?
You are there. There's a what my assistant there is at the building now. She's actually
ready waiting her name is Claire Hoppin
she's actually on now
and we can have her raise her
hand and you can grab her and
she can take a give you a quick virtual
tour. I don't think we
I don't think we need that
does the board want to see it or
well I think I can understand a
bank building being
an architect myself. I think
we okay with it thank you. I'm okay
thanks
anything else
counsel
Yes. Do you believe that this use is appropriate for this area of the building?
Absolutely, because it provides, there's plenty of ventilation, there's plenty of light.
I'm going to object. He's not an expert. It looks like he's giving architectural testimony.
So noted.
it yeah okay um as far as the uh use it keeps them separated from uh the main worship hall and
allows them to have uh you know a reasonable amount of privacy but also allows us to be able
to provide uh the group instruction um we can also um make sure that we provide effective case
management and really get people moving ahead so it is the best place for it it's really hard to
put beds up in the worship area um the worship area um you know it has uh in the music equipment
and those kinds of things and then also the uh uh we have dining uh during the week when we can get
back ever we get back into the building um and then uh in addition the upstairs is offices so
it is the only place um where uh we could effectively carry out um what the purpose of
our mission is um will the variance if granted adversity impact the public health safety or
general welfare um absolutely objection same objection so noted you know the i'm not sure
what the objection is but i am an expert in homelessness i've been providing services more
than 25 years if the objection is to giving zoning and planning testimony as from a non-planner
do you believe sir in your experience in providing services to the community
right that the uh this would be a benefit to the community uh absolutely so uh as i mentioned
earlier the amount of homeless people that are in the west philadelphia community now we're serving
about 120 but as we continue to see uh the decrease of unemployment the elimination of
moratoriums on evictions we're going to see a growth in folks that are going to in need of
these services so what happens is that if we have 120 people that are currently coming in to have a
meal. We release those folks out to the street after the meal. The reality is now is that we
would actually be able to keep 40 of them inside in a control program to be able to move them
towards self-sufficiency, but also close the back door, you know, open the back door up for
homelessness where they can actually get out of it. There's plenty of people coming into
homelessness, but not a lot of back doors for them to get out. The other thing is that if we
are approved we will be the one of the only um male uh facilities in the west philadelphia
community there is a few services that are already being provided for women and children
um but there has been a true neglect for uh the homeless men in the community and that's
why we're seeing growth so this is going to provide a tremendous relief to the community
and also uh give them an opportunity to get off the streets excuse me just one more question on
basement is that basement currently sprinkled it is not a sprinkles there is fire uh fire alarms um
in the basement right now um but no but no sprinkler there's no sprinkler service thank you
and uh one of the variances was also for uh parking um is the the type of uh guests that's
coming here typically going to be driving to a homeless shelter no they're they're homeless people
they're pretty much folks that are living on the street so they would have no need for parking
so would not increase in the need for parking in the community
And we addressed the letters of support.
and we uh we address the uh letters
Did you want to address the response to the letters in opposition while you're testifying
of what the change from the RCOs sent to the recent letters, Palton and the...
Absolutely.
So in the last RCO meeting with the People's Emergency Center, who was the coordinating
RCO. We re-explained what the project was and went over everything in detail. There were a few people
that raised a question that it should have been a that we presented as a six-month program
and not a year-round program and the six months language came from where we presented that
we intended that people that were in the program would be able to transition
in a six-month period so it would be like a rotating um a door where as people come in
we get them better we get them into our programs get them into their own place and then more people
would come in they were under the oppression uh that it was um only supposed to be a six-month
seasonal program which was not the case um however um and we had agreed to um a provisio i believe
it's called provisor where we would agree to make it a seasonal if that's what the community would
be acceptable to but that was the change with a few of the RCOs we also they also were concerned
about a plan and we have presented this plan now at four different RCO meetings before the
zoning board previously what the plan was what the intake process was how we intended to proceed
forth. And we even mentioned about air conditioning. And so I know that it was not just a six-month
program because, you know, we mentioned that our intention was to make sure that we put air
conditioning before the summer season came about. But we did respond to all the concerns. There was
also concern about safety. And, you know, we assured the community the steps that we take as
far as the intake process. But also, I think one of the challenges is that there is a tremendous
amount of fear and stigmatism when it comes to homelessness. And it often points to the idea is
that all homeless people are criminals, they're violent, they're drug addicts. And it's the same
kind of stigmatism that we put on Muslims, same stigmatism that we put on people with
alternative sexual lifestyles, same positions that we put on people of color. These are the
same stigmatism that we put on people in general anytime people don't look like us or have what we
have. Just because people are poor does not make them violent. Just because people are down on
their luck doesn't mean that they're going to be a problem to society. I know rich people that are
problems to society. So it doesn't based upon what your status is. It's based upon the individual.
But we are working to make sure that people who want a leg up and want to make sure that they can
get out of their circumstance, we can provide them with that avenue and that transition.
You mentioned the proviso. Are you willing to limit the services from a seasonal basis from
October through April? Absolutely. I mean, our goal is to work with the community. And we've
been in the community now, actually, since 2008, we actually started at the Mill Creek Baptist Church.
And then in 2010, we purchased a building in West Philadelphia, finally opened it in 2015.
but we've been in the West Philadelphia community since 2008 and we've been a positive force of the
community. This year during even during the pandemic we distributed over 112,000 boxes of
food to people that were dealing with food insufficiency so we have worked with the community
constantly and did our best to make sure that we remain the positive impact and not a negative.
you're aware that Mr. DeMarco had submitted a letter June 24th raising objections to the PEC
letter of support are you are you aware of that yes I am can you address what what happened at
that meeting were you present at that meeting I was present at that you presented that meeting
I did and what what happened at that meeting regarding the voting well there's two things
One is that the PEC actually is the coordinating RCO.
They called the meeting.
They presented on Zoom.
We did make it available where people could come into our building that did not have Zoom
or did not have the technology to be able to access the meeting where they could come
in and participate as well.
And they were residents of the community.
The vote was carried out on the Zoom.
And the people that were present in the building, they actually filled out a voting slip and
they signed it, include their address, and submitted that over.
and we submitted that over to PEC and scanned it um and so those people there were 23 people that
were present um in the room so um you know and uh and I know that
into the other room. So, you know, and I know that Mr. DeMarco has decided to laugh at that
point, but I think the challenge often is that people that are voting that are poor and of color
often are denied their vote and their participation in the process because of their status. However,
these people have the right and the ability to vote if they live in the community. And so that's
number one. The number two is that the other issue was that PEC's bias, and the reality is
that PEC does provide services to those that are needed in the community, but actually that would
not make them a bias. What that would make them as an expert to really evaluate the program to
determine if it's effective. However, one of the things that I was very proud of PEC, they actually
abstained from voting, which they could have voted with no problem, but they actually abstained from
voting to make sure that there was no concern or bias. And they conducted meeting in a very
professional manner and allowed everyone to speak and allowed everyone to stress their concerns.
There was also a concern raised about not identifying the operator of the screening
company at the time of the RCO meeting. And you've already testified to that, but I just
want to reiterate, you're unable to contract with someone until you have the actual use
approved that that is correct um so it's you can't request for a contract and you don't have a place
or um the use permit to be able to um carry out what you're trying to do you can't just kind of
put in the cart before the horse um you can't have a sign a contract for something that does not
exist as of yet um first we have to get the zoning um then we also have to go through license and
inspections um there's a lot of steps to get through to be able to get this done um at this
point in junction we're trying to get permission for the use. With that I have no further questions
from Mr. Jenkins. May I cross-examine Mr. Chairman? Yes you may. Thank you. Let me start with the last
bit of testimony. Am I to understand, Mr. Jenkins, that you had 23 people in your building that were
allowed to cast a vote in the Zoom meeting on behalf of the application? That is correct.
All right. So you brought people to your building. They were in your building, in the room where you
were present, and they casted votes in favor of this project? When you're saying that I brought
them um i provided flyers out to the community um just as i provided a flyer on the door of your
clients um that provided the information where they could either attend in person or they could
come on zoom um and uh the entire community was informed and also we just sent out 134 letters
or 35 letters to the community informing them of the meeting so anyone was welcome to come it was
not a closed door. Anybody was welcome to come in and be able to participate in the meeting. These
were residents in the community that have decided to come and cast their vote. Well, Mr. Jenkins,
how did the RCO know whether they were residents or not, if they were in your building, under your
control? They actually provided their address and phone number, and so the RCO could have, if they