ZBA Hearing - July 26, 2023

Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?

Yes, sir.

Thank you.

John, you can overrule me. So tell me if you want me to show something else. But my ideas for maybe

the two most critical images were this colored schematic that shows the different uses within

the building and then i also have um like a sample uh floor plan that actually goes into the

apartment units on one of the upper floors um which of those do you want me to start with or

somewhere else you you take it from here uh well let's go ahead and start on the the area plans

page that you were showing originally okay um as you can see uh this is a sheet that has all five

floors the first floor being the the one that is unlike the others it has the kind of salmon red

color for the cultural center and there's there is one thing that I just now noticed this was an

this is an older version of the plan the actual 34 unit plan that we were talking about does not

have the rear blue unit next to the elevator that's actually been brought into the cultural

center so we only have two units on the first floor but if you if you look at the plan south

side of the building we have two entrances one for the cultural center directly and then another

unit or another entrance off to the side for the residential portion of the building there's

Two stair towers going up, one in the front, one in the rear, and an elevator.

So if you want to scroll over to the image on the left there, this is a pretty typical floor plan of the residential floors above.

so as you can see it's a fairly simple double loaded corridor with all of our units having

windows either on the front of the building or off to the side yards and honestly this

this was a plan that took some finagling and we did our best to get as many affordable units

for the community into this space and keep it as usable as possible so if you want to go to the next

sheet that you were showing just a sample yep you can see that all of these units are fairly

economically organized you have your entrance bathroom kitchen living area bedroom with windows

on each and every one of these with the exception to the two studio apartment sizes on the right

there those just kind of have one you know open space for the living kitchen bedroom as a studio

typically does uh and then we have a two-bedroom unit at the very front of the building uh with

two bedrooms and then kind of a central living kitchen space with the bathroom okay um john um

the next person i was going to call is going to be um mr mitchell from the developer but anything

else you want to say before i do that uh no not at this time i'm happy to answer questions later

okay um so unless the board has any questions for mr mr mitchell on sure um naeem mitchell is who

i'm looking for do we see a hand there he is yes they've been allowed to speak hi could you state

your name please and spell for the court stenographer naeem mitchell n-a-i-m mitchell

m-i-t-c-h-e-l-l right do you swear affirm tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth

yes i do proceed uh counsel thanks um so naeem the first thing i'm going to do is um have you

adopt my testimony and then i'm going to invite you to you know make any other remarks you want

So firstly, are you authorized to speak today on behalf of ICPIC and Mr. Muhammad, the two

owners of the properties? Yes. Okay. Were you able to hear my comments to this point in the

zoning case today? Yes. Were they true and accurate to the best of your knowledge,

information, and belief? Yes. And would you therefore adopt them as if they were your own

testimony? Yes. Okay. Thanks very much. And if you could, you know, just introduce your role in

your role in the project, and, you know, offer any other information you think would be useful

the project and, you know, offer any other information.

to the board. Okay. Again, good afternoon, everyone. My name is Naeem Mitchell. I'm the

Vice President of Development for Mosaic Development Partners, and we are the developer

for this project. We walk hand in hand with ICPIC and Mr. Muhammad in reference to this project.

This is not just a developmental project. It is really a community driven process and purpose.

If anyone has ever had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Muhammad, he is very passionate about the community as well as Mosaic is passionate about the community.

And it was just a match made in heaven in the sense of just being able to work together.

With this particular project, we've been very intentional from the beginning, pursuing housing vouchers from PHA.

So as Brandon stated earlier, this project is fully affordable in reference to all of the units.

We've also been intentional in reference to our fundraising efforts.

Mr. Muhammad and his team, as well as the Mosaic team, have been able to raise over $3 million in grant funding to make this project feasible.

Um, the, the entire foundation of this project is really being able to provide quality, affordable housing to the community, revitalize the 4,200 block of Lancaster Ave, and also bring back the essence and the history, um, of the community.

I can go on and on about it because I'm passionate, but I just wanted to to really speak to that and really lay that out there.

And I'm going to pass it off to Mr. Muhammad to tell you a little bit more about the community impact.

OK, thanks. So we're looking for Abdul Rahim Muhammad.

Mr. Muhammad, please unmute yourself.

Mr. Muhammad, could you state your name and spell, please, for the court stenographer?

Yes, Abdul Rahim Muhammad, A-B-D-U-L-R-A-H-I-M-M-U-H-A-M-M-A-D.

Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?

yes proceed counsel mr muhammad i invite you to make whatever comments you'd like to make um

you know particularly as the director of it pick

yes i i am the director of the islamic cultural preservation and information council

and the New Africa Center, CDC.

I've been very, very passionate about this project,

and I'm very pleased with the way that you've explained it

and that Dr. Naim expressed how this is a community-driven project.

We partnered with Mosaic Development Partners, I guess a little past two years ago, and our partnership has been like a marriage.

I mean, I feel like we're all part of one family, and they are just as passionate about uplifting our community as I am.

And when I met with Mosaic Development Partners, I told them that our development project was to preserve the legacy and utilizing arts and culture, history and neighborhood identity as an economic engine to rebuild our community.

And the underlying goal was to uplift this community and put our footprint in this community because all the gentrification going on, you won't even realize and know that African Americans had a rich, strong history in this community in another 25 years from now.

But if we continue to preserve our legacy and preserve that history, I think that will be...

and preserve that history, I think that will be a great service to uplift our community.

We can use our legacy and culture as an economic engine to rebuild our community

rather than running away from it.

And for the last 10 years, we were able to acquire these properties

And we finally had the opportunity to partner with Mosaic Development Partners and move this project forward.

And so we are just so excited about how we are looking to transform this 4200 block of Lancaster Avenue that have been collected for over close to 50 years.

But now we see a revival taking place, and we're looking to have our development project serve as the anchor for our new Freedom District.

So thank you very, very much.

Thank you.

Brandon, you're through?

That concludes our presentation.

Questions from the board?

No, Chair.

Tom?

Tish?

Chair, I'm going to recuse myself from this.

Okay. Emily? No, Mr. Chairman.

Okay, thank you. Questions or comments from the

virtual audience?

i see no handshare planning commission so ron bednar city planning your property is indicated

for neighborhood commercial mixed use on the city plan we support the grounding of the variance

thank you mi2023-001-328-4237 lancaster avenue i vote yes

Thomas Holloman my vote is yes

James Snell my vote is yes

thank you counsel thank you very much

is there anyone in the virtual audience

whose two o'clock case has not been called

I do not say yes Mr. Chair

let's let's take a five minute break let's get Mr. Kelly straight

and then we'll come back and we'll we'll finish the afternoon work

thank you everyone understood thank you chair hey hillary

hillary are you there yes yes i'm here just get me over a form and i'll and i'll fill that out

oh okay thank you

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.

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How are we doing?

There looks like all the board members are here.

I'm just checking for the court reporter.

Mr. Kelly?

Let's see.

Okay.

yes chair looks like we lost the court reporter okay let's wait we'll wait he'll be back

Thank you.

Mr. Kelly?

I'm trying to email him now, Chair.

Okay, good.

Thank you.

There he is.

Mr. Kelly, you ready?

Yes, sir.

i apologize for that just as i we were getting ready i had just sat down and my internet went

out it has now okay it's come back yes did i miss anything thank you very much did i miss anything

chair no you did not absolutely not no we're ready to roll okay thank you ready to go i'm ready to go

now okay good afternoon my name is bill bergman and i will be chairing this afternoon's zba hearing

With me is our Vice Chair, Ismael Shaheed.

Present, Mr. Chairman.

Our Board Member, Thomas Holliman.

Present, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you.

And our Board Member, James Snell.

He's here.

Okay.

Also present is Hillary Emerson, our Attorney, and our Executive Director, Tanya Sunken.

here's our virtual format be advised the proceedings are being recorded video will be available by

Be advised, the proceedings are being recorded.

The video will be available by contacting Tanya Sunkett at Philadelphia.

For the benefit of our court stenographers, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.

If you are participating by phone, if you wish to testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.

To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548.

Leave your email and the address of the property in question.

And finally, the question and answer box on the screen is not for comments or testimony.

All comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sumter.

Let's look at what we have for this afternoon.

Number five, MI 2023-000074-4745 North Penn Street.

That case has been continued.

Are there any other requests for continuances?

Good afternoon, Mr. Chair. This is Jason Hand. I'm once again co-hosting. I do not see any hand.

All right, thank you. And number one, MI 2023-003-762-160-64 North 2nd Street. That case

has been withdrawn we go to number two first mi 2023 000 397 734 jefferson street this is a

resumptive hearing murder the ferlicker is the attorney

they'll be coming back in as a panelist sir okay

Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman.

Hi, counsel. Just for the record, state your name and spell it for the court reporter.

Sure. Meredith Ferliger, F-E-R-L-E-G-E-R, with Dilworth Paxson, 1500 Market Street, Suite 3500E.

Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

I do.

Okay. The purpose of this is to check for additional public testimony.

Is there any additional comments from the virtual audience relative to this case?

There are no hands raised, sir.

Thank you.

Case number two, MI 2023, 000397, 734 Jefferson Street.

I vote yes.

yes. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes. James Snell, my vote is yes. Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes.

Thank you, counsel. Thank you very much. Number three, MI 2023-000-112-812 North Uber Street.

Henry Clinton is the attorney.

We are going to hear this with case number seven also.

And case number seven is MI 2023, 000113, 814 North Uber Street.

And, okay, Mr. Clinton.

I'm back in as a panelist.

Okay.

Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman.

Hi.

Mr. Clinton, you've already been sworn in.

Just for the record, state your name.

Sure. Henry Clinton, C-L-I-N-T-O-N.

In these two particular cases, could you identify your client in a relationship to the property?

Sure. My client is on the call. His name is Alon, and the name of the owner is 812 North Uber Street.

Great. And we also, our vice chair has a few questions for you.

good afternoon counsel do you agree to weigh the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its

accuracy i do have you emailed them all the required documents and exhibits that are needed