everything you need to do but i'm really sorry we need to we need it actually five days in advance
so we go through it and figure out what we need to do so i'm really sorry so at this point it's
continued to 4 29 26 at 3 30 but i'm going to make sure that the staff take a look to see if
can't get you in earlier and that this is i'm very sorry okay thank you oh sure
and do we have a ubiquitous can a translator
no they left we do have somebody hand raised um by journey um i think they're here for the
the last case that you just announced would you like for me to allow them to speak
So it's case one, MI 2024, 005-774-633 Parlin Street. Is there anyone here for that case?
633 Parlin Street. Is there anyone here for that case?
No hands, Terry.
Can we just see who the hand raised is?
Bevin Journey? I'm not sure what case that's for.
Yeah, I believe it's for the last case they had wrote in the Q&A, but I have allowed them to speak.
Got you.
Hi, good afternoon. Can you hear me?
I can. Could you please state your name and spell for this stenographer?
Yeah, it's Bevin Journey, B-E-V-I-N-J-O-U-R-N-E-Y.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
What case are you interested in?
1828 North Neutrona Street.
Okay, so what happened was we just didn't have the documents for that case.
I just wanted to make sure you were aware.
Many of the neighbors are signed on right now because we do have concerns for this.
And I just wanted to make sure, I understand that there was some confusion,
But if you guys do rehold that meeting and allow them to come early, I know that there's many neighbors signed on right now.
Well, yeah, so what we'll do is we'll make sure that we'll get the word out as we get the back.
Thank you so much. I appreciate that.
And thanks for telling us about this. We appreciate it.
No problem. Thank you.
Let me go back to number one. MI 2024-005-774-663 Parlin Street. No exhibits. This is the third listing.
and i do not see the um owner and the audience chair okay baru tashwaf listed owner and hamas
ala listed applicant
okay no handshare army no handshare okay my 2024 005 774 663 parlin street
This is the third listing.
I vote to dismiss.
Michael Johns, my vote is to dismiss.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is to dismiss.
Tanita Graham, my vote is to dismiss.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is to dismiss.
Iowan, my vote is to dismiss.
All right, we're going to start with number six, MI 2025-005-103, 329-31 North Broad Street.
Frederick Poindexter is the attorney.
i know you've been waiting patiently back there not a problem
could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
sure my name is frederick poindexter f-r-e-d-e-r-i-c-k p-o-i-n-d-e-x-t-e-r
you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do counsel could you identify your client the relationship to the property
Yes. First of all, I'm here on behalf of Saul Ewing, representing the Philadelphia Ballet as the client.
Also joined with me today is Shelley Power, Dr. Carolyn Newsome, Chief Executive Officer of the Philadelphia Ballet,
and Stephen Varenhorst, the architect of Varenhorst, the president of Varenhorst.
And our vice chair has a few questions for you, sir.
Good evening. Have you submitted all your documents five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, save for a follow-up on Monday, which we responded to, to provide additional photos.
Okay, and do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Okay, thank you. You may proceed.
You must accept the promotion for panelists.
All right, the Callahill Neighborhood Association has a letter of support.
There's non-opposition from Councilmember Squilla, and the Art Commission has a letter.
That's right. Yes, thank you.
okay uh thanks again mr chair members of the board for the hearing today and thank you for
uh your uh efforts to have us uh heard uh this afternoon uh so fred point next on behalf of the
philadelphia ballet today we have a project for signage uh related to the new construction of the
Philadelphia Ballet headquarters. And just for a little bit of context for this project,
the Philadelphia Ballet was approved for a new construction of about five-story addition to
their headquarters at the Broad Street and Wood Street intersection on North Broad. So this
signage project will be at that intersection. So the current headquarters of the Ballet are
between Wood Street and Carlton Street, further recessed from the Broad Street streetscape.
The new construction will bring them to Broad Street with five-story construction, and this
project is intended to meet that new sidewalk with something that connects the ballet to
the community and creates awareness for the events, opportunities, and performances that
the events opportunities and performances that do occur as part of ballet programming
do occur as part of ballet programming.
so i will give you a brief overview of the property here and i'd ask that the exhibits
that are on display today be entered into evidence at the conclusion of the case
apologies all right so you can see the property here between wood street and carlton street is
surrounded by CMX 4 and CMX 5 properties, we have had direct communication with each of these
property owners regarding the signage, and there have been no concerns raised in those
direct conversations. And as you mentioned, Mr. Chair, the unanimous support was received by the
RCO, along with a lot of non-opposition from Council Member Squilla, and Shelley Power will
speak to the support that we've received from other organizations and the Commonwealth later.
sorry okay so we'll start with the reason for the refusal uh one the square footage of the
signage on broad street uh is a is requiring about 70 so or so additional square feet
of of of space and there's also the digital signage that raises above the second floor
windowsill, which we're requesting the variants for. And I guess the second, these were the
additional photos for contacts that were shared with staff this past Monday. So you can see here
the box at Broad Street and Wood Street is where the signage will be placed. You can see to the
The south there is the Packard Building, and you'll see across the street will be the 444 North Broad properties, and the adjacent property across Carlton Street is also the 444 North Broad property.
You'll forgive me here. Here you can see that these are pictures from different timelines. My apologies.
But the plans, as you can see here, just a second, call for the signage is the refusal
is triggered by this digital signage here, beginning about nine feet from the ground
on Broad Street and extending about 13 feet up from there above the second floor windowsill.
And that signage wraps around the new construction onto Wood Street.
So at that intersection, this is essentially a series of five signs together,
but the refusal is triggered by the digital signage, those two together,
creating the need for the square footage and then raising above the second floor.
um and i'd like to add that the you the awareness that we're trying to create here is for
the community efforts that are being made by the ballet for outreach for student instruction and
community enrichment so with that i'd like to ask uh if the board has any questions this is
only signs that you're talking about right here it's the it's the digital sign here uh on broad
street that requires the additional square footage or in general requires the additional
square footage and the extension above the second floor windowsill here for for the signage so that's
that's the only sign you're here for it correct okay correct um you want to bring your client on
yes please uh i'd like to ask shelly power to join me
hi could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
why don't you turn that on i think it's off okay i i pushed a button try now
there we go okay thank you please state your name and spell for the stenographer yes mr chair
shelly power s-h-e-l-l-y p-o-w-e-r do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
but the truth i do please proceed counsel all right thank you shelly um did you hear my testimony
would you adopt it as your own yes thank you Charlotte can you explain the
mission and intent behind the signs and the challenges that you face with
awareness and yes our challenges are mainly because our existing building
which is only 15,000 square feet is set way back we've had this property out
We've had this property out front, and the way we have set up our Dance Innovation Lab,
front and the way we have set up our
it cannot have any windows and it can't have access from wood.
So we want to be able to have this sign to direct people around onto wood to a safe drop-off
for our children, drop-off for people coming to see a performance or for training, or actually
to join and come into our gathering space.
The gathering space is designed to bring the community in,
so we have to communicate in some way that they can go down Wood Street to enter in.
We also want to show what's going on in the building.
We think this is going to enhance the neighborhood.
It's going to bring children and families into our space
because they know it's there by seeing these images on the digital sign.
We do have support from the state, from Senator Saval and Senator Hughes,
as well as Councilmember Squilla the awareness to us is extremely important
the ballet has been here for almost 64 years now and this is the first time
we're going to have an expansive home that we're going to be able to bring the
community into we're going from 15,000 square feet to 58,000 square feet to
allow for this community engagement so it's incredibly important we can tell
them where to park from the sign we can tell them what's going on in the
building we can tell them when we're doing nutcracker at the academy of music that way
they're always in touch with us uh you went to the art commission too am i right yes we did okay
um questions from the board yes was a light study done on the sort of how much light is going to be
emanating from the sign there's a lot of uh residential buildings around that site i was
just wondering what the impact is going to be to local residents thank you for the question board
remember to my knowledge there's been no light study done but those direct conversations with
the property owners across the street and adjacent to the property we've addressed those concerns by
stating that we will not be emitting brightness greater than the code requirements and there's
also a dimming schedule in place so that at night the signage will be reducing in brightness over
time uh throughout throughout the night so that they do not disturb the residents either adjacent
on the left or south and north and across the street to the west and the digital signage only
no sound correct correct no sound other questions from the board so is this considered to be on the
avenue of the arts thank you for the question board member that question thank you yeah that's
actually one of the major reasons why we're here we believe that this is a major anchor for
stretching the avenue of the arts in north right create another anchor with the met with the
convention center so that we can say that the avenue of the art spans not just through south
broad but all the way up to north broad and this is one of the i think hallmarks of that expansion
okay um and i'm not sure if it exists anymore but at one time there was a avenue of the art
sort of um board or commission there is something weird yeah where anything that went on the avenue
of the arts had to go through them and the signage had to be anything on south broad yeah okay so but
this didn't have to go through them is that what you're saying they don't consider it to my knowledge
that north broad from beyond on the other side of city hall is is actually considered avenue of the
arts but we like to consider it as extending the arts to the north broad corridor which i think is
extremely important for the neighborhood okay thank you you're welcome other questions
questions from our attorney hillary emerson not at this time mr chair questions from the virtual
audience i see no hands chair planning commission amy boyd with the planning commission the
The comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning from the existing CMX-4 commercial mixed use.
The proposal completed the Art Commission review, which does not reflect an expression of the City Planning Commission's recommendation or opinion regarding zoning variances, special exceptions, or other discretionary approvals associated with this proposal.
The proposals in character with the surrounding properties will have minimal impact on those properties
and is necessitated by the unique physical conditions of the property.
The Planning Commission recommends that the board grant the requested variance for sign area and height.
MI 2025-005-103-329-31 North Broad Street, I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tana Graham, my vote is yes.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes.
Iowyn, my vote is yes.
You have your votes. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you for waiting so long. We appreciate it.
You have your votes.
Thank you, Mr. Ford.
Thank you, and thank you for waiting so long.
We appreciate it.
Not a problem.
Not a problem. Thank you for your service.
OK, number five, MI 2025 0047572963 North Lawrence Street. Vern Anastasio is the attorney.
This is a reconsideration hearing.
Good evening, Mr. Chair.
Good evening, counsel.
Just for the record, you've been sworn in a long, long time ago.
Yes, sir.
Can you just state your name?
Vern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O, on behalf of Mr. Donovan Brady.
And this is a reconsideration hearing.
Evidence and testimony from the prior hearing incorporated into the record for this hearing.
Scope of the hearing is limited to presentation of supplemental evidence not put on their record at the prior hearing.
So why don't we just go to you, Vern, if you want to, you can give a quick overview and then talk about what you have that's different.
Yep. We're legalizing a pre-existing three-family dwelling. Just for a point of reference, the previous exhibit packet, pages 8, 9, and 10, show the current layout of each unit, ranging from 384 square feet to 572 square feet, each with trash closets.
And also in that binder, just for a point of recollection, page 49 showed 26 signatures, all immediate neighbors in support of the variance, and I'll show you why.
Thank you. Now for the new evidence.
I'm going to just run down a brief timeline for you.
The property was renovated and converted to this triplex, we believe, around 2002.
2003, a gentleman by the name of the owner of Francesco de Jesus of 52nd 28 Masher pulled a rental license.
Property was then placed on the MLS and advertises a three-family dwelling, a triplex.
The listing that is also in the previous exhibit packet also detailed what each unit pulled in for rent.
My client then sees the MLS based on the rent rolls as a triplex and, of course, the affirmative marketing as a three-family dwelling, purchases the property, does some cosmetic upgrades, and then learns that it's noncompliant.
current owner then hired us to get the appeal as i said page 49 shows overwhelming support of the