Revenue has not finished that with us yet.
We hope to finish that in the next week or so.
So Hillary, we'll start.
We'll hold the vote.
I believe that's what was recommended.
Did you talk to Hillary or her?
Yes, Mr. Chair.
Yes, that's what we'll do, Mr. Chair.
Okay, good.
Our vice chair has a few questions, Mr. Padioni.
Certainly.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Do you agree to either read another refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
i do have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to
proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing yes sir outside of the you
know tax form okay thank you please proceed and show your screen thank you
all right so we're up yeah okay again i uh represent the owner of 35 15 to uh 21 welsh road
and that's manny and we submitted earlier um refusal rco non-opposition letter letter of
non-opposition from council member the site plan the survey the lot line adjustment plan
because we're consolidating three lots into one um photographs some prior permit showing that the
proposed uses have been approved in the past a parking agreement with the holmesburg united
Methodist Church, a neighboring property for an additional 47 parking spaces and support letters
from seven or eight, six nearby neighbors. I'm sorry, six nearby neighbors. Again, this matter,
what we hope to do, this is a unique property. It is a 17,000 square foot building that was
previously one. It has now been converted to RSA 5 zoning despite the existence of the 17,000
square foot building. We propose to have parking what is now in either front or the side yards
where 3543 and 3545 are. We propose to have adult care in unit two and a banquet facility in unit
two and a sit down restaurant in unit one. Again, these were all permitted uses in the CA1 zoning
district and somewhere along the way this got changed to the rsa5 zoning district
here's our non-opposition letter from the holmesburg civic association
non-opposition letter from council member driscoll um this is the site it's a very large building
um this side is unit one that's been a restaurant this is unit two there's been a uh both
a daycare, adult care facility, and a banquet facility, and that's what we propose to use it
for. This on the corner is the 3543 and 3545 Wells Road, where 25 additional
parking spaces were added. And this building predates the change to RSA 5 zoning.
In fact, back in 2005, there was approval for a restaurant, Backwood Facility Dance Hall, and then again in 2018, this was also an over-the-counter permit for a sit-down restaurant, Unit 1 Day Care Center, with an accessory serving of food in Unit 2.
the photographs show here's the outside this is what exists here this is certainly not a an rsa5
Here's the outside. This is what exists here. This is certainly not an RSA 5 residential type of dwelling.
Just some additional photographs showing this has always been a restaurant.
Interior, it's a turnkey operation there. It's been closed for probably seven or eight years, but you can see the restaurant on the restaurant side is there.
everything is there for a restaurant. This is certainly not a RSA 5 use. And here's on the
other side where the adult care and bank facility is proposed. As you can see, again, this is
what's there. And it's basically a turnkey operation. And then the surrounding
community, the United Methodist Church's parking lot is right here. This is 3545. So it's right
across the street where we have 47 additional parking spaces and then the rest of the neighborhood
is a mixed-use type of neighborhood. So the owner, again, we're just seeking to use it as
previously approved. What happened is in 2018, it was approved for the uses and then
And somewhere along the way, he didn't operate and it lost the ability to be a by-right use.
So, again, what we're talking about here is a 225-person capacity restaurant that would operate 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week.
Unit 2 with adult care operating 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., serving up to 169 individuals Monday to Friday.
Unit 2 would also then be available for an assembly facility as now defined in the zoning code or banquet hall, operating Monday to Friday, 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., Sunday, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., with speeding up to 450 people.
Like I said, at Exhibit 11, we have an agreement with the Homesburg United Methodist Church that permits us to use their 47 parking spaces.
um again the previous use it's been approved for these uses the neighborhood supports the
continuous of this use it's just been closed for about six or seven years
these buildings given their unique situation cannot be used as single family
essentially row houses they're just not that use it's not what's there and that creates an
unnecessary hardship to the land because you can't use it as a permitted use um the variance
we believe is the least necessary and this is again what's been approved at least twice in the
past for the property. The grant of the variance won't impair public facilities, but it will allow
activation of this long vacant property. It won't adversely impact the area. In fact, the reason why
the RCA supports it is because it will bring life back to this area. It will stop this from being
a vacant building and with the attractive nuisance that's created by vacant buildings.
the owner also operates adult daycare facilities in bristol pennsylvania and has experience in
this type of business again we have the support of the community to activate this and bring it
back to what it had been in the past and for these reasons we believe you know this is truly
a unique situation for some reason they made this rsa5 zoning a few years back which really doesn't
fit what's always been here so with that mr chairman i'd like to call on manny matai
you can
hi sir could you please state your name
and spell for the stenographer
Manuel
M-A-N-I-L-A-L
last name
M-A-T-H-A-I
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth
please proceed counsel
thank you mr chairman and manny did you hear my statements in presentation to the board
yes and were the statements thrown correct yes did you adopt those statements as your testimony
yes i have nothing further for mr mathai mr chair all right questions from the board
questions from the board no questions chair
questions from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
I do not see any hands, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commission.
Amy Board with the City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing single-family designation at this location.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing.
The requested uses as a sit-down restaurant, adult care facility, banquet hall, assembly, and entertainment are consistent with documented prior use.
Parking is also in an existing condition at the site.
The planning commission therefore recommends that the board grant the requested variances for sit-down restaurant, adult care facility, banquet hall, assembly, and entertainment,
and the requested variances for parking requirements.
Thank you.
This case will be closed,
and we'll just wait on the issue relative to the taxes.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Sure, thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Mr. Chair,
before we go to the next case,
I just wanted to note,
LeBaron Leonard Palmer is stepping out
as our alternate and emily persico um is stepping in as our alternate for the rest of the afternoon
thank you emily thank you lebaron not a problem take care of her okay uh i think we're number
four we just do a sound check on emily quick just make sure that we can hear her yeah i'm here okay
thank you great yeah is this one
yes i'm here chair okay good good good okay good okay so um number 14 mi2024
001 939 1325 beach street ronald patterson is the attorney there's a letter of support from
the Fishtown Neighbors Association
with Proviso.
Letter of non-opposition
from Council Member Squillin.
Thanks for joining us,
panelist, sir.
Patterson, could you state
your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, my name is Ronald
Patterson, P-A-T-T-E-R-S-O-N.
Swear or
affirm to tell the truth, told truth, nothing but
the truth? Yes, I do.
Could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
Sure. I represent the owner,
which is LA Battery,
QOZ LLC, which is a Lubrid Adler entity,
as well as Ballers Entertainment,
which is the tenant.
Our Vice Chair has a few questions.
Good afternoon, Council.
Do you agree to either refuse or stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Have you emailed all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, I have.
Thank you, counsel. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you. Can you see my screen?
Perfect.
Okay, so thank you. This regards 1325 Beach Street, which is a large property along the Delaware River.
It's the former Pico power plant facility.
This is underdeveloped by Lubrid Adler's historical property.
It's now called The Battery and a few other things.
It has undergone an amazing transformation consisting of 161 residential apartments,
two banquet halls operated by the Chess Cafe Group, as well as placement of their headquarters office there.
the creation of 117 hotel units used by the chess cafe group for its wedding opportunities as well
as rivers casino and some office spaces i mentioned and then there's also a i'll show you on the site
clan. A 320 space surface air park. The property is located in the CMX3 commercial zoning district
as well as some overlays but the pertinent one being the North Delaware overlay. As you see
this building is massive and cavernous if you walk inside or large boilers and the like.
But it took creative thinking to be able to adapt this building for uses.
There's currently remaining a space of approximately 64,000 square feet that covers two floors.
And this application that today regards ballers, which is a use proposed that consists of for the rental of spaces for containing six pickleball courts.
three petal quarts, two squash quarts.
Three pedal courts, two squash courts, one turf soccer field, golf simulators with chip and putt and bunkers, pool room, as well as there's also a hospitality aspect of this, an amenity type, which is also supported by dining, lounge, food and beverage, we'll call it.
Again, it's rental, it's not private or membership available to the public, as well as for private events.
The refusal here is, and we'll go through these slides, the refusal here is for assembly and entertainment, and frankly, it's not the best description of the use.
It's sporting activities with food and beverage.
However, as an assembly and entertainment use, the North Delaware Overlay, while I mentioned it, requires variance relief or otherwise CMX 3.9.
You may know that the overlay was put in place historically, as far as I remember, to prevent the large nightclub proliferation that happened in the 1990s and the 2000s, which were permitted uses and caused a lot of adverse impacts.
As I mentioned, this building is large, it's voluminous, has large spaces, and coupled with
it's not the best category descriptor, it creates a hardship for finding uses that may
work here. Yet, this use, as you'll see, will have no adverse impacts on the public health,
safety, welfare, and traffic. It's surrounded by industrial properties. There are no homes there.
We already have one assembly and entertainment category use, which, as I mentioned, are the banquet halls for the Chess Cafe Wedding Group.
And so we feel that along with this, as you'll see, the occupancy is 75 for the sporting activities and 75 for the food and beverage.
Not many, not much occupancy for this size of a building.
And with the assembly and entertainment use comes a requirement of 65 parking spaces.
And as I mentioned, in the beginning, we had 320 on site that are most of them not being used.
We did meet and present it to Fishtown Neighbors Association, which provided its letter of support, as you mentioned, which therefore further supports the conclusion that this will not generate any adverse or detrimental impacts.
So with that said, I'd like to present first witness, David Guttstad.
Mr. Patterson, before we go, are you okay with the proviso from Fishtown Neighbors?
Okay, thank you.
They've been allowed to speak, sir.
Sir, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, David Gutstadt, D-A-V-I-D-G-U-T-S-T-A-D-T.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Hi, David.
Good afternoon.
Hi, Ron.
Thanks.
You've heard my opening statement.
Would you agree that it is true and accurate?
And would you adopt it as if it were your own?
Yes. Thank you. Could you briefly tell the board your vision here?
Yes. I'll flip through the slides as you speak.
Sure. Our vision here is to create a social sports complex that invites the entire city of Philadelphia to experience some new sports,
which are pickleball and the other one is padel, which is a new racket sport that's getting very popular in Europe and is coming over to the U.S.
as well as some of the more traditional popular sports like soccer, squash, and golf.
And so, you know, our vision here is to bring people together to be able to play sports
and individually, you know, with their friends and leagues, lessons, clinics.
We'll do summer camps for kids.
And, you know, it's really meant to be something that, you know,
is obviously close to the Fishtown and Northern Liberties community,