for some reason the tax clearance website does not like the information that i've been feeding it
i do have the proof of mail i do have the uh photos for the mailing which will be submitted
in a little bit i just have not scanned them yet otherwise we have all the information
and it's the same information from okay hearing before and the hearing before all right please
please proceed and share your screen you hillary hillary are we okay with where where we stand with
So, I kind of wish we had known this in advance. I mean, I knew, unfortunately, about the passing of Ms. Fitzgerald. I did not realize that her RCO was the coordinating RCO for this case.
um the only things that we had received so far was just proof that a mailing was done we had
no information about when a meeting had been scheduled if a meeting had occurred and i know
you're saying now that you have put some notices out to let people know you had zoom meetings we
didn't we haven't received any of that um we also don't have proof of posting for today's hearing
so we would need to see all of that before we could proceed any further with the hearing
let me share my screen
Mr. Shermer we're still having a hard time
hearing you you might want to
all right give me a minute
Hillary you said we cannot
proceed correct
I was explaining
the information that we did not have that we
need to see in order to proceed
and if Mr. Shermer has
that information we may be able to proceed
understood which i do which i do have uh i'm still not seeing the prompt to share the screen
mr sherman why don't we mr sherman why don't we do this why don't we move on
get together and we'll come back okay and that by that time you'll be able to have to share
the screen too i think you heard what hillary said you need and we'll come back to you okay
Yes, Mr. Chairman, I know.
Thank you very much.
Number nine and number eight, MI 2023-006-568-216 South 52nd Street.
Roger Perry is the attorney.
There's a letter of opposition from the general list of Philadelphia Cobbs Creek RCO.
Roger Perry has been promoted to panelists.
Roger Perry has been promoted to penalist.
Yeah, good morning. I'm here.
Good morning, counsel. Could you please state your name and spell for the court's sonographer?
Yes, Roger Perry, R-O-G-E-R, last name P-E-R-R-Y.
Where or firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client and relationship to the property?
Yes, I represent both the owner and a proposed tenant. Philadelphia Biz LLC is the owner of the property, and that's Eunice Sabir, representative of the LLC.
Our vice chair has a few questions for you, sir.
Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to weigh the reading of the refusal or stipulate towards accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits as needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, with the explanation that this is a resumption hearing, and we just added the reposting photograph and an updated tax clearance certificate.
And I also think we added interior photographs that were requested.
So all of those are with the board at this time.
I just wanted to clarify, Mr. Perry, we actually are not considering this a resumption hearing because the property was not posted at the last hearing.
So we basically need to start from the beginning.
Go through the whole thing.
Okay, no problem.
Yes, thank you.
Okay, let me try to share my screen.
So Hillary, you did receive the updated?
Yes, we have all the information that we need, yes, to proceed today.
We are fine.
I was just explaining we're not considering it a resumption
because last time the property wasn't posted.
So we have to have the hearing start over again.
Okay. Okay. I shared my screen. Can you see that? We do. Okay. So I'm going to start over. We had a presentation, but I'm going to start over as if we haven't. This property was posted originally, and those are attached at the bottom of this.
But the request here at 216 South 52nd Street, it's a small commercial in the commercial
strip there on 52nd Street.
And the request here is to put in a, it's a request for a special exception.
I should note that first.
This is the refusal.
This is not a variance request.
It's for a takeout only restaurant.
And we've had several meetings with the RCO.
And that was one of the issues at the last hearing.
but let me just run through it's been fully posted but then it was reposted for today's hearing as
well and this is the reposting this is the front of the property and so forth main entrance is here
this is the strip on 52nd street and so forth this is an updated this was added an updated
impact clearance certificate paid through 2024.
As I indicated, I represent Philadelphia's LLC,
and we probably have several people here.
The architect for the project was Group G by Jerry Gutierrez,
who's been before the board many times.
Refusal, the appeal, project in a sheet.
There was an initial notice in the mailings,
And as I said, we had several meetings with the RCO. The result of those meetings just for the boards, and I don't know if anybody's here for that, was that they requested a sit-down restaurant with several booths.
And our response was that with a view with Group G and visiting the site, these are the original postings from the original hearing, was that the site was too small and that we were going to be unable to note it.
They asked us for a diagram of the layout with a booth in here, and then they asked for two to three.
But as you can see, this is not viable.
Our position is that we cannot put in booths for three reasons here.
One is the application is for a takeout restaurant, not a sit-in restaurant.
That is a different category and so forth.
But as you can see here, if we put in booths along here, this is a small site, about 14 and a half by 50 feet.
and it would be, you know, it would be inappropriate to have people trying to sit here
and take out people coming and going, standing next to the booths and so forth and so on. Very
small. It would also require a new bathroom, maybe a compliant bathroom and so forth. So when we did
the walkthrough and everything, the problem was that we didn't feel that it would be appropriate
to try to have a sit-in restaurant when a take-out restaurant was what was requested.
We did do, so when we met with the community and this has been going on for some months
We did do, so when we met with the community, and this has been going on.
now, we did indicate that the hours would be from 10 in the morning to 11 at night,
seven days a week, commercial tracks pick up and there's storage for trash in the back
here and so forth.
We agreed to put in security cameras, sconce lighting in front.
This is 52nd Street here.
They wanted a new tree here.
We agreed to that and so forth.
This was the original posting.
And we were going to put a tree, sconce lighting, main entrance is here.
There's a stairs that goes up and down 52nd Street corridor.
Let me see if I can show you the, if you can see this, this is the interior photos that
I believe Ms. Gaston asked for at the last hearing as well.
So what we're looking for is a takeout with a counter to be in here, kitchen to be in
here, and a non-ADA bathroom, which is already plumped.
They had asked for booths along here, but it made it impossible to have a substantial takeout.
And, you know, we did studies and so forth.
This is the front where the stairs are.
Stairs are here and so forth.
So, you know, we've indicated at our meetings that this would be appropriate for a takeout restaurant.
There's been a lot of vacancies along the 52nd Street corridor.
This would add a spot of activity and so forth.
This has been to city planning, which I believe also approved it and so forth.
So in conjunction with actively putting a restaurant in here under a lease, the menu is going to be sandwiches and chicken wings and things like that and so forth.
Limit the hours to no later than 11 o'clock at night.
We feel that this would be an appropriate addition to the 52nd Street corridor here.
and we're asking for the special exception in this case for a takeout only restaurant
with that i can i don't know who's here in terms of uh you want to bring your client on this to
is nasir here or yonas one of those two may be here because they were
from the sign-in this morning.
Do you see anybody, Jason?
Okay, Naseer Shabir has the hand raised.
I won't let them speak.
Yeah, that's my client.
Hi, could you please state your name
and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, my name is Naseer Shabir,
N-A-S-I-R-S-H-A-B-B-I-R.
Where or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i do please proceed counsel thank you uh monsieur have
you uh heard my representation of uh requesting a takeout restaurant at this site uh yes i heard
that okay and uh we met several times i guess with the uh the neighborhood and it's your position
still that this would be uh inappropriate for a sit-in restaurant and you're still continuing
to request that it be a 100 takeout restaurant yes i'm going to do the 100 takeout restaurant
okay and the rest of my representations were true and correct to your best of your knowledge
information and belief uh yes thank you questions from the questions from the board so can you
CAN YOU CLARIFY WHAT THE RCO'S LETTER OR WHATEVER THEY
THEY DID SET THE LETTER TO THE BOARD. IT SHOULD BE IN THE FILE THERE. IT SAYS THAT THEY'RE
REQUESTING SEVERAL BOOTHS, UP TO THREE BOOTHS FOR A SIT IN RESTAURANT. AND WE DID HAVE
THE PRELIMINARY MEETING WITH THE ZONING BOARD INDICATED WITH HILLARY AND BOARD MEMBERS THAT
Having a sit-in restaurant does not fall under the same category in this commercial district as a full takeout restaurant, so we wouldn't be able to get a special exception.
So the board couldn't approve the booths.
So we had a walkthrough with the RCO, and we explained to them that it would be really complex to try to have people standing next to the booths.
Yeah, I heard you.
I heard you.
Thank you.
Thank you. So they just wanted to try to get a sit down restaurant. And we just said, you know, that's very good. But let's, you know, yeah, I got just wanted. I understood. I got you. I got you. Yeah, thank you. Do you know how many takeout restaurants are and that are selling the similar type food?
I don't know if Jerry is here. Jerry did a little survey for us. What's been happening, unfortunately, in this area is two or three of the
So what's been happening, unfortunately, in this area is two or three of the restaurants have closed. There was a diner down on the corner towards, I want to say Chestnut Street. There is one across the street that is a combination.
And I think that's here. Yeah, here it is here. There is one across the street that has some booths and so forth and so on. But the problem is that in the last few years since COVID, we've been losing both restaurants and other types of shops on the 50th.
I'm sorry.
I don't know what that was.
Any other questions?
Bye, Ty.
Was there an agreement about hours of operation as part of it?
It was 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.
And how many days a week is it?
Seven days a week.
I'm sorry?
Seven days a week.
All right.
Thank you.
the questions
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emberson
not at this time mr mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
i don't see any hands raised mr chair planning commission thank you chairman and good morning
David Fecto, F-E-C-T-E-A-U, with the City Planning Commission.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir, I do.
Please proceed.
Thank you, sir.
Chairman and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location
from commercial mixed use 2.5 to commercial mixed use 3.
We'd also like to note that the appellant's attorney mentioned a city planning approval.
we do not issue approvals for this type of proposal the appellant has shown that the
proposed takeout restaurant will not cause detrimental impacts to the neighborhood beyond
what might normally be expected the city planning commission recommends the board grant the proposed
special exception for a takeout thank you mi2023 006 568 216 south 52nd street i vote yes
Michael Jones, my vote is no.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tana Graham, my vote is yes.
Tana Graham, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you, members.
So, thank you.
So, number nine, MI 2024-001-175-1517 West Indiana.
Sherman Toppin is the attorney.
There's unanimous support from Allegheny West Civic Association.
They're coming back out to the panel.
Good morning, members of the board.
Good morning, counsel.
Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, my name is Sherman Toppin.