Mr. Chairman, is that cover sheet visible?
It is.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board again.
Henry Clinton for Electrical Workers Joint Apprentice and Training Trust Fund. For brevity,
I'll just use the reference to apprentice training throughout the presentation, Mr. Chairman.
This is my table of contents containing Exhibits A1 through A11, which I asked to be admitted
into the evidence. And this is the key document. Currently, this building, it's 100% occupied lot,
two-story structure at the southeast corner of 3rd and Jackson, and it's used as a medical
facility. The history of the property is that in 1990 or so, the Strutter's New Year Brigade
purchased this property and used it as a social club on the first floor, and I'll show you the
records toward the end of the presentation, used it as a social club on the first floor and
apartments on the 2nd. In 2003, Apprentice Training purchased a building and changed the zoning to use
it as offices and classrooms to train apprentices. So the use of this building has been an office
type use since at least 1990. And we're just asking that the use be considered as a group
medical practitioner offices, because that's what it's been used as since about 2015 or 2016.
As you can see from the refusal, it's in an RSA 5 zoning district, but it is a corner property.
And as I said, and you'll see from the photographs, it occupies the entire lot.
We do have a letter of unanimous support from Whitman Council.
There's a vote 7-0, as well as a letter of support asking that no dumpsters be on the sidewalks.
We've not done that.
The client has not done that historically and obviously will agree to continue its current practice of maintaining the trash indoors.
This is a photograph of the building.
Again, this is the southeast corner of 3rd and Jackson.
You can see a handicapped ramp to enter the property.
Again, it has been used as medical offices.
Currently, it is not occupied, but that's been the historic recent use of this building.
And you can see through the rear of the property is a garage door, and that's where the trash is stored.
An aerial photograph, again, just showing the extent of the building.
To the right where my cursor is, these are solar panels.
Some interior photographs, waiting room, front desk, doctor's offices, patient rooms, and basement.
A view of the building on the other side, on Jackson Street, indicating the zoning poster, notice to everyone.
These are just rough floor plans.
Again, it's 100% occupancy of the lot, garage in the rear, offices on the first floor, as well as on the second floor.
The remaining documents are my application for appeal, our tax clearance, the zoning map.
Again, it is an RSA 5 zoning district, but for over 30 years, it has been used as an office setting.
The deed indicating ownership, 2003, by the apprentice training.
and I want to show you obviously these are notices that we went out and mailed to 186
near neighbors and this is our certification of mailing
I just wanted to show the board some of the zoning records, which support my testimony thus far.
just want to show the board some of the zoning records which support my
So this is a zoning permit from 1990, indicating that there's a social club, Strutter's New Year Brigade social club on the first, apartments on the second.
And then in the year 2000, you can see this is the apprentice training for Electrical Trust Fund.
and it was changed from a New Year's social club
to offices and classroom.
So in conclusion, I'd just like to sum up, Mr. Chairman,
we're not altering the essential character
of the neighborhood with this continued use.
As I said several times, it's been an office use
since 1990.
Currently, it was used as medical offices.
So we're asking for a variance to continue the use
as a group medical, a group practitioner's office.
We're not being harmful to the community in any way.
In fact, the community certainly supports a medical use.
It served the neighborhood well for almost a decade,
and hopefully we can get another group practitioner in there.
We do have some interest, and we hope that we can conclude a sale
or a lease to another group medical practitioner.
we are not increasing the congestion again it's been in the neighborhood for some time and we
believe that the use past as well as current is in harmony with the code as well as with
the community desires and certainly their vote. So with that I would rest Mr. Chairman and ask
my client to adopt my testimony. Mr. Myers can you raise your hand?
Nathan, I'm allowed to speak.
Hi, Mr. Myers, could you state your name and spell, please, for the court stenographer?
My name is Brian Myers, N-B-R-I-A-N, and my last name is M-Y-E-R-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Proceed, counsel.
Mr. Myers, were you on the call when I presented the project for a group medical practitioner's office at this location?
yes if you had the opportunity to testify would you adopt my testimony as your own and as true
and correct yes thank you mr myers thank you questions from the board
no mr chairman no chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
i do not see any hands with planning commission
good afternoon chair peter bernard for the planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing rsa5 single-family residential
zoning at this location however we feel the applicant has demonstrated hardship
accordingly the planning commission recommends the board grant the variance thank you
and henry you're comfortable with that interior trash storage as a proviso
Yes, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you. MI-2023-002-413-2201 South 3rd Street. I vote yes. Proviso, Interior Trash Storage.
Thomas Hallman, yes.
Ishmael Shaheem, I vote yes with Proviso.
Thank you. Thank you, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Have a great day.
Hi, Mr. Snell will be coming right back in. Number four, MI 2023, 002-420-741-43, Spring Garden Street, Stephanie Boggs, Magna is the attorney. Letter of support from the 14th Ward Executive Committee.
there will be a cba to address concerns in the future
counsel counsel could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer
yes stephanie magania last name's m-a-g-a-g-n-a right um do you swear for him to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do could you identify your client and their
relationship to this property sure my client is 741 rooster llc they're the the owner entity of
the property um which is an affiliated entity with arts and crafts so brian terry um who's with
arts and crafts is here on behalf of the applicant the owner our vice chair has just a few questions
for you yes good afternoon counsel do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate
to its accuracy? I do. Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed
I do. Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed and required
and required?
to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing? Yes, I have. Thank you. Please
proceed and share your screen. Thank you. So this property is 741 Spring Garden Street. It's located
on Spring Garden Street at the corner of Spring Garden and 8th Street. It was previously approved
for a multi-family building with commercial use of the ground floor um this construction is almost
complete um and we put up some some additional or some you know initial accessory signage for the
building um but this application is proposing the primary building identification sign for this
location um we are proposing one um accessory mechanical motion sign which will sit atop of
the existing canopy that's shown here in the photograph. So we are, we received, we submitted
our application, we'll find a refusal, and got a refusal issued by L&I. Although this is sitting
on top of a, the canopy structure above the main entrance building, they have deemed this a roof
sign. They've also issued a refusal for the motion of the sign, and its location specifically above
the second floor windowsill of the building. So we are requesting relief from those conditions
of the project. I'm going to pull up pictures of the sign. So you can see what is the sign
that is being proposed here. So it's going to be a rotating interior illuminated LED sign
sitting again above this existing canopy, the roof of the canopy, but not the roof of the
building, to be clear. And it is located kind of above our second floor windowsill as the reason
for the refusals. So we did have a chance to present these plans to the 14th Ward RCO, and we
met with them, and their letter of support is included within the packet. Their support is
conditioned on a proviso that we enter into a CBA to address two concerns that were raised by the
neighbors. The first, that the illumination of the sign be dimmed from dusk until dawn.
And the second, that we provide property contact information to the neighbors of the senior living
facility immediately next door. So I'm happy to say that we have drafted that CBA with those
provisions and have circulated it to the 14th Ward for execution. Our clients have signed that
and are happy to comply with those conditions moving forward. Specifically, as it relates to
the lighting of the sign our own residence located at the floor where the sign will be located
will be much closer in proximity to this sign than to the neighbors across the street so
not just because we don't want to disturb the neighbors but also because we certainly don't
want to disturb our own residents with the lighting of the sign that the lighting will be dimmed at
dusk and maintained throughout the day at a level that isn't disturbing to anyone around it but it
will function to identify the property along spring garden street and be consistent with not
only arts and crafts other signs along the street um but with the signage in the area so with that
i'll ask um brian to raise his hand and identify himself um and be called up for the board we also
have um ken from north standard the sign vendor here if there are any technical questions about
the sign they've been about to speak sir could you state your name please and spell it for the
court stenographer can you guys hear me yes could you state your name please and spell for the
court stenographer yep brian terry b-r-i-a-n-t-e-r-r-y right do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes proceed counsel thank you brian have you heard
my statements this afternoon yes do you believe everything i've said is accurate and correct
yes would you adopt it as your own yes thank you um if there are any questions for brian myself or
our sign vendor we're happy to take them questions from the board no mr chairman no chair
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i do not say any hands mr chair planning commission
good afternoon chair peter bernard for the planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing cmx3 commercial mixed use at this
location we feel the applicant has failed to demonstrate a sufficient hardship that
would necessitate a sign of this design accordingly the planning commission recommends the board deny
the variance. Number four, MI 2023-002-420-741-43 Spring Garden Street.
420 741 to 43 spring garden street i vote yes thomas solomon my vote is yes
james snell my vote is yes thank you thank you you have your three votes
oh yeah your council come back um we i need you again number six
M-I-2023-002-374-250 South Broad Street.
Stephanie Magna is the attorney again.
Let's see here.
It's also a signed case.
Letter of non-opposition from the Center City Residents Association
based on revised plans.
Counsel, just state your name for the record.
You've already been sworn.
Stephanie Magna.
Okay. Could you identify your client, the relationship to this property?
Yes. So our client is the Miller Theater, which is part of the Kimmel Cultural Campus.
I have Jennifer Stark, who is here on behalf of Kimmel, as well as Kelly Jennings from Exit Design, who is our sign designer.
Our vice chair has just a few questions.
we lost him for a minute thomas could you take care of that please
yes do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stimulate to its accuracy
i do not i the refusal is accurate but i don't believe it's complete um we're we're also we
believe required to get a refusal under generally table 149041. Digital animated illumination
is prohibited in the CMX5 district as well as the applicable overlays which are noted on the
refusal. Okay. Did you email all of the exhibits and documents as required five days in advance
to this hearing? Yes, I have. Thank you. Please proceed and show your screen. Yes, thank you.
so 255 south broad street um is the location of the miller theater formerly the miriam theater
it was renamed um in 2022 it's located in the middle of the kimmel cultural campus generally
between the academy music and the kimmel building itself um this application um in 2022 when the
name was changed um we had a temporary change of copy signage put up to kind of reflect the name
change that was strictly a change of copy from what was there previously reading Miriam theater
um and this application is proposing new accessory signage it will be a permanent replacement
for the Miriam theater signage that was up at this location so you can see I have photographs of
of the entrance to the sign uh or the entrance to the theater um what is showing the current
conditions of the signage that's there we are specifically proposing seven new accessory signs
It will include five flat wall signs facing Broad Street, three that will be located in the front of the marquee, the primary Miller Theater sign, as well as two signs on either side, as well as poster signs kind of here right in front of the doors of the theater.
In addition, we are proposing two projecting signs, projecting because they will be located on the side of the existing marquee.
And those will be digital animated illumination signs, extremely limited in their context, strictly to serve as a typical theater sign that advertises the time and the show of the next upcoming show or the name of the theater.
So while we recognize that having a digital projecting sign is unusual and it's prohibited under the code, which we did receive a recusal for, we wanted to clarify the extremely limited nature of the digital projecting signs.
So here is a copy of our refusal. As I stated, animated illuminated signs, which is the digital component of our projecting signs that are proposed on either side of the marquee, is prohibited.
It's prohibited in the CMX5 district as well as our overlay districts within the Center City residential area.
It's also prohibited within 200 feet of an intersection.
So we're aware of the sensitive nature of this, and Kelly Jennings is going to walk through our plan specifically to call out the programming of the sign as well as its design.
But we did have the opportunity to present the revised plans that are included within the packet to CCRA at their meeting on May 23rd, shared the designs, explained the limited capacity of the signs with them that have this digital component.
And I'm happy to say that their letter of non-opposition is shown here and it's included within our packet.
This opposition, of course, is conditioned on provisos that we are fully supportive of.
conditioned on provisos that we are fully supportive of. As I said, Kimmel is intentional
As I said, Kimmel is...
about making sure that these function, like traditional theater identification signs, to
strictly note what the time and date of the next showing is going to be, as well as the show name,
and nothing else will be shown here. So there are two provisos that are being suggested.
One, to confirm that the content of the animated signs will only display white text on a dark
background, which you'll see, as well as to limit the context of the animated signs to
either the name of the current or next upcoming show, event, or performance, and the time
of such show, event, or performance at the owner's theater, or the name of the theater
in the event that there isn't an immediately upcoming show or event.
So with that, I'll tell you, if you can raise your hand and be sworn in by the board, Kelly
is our sign designer with Exit Design, and she will walk through the specific designs
and details of the full signage package and specifically the nature of our digital signs.