We have a user underneath the title Legacy Building Strategist.
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Yes, good afternoon, Chair.
My name is Camille, C-A-M-I-L-L-E, Pearsall, P like Paul, E-A-R-S-A-L-L.
Right.
Do you swear, affirm, to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you try to focus on something different than what we've already heard?
Absolutely.
I'm here actually in support of the gentlemen who are trying to open this event space.
I'm a member of the community.
I live in the zip code 19141.
I've worked with these gentlemen with various projects in the community and I'm certain if
given this opportunity to open this space though they might not know you know the proper way it
was just an idea with good intention to move forward if they are given this opportunity I'm
certain that they will bring um breathe a different type of life into the community as I said I'm a
resident here I don't work in this area I'm a resident I'm look I need somewhere to host even
let's say I want to have a harvest party for my daughter next month, but it's nowhere in my
for my daughter next month but it's nowhere in my community to have it okay because every time that
community to have it. Okay. Because every time.
the opportunity is granted and someone is willing to take the risk on a challenged community they're
shot down because it's always looked upon as negative let's look at the positive things that
they can do for the community they just participated and hosted a wonderful book big drive no one is
speaking about these things that these young men are trying to do to help empower our community
As a resident here, I believe that them opening up this event space will help us.
All right. Well, thank you very much. We do appreciate your call, and we appreciate a different viewpoint.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair. We have about four people left. Next up is Robin Jackson.
Hi. Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Yes. My name is Robin Jackson, spelled R-O-B-I-N-J-A-C-K-S-O-N.
Right. Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you state your feelings, how you feel about this property? Are you for it or against it?
I'm for the property. I live in 19141 area. I actually went to Central High School.
So I'm familiar with the area. I actually lived at 5932 Oyer Road at one point in time.
okay um so i mean as i guess you could say as a resident in the area and someone who actually
live right up the street from the event space that they're trying to create i actually think
that they should be given the opportunity to have this in the community i think that you're in favor
of it yes i am okay so i want to try to we got three people left i'm going to try to get everybody
to your point thank you for your call and thank you for offering a different viewpoint who's next
M. Logan.
Hello.
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Marcia, M-A-R-C-I-A, Logan, L-O-G-A-N.
Right.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I do, sir.
Are you in favor or against this?
I am against it.
My parents have been members of this community for over 70 years.
I still live here.
I live on the first block.
People keep saying they live in the zip code.
I live on Grange, which is where Broad and Old York Road.
Yeah, I know.
We would be the first street that would be saturated by these additional people.
That shared driveway behind, I'll be very brief, sir.
That shared driveway behind this space, it occupies a garage that is over 40 years old and structurally unsound.
Ricks are falling from it.
Well, do me a favor.
Let's concentrate on why you're against their property.
because because it how it will it will saturate our community okay traffic our our residents are
elderly and infirm all right thank you leave their homes it's traffic and the danger from crime
okay all right thank you so much for calling in who's next Robert Young Mr. Young could you
state your name and spell for the court reporter
mr young mr young you have to unmute yourself
yes can you hear me now yeah could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
yes robert young r-o-b-e-r-t y-o-u-n-g do you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth i do are you for this project or against it i'm against it okay
Okay. Do you live nearby?
Yes, I live in the 1500 block of Conlon Street.
First of all, the pictures that were shown of the property only showed the property, only showed Broad Street, showed the gas station.
No pictures were shown of the residents on the 1400 block, 1500 block, the parking that exists on those two blocks.
That is a big concern.
At our last meeting, there was also a conversation about the trash.
And the lack of security.
Mr. Young, listen a minute.
We've heard a lot of comments about it.
Is there anything else different that you can tell us than what we've already heard?
Anything different?
No, except for the fact that pictures should be shown of the residences
on common street okay okay so let me let me say this we thank you for calling in and we appreciate
your viewpoint who's left one more one more arlene berkeley okay hi could you state your name and
spell for the court reporter please miss berkeley please unmute yourself
Ms. Berkley, please unmute yourself.
Thank you.
Can you hear me?
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Yes, my name is Arlene Berkley.
Spell your name for the court reporter.
A-R-L-E-N-E Berkley B-E-R-K-L-E-Y
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Yes, I do.
Are you in favor of this project or against it?
I am a fan of it.
We need something positive in the neighborhood.
Their lawyer should have showed you the inside of the place.
The place is absolutely beautiful.
These guys have invested their money into it, and they're just waiting to open up to show exactly what they have.
All right, so thank you for calling in, and we do appreciate your viewpoint about it.
Counsel, would you want to respond to some of the comments, and please don't take more than five minutes?
Counsel?
Yes, yes, sorry, I had to unmute myself.
My dogs were barking, so I didn't want to interrupt the hearing.
What I do want to show you is, he asked about showing the interior of the premises, and I can show you that.
that what we have is we have a beautiful place that these guys have put together and yes they
did do it before. I'm going to do that. I am back to down here back to share screen and it doesn't
want to come up. I don't know why. There we go. Share screen. Are you getting these? I don't know
why it won't share. Yeah, I don't know why it won't share. Okay, so let me ask this. Just what
about all the comments were made? Where do you stand? Okay, number one, the first comments from
Mr. Robinson. Part of the problem with that is Mr. Robinson speaks of hardship. This is not a
variance. Ms. Broadus spoke of variance. This is a special exception. I know. And under case law...
And I think you made that, wait a minute, you made that very clear with us when we started.
Yeah. And what we have to show is that we have the initial duty that meets the definition of what a use exception is, that all the dimensions satisfied, that the application complies with all the criteria and meets the conditions applicable for the proposed use.
There is no indication that this private event space, not an open, you know, anybody comes in all the time, that will not be being used seven days a week, will not be booking seven days a week, is actually less of a use than an approved use of a restaurant.
These guys could walk in and apply for a zoning use of a restaurant, and it is a permitted use.
so what we have is we're not overcrowding the land we're not congesting the streets anymore
there's no evidence that there is any congestion to the streets anymore um i can tell you that
people you know maybe double park for the methadone clinic in the middle of the afternoon
um i don't know um you know we have people that we're using the term um will be interrupted by
we've established, Ms. Broadus has put in her letter, we've established that this is what's
going to happen. I don't know how they've established it, and I don't know what objective
evidence they have to establish it. But the burden becomes on them at this point to say,
oh, here's the objective evidence, and all they are telling us is what they feel they think will
happen okay this is cmx2 okay this is not rsa okay so what i what i want to do is let's i'm
going to have to bring the planning commission on to see where they stand okay yep planning
commission thank you mr chairman and good evening david effecto city planning commission
mr chairman and members of the board the comprehensive plan recommends no change
to the commercial mixed use zoning at this location the applicant has shown that the
proposed nightclub and private club will have no more of an impact than a nightclub and private
club would be expected to have. So the City Planning Commission recommends that the board
grant the special exception. Thank you. MI 2021-004-665-5832 Old York Road.
0-0-4-6-6-5-58-32 old york road i vote no
carol i was running low yeah i was running low on uh power my vote is no carol tennari
okay thank you so we're two to one for this what we're going to do is take it back
to our other members let them look at the uh the notes in the film there'll be a video of this
and then we'll re-vote it at a later date okay all right and i would just say mr chair that um
the interior and exterior photos are part of the packet that has been presented okay all right
and i'll make sure the other members of the board have copies of that okay great thank you thank you
thank you for your time all right um mi 2022 002 925 725 to 29 south broad street
jared klein is the attorney
mr klein
it's moving slow chair but he's coming back in as a panel okay all right thank you
good evening mr chair members of the board mr klein thanks for hanging in there for us could
you state your name and spell for the court reporter certainly it's jared klein j-a-r-e-d
last name is k-l-e-i-n from blank rome 130 north 18th street in philadelphia right um do you swear
to affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i do could you identify
by your client and the relationship to the property? Certainly. My client is Broad Street
725 LLC, and they are the owner. Okay. Our Vice Chair, Carl Tenere, has a few questions.
Certainly. Mr. Klein, do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its
accuracy? Yes, I do. Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance,
refusal, referral, photos under plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing,
and have you met with your CO and do you have a letter yes to all except I did not quite make the
five days but Miss Emerson was gracious enough to review my exhibit packet earlier today and
permitted me to proceed okay great you may proceed and begin by sharing your screen thank you very
much and I I know how long the board has been online today I will be as as brief as professionally
possible. This is a very simple zoning application. This is an existing or it's a building that is
under construction. It was permitted to be a six-story office tower, which was a by-right
use in the CMX3. That permitting took place pre-COVID and changes to the office market
had led my client to decide that he would rather convert the top two floors into a dwelling unit
for himself. And so this application is to use the penthouse level of the building that is under
construction as a single residential dwelling unit. Because we're CMX3, that generated the
refusal. To orient the board, this is the property here. It was formerly next door to the fire station
right on Broad Street. That's the building there. Photos for context along Broad Street and
Fitzwater, and photos of posting. This is the floor plan that my client has in mind. It'll be
a bi-level unit with two bedrooms, gym, and then a master bedroom area, a very nice size penthouse
for if you're able to be fortunate enough to own a building of this size, you can create a nice
living space for yourself. We did meet with Hawthorne Empowerment Coalition. Their letter
of non-opposition is on the screen in front of you. And I will conclude just by noting that my
client's representative, David Snyder, was unable to hang in there this afternoon. But I will adopt
and verify that he would have agreed with my testimony had he been here to hear it.
um mr klein we will we will take that testimony thank you very much questions from the board
unless you care no mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no handshare planning commission
thank you mr chairman david facto city planning commission mr chairman may i ask
the attorney one question?
You most certainly can, David.
Thank you, sir.
Mr. Klein, the refusal said that there were previously approved use.
The refusal said that there were previously approved uses.
Can you speak to what those were?
Yeah, it was a by-ride permit for an office building.
It was general professional office use.
Okay, and there's still going to be offices somewhere in the building?
There's going to be offices exclusively through the first floor, four floors.
So this is just creating the penthouse that would have had two floors of office space.
That's turning residential.
Thank you, sir.
I appreciate the clarification.
Certainly.
Mr. Chairman, members of the board, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the commercial mixed-use 3 zoning at this location.