as are all of the properties on the 8,000 block of Casterd Avenue.
And the remaining surrounding properties are RSA3 single family.
And I'll skip down, I know we're short on time.
Skipping down to page three, which is an aerial view just showing the commercial strip where my client's property is located on the east side of Casterd Avenue.
And the other surface parking lot to the south, which also has a pizza hut and the other commercial uses.
And that'll be better seen on the site photos from the ground view, which I'll scroll to now.
Which is Exhibit 4, the site photos.
Picture 1 is the existing structure, 8011 Castor Avenue.
It's a two-story structure, ground floor commercial, a residence at the second floor level, last used as a discount grocery store.
The second photo is the rear yard.
As part of the project, my client will be renovating and cleaning up the rear yard.
the properties to the south of the subject property as i mentioned there's a pizza hut next
door and fronting the next road to the south is ron street the buildings to the south also
allows a grocery store and a mailroom store farther to the south aft beyond ron street
is a pizza shop and then a bunch of other commercial uses and restaurants on the east
side of Caster Avenue. On the west side of the 7900 block of Caster, we have a Rite Aid on the
corner. And then the 8000 block on the west side, we have other commercial uses and restaurant type
uses. The bakery is on the corner. The second use is the Ron Hirsch Pub, a bar restaurant.
And the remaining structures on that block, we have a beauty salon, insurance office,
a restaurant and catering building, and a food market, Fernandez's Food Market.
and at the corner going to the north
is another building under construction
that's approved for a sit-down restaurant.
Turning the page, and I'm going to go to page five,
this is a photo of the front of the property
and the neighboring properties
on a buddy, my client's property.
Immediately next to us is Lipkin's Bakery
that's been there for generations.
They're actually closed at this point,
but the property is permitted for a takeout food use.
And then further down the block,
we have Smoke Villa and Goodwin Plumbing Supply. And farther to the north are other
office uses. I do have some interior photos. The first photo at tab five, exhibit five,
is the inside of the property. It's a complete shell. This is a vanilla box that has to be
completely gut renovated to fit it out for the restaurant use. The second photo is looking at
the second half of the front of the property towards the rear wall, towards the back door.
And then I have three photographs of the basement, which is, again, just a complete shell of a building that has to be fitted out for the restaurant use.
Exhibit six is the floor plan.
And on the note, Mr. Chairman, as we part of what the community requested is that we clean up the outside of the building on the side.
My client's going to clean up and repaint the side of the building and work with the neighbors to deal with the trash on the side of the building.
The floor plan is pretty basic where it's a small space.
My client's going to keep the existing front door that goes to the upper second floor residence.
And on the ground floor, they're going to install a new door at the front of the building,
which allows for a reception area and some tables and takeout seating at the front.
The main service area for food preparation and service is towards the center.
We do have two ADA bathrooms in the center.
and then at the rear is the sit-down, dine-in, eating area
that's currently sketched out
for about 10 tables, four seats per table.
And I'm not going to go through.
Exhibit seven are all the zoning archives
for the other properties
on the 8,000 block of Caster Avenue.
That's a 200-page exhibit
and I know we're behind schedule.
We're not going to go through all those.
But as I noted on the site photographs
for the neighborhood properties,
this block of Caster Avenue is full of other restaurant type takeout uses, similar to what
my client's requesting here. Especially with the Pizza Hut next door on one side of us and the
bakery to the opposite side, we're sandwiched between two takeout restaurant type uses.
The request here is a lease modification. It is an unnecessary hardship not to be able to use
this property for a restaurant like the other properties on this 100 block. It's a lease
modification possible. It's not going to cause any congestion in the streets.
And we'd submit that it would be a benefit to the neighborhood, which is why we have a letter
of support from the community and a non-opposition from the council person. With that, Mr. Chairman,
I would call Neural to raise his hand so that he can adopt my statements.
Neural Khan has been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Hi, sir. Could you please state your name as spelled for the stenographer?
Sir, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer.
Good afternoon, members of the board, Mr. Chair, and members of the PCP.
My name is Nurul Khan. That's N-U-R-U-L-K-H-A-N, Khan.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Please proceed, counsel.
Mr. Khan, did you hear the statements that I presented to the board today?
And were they true, correct, and accurate to the best of your knowledge, information, and belief?
Yes, that is correct.
And would you adopt my statements as your own?
Yes, I would.
No further questions, Mr. Chairman.
Questions from the board?
No questions, Chair.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Armisen?
um just quickly mr mckelhenny um mr khan was a representative of the owning entity of the
building that's correct he's a member of the lc z square llc all right thank you
why should i check comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands at this time chair planning commission
hi john love a car planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change to
the CMX1 zoning at this site. There is a documented history of the site's usage as a retail food
establishment, and the proposed use is in accordance with the surrounding area. Therefore, PCPC staff
recommends granting the variance. Thank you. MI 2024-001-797-8011 Caster Avenue. I vote yes.
LeBaron Leonard Palmer. My vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
All right.
Number 10, MI 2024-001-799-4710 Higby Street.
Joseph Vaccaro is the attorney.
There's a letter of unanimous support received from the Wissahick and Civic Association.
Joseph Vaccaro is coming back in as a panelist now, chair.
Thank you.
good afternoon can you hear me i can mr vaccaro could you please state your name and spell for
the court stenographer sir good afternoon may please the board joseph vaccaro v-a-c-c-a-r-o
and uh to my left we have uh joshua hall one of the owners of the building okay um for you sir
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Could you identify your client and their relationship to this property?
He is one of the owners of the building, and then I have James Deegan to his left, and those are the two gentlemen that own the building in faith.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to weigh the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Have you emailed, then, all the required documents and exhibits that are needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, with the exception of the letter of support, which I received this morning, and I immediately forwarded that to the board.
Thank you, counsel. Please proceed to share your screen.
Thank you very much. If I may share my screen, this is a very straightforward application.
This building, this structure is zoned as RSA 5, single family. However, there is no documented history of this structure ever having been used as RSA 5.
My clients had purchased the building for the purpose of using this property as an auto mechanic shop.
They purchased the property in approximately 2010 from a carpet company.
The carpet company was running its carpet business since the 70s.
And it's our understanding that even Ma Bell had used the property since before the carpet company to park its trucks or its telephone equipment.
And it's our understanding that that use has been going on since the 50s.
So we have a history of this.
Mr. Vaccaro, move the picture up a little bit. It's hard to see.
OK. So.
Well, that's the zoning notice.
oh oh i misunderstood you so yes yeah that's good it's a single story building it goes from
the corner of higby and van dyke till about the middle of the block there would be two bays on
There would be two bays on the inside. That's the Van Dyke side. That's the
the inside.
corner of Higby and Van Dyke. Higby is to the right, Van Dyke is to the left.
A few photos of the inside. Equipment, tools, machinery, no painting involved.
They've been working there as mechanics since 2020. They had to do a lot of repair work at the time that they purchased the building, which probably created a gap in the usage.
They have all their permits with PennDOT, except for one day a city inspector came by and noticed that this property is still zoned as RSA-5 and that they don't have the proper zoning.
Violation got hit.
The building got hit with a violation, and here we are trying to correct what's been going on for many decades.
We attended the meeting with the RCO, unanimous support.
As was stated, they have their tax clearance.
I wanted to show the deeds to the property.
Do you see the deed?
No, we see what looks like neighbors.
Okay, maybe what I'll do is I'll stop sharing, and then I'll share, and I'll find the deed here.
Now do you see the deed?
We do.
So my clients had purchased the property with a third partner back in 2010 from Barry's Carpet Workroom, Inc., and then the most recent deed – scrolling down, scrolling down – the most recent deed was in April 28 of 2010 when one of the partners had left the partnership, so now it's just Joshua Hall and James Deegan.
that owned the, that owned the property.
So it's just the two of them that are the sole owners of the property.
But as you can tell here, it was, it was initially granted to the three partners from Barry's Carpet Workroom Inc.
And if you saw the refusal, there was, there was a variance granted for a woodworking shop back in the 70s.
um i i have i have james degan okay so why don't you why don't you have one of your clients adopt
your testimony sir james come closer so that they could hear you uh john i could could you
state your name and spell for this stenographer j-o-s-h-u-a-h-a-l-l right do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do please proceed counsel thank you
joshua have you heard my uh presentation i did um would you adopt it as your own testimony if
you were to testify my mistake four owners and now three my mistake uh um anything else to add
or subtract of my uh of my presentation no none and and both of them all right thank you questions
from the board questions on the board no questions chair
no chair questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
i've seen no hands at this time chair planning commission
hi john love a car planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change to
the RSA-5 zoning at this site. However, the site's existing setup does present a hardship.
Therefore, PCPC staff recommends granting the variance. Thank you. MI 2024, 001-799-4710 Higby
Street, I vote yes. LeBaron Leonard Palmer, I vote yes. Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel. Thank you and wish our best to Mr. Holloman. I will, sir. Thank you.
Number 12. MI 2024-001-844-2461-83 North 54th Street. Eileen Quigley is the attorney. There's unanimous non-opposition from Winfield Residence and a letter of non-opposition from Council Member Jones.
Eileen Quigley is coming back in as a panelist now, Chair.
Hi, Eileen. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Unmute, Eileen. Eileen, unmute. Thank you. Thank you, Chair Bergman. My name is Eileen Quigley,
E-I-L-E-E-N, Quigley, Q-U-I-G-L-E-Y, Ballard Spar, LLP, 1735 Market Street, Philadelphia,
19103. I'm here on behalf of
St. Joseph's University.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, to hold truth
and nothing but the truth? I do.
Our vice chair has a few
questions.
My mute button.
Sorry, chair. Sure, sure. Counselor, do you
agree to what do you agree the way the read number is or stipulate to his
accuracy no we I don't agree I believe there was a transcription error on the
notice of refusal because the notice of refusal notes that the panels are 23
feet wide and four feet six inches high but they're actually 23 feet wide by 42
feet, six inches high. So we just want to note that. I want to note that it's on a record.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed and required to
proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing? Yes, we did. Thank you, counsel.
Please proceed and share your screen. Can everybody see our screen? Yes. Great. Thank you so much.
I just want to inform the board that I am here today on behalf of St. Joseph's University.
And with me are Jason Massey, who is an engineer and project manager from St. Joseph's University.
We also have Mr. Waddell Ridley, who is assistant vice president, St. Joseph's University in government and community relations.
And we're here with Brett Rowe from Rowe Fabricators, who is part of the design and project team.
just as a side note as a note while we did not believe that these textile panels were signs
ellen i disagreed with our position and as noted we are here for a sign area the textile panels