ZBA Hearing - June 12, 2024

And finally, it's the least minimum variance

simply because we're not seeking any additional development.

We're simply trying to activate what has been a vacant property

in which Mr. Sahunta had attempted to rent it,

had some difficulties with renting it,

But there was comments in the RCO letters that Mr. Suhunta said he had to go through the eviction process with certain tenants.

Mr. Sahunta said he had to go through the eviction process with certain tenants and that the RCOs were not able to find it.

That is because Mr. Sahunta previously changed his name about 15 years ago, and his name, Rajan Masi, is in the formal records and is in the chain of title.

So it is there that was not a misrepresentation by the client.

And this really is no longer rentable as viable residential space.

So with that, unless the board has any questions, I'll call Mr. Baldav Sahunta to adopt my trip.

Please do that.

Thank you very much.

Mr. Sahunta, please raise your hand.

he's been allowed to speak sir could you please state your name and spell for the course

stenographer my name is baldeeb last name is sahunta b for boy a for apple l for larry d for

david e for edward v for victor last name is sahunta s for sam a for apple s for harry

you for under, and for Nancy,

you for down, you for apple.

Swear or affirm to tell the truth,

the whole truth is nothing but the truth.

I do.

Please proceed, counsel.

Thank you.

Mr. Sahunta, you're the owner of the property, correct?

Yes, sir.

And have you heard the testimony

that I already have given in this matter?

Yes.

And do you believe it to be true and correct

to the best of your knowledge, information, and belief?

Yes.

Yes. And would you adopt that testimony as your own?

Yes. Thank you very much, Mr. Sir.

Questions from the board?

No questions, Chair.

No, Chair.

Questions or comments from our attorney? Hillary Anderson.

Just a quick clarification, Mr. Whelan.

um you had mentioned that you wanted to amend the refusal to legalize an existing office use

but you said the property was not in use right now can you clarify what you meant

my apologies if i said that i misstated it i meant to approve an office use at the property

there is not there is not an office use ongoing at the property

and we are seeking to approve it so that Mr. Sahunta and his wife can begin to run their

business out of that second floor. Okay, thank you. Sorry about that. Thank you. Questions or

comments from the virtual audience? There we have Kyle Simpson. They have been unmuted and allowed

to speak. Mr. Simpson? Mr. Simpson? Kyle Sampson, please unmute yourself. My name is Kyle Sampson,

S-A-M-P-S-O-N, president of the West Philadelphia Economic Development Council, RCO.

Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

I do. Please proceed.

Mr. Chairman, we've heard excuses. The gentleman doesn't speak English very well. He changed his name. We've heard so many excuses. This facility has been used as an office.

The gentleman said that, oh, we put furniture in there because we wanted to stage it for the Zoom meeting.

I've attached a document that shows that they've been incorporated for several years with the state.

They don't have a city license to operate.

And the applicant even talked about his client base.

So the building has been operating as an office for the American Way Home Care LLC.

That document was attached to what I gave you.

The community doesn't want a check cashing place and all that that brings to the community.

And the attorney was incorrect.

There are several residents on that block.

So we, I don't know, there's some feedback.

We totally don't want this in our community.

Okay.

I understand.

Thank you very much.

Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?

here we have vandalin warring they have been unmuted and allowed to speak

hi could you please state your name as bell for the stenographer yes hello chairman uh my name

is vandalin warring it's v as in victor a n d as in david e l y n last name w a r i n g

right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth

Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?

Yes, I do.

Oh, yeah.

Are you a neighbor?

I am the lead of the generationals of Philadelphia.

That's right. Please proceed.

Yeah. So, Mr. Whalen mentioned earlier that there were no residential, there were no RM1s near the property.

um essentially i would have to dispute that there is uh neighbors adjacent to mr um to to the

applicant uh as well as on ledlow street as well as chestnut street uh especially in in addition

the church also is residential uh next to the church is residential so i understand mr whalen

is trying to make the case uh that there's commercial properties along 57th street but there

are more residential properties within proximity of the applicant's address so that this is not

quite true so the question is are you in favor of the check cashing place or against it i am against

it thank you very much for taking the time to close or anyone else in the virtual audience

i see no further hands share planning commission

so ryan bednar city planning the property is currently split zone for both residential and

commercial on the city plan the applicant's hardship is not supported with evidence of

physical circumstances or condition of the property that we've been from being used in

conformity with the code the proposed check cashing business is not appropriate in this

building. Therefore, we recommend

the request of variance not to be granted.

Thank you.

Mr. Whalen, as we said,

we're going to hold this. Is this an

amended refusal we need, Hillary?

Yes. I believe Mr. Whalen

is seeking a second use as

well. Okay, good. So we're going

to hold this until we have

it, and once we get it. Other

than that, it's closed. Am I correct, Hillary?

Yes, it is closed. We're closed

when we get

When we've received that, then we'll schedule for a vote.

Okay?

All right.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Is there anyone else in the virtual audience who 330 case has not been called?

I've seen our hands at the time, Chair.

Thanks, everyone.

I mean, we cleared up a whole lot of the add-ons today, and I think we really got a lot of work done today, and I appreciate it.

Thank you all.

I thank you, Chair.

You do an amazing job.

I don't know about that, no.

I love it.

Jerry, you are so gracious and wonderful.

Yeah, I know.

My God, PC.

So thank you all.

Put it this way.

Put it this way.

We got through the day.

But we did clear up a lot of old work.

And I think that was the key thing.

Thank you.

Thanks to everyone.

Thanks, everybody.

Have a good one.

Good night, all.

Good night, everyone.

Good night, everyone.

Good night, everyone.