Thank you.
Thank you.
Good morning, everyone. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this meeting of the
Philadelphia Zoning Board of Adjustment. With me is our Board Vice Chair, Tanetta Graham.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Secretary, Cheryl L. Gaston.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Michael Johns.
He's here.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you.
Our board member, Tyah Nguyen.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board member, Ryan McAdams.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also here is our board attorney, Hillary Emerson, our zoning board director, Ian Hagerty, and our board administrator, Lakeisha Dandy.
Recording of the hearing will be posted on the ZBA website.
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You can identify the case property address on your Zoom webinar registration.
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the main exit is through the double doors at the rear of the room the nearest stairwell is to the
left outside the doors in case of an evacuation the rally point is at love park directly across
art street please remain there so we can account for you so let's look at our schedule for the
staff this morning. Number one, MI 2023 005052 2021 North Van Pelt Street. Vern Anastasio is the
attorney. I understand there may be a continuance, crutch for continuance. Good morning, Chair. This
is Jasmine, and I will be your co-host for this morning's session. Vern Anastasio will be coming
in as a panelist. Thank you. Morning, Mr. Chair. Morning. Could you please state your name and
spell for the stenographer? Sure. Vern Anastasio. A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O. You swear or affirm to tell
the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Yes, sir. Council 2021 North Manpel,
could you give us an update? We're just not ready to proceed as of yet. We need to meet again with
the RCO. We are working on it and we're pretty close. So if we can get a continuous, I would
like it to be a short one. Thank you. So the continuance we have listed right now is 7-15-26.
I think you'll have to go back in and talk to the staff if there's any... That's fine. 7-15 is great.
i think you'll have to go back in and talk to the staff if there's that there any that's fine
15 is great thank you all right thank you very much
number two um mi 2024 004 473 1000 to 52 frankfort avenue adam labor is the attorney um there's also
a um a request to uh uh dismiss this case from Fishtown Neighbors Association
Adam Laver will be joining us as a panelist okay good morning Mr. Chairman and members of the board
uh counsel could you please state your name is spelled for the stenographer
yes chairman Bergman Adam Laver L.A. V.S. and Victor E.R. right do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes mr chairman i do um could you give us
an update on this case please certainly uh blank rome now represents core equity 2 lp the uh owner
of the subject property i couldn't hear the full statement mr chairman that you were making but i
think that you go ahead so i said that i understood you may request a continuance but we have a
request for denial or dismissal received from fishtown neighbors association and mr there's
a representative from fishtown neighbors in the audience or could yes could the rep is that the
it's mr everett mr everett could mr everett come on please
while he's being let in there has been an update i'll let him speak for himself but
there was a miscommunication. Okay. Bob Everett will be coming in as a penalist.
I'm here. Sir, could you please state your name and spell for the sonographer?
Certainly. First name is Robert. Last name Everett. E-V-E-R-E-T-T.
you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do okay so um mr labor why don't we start with you thank you very much um as i said i regret that
there has been some miscommunication um and uh i believe mr everett will uh will uh state that at
this point fishtown neighbors association uh is pleased to work with my client and to schedule
a meeting. Similarly, we have been in touch with the Fishtown-Kensington Area Business
Improvement District, which is also an RCO, and Mark Collazo, I can represent, is in agreement
with that. Our client had been focused on some other projects in the community related to mutual
parking concerns, which took priority, and this went on the back burner. We are involved now,
And with the consent of this board to a continuance, I'll be reaching out to Mr. Everett and the community to to have a full, transparent and open discussion leading into hopefully a board hearing at a later date.
All right. Thank you, Mr. Everett. Could you give us comments on this case?
yes adam contacted me monday right after i sent the letter in and we're willing to go forward with
his representing his client who we have worked with on other projects in the in the neighborhood
just recently okay so mi2024 004 473 1052 frankfort avenue at cases continue to 9 30 a.m
on 7-15-26. Thank the both of you for getting on. Thank you, members of the board, and Mr. Everett, too.
Thank you.
Number 10, MI-2025-001-686-4623 Cloud Street. This case is continued, attorney moving party.
Number 11, MI-2025-004-958-5610-14 Germantown Avenue.
This case is continued until 9.30 a.m. on 7-15-26.
And MI-2025-004-967-2004 West Indiana.
this case is continued until 9 30 a.m. on 7 15 26 are there any other requests for continuances
are there any other requests for continuances
good morning chair i have three hands up sheree reed will be allowed to speak
sure sheree who sheree reed okay sure
are you good morning good morning could you please state your name and my name is
and spell for the stenographer my name is sheree reed s-h-e-r-e-e last name reed r-e-e-d
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Your case is 1809 73rd Avenue?
That is correct.
And could you tell us your status and what you're requesting?
I am requesting a special exception for my property at 1809 73rd Avenue.
But are you prepared to go on today?
Yes, I am.
Okay, so I think I said, is there any one who wants a continuance?
i i am prepared to go on today um when you said continuous i'm i'm sorry i took that as
you scheduled for later days if you're ready to go on today we'll get to you when we give
you a call okay okay all right is there anyone requesting a continuance here i have a hand up
by clementa amazon i'm going to allow her to speak okay sure
good morning chairman and members of the board good morning council could you please state your
name and spell it for the scenario of course clementa amazon that's spelled c-l-e-m-e-n-t-a
last name is spelled a-m-a-z-a-n and i'm here for 2605 germantown avenue right do you swear
or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do would you give us
update on your case of course we've met with the community um we do have their support unfortunately
we're not able to obtain tax clearance in a timely manner so if there's any way we could
have a short continuum so that we may present to the board with tax compliance we'd appreciate it
um we can um miss amazon we can still hear the case they just hold the vote for proof of tax
compliance um okay that would be fine okay we do have all of your exhibits and the property was
posted and the rco meeting occurred so we can still hear the case today okay that'd be great
all right we'll get back to you thank you anyone else what are continuance yes chair
i have one more hand up vern anastasio will be allowed to speak sure
good morning again mr chair morning council just for the record state your name you've
already been sworn sure verne anastasio this is a request for withdrawal actually yeah number five
2050 welsh road yep yep thank you mi2025-001-560-2050 welsh road that case has been withdrawn
thank you sir anyone else sir do you have a continuance
chair i do not have any more hands up at this time okay all right all right so number four
mi 2024 007 046 1513 conlin street uh carlette johnson is the current owner
um we have no update exhibits this is the third listing
chair i see no one in the audience with that name okay so this is our third listing so
mi 2024 007046 1513 conlin street i vote to dismiss michael johns my vote is to dismiss
cheryl gaston my vote is to dismiss tenetta graham my vote is to dismiss
mcadams my vote is to dismiss iowen my vote is to dismiss
thank you so mi 2025 001 581 2900 north taylor street abdul ibrahim west is the listed owner
stephen robinson is the listed applicant this is the second listing no one appeared the first time
mr west or mr robinson
chair i see no one in the audience by either name okay thank you so mi 2025 001 581 2900
north taylor street i vote to dismiss michael johns my vote is to dismiss
cheryl gaston my vote is to dismiss senator graham my vote is to dismiss ryan mcadams my vote is to
Tanetta Graham, my vote is to dismiss.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is to dismiss.
Dismissed.
Iowan, my vote is to dismiss.
Number 14, MI 2025-005-374-6241 North Woodstock Street.
Bias, Mohamed is the listed owner.
This is the first listing.
We have no exhibits.
Chair, I see no one in the audience with that name.
So MI-2025-005-374-6241 North Woodstock Street.
Cases continued until 9.30 a.m. on 7-15-26, and Mark must be heard.
Number four.
no we got that one we got that okay good all right um now we're going to do our
So number 13, MI-2025-005-362-1941, Cal Hill Street. Darlene, treat please.
darlene freak will be joining us as a penalist
good morning commissioners darling on behalf of the applicant could you please state your name
is spelled for the stenographer darlene fritt d-a-r-l-e-n-e thwart t as in thomas h-r-e-a-t-t
with darlene three associates council could you um we need proof of standing on this case
miss three who who are you representing it was not clear because there was no
deed or lease or anything included in your packet
it i'm representing dragon series llc and i do have a deed um okay if you could we just wanted
to bear if you're representing the owner that's fine can you just send we'll call this case in a
few minutes but can you send over the deed so we have that for our records yes i'll send it over
right now thank you all right thank you thank you we'll get back to it actually actually she's uh
I think the last case listed am I correct yeah she's the last case listed so we'll get back to
you before lunch okay all right thank you all right thank you we're going to go to our add-on
list number one mi 2024 006 693 7200 summers road i vote yes with proviso per amended refusal dated
january 28th 2026 maximum two dwelling units and revised plans one page stamped on zba on march 4th
2026 michael johns my vote is yes with provisos
tenetta graham my vote is yes with provisos ryan mcadams my vote is yes with provisos iowen my
vote is yes with provisos so number two and three will be heard will be voted on together
Number two, MI2025-002-577-59 East Clappier Street.
And number three, MI2025-003-893-61 East Clappier Street.
I vote yes to both with proviso.
No household living in the basement for both properties.
Michael Johns, if I vote is yes to both with provisos.
charles gaston my vote is yes to both with proviso tenetta graham my vote is yes to both
with provisos ryan mcadams my vote is yes to both with proviso hi owen my vote is yes to both with
proviso number four mi 2025 004 514 3922 mellon street i vote yes proviso maximum two units
Michael Johns, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Kaya Wynn, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Number five, MI-2025-001-344-3267 East William Street, I vote yes.
Number five, MI 2025-001-344.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tannetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes.
Marilyn, my vote is yes.
Number six, MI-2025-005-057-114 South 51st Street, I vote yes with proviso.
Trash stored inside.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Charles Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thia Nguyen, my vote is yes with proviso.
Number seven, MI 2025-005060-2148 Master Street, I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Sheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes.
Ty Owen, my vote is yes.
Number eight, MI 2025-001280-1629 South 10th Street, I vote yes with proviso.
per amended refusal dated 2-25-26.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with proviso.
Diane Wayne, my vote is yes with proviso.
So we're going to go to our first case, which is number 15.
MI-2025-005-540-311 South 60th Street.
John Carr and Lakeisha Brandy-Carr are the listed tenants and applicants.
I'm great.
John Carr will be promoted to penalize.
He is here.
Good morning, sir.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
John Carr, J-O-H-N-C-A-R-R.
All right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I swear.
All right.
This application is for use as a personal services, body art service in an existing attack structure.
no sign on this permit whereas the proposed use personal services body art services requires a
special exception approval in the cmx2 zoning district there's a letter of non-opposition
from the third ward executive committee and there's also a request for a proviso from
for hours of operation our vice chair has a few questions for you sir yes good morning have you
submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing yes okay and do you
waive the reading of the referral and stipulate to its accuracy uh yes okay all right thank you
you can proceed with your case okay um yes um as far as my case i'm opening i want to open a tattoo
parlor i've been a tattoo artist in the city of philadelphia for the last 16 years professionally
I apprenticed
and got my license the correct
way through the city from the RIP
now I'm going to be
a father of five. I have five girls
and I'm just trying to start
and provide something for my own
You're trying to
make us warmed up
right away, right?
I have two girls so I don't
know about five.
God bless you.
Thank you.
well that's the case and i mean i've been doing it the right way the whole time and i feel like
it's time for ours to have a little something and i'm just trying to could you turn your or
he's going to turn on for you your case okay your exhibits right yes i believe i am appearance i'm
here it's coming up
okay now we have all of your paperwork yes so what what I would recommend you start with photos
okay now we have all of your paperwork
and maybe drawings you have of your property okay okay um these are the external photos of the
building I don't know this is the external photo of the building on the corner just the front view
as the notice
displayed here.
Same closer front view.
This is
the corner view
of the property.
this is how long have you been in the building i've had the building since uh september okay
and this is the inside of the property open layout
first floor only yes okay that that's the walk in the door
you're all the way to the back this is the back room storage
the restroom
and that's it that's the whole building or my whole space of it
okay um do you work there alone currently yeah okay all right all right so it's just one part
that building there is that what i'm saying yes right and that address is 311 right and 309 is
next door correct okay all right questions from the board yes what's your plan for any bio materials
that you're going to have on site um there is a bio hazardous pickup that comes around and picks
up the biohazardous material that gets stored once a year okay and then you're storing it inside is
going to be in the back room or there's a uh what they're considered bio containers you just drop a
needle you drop your needle drops just like in the hospital the red containers the needle bins
that's the only bottle has everything we use is um single use only it's no extra materials
there's no liquid waste anything like that it's just the needle drop and then they come and pick
those up regularly okay and then do you right now it looks like an open space are you going to have
any uh separation yes there is uh separation dividers um pretty much folding dividers clean
wipeable uh surfaces that you can be opened up placed out to give good separation and can be
cleaned properly okay other questions and you said you're working alone for now planning to have
other people there yes i do have plan on having other artists but right now the first step is to
get open before i can hire anybody okay and then uh in the windows there what is what is that that
you have uh well i just put uh some better drapery up because next door when i purchased the place
it had that like like like next door had that brown on the windows and it just didn't look
too tasteful so i just wanted to decorate it up a little bit wow okay so you may want to check into
to whether that's considered a sign.
Signs have a broad definition.
So putting something on the windows
like that may trigger
a need to get some kind of sign approval.
Yes, I did ask my local neighborhood about it,
neighborhood board about it,
and they said that was acceptable.
Yeah, but it's not your local,
the local area folk it is whether LNI considers it yes a sign and you may need some kind of
additional approvals for that if you were just going to like some kind of just like blinds or
something or some kind of other kind of covering for the window it wouldn't be an issue but you
I would suggest that you check about whether what you have there is something that is accepted
and or whether you're going to need additional approvals to have that.
Yes, I will do that.
I have a quick question.
So I just want to, can you confirm, because I have different times that they are asking for the provisos.
So are you okay with the hours of operation from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.?
And six days a week?
Thank you.
Questions from our attorney?
um just to clarify on that the six days a week would that be monday through saturday correct
Just to clarify on that, the six days a week, would that be Monday through Saturday?
okay okay so just as so we that and you said you're you're just leasing the first floor
correct correct all right thank you questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands at this time chair planning position um yes i'm reading the excuse me i'll
be reading the recommendation of the planning commission into the record the comprehensive
plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from cmx2 to cmx1 commercial mixed use
the appellant has shown that the proposed body art services will have no detrimental impact beyond
what might be expected the city planning commission recommends that the board grant the proposed
special exception. MI 2025-005-540-311 South, 66th Street, I vote yes with proviso. First floor
only, hours 11A to 9P, Monday to Saturday. Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso. Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with proviso. Taya Wayne, my vote is yes with proviso.
thank you and and and by the way thank you for coming in and we hope you do really well because
it cost you a lot of money with five girls i'm just telling you i i i know what two was like okay
thank you all right see you all right numbers 16 mi 2025 005 546 1809 73rd avenue sheree reed is
is the uh appellant applicant
Sheree Reed will be joining us as a panelist.
Good morning.
Good morning.
We already swore you in.
Am I right?
all right so just for the record state your name my name is sheree reed all right and and and before
we start uh our attorney has uh just a question or so about your your assignment what is this right
so so i just just wanted to clarify miss reed so you had did you prepare the flyer that you
provided to us about the excuse me the rco meeting and the zba hearing is that something that you
prepared yourself actually it was not that was something that the rco actually sent over to me
i had it printed and mailed it out to uh my neighbors okay all right and thank you for that
and um i just wanted to let you know as well um so we just received them this morning we did receive
letters of opposition from the 10th ward rco as well as council member phillips office
If you do not have copies of those, I can send them to you.
I do not have copies.
Okay, I will send them to you.
Thank you.
Okay, so before we start, this application is for use as group living in an existing
attack structure, whereas the proposed use, group living, requires a special exception
approval in the RSA 5 zoning district.
Our vice chair has just a few questions, okay?
Good morning.
good morning have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing
uh yes i had well yes i have submitted all requested documents however um i received
a notification that i needed to continue sending different documents so i um i eventually sent all
of them i'm not sure if it was within five days but i started sending them a couple weeks ago
okay thank you for that and then uh the chair read your referral um just so do you stipulate
to the accuracy of the referral and waive is further reading yes okay all right thank you
you can share your screen and proceed with your case
okay first I would like to give an open a statement if that's okay sure okay so
as you all know my name is Cherie Reed and I'm proposing a group home for up to
to six boys I am totally willing to reduce the number if necessary but as of
six boys. I am totally willing
now I'm proposing a group home for six boys I am a schoolteacher in the city of
Philadelphia I have worked in education since 2006 I have also directed the
education program a youth emergency shelter at 17th and Fairmount and I'm
also adopted my mother I was raised in North Philadelphia by my mother and my
father they were my birth mother was 17 when she gave birth to me my mom who
raised me. She took me in. She raised me from the time I was a baby and loved me. And I want to be
able to give that to other children. Working at the shelter, I worked at the shelter for five years
with displaced youth, homeless youth. And although I worked in the education program, I was involved
in other capacities of the shelter. While there, my partner and I, under the leadership of Gwendolyn
Bailey, who was the executive director at the time, we offered book clubs to our students.
We offered tutoring, homework assistance. We took them places such as Broadway to see Lion King on
Broadway, the African-American Museum of History and Arts in Washington, D.C., the Blacks and
Wax Museum in Baltimore, just to name a few things that we did with the youth at the shelter.
So I have a burning passion to take care of young boys.
I'm a mother of a daughter.
She's actually just turned 30 years old, so I don't have any sons, but I do have nephews that I'm very close with.
And in addition to that, working in the school system, Philadelphia school system, I, at times I am grieved by the condition in which some of our students live.
And I want to do my part to help these young men become productive citizens of society.
So it has been a desire of mine for years to open a group home.
and purchased this home in 2021 my goal was to live here for a year or two and
then convert it it did take a little longer than a year or two but I'm here
now okay so why don't one do you do this why don't you show us your what what the
place looks like what drawings would be and you know talk a little bit about why
this would be important for you to have here why this would be compliant to do
it okay okay yes all right so the first uh photo this is the photo of the second floor bathroom um
you might want to make that a little bit bigger if that's possible
i mean we see it but i just think it would be the easier but good book okay so proceed
okay there you go there you go yeah now you got it okay all right so this is the second floor
bathroom it was newly renovated as of five years ago so it's pretty much in
the same condition this is the this is the original picture obviously I've been
living here so I didn't want to show a picture of a lived-in bathroom but this
is the second-floor bathroom this is the basement which also has a full
bathroom the basement would also could also be a living space for two of two of
the older boys this is the exterior exterior of the home
This is the kitchen, I'm sorry, trying to zoom in.
This is the living room area, which would be a common space.
those those seem to be all of the pictures that i had all right so well let me ask you this how
many bedrooms do you have in the property i have three bedrooms three bedrooms two and a half
bathrooms. And you want, where would you be putting the six boys? So each bedroom can house
two young men, but then there's space in the basement. So depending on the ages of the young
men, the ages of the boys, we would determine how we would room them. So for example,
if we have a 16 and a 17-year-old, we would be more than likely to make their living space the
basement because it's a much bigger area, and there's also a full bathroom in the basement.
The bathroom right here in the living room, that has a half bath with just a toilet bowl
and a wash bowl, and then the bathroom upstairs has a tub, shower, toilet bowl, and a vanity.
And I guess the other question I have, when you went to the ZBA, when you went to the RCO meeting,
right yes what was your sense of the way that went so I think that the RCO and my surrounding
neighbors they presented a lot of fear and concern about what a group home with six young men could
bring one of my neighbors in particular stated that she had a young daughter and
she was concerned about the young daughter and my response to that was my
home will be totally supervised with at least two staff at all times with me
overseeing the staff as well and we have a lot of experience my staff will be
trained there will be no loitering this will pretty much be run exactly like a
large household all right questions from the board what's what's the age groups
so range the children would be 17 and down so most likely 12 to 17
that's good teenagers um and and where were the where were they come from how were you
just surrounded i'm sorry referrals from surrounding agencies as i stated i have a lot
of um experience and connections with social workers and as i stated i worked at a shelter
and at the shelter what happens is when this when the youth leave the shelter they either go to a
group home they go back to their families um or uh foster care and unfortunately data shows that a
lot of times foster families aren't really accepting of older teenagers so uh so is your
goal so it's your goal if you get the 17 year olds how long would they stay with you they would stay
with me up until they are 18 years old and then we would refer them to outside agencies
that could help. But my goal is once my boys graduate high school that they would either
go into the military, that they would get in a training program, like a vocational program,
um go off to college i i have my vision for these boys is that they will become productive
taxpaying citizens the same way my mother raised me and there's no difference in just female these
are you know young men um so yeah that that that's my vision for them so at 18 if they're
not going off to college they're entering some type of program what's your what what's your plan
And if issues arise, behavioral issues, et cetera, and will you have any young adults that have any medical or substance abuse issues or require medication from mental issues?
Thank you for that question. So we plan to contract with social workers, psychologists, and mental health therapists. So my young men will receive ongoing therapy.
And what's your plan if issues arise?
Issues such as acting out in the community.
Issues such as acting out in the community, acting out in the community, whatever, any kind of behavioral issues that, you know, would would would bother other surrounding neighbors and their right to, you know, safety, privacy and quiet, etc.
Acting out in the community.
Okay. So as far as quiet, we will have a, um, we will have a curfew from, uh, 10 PM to 8 AM every day. Um, so that would limit the noise. We, we will not have any loitering on the property. Um, if a, uh, our staff will be trained to handle certain situations and, um, trained in deescalation, if it gets beyond our control.
Obviously, we would have to reach out to the closest police department, but I would hope
that we could handle everything in-house with our therapists, with our psychologists, with
our social workers, and with our trained staff, because all of our staff will be trained.
Thank you.
Other questions?
Yes, question.
so um you're saying you had three large bedrooms is that what you said yes ma'am okay and that you
were planning to try to have two of the uh young men per bedroom yes however i i will not house
more than six boys so up to six boys and as i stated the the um the basement is fully equipped
with a uh full bathroom or a window and an exterior door so uh depending on the ages so
for example if i get a two young men that are i'm sorry yeah you're you're going beyond me a little
bit okay at this point so i guess my uh concern is um you're gonna it's however many uh of these
a young menner house upstairs so there's one bathroom for those three bedrooms
there there's one that's upstairs there's one bathroom upstairs okay and then on the uh first
floor where the living space is in the kitchen there's a half bath you said yes and then in the
basement there's another bathroom there's another full bathroom in the basement yes ma'am okay so
you've got the plan is dependent on ages yes you have you know it seems a little bit
okay I think it's a little bit too many folks for the number of bathrooms but that's
that's not something we get to determine but um I'm concerned about that aspect of things okay
um yeah go ahead i'm willing to modify or make provisions absolutely because i you know i want
the best uh the bet the best possible situation or living condition for these young men so i'm
certainly willing to uh make modifications so if if if six boys are too much i'm certainly willing
to cap it at five okay but um and then this is 24 hours a day there these young men will live
there that is correct so they'll have their schooling programming yep and then you said
that you were going to have staff so where is the staff going to be and will the staff be will there
be staff like 24 hours a day too and how are you going to work that out yeah yes there will be
staff 24 hours a day we'll either have three eight hour shifts or two 12 hour shifts okay
all right and then where will the staff members kind of you know be I mean that are they I didn't
see where there was a space but you didn't do a layout so i'm not sure but oh where would i do
have a floor plan oh you do okay yes yes i'm sorry yeah you didn't show that so i'm sorry that would
be yeah ah okay there it is oh thank you okay thank you i'm sorry thank you for bringing that up
Yeah. I mean, yeah. Where would the staff kind of be as opposed to, you know, the.
So the staff would be in the in the living room in the living area. And then once I get the authorization, I get the approval. My plan was to build a small office for privacy. So a small office that so that when the just pretty much put up some sheetrock, build a wall and make a small office.
So the staff would be in the in the living room and the living.
So that when the therapists come in, the students, the young men, the residents will have a place to meet in private with the different with the social workers or with the therapist or with the psychologist.
And that will take place in the living room. Our living room is definitely big enough to create an office in the living room.
Okay. And then you were saying that you're going to have staff, but you're also going to have other therapists and things like that that are going to come in to provide support services for these young men, right?
Yes. Yes, ma'am. That is correct. So that will happen during the day, right? So there will be two staff members on duty at all times, two staff members on duty to monitor the children, to monitor the residents at all times.
If a social worker has to come in, that will be something that's scheduled. So for example, let's just say it's 4 p.m. The young men are out of school. They have a visit with the social worker. They'll come in, do their job, and then they'll go.
okay thank you thank you questions yes so where so i know you just talked about the meetings with
the social worker is the thought that that singular office is now going to be the only private
location in the building either for your staff or for outside clinicians to come in and meet with
the men the young men so as of now yes the office in the living room would be the uh only singular
space. However, I'm certainly open to modifications. So if I am instructed to build two offices,
that's something I can do as well. Like right now, I'm in the dining room area. There's more
than enough space in here to have a large table so that we can have family-style dinners as well
as build the office so i mean i question the ability to build i think these spaces are
are comfortable spaces for what's going to be eight people in this house at all times
i do think that's going to be tight once you start trying to add walls to divide
out uh an office i do have a small concern about that i also think that this current plan
and the way the basement is depicted is not going to work for uh egress right that that fourth
bedroom that you've added on this plan does it right now doesn't look like it has an egress
window um or or well um which means that like that's already a safety hazard and that common
area is really tight so i do feel like at this point i don't i don't see how this is going to
like functionally work without really limiting sort of um space with two people in the bedrooms
upstairs i think there's like not a lot of space for common area right this you have a garage so
this walks out onto a backyard i mean there's no backyard there's like it kind of goes out into an
alleyway and so i do wonder like where they're going to have downtime and also what's going to
be provided in the house for them to like use during the downtime um but those are all not
necessarily zoning issues but just comments about the floor plan okay any other questions
i'd have a real quick question so you said you live there um you used to live at the house as
a single family um house before prior to this plan yes okay and and could you just what is the
hardship of keep not keeping it as a single family um if there are are are there any other
uh group living homes on that block that you know of not that i know of
there are there are no other group uh group living homes on on this uh street
can i can i go back and address uh the question regarding office space
i i i i i think you'll have a hard time i mean i mean the issue is if you disagree with that
if you start cutting the place up it'll be a little tough i mean so i why don't you do it but
could you speed it up just a little bit okay so i i'm willing to make uh office spaces in in my
garage the garage is not used for anything other than storage so that could certainly be a space
for offices yeah okay all right can i just what so so you said early and you're
Yeah. OK. So you said early in your testimony presentation, rather, that you'd be willing to reduce the amount of students that you'd have.
And I think by right, you can have three. Unrelated. Right. Right.
Is that a thought or possibility that you could do that for a period of a couple years and then see how the neighbors sort of feel about you managing this facility?
Because I think that seems to be the issue is that you're new, you're coming to the neighborhood, you're talking about six young men, people get skeptical and leery.
but if you were to do it for a period of time with a small number and get the get the support
and buy-in from the neighbors it might be is that something you would be willing to consider
that is something that i would be willing to consider yes okay okay all right thank you
questions from our attorney not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual
audience yes chair i have a hand up by the name of osborne i'm going to allow them to speak sure
good morning good morning could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
pat osborne o s b o r n e you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth i do are you a neighbor yes please proceed yes i would like to express my opinion because
we had basically we heard the same presentation in january it was about 20 something over 20
community members on the call i think there would have been more but the communication was sent out
in the in the form of a flyer just stuck in the door so most people who would like to have
attended didn't attend um but the people on the call there was one person who voted for
the rest of the people gave many many valid reasons for why they didn't want this in the
in the community it's a valiant effort i applaud her her need to want to give back
However, this a community filled with people in this area are mainly retirees.
They don't feel comfortable.
They don't feel safe.
They express that opinion.
And it's like she disregarded our opinions and just took it directly to the Board of Appeals.
People, you know, in the area, we have to live here.
She doesn't plan on living in the areas.
if anything happens we're talking you know you brought up a question about uh if there's some
type of situation that goes on that would require possibly police intervention on the outside we
have she's talking about six boys i understand sibling rivalry there might be tension going on
within the house you know we just don't we don't want it and i think you know the fact that
she hasn't said anything that we haven't already heard she's concerned about the welfare of these
six young men but she is disregarding the feelings of the hundreds of homeowners
who have to live here with she's not going to be living in the house she won't have to deal
with any of the interactions if they hopefully there won't be any but we don't want to take a
chance in case they are this should be done in a commercial area not a residential area
okay and there's some other people on the call who would like to okay ask questions but there
was no way of um we didn't hear that they didn't hear the directions on how to ask a question
we have other hands raised okay okay all right could it next hand please how many hands do we
have chair i currently have two hands raised all right thank you very much no problem
Laylita Blackwell has been allowed to speak.
Good morning.
Good morning.
My name is Letitia Blackwell.
I am an affected neighbor.
I reside in...
Hold on, Ms. Blackwell, could you spell your name, please, for this stenographer?
L-E-T-I-T-I-A.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
And I know you're an affected neighbor.
are you in favor of this project or against i am against okay we we do appreciate you is there
anything you can tell us that hasn't already been said um my concern among other things i was on the
first one is in regards to the layout our house is nearly identical um if you look up my address
Look up my address. It was fully renovated as well. I bought this house in 2017, which has a very almost identical layout. Six people in a house along with two staff members and also office space is very concerned. I'm in my home right now. I have three people in my home, two adults, one child, and I can't see six people.
it was fully renovated as well i bought this house in 2017 which has a
Well, we have a lot of concerns in regards to what's being proposed.
We do think it's a valid effort.
We do think this could be a positive thing.
However, with the space in which she has and the location, I'm one of the younger neighbors
at 40 years old.
There's a lot of older people, a lot of retired people here in this neighborhood in which
I feel like they value their peace and quiet.
I think that this, while I think her efforts are violent, I think it would be better suited
in a bigger space and also in not in a residential neighborhood um miss blackwell we appreciate you
taking the time the calls we've heard we're listening to everything you said next hand please
we see you next hand
next hand please ginger rudolph has been allowed to speak
good morning morning good morning could you please state your name is spelled for this
stenographer yes ginger rudolph g-i-n-g-e-r-r-u-d-o-l-p-h all right do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do miss rudolph are you a neighbor
i'm four doors down from the proposed place okay so let me let me ask this are you in
in favor of this project or against i'm against thank you so much for calling in is there any
other hands no chair i see no more hands at this time uh comments from planning commission
yes um i'll read the comments of the planning commission into the record
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the RSA 5 residential single-family zoning at
this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 1977 in a council-supported map change
the appellant has shown that the proposed group living will have no detrimental impacts beyond
what might be expected the city planning commission recommends that the board grant
the proposed special exception um mi 2025 005 546 1809 73rd avenue i vote no michael johns my vote
is no cheryl gaston my vote is no tenetta graham my vote is no ryan mcadams my vote is no tyowyn my
vote is no. Thank you. Number 17 MI 2025-005-854-8129-31 Stanton Avenue.
Brea Wilson is the attorney for the owner.
There's a letter of support from the 50th Ward. The vote was six in support, three in opposition.
chair bria wilson will be joining us as a panelist right and there's a letter of opposition
from council member phillips
good morning chairman and members of the board good morning could you please state your name
and spell for the stenographer bria wilson b r i a w i l s o n council for the applicant and
property owner at 8129 31 stenton avenue rashin williams and phase 4 llc you swear or affirm to
tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do our voice chair has a few questions
good morning have you uh submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing
yes we did but we did receive an email on march 2nd that everything was not received
um since then we did um submit everything except for the deed as my client inserted into a purchase
money mortgage so he does not have the deed yet um but we do have the mortgage and the settlement
statement yes that should be fine thank you okay thank you and do you waive the reading of the
referral and stipulate to its accuracy yes i do all right thank you can share your screen
and proceed with your case all righty thank you again um today i am joined by the members of the
llc rasheen williams james holloway bruce williams kyrie cox and i'm also joined by chelsea cox from
C2 Consulting who presented to the RCO and will speak more about the property
after I share the submitted exhibits.
and can you see my screen we can okay great um so first we have the notice of referral whereas
the proposed use for takeout restaurant requires special exceptions approval from the board in the
CMX 2 commercial zoning districts. Excuse me. Okay. Next, we have the letter of support from
the RCO showing that we met with the RCO in accordance with section 14.30312. I'm sorry,
my screen is a little out of the way. Okay. Let me show it this way. All right.
And we discussed our, the RCO discussed their concerns with us and they respectfully requested
the Zoning Board grant the applicant's appeal. This is the mailing list for all of the neighbors
in the area who were notified of the hearing by mail. This is the settlement statement.
the board's indulgence one
and this is the mortgage
this is the mortgage so the mortgage was dated
march 17 2021 showing that phase 4 llc is the equitable owner of this property
so i think where we where we need to be now she should show us drawings of the property
and or photos too okay okay all righty so and that's the you're posting yes this is the the
public posting of the property then we have excuse me the outside of the
property with also public posting on outside of that the inside of the
property and I will now pass it over to Chelsea Cox to speak more about what she
discussed with the RCO and to present more about the property are you calling
her as a witness yes i'm sorry i will now call chelsea cox to raise her virtual hand
so she can be unmuted to share okay could you please state your name and spell for the
stenographer and please unmute thank you sure uh my name is good morning my name is chelsea cox
it's spelled c-h-e-l-s-e-a uh last name is spelled cox is c-o-x do you swear or firm to tell the
truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes it's your witness okay also is it okay if i share
my screen to show a presentation really quick prior to answering any questions i think this may
tell me what you're you're going to show like yeah sure sure sure so i during the rco meeting
uh the team and i put together a presentation to just highlight the project the purpose of
project some background information and just some ideas of how we're going to proceed forward with
the project so um we so because the the property is owned by an llc they have to be represented by
an attorney but for the board the attorney the attorney can call witnesses but you can't present
as if you're representing the llc so i mean your your council can ask you questions and you can
show you can show us a presentation but your council kind of needs to ask some questions to
bring the information into the record and that is fine i will present and then i will ask her
questions at the end of the presentation all right can you see my screen again yes all righty
okay i'm sorry my screen is a little bit out of weight tonight all righty so again um our goal
is to transition the commercial space located at 8129 31 stenton avenue to a fully functioning
takeout restaurant it was formerly a barbershop um the new concept will take out restaurant oh
excuse me it will be a takeout restaurant only with the menu focused on various cheese steaks
all ages welcome with no alcohol to be served the goal here is to create jobs focus on menu
offerings and contribute to corridor revitalization the current zoning is cmx2 the proposed proposed
use is cmx2 changing the use of the business to this um retail excuse me to take out only
there will be no structure structural additions added only interior fit out and signage updates
Prior zoning hearing included in addition of a takeout window.
Prior zoning hearing included an addition of a takeout window. The hours of operation are from Sunday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Monday to Saturday 11 p.m. 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
We anticipate on average to have 50 patrons per day and it's a patient of that is four months of estimated time it will take to complete the project and open the restaurant.
So here we also have the eateries that are also like right next to this property on Stan Avenue. So here our property will be welcome to all ages, open all year round, have operations that will be at a proper time ending at 9 and 10 p.m. and revitalization strategies to implement and to incorporate the community in these strategies moving forward for us to
continue with our goal of having that clean corridor.
All right, so the takeout model,
as we said, we'll have a takeout window
that takeout model minimizes on-site wait times
and it will already be existing on-street parking
that will adequately serve the customer needs.
There also has been a proposal to get a loading zone
placed at the corner of the streets
at the front of the restaurant,
which will minimize the congestion of the parking that was a concern for the RCO.
So the community benefits. Benefits will be job creation, commercial revitalization, different food options, as that is a food desert.
So we do understand that, and it is important for us to create more food options for the residents and families in that community.
youth employment, as well as local vending, and definitely a community focus around pride and local economic growth.
So for safety and operations, we'll be in full compliance with fire and health codes.
We plan to have proper ventilation and grease management systems installed.
the staff will be trained in safety cleanliness and emergency procedures
and it will be regular exterior cleaning and waste management to keep the area tidy
so for design and signage there will be exterior improvement so new signage
fresh paint improved lighting see the before and after right now it's a little shabby right
but we have plans to revitalize that um so and also if the lines are signed request here do we
so so you're going to have to do that at a later date you're you're not requesting that right now
okay that's all right yes all right so back again to the whole point of it all the community
commitment so we're dedicated to being a good neighbor we'll coordinate with nearby businesses
on cleaning this and safety and we'll participate in local events and initiatives to give it back
to the community um so um chelsea cox you can now be unmuted again please
all right do you agree with what i presented today yeah when you're being okay great um and
then do you adopt it when she spoke to the rco about the same exact way yes you would okay and
do you have anything to add to this um no other than the fact that um we did present from the rco
we had several questions uh we were able to address some of the questions um we essentially
presented the same information and uh right now we are taking into consideration all other questions
and any other neighborhood concerns if we have if there if any are presented okay um and i would
like to now um ask the applicant rashin williams to raise his virtual hand and be unmuted sure mr
williams
rasheem williams will be promoted to panelists
and mr williams are you on the call yet are you unmuted mr williams
yes he had been promoted to penis i'm here now i can hear i mean i can speak mr williams could
you please state your name and spell for the stenographer yes rasheen williams r-a-s-h-e-e-n
is in nancy last name williams w-i-l-l-i-a-m-s do you swear or affirm to tell the truth told
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth told you nothing but the truth
truth nothing but the truth? Yes, I do.
yes i do could you turn on your video please i'm sorry
yep please proceed counsel good morning do you agree with all we were presented today do you
agree with everything that was said yes i do and do you adopt it as your own yes
Do you like to add anything today?
No, just like to hopefully bring a new business to the corridor up there.
We've been trying to get this done for about three years of applying, withdrawing, applying, withdrawing RCOs.
And I finally feel like we're at a good point now.
So I appreciate you representing us in Chelsea.
And yes, I definitely agree with everything that was presented.
All right.
Okay, wonderful.
Nothing further from me.
questions from the board yes um is there a floor plan
yes you have that right breath uh i did not receive that but um
yes we do we can provide one for you we can definitely provide one for you
okay it's a little hard to to know how you're going to set things up without the floor plan
We have it. I can actually share my screen if that's not a problem.
I have to move some stuff so I can get to where I need to get to.
I'm sorry one second is loading up rushing if you need me to share I can share it too
I have it pulled up oh yes if you can share it that'll be great sure please excuse my
screen it's very ugly right now but now if you can see my screen where's it just
can you see my screen it's just it's just blank i cannot see it yet no all right again
okay who can do this so yeah well okay okay so while you're while you're getting that up
My questions are about two things. In terms of the cooking and what have you, are you going to have venting through the roof for this takeout restaurant?
I would refer to the client for this answer. Yes.
Yes, we will.
all right and then um is the is this going to be on the first floor and is there like a residence
on the second floor or how is no it's just office space above it it's just the first floor so
the way the building is set up on the corner is the bar it's a bar area and right next to that
it was zoned separately as a barbershop in the past so our request was to get it zoned and make
an actual food restaurant instead of a barbershop so it's living there at all okay all right um and
then about this takeout window where is that and how was that approved and uh uh does that mean then
that the uh people will be out waiting for their food um outside of the establishment
actually it will if i can um explain it it will be a window but it won't they'll be able to walk
into the restaurant in order it'll just be a window at the front of the building you know
pretty much you can look out and in and stuff like that okay so all right but you're calling
it a takeout window so what does that that's not actually accurate yeah it's just a it's a takeout
restaurant originally when we put the plans in we were going to put a window in and i spoke to um
i was dealing with somebody at ellenott with the floor plan and everything and he was like i would
remove the window and just have it a regular come in and take out restaurant so we we updated our
plans when i withdrew it the first time back in 2024 i withdrew it and we read the plans and
I withdrew it and re-readed the plans and submitted them properly without a takeout window.
submitted them properly
So that was just, you know, the wrong language for what it actually is.
So what I heard about takeout window, that's not going to be wrong.
That's not.
It's not actually a takeout window.
You have to go in the order and then you take your food out.
All right.
And then you're not going to have any seating in this?
Yes, it's going to be two tables.
I'm going to try to find it on this diagram.
should be two tables four seats okay i'm trying to see it
what's that first floor proposed floor plan
it's back there yeah i can't really see it clearly out here
yeah bathroom the seating okay and as we're going what's in the basement the basement will be the
prep area so our plans is to um redo the basement and have it for storage and um you know supplies
and stuff like that okay and
you're just showing the existing plan can you switch to the proposed plan yeah okay
this is this is a really a really small space yeah it's not that it's it's like a it's almost
like one big room one room yeah so it's it's a very small space okay yes yes this is um proposed
because we haven't done any work we had you know wait till we you know got through the zoning and
things like that before we did it so all right and then um because i guess when you were talking
about takeout window i was going to ask about trash and disposal um how are you gonna yes we
have um dumpsters even without that yeah the question is trash too yeah we have um a dumpster
out back so we'll have trash cans um inside and out um just you know when people you know come up
and they may want to walk or stand outside and eat their cheese steak you know however they decide to
to do it but we have um a waste hauler form already um ready to go and we have dumpsters
in the rear of the building okay and what about trash in the front where people might
take their food and uh dispose of trash there yeah we'll yeah yes we'll put cans out daily
and those cans will be monitored and emptied throughout the the business hours and um even
like over you know they won't be outside overnight they'll come in and out the uh the property and
that's the other question i didn't ask i'm sorry uh hours of operation yeah i think we had 11 to
nine on sunday correct me if i'm mistaken uh bria i know it was on the um presentation and um you
okay and we are also you know open to you know changing the hours if anybody had any you know
issues or any conflicts with the hours of operation yeah so on sunday 11 a.m to 9 p.m
and monday through saturday 11 a.m to 10 p.m all right thank you other questions um so a few
questions just logistically one how do you get the trash to the rear of the building because it does
look like the bar owns the space right behind where you're going to be operating yeah so right
next to the bar is the driveway so we'll be taking the trash around you know carting it around every
day and dumping it in a dumpster and then you know bringing the cart back so you're gonna
got it so you're gonna walk out go around the corner and utilize well do you have access to
that fence yes but the dumpster is not in the fence it's on the outside of it on the outside
okay yes and then there's a spot in the back that i guess was parking at some point
and um i guess it got overgrown and we just cleaned it out and uh waste management put
the dumpsters there i understand and it looks like the basement is fully submerged below grade
with no windows what is your plan to provide light air and egress into the basement
for that to be used as a prep area well not necessarily we're going to use it for storage
so we'll be yeah we'll be prepping in the kitchen on the first floor but we'll store everything you
know our you know we're just going to put like a freezer down there you know the things that we
need to just store everything okay and then are you utilizing is the office on the second floor
also yours no it's not part of what we're proposing to do no no but like it is part of
your unit as as part of uh uptown cafe not part of uh as part of the
it's as part of uh uptown cafe not part of uh it's part of the building yes and it's part of
the building part of the building but not part of your unit okay part of the restaurant that
we're proposing correct got it and then for the restaurant you're proposing looking at the first
floor proposed floor plan it does look like you have this like three foot takeout area and so is
the intent that the customers are going to come in that shared door come in your door and then
And they're going to never leave outside of that, like, sort of three-foot area in front of the four-foot wall, between the window and the four-foot wall?
So, like, only your employees are going to be in, like, the kitchen in the prep area, correct?
Correct.
They'll just be behind the counter where the griddle and the fryers are.
The area on the other side of the countertop is for the customers.
And then, so, where are your freezers going to be stored or your fridges?
in the basement so all storage is in the basement and then that first floor area is really like
active food prep and cooking yes okay and then i guess we already asked about venting through the
roof i will say the one comment i have is that i think that three foot area is very tiny for even
as a takeout window area there's not a lot of space there but you don't have a ton of space so
just might be something you want to look at okay other questions questions from our attorney um i
just wanted to to clarify because i was a little confused so the address of the property includes
yours your space as well as the space of the cafe correct like you own the whole thing correct okay
so you're just using a part of it you're proposing a part of it for a takeout restaurant yes one
property okay yes it's all one property 81 29 to 31 and the cheese steak proposal used to be a
barbershop in that separate space right is is there a particular like does that is that you
have like a unit a unit b if there's two spaces or is it that just not uh it does it doesn't have
like a separate designation so it doesn't it yeah it doesn't have a separate designation it just has
uh 81 29 to 31 stanton okay all right so if i had separated it would be 29 would be the proposal
portion of the building right but they exist as one property right now so yes even though it's
like two separate areas correct all right thank you you're welcome questions or comments from the
virtual audience i see no hands at this time chair planning position yes um from the planning
commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the cmx2 commercial mixed-use zoning
at this location in 2022 the city issued a permit at this property for a sit-down restaurant
the appellant has shown that the proposed takeout restaurant will have no detrimental impacts beyond
what might be expected the city planning commission recommends that the board grant the proposed
special exception right so so council we're going to vote on this next wednesday at 9 30 a.m we're
We're going to discuss the conversations at the executive session, and we'll vote at 930 next Wednesday, okay?
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much.
So we're going to move on to number three.
MI 2024-006-071-328 East Rittenhouse Street.
Sherman Toppin is the attorney.
Sherman Toppin will be joining us as a panelist.
Good afternoon, members of the board. Good morning. Council, could you please state your
name and spell for the stenographer? Yes, my name is Sherman Toppin. T-O-P-P-I-N
is my last name and I'm here representing the owner of the property, Gadesh LLC.
All right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Okay. Could you tell me what happened with the RCO, Sherman?
Yes, just starting out there.
So typically, you know, RCOs, you write them, and they schedule for you.
In this particular case, we had a very unusual situation with this particular RCO.
In the first meeting that we had with the RCO, the gentleman who operates it, you know, I'm gray and aging myself, but he was having some difficulties with understanding in-person versus live.
He gave us an in-person address, but at the day of the hearing, he said that he, that one of his other board members told him that he needed to do it on Zoom.
I told him he couldn't make that adjustment on the day of.
So we asked for a continuance in the hearing for that reason.
in the next the next time around we told him that we needed to get his zoom information early
he gave us zoom he gave us zoom information zoom credentials but
He gave us Zoom information, Zoom credentials, but he was having technical difficulties on the day of the second RCO meeting.
And he said, well, I'm going to have to send you new credentials to do this meeting because no one can get on.
I don't know how, I don't know what the mix-up was.
I said, sir, it doesn't work that way.
We published a certain Zoom credentials, and we can't change that the day of the hearing because of these difficulties.
So we requested another continuance. And this went on into the third continuance for this particular case. And in this, I don't know quite what, I think he needed help, maybe another board member got involved, but at some point he decided that his RCO was not to do this, would not to represent us and would not schedule a board meeting.
we wrote the board we wrote we called him we wrote the council person's office we don't understand
why chewing pelfield uh community organization is not allowing us to schedule an rco meeting for
this particular property when it said when that's who we were dealing with he referred us we went
to the website we did see that the website did not indicate a a web that chewing bellfield was
there but then when you go to atlas chewing bellfield was there so we tried to tell him that
He says, I don't think I'm the one you need to work with. We have to point to someone else. Perhaps he was seeking to retire his position. I'm not really sure. But for almost a year, we have been working with this RCO to try to get the simple presentation.
And that's what happened.
All right. Sherman, our vice chair has a few questions.
Good morning. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
I have.
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
I do waive it and I stipulate to its accuracy. All right. Thank you. You can share your screen and proceed with your Sherman. Did we get your tax? Did we get the tax? Yes. That is the last exhibit on this presentation here. All right. Thank you. Right down to the bottom of it. Please proceed, sir. Please proceed with your presentation.
Okay, great. So the property that is before you in the image that you see is currently the structure that we're here to talk about. That's 328 East Rittenhouse Street. And I'm proud to represent the owner and the owners of Gadesh LLC.
see I believe that the owner should be there he is in Israel now coming out of prayer I believe
he's he should be on if he isn't will when at the time to make sure that he is hearing my
presentation I'd like him to be advanced to panelists to agree to it but as Joseph Weinstein
so but let's let's see if he's here on my typical package contains a series of exhibits here as you
You see refusal deed application project information street form, the information photographs, the properties, plans, notice of the hearing proof of presentation of that.
The art CEO addresses that we sent for certificate of mailing the tax cert, and we also have in this particular case, a petition signed by a few of the neighbors and let's talk.
Let's let's scroll through some of these things here we have all your documents.
why don't you take us right to your plans and or your photos okay we have all the documents all
right perfect so coming right down this property as you can see here in the before highlighted the
property is in a very in a neighborhood whose character is pretty much resident rental um our
our property here is was originally built in 1915 it's a single family four three-story home
This white ceiling that you hear is a four storage facility.
There's a church immediately behind the property here.
These four short structures next to the property immediately to the left of this property are all rentals.
All of these structures here, all these buildings here at the end of the street are all rental.
It's apartment complex. These four at the end of the street are all rentals.
immediately across the street are two single family homes. One is rented. One has an owner
there that resides. And then immediately in front of the property is also rentals and with one or
two owners there. So this particular, the character of this property lends to a rental and multifamily
use. These are the four, these are the four two-story structures immediately to the left of
property these are the other structures at the corner that was saying all these properties are
rented the immediately across the street it's a development so all these are rented
and these are the two single families immediately across the street one is an in has an occupant
who operate lives and there's a single family the other is rented and immediately in front of the
property there are several um all of these are rented and um going looking to the i guess the
the west of the property you have the storage facility the rear of it is what is the rest the
west of the property you have the storage facility the rear of it is what is the rest
the remainder of the block and a few single-family homes at the end of the block so going to what
are and immediately next door is a vacant is a vacant lot that is owned by the storage facility
and it will be in this condition pretty much forever so long as the storage condition is there
so looking at the building this is the building as it is almost to the end of the construction that
was preceding this the client stopping work for this process as you can see here on this picture
there's a front door facing the facing Rittenhouse street but then there's a door midway towards the
building with two units you can see the service for a separate unit separate electric services
was right there on the side of the building this is an earlier stage this is a visual from the
other side of the building as you go into the front door you see that it's basically a one
bedroom this is a living room area when you walk into the front door this is the reverse of that
same shot it's got a small kitchen and it goes walks to the back and this is a reverse of that
same kitchen another angle of the kitchen and it walks to the back to this is the bedroom
in the rear of the first floor. One bathroom for the first floor unit. Midway into the first floor
unit, we'll see the plans. It walks downstairs, and it has an egress only for light. It's just
utilities down there, nothing more. The service for the house and the three units are already
worked out. Hot water heaters for each, and then that's all that's downstairs in the basement area.
brand new mechanicals throughout were put into this house throughout. Walking back into the
first unit, only the first unit has access to the basement and it is basically just as you can see
utility area. The side door in this particular property, when my clients purchased the property
as a sheriff sale, they bought it at a sheriff sale in 2017, of course they had an opportunity
to walk through it, but they walked on, opened the door and it walked upstairs. There were stairs
erected in so his prior to them purchasing from the sheriffsdale it was configured as two units
that's what led them to start the construction for three units because they thought and they
they did not consult they were not keen on the code and things like that that's why they got
us involved to legalize what it is now a three unit building uh configured but it's that the
hardship is that it was already two units going into purchase and walking up the steps this is
the first this is the door to the second floor unit when you open up there's the kitchen bedroom
in the back um this is a two-bedroom unit in this on the second floor this is uh this walks out to
the front floor area that can be either a living area or bedroom and going backwards towards the
kitchen this is the bathroom for the unit and this is the rear bedroom reverse of that rear bedroom
going back to the hallway the steps takes you up to the third floor the third floor
has the same configuration same layout except one bedroom here two bedrooms on the second floor and
one on the first floor this is the bathroom for the third floor bedroom reverse picture of the
bedroom and then we this is again the door going out and walking back downstairs outside the
property to the to the street so that is the long and short of the building the rear of the property
has no rare uh windows at all it sort of faces a a brick area back there so there's no window view
looking at the plans let me make this smaller this will give a better idea of what we have just seen
so what we see in the plans i'm sure maybe make this a little bit bigger for the board to see
So downstairs, of course, there's nothing there. There's just stairways leading down with a small front cellar area with a window to the front of the property. This is that angle where the front door is on the first on the first floor. But below, it's just there's nothing there but just an egress window. It should actually be presented here on the first floor.
when you walk into the covered porch to the first floor you see that we just saw this in pictures
there's the bed there's a living room area and it goes back to the kitchen and in the bath
bed the the bed bathroom and then the one unit bedroom is in the rear of that first floor layout
going into the second floor which is from the side
it the stairs walk up see these these stairs walk upstairs no access to the first floor
only down but going up you have you you get into the second floor unit where there's a bedroom here
You have, you get into the second floor unit where there's a bedroom here in the back, living in the front, in the middle with the kitchen, and then a bedroom in the front of the, and then when you go to the third floor, that is where, that unit is small.
There's a bedroom in the front, in the rear, but the stairs takes you to where it's just two sides, bedroom on one side with the kitchen and bath on the other side.
and then this is in the rear of the building the second the top floor is shorter so there's some
egress from the third floor unit onto the roof of the of the second floor but not egress all
the way to the bottom it's the one the one issue with this particular site
and going into the rest of our presentation
we sent all of our our you know certificate available things we saw posted the sign on the
door for this appeal and we have our new certificate this is the the tax the tax cert
it was obtained today in fact while the board was hearing other cases we may we had a previous one
but this is the new one so for the same entity valid through April 4th of 2026 so because we're
having such difficulty with the RCO, we did run a petition out around the community we had, and the
owner went and got a few signatures from folks that lived in the near neighbors who lived within
the affected area. And we just three, it's been very cold, people haven't really been willing to
talk much at the door. So they got just a few signatures. But that is, quite frankly, our
presentation for today. It's our experience with the RCO that is most challenging in the situation
we have today but charm what happened you started he started to work on the property then l and i
stopped him and told him to get a variant yes what happened here is he got he was he went to get his
rental license for three units and they said you this is single family but he he told him this is
configured as two but he says no you need to go to ellinai you need to so he went to it was already
done and he went to get the thing and then they sent him back right yes they stopped him here
they stopped right you want to bring him on and adopt this have this testimony adopted yes so if
the uh just text him oh you think he's in israel he is in israel and there's a prayer time that he
said he gave me his wife's number um but i and i text him right before you called me
i'm wondering if they're watching and if he's let's see
can you long
Um, yeah, I don't, if you can't get insurance, you're an officer. The court will take your testimony questions from the board.
Yeah, I have a few questions 1. I, I hear you say that when your client purchased the property, there were 2 units here. When did he purchase the property?
In 2017, so he didn't rehab it right away. He let it sit for a bit and then the ownership of the of the dash changed.
And so that's kind of giving you more background detail. That's why we're only now, two years ago, them starting this process.
Okay. And then, so you said at purchase there was two units, but now you're proposing three. It looks like the work's been done for three. At what point, so your client, the work that they got caught was the conversion to three units?
Well, they never had to stop work here, but they were seeking a rental license for the three units.
That's what happened there.
They couldn't get three units as a rental license, so they stopped for this process.
Okay, understood.
Who has access to the rear yard?
Okay, the rear yard, the only property that had none of the units have access to the rear yard.
Let me go to another picture.
It's open to the rear, but it's a solid wall on the back.
Like there's a, you see, there's this little breezeway, walkway.
So the first floor units out of these windows can access the rear.
The other top two floor units, what they do is they come out here and they put their trash in the back.
This trash can that's actually in this picture on the front belongs to one of the tenants.
It was blue in the wind.
and you can actually see it says 339, but you can't see it too well, but it's 339.
So they actually store their trash on the rear of this particular building,
but all of them have equal access to go back there.
It's like wooded and not really anything to speak of back there.
The access is through the breezeway, just because when you showed the first floor plans,
it did look like there was a rear exit.
Oh, I'm sorry. No, there is not.
There's no rear exit, and then only the first floor unit has access to the basement.
Yes, that is correct.
yes that is correct okay i mean i will say just as like a layout the kitchen
Okay. I mean, I will say just as like a layout, the kitchens and living rooms are very small for there to be two units.
And I don't know that I still understand what the hardship is that necessitates having three units.
Well, in their particular situation here, the market of homes selling, it's more of a market-driven hardship that he has indicated.
When he realized that this step walked upstairs, it would create a three-bedroom scenario upstairs, but most of the properties that rent along are two bedrooms or smaller, so he felt that the market would be more receptive to a studio, two-bedroom, and one-bedroom configuration to support this.
and I think that's what but the bigger issue with the refusal is that coming into purchasing a
property in an area zone for single family when it's configured is two that is the hardship that
initially brings us to the board his construction beyond that is something that we're proposing to
the community is but we've had difficulty interfacing with the RCO okay
so i'll just echo i'll echo uh um uh thai's comments regarding the layouts i think the
the layout on the first floor is a decent one bedroom the two bedroom units that's on the
second floor is it's not a living dining room kitchen scenario there's nowhere you can put
furniture so it's just a bad layout um and and same with the third floor to to you'd have done
better as an efficiency on that third floor to try to call that a living kitchen dining room space
so those are my comments just in general but then you have a one bed you got a nice size one
bedroom on the first floor yeah it makes no sense i i agree with you on the first floor the second
floor you have you got a couple you know you have two small bedrooms and a tight living eating area
in both those units which the bedrooms are all a proper size it's it is that tight living eating
area that you're speaking to so the plan does uh show that um i guess i'm concerned about the
uh the rear where there's no windows at all so um is there any well
well at least in the rear there um where um there's the whole question of habitable
kind of rooms here where um you have um not a lot of light and air in these spaces beside them being
um as i uh as other board members have said a little overcrowding particularly with the two
bedroom unit and i do hear you well the first floor has three windows on the on the bedroom
it has in the kitchen two windows so there's plenty of light in all of these all the pictures
i took was in the dark that you saw that was all lit by sun so there's there's there's sun here
there's and there's an egress window on the third floor to the second floor roof so i i don't i
don't think there's a issue of light in the top floors it's completely well lit the the front
bedroom of the second floor has three windows and the egress windows sorry on the third floor
on the third no it's not an egress window that's what you just said yeah it's oh you're saying
egress I thought you said there's a grass through the window yeah okay oh yeah it's it's it's in a
window where a person could exit through in an emergency but I mean that's technically an egress
window within with no access to the first floor so that's not an egress window right correct you're
you're correct you're correct but I was I was more responding to the light issue um and so there is
I'm sorry go ahead go ahead go ahead well and I guess one of the issues it's a fire issue it's
not really ours but I mean in terms of having ingress and egress if there's any kind of emergency
I'm not sure how anybody gets out of this place whether it's the particularly with respect to the
second and third floor units so that's a concern all right questions from our attorney
not at this time questions or comments from the virtual audience
planning position at this time chair
from the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change in the rsa5 residential
single-family zoning at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 1980 in a
Council supported map change. The conversion from one to three family was done without the
benefit of permits. There is no unique physical condition or circumstance of the property that
There is no unique physical condition or circumstance of the property that would prevent it from being used in strict conformity with the zoning code. The city planning commission recommends the board deny the requested variance for multifamily residential use.
Thank you. Sherman, we're going to vote on this next month, Wednesday. I want to have a chance to get everybody's opinion on where we stand with this. Okay. So we'll vote Wednesday and we'll announce it at 930 AM.
Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Number six, MI 2025-001-561-1925-27, East Clearfield Street.
Vern Anastasio is the attorney.
There is a letter of support from Harrogate Civic Association with what looks like one proviso.
A non-opposition from Council Member Squilla.
vern anastasio will be coming back in as a panelist good morning good morning counsel you've
already been sworn just for the record state your name vern anastasio right could you identify your
client a relationship to the property yes i'm ms naomi stein the owner of the property all right
thank you very much and our vice chair has just a few questions sir thank you good morning morning
um have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing
i have and do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
i do okay thank you you can share your screen and proceed with your case
just for the record i want to move uh the letter from harrog harrogate rco and the letter from
um council member squilla into the record yes sir thank you because they did not make my exhibit
packet which is 33 pages 1925 27 east clearfield property is zoned rsa 5 however history uh that
i'm also submitting uh shows that it's never been a single family home uh this has always been uh
sort of a warehouse situation, and that's what we're asking for, a warehouse in an existing
structure, which is expressly prohibited because the property is now RSA 5.
My clients make, create custom-made furniture by hand, and they wouldn't be making it there,
but they need a place to store it, and this is the storage space that they would use.
We're going to have trash storage on the interior as well.
And it's just one large sort of garage space.
As you can see here.
And here's the interior.
There's the letter that went out to all the immediate neighbors. We met back in November.
123 individual households were mailed. Here are all the addresses.
We've got proof of taxes being up to date, as well as the deed, moving that into evidence.
and let's see what else i have then it all went blank but the history of the property is that
it's been everything from a candy sort of factory to all sorts of different commercial uses
and i'm moving all of all of my materials into evidence to show that i'm sure the planning
commission when they make their recommendation will reference the history of the property as well
it's not open to the public it'll be exclusively for the use of my client
there will be twice a day more more often just once a day
pick up and drop off with a regular truck I have nothing further my client is not with us today
all right you're an officer the court will take your testimony questions from the board
Yes. Given that there's a residential unit right next to it, and this is now going to be sort of an active, you know, space for them to move things, what's the plan for any sound attenuation between the units?
Well, there's no activity going on other than picking up and dropping off of furniture, which would be during the day, not in the evening.
The RCO did ask, and I believe the immediate neighbor was present at the meeting.
It was very well attended.
They did ask for some provisos, all of which are in their letter and also in Councilman Squilla's letter, which we agree to 100%.
They did ask for some provisos, all of which are in their letter and also in Councilman's school.
Other questions?
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning position.
all right from the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the
existing rsa5 residential single family attached zoning at this location the city rezoned this
neighborhood in 2017 in accord with recommendations in the comprehensive plan the this property has a
documented history of wholesale food distribution use dating to 2004 this block is home to a number
of residentially zoned properties operating as warehouses including one next door with a zoning
variance having been granted for limited industrial use the city planning commission therefore
recommends the board grant the requested variance for warehouse use but with a recommended proviso
to limit hours of operation um okay all right the neighbors didn't ask for any of that right okay
but but we're okay with all the provisors that they didn't ask for well the ones they asked for
law and enforceable right right but you agreed to it we agreed to the law on the record of course
all right so mi 2025 001 561 1925 to 27 east clairefield street i vote yes michael johns my
vote is yes cheryl gaston voted yes tenetta graham my vote is yes ryan mcadams my vote is yes
thank you thank you council number seven mi 2025 001 578 2605 germantown avenue clemente amazon is
the attorney. There's recommendation of unanimous support from the 37th Ward RCO and a letter
of non-opposition from Council Member Young. Clementa Amazon will be rejoining us as a
good afternoon chairman council how are you um i've already sworn you in if i remember correctly
right yes you did would you just state your name for the record of course clementa amazon that's
spelled C-L-E-M-E-N-T-A, last name is A-M-A-Z-A-N, and I do have tax clearance now for the payment.
Could you identify your client?
Of course.
My client is Antoine Bela, he should be on the call right now.
Did you say the tax is straight now, you said?
Yes, it is, and I have a screenshot verifying saying.
Okay, we'll get a copy of it, right?
Don't worry.
I have incorporated into my presentations I will also thank you very much our
vice chair has your questions thank you good morning have you submitted your
documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing yes with the
exceptions that's done so we have now obtained but after five days yep thank
you for that and do you wear the written of the refusal and stipulate to its
accuracy yes I do all right thank you can share your screen and proceed with
case of course thank you
can everyone see my screen we can perfect so
again, my name is Clemente Amazon. Today, I'll be representing the Apple Plant and Spawn Bullet.
This project is in regards to Sweet Treat Hut, as you'll see in my presentation. This property
is zoned CMX2, so what we're looking to add is a roof deck, which is not permitted unless it is
for residential use. The property is currently commercial. It is closed. You'll see photos of
the property as well. What we're looking to do is add a roof deck, and it's going to be a G shop
on the first floor as well as the second floor with the addition of some office space but the
refusal that we have is limited to just the bootstuck itself we did meet with the community
and they provided a letter of support it was unanimous they're very excited about this
being placed on the corridor and the healthier options that would now be available to residents of that area.
place on the corridor and the healthier options that would now be available to residents of that
area. And here we just have a summary of Antoine's business. He has various locations throughout
Philadelphia. I also incorporated the menu. It's all healthy foods ranging from breakfast to
vegan lunch options, just to give the board a sense of what would be made available at this
property. The use of the property as a commercial juice shop is by right. However, as you can see,
this is a photo of the front of the property. This is the property right here. This was prior
to the posting. I also have a photo of the posting, but it is along Germantown Avenue that
we see here. The food options here are pretty limited. It's primarily takeout locations and
convenience stores, so we're really looking to add a healthier option that would be available to
residents. Here we have a photo of the posting of the property. And this is a full coverage
lot. This is the photo of the rear of the property along Cadwallader Street. And we
did also post that rear area. And here we have the floor plan. So the idea that we have
here is that we would like to use the roof deck as a green space, as a space for people
to enjoy the drinks along this roof deck. And I can zoom in here. So here's the new roofing plan
that we have here along with the pilot house. We would make sure that it is limited in the number
of occupants that would be permitted on this roof deck. We anticipate that it would be between 20
or 30 people at most. And we would also make sure that we have quiet hours that are in effect to
to make sure that there's no issues with residents
or other commercial neighbors being impacted
by the roof deck use here.
We're spending zoom out.
And here we have, sorry about that.
Let me just take a step back here.
There we go.
And here we just have the floor plans for the second floor.
I'm sorry, I have to make this a little bit smaller.
There we go.
So we have the second floor floor plans as well.
Again, the use for the property as a commercial juice shop is permitted by right, but we are looking to renovate it.
The property was previously a takeout location or a chicken shop, and we're just looking to renovate it and give it a better interior to be more appealing to residents and people coming in to enjoy the juice shop.
As I mentioned, we would have that office space as well as storage in the rear.
This is a pretty significant building.
it is a full coverage lot full coverage building so we don't have the option of having that green
space in the rear of the property and so we were looking to incorporate that more so on the roof
deck here and here let's make things a bit bigger for the board this is a first floor so there is
some work that has been done along the first floor just to get it renovated get it operational
so that we can use it for that juice shop that we mentioned previously
zoom out a little bit here so it won't be cut off and again another photo of the first floor
along with the stairs going up into the second floor and here we have photos of the second floor
as well so as you can see obviously this property is not open to the public as of yet we are still
doing the renovation work we are looking to just add the roof depth to the property
and here we have photos of the surrounding area just along germantown avenue
Again, as I mentioned, there aren't that many healthy options along this corridor,
so we're looking to add a better option to this neighborhood.
Here we have the application for appeal that was submitted along with our project,
the zoning permit that was included within our notice information, the project information form.
We did send out notice to the community for the community meeting. Unfortunately,
we did have to request a continuance of our initial ZVA hearing date because it fell on
the same day as our community hearing. So we did notify the community of that and we
did reach out to let them know when we did get a second hearing date. So we have the
refusal that was added, a list of the properties that we notified of the community meeting,
and our certificate of mailing showing that we did send that notice out on September 3rd
the September 17th meeting. And this is a letter that we sent for our original continuance request.
A deed showing that Sweet Treat HUD owns the property. This is the LLC that will be running
the juice shop. Antoine Bullock is a sole member. And as I mentioned, we did obtain tax clearance.
This is for the property. The $350 balance is specific to the tax year for 2026,
as you can see here and i will also email this to the board
um so with that if i can have anton burke i believe he's calling in um let me just make
sure i have the last four digits if he could have raised his hand towards my testimony
The last four digits, if he could have raised his hands without my testimony.
The last four digits of his number is 4449.
I see no one in the audience with the last four digits of the phone number.
Is the other one raising their hand?
Not at the moment.
What's your client's name?
Antoine Bowers.
I have two people I'm going to promote both to panelists.
Both of those names decline to be promoted to panelists.
Counsel, you're an officer of the court.
We will take your testimony.
Thank you.
I appreciate that.
Questions from the board.
uh yes um is the roof deck um primarily what are the hours for the roof deck and will
music be played up at the roof deck there would be no music that would be played on the roof deck
um the hours for the property are from 6 30 a.m to 5 p.m every day
and for the roof deck it would be the same hours
other questions um go ahead and the roof deck is an extension of the
business use the commercial use yes it is so there'll be food served out there and
yeah so people will be able to come there and eat the food that they
whatever you purchase there you'll be able to take up to the roof deck and sit down similar to how
most spaces have like that outdoor dining in the back of the property, the roof deck would be used
in a similar way. Okay. And there are provisions about trash and for the deck and the other parts
of this, correct? Yes. So we do have commercial trash pickup, and then we would make sure that
the trash is brought down from the roof deck regularly. We're not going to have it piling up
on the route to cause any issues or anything along those lines um antoine has several other
sweet treat huts that he has throughout the city he hasn't had any issues with cleanliness or
anything along those lines so we want to make sure that this is a use that's attractive to
neighborhoods to the neighborhood excuse me as well as to the people coming in so it doesn't
benefit us to have a route that smells or has trash piling up in any way thank you other questions
yeah i have a question about sort of the layout of the roof deck because the plans are sort of
open area and you only have it framed uh do you know what the height of the parapet is
on the top floor or on the roof side um sure we just pull this give me one second or the backs of
So the height for the parapet, that is something I can ask Antoine to clarify.
He said that he's on, but let me see if I can get him a text to confirm that.
I mean, like elevation or section would have been helpful to kind of understand the layout
of the roof.
I think the second question I have, because also like understanding, is there going to be any covering on the roof or is this just going to be open to the sky?
To my knowledge, it would be open to the sky.
I don't believe that.
If there's bad weather, it wouldn't be available to the public.
And then is there a plan to put furniture on the roof?
So we would have small tables and like small chairs.
So people are going to have their smoothies or what may have you.
So, nothing that can't be removed. Okay. And then, I think, I mean, there's a general question about the second floor, but I think our attorney is going to address that.
Well, they're waiting for you, Hillary.
I did have one more question. There is no cooking on site, right? This is because it's a smoothie place, everything. It's just electricity and prep stations.
Yes. And I did get a response. It's five feet tall for the parapet.
Okay. Five feet. That's really high. Okay.
Yeah, so I just, so I was a little confused with the refusal in this matter because it didn't list the proposed use. And I did see that there was a buy right permit issued previously for a prepared food shop. However, that use is only limited to the first floor.
Were you planning to get a permit to extend the use or we could potentially provide the use in.
planning to get a permit to extend the use or we could potentially proviso the use into
um this application if the board grants because it is a buy right use at this location
um if the board would be willing to answer into a proviso that we'd appreciate it and
if not that we do want to explore that option okay yeah so if the board if the board wishes
to do that then i would just recommend that um approved just a proviso that says approved use
is prepared food shop okay and then so then what is the plan for the second floor
so for the second floor we have the office and the storage space in the rear
and I believe it is primarily just open space along here from the entrance going up this is
up the steps and then I believe it's just open space here that'll be used for individuals coming
and to enjoy the smoothies or the food so more of a sit-down use there how do you
get to the rear storage in office
so i believe for the rear storage in office it opens to the first floor so if you're in
the rear of the first floor you can go up the steps to get to the office in the storage space
do you have the first floor plan do you have the first floor plan i just have the second
a board plan and a roof deck because our application was primarily for the roof deck plan, but
I can see if I can have that submitted to the board separately.
Okay, because I didn't remember seeing two stairwells framed on the images that you showed
of the first floor.
Yes, what I have is for the second floor and the roof deck.
I wasn't provided a first floor plan, but again, I can request to have that sent to
the board.
understand the plans i said even in the photos like how you get to that rear area wasn't really
clearly delineated in the photos okay let's see if i can pull up the photos again
so this is the front of the property here so this is photos being taken from the end of the property
looking straight ahead that's the windowsill there's a stairwell here
going up and then this is a photo from the front of the property so the stairwell
is what you saw previously going up to the second floor and then I believe
there's a stairwell I'll just zoom out here I believe in the rear so the person
would be behind this floor but I can again ask for confirmation on that as
well as photos to indicate same okay we have any other questions questions or
comments from the virtual audience yes chair I have a hand up by the name of
Antoine Bullock they will be that's the owner so if the board has questions for Antoine I'm sure
I think it's about one could we bring him on please
hello can you hear me I can sir could you please state your name as bell for the stenographer
my name is antoine bullock antoine a-n-t-w-a-i-n last name bullock b-u-l-l-o-c-k
i do swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes counsel you want to give him the appropriate questions of course antoine did you hear my
presentations at all yes is it true and correct yes okay would you adopt it as your own testimony
Thank you.
Do we have questions for him?
Do you have any questions?
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
I see no handshare.
Planning Commission report.
Yes, from the Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing CMX2 commercial mixed use zoning at this location.
this neighborhood still carries its original 1933 zoning there is no unique condition or
circumstance of the property that would prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning
code the city planning commission therefore recommends the board deny the requested
variance for a non-residential roof deck if we were to do this proviso would be approved
approved use is prepared food shop correct okay um so mi 2025 001 578 2605 germantown avenue i
vote yes with proviso approved use is prepared food shop michael johns my
approved use is prepared food shop michael johns my vote is yes with proviso
cheryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso tanetta graham my vote is yes with proviso
ryan mcadams my vote is yes with proviso tyra when my vote is yes with proviso
thank you all right um number nine mi 2025 001 676 601 devro street joseph vicaro is the attorney
Joseph, the camera will be coming in as a panelist.
good morning um good morning mr vaccaro could you please state your name as bell for the
stenographer yes good morning may it please the board joseph vaccaro v-a-c-c-a-r-o attorney for
the applicant melody gwen all right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth yes i do all right so um mr vaccaro there's a unanimous opposition 30 to 0
from Long Crest Community. And our vice chair has a few questions. Yes. Thank you. Hi. Good
afternoon. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, we have. And we've supplemented them with three additional letters from near neighbors
this morning. Okay. Thank you. And do you waive the reading of the refusals and stipulate to the
accuracy yes all right thank you you can share your screen and proceed with your case
um by by way of background melody the homeowner uh who is seated to my to my left she'll be
appearing on the zoom once i'm finished with my with my presentation um let me pull that up
where did it go where did it go where did it go
where's where's the screen here it i'm looking maybe you should just stop stop sharing and then
reshare again because there's a bar across the top or the middle rather yeah i think something
just got something got in the way yeah let's just try resharing and then everything okay i found
it hold on okay do you see it uh do you see what appears to be a letter with my letterhead no up
there yeah there it is okay i'll make that bigger then is that better can you see that well we see
the letterhead yep okay you see the letterhead so that's not sure that's where we're going to start
okay so so melody lives melody lives at 601 devereau the property in question with her two
teenage kids. She's a single mom. By way of background, she purchased the property back in
2013. She's been living here continuously ever since. A few years back, she was taken advantage
of by an unscrupulous contractor. She had a side deck put in with a roof structure. I'm going to
show you those um and if i could go to those pictures and and part of this patient is to
scale a lot of this back but even even in scaling things back joe mr vackeroy maybe you should show
us that as you're talking right then we'd understand it yes yes when he shows the deck
do you see the deck we see a deck okay fine so i was going to start at the beginning
of the deck. So this is the non-conforming deck. It's 10 feet wide, 10 feet, two inches wide.
Even if, and here's a view of it from Bingham Street, from the Bingham Street side. It's a
corner property at the intersection of Devereaux and Bingham Street. She had this deck,
she had this deck installed, which is 10 feet, two inches wide, along with this roof structure.
she also had another deck in the in the back of the property it's this white structure over here
where my cursor is and she had um she had that deck enclosed do we see do we see that the white
curse i don't know that we see that one right do you see the white structure to the left of the
deck or the one attached to that correct that's one and there's another one the other side right
exactly exactly so so it's this wooden structure on bignam street which is which is 10 feet two
inches wide and then you have the other deck which is the enclosed white area
White area with with with the siding which she had enclosed and
with with with the siding which she had enclosed and
Like I said here she had an unscrupulous contractor that did this work without the benefit of permits
We had two meetings with the RCO
The first meeting took place back in autumn
Of last year here's another view of the property and
And there was opposition at that time, and part of the discussion was, especially with the roof structure over the deck on the Bingham Street side, that rainwater, ice, and snow would fall onto the sidewalk, creating a dangerous condition.
So we decided to go back to the drawing board and have this scaled back dramatically.
And I'm going to show you some, I'm going to show you the revised plans.
The bottom line, the bottom line is that the wooden deck structure that's 10 foot, two inches wide on the Bingham Street side, we're proposing to reduce that to eight feet wide, eight feet wide.
So we would shave off two feet, two inches off that deck.
Remove all of the roof structure so that it would be an open deck.
With respect to the enclosed deck, again, remove the walls and remove that roof structure so even this deck would be an open deck.
I wanted to start with the letter that we had sent to the near neighbors for the most recent meeting of the RCO, if I could scroll that down, and it's pages 31 and 32 of my exhibit packet.
Okay, so as we had indicated to the near neighbors, we were going to remove the roof structure, as I had just stated. We were going to remove the roof structure upon applying for and obtaining the proper permits. That should resolve the concern of the rain and snow falling onto the sidewalk, which was raised during the August RCO meeting.
We were going to reduce the width of the existing left side deck, that's the one on Bingham Street, from the current 10 foot 2 inches down to 8 feet, which should resolve the concern of rain and snow falling onto the sidewalk, which was again raised during the August RCO meeting.
uh the deck the existing non-conforming rear deck that was the enclosed structure with the white um
with the white walls okay as i stated here we're going to remove those walls and have it as an
open deck um and this would also address the electrical service line again the the unscrupulous
contractor he he put the the service electrical line through that wall in a in a in a manner that
that needs to be addressed with the proper permits now number four and number five melody had
purchased the property in that condition with respect to the garage the there was a garage
on the bottom where there appears to be that shed in the photos that i showed you um but that garage
door, it was already converted into a room by the previous owner. She walked
into that or she had purchased the property in that condition and it was
done without the benefit of permits. So again here we'd like to have the approval
of the Zoning Board so that she can apply for the appropriate permits to get
that portion of the property into compliance. And finally I'm going to show
you some photographs there's a 58 square foot foyer in the front of the house on
the Bingham Street slide which again that was built by the previous owner
which it needs to be properly documented so we'd like to have even that problem
addressed and I could if I could go back to the photographs of the property which
should show that foyer that I was talking about here these are the photos
of the of the enclosed deck which needs to be which needs to be returned to an
open state this is that electrical wire that needs to be made compliant that's
the main feed to the house here's a view of the deck with that roof structure and
again the roof structure is needs to be removed and the deck needs to be
shortened from 10 feet 2 inches wide to 8 feet and I'm going to show you the
And I'm going to show you the plans very shortly. Here's another view of the deck, a view of the deck looking towards Devereux Street.
plans very shortly. Here's another view of the deck.
I've shown you this before and then if I could show you here here's that here's that foyer that
58 square foot foyer that was built before Melody had purchased the house and this also
does need to get legalized here's another another view of the of that foyer
here's a view of the front of the house with her fig tree
zoning poster here's a better view of the uh of that foyer that 58 square foot foyer
and here's another view of the 58 foot uh foyer that's off to the side of the house again that
roof structure which he plans on removing and that deck on on bingham street which we'd like to now
make it more narrow down to eight feet if I could stop sharing this and I'll bring in the plans
can you see can you see the plans it's coming up okay let me expand that there it is okay so
So, let me go to the first page. So, here's a view of the house. Here's a view of the house. This is the current view, and we've marked it with the dotted lines as to where she'd like to have it cut.
But at the end of the process, the corner area is also going to be removed.
I'm going to show you what the final view is going to look like.
I believe that's on pages three and four.
But everything that you see in red, that's going to be addressed and removed here.
On page three, at the end of the process, everything that you see in red, which is where my cursor is, it needs to be removed.
everything in red this is the view of the rear of the home all of that needs
to be removed and all of this needs to be removed so at the end of the at the
end of the process with the board's blessing and approval and the
appropriate permits she's going to have this green deck this green deck which is
going to be an open deck in the in the rear of the house the empty space and
And the yellow is going to be the deck on the Bingham Street side.
So she's going to have two decks, which should hopefully be a lot more scaled back.
We had our second meeting with the RCO.
And again, as you had indicated, the RCO's decision was to still oppose it.
They want strict compliance with the code.
Well, given the nature of the setbacks that the code requires, if we were going to strictly comply with the codes and the setbacks, especially for the deck on the Bingham Street side, that would result in only a three-foot-wide deck.
And a three-foot-wide deck is not practical.
You just might as well not have a deck at all if we're going to be strictly in compliance.
I attended both RCO meetings, the one in August, as well as the one in January, as well as the one in January.
I attended, Melody attended.
We also had John Cristinzio.
He's her expediter.
He attended that second RCO meeting.
um he is also in on this on this meeting on this zoom call is along with ray white the architect
who drew up these plans um and um i do have in the room with me jan
frajda um and he'll be testifying shortly he is um a near neighbor he is right behind he lives
he lives at 600 mccain he's right behind mckin why don't you bring it why don't you bring him
on now yeah i i could bring him in and because he did attend he did he did attend the vote and
it's his position please bring him on yeah i'm over here now speak loudly so the microphone
can pick you up who's there yeah no he's here he's here oh good hello my name is jane frida
hi sir could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer more than i'm going gay and
f-r-a-j-d
R-A-J-D.
do you swear or affirm
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
to tell the truth
Mr. Vaccaro?
Yes, thank you.
Can you hear me?
Okay, good.
A lot of times the microphone doesn't pick up here when I'm questioning a witness.
Mr. Frazier, were you there?
Were you physically present at the RCO meeting in January?
Well, I want to focus on the January.
one okay so you were physically there at the january meeting and you heard my presentation
along with mr christianzio's presentation correct and uh after we made our presentation melody
john christianzio and i we we left the meeting so that the um so that the rco and everybody that
attended could discuss the project right so please tell the board what was that discussion because
The discussion was like a denying DD, the fraction we're doing, and with no vote taking, just a discussion.
I don't know how no vote whatsoever.
Okay, so there was no vote whatsoever.
Did you see the letter from the RCO? I showed you that letter?
And it showed a 30 to nothing opposition, and you heard Mr. Bergman at the beginning of this hearing, you heard Mr. Bergman say that it was a 30 to nothing opposition.
nobody vote nobody voted nobody voted okay and you also gave me an email confirming that and
that's in my exhibit packet correct right okay if I could stop sharing this and and I'm not okay
you could set you could sit and I'm sharing back to my exhibit packet okay do you see the tax
clearance certificate mr bergman it hasn't come up yet it should it's up yep okay you see the
tax letter okay fine yeah it's going to zoom on down this is page 35 of the exhibit packet is
this the email that you had sent me dear joe my name is jan and i'm melody's neighbor yep okay
so that's your that's the email that you sent me on january 27th right correct right shortly after
the um rco meeting yes okay and the rco meeting took place on january 14th okay and uh is everything
that you wrote in that email the truth yeah and you still stand by it yeah okay um do you have
any problems with melody's uh plans no okay uh if there was a vote would you have voted
and you and how would you have voted you know backing up melody backing up melody now melody
standing to your left right here that's why you were looking at melody right okay and i'm standing
to your right right okay uh does the board have any questions of mr well joe joe why don't we do
this why don't you bring your client on have your testimony adopted and if there's any questions
we'll go from there okay sure okay melody have a seat
hi melanie could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
hi this is melody england e-l-o-d-y last name n-g-u-y-e-n right do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes mr vicaro miss gwen good morning did
you hear my presentation to the board do you agree with it did you have anything
else to add or take away from it no okay would you adopt it as your own testimony
if you were testifying would you adopt it as your own testimony oh does the
board have any questions why don't you sit that one why don't you sit back down
in the seed okay all right and then what we'll do is we'll see if the board has any questions
that you can help filter through that first questions from the board and if there's any
technical questions we could bring any of them Mr. Vaccaro I know that you have your architect
there okay thank you this this is not a question this is just a statement and comment all right
The deck legislation that was adopted back in the 90s only has two restrictions with respect to decks, okay? And they are, number one, that you can't have stairs, which is not what we're talking about here.
But the other one is that there can't be a permanently affixed roof, okay?
Okay, so what you've done is, and there are also some restrictions with respect to the amount of coverage there can be of a deck with respect to a property.
So what you've done is, and there are.
So you have this whole thing is one with the permanently affixed roof on. What is in effect an addition? It's not really a deck anymore. And then with respect to the amount of coverage of the deck with respect to the property.
And so, I mean, you're now saying, well, now we're going to try and fix it. But the problem is that you did it in the first place without a benefit of any permits, for which I don't think you would have gotten them in the first place.
And then there's the whole issue of now you're talking about converting it, but you're still going to have more in terms of the coverage of this deck that you're proposing.
I mean, this is pretty extensive. And, you know, this is why we ask people to get permits before instead of asking for permission after.
That's my comment. And you can explain or you can say that, you know, the unscrupulous contractor is the one who, you know, is responsible. In the end, the property owner is responsible.
They are supposed to make sure that there are proper permits before they let anybody make any kind of alterations to their property.
So I'm having a real problem with how this came about and how outside of the bounds of the code that this is.
and so you know that's that's my comment statement with respect to this um okay any anyone else yeah
I have a question about the parking space is the intent now that the parking space is going
to be in the that space where there's now no deck but at the ground level correct okay there's going
to be a rear parking in the back yeah and have you done because like in your plan it didn't show
the turning radius i'm now just curious how this lines up with the structure for the deck because
the previous deck was done you know without permits it's sitting on top of a what looks
like a rear shed that's not attached to the house or it wasn't clear if it was attached to the house
and i just didn't i just want to make sure that there's clearance for a parking space
yes there there certainly will have to be clearance uh if i could show you
i understand like permit wise there will have to be clearance and that doesn't have to get
permits but right now the site plan is shown didn't depict it that's that's why that's why
there's that that that empty space in that corner you see where my cursor is can you can you zoom
in it's also it was zoomed out and it's pixelated so just it's a little difficult let me see how i
can uh zoom in uh let me see it's not zooming in okay it's telling me that it's 200 but it's just
not zooming in i'm sorry yeah i think your your image it's an image it's not the original drawing
it's pixelated so this is one it's really hard to read this two that is very close to the edge of
the alley like so like one I question the turning radius coming from the from
Bingham Street into the alley to be able to even make that that's a very sharp
turn and yeah I also feel like this does not show the shed like the shed that is
in all the images the shed that the other deck is sitting on top of I think
to like both be able to understand where that shed is in relation to the rest of
this i think these plans just need to be updated i could bring in mr christenzio to answer some
of those technical questions uh there was an issue of a um of a column that's that was in the way
that um mr christenzio might be in a in a better position to to address i don't think we need him
to address i mean the drawing should show it i think a question i have hillary can we just
yeah hold this for a corrected or a clearer drawing
or just if the board wishes we can we're going to do a resumptive joe so just come back with
better plans and uh we're going to have a we're going to make this a resumptive hearing on 5 19
2026 at i'm not sure the time
2026 at I'm not sure at the time 2 3 30 9 30 so 5 19 20 26 at 9 30 we'll come
back 9 30 so clearer drawing with regard to sure that we can understand it a
little bit more yet for the parking space like the parking space is part of
this permit so like you focused a lot on the deck and now on the parking
for the parking space understood any any other questions or issues then
no i i think at this stage we'll we'll just have to take another look at the drawings that's right
so mr shared the resumption hearing we'll do public testimony in the planning commission's
recommendation yeah and we'll be here yes all right all right thank you and if i'm if i just
may address uh uh miss gaston's comment about that roof structure again here as part of this
Joe, listen to me. You're coming back. We'll give you an opportunity when you come back
to do it then, okay? Thank you. All right, sure. Have a good one. Thank you. All right,
so we're going to go to our last case this morning, number 13.
MI 2025-005-362-1941, Cala Hill Street. Darlene Street is the attorney.
arlene has already been sworn in
and we received the deed for that matter good thank you
darlene three will be coming back in as a panelist okay
the 10-9 voting yes if you don't like that good morning good afternoon
commissioner i'm sorry that you were the last case when you were there earlier uh thank you
very much for sending us the deed we appreciate it just for the record could you state your name
because you've already been sworn in darlene fritt all right and just for point of information
there's non-opposition from the council member young and there's a letter of support from logan
square neighborhood association yes so why don't you start okay
Do you see my screen?
We can.
okay good afternoon commissioners darling on behalf of the applicant dragon series llc
today i have my client uh which is a part of dragon series llc mr michael munter the other
part of this corporation is mr tim can tell who is not in attendance today
a commissioners i submitted a package of exhibits which contains the syllabus let me just make this
little bigger use permit application refusal appeal property information form tax information
it says deed permit plan pictures letters of support and we and we have all of your documents
now so you can go right to pictures and plans and i think that's where we okay great so while i go
there i just want to give you a little background my client uh tim tempel um purchased this building
um back in um i believe march or so to build a new structure we did go ahead and get a zoning
permit to build a two-unit dwelling which has been issued with commercial on the bottom
we didn't um ask for the cat2 parlor at the time of the original zoning and so i was hired to
present this to the board today.
Mr. Kempel, as well as Mr. Michael Monter,
has a tattoo history in the city of Philadelphia.
Mr. Kempel is the proprietor of Villain Arts.
He has the tattoo convention here every year in the convention center,
as well as having a tattoo convention in 30 other states in the USA.
Currently, he and Mr. Mentor is associated with three tattoo parlors, the floating tattoo on South Street, the hunter-gatherer parlor in West Philadelphia, and Philadelphia Eddy on South Street.
I do believe I brought one or two of these applications to the board.
Currently, what I have in front of you are the plans.
I'm just going to reduce that a little bit more so you can see the whole plan.
Okay. So first, I just really want to show you this.
So, first, I just really want to show you the space that we're looking at.
Previously there was a building here which was demoed, and now it's just an empty space.
We would like to, and we haven't started, to build a three-story building with two units
on the top with a commercial space on the bottom.
This is how the front of the building will look.
This is the commercial area on the bottom and this is a side elevation,
and this is a back elevation of how the building presents itself.
I'm going to scroll down to the site plan.
This is just a site plan to show you how the building fits and lays out on the street.
Now I'm going to go down to the floor plan.
and i'm just going to reduce it a little bit more so i can fit the whole plan in there
so basically uh commissioners we would like to have a a two floor tattoo parlor currently well
not currently because it's an empty lot right now but here's a layout of the bottom floor and you
can see there is a window well exit in the back here you can also see that there's a light well
here and here are the steps I'm gonna go how we would like to sit out the seller
plan and we have it laid out here basically you can walk down the stairs
from the first floor we have a bathroom here we have the service areas in the
back here and I'm just gonna move it up a little bit and just enlarge it a little
bit so we could just see it a little bit better so um in the basement area um there's an office
for administrative purposes there's kind of like a lounge area here with a couple chairs and a
refrigerator and a sink it could be used for the staff or the customers we also have a bathroom
here and we have the sinks i'm here for our washing equipment if we go up to the second floor
which is really the first-level floor.
I'll just move that over a little bit more.
This will be the layout of the first floor plan.
You would enter from Callow Hill Street.
We have a light well here that actually goes down to the basement,
so there's more light in the basement we have a sitting waiting area here we have a little
also sitting waiting area here we have the reception area and as you traverse towards the back
we have the um service area here again upstairs here we have the what we call the bio uh
This is where we sterilize medical equipment, and this is where the medical needles, et cetera, are stored for waste removal and pickup as needed. There's a little separate area for that.
and i'm just a little bit more so we can see the back area a little better
in the back here also we have the uh piercing station uh we have another wrestle in the back
and then we have a back door um there's a little back yard here that i could have showed you on
the site plan where we uh plan to store the uh trash until trash day uh we do plan to have four
employees. All of our employees will be certified. They will have the blood
pathogen certification as well as a license from the city of Philadelphia.
This is how the lot looks currently. Here's my little posting down here.
Basically the buildings have been demolished or construction hasn't
started as of yet. That's just another look at the open space.
that's the original picture i took and then i just showed you the surrounding area diagonally
of course from it is the barns theater uh down the street is um i think it's whole foods across
the street is a big parking lot the courthouse is back there over in that area that's just another
look down callow hill looking towards the east
That's looking west down Callow Hill.
Target is kind of obscured by the trees, but you can see the sign.
Target is on the right over there.
that's another look at the big parking lot across the street another look
That's another look at the big parking lot across the street.
towards the barns diagonally across the street that's a look at 20th Street the
intersection and that's a look going down 20th Street you can see it is a
commercial area there are commercial businesses all around their commercial
businesses on the spot we were given a referral I did send a letter out to the
the community on October 7, 2025.
We did have a meeting on October 14th of 2025.
I did circulate 128 letters to the community.
We did obtain a letter of support.
Frankly, I was surprised by.
I don't know if Mr. Boylan is on the line today,
but I was shocked when I got this letter and I saw the vote.
I thought our project was very well accepted at the community meeting. Frankly, I didn't hear any
opposition. And then I got a letter of 10-9. I did reach out to Mr. Limbaugh after I got this letter
because I was frankly shocked by it and asked him what did I miss and how did I not read the room.
And he said to me, and I don't know again if Mr. Boylan is going to be on the line, but he indicated
to me that the form of the vote was incorrect it should have been a vote of non-opposition
and the whole vote would have been different instead of a vote for support so it's my
understanding that the community really supported this application and that's really all i have
today i'm sorry i didn't tell you that we would like to operate uh seven days a week from 12 to
mine, that we would have four employees, that we would have pickup of the materials, the needles,
as needed. We have lighting in the front, motion lighting. There's lighting in the back,
and the trash can be stored in the back until pickup day. I do have my client, Michael Munter,
on the line today and he and or i would be happy to answer any questions that anyone may have
okay could you could you just the the basement space there's work area there too
in the basement yeah uh working now right so
this is the basement yes we do we have so so but so you got four employees but you you got several
work areas on the first floor and then the basement too yes we do okay but you're only
going to have four employees currently yes we're only slated four employees i'm sure if the need
arises that people have to hire all right michael are you there not on michael you're michael
mr montar are you on the line
yes your client was promoted to panelists let me see if they came in
michael
i do not see him on the panelist side okay um um counsel i i think you've done a
good job of explaining it i mean um you're an officer of the court well questions or comments
from the board
wait a minute why are you smiling question or comments from our attorney
wait till our attorney gets done you know you didn't don't smile yet
not at this time mr she took comments from the virtual audience
see what's that i see no hands at this time okay now we're going to go back to planning
let's see how we do with that all right from the planning commission the comprehensive plan
recommends no change to the cmx2 commercial mixed use zoning at this location there are numerous
adjacent small businesses on this block and on the neighboring streets the appellant has shown
that the proposed body art services will have no detrimental impact beyond what might be expected
the city planning commission recommends that the board grant the proposed special exception
thank you mi 2025-005-362 1941 cali hill street i vote yes with proviso limiting use for first
floor and basement michael johns my vote is yes with proviso cheryl gaston my vote is yes with
proviso tenetta graham my vote is yes with proviso ryan mcadams my vote is yes with proviso
ryan mcadams my vote is yes with proviso i win my vote is yes with proviso thank you very much
thank you thank you and thanks for waiting so long for us is there anyone in the audience who's uh
whose um case has not been called from the 9 30 list i see no he's at this time okay see everybody
Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this meeting
of the Philadelphia Zoning Board of Adjustment. With me is our Board Vice Chair, Tanetta Grant.
Present, Mr. Chairman. Board Secretary, Cheryl L. Gaston. Present, Mr. Chairman. Board Member,
Michael Johns. Present, Mr. Chairman. Board Member, Taya Nguyen. Present, Mr. Chairman.
We hear you, Michael. And our Board Member, Ryan McAdams. Present, Mr. Chairman. Also present
is our board attorney hillary emerson our zoning board director anne hagerty and our board
administrator lakeisha dandy recording of this hearing will be posted on the zba website
by participating you consent to be recorded this is an in-person meeting with remote capabilities
whether remote or in person if you're sworn in called to speak you must state and spell your
name and then wait to be sworn in once you've been sworn in please state your name each time
before beginning your testimony any person may enter their appearance to become an interested
party you can identify the case property address in your zoom webinar you can see a staff member
or you can call this eba appearance line by the close of business tomorrow call 267-270-5548
leave a message that includes your email address and the address of the property of the appeal case
the following guidance is for our remote attendees when directed you must raise your
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in order to be heard by all attendees and the court reporter in the event of emergency please
follow the directions given over the public address system or by the staff the main exit
is through the double doors at the rear of the room the nearest stairwell is to the left outside
the doors in case of an evacuation the rally point is love park directly across our street
please remain there so we can account for you so let's look at our schedule for this afternoon
Number eight, MI 2025-006-651, 4416 Locust Street.
Alan Nockmson is the attorney, and also there's a request for a continuance from Councilmember Gauthier's office.
If anyone's from the audience is here, please come on.
Good afternoon, Chair. This is Doreen, and I will be co-hosting this afternoon.
And I have a Craig Santoro.
We'll be allowed to speak.
Hi, I'm Craig Santoro. I'm with the Spruce Hill Community Association.
i'm the co-zoning chair okay hold on hold on could you please state your name and spell for
the stenographer i'm sorry craig santoro c-r-a-i-g-s-a-n-t-o-r-o all right you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do all right so we have a a note
from council member got the a about um a continuance um mr knockamson do you want to
respond first did i swear you in that all right could you please state your name and spell for
this not alan knockamson a-l-a-n the last name knockamson n-o-c-h-u-m-s-o-n do you swear affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do thank you mr knockamson do you want to
respond to this request for continuing uh yes we wish to present today for the board to hold it
for the board to hold it uh for us to be allowed to do certain non-zoning related matters with
uh for us to be allowed to do certain non-zoning
with regards to repairs to the property all right all right right i'm sorry
craig uh yeah we would we would agree to that okay good all right you all right thank you
thank you both very much you'll call you and you'll be up here okay um let's see here number 11
number 11 mi 2025 006 850 10 16 to 18 ray street that case has been kinged until 2 p.m on 5 13 26.
Number 12, MI 2025-006-851, 5375 Umbria Street.
That case is a continuance, attorney moving party.
the number
number one um mi 2025 003 392 2231 fernon street um this is the second listing no exhibits
gsd3 llc is the listed owner
you're not on that right you want to come up or
we had your name that's why i you know so mr chair the uh applicants approached us about
potentially representing them they have not completed the engage our engagement uh so i
would just ask if the board i i don't know if we are going to be engaged but i would just ask the
board to you know have one more hearing okay thank you all right that that case will be continued to
5 13 26 at 2 pm all right let's go to our add-on list number one mi 20 25 006 277 907 north 43rd
street uh i vote yes uh with proviso revised plans one page stamp by cba march 4th 2026.
michael johns my vote is yes with proviso
cheryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso tenetta graham my vote is yes with proviso ryan mcadams my
vote is yes with proviso i am when my vote is yes with proviso and number two mi 2025 005 234
6740 germantown avenue
i vote yes with proviso per amended refusal dated 1-6-26
michael johns my vote is yes with proviso
cheryl gaster my vote is yes with proviso i'm going to go to our regular case
our regular cases we all got a vote oh i'm sorry go ahead i thought you were done
to letter Graham my vote is yes with proviso Ryan McAdams my vote is yes with proviso
all right so we got our regular case we're going to start with number three
MI 2025 003 858 510 to 28 South A Street attorney attorneys are seven Stephanie
boggs magna and call primivero and also um paul bonnie and leonard
leonard reider is here too no yeah i i don't think he he he needs to appear there's been
discussions with the parties thank you all right sure come on uh may please the board
Carl Primavera. I'll present sitting down. Sure. So I won't block anybody's view. Okay.
Just for the record, state your name and spell for this. Carl Primavera. Yep. P-R-I-M-A-V-E-R-A.
Right. Attorney for the applicants. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth,
nothing but the truth? I do. Could you identify the applicant to please your client? Yes. So we
actually have joint clients the uh owner of the property and we have both isaac and naomi ohayan
and i'll spell that uh o-h-a-y-o-n they're the owners of the property and we also have
uh the rabbi uh goldman who is the one who intends to operate the jewish day school which
is being proposed he's here as well okay mr bonnie could you just please state your name
is spelled for the stenographer and identify your client yeah yes mr chair my name is paul bonnie
b-o-n-i uh and my client is lombard news owners association right do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes um uh mr permavera our vice chair
Yes. Mr. Primavera, our vice chair has just a few questions for you. Sure. Good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing? Yes, we have. Okay. And do you waive the reading of the refusals and stipulate to their accuracy?
We do. And I'm going to address that each and every refusal because there was an original application, then a revised, and now there's a settlement agreement. So we'll go through that.
Okay. Thank you. Paul, did you start to say something then? Okay. So everybody knows we're going to be going for 45 minutes. I think we explained it. And then we'll have to do a resumptive hearing to get to that point. So, but you can start.
All right. Thank you. And I intend to, not out of rudeness, but to go very quickly. Our exhibits are in the records. So if I go too fast, slow me down. But I would like to conclude my testimony within the 45 minutes.
Good. So, as I said before, this property is a nonconforming struck. Oh, you know what? Let me start by putting agreement on the record. Mr. Bonnie's client, Lombard Muse, they're adjoining property owners. We have reached an agreement. There's still maybe some exhibits that need to be attached to it.
So I'm not going to object. If there's a problem downstream and he wants me to bring witnesses back to cross-examine them, I'm not going to object to that. Today, he doesn't plan to cross-examine because we do have an agreement.
Right, so thank you, Mr. Sherry, Mr. Primavera, thank you. Just to clarify, I think we're getting there within, you know, hours, frankly, and we've reached an agreement between counsel that if we do need to, if we do end up in opposition, which I think is unlikely, that I could, that he would not object to me submitting exhibits in the future,
and that he would not object to me cross-examining today's witnesses in the future.
So today I'm pretty much going to stand down and just watch.
Well, thank you very much, and we appreciate you briefing us on that beforehand.
So why don't you call, why don't you start?
And as to Mr. Reuter for the city, there were two issues about the refusal, which we'll get into.
One was a moot point.
The other is there was a parking refusal on the original refusal that didn't show up on the current revised refusal.
That is a legitimate refusal.
So I think Len Reuter said that we didn't necessarily need to amend the refusal, but we're going to incorporate that in our variance request.
So, again, the property is a nonconforming structure and use in the form of a masonry garage built in 1929.
The block is generally bounded by Lumberg Street on the north, South Street on the south, 8th Street on the east, which is where we front, and Darien Street on the west.
Historically, the block and the neighborhood have never been exclusively residential.
And as you would expect, there's a lot of mixed-use activities in this block.
There are townhouses, there's condos, there's apartments, there's schools in the area, and I think St. Peter's is on your agenda for today.
medical facilities, and especially along South Street, there's a lot of retail commercial
activities. The site is zoned RM1 Residential, as is the block. RM1 Residential allows residential,
but it also allows, by special exception, certain non-residential uses under certain terms and
conditions. They include schools, religious institutions, and medical hospitals. The problem
is we are non-conforming and we're on 100% of the lot. So there's no way that we can ask for a
special exception. But the use of a Jewish day school or school is not out of character. And I
have a witness who will be very brief, Janice Woodcock, who did a land plan report, which is
in the record, to follow that up. So we have proposed, and you'll see in the exhibit, an
An adaptive reuse of this nonconforming structure.
It certainly has 100% coverage.
It's also attached on both sides.
So that's problematic in becoming a special exception.
We can't get there, even though the school was recognized as a special exception.
We just don't meet the dimensional requirements.
And we originally had an apartment for the rabbi and two faculty apartments.
We have since, as part of our agreement with the Lombard Views, have removed the two
faculty apartments but as you'll see when stuart rosenberg testifies the architect
it's a penthouse and the idea is as you'll hear from the rabbi
For security reasons, which we don't need to go into, it's really good to have him on site and also part of the religious instruction, whether it's, I'm not forgetting, I'm forgetting the word, but the Passover meals and things like that, Seder, you know, are conducted in a way on premise.
for security reasons which we don't need to go into it's really good
Yes, so there's there's an important aspect to that.
We have the variety of refusals, which we'll go through.
But if you look at that photo that's up, we only have one access.
The garage was accessed originally off of a street.
There's no way we can come in through a back or the rear.
So there's no way to access the garage that's proposed other than on the primary street.
Now, we are taking the street, and we're going to make it very much improved over its existing situation.
We also do not have enough parking, but as you'll hear, this school is affiliated with the Rabbi's Synagogue, which is like two blocks away.
And we envision, and our traffic engineers have said that at least 50% of our people will walk or take strollers.
we already have a pre-K at the synagogue, so we know pretty much how the demand is. We also know
how to operate drop-offs and pickups, and you'll see along A Street, we have good frontage to allow
that to happen. So we've had various meetings in our exhibit list, over 20 meetings. Wash West
sponsored a stakeholder meeting after its own Zoom meetings. We've also worked with the councilman,
Councilman Squilla, who was, you know, trying to bring the parties together and we've succeeded at least with the Lombard views, which are the closest adjoining property owner. You'll hear from other people in the resumption hearing across the street that they, they still have concerns. And just so you'll be aware of their Bradford Alley and Rodman. That's how I identify those that are still opposed as far as I know. So we've gone through many revisions based on input from Wash West and from
neighbors and uh we we basically think that we have condensed this project the best so that we
have what i'll call the least uh you know the minimum requirements for variance both use
and dimensional uh this jewish day school is very much in demand uh you'll hear that this is
something which is totally lacking and to be able to have a facility within walking distance of the
synagogue where in this neighborhood would you find a landmass big enough for this activity
it's been years that they've been looking for a home and the fact that there's this vacant
abandoned masonry former parking garage is really just a unique situation to be able to bring the
school which will have a maximum of 180 students it won't happen right away you know each class
will follow. It may take 10 years to get to that full capacity. So without further ado, I'd like
Stuart Rosenberg and his assistant Hannah Rosenberg to take over the slides and briefly go through
the design. Good afternoon, sir. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
My name is Stuart Rosenberg, and it's spelled S-T-U-A-R-T-R-O-S-E-N-B-E-R-G.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Counsel, please proceed.
Thank you.
So, Stuart, you're the architect for the project for both the owner and the rabbi?
And obviously, you've testified many times.
You've been practicing as an architect in Philadelphia for how many years?
Over 40 years.
All right.
So can you tell us, as we go through the slide, generally, what was the original application and talk about the amendment that gave rise to what I'll call the revised refusal, and then what I'll call the settlement agreement, which will be submitted after the hearing, which has, again, revised zoning plan.
as you can imagine over a period of almost a year and a half the building design evolved
initially when we we established a program with the school and basically a wish list we presented
that to the community and got immediate feedback regarding scale height and use and during as
As Carl mentioned, during a series of many meetings, we began to redesign the building
and went through a series of multiple building design revisions that ultimately appeared
a pair down the program to what was essential to run the school. And to sort of summarize it,
down the program to what was essential to run the school.
the project that we are now proposing has been reduced by almost 20 feet, which is almost
two stories in height. The square footage of the original design has been reduced by almost 27%.
went from 42,000 to 43,000 feet to 32,000 feet in area. And the building height has now been
reduced to approximately 45 feet to the roof. And our adjoining neighbors are approximately 38 feet.
That's the zoning limit for this district. Now, this property is across the street from
an apartment building? That is correct. And that previously was the Society Hill Playhouse?
That's right. The Society of Old Playhouse was over 50 feet in height and from what I understand had over 220 seat capacity. So buildings of this nature in this neighborhood are very common. They're in addition to single family residential, the garage uses, theater uses, and countless other uses that our plan planner will describe later in this presentation.
Now, in the course of your work, did you commission or did the client commission a transportation study, an impact study?
Yes, we have a traffic study from Traffic Planning Design, which is a well-known regional and national traffic engineering firm.
And that's in the record.
And can you just generally tell us what the conclusion was for their conclusion on their executive summary?
In general, to summarize, their conclusion was it would have no significant impact on the traffic in the immediate vicinity.
There was no reason to change or upgrade the signalization at 8th and South, which is the closest light.
And that's due to the fact that a maximum capacity of 180 children, at least half of which are going to be walking by foot to the school.
In addition to that, the traffic will be limited to morning drop-offs and mid-afternoon pickups.
And I'm going to refer the board for a later date to Paragraph 7 and 8 and 9 of TPD's report, February 18, 2026, which goes through the analysis.
And am I right in saying that the level of service, which is already a B, will not be impaired by the proposed school?
All right. And did you also have the opportunity to look at a land study, which is in the record, from Janice Woodcock, who was previously the Executive Director of the Planning Commission,
Chair of the Zoning Committee of Center City Residents Association, and a practicing architect and land planner for many years in the city?
And what was the purpose of that report, and what impact did that information have on you?
Well, the purpose of that report was to establish, first of all, the history of Washington Square West.
What are its origins, both culturally and architecturally?
And the report basically summarized that over the last 250 years or more, this neighborhood
has been made up of every conceivable use that you can imagine.
Hospitals, schools, warehouses, factories, residential uses, barns, stables, you name
it over the centuries. And we have an example here where, you know, we have a building that's
probably 80 years old that predates most of the homes in our immediate district. Now, did you see
her conclusions in the report, which is in the record, where she went through the criteria of
both use variances and dimensional variances and said that we satisfied each and every requirement?
That is correct. Is that consistent with your understanding as the project architect?
Yes. She basically demonstrated that the impact of this from a physical perspective and its contextual similarity to the adjacent neighborhood and the structures arrived at that conclusion.
All right. And we're going to go to the refusals and then we'll conclude with you. First of all, you heard my testimony and do you adopt it as your own?
Second of all, let's go through the refusals. You mentioned height. All right. So how much are we over the allowed height?
We're proposing a roof height of 45 feet to the roof deck itself, plus another 14 feet for elevator and stair roof access that would occur in two pilot houses located on the roof structure.
So to summarize, zoning requires 38 feet in height. We're raising it to 45. So it's approximately 7 feet of additional height, which we think is a modest change relative to the use that we're proposing.
which we think is a modest change relative to the use that we're proposing.
All right. And especially if you consider structures on the roof, whether they have penthouse or elevator overrides.
They're very limited in area and focused just in two locations, since two means of egress and elevator access are required by the ADA code.
All right. And parking. You heard that I said that we don't meet the parking requirement.
What type of parking do we have with this project?
we're proposing 12 12 parking spaces on site that will be exclusively used by our faculty
um and we believe that due to the fact that half the students will be coming by by foot on strollers
and so forth um that there is no additional necessity for on-site parking and do you believe
that it's uh impractical to add more parking to this project we do because um you know the
The footprint of the building is limited to approximately 9,300 square feet, and the garage level is already occupying close to a third to a half of that to begin with.
All right. And we talked about the access from the primary street, A Street. Is there any other way to access parking for this property?
No, there isn't because our building adjoins our neighbors to the north and south with a common party wall, so there is no access to the rear.
Furthermore, the rear of the existing building falls directly on the rear property line.
So there really is no existing rear yard.
So we have 100% coverage.
There's no rear yard setback.
We're nonconforming as to both use and as to both structure.
Correct.
All right.
Do you believe that supports the hardship that would support the variances we're requesting?
I have nothing further of this witness.
And then I would call Janice Woodcock.
Hi, good afternoon. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Janice Woodcock, J-A-N-I-C-E, W-O-O-D-C-O-C-K.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Counsel?
Thank you. Janice, did you hear my testimony? Is it accurate so that you would adopt it as your own?
I would. All right. And your CV and resume is in the record. You've testified and acted as an architect and land planner before this board many, many times. I have. All right. And were you asked to prepare to investigate and prepare a report regarding the proposed uses for this property, which include the parking, the school and accessory activities and the rooftop penthouse for the
rabbi i was all right and what was your conclusion well uh my conclusions are that schools are a
customary accessory use in philadelphia's neighborhoods that the development pattern
that you see on this block is consistent with historic development patterns dating from the
mid-1800s that this block has always been a mixed-use block with churches and social
social-related institutions on it. And finally, this project is consistent with the city's
comprehensive plan because it activates a building that will, that was vacant, is vacant, I should
say, that will, it will be a school that contributes to the ethnic character of the
neighborhood, which is an objective in this district plan for the city of Philadelphia.
now in your report uh you go through each and every criteria of the zoning code which you're
familiar with yes regarding variances both use dimensional yes and what was your uh finding and
conclusion with regard to uh satisfying that criteria for relief well that because we are
dealing with a building that is non-conforming the variances are causing this so the very thing that
is creating the problem is what we have to deal with and by preserving this building which again
not all the time it's not always that your planning objectives can be consistent with
another and we just end up generating these variances further those variances are minimal
and they're the most minimal that you could possibly do and still use this building for
this school i want to mention one in particular which is the building height i think you saw
earlier how much height was reduced from the project's original design now we're only four
and a half feet higher than the surrounding residential development secondly the setback
issue the building itself is creating the zero setback at grade but the design sets back 15 feet
and even further than that on the upper stories to preserve light and air for the adjacent properties
thank you uh with regard to the orange
Thank you. With regard to the RM1 category, RM1 residential, but you heard what I said about the special exception, but we can't meet special exception because our nonconforming coverage and attached on the north and south make that impossible.
But your report confirms the compatibility of this use with the block, the zoning classification, and as a planner and former head of the planning commission, you believe that there's no adverse impact on either the district plan or the neighborhood plan or good planning in general.
Well, I know that this board knows it better than any anyone else that the special exception is is the purpose of it is to allow these uses to be in an area if the zoning classification supports it and were it not for the again for the existing building, we would be a special exception and not a use variance.
All right. And is it your expert opinion, based upon a reasonable degree of architectural and land planning certainty, that the requirements for variance relief are satisfied by this project?
I believe they are.
All right. Thank you. I have nothing further from this witness.
And I would like to have Isaac Ohayan.
Oh, there you go. Am I pronouncing that right? I'm sorry. All right.
good afternoon sir could you please state your name as bell for the stenographer my name is isaac
ohayon is a a c o h a y o n right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
about the truth counsel thank you uh so isaac you heard my testimony uh and you've also heard from
your architect steward and from the land planner janice uh do you adopt their testimony as your
own is it accurate yes all right and can you tell us uh a little bit about masada which is your
company uh you know what your connection with the property is and the project and your experience in
building yeah I'm I'm building in Philadelphia for 36 years I build many
residentials many apartment many commercials and and this property came
to my hand I bought it and and I I start you know to think exactly you know I'm
up I will not sure exactly what you know what what I really wanted to do with the
property until the rabbi um called me one day and he said you know i need to build a school and
and it really really you know i really got my my feeling to the school and and um you know we start
i i start talking with the rabbi and you know to get to more details and then we hired the architect
and we decided to build the jewish school now tell me a little bit about what i've been calling
the masonry garage and the attachments and i don't know if we can get a shot of the rear yard
with the lombard muse to the west tell us about the proximity of the existing building and the
relationship with attached and adjoining structures yes you know as as you see as you see in the
picture right now this is this is the wall of the existing existing wall this is yeah this is the
yes this is the existing wall right now um and this building used to be used to be a garage
um the the the first floor podium is a is a massive concrete building i mean i don't know
if we can see the the picture of the of the structure yeah we have some inside pictures yes
um so you know the the the the reason the reason why we live in this building because
let me see if there is if you go down to the first floor there you go yeah yeah yeah that's
one as you see the beam the concrete beam are can carry can carry a tank so really to to really to
to demolish this building will create a massive vibration all over the neighborhood so you told
me that you would probably need to do hand demolition yes and would that be uh problematic
expensive and how long would that take in terms of creating noise vibrations
dust to the neighbors yeah because you know today we cannot demolish building
with machines we have to demolish it by hand that will take months to demolish
building like that by hand especially the concrete podium so it's really this
is the reason why we keep in the podium and we're going towards the school and
school and not residential. So an adaptive reuse takes advantage of the structural integrity
not residential. So an adaptive reuse.
because it is a massive building, but it also avoids the demolition, which would be potentially
problematic and of concern to adjoining and attached neighbors who are cheap to jail with
our particular building absolutely absolutely to really to demolish this one will really can create
um a serious risk of the building that attached to to to my building now there were also questions
from the community uh this garage had actually been a garage by dr simeon who had the um i think
he started his collection of foreign cars or yes there but uh there were some uh
dep issues and uh as part of your process you resolve them with act two to avoid any uh potential
environmental concern yes yes we've been involved with the with the um with the environmental
company that you know we have we have tanks we have a monitoring wells that it's been uh
And there is no contamination on the water. There is no contamination on the soil. When we get to the construction, there is four tanks that we're going to remove from the site.
All right. So you've been meeting with neighbors on this property for over two years or so?
For two and a half years, yes.
And that included near neighbors, adjacent neighbors, community neighbors, and a variety of meetings, which are outlined in our materials, to the point where we have reached an agreement, as Mr. Bonney mentioned.
Does that agreement contain very specific construction logistical issues?
well you know i i you know i know that mr bunny you know requests uh um all can there is a ways
you know how to you know approach to the construction in term of like even if we're
going to knock partially of the buildings you know we're going to use wet materials to eliminate dust
So there's a lot of details about subcontractors, times of operation, materials, closing of streets or not closing of streets.
So insurance and the like. So that's all been negotiated.
And how long do you think the construction will take to do the adaptive reuse?
I believe 18 months.
All right. And you've also worked out the logistical part, meaning access to properties and crane if you need it or whatever it is to be able to do it. And also, since the party wall that we showed you, both sides need to be addressed and updated, both the side that faces the Lombard Hughes as well as the side that is on the school.
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. All right. I have nothing further. Okay, this witness. Sure. All right. And then my final witness is Rabbi Goldman. Sure.
Rabbi, could you sit close to the mic if you would, please? Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
My name is Yochanan Goldman, spelled Y-O-C-H-O-N-O-N, last name G-O-L-D-M-A-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Counsel?
Thank you.
Rabbi, can you tell us a little bit about what you currently have been doing in this neighborhood?
Excuse me. I know you're the rabbi for the nearby synagogue, which will be or is affiliated with the proposed Jewish day school.
Thank you, and thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the board for giving us this opportunity to present our case.
The synagogue that I lead has been in Philadelphia for 150 years in its current location since 1910.
And what is that location?
It's 527 Lombard Street.
And how far is that from this proposed site?
It's two and a half blocks away from the proposed site.
and my wife Leah who's here and myself have been leading this congregation for the past
more than 25 years and we um we have a
And we, um, we have a thriving early education program and for many years, for more than 10 years, we've been searching for a location in close proximity to this to our current synagogue so that the students that come to the preschool can continue their education all the way through through eighth grade.
and we have looked extensively at other properties and have not been able to find a suitable location
thanks to the developer who's who has purchased this property
masada they have been willing to partner with us in this development to serve the community
and this is our objective to be able to serve the community by providing more educational
opportunities for the children who live in our neighborhood. Now at the synagogue you said you
have preschool and you've had preschool for some time? Yes the preschool has been operating for
about 25 years now and there are approximately 70 students who attend each day there are
protocols in place for drop off and pick up things which ensure that the neighborhood
does not have any negative impact on the contrary there's a positive impact from
from the education that happens in our school, and we intend to be respectful neighbors as we have been as we've demonstrated for the past 25 years.
Have you had objections or concerns regarding the current operation of the synagogue, including the preschool?
No, we have not had any objections. Whenever there's been a neighbor that has had a concern,
we have been available to address the concern, and our neighbors are appreciative of what we do
for the community and have been very supportive. And what is the particular relevance and need
for this K through eight preschool as part of the educational, cultural, and religious aspect
of your synagogue? They say that to defend a country, you need an army, but to defend a
civilization, you need schools. Our mission is to provide transformative education through a
holistic, community-driven approach to learning.
And this does not exist in our neighborhood.
There are many, many families, some of them are here today with us who need this type
of education, have been asking for it for many years.
Our goal is to develop students into confident, knowledgeable leaders who will enrich society
by bringing light to their campuses, careers, families, and communities,
and to do that in a way which enhances the community.
This is going to be a community asset for all the neighbors, even beyond the students of the school.
Now, can you explain to me the process, which I mentioned, of filling up to get to the 180 students?
because apparently there's a process that gets there that may take five to ten years for full
occupancy? Yes. We are working with an educational partner who's going to help develop the curriculum
for the school, and their model is to start one grade at a time. So we would start the first year
with kindergarten, the following year with first grade, and go all the way through eighth grade.
And so to reach the capacity enrollment of 180 students will likely take years, and by that time we are confident that we will build a positive relationship with all of our neighbors, even those who are opposing this project today.
And we talked about the various meetings, meetings with near neighbors, meetings with Wash West, the stakeholder meeting that included Lombard Mews, Bradford Alley neighbors, Rodman neighbors, other neighbors.
And was that the process that led to the reduction in the size and scope of the project from the original concept?
and scope of the project from the original concept, and then even further reduced from the first revised plan?
Yes. The first meeting that we had, the first public meeting, which was facilitated by Washington West, is where we proposed the image on the top of the screen, which was approximately 20 feet higher than our current proposal.
Over the past seven plus months, we've had multiple meetings with many more stakeholders and neighbors, and we have made many concessions, both in terms of the building design and operations, to satisfy and address as many concerns as we can from our neighbors.
now you also uh were participating in various meetings with neighbors and the councilman squilla
correct we had um i would i would i would say that um we've had public meetings private meetings
stakeholder meetings and i've also had one-on-one meetings with some of the neighbors
who have been open to conversation and i found them to be overwhelmingly supportive
All right. And is there anything more that you believe that could be done to the project to address potential issues? Or are we now at the point where there's nothing further that can be done by way of design?
In terms of the design and the physical dimensions, we believe that we have really compacted the program into the smallest type of program without compromising the mission and the quality of the education that we intend to provide.
Now, the original plan called for an apartment for you and your family and two faculty apartments. The two faculty apartments have been removed. Tell us why you said that it's essential as part of the integrated cultural, educational, and religious process to be on site with this building. And I think you also mentioned today a security issue.
Yes. My family and I have been living in this neighborhood, as I mentioned.
However, one of the one of the missions of this educational school, many people, you know, ask this question, why is that important for the rabbi's residents to be on site?
um and that's a very valid question so i'd like to just take one minute to address that
in our conversations with neighbors many neighbors have told us that they appreciate
the fact that there will be a 24 7 presence on site with which will be more secure it will provide
oversight and security for the operations that happen inside the building this is not an uncommon
in faith-based schools to have a rabbi on site to oversee the operations and also
to provide an address for any concerns that come by. But there's also one more point that
is essential to recognize, and that is that part of our educational model is to offer experiential
learning and it's more than academics it's an effort to build character in our students
to address their social emotional needs to also address their spiritual health
of the students who will attend the school and in the original model and the original
proposed design that you see on the top of the screen there was also a synagogue as part of the
design we have since removed the synagogue but left the residence and the question is why
in jewish life and culture most of jewish practice happens in the home not in the synagogue
and so we want to have part of our educational mission is to invite community members namely the
students a classroom of students and their families into the home to be able to see firsthand
how jewish life is practiced and that's part of the experiential learning model
that we wish to provide and so having the rabbi's residence is not simply an
wish to provide and so having the rabbi's residence is not simply an add-on it is an
accessory use it's not the primary use but we believe that it is essential to being able to
offer this type of unique religious education that a private school or parochial school might offer
with having that component
of the rabbi's residence on site.
Our mission is to spread light
and we want to inspire the next generation
to be able to be ambassadors of light.
The last thing we want to do is to dim anyone's light
and certainly not our neighbors.
So we intend to be good neighbors
and respectful neighbors
and to raise youth and children and students
who will also be respectful members of society
who share our mission of spreading light.
And final question, Rabbi.
So you're familiar and you've signed a development agreement
with Lombard Muse, which has 32, 38 unit owners, 35.
And that agreement drafted between Mr. Bonnie and Stephanie from my office primarily, does that control activities, days, hours of operation, issues concerning noise, whether it be mechanical or whether it be ambient noise, are all those things covered to the mutual satisfaction as far as you know?
Yes, I want to just mention that the we have, we have done extensive details into the operations, which limit the noise hours of operation and traffic concerns, parking concerns, many of the other concerns that were raised by all of the neighbors.
Although Lombard Muse is not the only group of neighbors, we are willing to.
work with work out any concerns that other neighbors have um this agreement with lombard
muse is simply because they came to us as the immediate rear neighbor and asked to engage in
this process but certainly would not be limited to their their concerns we're certainly open to
addressing concerns of other neighbors as well and hope to have the opportunity to uh to work
with all of our neighbors as well. All right. Thank you. Thank you very much. Um, I have nothing
further by way of witnesses. Um, so I don't know if, uh, you want to hear from some of the
supporters. Maybe I can just have them raise their hand. I think we're, we got, I think we're out of
time. All right. All right. Can I just have the time? Yeah. And raise their hands. And if they're
here. Sure. The supporters can raise their hands. I mean, yeah. Wow. That's a lot. That's a whole
And we don't have time to hear from all of them today.
Maybe this whole week we won't have time to hear from them.
So we're going to do a resumptive hearing for this.
We're looking at 5-19-2026 at 9.30 a.m.
9.30 a.m.
And we will be back.
I mean, this is not over, so anybody who's in the audience, make sure they hear that there will be a continuation on 5-19, okay?
Thank you.
And thanks.
I'm sorry, Mr. Primavera, do you expect that there will be additional changes to the plans?
We're probably a week away from the final plans that will then go through the process with you to get them resubmitted back to L&I if necessary.
So that at the end of the total case, everything will line up.
Sounds good.
So I'll just make a note that there will be likely amended plans or amended refusal or something that we'll discuss next time.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
all right so we'll wait two minutes because i think a lot of people are going to leave
oh okay because that's and i'm one of them thank you thank you very much
thank you
way to clear the room chair
you know it's funny I can't see
I don't remember, I don't know.
I don't remember, I don't remember.
It was.
I might change.
There's so many people out there.
So, yeah, they got.
They don't work.
They're the biggest.
But, yeah, they are.
It's this one, right?
I don't know where they were built.
You know what else?
I'm thinking about Mother Festival.
side oh it was the synagogue's right next to my
but I think you know what else I think
there thank you very much for clearing the room
what's a little push a little push a little push
what will anne see is this hillary just come up with me and said do number eight next thing
it's got to be it's got to be alan alan's come with some story
you're number eight right
yeah I think you know is it eight right yeah yeah why don't you come up and we'll
44 16 local street why don't you just get ready to go so we'll finally have a room also
concerned with that thank god oh okay
okay everybody um so number eight m i twenty twenty five zero zero six six five one forty
four sixteen locust street alan knockamson is the attorney mr knockamson you already been
swearing could you just state your name for the record alan knockamson and could you identify your
client a relationship to the property yeah my client is iran magin who's the owner of the
property and this is going to be here in hold am i correct that's correct all right and our vice
chair has a few questions good afternoon have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in
advance of this hearing yes we have and do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate
to its accuracy i do okay thank you you can share your screen and proceed with your case thank you
um oh there's here
all right so we're here to uh present 4416 locust street um it's an rsa5 property um it's in the
spruce hill uh community um and what we're trying to do here is is legalize this three family
dwelling it has been a three family dwelling since a while my client purchased it in 2010
And the reason why we're here today is he hired, recently hired a management company.
And sadly, this is what happened.
Someone doesn't understand that they have to keep up with the rental licenses and such.
He had no idea that that was the case.
It's always been a three-family dwelling.
He purchased it as a three-family dwelling.
It was, when he purchased it, it was an RM1 property where, you know, the lot size is
1,570 square feet, which would technically allow for four-family dwelling if it remained
an RM1 property. Unfortunately, the zoning changed to RSA 5 when he was alerted to the
fact that he needed to go through this process to legalize the three units he has. My understanding,
and I haven't looked at the public record, my understanding is that there are no violations
with regards to this. So obviously someone can confirm that. So it's not like he's reacting to
a violation he just wants to do the right thing which he didn't know he he needed to get the
licenses so we'll review you know these 13 exhibits starting with the notice of refusal again this is
an rsa5 property this is a three-family dwelling not making any modifications to the floor plans
there's no basement living even so what is holding this up though is that the spruce hill community
and i did not attend the meeting so mr goldberg from my office did and based on what he told me
is that they were receptive to the legalization but they had issues with some of like the upkeep
of the building and so you know we you know obviously advised my client that they need to
fix that you know prior to the hearing unfortunately with the snow and all it was tough to get someone
out there we have no objection and obviously the board ruled on this you know to have this
presented have us do the work confirm the work and then i would assume that um that you know that they
confirm the work and then I would assume that um that you know that the you know the community group
may update their letter based on the work that was done um but I just want to let you know that
my client does have an estimate here for all the work that needs to get done um they're going to
replace the door that's on the ground level um on the front which only is accessed for the lower
level which is the basically the basement where you know no tenant has direct access to it but
So they want that replaced. They also want a railing installed for one of the exterior for the exterior staircase, which my client will do.
And I believe there's some fresh coat of paint in some other areas.
This is all reflected in this estimate, and my client's ready, willing, and able to do that and spend $5,185.35 to do that.
So, first of all, the history of the property and the current use of the property is a triplex.
It's been like that forever, legally for some time.
Unfortunately, what happens when the zoning changes on a person where they don't keep the rental license active, now they're subject to RSA-5 zoning, and that's why we're here today.
But we also looked, and I believe my team, and I always tell my team to do this, only show me legal, you know, like multifamily.
But you can see there's like 23 other instances close by of also multifamily structures in this vicinity.
So it's not out of character.
Also provided the Redfin listing showing when it was sold to him.
It was sold to him as a multifamily structure, which was legally allowed as an RM1, but he had to keep up with the rental licenses, which he did not.
And then here's the bill which changed the zoning, I believe, in 2018 from RM1 to RSA5.
So you can see this was originally RM1, and now it is RSA5.
And then maps to the area.
While our property is RSA5, there are other zoning classifications nearby, like CMX1, RM1.
uh so that it's not out of character plus the other uses which are you know multi-family in
nature nearby uh that's a map of the area then photograph so this is oh and the other thing i
forgot to mention is he's going to do an enclosure too in the front where he's going to store the
trash you can see it was previously there i think it got all dilapidated and and broken up but
They're going to do, like, basically like a trash caddy area where the fence will open up and, you know, they will be able to put the trash out during trash day.
But, you know, here's the window or the door for the lower level.
Again, no tenant has direct access to it.
It's just storage for, you know, storage, owner storage and utility, the utilities are down there.
and then this is our orange notice poster showing proof of posting for today's hearing
this is locust street to the right of the property to left of the property our photos so there's
three units unit a b and c so i want to give you know again this has been there forever um
the other thing is my client once he found out that this was not a legal triplex he let the
leases lapse and he hasn't re-rented any of those units at all wanting to like do the right thing
and legalized before you have someone in there.
So unit A, and I have floor plans too.
More of unit A.
And then unit B.
And I believe this is, the unit A is a two bedroom, one bath.
Unit B is a studio.
And then unit C is a bi-level.
and then just want to show the three hot water heaters that are there so
two of them are in that lower level basement and one is in one of the units and then our plans and
drawings again not drawing the scale just one of our you know we had our clients draw this out
for us and we're trying to you know kind of illustrate it in nature only but if you walk
through the front door to the left is unit a which is a living room and the kitchen bathroom
two bedrooms if you notice there is no access for unit a to the lower level no one has access
to that it has to come directly from the street and it's for utilities and storage instead for
unit a you come to the second floor landing unit b i would call the studio and you can see here is
kitchen living room and a bathroom and then unit c is that bi-level where you come into you know
basically open floor plan the kitchen living room bathroom and they have multiple bedrooms
and a bathroom upstairs we met with the community on january 21st to 7 pm proof
We met with the community on January 21st at 7 p.m. Proof of us emailing, proof of mailing of that notice. We sent it to 100 addresses which are within the affected area, listed the addresses, proof of mailing to those addresses, our application for appeal that we filed on Iran's behalf.
again he owns in his personal name um you know he did not expect to go through this variance process
but in order to get the rental licenses for three units he needs to do that and he understands he
has to get a co2 you know uh and the deeds of property showing he actually owns it with his wife
and then finally the certificate of tax claims his taxes are actually paid
through 2026. I would ask that Aron virtually raise his hand and be sworn in.
Aron is joining us as a panelist. Thank you.
I am here.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer?
Yes, Aaron Magan, E-R-A-N, M-A-G-E-N.
Aaron, could you please, Aaron, could you please turn on your video so we can see you?
I can. I'll only be able to do it for a little while.
i did not anticipate the hearing going this long and i'm about to start teaching a class in the
elementary school and they're just privacy considerations stay there go ahead okay uh ron
you have you heard everything i had to state today about your zoning matter yes and is and
specifically that you plan to do the work that the community has asked of asked of you correct yes
all right and um one other thing and i forgot to mention this during my presentation you have been
paying commercial trash fees to the city of philadelphia during the duration of your ownership
correct yes okay and so everything i said is is true and correct and you you would adopt it as
your own testimony yes all right thank you questions on the board yeah just um trying to
establish uh what makes us think that this has been a historic three family property
based on the like advertisement it was sold as three you know he can answer that
Iran was when you purchased this property was it a three unit
yes it was yeah when I purchased it yeah and you know he doesn't know this but it was an arm one
property too so if he just I mean understand that it could have been the reason I asked is because
as a previous rental license for a single unit from 2003 to like 2012 which mean and then I think
he bought it in 2015 so yeah for 10 years it looks like it was single family and then the units on
either side of it look like they're both single family so I can't speak to that I can take a look
at like you know the fact that we have multiple instances of multi-family I think I'm going to
a look to see if if one of those properties is next door to us see and then just i guess my
question then is that the adjacent neighbors were they in support at the meeting are you aware if
they were at the meeting i'm not aware of who was in the meeting room i the general feel was
this is not out of character and i believe the rco leaders here to to you know state whatever it was
I did not attend the community meeting. But I will say that two doors down, 4412 Locust Street is multifamily. So, you know, it's, again, not out of character. I have not looked at the zoning file to see if there were zoning permits, how far it goes back. But as you know, too, the, you know, some L&I files are current and some aren't.
Absolutely. So, and the further you go back in time, the less current they are. All I can tell
you is that it was, you know, my client's testimony was a three unit when he purchased it. It was
advertised as multifamily. It's not out of character. It was an RM1 property when he
purchased it. He's not, again, I haven't looked at this, but there was no violation for the use
he's taken upon himself to legalize it. So, and then I guess my second question is what's the
plan for the four bedroom apartment on the second and third floor uh iran what what's your plan are
you looking to do you know obviously you're limited to three unrelated people at the same time so
you know obviously you're limited to three unrelated people at the same time so do you plan
to rent that out to a family oh in terms of how that unit would be used yes yes yeah we had yeah
in general i rent out to families not unrelated folks but in general we also advertise it as a
three three bedroom plus an additional space like office or storage if people want to do so we think
it as a three bedroom when we we advertise it as a three bedroom plus an extra bonus space okay
all the questions questions from our turn yeah well i i bring well i still have to bring up my
issue of course you've got what's your access to the rear yards through the bedrooms on the first
floor is that the only access to your back to the rear yards and where is the trash stored there was
another one there the trash is stored in the front um it has always been stored in the front let me
in the front of the house in the front of the building yes it has it's been for some time and
and we actually that was one of the requirements from the community was to rebuild that closure
that enclosure that's been there forever so let me just share my screen
in the meantime i'll say that's correct about the backyard the access is only
through the two bedrooms of the first floor unit right which is problematic for me but
Iran is this is not a twin is this the configuration that existed at the time you
purchased this property yes yeah I did not change that there was no other access to that yard
so in terms of the photographs here this was the enclosure that existed for some time it just got
into disrepair regarding the vents which we're looking to replace by way of agreement uh with
you know with the community at their request and then in terms of the floor plans just go through
floor plans yeah so this is existing um yeah i was looking at different the first but they're
actually yeah so both bedrooms the only way to access your rear yard is through the is through
the uh it's through the bedrooms which is problematic uh and then i know you say you're
you're renting these the upper floor out as a three-bedroom with a bonus room
but it's really it's a four-bedroom so and I guess the concern with the four
bedroom even in public housing requires if you have a four bedroom you need two
and two at least two baths two full baths and you only have one well I can
only say, you know, the third space there, and if we can pull up the image again, Ellen,
but the space that is second from, you know, let's call them the top of the drawing north,
the second spacer, it's small, it, it cannot and should not be used as a bedroom next to
bathroom uh sort of on top of the bathroom as it were on this photo right this is it's a it's a
smaller space than uh i guess it would seem from from this drawing like anybody there would see
pretty clearly that it's not not a bedroom and i think a board member uh johns you indicated that
needed two bathrooms and here are two bathrooms there there's yes there's one downstairs one
upstairs full full full bathrooms all right all right thank you and then can i just add with
regards to the yard access i mean it it is how it was the way when i got it but uh there are houses
touching this building on on both sides there's no way to to go in through the side so the only
access would be you know basically by accessing the unit on the first floor which obviously would
create some privacy concerns for people living there any other questions from the board there's
no access from the basement to the rear yard correct yes so what's going to be the plan
for access into the basement with the new trash enclosure they would obviously have to put the
trash more towards the side. Again, it's not a space that you would use every day. It's merely
for owner storage and utilities to maintain, but I don't see that as something that's going to be a
daily occurrence. So obviously though, you have to, you know, you can't block it, but like they
um but like they would put the trash on the sides of it and if need be then move the trash cans when
would put the trash on the sides of it and if need be.
you once in a while need to get down there okay or stored inside if the board feels so inclined
to like make that proviso that could be a proviso to be trash stored inside in the lower level
make that okay so we're not voting today anyway or installed in the units yeah
or stored within the units i think their units are large enough yeah i think the more appropriate
thing would be to create it if you're asking me if the trash should be stored inside like what's
the alternatives i would say the better alternative would be to store the trash in the lower level i
mean i i defer to ron this is building iran would you have any objection to storing the trash in the
lower level or have the tenants store the trash in the lower level it's just it's just a
practicality issue you know carrying the trash to the streets down the stairs i think is a little
less safe to carry a lot of trash obviously the units store their own trash but it needs to go
into big bins in order to then be picked up by the city so that's that's the function of the
bins just to hold the trash when it's waiting to be picked up by the city
and i'll add again i mean maybe unnecessarily but it's it's never been an issue right there's been
never any conflict with neighbors or with the city around the the trash system there has worked well
the tenants take out the trash and put it in the bins before it's it's the pickup day and then take
it to the curb and then bring it back and that's it uh so it's not it's not like people are going
up and down all the time into the trash it's only before pickup and and like alan was saying that
there's plenty of room for people who need to get to like service the utility to go through that
area and go into the utility basement it's just a matter of having an extra having an opening on
either side of that enclosure which is which is part of the work order that we have in anyway now
for the request of the um neighborhood committee questions from our attorney um just a quick note
that i saw you you put the estimate um for the repairs up if you want that included in the record
just make sure you send that to us before the end of the day tomorrow we we we made every submission
i thought alex okay okay i didn't i didn't see it but yeah just make sure you submit that that's all
questions or comments from the virtual audience
does planning want to take a position
amy boyd with the planning commission amy boid do you swear or affirm to tell the truth told
truth nothing but the truth yes please proceed the comprehensive plan recommends no change
recommended no change from the previous rm1 residential multifamily zoning at this location
the area was remapped and council led remapping to rsa 5 residential single family in 2018
the proposed three units would be allowed by right under the comp plan recommended zoning
the planning commission recommends that the board grant their requested variance for three
family household living thank you um ian are you are you listening anything come out in
minutes we want to give this a resumptive
yeah that's so resumptive right okay all right so uh a result of hearing will be 5 19 20 26
at 9 30 a.m okay thank you right number two
mi 2025
two zero zero three six two four forty five oh one woodhaven road number one b gabriel fellis is the
attorney. How are you? Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Please take a seat. Could you please
state your name and spell for the stenographer? Good afternoon, members of the board. Oleg Sokolov
on behalf of the applicant. O-L-E-G-S-O-K-O-L-O-V. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth? The
whole truth is nothing but the truth? I do. Could you identify your client in a relationship to the
property? Yes, my client is Redmond Richard Court Prestige Lounge. Zafar Ahrukoloff is the tenant. I also have with me a representative of the ownership entity 4501 Woodhaven Holdings. You have a letter of support from the Millbrook Pacific Association. That's correct. 15 in support, three in opposition, and our vice chair has a few questions. Good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing? Good afternoon, Ms. Graham. Yes,
We have, just for the record, there are a few additions that I put in the packet this morning.
this morning they're none of the required exhibits just some additionals and i'll be resubmitting
They're none of the required exhibits, just some additionals, and I'll be resubmitting them at the end.
them at the end of the presentation great thank you and do you waive the written other refusals
and stipulate to the accuracy yes i do okay thank you can show your screen and proceed with your case
let's see
Apologies, it's just taking a moment to load me as a panelist here.
It's telling me unstable internet as well.
Excuse me, I was unable to promote you, I don't see your name.
how about now
I'm certainly in here
I think your name is Gabriel right
no sorry Oleg Sokolov
okay okay I see
I will promote now
thank you
it's the first time you've been in here
I've never seen you before
I've seen you on TV all the time
what went on the on the zoom but i didn't i didn't want to scare you guys with my
in-person appearance so i've been i've been keeping it to the camera
you know what i'll when i when i do it from the office i'll start doing the stand the standing desk
yeah yeah yeah all right here we go
um okay we have all your document okay great um we're here on 4501 woodhaven road unit 1b
if the board is familiar with this this is basically an out parcel at the old franklin
mills mall which to be honest with you i don't even know what that's called anymore philadelphia
mall or whatever maybe you guys you know what it's called philadelphia mills but it will
always be franklin mills so what we're talking about here is not the the main edifice that has
all the the interior courtyard to walk through but some of those buildings that are on the
outskirts on woodhaven or knights road that have some of them there's a dick sporting goods in one
of them chinese buffet is right next to them so various kinds of commercial establishments there
to just go over a few things in the refusal so what we're looking for a variance to do is to
use the premises for the purposes of a smoking lounge primarily hookah and you'll see from the
pictures that it's already set up to to be this it's a very I would say luxury high-end hookah
experience as the board may know from some of the the requests for this kind of use that they've
seen this is certainly a type of recreational activity that's that's increasing in popularity
so and especially amongst certain immigrant communities who are very prevalent in this
northeast area the other I'll say refusal but with a caveat is for assembly and entertainment
because we're also looking to have billiards at this location so a pool pool being played billiards
The reason I say there's a caveat to this being a refusal is because assembly and entertainment is allowed in ca one.
However, it's the overlay here that that creates the need for refusal as a as opposed to a referral on that secondary use category.
Now, just something else, because this unit is part of this larger Philadelphia mall, Philadelphia mills, and these out parcels.
I think some of these notes that are at the bottom of this refusal regarding other variances
granted are not applicable to this particular unit. So we're unit 1B within this particular
edifice. These might be for other units in the same building or may even be for buildings right
next door, smaller out parcels. So I don't think they have any bearing on what we're requesting
here today but just so the board's aware that those really don't um apply to us specifically
we have uh excerpts from the lease agreement so this lease was signed in september of 2024
the location was previously a pool hall as well um zafara rakulov who's my client and a
representative of the tenant here thought that it would be good to not only bring pool but also
this smoking lounge experience to this location. It's quite a big location. It's 3,600 square feet
To this location, it's quite a big location. It's 3,600 square feet or a little over. So.
or a little over.
Just so you can get a sense of what the layout looks like here. So you'll walk in here. You have the pool tables.
You have kind of like a countertop bar food area little employee lounge closet bathrooms off to the side there, and then a seating area that I believe is set up and allowed for about 44 seats in the in the entirety of the space.
So at the at the countertop as well as in the seating area.
And then these are some plans that we put in, and the main thing I just want to show you from this plan is that this building has a ventilation system that specifically set up a diffuser run out so it can handle this kind of this use, this smoke.
it's not going to be impacting any nearby um properties who are all commercial and we'll get
to also the nearby it's interesting to say neighbors because there aren't that many
individual residential neighbors in the area uh it's mostly just commercial units that are that
are around but i'll i'll get to that issue when 128 people signed it all right so i'll get to
okay explanation of the petition because you know as as we usually do we we asked um well let's
let's get there and then we can discuss it all right so here is the zoning map of the property
and we'll get to it a little bit later but if you notice this is um this is woodhaven road this
primary where my cursor is moving right now. And while these two parcels are listed as RSA 4,
they're not actually residential properties in any kind of way. They're also commercial
properties actually owned by the same ownership group that owns this property. I believe I'll
have them testify as to what they are. But the residences, the homes begin behind them. So
our property is not in any way adjacent to any residences. And you can see that a little more
clearly here. So here is our client's property, Prestige Lounge. It is just one of the units in
this 4501 Woodhaven. Woodhaven, as you're aware, is a major thoroughway, so a pretty big road that
It separates this parcel not only from this the RSA for that we looked at across the street,
but even furthermore from the residences that are right here on on whiting.
So these buildings right here that I'm kind of highlighting.
Those are commercial uses, so we have quite a distance between ourselves and any of the
residential uses I guess I don't really need to see all you guys now a little
bit about the business itself so you know as I was describing this isn't like
willy-nilly put together location a lot of time effort and money was put into
this location. You can see that the decor is above none. This is a little, I don't think I
need to testify about this or get into this in the record, but a little bit about the art and
culture of hookah. It's a very old tradition. It originated in the Middle East. And again,
I think that goes to why it's so popular and prevalent amongst certain, I would say a lot of
immigrant communities and is certainly gaining popularity all over the country.
So the location features six professional pool tables.
They were brand new.
They're beautiful pool tables.
And then a seating area that has up to eight guests at each table so people can really
recreate.
That's what the assembly and entertainment classification is intended to be used for.
People can go there, have some food, sit around, smoke some hookah, play some billiards.
It's really a boon to the neighborhood to have this additional type of recreational activity and location so close.
And I don't think I need to speak much about this, but here are some pictures of the interior of the location.
These are not renderings. They may look like it, but these are actual live shots of the location.
I'll ask the board. We we put together a, um, like a video walkthrough of the location. I don't want to overuse my time. I think you've showed us. Okay. It's it's on there. So if the board would like to see it or look at it, you know, upon consideration, I I encourage you to do so and perhaps even visit visit the location. If you see fit to grant this.
That's right. Not crazy over to smoking, but that's me.
Well, you'll just play pool chair.
Not real good at that either. Keep going.
All right. I got nothing there.
Wanted to just present that, you know, this location already has a good reputation in the community.
So a bunch of five-star reviews, you can see that people really enjoy not only their time there,
but the this particular location and the thought and effort and money and time that went into
building it out so you can you know i again i won't go through those i did put together an
illustrative map of um hookah locations in the area so there are certainly some they're not
you know incredibly prevalent everywhere which i think is good you don't need to
have this kind of entertainment space you know every block or every in every neighborhood but
there's certainly some precedent of these kinds of uses in and around the area
all right as as for the RCO meeting so we had two RCO meetings in fact and this gets to the
chair's point about our our petition so as you're aware what we usually advise our clients to do is
go around to residential neighbors and get a petition of support signed if they're able to.
This particular location, because of its size, its commercial nature, the formal RCO notice list was only about 27 addresses.
And they were mostly all commercial addresses that are within the 2,500, excuse me, 250 feet from the location.
So Mr. Akulov went well beyond that and tried to go to the residences as they would be the ones theoretically most impacted by some kind of non-conforming use.
So that's why we had the original petition that has, you know, 53 signatures.
When we went to the first RCO meeting, which was, excuse me, September of 2025, and had a conversation with the community, what they wanted to see is customer feedback and that customers of this location would be supporting the use as well.
So that's why there's a second petition of support, not with listed residential or commercial addresses, but just stating customers.
So here is the notice letter for the second meeting, which was held in October.
And then thereafter, my client had this filled out by customers who frequented the location.
And to be honest with you, I hadn't until now realized how many it was.
As the chair alluded to, we do have a petition of support from the Millbrook Civic Association after the second meeting.
our application for appeal our project information form we have all your paperwork okay
all right and the rest is just the uh required documents our zoning poster for today's meeting
and then last but not least our certificate okay our tax clearance certificate at this time if I
may bring Mr. Akrakulov to uh be sworn in and adopt my testimony please
could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer try to get close to the mic too
if you would the mic yeah yeah my name is zafar z-a-f-a-r a-h-r-o-r right k-u-l-o-v do you swear
or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth counsel uh good afternoon
Zafar Zafar you've obviously heard my testimony here today before the board yes and would you
adopt it as your own yes and it's true and correct to the best of your knowledge yes
um nothing further if it if the board likes I have a representative of the ownership entity as well
but I don't think that's no we're fine we're fine all right questions from the board
I have a question about the restaurant capacity so now that we're adding in the hookah lounge
how are you handling exhaust between the two like I saw that there was you're handling exhaust for
customers but how are we making sure that like tobacco smoke isn't contaminating the kitchen
contaminating the kitchen so the kitchen is not like a food prep kitchen most the food is being
so the kitchen is not like a food prep
prepared off-site and and brought in this is like like snack eating yeah snacks and sandwiches and
things of that nature all the questions and then wait where is the where is it exhausting through
the roof or through the rear that's a technical question that i'm going to have to see if i can
get the the landlord's representative to answer it do you want to yeah do you want to come to this
morning can you just tell him all right i'm sorry i'm back kenneth allman last name a-l-m-a-n
why don't you do that one more time so kenneth and my last name is allman a-l-m-a-n do you
swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth uh yes please proceed sir
can you give the board an idea of where the the ventilation comes out on the building is it on the
roof is it towards the rear yeah so it the ventilation was installed it goes up towards
the roof okay and it was there smoking on the site previously under the previous renter no so
the previous renter just did billiards and he may have done some hookah but he didn't have full
licensing so this is why we started the process with it so far okay and then you installed the
system the hvac system our our mechanical uh vendor yeah okay other questions
questions from our attorney not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual
audience yes alice udavik will be promoted okay yeah i didn't see him in there
why alice
i'm sorry good afternoon chairman members of the force could you please uh just state your name
as bell for this stenographer sure alice a-l-i-c-e udovich u-d-o-v-i-c-h on behalf of
councilman brian o'neill do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing
but the truth i do please proceed the councilman has no objection to the granting of the variance
due to this having the support of the millbrook community and surrounding neighbors all right
thank you very much for taking the time to call us is there anyone else in the virtual audience
no commission amy boy with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends
a change in zoning at this location from the existing ca1 commercial auto oriented to ca2
the proposed assembly and entertainment would be allowed under the proposed zoning
the proposed smoke shop would have minimal impact on nearby properties and there are no adjacent
residences the planning commission recommends the board grant their requested variances for
assembly and entertainment and smoke shop mi 2025 003 624 4501 woodhaven road number 1b
i vote yes for a temporary variance that will expire 3530
michael johns my vote is yes with proviso
sorry cheryl guest and my vote is yes with proviso
Tenetta Graham, my vote is yes with Proviso. Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Iowan, my vote is yes with Proviso. Thank you, Members. Thank you. Thank you for coming in.
Thank you. Number four, MI-2025-004-233, 5900-202, North 13th Street. Darlene Treat is the attorney.
There's a letter of opposition from the Concerned Community Association, RCO. However, granted
And the RCO request to filing provisos, numerous provisos.
Darlene Threat is coming in as panelists.
All right.
Thank you very much.
Good afternoon, Commissioner.
It's Charlene Threat on behalf of the applicant.
Adiola E. Lenny.
And I've already sworn you today.
Could you please just state your name for the record?
Darlene Threat.
Right.
and our uh vice chair has a few questions good afternoon have you submitted your documents and
exhibits five days in advance of this hearing yes i have and do you wave the reading of your
shoes on stipulate to its accuracy yes i do all right thank you you can share your screen and
proceed with the case okay can you see my screen we can
Okay. Can you see my screen?
We can.
Okay, Commissioners, I'm representing Adiola E. Leamy.
Ms. E. Leamy applied to the CBA to have
5900 to 5902 for her to operate it as a child care center.
Currently, Ms. E. Leamy,
and I'll show you a picture later,
operates a child care much smaller center on
the adjacent street, which is Negro Avenue, and she has a playground adjacent to that
facility. She rented the house next door and is here today to see whether or not we can
get ZONE to expand her daycare. Now, I've entered a package of evidence up to the portal,
which contains the syllabus, refusal, lease, tax information, property information, buyer
certification, the curriculum for the daycare, daycare employee credentials, a bunch of pictures
which I've added to the exhibit, plans, community letter of opposition, as well as a proof of
mailing. Commissioners, Ms. Elame applied to the GBA to use this property as a child care center.
We were refused because it is a RFA3, which doesn't allow for a child care center.
They filed an appeal and they have a lease with the landlord of the building to run this daycare, this property.
I would like to say they really didn't get any advice before they entered into this lease.
and they've actually been paying rent at this facility without using it uh 1850 a month for
about a year now uh here is uh some just general uh property information about the um property
here is the uh fighter fire uh certify excuse me the fire excuse me here we go
uh license and inspections of fire certification for this facility
i put in here the educational curriculum uh again she does have a daycare around the corner and uh
she's been operating it for about five to six years and i just wanted to show you that she
prints a curriculum every single week and it's distributed to the parents and i just put a few
curriculums in here so you can see what they do at this facility it really is educational based
there are no televisions in this facility and basically it's really dedicated towards
are teaching these individuals on the students there now her facility and her employees have
many many credentials currently they are a two star and i was just informed by the client which
she'll testify to that they got the third that they've gotten their third star currently they
have five four to five employees operating in the side daycare but when the new daycare if approved
opens up they'll have seven employees all of their employees are very well
credentials they've all completed professional development courses and I'm
just going to just show you very quickly all of the professional development
certificate courses that many well almost all of her employees have his
certificate and infant toddler care toddler care another certificate for the
other employee and infant toddler care safety another certificate awarded to an
employee for professional development and training
Another certificate for the Employee for Professional Development and Training.
Another certificate here for American Red Cross certification.
Here is the actual owner and proprietor certification.
We've certified as a CBA and certified with director credentials from Lackawanna College.
And here is a side picture of the facility and the posting. Later on, I'm going to address the community letter, but I would like the board to note at this time, I've been out to this property at least three times since January at no time.
i've been out to this property at least three times since january at no time was the fence
damaged or broken this is just a picture of the side posting i'll show you a picture of the front
posting later this is a just picture of the intersection this uh property is at the corner
of a large intersection this is directly across the street i just wanted to show you how big and
why this street was and it is a one-way street i believe going south
here's a better picture of the full facility this is the current daycare in the back here
this is the playground area that the daycare uses and this is the house that was purchased
by the landlord that actually owns this facility here offering it to miss
Adiola to expand her daycare to facilitate toddlers from three to six
years old this is a duplicate picture this is the intersection looking down
13th street i'd like you to note also fence not broken that's a better picture of the
entire playground area you can see it's a pretty big area with a
society picture that's the full picture of the playground a nice playground area and i'd like
to mention I'll show you at a different time the trash is stored away from this
area and bends in the back of the building this is the trash storage area
in the back here not near the on the playground so now I'm going to take you
through the property to show you how it's set up i started out in the basement this is a bathroom
i'm in the basement that's an exit straight out of the basement area and this is a long shot of
the basement area which they use to the children's activities uh downstairs here again there is an
exit stairs directly out of the basement this is the first floor of the facility that has two
classrooms this is the first classroom it's a different picture of the first classroom
the exit excuse me the stairs going up to the second floor
this is the second classroom on the first floor and we have a bathroom there
and this is the last classroom on the first floor then i have a picture going up the stairs
another picture all the way up the stairs this is the first classroom on the second floor
this is the i believe that still is the first classroom on the second floor
the second classroom on the second floor
and the third classroom on the second floor
And there is another bathroom on the second floor.
So third classroom here, we have the plans.
I'm just going to reduce it a little bit so we can see the whole plan.
So we have a plan.
We have three levels here.
we have the lower level which is really the basement we just have an activity room where
the kids can play downstairs again the kids are three to six years old the smaller children
a house in the other building and this is an additional space and play area for the children
then we have the classrooms on the
first floor level we have a porch and then you can enter the building here
there's a little reception area here and you have an activity room here
another activity excuse me a classroom here and you have a kitchen area here I would like to note
we don't cook or prepare food in this facility um all our um breakfast lunch dinner and snack
are delivered i also like you to note that there is another exit directly um out of the back into
to the yard area.
yard area let me just move it over a little bit so we can go to the second
floor plan you would walk up the stairs and then you would get to the second
floor and again we have an activity room we have a classroom we have another
bathroom full and we have a classroom there this is the community meeting
those that I circulated which was actually provided to me by the RCO so
letter they wanted me to circulate.
That's my proof of mailing.
I did notice 87 residents.
And I'm going to address now some issues
in the RCO letter.
Originally, the RCO at the meeting,
there was a very, very dysfunctional residence
who indicated that the pavement hadn't been shoveled
and they timely matter from the big, small storm.
Ms. Adiola acknowledged that.
She said it was a faux pas
and immediately had the sidewalks cleaned.
That's just the second posting there that I added on
to show you I posted both sides of the property.
And I also wanted to show you
that the sense had been repaired since the meeting. I think the meeting was on the 25th of
February. And, Commissioners, that's my presentation. Now, Ms. Adeola would like to
operate this daycare from Monday to Saturday. Again, she would have four employees. Her hours
of operation are from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and she would only be entertaining toddlers in
this building, not infants. They would be three to six years old. Our building does
have a fire alarm certification, and we are wired to the company that monitors the fire
alarm in the fire systems and reports them to the fire company and that's all I have I can't hear
you I said is there a cop talking to Hillary is there a current lease oh yes I'm sorry there's a
lease doesn't save residents what's that say so yeah there was a little confusion because on the
on the lease with it where it says use it does say tenant will use the property as a residence
only I don't see use of property number nine back yeah I'm with my use of property and authorize
actually I believe the landlords on the line that's the era in the lease it was specifically
least to her for a child care organization and at least could be corrected okay all right i just
wanted to clarify that thank you bring your client on please miss adiola can you come on the line
please can you hear me
we have multiple people under that name so if your client could raise her hand so we would
know which one to promote adiola would you raise your hand please thank you
adiola is being promoted
Ms. Atiola?
I can hear you. Can you hear me now?
Yes. Could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer?
My name is Adeola Iliyemi.
Could you please spell it? I can. Could you please spell it for the stenographer?
A as in Alaska.
D as in David.
E as in Edward.
O as in Ohio.
L as in Larry.
A as in Alaska. Adeola.
and then my last name is
And my last name is...
okay miss adiola have you heard my testimony as i presented it here today
wait i didn't swear in here please just hold on one minute do you swear or affirm to tell the
truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes sir please proceed miss adiola do you currently
operate a daycare at 1307 nidra yes and how long have you been operating that daycare five years
and how many employees do you have there seven and why is it that you chose to
um enter into a lease at 5900 um for additional space because we have so many parents that are on
waiting list and a lot of them prefer that location because a lot of them are not driving
it's easy for them for the you know for this uh sector whereby they can get down and put their
keys with her at Nidrum. And Ms. Adeola, did you specifically rent the space and have discussions
with your landlord to rent it for child care use? Yes. Can you tell us about the discussion?
So I told him that I would like to rent the building so that I can extend the daycare,
and so he bought the building from the owner, from the previous owner. So as soon as he fixed it,
and i told him i'm interested and he said okay because i've been with him for five years so he
do trust me and that's why he rented the place for me miss adiola have you been paying uh rent
since last year yes from the beginning that we signed the lease we have been paying is your rent
is your rent 1850 per month yes 18 1850 yes and have you been have you been able to use the um
building um since you've been paying rent no we cannot use it until we get a license until we get
approved for the zoning and miss adiola did you and i attend a community meeting yes uh that's
all i have commissioners questions for the board yeah i have a question about how many additional
children you'll be able to accommodate with the new building so the the children is based
on the dhs calculation so sometimes they might give me like 18 and since they are all preschoolers
so i'll probably say maybe 22 kids but some of them are not in the building some of them go to
school like after school program so everybody might not be in the building at the same time
but the dhs determine the number of kids that we get sure but for your planning purposes how many
kids are you anticipating having on premises every day probably maybe maybe 18 and then how many
employees are you going to have so that would be six that would be six employees because of the
ratios we have to make sure that each of the classroom has their employee okay i have no
further questions any other questions questions from our attorney questions from our attorney
um i just want to note for the record that the property is zoned rsa3 so there's a parking
requirement um i i i think that was just missed on the refusal because it doesn't look like
there's any parking which is understandable because you have the the play area but i just
want to note that i think that was missing from the refusal questions or comments from the virtual
audience no hands chair planning commission amy boyd with the planning commission the comprehensive
plan recommends no change to the rsa3 residential single family zoning at this location
this is an expansion of the use at 1309 nidro which holds a valid state daycare license and
the city zoning permit for daycare center the planning commission recommends that the board
grant their proposed use variants for a child care center mi 2025 004 233 5900 to 02 north 13th
street i vote yes for a temporary variance that expires 3529 michael johns my michael johns my
vote is yes with proviso cheryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso tenetta graham my vote is yes
with proviso ryan mcadams my vote is yes with proviso tie and win my vote is yes with proviso
thank you thank you very much commissioner sure number five mi 2025 004 512 757 south fish street
Vernon Anastasio is the attorney.
Vern is coming in as a panelist.
A letter of support from Queen Village neighbors and also a letter of non-opposition from Councilmember Squilla.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair.
Counsel, you've already been sworn, just for the record, state your name.
Yep, Vern Anastasio, on behalf of Judith Bachman, the owner of the property.
Okay, and I'm going to give it to our vice chair.
Have we submitted the tax compliance?
I believe we have, yep.
Do we have that, Hillary?
I have to look.
I did not see it, but the property is compliant.
i could resend it uh after this here after my hearings today
okay our vice chair has a few questions good afternoon have you submitted your documents and
exhibits five days in advance of this hearing good afternoon yes and do you waive the re
another refusal and stipulate to its accuracy i do i think you can share your screen and proceed
with your case thank you
757 South 5th is this is the proposed 3rd floor edition, but right now, as you can see, the white section is the little house in Queen village.
That is dwarfed by all the others. So this application is for excuse me.
That's not what we're looking for. Sorry.
sorry. My apologies. There it is. I have the wrong document up. But the application is
for a third floor addition as you can see here on the right hand side. It's all in black.
and obviously because of the there's setbacks and because it's 100% lot coverage we have been
refused I do have and this is the current condition as it exists and as you can see
the current home is dwarfed by all the others around it
In fact, here's a survey of the block that it's on.
As you can see, everything else practically is three stories, and here's across the street.
I'm going to switch out all my documents, but while I do that, I'd like to call Ian Toner to the stand.
He is the architect on the project and can talk about changes that we made in the process as we went through with the RCO.
Ian Tomer has been promoted.
Hi, Mr. Tomer.
Good afternoon.
hi mr toner could you state your name and spell for this stenographer yes ian toner
of toner architects it's i-a-n-t-o-n-e-r do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth i do counsel uh mr toner could you please uh walk the uh walk the board
through the uh the addition and any changes that were made as a result of the rco
Sure. I can share my screen and do my best here to make everything clear.
All right. You're able to see the plans. Great. Okay. So looking at the existing building,
It's basement, first floor, second floor, and then to the right here is our addition.
One of our refusals is for full lot coverage.
Right now, this area here along the side is technically open.
There is a planter there, so it's not like people are walking in that space, but it is an open space.
Our addition, we're planning to build the full footprint of below, including that area.
But that area remains open from ground up to the bottom of the third floor.
From ground up to the bottom of the third floor. So from the street, maybe not so different and certainly not imposing anymore on any neighbor. This neighbor is three stories to the left. So we're going to more or less be matching the height there.
So from the street, maybe.
And then if I switch to, let's see if I can get this to work.
All right.
Are you able to now see the zoning site plan?
So here you'll see our site plan.
If I zoom in a little bit, you will see that we are set back eight feet from the front as requested by the Fiend Village overlay.
On the side, we are set back three feet, which I know is less than the required five.
But in the beginning, we actually had a we did not have the mansard.
We just went straight up. The roof deck went all the way to the edges.
So through the conversation with the neighbors, you know, we realized that that they wanted to see something a little bit less stark there.
So we are softening the top of the building by doing the mansard with dormers.
We pulled the roof deck back from the edges so it's much less visible from the ground.
It'll be an open railing per the requirements of the overlay.
And here you can see the planter down below that I mentioned earlier.
So those are the main points I just wanted to show.
We have there is an existing roof on top of the garage back here.
We're maintaining the garage. We're maintaining that roof deck.
There will be a stair from the third floor primary bedroom down to that roof deck.
So there's direct access from the bedroom to the roof deck.
And then there's the upper roof deck here that's accessed by the pilot house from the main stair in the hall on the third floor.
Thank you, Mr. Toner.
Mr. Chair, members of the board, because the development team has made changes based on the RCO input,
which is why we have the process because moving the setback in anymore would make that third floor
unusable. And because every other property surrounding ours is already at the height and
impact that we are now proposing. And because we have the support of both the RCO and the district
council office, I do respectfully request the granting of the variance. I would like to call
Judy Bachman to the stand if she's still in the audience. Okay. Ms. Bachman?
They should be coming in in a second, Chair. Thank you very much.
hello hi miss bachman could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
yes judy bachman j-u-d-y b-a-c-h-m-a-n you swear or affirm that tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth yes counsel thank you miss bachman you heard what i said to the board today
yes yes and it is true and accurate to the best of your knowledge is it not yes and you do adopt
it as your own testimony don't you yes thank you very much questions from the board i have a just
a comment i think they this is one of those instances where i would argue that the man cert
is inconsistent with the rest of the character of the block and um it's just in it not consistent
So I think that the other design probably fit in a little better, but it's your choice at this point.
It did, actually, even though the block itself is kind of eclectic, to say the least.
However, the initial design by Mr. Toner was more consistent, but the Mansard was as a result of the request of the immediate neighbors.
But thank you.
Any other questions from the board?
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson um yeah so the plans that um mr toner
showed a pair to appear to be revised plans um from what was okay so we did not get revised plans
or proviso forms so um i think we're going to just have to hold the vote till we get that so we can
review it um assuming that you know the board is granting um but yeah we just didn't receive
that information for the hearing today were you able to get the tax uh proof of tax payment i i
did not see it um but i did send that as well uh that you are in compliance so that's not an issue
we just need to see the revised plans we'll send but we could we can close everything
We can close everything right and then just vote next week. Is that right? That is correct. Sure. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Right. And then just vote next week. Is that right? That is correct. Sure.
There are no hands.
Planning Commission. Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission. The comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning at this location from the existing RM1 residential multifamily.
the proposal is a de minimis expansion of the non-conforming occupied area which was permitted
in 2011 under permit number 380950 for 94 the planning commission recommends that the board
grant the requested variance for occupied area so we're going to close everything and we'll
we'll vote for this next uh wednesday morning 9 30. correct at 9 30. thank you um thank you
2 p.m.
Oh, 2 p.m.
2 p.m.
Yeah, so we'll just close this except for revised plans, proviso form, and the proof of tax compliance.
Thank you.
Thanks.
Vern, could you stay one more minute?
Yes, sir.
Well, maybe a little longer than a minute.
Number 10, MI2025-006849-2024, Delancey Street.
Vern, just state your name for the record.
Vern Anastasio on behalf of Mr. Jason McMahon.
Okay. And I see there's a letter of non-opposition with the Center City
Resident Residents Association. And our Vice Chair has a few questions.
Thank you.
Good afternoon. Again, have you submitted all the documents and exhibits for this case
five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, I have.
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Okay. Thank you. You can share your screen and proceed with your case.
Thank you.
2024 Delancey Place is, the application is for parking garage for two cars, and that is why we're here, the parking area of the building.
It's very important to note, I think it's Panama back there.
and by the way this is this is the two-car garage on panama as you can see here where my cursor is
and then as you can see the the townhouse is a 2024 delancey
we do have some interior layouts
and there's the proposed garage on the right hand side here
moving all of these materials into evidence but i think it's important to see that you know the
rest of panama is in fact all parking so this particular property as it currently exists is
This is one of the few that doesn't have rear parking for a townhome on Delancey, and all of these have been approved by the Zoning Board in previous hearings.
So, as I've already submitted the letter to the immediate neighbors, we've had overwhelming support by CCRA.
and as a result of existing conditions on panama itself already approval from the historic
commission and the streets department we're respectfully requesting the granting of this
variance and with that if my client is still present i'd like to call mr jason mcmahon
there's a jeffrey mcmahon i'm sorry jeffrey mcmahon my apologies
can you hear me yes we can sir could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
it is not jason verne i already corrected myself once it's jeffrey mcmahon j-e-f-f-r-e-y m-c-m-a-h-o-n
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do counsel thank you jeff did you hear my presentation to the board uh this afternoon
and it's true and accurate to the best of your knowledge yes and you adopt it as your own
testimony i do thank you questions from the board
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson i just wanted to clarify mr anastacio
is um mr mcmahon is he one of the owners of the property he is he is part of the uh
part of the uh ownership company yes okay all right thank you yep questions or comments from
okay all right thank you yep questions or comments from the virtual audience
in the virtual audience.
no hands planning commission amy board with the planning commission a comprehensive plan
recommends no change in this location from the current rm1 residential multi-family
the proposal for parking on panama street is consistent with the majority of the block
the planning commission recommends that the board grant their requested variance for parking
mi2025-006-849-2024 delancey place i vote yes michael johnson my vote is yes
cheryl gaston my vote is yes tenetta graham my vote is yes my mcadams my vote is yes
my vote is yes thank you thank you council thank you for six mi2025-006-499-4320
Lancaster Avenue. Meredith Ferliger is the attorney.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Counsel, could you, um, how's your, is your mic on there?
Yeah, move it up a little closer. Right, okay. Um, could you please state your name and spell
for the stenographer my name is meredith ferleger f-e-r-l-e-g-e-r you swear or affirm to tell the
truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do yes could you identify your client the
relationship to this property uh i can slightly complicated uh my client is the lancaster avenue
21st century business association uh which we will address in our presentation has authority
from the Philadelphia Land Bank to pursue the request before the board today.
Michael, Michael's.
Yeah, Mr. Jerry's.
Michael Jones is going to recuse himself from this.
So there is a letter of support from Hope Philadelphia RCO,
and there's a letter of strong support from Council Member Gauthier.
Basically, I am writing to show my strong support for the variance application
for 4320 Lancaster Avenue.
This parcel in question is awkwardly shaped because of its corner location on the steep diagonal Lancaster Avenue commercial corridor.
The proposed uses of entrepreneurship, incubation, co-working, and community progress fit this location on the corridor.
It means that the level of activity in this building would still be relatively commensurate with a by-right commercial use despite the increased building height.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, ma'am.
And do you waive the read, not the refusal, or stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
All right. Thank you. You can show your screen and proceed with the case.
Thank you. Mr. Chairman, members of the board, as I mentioned, my client today is the Lancaster Avenue 21st Century Business Association.
we have a variety of different representatives today from our team including kweku botang
it's right here miss stephanie collins and then anthony fullard who is also a part of our
development team and then we do also have kurt raymond who is our architect with cicada
architecture with us today as well to the board we submitted a detailed exhibit packet with 19
13 total exhibits. The packet includes standard information, including evidence of tax clearance at Exhibit 2, and evidence of the applicants somewhat complicated authority to pursue today's request at Exhibits 3 and 4.
i'm not going to walk you through them but just to summarize those exhibits show that the land
bank is the actual or equitable owner of both the existing lots at 4320 and 4322 lancaster avenue
and that through various city council authorizing legislation has given my client authority to
pursue today's request before it would formally convey the lots to my client following the
entitlement process which is a standard order of business at exhibit 16 and 17 as mr chairman
already referenced you will see letters of support from the coordinating rco hope phl
as well as from councilwoman jamie godier in short the project before the board today is
for a new hub for the lancaster avenue entrepreneurs resource resource innovation center
the space will include a shared commissary and catering kitchen a business hub with computers
libraries and other support services for startup businesses incubator and working spaces shared
community spaces and most importantly the offices of la21 while we discuss the proposal today the
while we discuss the proposal today the board can refer to exhibit 19 for a detailed project
The board can refer to exhibit.
summary that i did include that i will have my client come up and touch on momentarily
the property before you today is located at 4320 and 4322 lancaster avenue in west philadelphia
area as you can see from the zoning map up on the screen at Exhibit 9 the property itself is a highly
irregularly shaped somewhat triangular shaped property that sits right at the corner of Lancaster
Avenue which I'm indicating with my cursor and right at the corner of Parrish Street as you can
see the property and most of the surrounding properties in this area are zoned cmx2
for site context i've also included aerial images at exhibit 10 and again you can see
that the property before you is the slightly triangularly shaped property that is right at
the corner here that is engulfed by the new development that has occupied the entirety of
rest of this block with commercial spaces that exist along lancaster avenue as well as 49 dwelling
units from the east you'll see that the property is located along the lancaster avenue commercial
corridor which as the board knows has been undergoing steadily steady revitalization
evidenced by several new developments that this board has seen over the last couple of years
just to give you a little bit of extra uh context I'll walk you through a few photographs at exhibit
11 just to orient you to the property this first view is looking in on the property from Parish
Street and looks out towards Lancaster Avenue in this next view here you can see that the property
directly from Lancaster Avenue with two mature street trees that are proposed to remain with
this proposal a similar view of the property is shown here from the corner which looks a little
bit further down lancaster avenue the next photograph moves a little bit further northwest
along lancaster avenue which is taken in front of the newly developed property directly across the
street. And then another view is shown here from 44th Street a little bit further up Lancaster
Avenue which looks down towards the property where again you can glean the scale of this
particular block of Lancaster Avenue. And again this is shown a little bit more on the next
photograph. This is just the next block over and you can see again some of the context where the
board recently granted relief for the construction of a five-story project at 4408 lancaster avenue
which is quite similar in scale to the proposal before you today and then we did also included
exhibit 12 evidence of the timely posting from back when it was covered in snow
exhibit six includes a site survey let me zoom in on that a little bit
which shows that there are two existing lots at the corner here that are proposed to be
consolidated into one new parcel of 2398 square feet despite the consolidation you can see that
the parcel still has an irregular shape which although it looks like a triangle actually has
five sides at this point i'd like to bring up a representative from la 21 to just give you a brief
overview of the project and then i'll ask our architect to walk you through the plans but just
very briefly from a zoning standpoint at exhibit one on the refusal here
you can see that the proposal is for the erection of a new five-story building
for uses under the zoning code categories as a community center commissary and catering services
and business and professional offices throughout and as shown as at exhibit 18 the project has
already received a commitment for a 1 million dollar community project funding grant from hud
as well as an additional 750 000 from the city's department of commerce given the importance of
this project for the corridor so stephanie you want to come up i'm going to sit here
if you want to give your name the chairman can swear you in you do your mic okay yes okay could
you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer stephanie collins s-t-e-p-h-a-n-i-e
Stephanie Collins, S-T-E-P-H-A-N-I-E, C-O-L-L-I-N-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Counsel?
Thank you, Stephanie. Can you just identify your affiliation with LA-21?
Yes. I am the Vice President of Administration with LA-21, as well as the Board Secretary.
Great. And if you wouldn't mind, if you could just give the Board an overview of this project itself and what it entails.
Sure. And thank you all for this opportunity to share just a few points with you about
the commercial property at 4320 to 4322 Lancaster Ave. So the LA21 area hub is a commercial use
entrepreneur and economic development project designed to strengthen the Lancaster Avenue
business quarter. The goal is to improve the quality of life throughout West Philadelphia.
Our building is intentionally programmed. The first floor activates the street with retail and cafe style for small business startups, along with the commissary kitchen that allows food entrepreneurs to produce and sell their products.
the second floor houses the la21 eric business hub offering computers training and technical
assistance the third and fourth floors will provide 14 affordable incubator office spaces
for startup businesses while the fifth floor will house the la21 offices
a green rooftop with solar panels and planters will provide an additional communal space
for the building usage the goal of this project is to create equitable and sustainable economic
development by expanding opportunity supporting entrepreneurship and keeping businesses rooted
within the community and neighborhood this hub will serve as a permanent home for la 21's scale
up your business alumni many of who struggle to find affordable space in the city to receive
necessary business supportive services. The LA21 ERIC Hub is expected to help launch 20 new
businesses annually, increase business revenue along Lancaster Avenue, and create over 100 jobs
through construction and supported businesses. It will also increase foot traffic, improve safety
and walkability, and strengthening the overall commercial corridor. This is a community-driven
project developed by local stakeholders focused on supporting the disadvantaged small businesses
reducing displacement and building long-term economic stability so in short la21 eric is not
just a building it's a long-term economic engine and community asset for west philadelphia thank
you for your consideration thank you thank you stephanie next witness
heard if you want to come up the zoning plans are shown in your packet at exhibit seven
we also have floor plans and renderings uh and kurt if you want to just briefly walk the board
why don't you state your name first thank you spelled for the statement k-u-r-t-r-a-y-m-o-n-d
right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
I do counsel. Thank you. Uh, Kurt, if you want to just walk the board briefly through the actual project itself, uh, and I have the zoning plan up on the screen, I can bring up the floor plans next. So you just tell me when to flip.
Okay. Uh, yeah, so this is the zoning plan. As you can see, it occupies that site at the corner of Lancaster and Paris street. Uh, the proposed building occupies a lot of the site, uh, because of its small size, we have left a little open space to the back for a dumpster enclosure.
that will serve some of the program we'll talk about in a minute immediately across Lancaster
Avenue is primarily mixed-use buildings one two and three stories high commercial uses on the
first floor to the south east are some residential properties and because of concerns about the height
of this building we did do shadow studies to understand how the sun and the shadows would
That affects things and given the width about Lancaster Avenue, and the properties across the street does minimal shadow casting on on Lancaster and and none on the residential properties.
So this is a rendering for Lancaster Avenue, and it was the inspiration for this was sort of Philadelphia's industrial history sort of worker loss.
um updated of course and another metaphor we've talked about is sort of a a beacon or a lighthouse
for businesses on the avenue and hence la 21's uh sort of bright glassy fifth floor
uh so this is the ground uh the basement planets primarily storage and mechanical spaces
uh so this is the ground uh the basement plan it's primarily
and bike storage as well correct that's right
and so the first floor of course has the main entrance off Lancaster Avenue the required
egress stairs and elevator lobby um it's got the commissary kitchen has two cooking stations and
then a shared scullery and then along Lancaster Avenue there's a cooking classroom and a small
sort of display area for products that are developed there uh second floor is uh the hub
the business hub so there'll be a business library and these sort of available spaces for meeting and
offices uh third floor again more incubator and sort of shared workspaces
uh as is the fourth and then the fifth big me offices for la 21.
and the roof is intended to be occupied because we are using so much of the site we felt it was
important to have some outdoor space available for the users and Kurt your understanding of
the roof deck use is that it is exclusively accessory to the users of the building itself
correct that's correct thank you uh stick around just in case there's any questions
so mr chairman members of the board even in the absence of technical arguments surrounding the
refusals the applicant submits to hardship in complying with the code requirements
given the irregular shape of the lot the ongoing trends of revitalization in the neighborhood
and the city's stated goals for the lancaster avenue corridor which are difficult if not near
impossible to achieve achieve on this lot through code compliant development this board has heard
and previously accepted similar arguments for other developments along this stretch of lancaster
avenue as well as you saw throughout the presentation the lot is subject to an extremely
irregular and small shape narrowing significantly at the corner this creates a unique and unnecessary
necessary hardship requiring this board's grant of relief for both additional height, as well as exceeding the maximum occupied area.
I'll just bring up the refusal so that you can see what we're talking about here.
Designing a building on this lot to ensure that each of the floor plates can be occupied for its intended use requires taking advantage of every ounce of square footage on this particular lot.
even with it even without the lot challenges the proposal does still only represent the bare
minimum necessary relief as kurt mentioned leaving eight percent of the lot open in the
rear along parish street to accommodate trash storage in terms of the height the lot size
and shape is only one factor leading to several hardships which give this board discretion to
grant relief particularly since this is a dimensional variance to accommodate a project
that has uses that are entirely consistent with the zoning code since this is an exclusively
commercial development no bonuses are available under the code to provide additional height
allowance that said even 45 feet would be insufficient here given the shape and size of
this lot the comprehensive plan recommends rezoning much of lancaster avenue to cmx 2.5
which if it applied to this particular lot would allow for a height up to 55 feet
as you can see on the elevations on the zoning plan here let me zoom in on that most of the
actual mass of this building itself uh is is uh 56 feet which is consistent with the cmx 2.5 height
allowances with the additional 10 feet accommodating predominantly the stair tower and the elevator
tower on the lancaster avenue frontage the mass at the corner and along parish street tops out at
that 56 feet as the board has heard here today this project is a landmark directly community
community serving development that would be simply impossible to fulfill without the space planned for each floor that has been designed to accommodate each aspect of the proposed use.
Furthermore, this building itself will serve as a beacon to the community and represent a prominent representation of the revitalization that has continued to occur along Lancaster Avenue.
as i mentioned before this board has granted several other height variances on this stretch
of lancaster avenue including similar height relief on just the next block finally as you
heard from our architect the proposed height will not impair uh light and air to surrounding
properties as the shadow study evidence that this building will have minimal if any any
as the shadow study evidence that this building will have minimal if any any impact on any surrounding properties
these exact examples establish a clear trend in the nature of development that is necessary to
continue the revitalization of lancaster avenue the hardship is further supported by the city
planning commission's west district plan from 2018 which identified that many commercial corridors
are suffering due to a variety of forces it highlights that reinvestment and resilience
can be found where entrepreneurs immigrants community organizations and city partners are
active this project is quite frankly the embodiment of that goal the plan also recognizes the value
in allowing additional building height even absent unique site considerations such as the ones that
burden the property before you today finally the refusal the final refusal here stems from the
code's prohibition against a roof deck use for commercial properties however given the nature
of this development and the extremely small lot size the only possible outdoor space for building
users is on the roof deck it will only be utilized as an accessory used to the occupants of the
building itself as a space for gathering and outdoor enjoyment all of the variances we've
requested before the board today are the least minimum and were carefully tailored in light of
clear site constraints and neighborhood context they are limited by both the irregular shape of
the lot and unique considerations based on the use we submit that the proposal will not increase
congestion or endanger the public as the property is located in in an area with significant access
to public transportation and meets the goals of the west district plan for transit oriented
development the variances are in harmony with the purpose and spirit of the code and will not injure
adjacent properties the evidence presented today has established why this property suffers a unique
and unnecessary hardship supporting the grant of the requested relief and as always all of
detailed arguments are included in the memo of law submitted at exhibit 13. the applicant looks
forward to welcoming the community into its new hub along lancaster avenue and we're happy to
answer any questions questions from the board questions from our attorney hillary emberson
not at this time mr comments from the virtual audience i see no hands planning commission amy
board with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning at this
location from the existing cmx2 commercial mixed use the appellant has demonstrated that the
irregular lot shape constitutes a unique physical condition that would prevent it from being used
in conformance with the zoning code for height and occupied area but not for non-residential
roof deck the planning commission recommends that the board grant the requested variances
for occupied area and building height but deny the requested variance for non-residential roof deck
M.I. 2025-006-469-4320 Lancaster Avenue. I vote yes with proviso. Per refusal, dated 12-29-25.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with proviso.
i win my vote is yes with proviso thank you thank you all right number seven mi2025
006 510 104 market street mr o'brien good afternoon mr chairman good afternoon sir
would you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer william o'brien w-i-l-l-i-a-m
O'Brien, O-B-R-I-E-N.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
I do. Mr. O'Brien, could you identify your client in relationship to this property?
My client is Burley Brothers LLC, which is the owner of 104 Market Street. In the virtual
audience is Eric Burley, the managing member of Burley Brothers. And the recommendation of
unanimous support from Old City District RCO and a letter of non-opposition from council
member squiller our vice chair has a few questions good afternoon have you submitted your documents
and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing yes i have and do you waive the
reading of the referral and stipulate to its accuracy i do i think you can share your screen
and proceed with your case bear with me one second i turned my screen down
so that I could save some battery and now I'm trying to
and now i'm trying to increase my display so i can see what i'm looking at there we go okay thank you
i'm not sure i see the prompt to join as a panel i promote i'm going to try to promote
you again okay oh it looks like you were promoted already
i have the screen but i'm not there were two names i mean two two of them saying william
o'bryant um i promoted to see what happens i'm sorry what did you say no i just closed
one. Okay, I'm going to promote one now, again.
Give me one second.
Okay, I just promoted the one that was there. Yes, thank you.
are you able to share now
are you okay bill to get on we're getting there i was on but i guess it was on twice
I got the screen for join as a panelist I selected that and it rebooted
so we were getting ready to we were getting ready to take a five minute break why don't
we take a no no listen to me we'll take a five-minute break and by that time you'll be ready
to go we'll be right back we're not we're not going to let you out there don't worry
thanks eric hang in there
okay mr o'brien could you please state your name and spelled for the stenographer
william o'brien w-i-l-l-i-a-m-o-b-r-i-e-n from the maniunk law office and you already
identify the Burley brothers, if I remember correctly. Did you do him yet? Vice chair
conversation? Yes. Okay. We did not. Okay. Good afternoon. Did you submit your documents and
exhibits five days in advance of this hearing? Yes, I did. And did you waive the
refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? I did do it. And it's a referral and yes, I did do it.
Okay. Thank you. You can proceed with your case. Thank you. I've shared my screen. This is the
zoning map for the area uh you can see right so don't worry you didn't miss anything
you can see the blue dot where my cursor is
right there yeah that's 104 market street is between front and leticia place yep um this uh
was last used as a restaurant. Those records are on pages five through nine. I won't go
through them. I do want to show you some exterior images. There's two actually.
So this is Philadelphia's very famous confectionery row.
On the right side, you see the Franklin Fountain, 116 Market Street, that opened by the Burley
Brothers in 2004, I believe. In the middle is Shane Confectionary. That is candy store,
confectionary store that has been there since 1863. The Burley Brothers acquired it from the
Shane family and who's had it from 1910. And to the right of Shane Confectionary is the ice cream
Bar. Again, another production from the Burley Brothers. And then ultimately, the left is the
subject we're here now. It's a 104 Cotton Street. It's a condominium building. The first floor is a
104 Cotton Street. It's a condominium building. The first floor is a commercial condominium.
commercial condo.
Burley Brothers bought it in 2019. The COVID pandemic interrupted their plans.
It's a small space. It's about 500, a little less than 500 square feet.
The next picture shows the existing exterior of the building.
and the sign there the business is called the cocoa pod
interior photograph there's two as i said it's a small space so you can see the front door
and the interior there really weren't any renovations it was cosmetic improvements the
door to the left side is the bathroom and the next image is the other side of the room
It's basically going to be used for gatherings. It won't be open but for events, for groups.
It only has about 23 capacity, I think 18 seated, and then some standing tables for up to 23 people.
and they will be serving things like ice cream, hot cocoa, cold cocoa, waffles and ice cream.
And that's about it. This address is subject to 11 zoning overlays.
So there's not much you can do in this 500 square feet without retaining an attorney.
And on behalf of the Zoning Board, I want to thank City Council.
If I may enter, ask Eric Burley to raise his virtual hand.
mr burley yes mr burley could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer
my name is eric burley spelled e-r-i-c-b-e-r-l-e-y
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, sir?
Yes, sir.
Please proceed, counsel.
Mr. Burley, are you the managing member of Burley Brothers LLC?
And you were in the virtual audience and you heard my testimony?
Correct.
Is it truthful?
And do you adopt it as your own?
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
questions from our attorney hillary emerson can i can i just say maybe not a question but
i love the interior of this space and i guess you said it's just going to be for
how how is this going to work so it's not so you can like regular hours but you could right it
won't be for uh just random come in it would be you want to have a birthday party you want to have
gathering from work maybe an administrative board from the city wants to have some sweet chocolates
and cocoa and discuss their their policies do they deliver okay all right I get it thank you
Hillary yeah I just I just wanted to note um because I when I was looking through this I
saw that this was one condominium unit in the building so that wasn't noted on the refusal so
i would just note that use is limited to unit 101 yes you don't want to walk it yes questions yeah
and that that was my question when when it's a condo like this because i don't remember
seeing this very often do you need the permission of the if if there's a condo board or when the
The condo was first created, I think, about 2004.
It was approved for zoning with first floor permitted uses as in CMX3.
And then the first use was a restaurant and it continued being that restaurant.
The records are pages five through nine.
It was a restaurant when my client bought it.
Their intention was to do this, but they just, you know, they had to wait until COVID was
over and they could gather their their resources again to proceed all right thank you washington
is the comments from the virtual audience they're annoying planning commission
amy boyd with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change
Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission. The comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning from the current CMX 3 commercial mixed use. The appellant has demonstrated that the proposed use will all have detrimental impacts beyond what would reasonably be expected. The Planning Commission recommends with the board grant their question special exception for prepared food shop.
MI 2025-006-510-104 Market Street, I vote yes with Proviso. Use limited to unit number 101.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Hi, Wayne, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Okay. Number 9, MI-2025-006-847-2715 Westmoreland Street. Richard DeMarco is the attorney.
Richard DeMarco has been promoted.
mr chairman can you hear me i can i can could mr demarco please state your name and spell
for the stenographer good afternoon everybody richard demarco last name spelled d-e-m-a-r-c-o
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes i do but you identify your client a relationship to the property yeah the llc is
called franklin deborah llc uh james smith is uh my is the representative that is my client and i
represent of course both him and the llc okay and i'm gonna um give it to our vice chair but
this is going to be here and hold i understand talking to our council yeah that's right
Adrienne Ferrandez is the only RCO. We agreed with her. We had a meeting last week with her.
We agreed that we would allow her and to hold another meeting to try to get more attendees.
She agreed to let us present and then we'll hold open for a resumptive hearing.
All right. Thank you very much. Our vice chair. There's a few questions.
Sure. Good evening. Have you submitted documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
I have.
And do you waive the reading note of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Thank you.
You can share your screen and proceed with your case.
Thank you.
All right, bear with me here.
I'll show you some of the key documents.
Are you seeing my screen okay, Mr. Chairman?
We see you.
Oh, hold on.
I forgot to hit share.
all right now you should be able to see it correct it's coming up it's coming up right now
all right good so i wanted to start with this photo so you can see the the unusual layout of
the property um and let me show this next one so you can see what we're dealing with this is
actually the property it's a double lot uh it's a corner triangular lot i'll show you some more
documents which demonstrate that let me show you this one so it's this um row home type structure
And then it's this I'm indicating with my cursor.
This is the corner piece, which is a one-story structure.
And this is how it appeared when my client purchased it in 2025.
So this is a view from the corner.
And again, these are the old conditions.
I'll show you some current conditions in a minute.
But this is that first-story triangular structure on the corner lot.
And then the second lot.
It's a combined property.
don't get me wrong but i it really is two lots and this is the single the um the row home um
so our single variance that we're requesting is a use variance for to legalize a two-unit dwelling
let me go back to this the first story is the first unit and um this second and third story on
the row home lot is the other unit. So my client purchased this as an existing duplex.
The property was in some extreme distress. Let me show you some photos that show that.
And had to immediately put in some money. I'm going to need to
rotate this again. And forgive me, because I'm going to have to rotate back and forth.
but i want you to see how how poorly the property was maintained there was allegedly a tenant
uh who was not um did not treat the unit very well the owner was was a the former owner was
an elderly woman who who did not have the funds to keep the property up there was a lot of water
up there was a lot of water damage and my client had to immediately stick some money into the
damage and my client
property to fix the water damage and to repair the roof let me show you current conditions
oh by the way you know what while we're while we're here let's deal with this
my client did pay off the real estate tax balance last week and when I submitted the exhibits on
Friday. It did not initially register in the system, but we now have zero tax balance. So I'd
ask you, historically the board has accepted that, so I hope that would be okay. We don't have any
tax balance with this property. All right, so here's current conditions. My client sandblasted
that corner piece, and I wanted to show you this area is going to be an area that we're going to
suggest for trash storage for both tenants um before i forget the the first floor unit is going
to be that my client's son um who will occupy that one story uh triangular piece um the uh
context is important mr chairman um there's an electrical substation across the street
it's not the most ideal scenario for you can see it here this is our property in the foreground
and then across the street you can see there's railroad tracks and a very large electric
substation so that's going to be part of the argument as to why we believe we're entitled
to dimensional variances uh excuse me the use variance because of the very um
not ideal scenario for single family uh let me show you the electrical
so there are very old separated electrical meters there are multiple electrical accounts
in the building showing the long-term use of the property as a duplex um my client has
will indicate and will accept my testimony momentarily that he uh he will need to if he
were to force to convert the property back to single family he would need to reroute the
electrical and he will need to destroy uh the multiple kitchens in the property matter of
this is a good opportunity to show you that the floor plans oh by the way um and i'm sorry my
scanner didn't work very well this is the trash enclosure that he's proposing to use for trash
storage now i don't want to conflict with adrian fernandez she wanted us um to
our my initial suggestion was to put trash in that triangular piece let me put that back up
um and then I have to rotate back so forgive me I'll take care of that
so we'll do what the board prefers on that uh again this this works well for trash storage
this is the small street it's Marston Street as you see uh the you the you both units front
actually let's take that back the this the first floor triangular unit has an entrance on Marston
but the um the row home unit it fronts on westmoreland we could put trash here for both
tenants it would be accessible to both tenants or we could put it here um there are no basements
there's no basement living let me show you the floor plan now and this was just i put the uh the
parcel map up there so you could see this is our property right here we're on the edge of a really
isolated residential area but there's commercial here and again this is the railroad tracks and the
electric substation directly across the street so when i conclude my argument will be that that
does present a hardship which would should allow us we believe to uh operate continue to operate
the duplex let me get to the plans and these are our floor plans um they're pretty decent sized
units almost a thousand square feet both both units two bedroom um and there is existing existing
kitchen if we were to force to to convert back to single family to comply with the zoning we'd have
to destroy the kitchen here um and as you can see from that that photo um the property does not lay
out as a typical row home it's got that side triangular piece and that's uh that's this here
and then here are here's the drawing of the other unit which is would be two floors uh
the the which technically are the second and third story of the row home so let me do this
let me get james smith uh to raise his hand virtually and let's um get him to accept uh
the testimony and then i can try to wrap up
try to wrap up
he's been promoted okay thank you mr smith
can you hear us james
james can you hear me
you may have to unmute okay there we go okay mr smith could you please state your name as
fellow footage stenographer yes my name is james smith j-a-m-e-s-s-m-i-t-h you swear or affirm to
tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do counsel mr smith uh did you hear all
my uh factual uh recitation and summary and presentation to the board yes i did is it true
and accurate um to your recollection and knowledge yes it is can you adopt everything i've said and
presented as your formal testimony in this matter yes and do you agree with my summary that um as
the owner you uh will have extreme uh difficulty in marketing this property as a single family
dwelling owing to the um physical layout of the property and the con the contextual uh issues
posed by the electric substation directly across the street and the the corner nature of the
property i do all right so mr chairman um and did you pay off all the taxes and do you don't owe
any other taxes and for this property all taxes have been paid and we do not owe any taxes on the
property okay so uh for for hillary i i do want to mention uh that we my understanding is this
application was submitted with plans so I did provide a uh revised of plans revised uh proviso
plan form uh and there are two pages to stamp if if Hillary deems it necessary and that's the I
submitted these are the revised uh plans what was changed from what Ellen I reviewed
there's more detail on the on the plans there's no new construction shown there's no change any
to any dimensions but there's more detail shown and the uh existing um drawings were changed to
add more detail so i don't know if i don't okay i was doing it i'll take a look yeah we probably
won't need to to stamp specifically like the the more floor plan details that is at the you know
building permit stage so right but i'll take a look all right questions from the board yeah thank
you you were you were about to say something about the trash with i think the arsenal when
it's something and you were so yeah yeah i appreciate the question so adrian our initial
thought was to put it and remember these are the uh this is not current conditions this has been
cleaned up but um was to put a trash enclosure here that would be accessible to both there's
no open space. It's all 100% lock coverage. So the thought was to put it in that nice wooden
enclosure there after we spoke with Adrian Fernandez. She preferred the trash to not be
stored. We could store it out of sight up here, accessible to both tenants. This is an open,
I don't want to use the term deck, Mr. Johns. It's really not a deck, but there's access to that
area if if that is so i would defer to the board's wishes on this as far as where there is space that
is accessible to both the um uh both tenants either here or on this area i think adrian
preferred that it be here um so i don't want to get in in her way and have you know so we'll
Obviously, you guys make the decision, so we'll go with you, of course, but I don't want to conflict with Adrian either.
Yeah, but I just wanted to hear what the – I mean, I would personally prefer it above on the other's location because it's easier.
It seems to me easier for both tenants to access that upper area as opposed to coming down, going around the corner for the one tenant and put it in there, and then it's right on the street.
So that would be my druthers.
That would be my druthers.
could i ask a question i don't know if i'm supposed to but could i ask a question
if i think we're almost done james but if you really feel you need to go ahead
no no i'm just wondering so if there's an upper level tenant why wouldn't the upper level tenant
put their trash on the upstairs and the lower level put their trash on the lower level well
then you have two different you could do that you could you could do that too okay well it's just
it's just it's not it's not not logical to me that somebody in the upper unit
would come all the way down go around the corner
and put their trash in that that location so i'll just wrap up with this to be
So I'll just wrap up with this. To be clear, we'll do whatever the board wants. I wanted to address the issue.
clear we'll do whatever the board wants i
wanted to address
Historically, the board wants to know how the tenants store trash so that I'll do whatever. There are areas we can do it.
Other questions from the board?
Yes. So what you're saying is this other unit is going to be in this little one story?
um it is that's right it is there um there is a unit on the first floor let me go back to the
plan so you can see is that where that awning is is that one of the entrances to that unit or is
it so where those steps are so the steps go to this second unit the row home gotcha and there's
direct entrance at grade into the um where my cursor is into the existing first floor unit
i'm sorry where i'm sorry where's your where's your cursor i'm sorry
is that where that where that awning was oh on the picture on the other side let me show it on
i understand your question i'll go back to
yes okay yes all right it looks much better here that the here's the uh so it's on
it's been cleaned up uh and looks much better now i'll show you real quick here
oh it cut off a little bit but there you have it there ah okay it's that corner piece yeah
um and how many how many square feet is this little so the see if I get this right the first
floor is 8 895 square feet here I'll go back to the plan and the up the double uh the two
story unit is 938 square feet I believe
leave so this is the I'm circling the first floor unit that's one unit a two-bedroom unit
and this is the two-story unit here and here okay all right thank you
any other questions questions from our attorney
not at this time Mr. chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
no ahj planning commission Amy you want to make a comment now right yeah all right thanks please
um the comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning at this location from the existing
rsa5 residential single family the property was remapped to single family then on 10a in 1974
and its use was listed as single family in zoning documents from 1952.
Additionally, this parcel is 1,240 square feet,
while the minimum lot size for RSA 5 in this council district is 1,440 square feet.
The Planning Commission recommends that the board deny the requested variance for two family.
So, Hillary, we're going to close this, right,
except for what we received from the RCO, right,
And then he'll have a chance, and the attorney would have a chance to respond to it.
Do we want to do this as a resumption, or do we just want to wait for a letter from the RCO?
I think we could do it with a letter.
We get a letter from the RCO, right?
And then we go with a—we don't need a resumption.
Everything's closed, accept that, and council would have a chance to respond to it.
Is that okay?
That's fine with me.
I don't want to upset Adrian.
No, no, no. I think Adrian would like that.
She's okay with that. If she's okay with that, I obviously would prefer that.
But I don't want to.
All right, Mr. DeMarco. Thank you very much.
All right, thank you.
Thank you.
Take care.
So number 13, MI 2025, 006, 863, 317 Lombard Street.
Peter Kelson is the attorney.
Let's see.
has been promoted okay
good evening members of the board peter kelson on behalf of mr kelson how are you sir just for
the record could you please uh state your name and spelled for the stenographer absolutely that's
peter p-e-t-e-r kelson k-e-l-s-e-n do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
S.E.N. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
nothing but the truth
I do. Okay. We're waiting for your computer to come up. Yes. I'm waiting for the video. There
you go. There you are. I have to say one thing before I begin. I wish I would have followed
Bill's presentation for that lovely dessert venue because I am starving now.
that that that did wake a lot of people i'm gonna tell you right now like i think they got energy
from looking at it mr kelson i did and i want to tell you i'm glad you gave the approval because
i want to go there so thank you um mr kelson um um and your buddy uh carl primavera was here
earlier today it was like old home week cheryl exactly i couldn't believe i was like wow it's
great it was good to see everyone could you identify your client relationship to the property
i can uh my client is the saint peter's school they are the owners since 180 years ago
the subject property um if i could mr chair i'd like to promote for for efficiency yep um mr
Marty Grigorski, as well as Mr. Rob Nidick on behalf of the school. This way, I think we can
move it. As long as they're there ready to go and we're good. I believe they are. Okay, let's see
here. Do we get anything from the RCL on this? I do have a letter from Society Hill and I
believe Mr. Bonnie may be in the audience as well. I know he was here. Good. Yeah, I see it's at the
bottom, unanimous support, Society Hill, eight total votes. That's correct. And our vice chair
has a couple of questions for you. Absolutely. Good evening. Have you emailed your documents
and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing? Yes, we did. And do you waive the reading of the
refusals and stipulate to their accuracy? Yes, I do. I think you can show your screen and proceed
with your case. Great. So in the interest of time, members of the board, we have provided
in our list of exhibits, the refusal, the application for variance, the letter of support
from society, Hill Civic, aerial photographs, maps of the property, posting photographs of the
subject property, illustrative renderings, the deed. We are a 501c3 corporation, but we've also
provided tax clearance documentation and finally our 14 303 notice and certificate of mailing
i won't i i won't literally scroll through to show you all that um but i certainly can if you
would like so members of the board the application before you is to allow the st peter's school to
expand its current footprint on its site, which is located on Lombard Street, bounded
basically by 3rd Street and 4th Street.
The site is zoned RM1 residential.
Interestingly enough, the school use, ASchool use, would be permitted as a special exception.
We are designated as a non-conforming use and structure by L&I.
As I indicated, the school has been used by St. Peter's for about 180 years.
We have approximately 171 students enrolled preschool through 8th grade.
Adjacent to the property, if you will look at Exhibit 3 that's on the screen, you can
see where the school is the current school is located it is adjacent basically
to st. Peter's Church and the cemetery which you can see in the foreground that
whole area is basically permanent open space we are historically designated the
improvements that you'll see in a few moments have been extensively reviewed by the historical
commission and have been approved by the historical commission so what do we want to do with this
location um currently located on site marty i'll ask you to go to the next
next one please posting let's go to the elevations
so provide the board with site context let's pause at this point
um this is a good frame of reference if the board notes um there is a school in the foreground um
There is a school in the foreground, the existing structure, an addition that was created to the original school, and in the area immediately to the right will be where our infill is proposed.
I will give you more detail on the infill in a second.
And immediately to the rear, you can see St. Peter's Church.
Next one.
so this is our zoning site plan that will show you from a footprint standpoint the existing
structure and the additions that are proposed to be created as the cursor indicates and to
the immediate left of that will retain play area and an open space access to the school
will remain as is but with upgraded facade and structural elements. The lot itself, members of
the board, consists of about 18,718 square feet. It's well above the minimum requirement of 1,440
square feet called for in the RM1 district. Lot width is 77 feet as compared to code requirement
in RM1 of 16 feet. It's a very significant lot. Again, existing on the site is the three-story
building in school, original school. The addition that we're proposing will now match, if we could
go to the next slide, please. This rendering will show it very well, is intended to be
at an elevation of 41 six inches in height. That matches the existing addition that you see on the
screen. The original school is a little bit higher. It's three stories, but it has a large
if you will. Height in this district, as noted on the refusal, is 38 feet. We're already non-conforming
forming and we're going to match that additional height of 3.5 feet.
If you will go to the next slide, it's the night rendering, next one, elevation from
forth and lombard on the roof you will see a play area exercise area that will provide be provided
for our students it's enclosed but in a manner which is open and it's protected from the sun with
these flexible screens next slide please these are some slides that will illustrate the proposed
renovation and amenities provided in the addition and in the renovation area
internal play area illustrative floor plans now these floor plans are picking
up both the existing buildings as well as the addition next next slide please
next slide again our third floor remember this will be a three-story structure matching the
three-story structures existing again at a height of 41 six inches
the area of of addition will be approximately 16 000 square feet
There will be renovation area of about 4,577 square feet.
And this is a south elevation showing you how the addition contextually and from a massing standpoint fits within the existing.
Parathetically, members of the board, if you look, it's a little bit of a ghost shadow elevation.
Your far right, that's the existing or the original school, and that depicts what I was
describing as the triangular or vertical pen.
But it is a three-story structure and lines up shoulder to shoulder with the existing
in new next slide south elevation next slide west elevation north elevation
project amenity summary i won't go through all the detail but it'll
Project amenity summary, I won't go through all the detail, but it'll afford the school the opportunity to modernize and to add additional and renovated classrooms at the lower level, ground floor, second and third floors, as well as, as I mentioned, that rooftop exercise area.
So, members of the board, there will be no increase in the enrollment of our student body, nor additional staffing as a result of the addition.
We need to do this in order to modernize and to bring this venerable school into a characteristic that best serves our students and the community.
We will have off-site parking. We already have an agreement and have had for a while with the St. Peter's Church.
There is a parking lot that we have access to under that agreement.
It contains about 33 spaces. It's about 200 feet away, roughly, from the image you're looking at.
Additional parking is also available, and we have been using it for quite some time.
at the public parking facility located about a block away at 2nd and Lombard.
That parking is used for certain special events that may generate more parking than the church lot would.
One of the refusals, as the vice chair indicated, was for lack of on-site parking.
But that condition, I believe, has been satisfied with the very close-in adjacent park.
The plans, as I mentioned, have been approved by the Historical Commission.
We've worked actually extensively with Planning Commission staff with regard to tree replacement and tree waiver, as well as our landscaping.
The proposed addition, I think, members of the board, if you look at the contextual surroundings, is in keeping with the context of this immediate area.
We're matching materials to our neighbors, and we're matching height and our density to those around us.
Many of the uses surrounding the subject property are, in fact, institutional.
I mentioned the church, but if you will look again at the aerial, you will see quite a few civic and or institutional uses, as well as some residential as well.
The proposed grant to the variance members of the board, I would submit, is the least minimum required to allow this non-conforming use to modernize and to exist and support its mission.
We meet all of the requirements of the grant of variance relief.
You will also see, again, I repeat, the fact that we're located almost on a block that
is virtually all open space and will be in perpetuity, I think is another reason for
support of the grant of variance.
And finally, we have met on a number of occasions with the Society Hill Civic Association and
are pleased that they have given us their support for this application our architects are standing
by if there's if there are any questions of the board i can promote them uh i would um i'm going
to defer to mr bonnie if he wants to speak i'm not sure if he if he's available mr bonnie
he trusts me uh he was here earlier today yeah i know i know okay okay all right but you want
to bring one to your client and i would um rob would you um identify yourself for the record
please sure uh my name is rob nideck rob and is and nancy y-d-i-c-k mr nida could you um tell
the hold on oh i'm sorry i apologize do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
but the truth i do thank you so much please proceed counsel mr nideck um what is your
affiliation with saint peter's school i serve on the board of trustees and i chair the building
Grounds Committee. And you are authorized to appear today on behalf of St. Peter's School
at this proceeding? I am. Okay, and you've heard the description of the property and the proposed
Okay. And you've heard the description of the property and the proposed application that I made to the board a few moments ago. Is that correct?
Correct.
You were here the whole time?
And did you find that the statements, comments that I made accurate and true and correct to the best of your knowledge?
And if you were to make those statements yourself, would you adopt them as I made them to the board?
Yes, I would.
great um i have no further questions or comments to uh mr sure questions from the board
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson um yes mr kelson i would just a question
about um the i'm trying to understand the deed because the deed says like part of the lot but
like there seemed to be a discrepancy on the the between the city maps and the the taxes whether
it was one big property or there was multiple parcels? Was there like a partial consolidation
done at that some point? Just trying to get a little clarity. No, Hillary, it's a great question
because it is very confusing. This property was originally part and parcel of the St. Peter's
church property. It was one large property. Pursuant to the deed of consolidation dated
17 November 2016, the school and the church consolidated as well as subdivided
the school portion from the church portion. And Marty, maybe if Hillary wants to see it,
the site plan will show that. So it, in fact, 317 Lombard, which is the address of St. Peter's
School, is a standalone, separate, and distinct zoning person. Okay. All right. Thank you for
the explanation. I appreciate it. My pleasure. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
no hands here planning commission amy boy with the planning commission the comprehensive plan
recommends no change in zoning at this location from the existing rm1 residential multi-family
the proposals for an expansion of a non-conforming building for the continued
long-standing uses an educational facility the planning commission recommends that the
board grant their crest advances for occupied area building height and parking mi2025-006-863-317
Lombard Street I vote yes Michael Johns my vote is yes Cheryl Gaston my vote is yes Tanetta Graham
my vote is yes Ryan McAdams my vote is yes I win my vote is yes thank you sir members of the board
thank you for your consideration and have a good evening all right you too thank you okay so um
we're going to move right into our yeah we're going to move right into our 330 list um but
first is there anybody in the two o'clock list whose case has not been called okay so we're going
to move to the 330. all right so good evening everyone my name is bill berkman and i will be
chairing this meeting of the philadelphia zoning board of adjustment with me is our vice chair
tenetta graham president mr chairman our board secretary cheryl l gaston president mr chairman
board member michael johns president mr chairman and our board member ryan mcadams president mr
chairman also present is our attorney hillary emerson our zoning board director anne hagerty
and our board administrator lakeisha dandy recording of this hearing will be posted on
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Please remain there so we can account for you.
So let's look at our schedule first.
Number one, MI 2024, 006, 700, 3801 Old York Road.
This case is continued until 7-15-26 at 3-30.
Now we're going to go to our regular list.
Number three, MI 2025-005-405-3936 North Daring Street.
Samara Daly is the owner, pro se.
And I see she's very happy that we're calling her case.
Come on up, please.
DARYL FOXMAN- Good evening.
DARYL FOXMAN- Good evening.
DARYL FOXMAN- Good evening.
Make sure your microphone is on and pull it close to you.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
DARYL FOXMAN- Samira Daly.
DARYL FOXMAN- S-A-M-E-R-A Daly, D-A-L-E-Y.
DARYL FOXMAN- All right.
Do you swear or affirm and tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
DARYL FOXMAN- Yes, sir.
applications for use as a personal care home in an existing structure whereas the proposed use
personal care home requires special exception approval in the rsa 5 zoning district there's
a letter of non-opposition from nuevo esperanza and a letter of non-opposition from council member
lazada our vice chair has a few questions for you okay good evening have you submitted your
documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing yeah okay and do you waive the
reading of the referral and stipulate to its accuracy okay thank you you can share your screen
oh i'm sorry you guys yes you can show your screen start to case
did you guys okay
Okay, so let me say this. We'll start off with make it. We have all your documents.
yes sir all right so what i would recommend first you tell us what you want to do and then what i
would do is show photos and any plans that you have so why don't you first start off by saying
tell me what you want to do okay hi i wanted to open up a personal care home for residents that um
residents that need help um slightly disabled um i want to be able to assist with um everyday
livings with the ADL, bathing, feeding, doctor's appointment, medication reminders, shopping,
laundry, or everything in that kind of way. So how many people are you looking to?
Three people. It's a three-day. All right. So start your presentation, what the house looks
like, what your plans are. And I see you have a couple of the certificates there too. So why
Okay, I had obtained my personal care license, personal care home administrator's license. We had needed to have 100 hours in order to be in order to operate the business.
and in order to operate the biz um sorry guys i'm so sorry in order to operate we had to
um sorry guys I'm so
um do 100 hours and complete a test to pass the test for our certification for our personal care
home okay um that's the the test stating them this is the picture of the test certificate
it saying that i passed it for my administrator's license okay um okay so now i'm gonna be showing
you the pictures of the house um this is the kitchen um one second i'm trying to get it um
this is the back of the house um jesus um this is the bathroom
where they'll be using you know showers and everything in there
um this is the hallway how many bedrooms do you have three bedrooms i'm sorry it's a three
bedroom house so you'll put one in each room okay um that is the middle room
That's the middle room closet. Um, that is the back room and how many bathrooms do you have upstairs? 1? Okay. And do you have anything downstairs? Um, on the 1st floor? No, there's no bathroom. 1st floor. Okay.
I'm sorry, trying to get to these.
Um, that's still the back room, back room closet space. They'll have, um, that's the carbon monoxide detectors.
That is the back room, so the back room closet space, back room storage room, I mean front
room, I'm sorry.
This is the downstairs.
there's um this is the dining room um the front of the house
oh that was the date that i had um put this on and post the boards up post the board
um sorry
yep i like kind of had everything yeah we have we have that all that okay you have all that okay
let me go back to pictures have you done this before no my first time and i'm like kind of
nervous i'm sorry but no no no not not i mean oh yes i've been a certified cna i've been a certified
cna for over 20 years i've been caring for people and doing this all my life this is my passion um
god yes i have a lot of experience sir oh good good yeah not this experience this don't count
Okay. Okay. Okay. These are my certificate of mailings. You guys have all of this. And you'll have somebody there 24 hours a day. Yes. 24 hour care. Yes, sir. Right.
This would do what I'm trying to get to the rest of the picture. Sure. So I, I, we know all the mailings. Yeah. We're good with the mailings. Okay.
So, this is the backyard, so this is the central air unit that I have in the house, this is the yard, this is where I will store my trash, backyard, this is the, you know, the alleyway, the gates, the fence, and this is the basement, that is the front of the basement.
now i just got storage down there um this would be where my washing machine and dryer hookup would
be um this is the you know the hot water tank and the um heating system um that's the back of the
basement the side once again the front that's my circuit breaker box you won't live here well i
won't live here no but i will be there all the time but when it comes to yeah yeah i won't reside
there um that's the front that is the that will be the living room area it won't look like this
when i get everything in um this is the you know that's still the upstairs yeah i'm done with the
um this is the you know that's still the upstairs yeah i'm done with the pictures as of now so um
picture
where will you get your clients um i have oh god so many resources um adult daycares um
adult daycares the hospitals nursing homes as of now i have people just waiting to like come
questions from the board any questions is where's your staff is there like office space or
a space for the staff okay um for right now they'll be placed in the dining room i'll have
an area for them with a desk you know a little desk little chair for them as of right now
who are you gonna have providing services for the president um it will kind of service okay it will
be me i'll be providing um the meals um as of right now i can't really afford to hire anybody
so it's going to be me like mainly doing everything okay and i mean in terms of you said that this is
going to be uh support services for the residences residents so what are we talking about are we
talking about employment counseling are we talking about uh medications or what do we
okay um employment counseling i have outreach programs that'll be coming in helping me out with
that um so about it right now so when it comes to medication reminders i'll be the one reminding
them about their medications um so will these will these folks be there 24 hours a day overnight
it'll be their permanent residence for now um i will have the option they will have the option
if they want to go to adult daycare during the day you know to um you know to articulate with the
other here so that means you will be there 24 hours a day as of right now yeah yeah
and so where were you where will you so if you're there 24 hours a day you've got to sleep sometime
so how does that work i have a second i have a second backup person at cna as well
how many how many people do you plan to have um how many people do you plan to have
three okay three and what age are we 55 and up oh okay 55 and up aarp and the neighbors um were
your immediate neighbors uh have you spoken with them about it yes they gave me they gave me the
they don't have a problem. We don't have nothing like this in my community. I will be the first
person that will be doing something like this. And I see it going pretty good. And it will give
like other people that need this help and services, it'll give them a chance too. So hopefully I'll
be doing a major impact in my community with personal care homes.
So question for, I guess, Hillary, if she's going to have three persons, then does it need to be zoned?
You understand?
Yeah, no, I understand what you're saying.
No, technically, yeah, you can have up to three unrelated people living in a property and it's still considered single family.
um so if if the special exception was granted and assuming you met state and city requirements in
terms of occupancy technically you could have more than three with with a special exception
but without the special exception you you could have three by right
okay um questions or comments for our attorney
okay not at this time um questions or comments from the virtual audience
no hands um
um planning commission amy boy with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no
change in zoning at this location from the existing rsa 5 residential single family
The appellant has demonstrated that the proposed use will not cause detrimental impacts beyond what would reasonably be expected.
The Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant their requested special exception for personal care home.
MI 2025-005-405-3936 North Darien Street.
I vote yes for a temporary variance that expires 3-5.
i vote yes for a temporary variance that expires 3529. um my vote is yes with i'll tell you when
they're done my michael johns my vote is yes with proviso cheryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso
tennetta graham my vote is yes with proviso ryan mcadams my vote is yes with proviso
well you want to explain to yeah so they so they've approved the use but it's for a specific
period of time so if you're still you want to use the property beyond that time for the use
you just need to come back here and get additional approval okay so it's three years three years okay
so on 29 okay yeah okay good luck thank you
number two MI 2025 001-543-5260 Caster Avenue D'Angelo McElhatton is the attorney
there's a letter of support from Northwood Civic Association a letter of non-opposition
from Council Member Lozano
good afternoon mr chair daniel michael hadn't here sure could you for just for the record
could you state your name is bill for this denarii certainly sir daniel d-a-n-i-e-l-p
McElhatton, M-C, capital E-L-H-A-T-T-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do, sir.
Do you identify your client, a relationship to the property?
Yes, my client is Yannick Nobrun, N-O-B-R-U-N, and she is the managing member of the K-Stancia
Investments, LLC.
see the name is an amalgam of her two children stanley and uh dylancia and she is a participant
today all right okay and our our vice chair has just a few questions good evening have you have
you um some of your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing yes with one
exception and that was when we attempted to submit the tax clearance certificate it was rejected at
end of last week we communicated with um the board and some supplied the receipts that were given
when the taxes were paid well before last week and uh also um we were advised that that would be
sufficient okay and do you wave the read another refusal and stipulate to his accuracy i do all
All right, thank you. Can you see your screen and proceed with the case? Okay.
It's coming up, sir. I hope the right stuff is coming up.
Let me see.
Give me a moment, Ms. Deb.
I will start if while I'm trying to secure the documents where we just don't see.
Yeah, I'm not sure. Yeah, as I say, maybe you should stop sharing and then go back in and then share again and just indicate the screen that you want to share instead of your home. Okay.
it like froze up for me
yeah i'm not seeing him he's he's out now he's got to come back in
I'll get back with this, I want to get back.
here, so I want to give them back.
Mr. McElhatton?
Why don't we do this? We'll come back to him, okay? Let's move on to Zen Jin, and then we'll check back after that, okay?
So, number four, MI 2025-005-494-2719 Federal Street. Zen Jin is the attorney.
good evening okay council could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
yes my name is zen jen z-h-e-n last name j-i-n here on behalf of the applicant all right do you
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do could you identify your client a relationship to the property
yes uh my client is the owner of the property uh miss ding d-i-n-g
mm-hmm and there's a letter of support from residents organized for advocacy and direction
um the rco is signed listed as grace ferry coalition of neighbors
and our our vice chair has a few questions good evening have you submitted your documents and
exhibits five days in advance of this hearing yes and do you waive the read know the refusal
and stipulate to its accuracy i do i proceed with your case thank you i'm going to put on the screen
the previously submitted exhibit it should be coming up can the board see my exhibit on this
thank you so this is an application for the use of a property at 2719 federal street as a single
family dwelling for household living. This property is located in a I-2 industrial district
and therefore the use itself is not permitted. However, this is a unique property in that
it is located, despite being in a I-2 district, is located in a residential block within that
i2 district and as a result of its specific location and its existing conditions which also
clearly shows that it is a residential property with the neighboring properties being residential
as well the neighborhood did not have any objection to our proposed use the location
of this particular property is very near grace fair ferry avenue which has a lot of industrial
type uses across the street from this property there are garages but as the board can see in
the photos while these may be somewhat industrial in nature they're not really full industrial uses
and there are other residents also near this particular property my client wants to renovate
the existing building and put it back to use as a single family dwelling and that is essentially the
proposal the hardship here again is the pre-existing non-conforming condition
as well as the surrounding uses not conforming with the zoning district
the proposed plan shows that we are keeping the facade basically refreshing the property
the layout on the interior is very straightforward first floor second floor a
third floor and the basement it's a half basement used for storaging utility only entry on the first
floor living room kitchen then with bedrooms and master bedroom reading area and master bath
taking up the entire third floor plan again with the unique history of this property being a
residential building also the neighboring uses we would submit that there is a hardship here and that
we would ask the board to find favorably in this particular request for use as a single family
dwelling. My client should be here and should be able to verify my testimony. I'm happy to answer
any questions from the board. Excuse me, what's your client's name? Ms. Ding, D-I-N-G, should be
The last name, first name is W-A-N-H-U-I.
uh h-a-n-h-u-i
so did you put on a rear addition uh there is a uh i'm going to go back to the plan yeah just if
you would why don't you show us what the addition is i think that would sure sure on the plans uh
so it's not so much a rear addition i think it's to square off it's essentially squaring off
the uh this is the space and this is the rear yard it's not really there's really no proposal
for an addition here um as you can see it's basically the existing footprint of the building
this is actually a rear yard not an addition okay yeah i mean it'll do is that wrong with hillary
what we have when you say squaring off do you mean like there's a set the three floors will be the
same uh uh setbacks from the back of the property yeah which one is more set back now i believe the
third floor is okay so that's where the addition is on the third floor yeah so it would be yeah
the squaring off up here of the upper floor all right let's see if we get your client on sure
let's see if i can i have water here i see miss dane's name will be with you in a few minutes
don't know how i can do this all right dan dan why don't you go back out a minute because you
we're we got a case we're hearing we'll come back that's perfect sir thank you i'm sorry i will no
no that's not a problem because then yeah i i do see uh miss dean's name shown as one of the
panelists now d-i-n-g she's right there yeah i don't know if she can unmute yeah oh she is there
she's just muted i'm sorry hi could you please state your name is spelled for the stenographer
My name is Wang Hui Ding.
And could you spell it, please?
W-A-N-H-U-I-D-I-N-G.
Thank you.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Counsel.
Thank you.
Ms. Ding, did you hear my testimony before the zoning board, and did you see my presentation before the zoning board?
Sorry, my English is not good.
您看到没看到我刚才给Zoning Board的看的东西和说的话,听到没听到说的话?
我看到了,我听到你们讲话,但我听不懂。
So can you verify that yes, you did hear and see everything I presented?
Yes, I hear.
Great. Now, would you be willing to accept what I have said as your own testimony, everything that you would have said to the Zoning Board?
yes yes yes okay thank you all right thank you thanks um zing thank you very much questions from
the board just real quick then how big is the backyard oh it's pretty large i think um
let me see if there were measures so the property line is 76 foot and it takes up almost half
um almost a little less than half of the total square footage because the building itself is
only um 15 i think the building itself is only about 40 less than 40 foot deep okay based on
measurements yeah thank you any other questions from the board questions from our attorney
hillary emerson um just to clarify because i i didn't see it in your packet um you did do a
mailing to the neighbors yes correct and and did who was the rco that organized the meetings i know
sometimes down in grays ferry that the one gets assigned but sometimes the other another one
actually does the meeting so the actual meeting was organized by uh miss mika outlaw from uh
yeah from road correct okay all right thank you all right questions or comments from the virtual
audience no planning commission amy boyd with the planning commission the comprehensive plan
recommends a change in zoning at this location from the i2 medium industrial to rsa 5 residential
single-family. The property has non-conforming real-home structure presenting unique physical
conditions that would prevent it from being used in conformance with the industrial zoning. The
the proposed use would be allowed by right under the recommended zoning the planning commission
proposed use would be allowed by right under the recommended zoning. The Planning Commission
recommends that the board grant the requested variance for single-family household living
recommends
mi2025-005-494-2719 federal street i vote yes michael johns my vote is yes
cheryl gaston my vote is yes tenetta graham my vote is yes my mcadams my vote is yes
Mr. McElhatton.
Thank you, Jim.
Thank you.
Daniel McElhatton.
I apologize.
I have not been able to.
No, your time is valuable, and I have wasted some of it.
So you're still working on it?
No, I've worked on it in that period of time.
I would like to make the oral presentation.
We have presented our packet, and I think,
and I'll let the board decide what you wish to do let's see can we pull it up yes chair this is
Ian Haggerty I can pull up the exhibits give me one little so Daniel will you be able to see the
computer yeah I can see okay and while Mr. Haggerty is trying to help me out I mean he he helped us
all if you if you're interested well um this is a property at the corner of castor avenue and bridge
street in the northwood section of the city uh it's the end of a row of the row houses in the
5200 block of castor avenue on the west side um i know this area intimately it having been my
i was a committeeman for that division for 20 years and uh my first understanding of the use
of the property was when it was a blockbuster video store. It then became a hair salon.
My client, Yannick Nobrum, purchased it in August of 2023 with the understanding and the belief
that she could use it for a staffing location for her home health aid business. And that home
health care aid business has been running out of that location. Thank you, Mr. Haggerty.
you know and from 2023 she became aware that she was in violation after she put a sign up on the
outside if Mr. Haggerty you could slide down to there is the photograph of the outside of the
the facility it shows the first the well it's I can't turn it around but if you can
And that's the exterior on the first floor on Castor Avenue.
And you'll see that it is business windows on the first floor.
And it is in that area where she has her staffing agency.
She runs it with her children.
And the no clients who are served come into the facility.
It's only staff and occasionally the staff who go to the homes will come in for training or for other information.
If you could move down, Mr. Haggerty, one more.
That's a side picture of the office location.
and they're all there we go um that's that's what the office location looks like and you can see
that that there are windows in there that go to the outside but it's not configured it has never
been used for anything other than commercial purposes and that those commercial purposes
are you know consistent with what i've mentioned in terms of the blockbuster video and the um
hair salon. There is across the street, across Bridge Street is just an open piece of ground,
residential properties on the other side of Caster Avenue. There will be no, it'll only be
open during the day hours and only workers on the site. And occasionally a staff member will be in
for training or something of that property, that, that nature. And so let me ask you, is the
business just that bottom level or the whole building just the bottom level it's a single
family residence above okay and we gave notice to all the neighbors and as you see northwood
civic uh supported the proposition and as well as councilwoman lazada yes so uh i would request
that you consider you see other pictures on the side there the postings and uh the uh the windows
they are they're not residential so it really doesn't have a functioning use as
a residential ground floor level and we would request that the board favorably
And we would request that the board favorably consider our request for a variance.
consider our request for a variance
Questions?
You want to bring your client on and adopt your testimony?
You're right.
Her name is Yannick Nobrum.
Okay, Yannick.
She had told me earlier she was on and listening to all the presentations.
She's been promoted.
Okay, good.
thank you yes can you hear me i can could you please state your name and spell it for the
stenographer okay my name is yannick noborn okay um do you just could you spell that please for
the stenographer okay yannick y-a-n-i-c-k no one n-o-b-r-u-n do you swear or affirm to tell the
truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i do counsel yes mr nobram you've heard my
representation about your use of the uh ground level facility for your staffing agency loving
and divine home care um do you adopt my representations as your own all right
i'm sorry what was the answer yes yes yes okay thank you all right questions from the board
Yes. What kind of business are we talking about operating here?
She has staff that go out to homes and take care of people in those homes.
They're assigned there by loving and divine home care.
Okay. And so then this is.
In one of your prior applications, there was a home health, a home health care.
these folks under Medicaid or other insurance would go and assist the folks in their own home.
So this is for the paperwork, the billing, and that kind of thing?
Exactly.
They won't be operating out of there, correct?
They will not.
It's more like administrative services, support services for the aides that go out and actually visit the patients?
Yes, ma'am.
Okay. All right. Thank you.
Other questions?
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
Yeah, I just wanted to note, I just looked at the zoning history quick in terms of whether this was considered like a ground floor or a first floor.
Yeah, I mean, that's...
It's recognized as a first floor on a prior permit.
So this will be first floor only.
Right. And just noting that signage was not included in this application.
there um they the applicant will likely need to submit separate permits to have signage of the
property yes questions or comments from the virtual audience no answer um planning commission
thank you boy with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change
in zoning to the existing rsa 5 residential single family the property has a documented
history of commercial use on the ground floor since at least 1971. The Planning Commission
recommends that the board grant their requested variance for business and professional office.
How do you want to provide so for the signage? We don't need to provide. I'm just noting for
the record that it was not on the application. Okay, so MI 2025 001 543 5260 Caster Avenue.
i vote yes with proviso first floor only michael johns my vote is yes with proviso
cheryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso tenetta graham my vote is yes with proviso
ryan mcadams my vote is yes with proviso thank you thank you councilman we appreciate it well
okay um number number five okay mi 2025 005 530 7803 frankfurt avenue justin crick is the attorney
oh one second
let's choose that camera
there you go
I mean I knew you were there
I just couldn't see it
please state your name
and spell for the stenographer
yes thank you
Justin J-U-S-T-I-N
K-R-I-K
do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth
to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do counsel could you identify your
The whole truth is nothing but the truth.
Counselor, could you identify...
your client the relationship to the property yes my client is winifred crofa she is a principal of
the lineup corporation which is the uh the tenant of the building that operates the existing
restaurant there's a letter of non-opposition from holmesburg civic association with proviso
our our vice chair has a few questions for you sir um good evening good have you submitted your
documents and exhibits five days in advance in advance of this here I have
the exemplar pages of the lease came about maybe four days but I was just
gathering those but the remaining documents were submitted great and do
you waive the reading of the referral or stipulate to its accuracy I do thank you
you can share your screen proceed with your case thank you
all right members of the board thank you for uh staying late this evening um we are here to uh
to handle a referral to the zoning board for this property the the property at 7803 frankfort avenue
is currently uh being used or at least the first floor is currently being used as a restaurant a
sit-down-eat-and-restaurant that serves primarily a West African cuisine. And what we are seeking
is for the ability to have assembly and entertainment in that structure.
The assembly and entertainment we're looking for isn't club or party in the sense of
boisterous and rowdy. It's more of this restaurant would like to be able to host
private family gatherings of that type of nature. No alcohol is, you know, intended or permitted on
site, but we would like to be able to use the restaurant to be able to have things like karaoke
night, game nights, quiz nights, as well as, well, primarily those and those events. But let me give
you a little bit of background first to where we're situated. The property is located in the
greater northeast philadelphia area between hartel and decatur right along frankfort avenue which is
a pretty big commercial corridor in the northeast and as i get a little bit closer here you can see
that it's not the corner property but there is a church on the block and i point that out because
the existing restaurant you know brings patrons in anyway we don't believe that there would be
any greater parking or congestion with this ability because, as I will point out shortly,
we do intend to limit the occupancy number. So this is the front of the building. We're only
dealing with the first floor. The residential tenant above has not had any complaints with us
at this point with anything, not that there's been music because we don't have the approval,
but they've never had any issue with us as a tenant in the property.
this is looking i believe south down frankfort avenue towards the city and then you have the
the northbound view with the restaurant over here and when you come into the restaurant this is what
you see now we have we again this is only a special exception for the assembly and entertainment
we are still in the process of obtaining the certificate of occupancy for the basement it
has been fit out and the plans are being submitted for that certificate of occupancy so until that's
approved we are still talking about just the first floor but we anticipate that approval shortly but
when you walk into the restaurant as you can see that it's a it's a standard narrow size of these
these types of homes that have the commercial first floor but you know seating along the sides
this is the other direction so the intent would be to have people being able to sit down or gather
in this space the rear of the property has your exit to the back there are restrooms on the side
and then the kitchen i'm sorry i didn't get this one oriented well but the kitchen as far as i've
could see myself and been told it's pretty immaculate for restaurants these days and here
is the basement space that is set up but not in use at the moment because we are still trying to
get the co and the approval to have anybody in that space but again the idea would be you know
sweet 16s lifestyle life life events um uh and then again upstairs and so the the idea of trivia
nights game nights karaoke nights or even tv sporting events there is an intent for potentially
to have a live entertainment in terms of a dj for a private party but only for private parties it is
not a uh advertised for for uh you know party evenings now there they do intend to advertise
for things like a karaoke or a quiz night but private parties are not uh it's it's not like a
friday night destination place for a party so it has to be reserved or be one of these nights
and they are specifically talking about like a third
i think we lost you
I think we lost you.
Justin?
Notable is that this property does have multiple...
So, Justin, we lost you for about two or three minutes there.
Oh, I'm so sorry.
Yeah, yeah, that's okay.
Just back up a little bit.
Okay, okay.
Well, I will then make it quick and see if I, you know, hopefully it's not repetitive for you.
But so essentially, the idea is that the both floors could be used.
I don't know if you saw the first floor from both directions, both angles.
And then we have a basement, both directions, both angles.
So it's more of a Wednesday night trivia night, Thursday night karaoke night.
And then Friday, Saturday night events would be the on-demand kind of if someone reserves it for a family event or so.
now we do have multiple means of egress from the first and second floor and as
I'll just show you the floor plan for a minute you can see that we have the
ability this is the basement so the basement not only has one here but we
have an exit out to the rear of the property for fire purposes but I will
note that the applicant is limiting its occupancy to 49 people it does not wish
to have more than 49 people because as you are all well aware that that would
trigger sprinklers and other things. So we are only seeking a limited occupancy for the entirety
of the building where the total load of the building is actually about 83 people. So we don't
intend for this to get out of hand. The principal, when he is on air, monitors how many people can
come and go. The hours of operation are generally Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Fridays and Saturdays would be 11 a.m. to 12 a.m.
And Sunday would be 11 a.m. to between 6 or 8 p.m., depending on if there's something happening that night or event.
Could you go back a minute?
You also said that we can only consider the first floor now.
Is that right?
No, no, no.
I mean, the idea of assembly and entertainment is for the property itself.
We are in the process of obtaining a certificate of occupancy for the basement, though.
So we currently do only have the certificate of occupancy for the first floor.
Yeah, no, that's fine.
We're just looking at the use if they want this use to be in the basement.
They'll have to get a CO that says both first floor and basement, assuming we approve.
But, yeah, that's fine.
It's just they haven't completed that process with the restaurant yet.
So, and respectfully, even if for some reason the basement wasn't allowed to be used, and I just say that loosely and hypothetically,
we would still want the assembly and entertainment for that first floor space that you can see up here
that really is the primary space of this restaurant where people are coming in and enjoying themselves.
So this is where those quiz night or karaoke would be held unless there are more people than it would take it to the basement.
But again, because of the sprinkling necessity, the applicant is only seeking a limited occupancy of 49 people.
With that said, it's otherwise a pretty straightforward application.
We don't believe that this would impact or overcrowd the area because it is an existing
restaurant, so it can be frequented by this number of people already.
This wouldn't necessarily increase the number of people that could be allowed in the property,
nor do we believe that it would overburden any utilities, impair adjacent properties,
or endanger the health, safety, welfare of anyone.
And we do believe it's somewhat consistent with the comprehensive plan given its commercial
nature as a restaurant, and what naturally flows from gathering spaces like this.
With that said, I'm happy to bring Winnie Krofa on to the ...
Oh, and by the way, I'm sorry, I should mention that we do have ... Here's the exemplar copy
of the lease.
First page, this is the landlord TI investment.
We have no real estate taxes due.
The property was posted, and we did send this letter to the neighborhood, met with them on February 10th, received non-opposition from the RCO.
And then, as was indicated earlier, this is the lineup cafe who Winnie Krofa is one of the principals.
And this is an exemplar copy of the lease that shows that they started the lease in July of 23 and are basically taking it through 2028.
And if that's all right with you, I would like to bring Ms. Krofa on.
Please.
All right.
Winnie, if you are there, please raise your hand and put it as a panelist.
She's already elevated to a panelist.
Ah, thank you.
Thank you.
Ms. Krofa, could you please...
Oh, sorry, I'll let you do that.
Well, thanks.
I appreciate it.
Could you please state your name
and spell for the stenographer?
Winnie need to unmute Winifred Krofa my last name is spelled a-r-o-f-a-e do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth I do counsel thank you miss Krofa are are you a
principal of the lineup corporation yes thank you have you heard the statements
I made to the board today with respect to this property yes were the statements
I made true and correct to the best of your knowledge yes and would you adopt
my testimony as if it was your own to the board yes thank you very much any
questions from the board questions from the board yes what where is your trash
so I mean for the business it's in the back is it like dumpsters cans like we
have a trash can which is picked up by length waste company and is it stored in
the rear yard yes and it's just placed out when the commercial trash pickup
comes no they come and pick it up okay so you don't put it out they come on to the property
and get it yes and is this the rear yard area you can see on my screen yes and if i may that is
accessed through the rear door
at the back of the
restaurant? Yes. Right there.
Michael, you had a question?
Yeah, are all the units above occupied?
That whole row of residential, are they occupied?
We only know, I only know of this one, but I'll let
Winnie answer that question. I only know of that one.
I will say that all of the neighbors are sorry good I was going to say that they we did send
notices to these yeah to these addresses I you know I will be candid candid with the the panel
and I don't know whether tenants get each one but we send it to all the notices that were there and
this was posted outside so are you dealing with soundproofing because a restaurant sounds and
karaoke sounds and music sounds and party sounds are much different than a
restaurant are you dealing with soundproofing you want to explain what
you've done and you and the unit above what have you done we put us out what
are you soundproofing yeah some proven materials in the ceilings and on the
sides okay in between yeah okay
all right you have the questions from our board
questions from our attorney hillary emerson uh just to clarify so the use is
proposed in the first floor and basement
correct correct yes okay thank you
virtual orleans please no hand
amy boyp with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change in
zoning at this location from the existing cemex2 commercial mixed use the appellant has demonstrated
that the proposed use will not cause detrimental impacts ground was reasonably expected so long as
operation does not occur during late hours the planning commission recommends that the board
grant their requested special exception for assembly entertainment with proviso assembly
and entertainment use will not occur past 10 p.m sunday through thursday or past midnight on
fridays and saturdays okay um mi 2025 005 530 7803 frankfurt avenue i vote yes with proviso
Business will not operate past 10 p.m. on Sunday to Thursday or past midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.
Also, first floor and basement only.
May I ask a quick question there?
Is that the business won't operate or the assembly entertainment is not beyond those hours?
They have it for the assembly entertainment.
I just didn't know if the restaurant didn't have a music that night.
that i'm just saying what the rco wrote okay yes okay thank you yep
I'm just saying what the RCO wrote.
Okay, yes.
Thank you.
michael johnson my vote is yes with proviso
sarah gaston my vote is yes with proviso tenetta graham my vote is yes with proviso
i am mcadams my vote is yes with proviso
all right thank you thank you members of the board have a good evening sure we're going to jump to
number seven mi2025-005-572-3921 ridge avenue sean whalen is the attorney
there's a unanimous support from uh ridge at ridge allegheny hunting park civic association
31 votes to zero
Mr. Whalen
Good evening everybody
Long time no see
I don't think
I'm seeing you around here all day
I never swore you, did I?
I don't believe you did, no
Could you please state your name and spell for God
Sean Whalen
W-H-A-L-E-N
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i do would you identify your client the relationship
to the property certainly uh i am representing the owner and the applicant s u g d e n s
r o w llc and our our vice chair has a few questions of course good evening have you
submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing yes i did okay and do
you waive the reading of the refusals and stipulate to the accuracy yes i do right you can share your
screen and proceed with your case thank you all right uh what you're seeing is the aerial map
This is 3921 Ridge Avenue. This is actually a vacant lot. I think the last vacant lot on this block of Ridge Avenue. It is immediately across. What you can see to the left there is Laurel Hill Cemetery.
So again, this is Ridge Avenue kind of running diagonally across the screen. Laurel Hill Cemetery is to the bottom. And this is West Allegheny is the closest cross street right there.
So we're talking about right in front of this white van that's parked there.
That's the vacant lot that we're describing.
And what will come into play is immediately next door to us is six units.
You can see multifamily eight units right there.
This is that whole strip of the block.
It's all zoned RSA 5.
And so we are seeking to build a new construction triplex.
As the board chairman said, RAH Civic Association called this a great addition to the community and voted in favor 31 to nothing.
So here is a current photo, this vacant lot right here, and then you can see we have multiple multifamily, much larger actually multifamily units going down along the street.
So again, everything, ironically, including Laurel Hill Cemetery, is also zoned RSA 5 here.
We have three refusals. One is for the use. Two is for a roof deck that will be accessed by the
third floor unit. And the third is because of their, I think I skipped over it. You can see here
there's a trapezoidal shape to the rear of the property. And because of that, the deck that
we're putting on the second floor for the second floor unit to have some outdoor access and outdoor
space encroaches upon the nine-foot rear yard depth. This is, you know, again, three units.
Walk you through. So again, here you can see, let me zoom.
So here you can see now Ridge Avenue is on the left.
The property goes back and you can see this kind of trapezoidal shape to the rear of the
property. Why is that not giving me the second page? All right, it's not giving me the second
All right, it's not giving me the second page for the, let me see if this works.
page for the
Okay, here's the RCO package. So you can see the current photos that I already walked through.
Here are the proposed floor plans, and I will zoom in.
so you have uh again three units the first unit is going the walking from the top you have a
triplex so the the top unit is the third floor um and my eyes don't work so
here's the third floor unit you come up the stairs uh ridge avenue is on the left here
The rear of the property is on the right. The third floor unit is a two-bedroom with access to the large roof deck. It's 1,362 square feet. You can see the way this is built. Also, we have a carve-out to allow for more light and air.
again that's the the roof deck plan right there showing the nice size of the outdoor space
going down a level onto the second floor you have one unit that is 1029 square feet it's a two
bedroom with a rear deck that's this rear deck that's in the back and again because of the way
the there's you know the angles in the rear of the property that generates one of the refusals
which is that we encroach on the nine foot setback. So then you have a first floor and
cellar level unit, bi-level unit that is 1980 square foot three bedroom and it actually has
a full rear patio so you can see again on the left you have Ridge Avenue. What you do is you
walk in from ridge you have this uh you know setback of the entire building to allow for more
light and air come in here through to the first floor and then you have two bedrooms to the left
full bathroom kitchen and living room here you actually then have an upper patio area that then
steps down to an open lower patio area that is accessible and then you can use in the basement
you can see there's another large living space and you have additional bedrooms and living space
in the cellar which makes that kind of large open area
first floor and basement unit. So with that, I would say that we have a hardship here.
The hardship is that, as this board knows, a sea change to a neighborhood, as in the types of uses
that are utilized there and in the, sorry, both at the property and here's the Arsione letter,
creates a hardship where, you know, we are zoned for a single family and single family is not
a reasonable use of this property when you have, again, much larger multifamily uses up and down
this block. We also have that kind of awkwardly shaped and triangular trapezoidal, whatever you
would call it, rear portion of the property that creates the additional use. The final refusal
We do believe none of these create any issue to the public health, safety or welfare.
And this is a minimal, you know, the least minimum variance where we're asking for only three units as opposed to the six to eight that are approved up and down the block.
And here, the final refusal that we are seeking relief from is the roof deck.
That is an overlay here, but that provides the outdoor space for the third floor unit.
And as you can see from the letter, the Civic Association resoundingly voted in favor unanimously to approve this project.
So with that, I would call my client.
Jesse Fritz, if you can raise your hand.
Mr. Fritz, I think Sean Whelan's name again, I'm thinking that might be the person, okay
i'm thinking that might be the person okay why don't we see if it's showing well hello hi uh
why don't we see if it's shown well.
sir could you please state your name and spell it for this photographer jesse fritz j-e-s-s-e
f-r-i-t-z do you swear or affirm to tell the truth told truth nothing with the truth
i do counsel thank you chairman uh mr fritz you are here on behalf of the owner and applicant
for this project correct yes and did you hear all the testimony that i already presented in
this matter yes and do you believe that that in that testimony was true and correct to the best
of your knowledge information and belief yes and would you adopt that testimony as your own
yes thank you very much mr fritz questions from the board
it's michael all right go ahead
oh you good yeah i'm good oh so a question so the uh the basement um there's a walk out
to the patio correct the the lower level patio let me bring that back up
so here's the basement um mr fritz maybe you could uh describe that for
uh the board member who just asked the patio is accessed off the first floor
goes down and then it actually steps down and is also is it also accessible from the basement level
It's a walkout, right?
It is.
Walkout, yeah.
It doesn't show that way on your plan.
On the plan, it shows it's a window well.
We couldn't get you, Michael.
We were waiting for you to jump in.
I have the architect, God of Reister, on the line also.
Why don't we bring him on and talk to him about the basement.
I've got a Reister.
I'd love to say yes, it is.
Hopefully he says yes, that's incorrect drawing,
and you can go out from there.
That would be a good thing.
What's his name?
Agata Reister.
A guide is coming in now.
Board. Could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer?
Agatha Reister, A-G-A-T-A-R-E-I-S-T-E-R, and I am with Landmark Architectural Design.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Counsel?
Yes. Thank you, Ms. Reister. You are here as the project architect, correct?
That is correct.
and were you able to hear the the question that board member johns just asked and what
mr fritz just responded to regarding the rear patio uh yes uh presently it is not a walkout
patio but that is not something that uh we cannot change this this can be easily changed to a
walkout patio to to come into the lower level okay so we could revise the plans to show
a walkout patio, because the patio does have stairs down from the first floor, so it would
be accessible then from both floors, correct?
Yes, yes.
I can lower the lower patio area slightly a bit and also provide stair that directly
connects to that lower patio.
That is not a problem whatsoever.
Thank you very much, Ms. Reister.
You're welcome.
Any questions from anyone else on the board?
questions or comments from our attorney hillary armerson not at this time mr chair
questions or comments from the virtual audience no hands planning commission amy boy with the
planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning at this location
from the existing rsa 5 residential single family the proposed three units is in character with the
majority of the multifamily nature of this block. However, the appellant has not shown
that there are unique physical conditions or circumstances of the property that would
they would prevent it from being used in conformity with their roof deck and rear yard
prevent it from being used in conformity with their roof deck and rear yard setback requirements.
setback requirements the planning commission recommends that the board grant their requested
variance for multi-family but deny the requested variances for rear yard side
rear yard setback and roof deck kilry uh is is that enough to say they're going to do it i mean
how do we um how do we um um let me see the site plan again it's right there this is well no this
is a floor plan I believe yeah this is the floor plan and sees it because I
don't know if
Michael I don't know I don't know if you it shows that there's a like that you
need to show the patio access on the site plan or not yeah I don't I don't
know and they could just change this note to say accessible from basement also you know what i mean
something that just says that yeah have them do it and just resubmit it or what do you want to
we can um yeah we can we can request that change and just hold the vote for um revised plans okay
all right all right um yeah yeah okay other than that they're nicely made out units all right did
you hear that sean yes we're okay with with that one revision we're happy to we can make that
revision and get you uh proviso plans right so everything immediately everything's closed except
for that and then as soon as we get it we'll vote on is that okay is that okay perfect thank you
very much. Thank you. Thank you. Can we just say the vote is next week? I'm sure we can get you
that plan by the end of the week. Sure. Yeah, absolutely. Okay. Next Wednesday at 2 p.m. How's
that? All right. Mix it up a little bit. All right. Thank you very much. Thank you so much,
everybody. Number six, MI 2025, 005-550-6236 North Broad Street. Darlene Treat is the attorney.
good evening commissioners charlene three on behalf of the applicant um ingrams housing
investment group okay you've already been sworn um there's a letter of non-oppositions from oak
Lane community coalition 16 total votes a letter of non-opposition from a concerned community
association and they have some other issues here relative to that our vice chair has a few questions
good evening have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing
yes and do you waive the reading of the refusals and stipulate to their accuracy
yes all right thank you you can share your screen and proceed with your case thank you
good evening commissioners i represent michael ingram of ingram's housing i have a couple
individuals with me today i have mr michael ingram i have mr stephen kelly the property
manager and i also have ian smith design group i believe mr smith as well as mr
is on the line today.
Commissioners, we applied
to license and inspection
to build an
apartment building at this location.
I submitted a package of documents
which contains the syllabus
refusal appeal, property information
form, general property information
form, taxes
to know that they're paid to date,
a deed, pictures of the prior
building that was there, prior
plans, management information,
new plans, the community flyer,
proof of mailing, and the posting.
I'm going to start by just giving you
a little history of this property.
I'm not going to go through every single document.
Here is the refusal.
We stipulate for the refusal.
Basically, we were refused for the number of units,
the height, and the open space.
I did file an appeal with
the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
um here's just some information to show you that um our taxes are clear we we have all
all of your documents darlene okay why don't you just get to the heat of the issue okay i just
really want to give you uh i'm going to get right to it i want to give you a little bit of history
um of this of this building okay yeah so uh mr ingram um oh i don't know what happened hold on a
hold on a second oh boy
Thank you very much.
i don't have the other guys
i believe it's going to come back i'm going to keep talking uh mr ingram
purchased this building many years ago. It had been damaged by a fire, and it was his intention
to rebuild the building. Unfortunately, the building was in such disrepair. Here's a good
picture of it. It had a fire. It was in such disrepair, it couldn't be saved, and it had to
be demolished. I just really wanted to give you a little history of the building. So currently,
we would like to replace that old building and this looks like a building there but this is
actually a lot there's an apartment building in the back of it but we would like to replace that
prior building and build a new structure here misty ingram uh has been in this area for
approximately 45 years he owns ingram's plumbing which is located right here and he owns additionally
about 11 other properties on this block which he rents out this is a better look
at the space that we propose to put the building in and I'm just going to give
you a big picture of the lot I'm here so you can see where we plan to put this
building I'm going to jump out of here and to my little photo presentation here
I just really want to give you a look of the area and what we are proposing.
So this is the intersection, this is Broad Street, and this is Spitton Avenue.
This is the apartment building which would be behind the building we're going to build.
And I only show these pictures because it's important to see how we're going to access the building from the rear, the driveway, and how we get to the parking spaces.
i'm not going to go through all the pictures because we've been here a long time today
but i just want to show you a couple uh
those are the houses across the street i really wanted to show you how we get in and out of the
building here bear with me a minute
Here we go, this is Stitton Avenue and to access the parking in our building,
you will come down Stitton Avenue and you will turn into an alleyway easement here.
Here's a better picture of it.
These are our properties on the right.
This is the alleyway that we will access to get to the parking that we have proposed in our building.
That's a better picture of the long alleyway which we'll drive up into to get into our parking,
which will be somewhere down here.
You will come into the right.
I wanted to show you the show of how Mr. Ingram owns all of these properties,
and sometimes for his plumbing business,
he would park his truck back here in this area.
I'm just gonna flip back to the other presentation
and start to go through the plans.
I just wanted to show you some information from the prior building.
It had approximately 31 units.
There was a approved design,
but when it was time to actually get into reconstruction or repairing the prior building,
there was just too much damage and it was demolished.
Now we have a new building that we are proposing.
and i'm going to reduce that a little bit for you and show you the site plan
this is basically the site plan um for our building i wanted to show you that mr ingram
owns the property here he owns the property here he owns the property here this is where
we're proposing our new building he owns the property here he owns a property here he owns
a property here these are generally duplexes and he manages them and he has a current staff to
manage this this is really the site plan for our building this is really the uh ground the
this is really the uh ground the footprint of the building in the back here we have some shrubbery
footprint of the building and
over here i'll show you on a different design this is where we agreed with the community to
um provide some open area and some open space area so they wouldn't have to stand in front
of the building and hang out they can have a little area uh in the back of the building and
and I'll show you a rendering of it a little bit later on.
In the front of the building here,
we have the trees that are required
by the city of Philadelphia.
And basically when they're in full bloom
during the fall, spring and summer,
it'll be hard to see the building.
This is the site plan of the bottom floor.
Basically, we have a commercial space here.
We have the parking in the back here.
You would access the parking through the, I tried to show you the picture, you would come through the back and get into the parking this way.
When we went to the community meeting, they had some concerns about not being in any open area and concerns about the roof on the deck.
We did make some provisions with the community to alleviate their concerns.
so we did provide some open area in the back which i'll show you later and we did restrict the roof
deck for like utilities only air conditioned units etc like that there will be no residential use of
the rooftop deck uh this is just a rendering of what the building would look like and now i'm
just going to go down to the layout and I'm going to ask if Mr. Ian Smith may be promoted
and he could just kind of go through the size, the flooring and the makeup of the building.
Mr. Smith, Mr. Smith, I see his hand raised. Okay. They've been promoted.
thank you thank you Doreen you're welcome I'm here hi could you please state your name is
spelled for the stenographer my name is Ian Smith I-A-N-S-M-I-T-H do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth told truth nothing but the truth I do counsel please proceed good afternoon Mr. Smith
could you explain to the board the first of all what do we have in the basement down here
we have a small area for um i believe it's a vault room and 1a class bike storage with an
elevator access point um plus uh other meter room space um with a stair access point as well
okay and how about on the first floor here what is the makeup of the first floor all right so
the pink area which the cursor is pointing to is a commercial unit um currently vacant but
proposed to receive some commercial street frontage with ambulatory traffic so people can walk in and
walk out much like his adjacent, the owner's adjacent business, which is a plumbing facility
to the north, which would be plan right of the site plan. And then like an office space in the
back, we're showing like an accessible toilet room, the bare minimum for a white box, vanilla
box type space. Behind that, well, let's go right to the opposite of the toilet room to this white
area you'll see a a box with an x in it come down a little bit further no further further further
further slide to the right all right there we go all right so this is a trash room receiver space
where we have a trash shoot up above for the residential tenants um there'll be a bend in
here that can be wheeled out through the parking space to the rear for trash pickup in the rear
with our our wonderful amenity of the alleyway in the rear um so just um sort of plan north of that
if you move the cursor up please i don't know i might be able to draw in here can i draw yeah i
can draw all right so um that is the parking area um we're currently showing um i believe what 18
parking spaces for the zoning and um double width like in and out drive aisle um and we have our
requisite planning commission planting area um just to have that there to satisfy planning commission
And then an area over on the right-hand side, which Darlene has talked about before, which is a seating area, which we have somehow come to an agreement with the RCO as that being acceptable in exchange for not having a roof deck accessible to the tenants and the public.
All right.
So now we'll go to the second floor.
so now we'll go to the um second floor and basically uh mr smith i just wanted you to
And basically, Mr. Smith, I just wanted you to...
explain the um types of apartments um in the building and we are having 31 units uh basically
we have uh five studios 14 one bedrooms and 12 uh two bedrooms uh can you explain what the corner
the corner um unit size right so for the benefit of all people uh looking at this plan there are
three different hues of blue right and they all signify a type of unit size the lightest color
is the studio unit right which we see on a typical second floor plan well not typically it is our
second floor plan not typical we have five studio units right in the middle there um and then on the
corners we have our two bedroom units that is the darkest um hue or value of the plan and then in
the middle between those darkest hues we have a single bedroom unit all right and i just wanted
to add that these units were great houses the studio was approximately 500 square feet the
one bedrooms are 650 and the two bedrooms are 850 square feet well the second and third floors are
the same exact makeup and um those are the that is the layout similar right so it's slightly
different the hues are slightly different on the on the third to fourth plan um we have um replacing
the five studios we have four single bedroom units um that are central but then the remaining
perimeter does remain the same okay and then we have the roof deck up here yes and the roof deck
Again, it should be, you know, again, based on our sort of discussion with the RCO, we no longer need an elevator access point to the roof to access the roof, but it would be an elevator override, and we would not need the vestibule for that elevator.
But we would still require the stair access for maintenance personnel in order to maintenance such a large roof with condensing units and roof repair, cleaning, and whatnot.
Thank you. Here is just another rendering of how the elevation of how the property looks. And here is a grand elevation. Again, this is Ingram's plumbing located over here. This is the interest to the building. We will have some type of commercial use that we'll probably have to go back to the board for to get approved. And we have a four story structure here.
these are just other elevations to show you how the building will sit and look on the block
may i talk about the front view so the the first view was a view without the um uh old growth
trees just so you could see the facade but in actuality we have three very large trees that
are at the street edge and primarily do obfuscate the scale of the building and which is rent which
is depicted in the second rendering okay there you go
similar there we're just trying to show you can see it and then how the trees sort of sort of
blocked out here.
Commissioners, I did notice a meeting.
The first meeting that was conducted,
there just wasn't enough individuals from the neighborhood,
mainly just the individuals from the two RCOs,
and they wanted to have another meeting.
So we did notice a second meeting.
We did have a good turnout at the second meeting,
but mostly individuals that were part of the community
organization there were not too many individuals in attendance from the actual neighborhood
but here is a copy of the certificate of mailing i did notice the requisite number of individuals
provided by city planning i think it says 50. here is the posting and i also posted the meeting
notice for the community to see this is basically the same rendering we just
bubbled out in the back over here where we're going to have the open area so the
site plan really didn't change and I'm not really sure that I needed a proviso
because the site plan is just the same we just X out a portion on it for the
use of the community and i'm just going to scroll down a little further here's a rendering of the
little sitting area that we made in the back of the building to be accessed by the residents
as stated earlier we did meet with
As stated earlier, we did meet with both community associations.
We did agree to two specific changes.
One was the restriction of the roof deck where residents weren't able to use it.
The second was an enclosed fenced-in area where the residents could sit when they wanted to.
I didn't make a proviso, but I don't really think it's necessary.
and that is my presentation and I have Mr. Ingram as well as the property manager on the line to
answer any questions I do have some documents in my package so before we go on let me let me
ask you a question did you share with the residents what that area was where you're
gonna let people sit that small area in the back yes and they were okay with that yes
are you bringing your client on to uh adopt your testimony or no um let me just ask you
one more question mr bergman i do have some other documentation about our procedures for
property management emergency calls etc would you like to hear that
um i no i think i'm more you know we want to talk about the building
mr ingram can you come on the line please yes i'm on hi could you please state your name and
spell for the stenographer it's uh michael ingram m-i-c-h-a-e-l-i-n-g-r-a-m do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth that's correct okay uh mr ingram how long
How long have you been in that area at 6240 North Broad Street?
Yeah, 43 years.
And do you operate your plumbing business out of there?
That's correct.
And will the property management office be operated out of that office also?
That's correct.
And do you currently operate a property management business out of that office?
That's correct.
Mr. Ingram, have you heard the testimony that I presented here today?
yes i have mr ingerman if i were to get you to testify um could you testify that the information
that i um gave to the board today is true and correct to the best of your belief yes
and would you adopt that testimony that's correct that's all i have commissioner questions from the
board um i have a question so how where where is you said you have trash sheets a trash room with
trash chutes so like where would the trash be collected like is there like an outdoor like how
would the trash company i know it's gonna be commercial trash pickup or how would they access
the trash darlene would you like me to speak to that yes all right i'm going to use my cursor
again so this is where the trash chute location is it is large enough for um a three-yard dumpster
that could be wheeled out, this pathway to the alleyway in the back where it can be received
and picked up and then wheeled back into that location for taking the trash from the residence.
And I can't see, but it looks like, is there a little like lobby area for folks to get
their mail or packages?
Right here.
okay and um i mean 31 units with the um the outdoor spaces as i'm i've had to smirk a smile
i mean i think you're giving them some breathing room but 31 units i think we could be more generous
with the outdoor space there's no balconies you know there's no juliet balconies i understand the
roof the community didn't want the rooftop deck but i mean outdoor spaces i mean i saw dog parks
bigger than that in units. So I think, you know, that's just my comment. People need time to
congregate. Can we speak to that, Darlene? So again, it was, I think we wanted to work with
the community and come with an agreement as to what would be possible. We looked at possibilities
of a unity of use for all the properties, which would extend the possibility of acquiring this
permit and not no clarity as to whether or not that could be achievable. In addition to a lot
line relocation to do the same thing. Again, they wanted a firm sort of guarantee that this would be
within the property limits of itself as opposed to sort of leveraging for something in the future.
And they came to accept the small, I know it is small myself, in exchange for no roof deck, which we've been informed there may be a overlay for the neighborhood to restrict all roof.
May there may be a overlay for the neighborhood to restrict all roof decks.
So we were trying to be amenable to their interests and trying to achieve something that would be achievable.
OK. Yeah, that the outer space is a joke.
Yeah, I just have a couple of comments.
I guess my biggest concern is the scale of the building in relationship to the rest of the block.
It's dwarfing everything around it.
Is there a variance for the height in this application or no?
Yes, I'm going to go back to the refusal.
So we didn't have a basement use for the living.
The prior building had.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
I was asking about the height.
My concern is if you look at the, if you go back to your elevation, right.
And this, this building dwarfs what's around it.
It just seems just out of scale.
Contextually.
darling can i speak to that a little bit so my question is was there well the issue
can i speak to that a little bit or was there refused was there a refusal for height
yeah our um height i believe is uh six inches six feet above uh what's allowed let me just
go back to the refusal here we go what's up what's allowed 38 okay the height which is allowed is uh
38 we have 44. may i speak to that darling sure so um the per the reason why we went up to 44
is because we were providing the amenity of parking which is not required for rm1
And generally to have the clearance and the sanitary lines that drop below and to insulate that, it does require raising that a little bit to sort of provide that amenity.
This was a welcome amenity.
The RCO did desire this and did not want to leverage losing parking spaces in order to make a larger outdoor space.
And that was explicitly delivered.
Any other questions?
So you're four foot over the required 38.
Six feet.
Six feet over.
Six feet.
Six feet over.
Questions from our attorney.
Can I just, and it looks like if you're on the top floors, then your view is going to be of the trees there in the front.
May I speak to that, Darlene?
So when facing eastbound, yes, your views will be in the trees.
However, southbound, you'd be seeing down Broad Street, which descends.
To the west, there's an apartment building of the similar size across the alleyway.
And to the north, you'd be able to see above the homes, but it does ascend to the north, so your view wouldn't be as grand as viewing south.
However, if the trees weren't there, we'd be looking at an apartment building that I believe would be similar scale across Broad Street, which is about a four-story building, quite large.
all right thank you and i also just really wanted to point out how the commercial spaces on this
block are built um to the parking excuse me to the property line and they have a similar effect
um on the houses next door additionally uh mr ingram is the owner or the houses on either side
of the structure okay questions from our attorney
um not so much a question is um the the revised plans and the the information from the rcos were
just received between last night and this morning so i haven't had a chance to review if the revised
plans are are necessary to be stamped so i would just ask the board i am you're going to hold it
anyway okay board's holding it anyway that's fine i just i just need to to review and see if if the
board granted if revised plans would need to be stamped questions or comments from the virtual
audience. No hands. Planning Commission. Amy Ward with the Planning Commission. The comprehensive
planning commission amy boy with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends
no change in zoning at this location from the existing rm1 residential multifamily
the appellate has not shown that there are unique physical circumstances or conditions of the
property that would prevent it from being used in conformity with the zoning code
the planning commission recommends that the board deny the requested variance for
for drilling unit per parcel area and height and occupied area okay so um we're going to vote on
this next wednesday at 2 p.m uh we're just going to kick kick it around and just see where we want
to stand with this okay thank you commissioners sure thank you very much have a good night is there
anyone in the audience whose case has not been called i see no hands here all right well thanks
everybody we we did have a little bit of a longer day i think we got a lot of work done
and and and i'm going to tell you my my my favorite case of the day was the young guy
coming in with the tattoo and he said i got six daughters i mean you just you just said that's
i'll get one at once you guys thank you all have a good night all right thanks good night