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
virtual hand in order to be recognized to speak if you're called to testify you'll be prompted
to join as a panelist please accept the request and turn on your camera third the webinar q a is
for questions about the hearing do not comment on cases in the q a and fourth if you're participating
by phone press star 90 raise your hand and star 6 to unmute for in-person attendees please refrain
from talking eating or drinking during the hearings verbal and physical aggression will
not be tolerated restrooms are across from the elevator a water fountain is just outside the
room to the right when speaking on the record you must speak directly into the microphone
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