She's the principal of the company and the applicant.
it. This is my table of contents, exhibits AA through A11, and I'll go through them as quickly
as possible. I realize that the time is late. This is my appearance statement. This is a refusal.
So this is a rather large building in an RSA3 zone on the 1500 block of Spruce Street. It's
always been used as multifamily, and when my client acquired it and started to renovate it,
learned that it really wasn't, the zoning files did not accurately reflect what the property was
used as. It was used as a two-family dwelling. And the reason we know that is it was a sprinkler
permit in the file indicating a two-family use. And I also have some historical record to show you
that it was actually used for more than two families at several periods in the past.
So we met with the Garden Court Community Association, and we got their almost unanimous support, eight to zero.
And they outlined pretty succinctly the reasons for their support, and it's really the reasons for our application.
They've indicated that the building was multifamily for a long time.
The block is mainly three to five-story twins, mostly multifamily.
They don't believe that single family is warranted in this neighborhood,
nor do we, because the homes are rather large,
and it would be a rather expensive proposition.
It's also on the outskirts of a college,
and there's a lot of access to public transportation
to get to and from any location in the city.
Here's some photographs.
This is Spruce Street.
It's a very wide street.
This is the building here.
this is looking west, a large open parking spot. This is the property here. You can see that we're
not asking for any increase in height, rear yard, or open space. We're simply asking that the two
family use of this property be legalized. Again, some other properties on the block,
most of which are multifamily already. Here is our property here.
just some more perspective photographs for you
this is the property line this is the outline of the building envelope again no increases in
the front or back this is all existing the only really construction that's required with this
application is one partition wall of about four to five feet this is the first floor plan we have
one bedroom with a living room. On the second floor, there's an additional bedroom. And on the
third floor, which is a standalone apartment, is one bedroom. So we have one two-bedroom and one
one-bedroom. This is our tax certification, my application for appeal, the zoning map,
the deed. And I just wanted to get to, this is our letter, our certification of mailing.
and this is a summary of what this property used to be used for. In the 60s it was eight family,
2005 it was three family, 2005 it's two family and I referenced the sprinkler permit earlier
which indicates two family. So I'm not going to go through each of the history of this property
but I do want to show you one other summary. This is a summary of all the other properties
from the 1,500 block of Spruce Street.
You can see it ranges from two-family to several six-family, numerous four-family, and several three-families.
So not to beat this more, but these are all the supporting documents that are referenced in my summary.
And with the board's approval, I won't go through each of them.
I can represent that these outline of the uses of these properties on the street are supported by the documents that I have adjacent.
So in summary, basically you have a unique physical circumstance here, a large two-story, actually three-story building, always used as multifamily.
It doesn't really affect the essential character of the neighborhood.
The neighborhood already is multifamily.
We also are in harmony with the code, and I believe we're in harmony with the community group because they've already almost unanimously in support of this project.
So I will field any questions that the board may have, and I have my client here to adopt
my testimony.
Like you stated, Mr. Clinton, the RCO, Garden Court Community Association has given
Like you stated, Mr. Clinton, the RCO, Guard and Court Community Association, has given a letter of support.
Go right ahead if your client is ready.
All right.
Ms. LaFaldi, can you raise your hand in the virtual room, please?
And if she could be on mute.
She's been allowed to speak.
Hello.
Hello.
Could you please state your name and address for the record?
Jessica Cifaldi, 2417 Welsh Road, Suite 209, Philadelphia, PA, 19114.
And do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Okay, great.
Please proceed.
Good afternoon, Ms. Cifaldi.
Have you heard my testimony today?
Yes, I have.
And you were on this call for the entire presentation?
Yes, I have been.
and if you had the opportunity to testify would you adopt my testimony as your own and as true
and correct i do thank you very much uh chairman chanel just one other thing there's also a letter
not in my uh summation but it was sent i think independently to miss saletta and miss sunkett
from the west philadelphia economic development council mr kyle sampson and that's also a letter
support just for the record okay uh noted um does uh is there anyone else that wants to speak on
this matter no hands chair no hands thank you uh any questions from the board no no questions all
Alrighty. Planning Commission. Yes, this is Ron Bednar, City Planning. Spelling in my name is
R-O-N, last name Bednar, B-E-D-N-A-R. All right, Ron. Good afternoon, Ron. How you doing?
Let's get you sworn in. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing
but the truth? I do. All right, great. Proceed, please. Comprehensive plan recommends no change
the existing residential single-family zoning. We have no objection to the application not
including parking with this proposal. There is a documented history on the zoning file from
2005 of multi-family buildings at this location. Therefore, we recommended the best
the board grant the variance all right great Ron thank you okay calendar number MI-2021-0025875030
Spruce Street my vote is yes Thomas Holloman my vote is yes John Munlock my vote is yes
thank you very much great thank you
calendar number mi-2021-002583 5675 north front street
i believe wade albert is uh representing
and he's coming in now as a panelist thanks lakeisha thank you
good afternoon or good evening good afternoon sir please state your name and address for the record
sure my name is wade albert a-l-b-e-r-t of stevens and lee uh 1500 market street east tower uh sweet
1800 uh philadelphia pa 19102 all righty got a couple questions for you uh do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? I do. All right. Do you agree to
waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? Yes. Also, have you emailed an
exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance,
copy of the refusal or referral, and plans and photos five days prior to this hearing?
Yes, I have. All right. And finally, have you met with the RCO and do you have a letter?
There is no RCO, but in place of the RCO, there was a meeting from Councilperson Parker, and yes, we do have a letter.
Oh, yes. No, you're right about that. Sorry about that. I'm looking at that now.
Okay, sounds good. Please proceed.
Thank you so much. I'm just going to share my screen real fast.
I'm sure you can see that, and I'm going to hopefully be very brief and go through the package.
I don't think this is a very controversial matter.
At bottom, this is an application that relates to a sign that Burlington Stores,
formerly we all know as Burlington Coat Factory, seeks to open at 1 and Alney Shopping Center,
located at the intersection of Front and Alney. Like all the other stores that are in that shopping
Like all the other stores that are in that shopping center, the property is zoned CA1.
Center, the
At present, the location of this store is vacant, and I understand it has been for some time.
And the sign is designed by ImageOne Industries.
And later in my presentation, I'm going to have Teresa Freni from ImageOne to present some information about the sign.
So very briefly we'll take you through the package.
Exhibit B is the refusal. You can see that we've been refused because the sign is a flat wall sign
that the height is higher than the requirements in table 149041. And that requirement is that
the sign can't be higher than the roof line or the parapet. And in this case we're going to see
that the the sign goes up a little bit higher than the than the parapet wall um we have the appeal
documents um exhibit d is the uh it's a letter from the owner of the shopping center uh proving
us to uh seek the relief that we're trying to get here uh we have a copy of the lease agreement with
Burlington. And so at this point I'm going to turn it over to Teresa Freni if she's available
just to discuss the dimensions of the sign and some of the mechanics of the sign and the location
in respect to the shopping center and the community. So if Teresa's here, can you, can I call on you?
I'm not seeing nobody by that name. May she raise her hand?
there she is and she's been allowed to speak
oh good afternoon miss franny how are you good afternoon i'm fine how are you good good could
you please state your name and address for the record and and spell spell your last name name
is Theresa Freni, T-H-E-R-E-S-A. Last name is F-R-E-N-I. I'm with ImageOne Industries,
which is at 677 Dunks Ferry Road in Ben Salem, PA. All righty, thank you. Do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? I do. All righty, thank you. Please
proceed the variance that we're seeking is for the barlington to exceed the roof line and the parapet
um as you'll see in in the exhibits the shopping center is below um if we could go to the next
The next drawing here, this did have preliminary zoning review and received a letter, the comments
from the letter up here in the right hand side.
The store frontage is 166 feet, 11 inches, where signage is allowed per code with that
That frontage is 1,669.17 square feet.
So the amount of signs and the size of the sign complies to code.
If you go to the next exhibit, as you'll see here, the roofline is 25, I'm sorry, the
parapet is 25 feet from grade, the lower part. The facade complies to height code, which is 38 feet
from ground up, and that complies to 35 feet. Although our sign for Burlington is above the
roof line and parapet if we scroll down a little bit lower you will see the side
view showing this is the existing this is the the building and this is the
facade structure this is a sign right here and we are
I can't there we go keep yeah thank you thank you um the sign is four foot six above the parapet
now the reason for this if you would like to go to um scroll down to the next
Scroll down to the next view.
this is the
This is the shopping center and the location.
This is the vacant building that Burlington is taking up.
You'll notice that across the street, we're not directly in front of any residentials.
We're facing the other part of the shopping center.
If you could scroll down a little bit more.
there's a shopping center and barlington is located if we go down to the next one
there we go down what there we go
down at the end of the uh the shopping center
now the power if you if you look at the way the shopping center is just to explain this is what
this is the roof line and that's the parapet you can see on the opposite side from this
this aerial photo so all the way to the right hand side of the screen where the
building set starts to have a angle that is where burlington is going to be okay so pretty far away
it's pretty set back um away from the the whole shopping centers and entrances
so if we go down a little bit more
the next exhibit yeah this is this is the back of uh this is a location that was done um i believe
north jersey this is the brand of burlington they're trying to get away from the label of coat
factory so they're trying to be extremely consistent with all the frontages of their
of their stores this particular site here has a very high roof line so there wasn't an issue
there but i'm showing this just so you have an idea what the complete picture will look like okay
um and one last thing if you comply to code and bring that sign below the roof line
it reduces the size to three feet it's not visually the brand of burlington
and it really doesn't look very good and it'll be hard to see from a distance
so our variance is to extend above the roof line and the parapet
so thank you teresa so i'll just go through the rest of the packet very very quickly
um costing the zoning notice uh tax clearance um as i indicated earlier that there there is no
um coordinating rco for this this property and so the community meeting was held by councilwoman
parker um at the the meeting um that there were not many people in attendance to um to uh have
any input on the project and ultimately um the council person uh said the community is not taking
a position they attempted to follow up with them and to get their the input from the members in
attendance and um it didn't seem to be a lot of interest which um i take it to mean that there
there really is no opposition from the community um and so with regard to that um as a separate
matter councilwoman parker uh uh indicated in her letter that she was not opposing the granting of
the variance in this matter um i think that's that's really all of my materials um go back to
a picture of the of what this sign would look like but i um actually before i end um uh
miss uh theresa miss branny um you in addition to your testimony did you hear the other uh
statements and testimony that i presented
yeah um and would you were they true and accurate yes they were and would you adopt them as your own
yeah and with that i i uh welcome any questions okay great and and just uh to reiterate for the
record uh council member sherelle parker uh is not opposed to this that is correct no community
opposition either so is there anyone else here to speak on this matter mr snow i have miss hillary
Emerson with her hand raised. I will move to speak at this time. Alrighty, thanks.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the board. Hillary Emerson,
E-M-E-R-S-O-N, on behalf of Councilwoman Sherelle Parker.
Great, Hillary. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Great, Hillary. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
I do. I was just here to just provide any clarity if there were any questions.
Mr. Albert has, as he's indicated, we did not get definitive feedback from the community.
There was one neighbor who attended the meeting, but she was on the phone, so we sent her the information so she could see it
attempted multiple times to follow up with her and weren't able to um to do so um so the community
we did not feel that we could give the community a position without having um any input but the
councilwoman herself does not oppose the granting of the variance in this matter all right thank you
very much uh does the board have any questions no no questions all righty uh planning commission
Ron Bednar, City Planning. The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the commercial
shopping center zoning at this location. The applicant has applied to resurface existing