the whole truth is nothing but the truth. Yes, sir. Our vice chair has a few questions.
Hi, have you emailed the exhibit packet with all the required documents,
consisting of proof of ownership, tax compliance, a refusal or referral,
photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing,
and have you met with the RCO and do you have a letter? Yes, ma'am. You may proceed.
good afternoon um the first page is a is a refusal paper and there's been three refusals
the first one stating the proposed personal service prohibited in the zoning in the zoning
district the second one stating the purpose multiple principal uses on lot is prohibited
in the zoning district and the last one is the proposed multi-family household living
is prohibited in the zoning district there that's the application for the appeal that was sent in
project information form
um this right here is the deed well not the deed but the um the sales
on the day the property was purchased.
This right here is proof that this is the building.
Also the refusal letters was posted.
This is the bell that was sent out
to all the residents in the surrounding area.
It's the overview of the property
that was sent out to everyone.
and this is the zone of refusal and the property use and property history.
We're proposing to use the bottom space for commercial space
and to be used as a beauty power and that's for the lower level, the first floor and the basement.
Also, we're going to use the second floor for our apartment, which is already two apartments,
but you just want to use it for just one apartment.
this is this is the information well these were the um the signatures for the uh neighbors
that didn't attest and they actually supported the um the business venture
or the idea so we did get a few um a few names for support
this is the the um email that was sent out we had a meeting with ted stones or rco meeting
and no one opposed um and it was held on this uh february 8th
that should be a trip okay
and uh my name is andrew menu i was the applicant assisting um charbonnet and kenyatta as the design
professional so the other documents that need to be wait a minute wait a minute wait a minute you're
not sure you can't okay sorry right let's stay with them they said they want to do it they'll stay
there so this is just typically everything is everything that we put together and this is the
zone and notice right here for this meeting and just attached with just everything that we wanted
to oppose to do the support and documents that we had from the neighbors um also the information
also the information from the RCO meeting as well okay is there anything else you want to add
from the RCO meeting as well.
into the case and do no sir okay questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman
questions from the virtual audience
chair we have someone by the name of douglas rucker with his hand up
mr rucker you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair
yes can you hear me mr rucker could you state your name
yes could you state your name listen to me could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
Douglas Rucker
Can you say your name and spell it please
For the court reporter
D-O-U-G-L-A-S
First last name is Rucker
R-U-C-K-E-R
Chew and Shelton
Community Development Corporation
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
The whole truth and nothing but the truth
Yes I do
Proceed sir
Yes our neighborhood is very much
and support of this project uh it is something that we we we really support because of
so there's history there there's our neighborhood is really moving forward with uh with development
and we find that this uh particular project is uh conducive to what we're trying to do
as a community and as the true and shelter community uh development corporation so
So I'm quite sure that Ted would attest to what I'm saying, that it is something that we're not opposing.
We definitely support and we wish the couple all the success that they can possibly have.
Thank you. Thank you for calling in, sir.
Are there any other comments from the virtual audience?
Chair, I see no other hands at this time.
Planning Commission.
Can I ask for a clarification? How many units are you proposing?
Proposing one unit.
Just one?
Yes, first floor will be the commercial space in just one unit.
Second and third floor will be one.
Second and third floor will be one unit.
Okay, thank you.
Okay, we can make a recommendation then.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single high rate dislocation.
This building has a documented history of commercial use.
The city planning commission recommends that the board grant advance for personal services and multiple uses on the lot.
MI 2021 004814 5558 crossing the street, I vote yes.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
You're done.
You have the votes.
MI 2021-004676-626-30 Bybury Road.
No RCO letter.
copy of an email indicating the rco is against the project
meredith ferlegger is the attorney chair meredith ferlegger is coming back in as a panelist now
good afternoon mr chairman members of the board hi could you state your name and spell for the
Court Reporter, please. Meredith Ferliger, F-E-R-L-E-G-E-R, 1500 Market Street, Suite 3500E.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do. Our Vice Chair has a few questions.
Hi, do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I agree to waive the reading. As far as accuracy, there is a slight error in the refusal that notes
a warehouse use on the property. That is not correct. There is no warehouse use. It is simply
an office. And then the request, which is before the board that we will get into for the food,
beverage, and groceries. Okay. Have you submitted all the required documents? It appears that you
have. We have. You may proceed. Thank you. You're welcome.
All right. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. Again, my name is Meredith Furliger, attorney with Delworth Paxson. The property owner is Silk Trent LLC, represented here today by Anthony Trentilodge. He should be on the call and I will call him up in a little bit.
All right. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the...
The proposed tenant is a company named U.S. Moda Foods, and we also have a representative from that company here today, Marat Simoz, or known as Mike.
The request before the board today concerns a large, over 46,000 square foot commercial property just east of the intersection of Busselton Avenue and Byberry Road in the city's Somerton section of Northeast Philadelphia.
Although the request before the board today is quite minimal, we do come to you today
without unanimous support of the community.
As we'll explain, the community's concerns most broadly centered around their anecdotal
traffic unease related to the busy Busselton and Byberry intersection, and the concerns
did not object specifically to the business that's before the board today.
Furthermore, so the board has some context while you are reviewing the proposal, you
will see at Exhibit 18 an email from Somerton Civic that did confirm that not one of the
30 people who voted during the RCO process, not one of them lives within 250 feet of this
property.
A third of the people who did vote did vote to support the request, which I hope the board
we'll see today represents a true and considerable hardship to my client's property. The board should
have an exhibit packet with 18 exhibits. I'll start first with some background, and then I'll
ask my client and the prospective tenant to come up and give you some additional information.
As the board can see from the aerials provided at Exhibit 7 and up on the screen,
This is a large commercial property that contains three separate buildings.
The property is surrounded to the north and west by other dense commercial uses, and to the south is a condominium dwelling, and further east you start to see a few single-family homes.
You can refer to some additional photographs here at Exhibit 17 here.
Again, this is just a frontage view of the property.
You see the two buildings here, and then there is a third building in the rear.
This is just looking towards that busy Busselton and Byberry intersection and turning the other way, heading down south on Byberry Road.
Now, historically speaking, and as reflected in the permit history that's provided at Exhibit 10, the property was previously owned by the Marvick Supply Company.
Many people know this property as the Marvick Supply Company business.
In 2017, Marvick closed up operations and sold the property to Siltrent LLC.
As Anthony will explain, since he purchased the property in 2017, he's been attempting to find new users for the existing space.
currently as you can see in the marked up aerial that I've shown up on the screen at Exhibit 8
the two western most buildings are occupied by Royal Family Remediation which is a remediation
company that has their offices in these buildings these two buildings as I referenced earlier are
used strictly as office space not as a warehouse that was incorrectly identified in the refusal
I have included some additional information about Royal Family Remediation and some photos of the interior space, but again, their use is not at issue before the board today.
The use that is before the board today is proposed for this eastern building here.
the proposals for a small ethnic foods retail market that sells only pre-packaged,
predominantly frozen goods. Now, before I bring up my clients to give you a bit more detail,
you might at this point be asking yourself why a large commercial property needs a variance
for a small retail space. Let me show you why. As you can see in Exhibit 6,
this property suffers from an extreme hardship imposed by its split zoning classification
half of the property is zoned ca1 while the other half the half that is at issue today
is zoned rs d3 single family accordingly a refusal is generated because the proposed retail use
Accordingly, a refusal is generated because the proposed retail use is not permitted in the RSD3 zoning.
Now, at this point, I would like to bring up my client to give a bit more additional detail, and then I will conclude with some notes about the community concerns and our attempts at addressing them.
So at this point, I think it would be best if I just bring them both up to make this a little bit more smooth.
If the administrator could look for Anthony Trentillage and Morat Saimaz and promote both of them, please, to speak.
I see Anthony.
Hello.
Could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter?
Yes, sir.
Anthony Trentillage, first name A-N-T-H-O-N-Y, last name T-R-E-N-T-A-L-A-N-G-E.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
And the second person?
Murad Saimaz, S-A-Y-M-A-Z.
Could you do that again and state your name and spell it again for us, please?
Absolutely.
Murad Saimaz, S-A-Y-M-A-Z.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, Meredith, to interrupt. This is Tanya. Maybe please request he spell his first name as
well. M-U-R-A-T. Thank you kindly, Meredith. Of course, Tanya. Thank you. All right, Anthony,
I'm going to start with you. You purchased this property in 2017, correct? Yes. And at the time,
were you aware that a portion of this property had a half of it zoned single family? No, not at all.
Now, to your knowledge, has this property ever contained a single-family use?
Never.
And to your knowledge, has the property ever contained any non-commercial or industrial use?
Now, since 2017, have you had much success leasing these spaces?
Yes. Very easy.
and and this building in particular um have you been able to find a tenant for this building
or has it been vacant for some time uh since we purchased the building we had three tenants a
carpet outlet a uh a mattress store and they closed up because of covid and then they had a
gentleman that was to sell vehicles online but he started doing mechanical work which he was not
permitted. Okay. So it's three tenants, four tenants. Now the community asked you to make
several improvements to the property, including landscaping and striping of some parking spaces,
correct? Yes. And you happily agreed to make those changes. Is that also correct? More than happy.
Now my last question for you. Now one of the biggest concerns that we heard from the community
was related to general traffic conditions around Busselton and Byberry. Since you've
owned this property, has there ever been an incident related to anyone entering or exiting
the property? No, ma'am. Thank you. All right, Mike. All right, let me turn to
this photo as Mike speaks. All right. Mike, could you just in a few sentences describe
what the business is that's proposed for this space? Well, it's a
boutique grocer. It's mainly frozen halal and kosher food, prepackaged. So meaning that nothing
is uh being prepared uh at a property in the property so um and this is mainly um gourmet food
uh it's not um you know aimed at uh regular um you know crowd it's more like a religious
and gourmet food, you know, special kind of food.
Thank you.
Now, 100% of these products are produced and packaged off-site, correct?
That is correct, in Garfield, New Jersey.
And is it correct that you only intend to have the retail space
in the front portion of this building, which is roughly 1,000 square feet?
That is correct.
That's the only actually available spot for it.
and that's a fairly small retail space that's that's even a lot for us we don't we don't we
don't get we don't plan on getting or have that kind of uh you know clientele um you know i mean