Henry Clinton for the applicant. Could you spell your name for the court reporter, Mr. Clinton?
Sure. H-N-R-Y Clinton, C-L-I-N-T-O-N, 1313 South 33rd Street, FWPA, 19146.
Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do, Mr. Chairman. Could you identify your client and their relationship with the property?
Sure. The owner of the property is 3737 South 2nd LLC, and the two principals are both on the call with me, Sean Thomas, as well as Keith Sheed, S-H-E-E-D.
Okay. Our vice chair has a few questions.
Hi, Mr. Clinton. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet consisting of proof of ownership,
tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral, photos and replies to the property
five days in advance of this hearing? And have you met with the RCO and do you have a letter?
Yes to all of the above.
That's great. You may proceed and share your screen.
Thank you.
Is that visible enough?
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
I'm here on behalf of 3737 North 2nd Street, LLC.
And this is my table of contents, exhibits AA through A11, which I'll ask to be admitted into evidence.
This is our appearance statement, which is typical.
This is the refusal.
The request is for a sit-down restaurant.
As I walk through the presentation, you'll see that historically, this was a banquet facility.
Banquet facility, according to the zoning records, were approximately the year 2000 to 2021.
And prior to that, it was really an amusement entertainment site.
And I'll show you some historical records.
So the reason we're before you is because the property is in an I-2 zone.
It's industrial medium.
and we're asking for a sit-down restaurant
and the code does not permit that.
Even though the historical use
has been for something similar.
So we do have a letter of support from the RCO.
One of the caveats to the support
was a concern about parking.
And in the letter, you can see
that there is reference to the fact
that we have permission to use an adjacent property
for parking during certain events.
And I've attached a copy of that letter
for the board. This is an adjacent property at 3710, actually across the street it is 3710
10 actually across the street it is 3710 North 2nd and we have the permission to use this
North 2nd. And we have the
gentleman's parking lot for certain events. We also have a petition of support from the
surrounding neighbors and you'll see from my certification that we only had to mail out
letters believe it or not to 15 neighbors because it is a huge industrial site as you'll see from
the photograph so there really weren't a lot of surrounding neighbors but we got the bulk of
their signatures in support. So you can see this is an entirely industrial area. The zoning map
indicates it's this side of the street on Erie Avenue is industrial as is this side. And the
property is close to the intersection of 2nd and Erie. There's a high school across the street and
that's only non-industrial use that I could find. Again, this is the facility right here and you'll
see from some photographs that it used to be a banquet facility. We're not going to have a
banquet facility. We're asking for a sit-down restaurant. Just showed you some interior
photographs. Still in good shape. This is the counter area. These are the plans. Give it a
layout. It's really a first floor and a partial second floor. This is the counter area, the seating
area for booths as well as tables, and an open area, perhaps for events, for birthday parties,
christenings, showers, things of that sort. On the second floor, we're just going to have an
office area. The rest of the building is really not used. It's a roof area.
So the rest of the documents are pro forma documents we usually introduce at the zoning board hearing, tax certification, notification to surrounding neighbors, or an application for appeal.
And this is the zoning map. I just want to show the board. This is our property right here, my client's property, and the whole area in purple is an I-2 zone.
And here are some historical records just to show the board that in 1987, this was a bar restaurant that had entertainment, pinball machines, shuffle boards, pool tables.
And this is a certificate of occupancy from 2002, again, indicating a bar restaurant with live entertainment, bands, disco, et cetera.
So we're asking the board to look kindly upon this application because it doesn't really change the use per se.
It's still going to be an area where you can get a sandwich and sit down and have something to eat.
But we're not going to have the extensive use of the property that was before, which was a banquet facility.
So we're not going to affect any adjacent neighbors later air.
It's in harmony with the code. It's in harmony with what the RCO supports.
uh and we are the historical use documented historical use is consistent with the use that
we're proposing for the board today so with that i'd like to rest and entertain any questions the
board or the virtual audience may have henry would you want to bring your client on to adopt your
testimony sure mr thomas can you raise your hand and you'll be unmuted he's been allowed to speak
sir but you state your name and spell for the court reporter yes my name is sean thomas s-h-a-w-n-t-h-o-m-e-s
right do you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes i do proceed uh good afternoon mr thomas how are you all right good uh were you on the call
when i presented this project on behalf of you and mr sheet yes i was and if you had the opportunity
to testify, would you adopt my testimony as your own and as true and correct?
Yes, I will.
Thank you, Mr. Thomas.
I appreciate your time.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I'll wait, sir.
Mr. Sloan, folks, let's put his hand up.
I will allow him to speak at this time.
Thank you.
Mr. Folks, you've been sworn before.
Just start your testimony, please.
Good afternoon, sir.
The applicant having met with the coordinating RCO and receiving a letter of support, our office offers no opposition.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
There are no other hands at this time.
Planning Commission?
On Bednar City Planning, while this property is currently indicated for industrial on the city
plan or proposed zoning for the site was ICMX, which would allow a sit-down restaurant by right.
was ICMX, which would allow a sit-down restaurant by right.
Therefore, we recommend perseverance be granted.
MI 2021-004974-3737 North 2nd Street, I vote yes.
Carol Tennerin, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the board.
have a great day. Okay. You too. MI 2021-002-633-5929 North 5th Street.
Mr. Justin Crick has been promoted to panelists. He will be rejoining us shortly, sir. Okay.
Good afternoon, members of the board. Justin Crick on behalf of the applicant.
Hey, could you spell your name, please, for the court reporter?
Yes, last name K-R-I-K.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client and their relationship with the property?
Yes, my client is the Fifth Street Lounge, Philadelphia, LLC, tenant of the property represented by Earl Johnson.
The application was filed by our expediter, Betty Mann.
Okay, thank you. Our vice chair has a few questions.
Hi, Mr. Crick. Do you agree to waive the renew the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Okay. Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral, photos under 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, to all.
Okay, great. You may proceed and share your screen.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Members of the board, we're here today on the property located at 5929 North 5th Street.
The property is currently being used as a bar and restaurant with some food in the bar.
And it is, both stories of the property are occupied.
But what we have a refusal for is an application for assembly and entertainment to allow music
to be played on the first and second floors of the existing building and in the existing
structure the proposed use of nightclub private club is expressly prohibited in the cmx2 district
and that is what we are seeking the variance for today that's the only refusal we received
and as you can see that there was there was previously approval for this this structure
and the work done to it with soundproofing and so forth in a prior application
property is located uh generally speaking along a somewhat of a commercial corridor on north fifth
street but within a residential area surrounding it is located on a fairly large parcel of land
that from the this photograph will show you that it has a large area that was originally used for
parking but has been used now and converted approved converted to outdoor seating during
the pandemic they utilized that uh which you can see here this used to be a parking area
what excuse me council this isn't council we're not seeing the pictures oh all right i apologize
let me try that one more time all right how is this working good thank you thank you very much
i'm sorry about that let me go back and just show you so this is this is a commercial corridor
on on this side of the street there's a there's quite a few uh you know pharmacy hardware store
restaurant and this bar from an aerial view and i'll get to the closer one this is a this was the
is a parking area for the restaurant but a portion of the back of it as you'll see has become some
outdoor seating but notably we have made arrangements with kim's korean restaurant who
when they are closed in the evenings do not mind and are okay with our patrons parking in that lot
during that time again the commercial corridor and one other thing is that there was there's
another project that was presented at the same RCO meeting for a new bar or business up the street
that tied into the the concerns of the neighborhood that may be relevant for later discussion or
questioning but here's an exterior photo of the property um you can see the the outdoor area
that's been uh re repurposed but there is still some parking in front as well as parking along
as well as parking along the street frontage and we're going to get to some interior photos
the street frontage um and i'm going to get to some
again an existing bar sports bar happy hours uh whatnot and what their what the the intent is is
to have music in the form of a dj and also just allow background music on roughly three nights a
week thursday friday and saturday both on the first floor level here as well as some photos
i'll get to right now this is an there's some offices empty office space that are mainly used
by the proprietor on the second floor and or as stock room for random things but may be opened up
and want the ability to open these some of these rooms up for either private events and things of
that nature so the music would just be throughout the premises this is somewhat of a crude drawing
by the tenant, because again, the approved plans are already okay. We're just looking for music in
both of these levels. So admittedly, here's an exemplar, copy of the lease, sorry, copy of the
photos, the posting, and a tax clearance certificate. Now, admittedly, when we met with
the um rco which is the uh upper north council or coalition of community councils um they did
submit a letter of opposition in in drastic opposition stark opposition to this with with
basically a 38 to nothing in opposition however a closer look now an explanation that they provided
um really they were concerned about outdoor music which has was only carried out during the pandemic
for purpose of necessity, but is not something that is within this application or within the
desire. They were concerned with parking issues, which again, we have made some arrangements for
parking to be decreased or alleviated, but the addition of music won't necessarily change the
parking concerns that exist just from the existing bar and restaurant that is already there as of
right um but in that same respect the the applicant has agreed to you know take more measures to inform
his patrons of what they should and shouldn't do in terms of parking in the neighborhood
uh and finally a concern of the neighborhood was violent activity but um that didn't seem to be the
the primary concern because our client or the applicant maintains security private security
on site during all business hours and um and you know can only control what is done within his
premises uh and also made very note very good note that we do work with the local police department
and would be willing to handle her and hire additional security um i've received how many
what is the capacity what is the capacity yes uh occupancy we have about 75 to 100 people
occupancy limit on one floor or both that would be including both
okay and what are the days and hours of operation yep that would be um the days of operation are
seven days a week from 4 p.m to 2 a.m sometimes a little earlier on sunday if there's an event
or something in the morning in terms of sporting event or gathering that someone wants to have
um okay and the music would be approximately thursday friday and saturday evenings
for that. And when does the music end? The music would end, I believe, that would be,
I don't know that we have a time ending for it other than close of business.
I can let Mr. Johnson, who is available, answer that question if he is, you know, prepared to do
so. But my understanding is that the music would be available to the bar during its regular hours
of operation, whether it be just through an overhead PA system, but the DJ would only
be required three days and three nights a week intended.
Thank you.
And so we took into account very much what the neighborhood had said, and we were willing
to work with them and are still willing to work with them.
And then I received an understanding, and I'll let the councilperson's office speak
for themselves.