other than people parking on sidewalks correct well no that i don't believe that's true there
is parking there it's a narrow street they do park on the sidewalk to leave more clearance but
there is legal parking there to my knowledge to the best of my knowledge thank you is that correct
mr phillips that is correct you'll you'll see here i pulled up the aerial where there are cars
parked along um this side of uh houston if there weren't cars parked there i wouldn't have actually
gotten a refusal because uh it would be classified as a rear street however you know they're all up
on the sidewalk and yeah okay thank you uh anyone else have any questions uh testify in this case
testify in this case yes chair we have Jacqueline excuse me Jacqueline McKnight
yes chair we have Jacqueline
Miss McKnight please identify yourself spell your full name and I will swear you in
hi can you hear me yes okay Jacqueline McKnight that's J-A-C-Q-U-E-L-I-N-E McKnight and that's
mc capital k n i g h t you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do okay please proceed okay um i have several points i want to make um i'm apparently the only
one that is directly affected by this what is your address ma'am i am at 1646 east houston street
um and it appears that this driveway will be directly in front of my house
um but first I want to point out that we park on the sidewalk yes but because that has been
a vacant lot I've been in my home 43 years and it's been a vacant lot the whole the whole time
so um when the homes are built I mean of course we don't want to ruin anybody's
uh pavement so we will park on the street there's enough room for cars to get by
All right. The other point I want to make is I can't see how only one driveway is going to be
wide enough. They're going to have to take up with the curb cut more than one spot because it's going
to be such a narrow turn. Then they're going to have to back onto my pavement. And it's just,
i don't see that this is uh any logic in this um the then if you're going to plant trees that's
going to affect our parking because now you have to watch where your passenger gets out of the car
because you can't open the door because you're in front of a tree so um and another issue i have is
they're making frankfurt ave metered or permit parking soon that's um up for discussion so now
when though the people you know this street is a half a block in from frankfurt ave yeah ma'am
not not to interrupt sorry to interrupt you but that's not a matter before this board
that is a matter that the community will will discuss with the parking authority and the
your district council person. Okay. But anyway, this is a small street. Our parking is limited
as it is. We can't afford to lose another spot. Okay, thank you. Anyone else to testify in this
case? Please raise your hand. Chair, we have Denise Whitaker. Good afternoon, ma'am. Please
identify yourself spell your name for the record good afternoon chairman and the members of the
board my name is venice whitaker that's spelled with v-e-n-i-s-e last name w-h-i
you muted yourself miss whitaker
miss whitaker
the council president yes hello hello miss whitaker miss whitaker hello you muted yourself
before you completed spelling your last name okay okay i'm sorry can you hear me now yes we can
okay so uh last name whitaker w-h-i-t-a-k-e-r thank you please proceed you swear or firm to
tell the truth the whole truth nothing about the truth yes i do sorry please proceed okay thank
you i'm here on behalf of council president daryl clark city hall room 494 the council president
set a letter in opposition to this matter based on feedback from near neighbors and the coordinating
RCO FNA. Neighbors have been reminded of the importance of rear yard space during the pandemic.
They oppose this variant since there is already street parking adjacent to the property on Houston
Street. There is no hardship sacrificing yard space for parking. Therefore, he asked that the
board deny this variance and vote along with FNA. Thank you very much. Would you, Ms. Whitaker,
or happen to know whether you or does the councilman know of the revision that extends
the rear yard from the original proposal out to somewhere between 14 and 15 feet?
No, whatever was presented during that zoning meeting is the only thing our office is aware of.
Okay, I thank you for that.
Okay, I thank you for that.
Anyone else to testify in this case, please raise your hand.
Anyone else to testify in this case, please raise your hand.
I see no more hands, Chair.
Thank you.
Planning Commission.
Planning Commission.
This is Ron Bednar, city planning.
Last name Bednar, B-E-B-E-N-A-R.
Please swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Thank you.
Please proceed.
Comprehensive, hold on a second.
Sorry, just give me one second, right?
Yeah, no worries.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing residential single-family
zoning at this location given the narrow width of head Hewson Street.
We have no objection to the variance for parking access with regard to the refusal of the lot
size variance and variance is minimum and does not
conflict with the purpose and spirit of the zoning court accordingly the city plan commission
recommends that the board grant the variances thank you very much mi 2021-0015 excuse me let
me start again. MI 2021-001757. 1847-1849 Spiviva Street, my vote is yes with the revised plan
one page approved today. Professor Plaza, my vote is yes with proviso. Thomas Holliman,
my vote is yes with proviso. John Monlock, my vote is yes with proviso. Excuse me, chair,
this is Sharon. Mr. Phillips, I emailed Gussie to ask for the plans and the proviso plans form
to be submitted as separate sheets so that we can stamp them and send them back to you. Could
you take care of that? I believe she's on vacation. I will take care of that as soon as we're off.
Thank you. Thank you, Sharon. MI 2021-001467. 222 Market Street. A letter of support from Old City District.
Justin Crick is coming back in as a panelist.
Good morning, members of the board.
Good afternoon, Mr. Crick.
Please spell your full name, and I'll swear you in.
Yes, Justin, J-U-S-T-I-N, Crick, K-R-I-K.
Address is 1500 JFK Boulevard, Suite 630, Philadelphia PA 19102.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
Professor?
Mr. Crick, you agree to waive the reading of its refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
And have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral, photos and plans five days prior to this hearing?
And have you met with the RCO and have a letter?
Yes, we do.
Thank you. Please proceed.
Thank you.
members of the board we're here today seeking a approval of a referral for a sit-down restaurant
with accessory assembly and entertainment in the basement and first floor of the property
located at 222 market street the property is currently zoned cmx3 and because of that and
because of its location in the old city residential district this special exception is
required. What we're doing here is creating a restaurant atmosphere that is not intended to
not intended to be and will not be a nightclub. This is a restaurant for daytime and evening
be and will not be a nightclub. This is a restaurant for
gatherings. Just to give a geographic perspective, we are at 2nd and Market between 2nd and Bank
Street, located on the southern side of Market Street, to familiarize everybody. And a little
bit closer of that can show you where it's situated near steak sandwiches on both sides
for whatnot. And let me get to the frontage. So this is the building we're talking about,
we are only dealing with the first floor and basement. The above is used separately and is
not on this application. This is the view of across the street, and we have an east-facing
view from 222 Market and a west-facing view as well of the street. The intended proposal would
allow for these two spots in the building to be used for the restaurant purpose. The applicant
is the tenant of the property and has undergone significant renovations and obtained permits to
basically convert the basement into the kitchen space and use the entire 1,200 square feet first
floor for the restaurant dining area. This is a conceptual design of the first floor area. As
you'll see, one of the things to note here is that this is for conversational lounging and dining.
there is no dance floor here. There is no intention to have loud music that has been
discussed with the neighborhood. Here's another just general conceptual design obtained by the
client. And one of the concepts that we're talking about is to provide the crowd with
morning modern wellness by day with certain types of drinks, coffees, fruit juices, and so forth.
and later in the day, extending into a dinner and cocktail menu and late night dining with
bar service. There will be an occasional live DJ. And here I'm going to just go through some
of the exemplar menus that may be modified as the restaurant opens and so forth. But this is
the general concept for what the daytime and then an evening menu is coming up. But what we have is
a DJ who would be there approximately three nights a week and even potentially a live violinist
to accompany that. The discussions with the neighborhood resulted in my client
specifically contracting with an audio company to specifically design this so that it would be
conversational music. And that is built into this quote here, as you can say, as you can see,
that this is a background system only designed for low level listening purposes and is not
sufficient for any foreground high output nightclub variant. And in the neighborhood
meeting, we went through some of the actual components that will be part of that audio
system that make it very evident that this is not something with loud thumping music throughout the
evening. In addition, again, just as some evidence of the client's work in renovations, there was
substantial underpinning to convert the basement to the kitchen, and the permits obtained are there
for that purpose. In meeting with the old city district, they had unanimous support, one
abstention, but all of those that were entitled to vote at the May 19th meeting did support the
application. The tenant, the occupant is the tenant of the property and is in lockstep with
the landlord, Joe Greco, as to the design and the use of the property. And this is a two exemplar,
three exemplar pages from the lease showing that they are a five-year lease with a five-year option
to renew. We have a tax clearance certificate and posting of the zoning hearing. It is our belief
that the, and I will also state, I'm sorry, in addition, the client has, the applicant has
agreed that in his renovations, we'll be putting thicker glass windows in the property to further
help absorb any sound that may get through. At this time, we don't believe that objectively that
this project will not cause any congestion in the streets, overcrowding of the land,
impairment of any adjacent neighbor, burden any public facility, injure any other property,
endanger public health, or be inconsistent with the comprehensive plan. And for that reason,
we are asking that the board approve the referral and the special exception application.
Rick, do you have a client to adopt your testimony?
I believe so.
I have not looked at the list, but if Mr. Wayne Shulick is on, please raise your hand.
Mr. Shulick, please unmute yourself and please wait for the show.
You can please spell your full name and I'll square you in.
Thank you.
Wayne Shulick, S-H-U-L-I-C-K.
We're firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Thank you.
Please proceed, Mr. Crick.
Thank you.
Mr. Shulick, have you had an opportunity to listen to my testimony to the board today?
I have.
And do you agree that the statements I made were true and correct?
based on that testimony would you adopt my statements as your own testimony yes thank you
uh mr shulik just want to give you an opportunity if you have anything else you wish to say to the
board about your application so i would just like to reiterate um that we've gone to extensive
costs to make sure that the sound system the soundproofing the thicker glass is in accordance
with what we discussed with the RCO.
My partner and landlord, Joe Greco, is hand in hand.
I've walked through everything with him, which he's approved.
So everything we think we've done as closely to keep Old City
with the RCO and what they were looking for.
As Justin said, it's not a nightclub.
It's a restaurant with cocktail service after.
there's no dance floor there's no security guards um and that's pretty much it it's just a restaurant
with live music after thank you any questions from the board no no and what else would like
to testify in this case if so please raise your hand i see no hands chair thank you planning
Commission. Thank you, Chairman DeTucco. Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir, I do. Please proceed, Ian. Thank you. Proposed special exception will not cause
detrimental impacts to the neighborhood beyond what would normally be expected for this use,
and so the City Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the special exception.
Thank you very much. MI 2021-001-467-222 Market Street, my vote is yes.
Confessor Plaza, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes.
John Monlock, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
Thank you. May I be excused?
Yes, you may. And again, I apologize for the background noise. I'm in my house and there's construction going on.
MI 2021-001-760-2316 North 10th Street.
Alan Notkinson is the attorney of record.
37th Ward RCO sent a letter of support.
Good afternoon, Mr. Notkinson.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair.
Alan Nockmson, A-L-A-N, last name Nockmson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N, 123 South Broad Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia, PA, 19109.
You swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Thank you, sir.
Sir Nockmson, you agree to wait to read in of its refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?