No liquor is proposed for 7th Street Burger.
Just to underline and underscore, indoor trash storage is an important component of this with the private trash collection during mid-morning hours, which is increasingly an issue for our neighbors throughout Philadelphia.
So that's an existing operations positive. The proposed hours of operation for 7th Street Burger, as discussed with the community, would be 11 a.m. through 10 p.m., Sundays through Thursdays, and until 2 o'clock a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, with one important note, which we brought to the community proactively.
The outdoor space, which, again, is going to be a nice component, is proposed to close at 9 p.m. on all days because this is a densely, a dense community of the mix of commercial and residential.
And that makes sense.
The building has been designed with venting through the roof.
7th Street Burger anticipates approximately three through five employees per shift, which will be nice to add to the economy.
The proposal fits into the surrounding neighborhood as evidenced by the support of the neighborhood stakeholders, which also speaks to the granting of relief being of benefit to the public and within the spirit of the zoning code.
As I mentioned, we do have Emory Land virtually at the appropriate time.
You have someone coming on to adopt.
Yeah, yeah, right.
Somebody's going to call on him, right?
Yes. Emory Land, would you please raise your virtual hand to be recognized by Chairman Bergman?
All right. I'll be coming back in as a panelist shortly.
Thank you, Mr. Hand. There's Mr. Land. Emory, please unmute so Chairman Bergman can speak to you.
Yes. Hello. Hello, everyone. Good afternoon.
sir, could you please state your name as spelled for the stenographer? Sure. Emory Land, E-M-O-R-Y
L-A-N-D. You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do. Please proceed, counsel. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good afternoon, Mr. Land. Is it
correct that you've been present during the entire pendency of the hybrid proceeding of
the Philadelphia Zoning Board of Adjustment this afternoon? Yes, that is correct. And would you
adopt and affirm the testimony that I've offered as your own? Yes, I would. Thank you, sir.
Questions from the board? Yes. Can you explain the outdoor seating and how that's going to work?
Yes, Mr. Johns. The outdoor seating is accessed only via the
The outdoor seating is accessed only via the interior of the proposed restaurant.
Patrons would, I'm trying to go back to the area.
Just bear with me for a moment.
I'm just trying to figure, because you said it would be all internal to the parcel.
So if you look towards the left of the plan, which is Frankfurt Avenue, there is a door into the restaurant, into the existing structure.
That is the only way to get in to both the inside out of the elements restaurant and the outdoor seating.
So one would have to walk into the dining area and out the door to the outdoor dining, which would be a landscaped area, which would close at 9 p.m. every evening.
And is the outdoor area covered in any way?
It's not covered from the elements. It's open to the elements. But the intent is to have as much of the plantings to add aesthetically, but also as a sound dampener to a certain extent.
And the wall is already there because it looked like in photos there was a garage door access to the sidewalk.
Yes, you're absolutely correct. That is there and it will not be opened to the sidewalk. So here we're looking from the inside, Ms. Nguyen, and from the outside you can see it there.
It will be spruced up, it will be camouflaged, but as we shared with the community, it is in the interest of the property owner, the existing residents, and quite frankly, to our knowledge, both residents and businesses around to maintain the courtyard as not visible to the outside.
We do have, as you'll see even in this photograph, large open windows into the main area of the restaurant.
And then two other questions.
One, oftentimes places, I'm assuming they have fries at this smash burger place, usually things that have a hot grill tend to have more fumes and off-gassing.
Is there anything that's been done for the restaurant fit out to sort of mitigate transference to the units above?
Yes. The building was designed to have the venting through the roof so that it neither negatively impacts neighbors or residents who are there already. So that's why I refer to it, I think, appropriately as a synergy of interest.
And then what is the plan for deliveries? Understanding trash is going to be out of that trash room at the rear. What's their plan for deliveries and frequency?
Yeah. Like all of, I would say all, or shall we say most of the restaurants and other retail commercial businesses along Frankfurt Avenue. It's working together. It's working together with FNA and the streets department on where loading zones are appropriate because it is intended to come in off of Frankfurt.
We want to respect the smaller-scale residential feel along Shack and Maxson.
And I believe Mr. Everett is here, but we've made a good-faith commitment to trying to coordinate those efforts because it's difficult.
Any other questions?
Questions from our attorney, Hillary Emberson.
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
um questions or comments from the virtual audience yes chair i have a hand up from a
jeremiah polly i will promote them and they should be back in shortly sure
Mr. Laver, while we're waiting, do you want a proviso for time?
I don't think that it's necessary.
Do you have an agreement with them?
uh we've made statements to to the community which we intend to honor right okay
sir hello hi yes sir could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer
yeah my name is jeremiah polly j-e-r-e-m-i-a-h and my last name polly is p-o-l-e-y
why do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
I do please proceed um yeah I'm the tenant that live directly above this um
Yeah, I'm the tenant that lived directly above this.
If you go back to that original picture that was shown from the Frankfurt side of the street,
I'm the unit that kind of juts out a little bit.
There's like a nook.
Yeah, perfect.
Thank you.
That brown nook that juts out.
So a couple of questions that I would have at this point certainly have to do with found
and how late it's open.
um for for the way it's working right now with with nobody below there uh we have two sound
issues that happen one being that that brown um uh nook that shuts out is our living room and
we there there does seem to be some issues we get wind that comes through there winds
uh sounds of wind uh we were never quite able to get it to warm up during the winter there's
certainly leaks there but also audio leaks so we can hear people below us um like they're in our
own living room is is certainly a concern um not only with the increase of people and conversations
that will be had from people out front of it but you know also the time that this would continue on
till 2 a.m um friday saturday uh i'm not sure if it was sunday or not and then the second sound
concern being uh that the way that that uh inlet where the courtyard is at works right now is that
it really sucks in all the sound from from frankfurt and from the street there and throws
it right into our uh bedroom which is the window on the side did he freeze i think so jeremiah
Jeremiah? He looked like he froze up. Jeremiah? Mr. Pauly?
I'm sorry, Chair. You may have froze up.
I have another hand from Rob from FNA. Looks like he's a chair from the RCO.
mr everett is all right why don't you bring mr everett on they'll be back in this panel shortly
hi mr everett
i'm here turning on the video how are you mr everett could you just
For the record, state your name and spell for the stenographer.
Sure. First name is Robert, last name Everett, E-V-E-R-E-T-T.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, Mr. Everett?
Please proceed.
You already have our letter of support, so we're just here to affirm that.
Regarding takeout food at nighttime, a lot of the local businesses now have been using the Ubers and the Lyft people,
but they're driving the Indigo bikes that the city has a connection with
because there's several dock stations nearby.
So we see the delivery people using those bikes,
which is a lot easier for them to pull up, pick up,
and get out without affecting traffic at night.
Right.
Mr. Everett, thank you.
As always, you always get us on time.
Thank you, sir.
Yeah, thank you.
Anyone else in the audience?
No further answer, Mr. Chair.
um adam would you want to comment on the uh the one half a phone call we had there i i absolutely
would because i know that uh doug jordan would take that very seriously and will be interested
in following up uh both points uh are taken to heart the difficulty of mixed uses uh particularly
in this neighborhood uh it's an issue if it's not addressed appropriately we do believe um mr
Pauli, if you can hear me, and we'll reach out to you afterwards, that the proposal to improve
the courtyard area will actually help to dampen sound, not to suggest that sound is not an issue
because it is, but will help to dampen sound. And I think that we should take a look at that
bay window area and see what we may be able to do to help to minimize the sound from that issue.
Doug Jordan definitely wants
residents and the commercial
experience to coexist well
and we're committed to that. We'll follow
up. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
No, Mr. Chair, no further hands.
Planning Commission. Amy Boyd
with the Planning Commission, AMY-BOYD.
The comprehensive plan
recommends no change in zoning
to the existing RSA-5
To the existing RSA 5 residential single family, the appellant has demonstrated that the proposed use would not cause detrimental impacts beyond what would reasonably be expected.
residential single family. The appellate
The Planning Commission recommends a board grant that requested special exception for sit-down restaurant and take-out restaurant, and sorry I misspoke, CMX 2.5.
Thank you. MI 2025-001-346-1216 Shack and Maxson Street, I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes.
Iowan, my vote is yes.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the board.
Andrea?
Thank you.
Thank you.
I appreciate it, Brian.
Sorry we kept you so long here.
I mean, I know you started out a little bit earlier.
All right, so number 10, MI 2025-001-404-913 North 6th Street.
Andrea, could you state your name, and you've already been sworn.
Good afternoon again.
Andrea Solomon, A-N-D-R-E-A-S-A-L-O-M-O-N.
I'm here on behalf of the applicant, my new home, LLC.
um do you um um do you waive the reading of the refusal agree with its accuracy i do i just want
to note for the record that since the original lni application manu home has reduced the number
of dwelling units for this property originally the application was for three units in conversation
with the architect they've reduced it to two units to provide more generous units in the
multifamily. I notice you have a support from Northern Liberties Neighbors Association for
two dwelling units and also non-opposition from Council Member Young, including there's an
application and a petition of support with four signatures. So why don't you start your
presentation? Okay, thank you. Yes, this is a PHA owned property. So Manu Home is under agreement
of sale. It will have a deed restriction and remain affordable housing. Okay. Yeah, we're
really excited about it because this is a PHA property that has been sitting vacant for quite
some time. So this will allow to bring it back into the housing stock and provide more affordable
housing units. As Chairman Bergman stated, we have support from Northern Liberty Neighbors
Association. We worked really collaboratively with them throughout this process and have their
support. Manesh Shandwani is here with me today. He's the president of Manu Home, and he also
went out and got this petition of support from many near neighbors. On the block, we have the
refusal. So Manu Home is, the mission of Manu Home is to partner with different nonprofits
throughout the city to provide a housing solution for nonprofits that have seen a critical gap in
the services they provide and really need the housing to fill and provide long-term
stability for their participants. This particular property will be coordinating with the Women's
wellness space. Their headquarters are in 915 Spring Garden. They provide mental and physical
therapy services, financial education, really provide a safe space for women that have experienced
trauma. And they've identified this housing need in their participants. Right now they have 16
woman that they've identified as in need and eligible for long-term housing uh and this is
the non-profit that manny home will be uh coordinating the the tenants with i'm partnering
with uh the property is zoned rsa 5 um however as you can see from the zoning map the block is
largely a multifamily. Actually, this property also has a history of multifamily use. It's been
a two-family, a three-family, a four-family. It has most recently been used as a single-family.
However, it's been vacant for quite some time now. This is where the property is located,
uh close to poplar street uh
a view of the exterior of the property which has been boarded up um the neighbors are quite
the neighbors are quite excited about it being habited again there have been squatters there
excited about it being habited again there has been squad
have been vermin and they're happy to see it uh re re renovated um the other side of the street
this is the interior of the property as it stands now as you can see it's an um it needs quite a bit
of repair. Hence the agreement of sale with PHA. They don't have the capacity right now to do
the renovation. This particular property is currently configured with six bedrooms,
two baths. The proposed plan is to reconfigure it for two two-bedroom units.
the trash will be stored internally and in the rear yard um we're happy to answer any questions
that you may have about the design and about the programming uh and with that we we asked for the
board's approval and granting the request the requested relief and i'll ask manash be sworn
in so he can adopt my testimony um what's in the basement there is living in the living space in
the basement for the first floor unit and some mechanical storage um there's no bedrooms uh but
it it does have the living space uh just to provide more space for the first floor unit
why don't you bring your client on sure sir could you please state your name and spell for the
stenographer.
Why don't you get closer to the mic and make sure it's on?
Manesh Chandwani.
First name is spelled M-A-N-E-S-H.
Last name C-H-A-N-D as in Delta, W-A-N-I.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Manesh, can you just state for the record your relationship to Manu Home?