okay all right thank you sorry about that michael i'm not sure but my mic my vote is yes with
But my, my vote is yes with proviso.
provisal.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Phoebe?
No, she can't.
Okay. All right. One more minute. I'll get back to our original list.
Okay. So, sorry to interrupt, Chair. We'll have to have that entire statement interpreted by the interpreter, please.
okay yeah interpret we have one more for the interpreter am I correct
the interpreter has to interpret what we did okay go ahead
do we want to do it again interpreter did you hear the part of my interruption and prefer
did you hear the proceedings um beginning from when you were sworn in we need to have
that interpreted to Spanish for the record thank you
Interpreter.
Interpreter.
ian interpreter your microphone is muted are you able to hear us and respond to us
so why don't why don't i finish our um add-ons here and then we can go back we can thank you
very much. So MI 2026-003-150, 101 to 23 South 52nd Street. The vote on this has been moved to
Wednesday, November 18th at 2 p.m. Number two, MI 2026-003-576, 101 to 23 South 52nd Street.
The vote on this matter has been moved to Wednesday, November 18th at 2 p.m.
number so number three MI 2026 003 405 7601 to 51 Lindbergh Boulevard I vote yes with with
proviso temporary variance that expires October 15th 2031 oh I'm sorry Mr. Chairman I think it
has to be a special exception sorry all right um so special exception for 7601 to 51
lindbergh bolvardo temporary special exception that will expire uh october 15th 2031.
uh mike michael johns my vote is yes for temporary um please provide some
So I need to say it again.
You can just say proviso, right?
Oh, with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Taneta Graham, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Layla Beebe, my vote is yes, with proviso.
So number four, we need a Spanish interpreter.
Mr. Vaccaro, MI-2026-002-112-4058 West Gerrard Avenue.
Mr. Vaccaro.
mr vaccaro you are allowed to speak thank you good afternoon hi mr vaccaro could you please
state and spell your name for the stenographer good afternoon may it please the board joseph
vaccaro j-o-s-e-p-h vaccaro v-a-c-c-a-r-o attorney for the applicant all right do you swear or firm
to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i do mr vaccaro is this client
need an interpreter um he could use one uh let's see let's see it ian hi chair this is ian hegarty
ian hi chair this is ian hegarty the interpreter seems to have dropped off the line we're trying
the interpreter seems to have
to get them back in okay so why don't we go on and come back to this all right just i won't
leave you hanging long okay okay that's not a problem where i could also make my presentation
if we can't get him back all right thank you thank you number five mi 2026 003 679 16 snyder avenue
So, Ronald Patterson is the attorney.
Mr. Patterson, could you please state and spell your name for the stenographer?
Good afternoon, Ronald Patterson, P-A-T-T-E-R-S-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Mr. Patterson, could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
I represent the owner and a developer of the property, which is 16 Snyder LLC.
I see a letter of support from Whitman Square, Whitman Council Incorporated, and our vice chair has a few questions.
Good afternoon.
Have you submitted your documents and exhibits 14 days in advance of this hearing?
I have.
And do you waive the reading? No, your refusals and stipulate to their accuracy.
I waive the reading. I think there's a slight mistake. It says we need eight variances. I think we need seven, but I'll explain it.
Thank you. You can share your screen and proceed with the case.
Thank you.
So, contextually, this application regards 16 Snyder Avenue. It's a 6.1 acre site, as you see here.
It's bordered by Snyder Avenue, Swanson Street, Wekiko Avenue, and Wolf Street.
It's located between the Snyder Plaza shopping centers, the Home Depot, the Ikea.
To the right here is the river.
As you go further south along Swanson, you'll run past the 2300 Club and IATSE and the Bowen Alley.
and everything else that's being developed along that street which kate and i know that the streets
department is is doing a city plan action to actually make the street more consistent
widening it to 100 feet consistently through from snyder down to oregon avenue it's actually
across the street from the advanced auto application i was here about a month ago which
was right here uh and right next to it is john's pork so there's a good um
milestone right there uh for some more photographs
uh this is the way it looked a few years ago it was the former intellects facility
that was in operation i don't know maybe 80 years it was a brick building and manufactured
chemicals there the building was sold to our client who underwent demolition and cleanup
of the property to create a shopping center it also went through legislation with city council
the zoning district was changed from i2 to icmx that fit within the character and context of
the surrounding large shopping centers that are there here's some again some older older pictures
uh here's what it looks like now um completely demolished here's uh the john's pork over here
just a vast property this is a view from across the street you see target to the left acme to the
right i think you get the idea um so what we're here today for uh is for um some freestanding
signs we we the property was we have a zoning permit for the property was issued as a matter
of right we have buildings that are going to be occupied by retail and commercial tenants which
we'll go through in a minute. And so what we're here today for are three freestanding
signs and I'll get to the site plan here okay so you can acclimated here's Snyder Avenue
John's Roast Pork, Swanson Street below. The three red squares are where we're proposing the
The three red squares are where we're proposing these sub-pylon signs, and what we're proposing
are two monument type signs, the second and the third one, and one freestanding pole sign.
the three standing signs will identify the shopping center because of the large property
surrounding it identify the tenants and promote traffic safety to locate and navigate to the
shopping center the the monument signs have tenant panels as you see the proposed height is 32 feet
six inches and the sign area total with all the tenant panels and the shopping center
ID at the top is 284 square feet.
Referral was issued because the signs exceed the allowable 100 square feet per sign and
a 20-foot maximum height.
The second sign, which is the one to the left, is a freestanding pulse sign.
The height is 40 feet, and the proposed area is 100 square feet, which complies with the code.
Again, two refusals.
We have two refusals for each sign, for sign area, one on each side.
Each sign face exceeds the allowable 100 square feet, and a second refusal for sign height, which applies to all three.
So with that said, I'll have Kate now help me testify.
okay could you please state and spell your name for the stenographer good afternoon
katherine weiss k-a-t-h-e-r-i-n-e weiss w-e-i-s-s do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do counsel
okay we're back okay kate uh tell me uh who you work with sure i'm uh i'm with
dynamic engineering i'm a principal and branch manager of our philadelphia office
located right here in center city at 1515 market street and you've heard my presentation would you
agree it's true and accurate yes and you would adopt as if it were your own yes and you're
familiar with these plans obviously you prepare them correct uh and could you briefly review the
nature and type of the tenants that are proposed here sure um so overall as ron mentioned it's
about a six acre site um you know a unique opportunity here in philadelphia um to develop
more retail use you know fairly consistent with the area that it's in um there are a couple takeout
restaurants that are proposed so drive-through takeout restaurants a bank a mattress store
an advanced auto and the anchor tenant is a grocer and on this uh site plan where i have the three
squares uh this first one that i'm pointing to and the one at the bottom they're the two monument
type signs correct so they're the monument signs with the overall shopping center identification
and panels for each of the tenants they're really those locations are very important as
you know for those of you who are I actually I live in South Philadelphia I'm not too far from
here I drive by this site every week multiple times but for those familiar with this area
majority of the traffic here goes along Snyder Avenue and so about I'd say 80 to 90 percent of
all trips to this proposed shopping center are anticipated to come through the entrances at
wekiko avenue and along swanson um so those are the two primary entrances that are expected to be
used um you know by people coming to the center okay the the the length of the front is between
snyder and uh wolf street is about 850 feet that's correct okay and the third sign here up in the back
in the back the freestanding pulse sign and why is that a little higher than the other ones that
are proposed it's slightly higher it's got a 40 foot height most of the building heights vary
between 20 25 to 30 plus feet and so in order for that rear tenant to be visible from the street
it's important that the sign be slightly higher than the building heights um as i mentioned you
know a majority of the traffic is going to be coming from snyder so along the entrances at
wekiko and swanson swanson and so a very limited number of trips will come from wolf and so
you know for people to be able to safely get to um and know where that tenant is located where
the anchor is located it's important for that sign to be that height so generally in this area would
it's important for that sign to be that height so generally in this area would you say these signs
you say these
worth are within the character and context of the other signs in this area in terms of height and
size say the size you know throughout the shopping centers that run that you brought up when you
drive along i-95 corridor you see the pole signs that pop up to be able to identify so that you
know you can get off the columbus boulevard exit and also driving through that area the ikea sign
the target signage you know all of that signage is fairly comparable would you say the signs
actually promote public and traffic safety yes just by helping people to identify where the
stores are that they want to visit it's important that the signage is there and would you say that
the hardship exists in placing a small and lower signs at this 6.2 acre lot because of the street
frontages and and the visibility corridors yes just based on the sheer size of the lot and the
distance between where the cars are going to be accessing the site from you know the primary
corridors having signage that's limited to 20 feet it'll be it won't be visible so you would
conclude then that the sign area and heights would create no adverse impacts on the public
health safety welfare and traffic and probably on the other hand enhance public safety and traffic
correct correct okay um we did meet with uh the whitman council and i don't know if you have their
letter but i'll show it to you i think they they sent it earlier this week and they support the
bearances okay done that's all I have questions on the board did you want your do you have your
client to adopt your testimony oh she did oh I thought she was just an engineer well she's
adopted my testimony yeah are you a member of the well not all of it had to do with related
to the ownership it had to do with the plans that i was describing but it's if you're objecting to
it then i don't need to have her adopted okay because usually you have to have your adopted
by your your client who is 16 schneider llc so it's new to me okay um can we okay can we see
where these signs are again I mean I sure had the red little boxes but you also had pictures yeah sure
because I think I know where this is but yeah
So is Snyder where the IHOP is?
Yes, across the street.
Across the street.
not too far from Delaware Avenue Mike right here it is there's your IHOP
yeah it's kind of back up yeah yeah I know yeah okay so then you're gonna have
uh okay oh all right okay I see what you mean
all right all right um thank you
Okay, so that we can vote on this and move on it, as an officer of the court, you can testify to your client that's not here, am I correct?
That's correct.
Is that all right?
That's correct.
But just so you know, counsel, I mean, we've been practicing this for quite a while that you have to have testimony adopted by your client.
Understood.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands here.
planning commission good afternoon liz fuselay on behalf of the philadelphia city planning commission
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth is nothing but the truth i do sir
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the icmx industrial commercial mixed use zoning
at this location the appellant has not shown any hardship that would keep it from complying from
code requirements the city planning commission recommends the board deny the proposed variance
for signage all right so m m i 20 26 003 679 16 snyder avenue i vote yes michael johns my vote is
yes gerald gaster my vote is yes tennetta graham my vote is yes thank you layla beebe my vote is yes
thank you leila beebe my vote is yes okay parents tya i just wanted to let you know i'm back oh
oh sure sure come on i i'm glad to meet you what's your name where do you go to school
okay you know great oh yeah it's a great school great school right yeah
um and um you you are with a great lawyer by the way you know and cheryl knows him pretty well here
all right thank you all right so we'll go to nine does that sound right yes that's right
chair still no interpreter we'll let you know that's okay all right thank you we've got david
here. MI 2026-003-736-2119-St. Albans. David Orphanides.
This is on the other one, right? Yes, it's on the list.
is this the same block from the movie
you remember the movie the little boy said i see i'll tell you the truth it's right it's right
very close to it yeah i can't remember the block and they haven't made a movie about her yet but
we'll see. I would
tell you, that is right
near there, right, where they made the movie?
Was it 20th?
It's a beautiful block.
Yeah, it is. David?