why don't we have the the real estate manager to come on again at dr testing absolutely let's do
that. Leslie, would you please raise your hand? Hi, Leslie. Hi. You've already been sworn. Just
for the record, state your name. Leslie Hollins. Right. Proceed, counsel. Leslie, did you hear
what I said regarding 13 Homes Opportunity LLC today? I did, yes. And would you agree with
everything that I said about this project? Yes. And would you adopt the testimony that I gave
today as your own? I do, yes. Thank you, Leslie. Questions from the board? No, Chair. No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
yes chairs we have charles richardson they've been allowed to speak hi mr richardson just
state your name for the record you've already been sworn charles richardson of councilwoman
cindy bass from 508 city hall councilman no objection to granting the variance thank you
for calling in uh planning commission thank you chair bergman sarah bond philadelphia city planning
commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change the existing residential single-family
zoning however the proposed use is consistent with documented prior use of this property
the city planning commission recommends that the board that the zoning board grant the variance
MI 2023-000-550-1321-Wingahokken Street, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, I vote yes.
Ishmael Shaheem, I vote yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you very much.
Number four, MI-2022-006-900-9100-Frankford Avenue.
Clementa Amazon is the attorney for this.
Clementa has been promoted to panelists.
There's recommendation of support from the Upper Holmesburg Civic Association.
good afternoon could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer
of course my name is clemente amazon spelled c-l-e-m-e-n-t-a last name is a-m-a-z-a-n
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes i do could you identify your client the relationship to this property
Of course. My client is the member of the owner of the property, and it should be Deepak. I believe he's on here now.
What's the name of the person?
Deepak, D-E-E-P-A-K.
And our vice chair has just a few questions.
Of course.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Good morning, counsel.
Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal?
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed
and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, I have.
Thank you.
Please proceed and share the screen.
Thank you.
I'll just go into full screen here.
And can everyone see my screen?
We can.
All right, perfect.
So again, my name is Clemente Amazon, and I will be presenting 9100 Frankfort Avenue.
Within my presentation, I will go through the amended zoning refusal.
I also have a copy of the original refusal, our application for appeal, photos of the property,
the survey, the proposed site plan, as well as the landscaping plan, elevations. We did meet with the
community on May 22nd, and we do have a letter of support, an email indicating support. We did not
receive the formal letter. We did include that within our presentation materials that we submitted
on Friday, as well as the tax clearance and the deed showing that my client does, in fact, own the
property. So with that, we have the first refusal, our original refusal will come later. So
So for this particular property, it is an existing gas station.
What we are looking to do here is to add two pumps as well as a car wash.
Unfortunately, my client is competing with the Wawa across the street, and it is deeply impacting his business.
He's a small business owner.
So in an effort to gain more traction and to get a little bit more business, he's looking to add the car wash onto the property.
I do stipulate to the accuracy of the refusal.
However, I will say that the refusals that we received tend to view the property as a parking lot, which it is not.
It is a gas station, and we're looking to also add on a car wash.
As such, we do have several landscaping refusals that are included here, as well as stacking lanes and a rear yard.
So as you will see in my presentation, we do have landscaping within the property.
there is also significant greenery that is creating a buffer in between the residential
zoning. We're attached to an RSA 2 district. The property is zoned CMX 2. So we are not negatively
impacting that residential district in any way. As a matter of fact, it's also a commercial property
that you will see in my presentation as well. So we do also have screening. So that addresses the
first two refusals as you'll see in the presentation for the greenery and excuse me
interior landscaping was not feasible just because this is a gas station as well as a car wash so
it wouldn't be feasible or safe really to provide interior landscaping so exhibit two is our
original refusal we did revise or we did reach out and realize that some of the refusals were
not properly included within our initial refusal. Our application for appeal.
And here's a view of the pumps. We are currently renovating to allow for multiple pump distribution,
meaning we are going into the sub tanks to see if we can have one pump, as you can see here,
to allow for multiple types of gas to be pumped at any time.
and we did post the property showing that the zba hearing would be today at 9 30
with the information of the property owner oneness enterprises llc deepak verna is a member of said
llc and there is a mini mark that's located on the property we don't have any intention
to change that use in any way all we're looking to do here is to add the car wash
additional photos of the property a zoning map as i mentioned we are zoned cmx2 and we
abut a residential zoning however along four corner property as well along frankfurt and
academy road and this is the residential district that we have this refusal for and this is our
property right here as you can see there is quite a bit of landscaping as is we do have trees that
are in between the two lots and this property is currently being used as an event space and they
have a parking lot that is pretty much abutting the car property so we're not negatively impacting
the property that's adjacent to us or to the rear excuse me so we don't believe that the refusals
that we have really reflect the character of the neighborhood as it is currently
and here's just a zoomed in view showing the event space which is tucked into the rear of
the property here at the parking lot and there is a lawn in between and you saw the greenery in
between the two lots as well additional views of the property along frankfurt avenue and
additional views of the property along frankfurt avenue and this is the wawa across the street
again we are looking to compete because they tend to have a bit more foot traffic everybody
does love wawa but we're hoping that we can get a little bit more attention with the addition of
the car wash and here we have the plans i will go through those in a bit more detail in the following
slide so here we have the plans there are curb cuts that currently exist on the property along
frankfurt avenue so we would have our attendees attend excuse me enter through frankfurt avenue
along this curb cut and they can then wrap around and there is parking that's available for
individuals that will be going into the mini mart there's also the parking parking that is available
we will have two employees one employee for the mini mart as well as an employee to direct the
flow of traffic as needed and signage to allow everyone to know which way they can enter as well
as exit there is ingress and egress along academy road as well and these are the two gasoline pumps
that we are looking to add and here we have a view of the landscaping we do have trees that will be
and they are in compliance with the requirements for a parking lot although again this is a gas
station we do have landscaping along frankfurt avenue as well as academy road but we don't have
any interior landscaping as it is a gas station so it would not be appropriate or safe for the
particular use that we are proposing and this is just another map showing the landscaping that we
are looking to include along frankfurt avenue and here are the elevations just showing the way that
the cars would be able to enter into the car wash this is going to be a quick wash we don't
anticipate that cars will take more than a couple minutes to go through the wash at a time
and when there is oil that or excuse me gasoline that needs to be delivered they would enter along
frankfurt avenue and wrap around to access the sub pumps
and this is a notice that we sent to the community on april 6 regarding the community meeting that
is scheduled for april 20th a copy of the refusals that we provided at the time that we sent notice
that we had not yet obtained the amended refusal however we did include it during our presentation
to the board as well as the community, a list of the properties that were notified of the community
meeting, our certificate of mailing. And as I mentioned, we did not receive a formal letter.
However, Dan, who is the head of the Upper Homesburg Civic Association, did send us an email
indicating that there was unanimous support from the RCO board and 19 votes in favor from meeting
attendees and only four in opposition. So we did receive overwhelming support for this particular
project. And our tax clearance certificate showing that no fines are due or real estate taxes
are due along the property, as well as indeed showing that my client does in fact own the
property. So with that, I'd be happy to answer any questions that the board may have.
You want to bring your client on, please, and adopt your testimony?
Of course. Deepak, if you're on, if you could just raise your hand so that you may adopt my
testimony. Chair, Deepak Verma has been unmuted. Sir, could you state your name and spell it for
the court stenographer? My name is Deepak Verma, last name V-E-R-M-A. Do you swear or affirm to
tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? I do. Proceed, counsel. Deepak, did you
hear my presentation today yes and was it true and correct yes and would you adopt it as your
own testimony yes thank you questions from the board no mr chair no chair questions or comments
from the virtual audience here i see no hands planning commission
thank you chair bergman sarah bond philadelphia city planning commission in 2018 the zoning map
was amended to commercial mixed use at this location in accord with recommendations from
the comprehensive plan the appellant has not supported their hardship claim with evidence
of unique physical circumstances or conditions of the property the planning commission recommends
that the zoning board deny the variance thank you council you want to respond i would just say
that we cannot provide interior landscaping the refusals that we received were as a result of the
property being viewed as a parking lot we do have significant landscaping in between our property
and the commercial property to the rear it is not a residentially used property so a lot of the
reviews that we have don't reflect the current character of the neighborhood nor the use that
we're proposing which is a gas station as well as a car wash not a parking lot um am i
as well as a car wash, not a parking lot.
MI 2022-006-900-9100-FRANKFORD-AVENUE, I vote yes with proviso.
Her amended refusal dated 4-10-23.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
Number six, MI-2022-006-541-2400, Carl Street.
Leo Movahill is the attorney.
Letter of non-opposition from Council Member Lozada.
Letter of support from the East Kensington Neighborhood Association.
Chair, the person with the last name, Movahill, has been promoted to panelists.
Thank you.
Good morning, sir. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Certainly. It is Leo, L-E-O, last name Mulvihill, M as in Michael, U-L-V as in Victor, I-H-I-L-L.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client, the relationship to this property?
Yes, my client is H-K-T, as in Tom, Enterprise, L-L-C.
They are the owner of the property, and I have Chantel, who is one of the members of the LLC, on the line with us today.
And our vice chair has just a few questions.
Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to weigh the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
so my screen should currently be sharing members of the board so this is property at 2400 coral
street it's at the intersection of coral and east york in the east kensington neighborhood of
philadelphia it's a three-story structure on the ground story was a cafe uh the second story is
the story that we're going to be talking about today and the third story is a long-term rental
now my client at this property had been using this as a short-term rental legislation changed
now we're seeking to legalize a short-term rental it's a two-bedroom unit it runs just
under market rates in the area my clients really dedicated to providing a safe space for people who
wish to come travel to philadelphia i have a nice place to stay in the middle of a really wonderful
neighborhood and that's why we're here today the hardship specifically is that the legislation
changed under my client my client's property is zoned cmx1 but with the support of the neighborhood
which was 20 to 1 in support, if I recall, we would ask your support today as well, members of the board.
This is a copy of our refusal. We did receive a refusal for visitor accommodation being prohibited in the CMX1 district.
At page 2 of my presentation packet is my client's application for appeal.
Page 4 is my client's project information form.
This is an area zoning map, members of the board. I'm going to zoom in first to the upper map from Philadelphia Atlas. My client's property is being indicated by my cursor right now, the CMX1 property in red, again at the intersection of Coral Street and East York Street.
Generally speaking, it's RSA5 properties. There are some other commercial mixed use, some RM1, some industrial properties in the area as well, which are mainly a holdover from the area's industrial past.
At the bottom of this page, members of the board, is a screenshot from Google Maps showing,
just generally speaking, the layout of the streets themselves.
So, copy my client's deed to page 9.
At page 15 of my packet, members of the board, this is the letter that was sent out June 7,
2023, notifying all the community members of the community meeting for this property.
This is the letter of support from East Kensington Neighbors Association. It's dated 621. We just received it yesterday and I got it into Ms. Emerson just in time.
But as you can see, members of the board indicating with my cursor towards the middle of the page, we did have 20 members voting in support, one in opposition, one in non-opposition.
my client's commercial activity license members of the board tax clearance
then we have photos of the property as well so this is just the photos of the short-term
visitor accommodation members of the board it is a two-bedroom unit one of the bedrooms has
two smaller beds the other has a larger bed so this is the smaller bedroom with the two beds
This is the dining area and hallway, bathroom.