additional time is going to do in this case. Thank you. Sharon, should we even be hearing this?
Certainly they've had the RCO meeting. No, there is a zoning refusal, but it doesn't relate to the
fire escape. Yes, there is a request for a height refusal, and we're happy to obviously speak to
the merits of that and present that today, but the RCO is telling us it's a non-starter to include
a fire escape to the rear which you know obviously we have no control over of and
we can't control whether that's required or not by the building code. I think we'll go
forward with the case at least to get some of this testimony. All right we'll go forward with
the case. Appreciate it thank you. Any other requests for continuances or withdrawals?
no more hands at this time chair thank you uh
cheryl we begin with number two okay sure calendar number 0554 1203 pine street
the owners are mark coleman and ronald emmerich there are also no exhibits and it's the first
listing. Did we get any exhibits? Is Mr. Coleman or Mr. Emrick available? No hands chair. I have
no record of having received exhibits. Okay. MI 2021-000554 1203 Pine Street is continued.
calendar number 0630 137 south 58th street the attorney is alan knockamson
The attorney is Alan Nockamson.
Stop it.
Ms. Clemente is coming in as a panelist now.
Hi, Ms. Clemente.
Can you put your name and address on the record, please, and spell your last name?
Of course.
Good afternoon, Madam Vice Chair and members of the board.
My name is Clementa Amazon, C-L-E-M-E-N-T-A.
Last name is A-M-A-Z-A-N.
Address is 123 South Broad Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia PA, 19109.
Thank you.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance a copy of the refusal or
referral photos and 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 and we have two letters of support thank you you may
proceed thank you may i share my screen sure you may we like screens well i hope you also like
this project. Okay. Can everyone see my screen? Yes. Perfect. So again, my name is Clemence
Amazon. Today I'll be presenting 137 South 58th Street, and this property is owned by
the consortium. They've owned this property for well over two decades now, and this is
a project that I am particularly proud of. So they are looking to create a satellite
office for their children's outpatient program. So the consortium has provided and pioneering
behavioral health services. And at this particular building, they are looking to
provide children behavioral services for children in between ages 5 to 18. The children receive
individual and group therapy at the level of care that's most appropriate to meet their needs.
Family therapy will also be provided. And there will be several other programs for enhanced
services for children between that age group. So during my presentation I will go through the deed,
tax clearance, the notice of refusal, our application for appeal, map of the area,
photographs of the property, our plans and drawings, as well as the letters of support
that we did receive from West Philadelphia Economic Development Council, as well as a
letter of non-opposition from Cobbs Creek Neighbors. So here we have the deed indicating that the
property is in fact owned by my client, the consortium, our tax clearance, and the refusal.
So the only refusal that we have here is for the use as a group practitioner. The property is
zoned as RM1. As I mentioned, they are looking to create a satellite office to provide children's
behavioral services. And they've owned this property for two decades. They've been in the
property for the duration of that time. Previously, they were leasing it to another facility, but
are looking to use the full structure to provide the children behavioral health services.
Here we have the application for appeal, the refusal, our project's information form,
the map of the area. So as you can see, we are on the corner of Walnut and South 58th Street.
Google map of the area and photographs of the property. Here is a view of the front of the
property. As you can see, we have an ADA ramp. There is also parking that you will see from
satellite view. Here's a view to the right from South 58th Street, a view of the front of the
property dating back to 2007, indicating that this use has been in the property for some time now.
A view to the right of the property, a view to the left of the property from South 58th Street,
view to the right from Walnut Street, view to the left from Walnut Street. The aerial view,
as you can see, we do have substantial parking here, and the children will be provided a band
service. So this isn't something that will be, excuse me, densely populated or a lot of in and
out because there will be a dance service for the children. And we have the plans and drawings.
Give me one moment. Sorry about that. So here we have the entrance. There will be several offices
as well as an open space and a stage area as well. And then there will be further open space
in the lower level for different activities for the children to engage in. And here we have the
upper level which will be used for staff offices. Most of the staff do work on site, so they will
not be typically in this particular area all that often. And we have our letters from Cobbs Creek
neighbors indicating that they do not oppose this project, as well as our letter from West
this project as well as our letter from west philadelphia economic development council
Philadelphia Economic Development Council.
indicating that they do support the project
here we have the notice that we sent out to the community regarding our april 5th community
meeting we included the zoom information as well as the meeting id and passcode
as well as the zba hearing information as well as the refusal 136 properties were notified
a list of the properties that were notified, and our certificate of mailing.
So with that, if I could have my client adopt my testimony, I believe it's John White.
We just need to raise his hand.
And sir, when you're acknowledged, just please, pardon me, identify yourself with the record,
spell your full name.
And I'll swear you in.
Mr. White, you can unmute yourself.
John White, President and CEO of the Consortium.
What's your last name?
W-H-I-T-E.
We're of a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Thank you. Mr. White, did you hear my presentation today?
Yes, I did.
And was it true and accurate?
Yes, it was.
and would you adopt it as your own testimony yes i would thank you very much mr way any questions
from the board no no no would anyone else like to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
yes chair
any hands up yes a Kyle Sampson
hello good afternoon sir please identify yourself with the record first and last name
spell your last name. Kyle Sampson, S-A-M-P-S-O-N. Do you swear and affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth? I do. I'm president of the West Philadelphia Economic
Development Council, which is an RCO. We participated in the coordinating RCO's hearing.
We strongly support this. This project is a great project for the community. I live a half a block
from it and i hope that you will approve it thank you thank you for your testimony anyone else would
like to testify in this case yes chair we have uh mr goodman mr goodman you can unmute yourself
good afternoon mr goodman i don't know if you were on this morning but please identify yourself for
the record and i'll swear you in good afternoon andrew goodman g-o-o-d-m-a-n here representing
the office of council member jamie gaudier third district room 586 city hall
or firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i do thank you sir thank you
mr chair members of the board council member gaudier also supports the variants being requested
at this address this afternoon very much anyone else no more hands here thank you planning
Commission. Good afternoon, David Fecteau, F-E-C-T-E-A-U with the City Planning Commission.
You on this morning? No, sir, I was not. Okay, so do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes, sir, I do. Thank you, please proceed. Thank you, sir.
Mr. Chairman, members of the board, the comprehensive plan recommends this property
for residential multifamily use. The proposed group practitioner will serve the health needs
of a vulnerable population, we recommend that the board grant the requested variance.
Thank you. MI 2021-000630. 137 South 58th Street. My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
Calendar number is...
Excuse me, Madam Chair, if I could interrupt, we've had a request that the next case called be 2100 South 64th Street, because the applicant's attorney, Ms. Basilio, is going to lose two of her witnesses in 10 minutes.
I don't know whether there will be enough time in any case to get them on, but she is requesting.
Unless she puts her witnesses on first, because we have no idea how long it'll take.
Okay, let's go. We'll go to that case. Calendar number 1584, 2100 South 61st Street.
Jennifer.
Jennifer, can you put your name and address on the record, please?
Hold on one second. Yes, Jennifer Bazidlo, B-A-Z-Y-D-L-O, 4500 Worth Street, Suite D202,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19124. I would also ask that attorney Mark Schaefer be promoted to
panelist as well. He's my co-counsel on this case and all of our witnesses are in his office right
now okay do you swear oh i'm sorry okay just go ahead sharon oh just before you begin this i just
wanted to point out that this is a remand from the court of common pleas according to the um order
the court's order it is quote being remanded for the specific purpose of allowing petitioners
witnesses to testify to establish a complete record that's it thank you jennifer do you swear
are a firm to tell the whole truth and nothing about the truth? Yes. Do you also agree to waive
the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? Yes. Have you emailed an exhibit packet
with proof of ownership? No, I don't have to do that, right? Strike that.
Okay, is your other, is the other attorney on? He is in another office, Mark Schaefer. If he cannot,
he's a little bit older. If he cannot, Mark, if you can raise your hand or if someone can promote
him otherwise i'll run over and raise his hand for him jennifer is it under joseph katuzzi
no that's that's opposing counsel mark schaefer should also be s-h-a-f-f-e-r
um excuse me this is sharon if we could also promote mr katuzzi he's representing councilman
johnson um who is an opponent and who was a participant in the common police court action
Mr. Schaefer. Yes. Can you put your name and address on the record please and spell your last
name? Mark Schaefer, S-C-H-A-F-F-E-R, Suite 2000, 1500 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19102.
Thank you. Do you swear for him to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes. Thank you. Who's next, Jennifer?
Jennifer. So Sharon, I don't know if you had wanted to read the procedural history
into the record. I think you were saying that you were going to do that at the beginning
of this case. Jennifer, I'm not sure it's necessary. I did go through the entire procedural
record with the board this morning. They understand that this is the second remand, that it was
originally remanded for the board to consider the issue of whether the use was a nuisance.
the court the court agreed that it is a non-conforming use um so it was then another
hearing was held to determine if it was a nuisance it was appealed the court court the board rather
found that it was a nuisance it was um again remanded to the board in order for your witnesses
to testify on that issue great so um so i just have three witnesses that i would like to present
today. I'm going to call the first one who I know has to go pick up his kit in like 10 minutes.
So our first witness is Oren Cox. Mark, can you put Oren on the screen?
Yes, Oren. Yes. Take my seat.
Right here.
Hello, this is Oren Cox speaking. Move around so they can see you.
That's fine. He's good. Oren, can you spell your first and last name and then also give us your
address? It's O-R-I-N-C-O-X. My address is 2101 64th Street, Philadelphia, PA, zip code 19142.
Oren, do you swear for him to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, ma'am. Great. So, Oren, you have lived at this property for how long? When did you move
into your home 2004 okay and that's located directly across from the former auto um business
at 2100 south 61st street correct correct mom yeah great and you were there when the business
was operating correct yes mom okay um and would you categorize that business as a nuisance business
No, mom, it's just, you know, it was a successful business because you say I'll put everyone on the block, you understand, so I'm finding no problem with it.
And so you don't think it was detrimental to the community, right?
No, no, no, uh-uh.
And again, you lived right across the street, so you saw what was happening every day, correct?
And again, you lived right across the street, so you saw what was happening every day, correct?
Yeah, just basic, you know, basic, normal routine work and those things, you know.
Okay, and so you would support this business reopening, correct?
Yes, because I used to get more care done then, so it's like, you know.
All right, that's all I needed from you, Oren. Thank you so much.
All right, my thanks.
Hold on, Mike.
Excuse me, this is Sharon Saleta.
We should ask Mr. Cattuzzi if he would like to cross-examine the witness.
One other thing, I should mention that the entire record from the prior hearings is incorporated.
Cattuzzi?
He has devices.
devices promote both both are on the screen now and Mr. Mr. Coutuzzi which device are you using
for audio you can unmute that one and keep can you hear me now yeah okay my apologies I
Hello, everyone. I hope everyone could see me. Joe Cattuzzi, on behalf of Councilman Kenyatta Johnson. It's a pleasure to be here with you today.
Mr. Cattuzzi, before you begin, please spell your last name for the record.
Yes, it is C-A-T, as in cat, U-Z as in zebra, Z as in zebra, I.
Tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you. Please proceed.
Oren, I'm sorry, can you just confirm your address again for the board?
My name is Oren Cox. It's O-R-N-C-O-X. My address is 21-01-64th Street, Philadelphia.
Is that 61st or 64th? 61st?
64th, right.
61, okay.
Zif Code, 19142.
Okay, and that's 61st Street?
Yes, sir.