as your own?
I do. All right. What would you like to add?
I do. All right. What would you like to add?
Just that
Just that what we started talking about earlier, these two properties we purchased about four or five years ago, they had a lot of debt on them.
But, um,
They had back taxes. I don't think anybody's paid taxes on them since the late 80s.
So we got that caught up and we finally ironed out a lot of the water bills, the gas bill.
So we got the administrative aspects of it taken care of so we can now proceed with developing it.
As it happens, the cost of developing it now has significantly increased because of the increased cost in lumber.
We just finished rehabbing 4262 Parkside, which is very similar in size.
We put seven units in there by right because that's an RM1.
it was you know halfway up the block from this from this property um the the historical windows
in the front are tremendously expensive tremendously expensive um they're bowed
and each one of those bowed windows is about fifteen thousand dollars uh they're all custom
made and they take months to to order in so you know we we we're not doing anything to the outside
of the building other than restoring it to where it is uh the fire tower in the back we're adding
an additional story to be able to access the roof from it we're going to match the brick to
what is there before to kind of have it continue um with with the historic look of the project um
and uh after meeting with the historic commission we decided to uh make the catwalk um open as
opposed to having it enclosed and you know they approved that on their consent agenda last week
i believe so we're excited to bring some life back into this uh two properties that are one
of the few that are left that are still in this kind of condition after decades of of uh one
disrepair and two of other developers and organizations that have brought life back to
the the rest of the block thank you with that we rest what was that mr council all right so with
that we rest thank you questions from the board no no
frank did you mute yourself i don't know am i yeah can you hear me now we can sir
all right planning commission sorry about that
good afternoon david fecto city planning commission mr chairman members of the board
the comprehensive plan recommends this property for residential single family use
There is documented history of six units in the property dating back to 1939.
We recommend approval of six units, not eight.
I'm sorry, Chair.
Did we reach out to the community yet?
I'm going to do that.
I think earlier we had a Mr. Harris, if I'm not mistaken.
They were opposed to the continuance.
We said we would go forward.
and I believe we said we would do a resumption based on any community letters.
I think that's what I said earlier, but is Mr. Harris still there?
Yes, I'm still here. Thank you.
All right. So you're still under oath from earlier. Please proceed.
Thank you very much.
The community was asking for a continuance because the meeting ended abruptly
due to technological issues that were beyond my control.
actually within the developer's hands, he was the host at the time. The community at that time
was having a very good discussion. Nobody was in support of the project, as the attorney just
stated, and there were only two people that were not opposed. So there were some that were opposed,
some that were not opposed, because I've tried to survey them since. But we think that the
community needs a chance to really weigh in on this in a valuable way as the code dictates.
But even beyond that, this block, and I own two properties on this block, have one just like this property.
There are single-family homes on this block, and people are living in them.
I'm going to be moving back in my large one like this soon.
So it's not abnormal to have single families on this block.
Now, this developer, the one in question, has developed eight properties on this one block in the last few years.
Now, we're not against development.
Everybody likes development, but he's doubled the population, doubled the parking, doubled the problems, and then the trash and the transitional population that tends to come with apartment rentals is changing the quality of life that we have grown up to enjoy over the last 30 years.
Most of the residents are in their 70s, and life is quickly changing to one that we don't even recognize anymore.
Most of the residents are in their 70s, and life is quickly changing to one that we don't even remember.
So when we look at the density issue, when we look at the size, it's our hope that it could be held to six units, not eight.
But again, I like the community to weigh in on this, and so I think that's why a continuance is appropriate at this point.
How much time would you need for the community?
When do you think the early couple of weeks?
Yeah, a few weeks, June, whatever.
Tanya, could we do the June 2nd the same as we did the other case, resumption, strictly related to letters from the RCO?
Yes, no testimony, just a letter written to the record.
And yes, we can do it on June the 23rd.
June 23rd at 2 p.m.?
Correct.
Chair, can we revise that slightly to allow a letter from the Councilwoman as well, since she did request a continuance to?
Sure. Okay. All right. So on MI 2021-001-0004204 Parkside Avenue and MI 2021-000999-4206 Parkside Avenue,
There will be a resumption hearing on June the 23rd at 2 p.m.
That will be specific to letters from the RCO and the Councilwoman's office.
No further testimony.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Calendar number.
Excuse me.
Madam Chairwoman
this is the court reporter
may I have just a few minutes
yeah we have two cases
what time is it now
why don't we take a break
take 10 minutes we'll be back in 10 minutes
alright thank you sir
thank you
so we'll be back at
10.00 right
I'm ready to go
number 9 on our list
jeffrey young right mi 2021-000 984 433 west gerard avenue can i just do a quick check um
bill are we recording yes we are recording thank you very kindly thank you the attorneys jeffrey
young. Mr. young has been promoted to panelists. Thank you.
hi mr young good afternoon members of the board um can you can you put your name and address on
the record please and spell your last name yes jeffrey young y-o-u-n-g 3900 fort road suite b
philadelphia pa 19131 thank you do you swear from the tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
uh it is a referral but yes i'll waive the referral sure i'm sorry have you emailed the
exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance refusal or referral photos under
plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing and have you met with the rco
and do you have a letter? Plans have been submitted. We have met with the RCO and unfortunately the
RCO gave us a draft letter. She has not submitted the complete letter but I do have a copy of that
draft. Okay thank you. The exhibits were a bit late. They were. Members of the board good afternoon
again. My name is Jeffrey Young. I'm here representing the owner of Marley Sweet
Toop LLC located at 433 Girard Avenue. In my exhibit pack, excuse me, fax clearance at page
3. The code section giving us referrals at page 4. Refusal at page 5. Application for special
exception on page six, project information sheet page seven, zoning map, floor plans, pictures
are page 12, 13, and 14. Historic zoning permits from this property are page 22. Restaurant menu
on page 29. Numerable vacation letters on page 31. Proof of a million on page 33. And I also
have a copy of the draft from the RCO draft letter. Again, here's our tax certificate.
uh from the rco draft letter um again here's our tax certificate um here is the overlay which our
property falls under um here's our refusal uh we are receiving our referral um our application is
for an ice cream parlor on the first floor of an existing single family residence uh the property
is zoned cmx2 uh which uh commercial uses are um um a lot um here's our application for uh zoning
a project information sheet uh forum rather um here's our zoning map as you can see the commercial
properties on cmx2 um in in the south kensington northern liberties uh neighborhood um here are is
a current floor plan of the property um this is the front here um uh it's by level first floor
and second floor um with the we'll have seating uh area here in the back um and also on in the
basement level, there will be room for a few seats, excuse me, as well as an area for private
events in the rear here. Here is a picture. We are actually behind this tree. In front of us,
this is Gerrard Avenue, which is, you know, one of the business commercial strips in the city.
There's a picture of a front door with the notices.
here is the interior of the property is the former artist's loft so it's very creatively
designed and we're going to utilize the space for again an ice cream restaurant here is pictures of
the of the rear of the first floor this is the basement use and again back here will be an area
for private seating for private kids ice cream parties and this is a different view from from
that angle. As you see here, there is, excuse me, as I keep going, there is egress to the front
from that basement. This door here leads to steps that take you directly to Gerard Avenue.
Here are just historical zoning permits for the property. It's always been used
as a commercial space. At one time, it was a bacon variety store. It was a law office.
again a store once again and as I go down it was a candy store at one time as well
so there's always some type of commercial use on this first store with residential use above
here's our menu you know we are going to have a different menu than a traditional ice cream store
and again we're going to be more of a restaurant catering to folks sitting in our establishment
and enjoying their treats.
Here's a copy of our RCO letter sent out to the neighbors.
We met with the Old Kensington Neighborhood Association.
Here's our proof of mailing.
And here's a draft letter from Okina.
Again, Ms. Moss has not sent out a official letter.
All I have is a draft, but it was supported at the community meeting.
Here's also another draft that was sent to me here, totaling what the votes were.
There were no opposition to our proposed use at the community meeting.
And also for the board's reference, here is the commercial lease for the space.
Okay, thank you. Do you have your client? Do you wish to bring your client on?
Can you hear me? Can anyone hear me?
I can.
I hear you.
All right.
Jeffrey, can you hear us? I think he's disconnected.
we'll give him a minute if not we'll move to the next case we have to mr young
still has his screen up
mr young can you hear us
it looks like he tried to go out to come back in cheer yeah give him a minute
Thank you.
all right maybe uh we'll move to the next case and come back
okay it's calendar number zero nine five four five hundred north 18th street the attorney is
joseph consul still under oath just identify yourself for the record please
good afternoon again joe console how you doing t-o-n-s-o-l-e console madison l-l-p
one west third street suite 204 media pennsylvania do you agree to weigh the reading of refusal and
stipulate to its accuracy i do have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax
compliance refusal or referral photos under plans of the property five days in advance of this
hearing and have you met with the rco and do you have a letter i have and i do yes thank you you
may proceed hello everyone joe consul here again here on 500 north 18th street here with the uh
the tenant uh which is national avc llc doing business as thrive affordable vet care thrive
is represented by I'll have one of them speak just to verify my testimony although I don't
think much past that will be necessary. Just to read these into the record we've got our exhibits
our refusal our RCO letters our photos and plans and other required documents lease
as well as tax clearances and that sort of thing.
So who is Thrive?
Briefly, they have 111.
It's the Thrive Affordable Vet Care.
They have 111 locations over 15 states.
Typically, Senator Cleneau, 25% are standalone locations.
Joe, excuse it.
You faded out.
You said typically, and then we lost you.
Am I in now?
yes okay typically they're partnered with petco however about a quarter of their properties are
standalone properties such as this property on spring garden they are going to be a pet care
facility with a vet clinic operating from 8 a.m to 6 p.m with no overnight stays 99 of the animals
served are cats and dogs occasionally your more exotic pet your bird etc there's no additional
services offered here outside of medical treatment, surgery, and pharmacy sales at this location.
This is zoned RMX1 for animal services being prohibited in this district. So we're here
seeking a variance to use the property as a vet clinic. To give you an idea, we are replacing
the Golden Chopsticks restaurant with Thrive Affordable Vet Care. We met with the Spring
Garden Civic Association, received their full support and the support of individual neighbors.
As they wrote in their letter, we negotiated and everyone signed a community benefits agreement
that's Thrive, that's the RCO and the landlord, ensuring we'll be good neighbors. There was a
very useful dialogue talking about important points on both sides. Germain to this meeting
is the fact that we got their full support and we don't anticipate any opposition. And I believe
if they've made it this long, the RCO is also here to attest to that. And with that,
because it's five o'clock I will
open this up to
my client if they're available if they'd like
to testify
who's your client