That's near 22nd and Dickerson.
This is our way on 24th and Tarasca.
There's not a lot of commercial in this area.
They thought maybe a nice nailery might be nice or dentist's office
or some type of professional office, insurance office, would be nice for the community.
But what the developer was proposing is that he's saying that he wants to rent this out
for a year, the first floor commercial,
and then, I mean, for residential,
then if he get a commercial person,
that would be, then he would do that.
But that's neither here nor there
because that does not really prove hardship
at that particular point.
And I don't, we don't necessarily agree with that
because people will move into a new commercial place
People were moving to a new commercial place more so than an established commercial place where they have to paint and fix up and everything like that.
more so than an established commercial place
where they have to go.
And we also felt that he needs to take into consideration the target population that is living in that area may not be the type of business that he is targeting.
And we requested that he work with the community to possibly look into businesses that might be conducive to the target population in that particular area.
What is the target population, Tiffany?
I'm saying more lower, moderate income in that particular area.
So, therefore, if you're targeting, you know, it depends on what type of commercial businesses are you targeting and where are you advertising.
Okay, that plays a big part in who you recruit in terms of what type of, who may be interested in moving into this type of area.
Thank you.
Okay, let me just also finish with, it is according to, if you build according to code, monkey family is prohibited.
So the fact that the community was willing to support two apartments on top, as long as he maintained the commercial, I think that the board should take that lease into consideration.
They were willing to at least work with the developer.
And in my closing, I feel at this, we feel that, let me see.
I just wanted to make, I have my notes real quick.
I know what you're going to do.
And there's no real hardship here. I mean, I think that we think that he could, you know, the property with the two apartments in the first floor commercial. He's actually getting 50-50 and working together with the community. I hope the blockhead can come on because a lot of the residents are not having a hard time with the zoning. So I hope the planning, I mean, not planning, the VBA board would take that into consideration. Thank you.
Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, can I just address that?
Sure, you can.
Yes. Ms. Green, this is Henry Clinton. How are you today?
Hi. How are you, Henry?
We had at least three community meetings concerning this project, and you participated in all those meetings, correct, and voiced the same concerns during the meetings as you did today?
Okay. And then just to point out for the board is one of the changes we made in the plan is on Tasker Street, we had steps here leading up. And because the possibility exists that maybe someday this area could be commercial, we made this facade on Tasker Street appear to be commercial because we're still a block and a half, block and three quarters from Point Breeze Avenue, which is a commercial corridor.
and there's numerous vacancies on Point Breeze Avenue now.
So it doesn't make sense at this point, and my client testified,
that it would be very difficult to get a commercial tenant in here.
If circumstances change, we have the building in an adaptable condition
to make that worthwhile.
Henry, that may be, I know you made that,
and the residents said that they did not support that.
They told you that.
And they said that because they are two and a half blocks away.
Okay, and what happens on Point Breeze Avenue stays on Point Breeze Avenue. Here is a small community area, 24th and Dickerson. Okay, there's no other commercial on the other three corners. And a nice little commercial, you know, business in there would be great. And that's what they told you. Okay, now whether you want to accept it, that's what it was. Okay, and then you want to say that you will rent out as an apartment first, but hey, you could do a three-year apartment lease, two-year, you know, and then, you know, or prolong it.
They're saying, no, they would like to have the commercial, if the ZBA wants to approve, approve with the first floor commercial with the two apartments.
You're getting the two apartments that you want.
You're getting the multifamily that your client wanted, okay?
Because, like I said, multifamily is prohibited, according to the code.
All my point is that these concerns were raised, and we have a letter of support.
So that's what I would present to the board, is that we have a letter of support from the RCO.
So these opposition from Ms. Green, and I respect her opinion.
She's very well informed, but her opinion didn't carry the day.
And we're going to ask for approval for three residential units with one page revised.
And with that, I rest.
What we're asking for is, she has petitions.
That's why the block captain wants to come on.
We're asking ZBA if not to hold off and review the petitions.
She has those two, three pages of petitions.
of the block captain. She showed me the petitions and the community did not support it.
That's all I want to say. And you're right. It's my opinion,
not my opinion, our RCO opinion, but she has the petitions
and the residents speak for themselves. It's not me, it's the residents.
Okay, thank you. Do we have any other hands?
Yes, Chair, we have Pietra Gamble.
We allow her to speak. Please.
hello could you please state your name and spell it for the court reporter
Could you please state your name and spell it for the court reporter?
Petra Gamble
Petra Gamble, first name P as in Peter, IE, T as in Tom, R, A, last name Gamble, G as in game, A, M as in man, B as in boy, L, E.
Thank you. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Go ahead, ma'am.
I am a member of the PBCDC, the coordinating RCO for this project.
As Mr. Clinton stated, we had several meetings for this project. The community members were
allowed to come out and speak. We had some problems with the voting, but they were fixed,
and everybody who had a problem with the vote, we encouraged them to reach out to us so their
vote was counted. We counted votes that had problems, and the community spoke for it.
I just want to say we support it.
okay thank you very much you're welcome sorry i'm having a connection problems
okay thank you any other hands up
no sir that is all okay planning commission
hi mr chair and members of the board this is mason austin speaking for the planning commission
property is designated for commercial mixed use and comprehensive plan and its zoning
that matches that designation. Whereas only one unit plus up to additional commercial space is
permitted in the zoning district, the proposal is significantly in excess of this, even after the
reduction to three units. If the applicant earned the mixed income housing bonus for providing an
affordable unit on site, these three units would be permitted by right. But as is, there is no
demonstrated hardship that would require the overuse of this property. Consequently, staff of
planning commission recommend against the granting of the requested variance mr chairman yes i'd like
to request that we hold this case for discussion and our board i was just going to mention that
thank you i'm going to hold this case for discussion next wednesday at our executive session
thank you mr chairman okay chair this is sharon if we could announce you could announce that the
record is otherwise closed closed oh yes records closed and we'll talk about it next week
and have a decision
i don't agree with that i want to put that on the record but that's what we'll do
thank you thank you
Okay. MI 2021 003531, 2001 South 10th Street. No RCO letter. Attorney, Jared Kline.
Mr. Kline will be rejoining as a panelist, sir.
Mr. Kline, could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please?
certainly uh good good afternoon mr chair members of the board it's jared klein j-a-r-e-d
last name is k-l-e-i-n from blank rome 130 north 18th street philadelphia 19103
you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do the vice chair
will have several questions for you sir hi hi mr klein do you agree to waive the reading of the
refusal and stipulate to its accuracy yes i do have you emailed the exhibit packet with the
required documents proof of ownership tax compliance refusal 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 yes to all the above i heard the chair mentioned the board does not have a
copy of the letter but it was provided to me earlier this morning and i'll have a copy to
share my uh exhibit packet thank you okay great you may proceed thank you uh just confirming that
everyone can see my screen. Yes. Okay, great. Thank you. So yeah, as I said, I'm here for 2001
South 10th Street, which is a mixed zone property that's had a history of commercial use.
And the use that we're seeking is a restaurant use on the ground floor. The refusal that we
received because the property is dual zoned RSA 5 and CMX 1 and the portion of the property that's
owned residential is the larger portion. It's being evaluated under the residential district
controls and for that reason we received a refusal. Property does have a history of commercial use.
You can see this is the property certificate that we obtained that as of December 14, 2020
there was a retail variety store with accessory sale of packaged goods and the zoning archives
And the zoning archives further show the Variety Store going back to September of 1990 as a pre-code use despite the residential zoning.
further show the variety store going back to September.
And this is, again, the 1990 zoning application showing a Variety Store with residential apartments above.
The site is located here, the corner of 10th and McKean Street.
To orient the board, here's an aerial photo of where the property is located.
And these are some photos of the property from both faces.
This is off the 10th Street frontage, this is off the McKean frontage.
McKean Street looking both directions.
And then we have some photos of the zoning posters that were put at the site.
See they're located here.
um we um provided a floor plan for demonstrative purposes to show the intended layout of the space
uh this is uh what the area for the restaurant would look like there's going to be dry storage
employee lockers trash stored in the basement with bilko doors to allow egress for the trash
and the actual dining area will be located here there's a counter that will have some seating
some tables we're showing tables outside uh with the understanding that we will have to apply for
a sidewalk uh cafe license and go through the appropriate uh approval process there
and the kitchen area is located here and extends through the back the the property itself is
currently in an l-shaped uh so we're using this space as sort of back of the house
um we met with uh the east pass young crossing civic association uh and their uh letter of
support uh is on the screen here the vote was 15 to 1 uh in support of the zoning variance
um and they were uh generally excited about having this use uh come come to their neighborhood the
The style of the restaurant is going to have a lot of gluten-free and vegan offerings,
and it'll be a little bit different than your normal sort of coffee shop or small dynet experience.
It's going to offer some more sophisticated takes on the vegan and gluten-free options.
With that, I'd like to ask my client to raise his hand.
Dan, if Dan, if you can raise your hand and wait to be unmuted.
Do we see Dan Rubin?
Mr. Rubin, you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Okay, I'm here.
Can you state your name and spell it for the court reporter?
Sure. Daniel Rubin, D-A-N-I-E-L-R-U-B-I-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
okay thank you uh dan did you have a chance to hear my presentation this afternoon
yep and did you adopt my statements as true correct and your own if you've been given the
chance to testify yes i do thank you very much uh mr chair that concludes our presentation
mr rubin is here if the board has any questions as specific to the operations of the of the
restaurant. Questions for the board? No, Mr. Chairman. No. No. Anybody in the virtual audience
have questions or make a comment? No hands, Chair. Planning Commission. Mr. Chair and members of the
board, this is Mason Austin representing the Planning Commission. The property is split zoned
between single-family residential and commercial mixed use, and the comprehensive plan does not
recommend any changes to those estimations. While there is no significant hardship, impact will be
minimal, and given the support of the RCO, staff of the planning commission have no objection to
the request of variance. MI-2021-003531-2001 South 10th Street, I vote yes. Carol Tenere, my vote is yes.
confessor plaza my vote is yes james snell my vote is yes
now miss harlem my vote is yes thank you all very much thank you your afternoon
okay mi 2021 003534 219 r street rco old city district letter of support councilman
school of letter and non-opposition.
Mr. Nockeson is the
attorney.
here we have clementa amazon from mr nackamson's office who's coming forward as a panelist
Here we have
Clementa.
good afternoon hi please please state your name and spell it for the court reporter
of course 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. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth? Yes, I do. The Vice Chair will have a couple of questions for you. Hi, good afternoon. Do you
agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? It is actually a
referral, but yes, I do. Okay. Have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents
consisting of proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal referral, plans, and photos of the
property five days in advance of this hearing. And have you met with the RCO? And do you have
a letter? Yes, I do have a letter of support. Okay, you may proceed. Thank you. So again,
my name is Clemente Amazon. Today, I will be representing Boblin Wiersinski from 217-219
Art Street. If I may, I'm just going to start sharing my screen. Can everyone see my screen?
Yes. Yes. Perfect. And welcome Chairman, it's nice to meet you virtually. Sure, thank you.
So first I will go through the table of contents which includes our notice of referral,
the letter of support that we received from Old City District, maps of the area,
photographs of the lot, our proposed plans and drawings, the notice that we sent out
for the community meeting, as well as a deed, the application for special exception, and the
certificate of tax clearance. So again, our notice of referral, the property is zoned as CMX 3,
so we're looking to do two things. First, we're seeking the relocation of a lot line to create
one lot from the two lots, so we're just looking to create 219 Arch Street between 217 and 219
Art Street, our second point that we're trying to do here is we are looking to create a takeout
restaurant. In actuality, my client is looking to create a cafe here. So my client is actually
a food engineer or food chemist, and he wants to create a cafe that would focus on clean label
foods, organic foods, so they wouldn't include any pesticides, MSGs, or herbicides. So no cooking