by the planning commission as the coordinating rco for this property uh you can see here the
email from the planning commission from april 14th uh i reached out to them made many attempts
i looped in the planning commission i looped in the councilman's office um other than one phone
email about when our hearing was we weren't able to get anything scheduled with them
The councilman's office then redirected us, had the Upper Homesburg Civic Association then assigned as the community, as the coordinating RCO for this project.
the councilman's office then redirected us had the
And here you can see their email from July 13th, where it was switched over to UHCA.
And again, we did meet with them.
And here's a copy of our notice on July 25th.
It went out to the list of addresses that you see here at tab 20A of our exhibit book.
So they are, I think they're generally fine with the proposed tenant of my clients.
The concern is, as I understand it, is what happens if zoning runs with the land and what happens if this church moves on to another location and the property is vacant, then they have a church that's approved, not knowing what is going to be going in there.
And so they had originally requested a 36-month, three-year temporary, our leases for 38 months, and then taking into account time to get the space fit out, get an interior renovated, get a certificate of occupancy, they agreed to a four-year temporary for this variance, and my client was willing to accept that.
And that temporary is what, again, what's cited in both UHCA's letter of non-opposition and Councilman Driscoll.
Again, the notice of refusal, which is a tab three, as I stated, it confirms that the property is zone CA1 and that the proposed use religious assembly is not permitted.
Here's an aerial image of our property.
There are, when it was used as a bank, in addition to the drive-thru, there were 16 accessory parking spaces associated and permitted for that use.
Fortunately for us, the religious assembly use, based upon the square footage requirements set forth in the zoning code, requires for the amount of square footage that we have, which is just over 4,000 interior, that we have 16.
accessory parking spaces. So this property was perfectly suited from that standpoint when it
comes to the zoning code's parking requirements for our use. But you can see here's a small
strip retail. This is zoned. You'll see in a second right here, the property, that property
over here is zone CA2. But our property and then the Burger King next to us are zone CA1.
You'll see across the street from us, here's a zoom in.
You have a bunch of, a line, a bunch, a line of one-story commercial operations, which, again, are more in keeping with CMX2, which is what those properties are zoned, which we think this fits in with.
I have a copy, that zoning map is at tab five, tab six.
It's a copy of the zoning archives for the property, which, again, show the financial institution previously permitted use in the parking spaces.
Exterior photos of the property are tab seven interior looks like a bank presently, a tab eight.
The proposed floor plans you can see here are at tab nine.
There is a ground floor, then a partial cellar.
And you can see the layout.
The main part of the church where the congregation will worship is at the ground floor.
Then there's a break room, mechanicals, bathrooms below.
Here are photos of their existing operations up on Grand Avenue right here.
Small building.
You can see the interior.
They've outgrown the space, and they need more space.
Tab 13 is the marking materials that were distributed to my client's network of regional brokers.
Our zoning permit application is at tab 14.
Our appeal at tab 15.
The hearing notice for today's hearing at tab 16.
Our photographs of the posting of the notice and the notice of refusal at tab 17.
Tab 18 is a copy of the deeds.
There's a bit of an ownership history here, which is all – I think I've reviewed much of that with the zoning board's attorney.
The current deeds show CIRA – it goes from CIRA, Inc. to CIRA Company.
Then CIRA Company, just to say, it's made its transition through name changes and whatnot to the current owner of the property, which is Pazelle Partnership 2, LLC.
seek. We've also included a copy of the lease that my client has with it, the International
Central Gospel Church, which shows for 38 months. Our tax clearance, even though our tax clearance
calls Pozell Partnership, we did run it with Pozell Partnership 2 LLC. And for some reason,
And for some reason, it shows the same clearance as whether it's as Pozell Partnership, but we did enter the current entity and they came up with the certificate.
it shows the same clearance as whether it's as Pozell Partnership.
And then again, our 14-303 notice.
At the present operations, my clients have a Bible study at 7 p.m. on Wednesdays, prayer meetings Mondays through Fridays from 5 to 6, and then the Sunday worship is from 10 to 12 Sunday morning.
They have about 50 people that come on average.
There's no drug counseling as part of their operations, as part of their present church, and none are proposed.
And again, my client is willing to accept the four-year temporary as a condition for the granting of the variance.
I have a question.
I want to bring your client on, Mr. Orphanidis.
Yes, Pastor Richard, who could jump on.
if you can raise your hand pastor richard they've been allowed to speak okay sir could
you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer uh my name is richard nyamedi
last name is spelled n-y-a-m-e-d-i right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i do proceed counsel um pastor richard um and you you
are the tenant um the proposed tenant for the uh for the space correct yes please okay and and did
you hear the statements that i made today regarding your existing operations and your proposed
operations um at the subject property 9218 frankfurt avenue yes please and and were the
statements that i made true and correct to the best of your knowledge
absolutely correct yes and would you adopt those statements as your own
yes i do okay thank you and then i okay i have my client actually for bozel if you'd like to
have him adopt my statements represented from gazelle partnership to llc um statements if
you'd like no i think we're fine questions from the board no chair no chair questions or comments
from the virtual audience mr chair there's a mark morrison with their hand raised i have
allowed them to speak at this time okay hi could you state your name please and spell for the
stenographer. Can you hear me now? Yes, please. Could you state your name and spell for the
stenographer? Yes, Mark Morrison, M-A-R-K-M-O-R-R-I-S-O-N. Do you swear or affirm to tell
truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do are you a neighbor no i am a member of a
the neighboring rco in this house all right proceed uh i attended the first zoom meeting
for this property with uh mr david or fennies and uh the main issue seemed to be uh parking which
is a always a concern. There's commercial businesses across the street. And as a member
of the RCO that is directly across the street, we only found out because we do a survey of
the zoning hearings that have come upon us. We were not named by the councilman as a RCO
for this matter. So we were not privileged to the information that was presented. What I found
from attending the first Zoom meeting, there were 22 people that participated in that meeting.
And when I looked at the vote from the Upper Holmesburg Civic Association,
there only looked like there were eight people that voted on it.
Could you pull that up, please?
What's that?
The vote from the letter of non-opposition from Upper Holmesburg.
Okay, so I see, what is that?
Six or eight people that voted.
Okay, thank you.
I did not attend that meeting. I was not aware of it at the time. Otherwise, I would have participated. My main concern, as always, is parking issues because it has a tendency to block the traffic corridor there for all the commercial businesses that are on.
block the traffic corridor there for all the commercial businesses that are on the other side.
The four-year proviso, I would support at this point, just for the fact to see if the parking
issues actually do get worse. We appreciate you taking the time to call us in, and we will
take what you said into consideration. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
no further hands mr chair planning commission thank you chair bergman and good afternoon
david effecto with the city planning commission mr chairman and board members the comprehensive
plan recommends no change to the commercial area zoning of this location there is no unique physical
condition or circumstance of this property that would prevent it from being used in conformance
with the zoning code the city planning commission recommends the board deny the proposed use
variance for religious assembly mi 2023 002 233 92 18 frankfort avenue i vote yes for a temporary
variance to expire 9-1-27 thomas hallman my vote is yes with proviso jane snow my vote is yes with
proviso? Ishmael Shahi, my vote is yes, with proviso. Thank you. Thank you, counsel. Thank you.
Number five, MI-2023-003-253-3025 John F. Kennedy Boulevard. Meredith Ferliger is the
attorney. There is a letter of support from the Palnton Village Civic Association.
Council Member Gauthier has taken a position of support.
good afternoon mr chairman i could you state your name please and spell for the court sonographer
sure meredith ferliger f-e-r-l-e-g-e-r with delworth paxton 1500 market street suite 3500 e
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
I do. Could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
Sure. My client today is Brandywine 3025 JFK LP. That entity is a ground lessee under a ground
lease with Drexel University, which is evidenced by the Memorandum of Ground Leasing Your Packet
at Exhibit 3. And Brandywine is represented here today by Paul Committo, who is the Senior
Vice President of Development. Our Vice Chair has just a few questions.
good afternoon council do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his
accuracy i do have you emailed in all of the required documents and exhibits that are needed
to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing yes i did thank you please proceed
and share your screen thank you uh hopefully you can see my screen right now great before the board
today is a proposal for a freestanding monument sign that will identify the newly constructed
project at 3025 John F. Kennedy Boulevard. This project is the first tower to be built
as a part of the transformational Schuylkill Yards endeavor in West Philadelphia.
At tab 9, you'll note that the property at 3025 JFK Boulevard is zoned CMX 5. Although
slightly outdated, the aerial images at tab 10 show general site context. The property is directly
south of the Amtrak rail lines and just west of 30th Street Station. For a more current view,
the board can refer to photographs at exhibit 17. The first view that I have up on the screen here
shows the nearly complete tower that sits just to the west of the overhead CSX rail line.
This exciting project, often referred to as the West Tower, will include 326 dwelling units,
office and life science space, and retail space. For reference, the last zoning permit on file
is included in the exhibits at tab 13. The board might recall that we sought relief back in 2021
for a minor modification to the parking layout for this building.
The next photo is oriented to face 30th Street Station out in the distance,
where the board will see the adjoining High Line.
Now, in addition to identifying the West Tower itself,
the sign we will present today is also intended to identify the High Line Park,
which is a 7,500-square-foot pocket park,
which is next to the West Tower, generally in this area you can see on your screen.
which is next to the west tower, generally in this area you can see on your screen,
and will also be partially beneath the High Line. I'll move briefly through the rest of
the photos to give the board additional site context. So again, this is just facing JFK
towards 30th Street Station. And as I flip through the photographs, please take note of the overall
scale of the new building as well as the general view obstructions caused by these High Line
columns. So again, this is just facing the new building on JFK Boulevard. And you can see a
couple different views here. This one in the bottom right here is from across JFK Boulevard.
And just a few more. At tab five and six, the board will find plans reflecting details of the
proposed freestanding sign. The monument sign is proposed to be built in the landscaped area
to the right of the tower. If I flip back to the photos for context, the sign will be built
just left of center of the first planting bed, which is shown here up on the screen. So just
generally in this corner, the north corner up here where I'm pointing to.
as shown on the site plan the sign will be roughly 19.8 feet from the east property line
and seven feet from the front property line now please note that the sign location has
changed slightly from the original application to lni as it has shifted slightly northwest of
its original location the sign will be lit via external lights at the base of the sign
The overall sign area, which I will bring up to show you, is 84.7 square feet, which has been
reduced from the original application, which included 94.2 square feet. The proposed sign
will be 16 feet high, which is also a reduction from the original proposal at 17 feet high.
Most importantly, at tab eight, you will see some renderings here of the new sign in context to the surrounding area.
And I'll just flip through these so that you can get a sense of the scale of this sign in relation to the adjoining building as well as the adjoining rail line.
And this is just from where roughly Highline Park will be located.
now regarding the refusal as evidenced at tab one only one refusal was issued for this proposed sign
i've included section 149041 of the zoning code at tab 12. that section of the code limits a
freestanding sign to an overall height of 10 feet as i mentioned previously the proposed sign is six
feet higher than allowed for a total height of 16 feet. The applicant submits to a hardship to
the board today as a result of this property's unique conditions, chiefly its location directly
adjacent to the CSX High Line, which makes designing and locating visible signage challenging.
Now, if I briefly turn back to the photographs, this first photograph clearly reflects the
challenging site conditions that are created by this very large highline column that blocks
visibility as you travel west on JFK Boulevard. This condition is further accentuated by JFK
Boulevard itself, which is 100 feet wide. Now, as a result, the additional six feet in height will
ensure that the sign maintains a prominent presence to adequately direct visitors, residents,
and other patrons not only to the west tower but also to the newly built park which is partially
beneath the high line we also submit that this variance request is the least minimum variance
only a modest increase in height uh height is proposed and the scale of the sign is appropriate
given the mass of the over 400 foot high building for comparison sake i've included another similar
freestanding sign in the packet at Exhibit 14, which shows the freestanding sign that is next
to the FMC tower that's located just a few blocks away from this. That sign is nearly 20 feet high,
so the board can see that the mass of these high-rises often warrants a modest increase
in the base freestanding sign height. The proposed signage will not increase congestion and will serve
to appropriately direct visitors, particularly park visitors, to their destination.
No harm will come to you.
No harm will come to the neighbors as this project is surrounded exclusively by other commercial properties, most that are a part of the Schuylkill Yards project itself.
We are my silly.
There are no residences within a thousand feet, and the sign is only visible from JFK Boulevard.
A full legal analysis, as always, is provided in the Memorandum of Law I've submitted to the board at Exhibit 11.
With respect to the community, Powhatan Village Civic Association's letter of support is in the packet at Exhibit 16, where they did note that the scale of the sign was appropriate, given the surrounding building.
And at this time, I would ask if Paul Committo is in the audience, if you can hit the raise hand button to join us.
They've been about to speak.
Sir, could you state your name, please, and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, Paul Commito, P-A-U-L-C-O-M-M-I-T-O.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Paul, just some housekeeping.
Could you just state your position with Brandywine, please?
I'm Senior Vice President of Development.
And you're Senior Vice President of Development of Brandywine Realty Trust, which is affiliated with the ground lessee entity Brandywine 3025 JFK LP, correct?
That's correct.
Thank you. And you've heard all of the testimony and evidence that I've offered before the board today?
I have.
And would you agree that that testimony was true and accurate, and would you adopt it as if it were your own?