Thank you.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair.
I'm sorry about that.
Is it number six?
uh is that 2843 west montgomery avenue yep it is we're asking for a continuance movie
moving party all right thank you so mi 2024 002 431 excuse me mr chair i'm sorry to interrupt
um i see um reverend williams has his hand raised probably related to this case okay
I just want to hear from him. Thank you.
Good afternoon, Chair and Board.
Reverend, how are you? Could you please state your name and spell for the court sonography?
Sure. My name is Reverend Tyrone Williams, Tyrone, T-Y-R-O-N-E, Williams, W-I-L-L-I-A-M-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Mr. Nackamson has just requested to continue this attorney-moving party.
Well, I can understand why he would want to continue as I was in that meeting, and it was only myself, Ms. Cummings, and Mr. Nockmson. I asked for that to be part of the record in that meeting because there was no community. There wasn't even a chance for the community to have input. It was only three of us. And as you're aware, me and Ms. Cummings do not make up Strawberry Mansion. We're part of a whole. Thank you.
Yeah, sure. Mr. Nockmson?
um i i would agree i think there was a lack of notice to the community i didn't get the
the zoom information until eight days i believe before the requested community dates um that's
why i'm asking to be moving party so we could you know present to the community have enough time
and then when we feel comfortable then we can ask the board for a new hearing thank you very much
MI 2024-002-431-2843, West Montgomery.
Cases continued, attorney moving party.
Thank you for calling in, and thank you, Reverend.
There we have Allen with their hand raised again
at Strawberry Mansion Community Center.
It's been allowed to speak.
Hello?
Okay, I just wanted to...
Ms. Cummings, just state your name.
you've already been sworn is bonita cummings yep and please can go on testify i just wanted to
indicate that the uh there was no process there was no problem with the uh mailing and or the
notification for 2843 west montgomery avenue so i just wanted to indicate that the process
is that the applicants is responsible for notification which was which was done
And the residents within 250 feet who are impacted, closely impacted, will attend upon receiving those notices.
So I just want to indicate that because I get the impression that people are trying to indicate.
I have nothing to do with the notification.
No, I don't think that.
So we need to be clear.
We need to be clear for people who are trying.
Right.
I don't think anybody.
The process. I got it. The applicant process that was done. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Okay, so we're going to go to number two. Mr. Chair, I just would like to make a point
that after several months of inquiries to Ms. Cummings and request for to schedule a community
meeting, we did not get notification of the Zoom link until I think it was eight to nine days
before the actual community meeting date.
That is insufficient time for our office.
And I think we sent the notice the following day,
but that's insufficient time for the community
to get the notices in the mail
and to be notified of the meeting.
Yeah, I hear.
You know, I think you're continuing
with turning moving parties the proper way to go.
Thank you.
Thank you.
All right. We're going to go to number two here. Let's see. Right with you.
Number two, MI 2023, 006-111, 2100 South 61st Street.
This is a resumptive hearing.
And at the same time, could Craig Maldosian come on?
Craig Maldosian, come on.
And also
And also, here it is here.
Joseph Katuzzi, who is the attorney for Council President Johnson.
They will be coming in as a panelist.
Greg Melodosian, please accept the panelist's request.
Mr. Consul, are you on?
Just state your name. You've already been sworn.
Joseph Consul.
Mr. Melodozian, are you on?
Yes, sir.
Yes, Chair Bergman.
Please state your name and spell for the court reporter.
Craig Melodosian, Craig, C-R-A-I-G, last name M-E-L-I-D-O-S-I-A-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I do, Chair Bergman.
And counsel, hold on here, Joseph Catuzzi, please.
Good afternoon, Chairman. Joseph Cattuzzi of Stradley-Rountain.
Could you spell your name just for the court reporter, please, sir?
Sure. It's C-A-T-U-Z-Z-I.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I know this is your first appearance for this case, am I correct?
That's correct.
All right. So this is a resumptive hearing. I'm going to have Mr. Consul give an update to where
he stands. I'm going to have Mr. Melodosian give an update and then go to you. And then we're going
to open it up to the public for questions relative to what we say today. Okay. Okay.
Mr. Consul, go ahead. Good afternoon, everyone. Joseph Consul here for John Lynn,
the tenant of 2100 South 61st Street. He's available should he need to be called as is
a representative of Z's Investments, who owns the property.
We're here as a follow-up to the June 5th, 2024 ZBA meeting, where we presented our case-in-chief
to the zoning board. At that time, we were finalizing our negotiations with the coordinating
RCO. And so at that time, myself and Craig Melodosian presented a request that I present
my case in chief that day because we had continued it a couple of times uh pending a an agreement
with the rco the board agreed we presented the case at that time we uh we adjourned to come to
the agreement with the rco um at that time there was no opposition presented uh between that
meeting and this meeting we finalized our agreement with the rco or or at least we had hoped that we
did. A client spent thousands of dollars cleaning up the property, removing all the junk as was
requested by the RCO, and has spent countless hours complying with the terms of the coordinating
RCO's request. However, three days ago, we thought we were on a good path. Three days ago,
we were made aware of the opposition by Kenyatta Johnson. Attorney Cattuzzi was meant to speak to
me this week about it and told me he would, but has not returned my calls or emails to speak to
me. We understand that this opposition does not come from the coordinating RCO, nor another
affected RCO, but from a citizen who appears to have a grudge against the property owner and is
conflating a ZBA application from six years ago with this application and with this tenant that
we're presenting today. This person made no attempt to speak to us, did not speak up during
the RCO process and, in fact, didn't copy us on any of the opposition and was not made aware to
myself or to the coordinating RCO until after 5 o'clock on Friday evening. And so we're hopeful
that we can demonstrate today that the reasons for opposition are antiquated in the sense that
they're relevant to a a zoning appeal that is for a completely different client
Our client and my client, the tenant, has mitigated these issues, and we don't believe that they are relevant, nor should it affect the board's vote negatively today.
and my client the tenant has mitigated
Mr. Consul, you do not have an agreement with the RCO?
We presented one. You can speak to Craig about that.
I am. I'm about to call.
Oh, yeah. Yes. Yes. Please call him because we agreed on a number of terms.
We signed the agreement and then we got the interjection from Katuzzi.
And now we're where we're at. Mr. Maldosian.
Greg. Yes, chair. Please. Could you tell us where you think we stand?
Right. In an unusual situation, to be quite candid, I serve at the discretion of counsel, in this matter, Counsel President Johnson.
My association with this project started back in approximately Q4 of 2016, where there were multiple movements of this application with different counsel and a different appellant back and forth between ZVA and Common Police Court.
And I was at that time, I use those quotations, on the same side as Counsel Cattuzzi because he was representing us in opposition to the project.
Moving forward, a new attorney and new applicant arrived on the scene.
And our consortium of RCOs in southwest Philadelphia, we always try to work with everyone and establish win-win situations.
We simultaneously are aware, as I've said this in the past, Council Member Johnson, now Council President Johnson, is assiduously committed to entertaining the position of all of his constituents as it might involve a matter before this group.
We were, we thought, working towards an agreement.
However, I learned after the close of business on Friday that apparently there was a problem with the application.
I learned that first from Mr. Consul.
I then followed up briefly with Mr. Cattuzzi, then spoke with Franz Pierre on an extended basis on Monday, trying to touch all the bases.
And then I received an email with petitions and a letter of opposition from Marlene Adkins, and that had, I assume, to the project.
Prior to receiving that, I had, and I'm saying I as a representative for the RCOs, for the new board members, we have a consortium.
we all work together. We don't have an issue where one RCO is greater or more powerful than
any other. We are collaborative in our meetings, in our decision-making process.
So yesterday morning, I received that, and that caused us to step back and to reflect upon this.
Again, we were unaware of that level of opposition, and we felt that based on our prior experience with the board and the outstanding resumes of the new members, that perhaps we would defer to the board to determine whether or not this was deserving of zoning relief.
and the degree of zoning relief to which it should be subject.
And this was confirmed, my position was confirmed by the RCOs that I could reach,
which was Ward 40, which was Empowered CDC, which was Eastwick United CDC.
I had previously had communications with Paschal Betterment League, who was opposed to it,
And I was unable to get a response back from Eastwick Community Network.
So at that point, we stepped back.
And what we did ask, which is unusual, was if zoning relief is granted, that the provisos that had been negotiated would still be applicable.
Okay. Thank you.
Mr. Catuzzi.
Where do you stand on this?
So, we, again, I represent Council President Johnson in this matter.
As Mr. Counsel alluded to, this property does have a rather contentious history with the
zoning board.
The zoning board had previously on numerous occasions entered into or
The Zoning Board had previously on numerous occasions entered into or rather entered orders
declaring the automotive use of the property be a public nuisance.
It was subject to a fire.
There had also been numerous LNI as well as fire code public safety violations for the
property.
Those violations actually have continued all the way up through August of last year.
In fact, the same fire code violations have been cited.
Councilman John Council President Johnson's office continues to view the proposed uses
as being incompatible with the zoning plans and prerogatives for the community.
There's in the testimony we have prepared today will explain why automotive related uses
are incongruent with being adjacent to residential communities. It's also incompatible and consistent
with the executive, the district plan for this community, especially some of the public health
and environmental considerations set forth in the plan. I did send attorney counsel over
the exhibits that we intend on presenting today. I did have a lengthy call with him last Friday.
It did express that there was a degree, a significant degree of consternation. I wasn't
able to return speak with him I did not receive a call from him although I did get an email but
I unfortunately been tied up with court matters the last few days but did convey that council
president I left you a voicemail okay why don't you finish Mr. Cattuzzi sure so I did convey that
council president Johnson's office is in opposition to this project and we have with me a representative
of his office. We have several exhibits and some testimony prepared to present to the board
as to the reasons why this project should not be granted.
So, Hillary, what if we let Mr. Cattuzzi make his presentation now? Is that okay?
That is fine, Mr. Chair.
Why don't you make your presentation now, Mr. Cattuzzi?
Thank you, Chairman. All right, members of the Zoning Board, again, my name is Joseph Cattuzzi.
i represent council president kenyatta johnson in this matter um i would like to briefly introduce
have with me two witnesses the first person i'd like to introduce is france pierre who's in the
audience so france have you got a raise your hands we'll get you on
we have a denise uh dennis carlisles with their hand raised
Here you go, Franz, raise your hand
There they go, they haven't allowed to speak
Franz, could you please state your name
and spell for the court stenographer
Franz, just mute yourself
it seems that they may be experiencing technical difficulties
mr katusi who's your other witness so i have a marlene atkins as well okay
do we see marlene marlene please raise your virtual hand
they have been allowed to speak marlene could you please state your name and spell for the
court sonographer. Marlene Adkins, please unmute yourself.
M-A-R-L-E-N-E-A-D-K-I-N-S. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth,
nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you. All right, Ms. Atkins, you just introduced yourself for the record. Can you tell the board where you reside?
I reside on Greenway Avenue, 6044 Greenway Avenue.