And can you tell the board how close that is to the property that's the subject of this appeal?
Three houses down and the property is across the street.
And how long have you lived there?
I've lived there over 10 years. I've lived here over 10 years.
Okay. And did you attend several zoning hearings in the past for this property?
Yes, I have.
And did you provide testimony as to the problems that existed when the property was being used for automotive repair-related activities?
Yes, I did.
Can you describe to the board generally the problems that you encountered when the property was being used for automotive-related uses?
when the property was being used for automotive related uses loud noise traffic congestion on
Loud noise.
61st street oil on the sidewalk things of that nature when you say and i want to go through
these when you say loud noises can you can you describe to the board what it sounded like bang
bang clang clang when they're trying to fix the cars uh the engines and things like that that
they were trying to fix and did you hear that when the doors for the garage uh for the the garage
doors the bay doors were closed yes how frequently would you hear those types of noises
when they were in operation so a daily basis five days a week okay and you'd hear it from
your house yes i can and you mentioned odors can you describe to the board what you would smell
oil um gas things of that nature did you ever smell like burning smells like burning rubber
things like that yes i've had i have smelled burning rubber and how frequently would you
would you have smelled um odors when it was in use as a as a automotive related use
at least two to three times a week okay now were you aware of uh any type of
now there was a fire at this property miss atkins yes and aside from the fire which we could get
into but were you aware of any burning activities occurring in the backyard the back rear of the
property um not to my knowledge because the gate they have a large gate that comes down so
okay are you aware can you describe to the board when you said traffic issues what did
you mean by that can you describe it to the board cars coming in and out of those bays
61st Street traffic
if you're on
a certain side of 61st Street
you can't see
the cars
coming out of the bays
to go back into
the auto
garage
the auto yard
and did you encounter
where there would be it would be difficulty to access the sidewalk or for pedestrians given the
nature of the work yes because they always had the cars outside of the bays okay and you had
mentioned that you would you saw some type of oil do you recall saying that just moments ago yes oil
on the when they when they use these bays they the oil would be on the sidewalk where they were
fixing the cars and and doing other things to them can i just object for clarification that
we're speaking about a separate tenant prior to the current tenants coming into the property this
is all right mr katuzzi yes yeah i look i i think i think part of the problem is that
um and i'll get to this the prior use of the property is certainly relevant to what's happening
here for several reasons. First, Ms. Atkins is talking about hearing noise, bang, bang,
clank, clanks, loud noises, three houses down, even when the doors to the bay garage are closed.
My concern is, has there been, and I don't believe there has been, any evidence as to how the
property has been remediated to address those sounds? Moreover, I think that, and it will
become more apparent through Mr. Pierre's testimony, but I don't believe that cleaning up
trash and cars and rubbish and car parts that were strewn across the back of the property
makes this property clean. I think that this is a property that was subject that really needs to be
environmentally remediated before another environmentally dangerous use can be allowed
to go back on and the people of Ms. Atkins community entitled to that. Are you done with
Ms. Atkins? Ms. Atkins if you could just a few more questions for you Ms. Atkins are you involved
in your community do you have a pulse of kind of how the community feels yes and what's the view
for this project the view for this project is a lot of us have sat and and lived through the fire
and watched the owner not really try to regulate what's going on but just to sit back and say
nothing and so you know we we're fearful we're fearful of this and did you did you attend um
And did you, did you attend any community meetings related to this project?
any community meetings related to this project
Yes, I did.
Did anyone from the applicant provide you with any type of environmental studies or investigations for the property?
No, he didn't.
Did anyone describe to you any remediation efforts to remedy any type of environmental issues at the property?
No, they didn't.
Did anyone present any type of environmental control plans for the property?
you mentioned the noise did anyone provide you with any details regarding revisions to the actual
garage structure to mitigate or prevent noise from going through the the garage did anyone
convey to you any type of detailed plans for how odor would be controlled normal good okay
Okay. And Ms. Atkins, could you just tell the board, you're three doors down, how would
you describe the nature of the community? Is it residential?
It's a residential community.
Okay. And have you experienced in your community issues with other automotive-related uses?
Yes, we have.
Okay. And do you find them to be detrimental to residing in a predominantly residential
community? Yes, I do. And would you be, now you're against this automotive related use, but
would you be okay with any other type of community related use? Yes, yes, I would. Yes, I would.
Okay. And when you were at the, at that meeting, did you ask whether the proposed user of the site
had any affiliation with a company called JB Auto over at 529 Woodland Avenue? Yes, I did.
And what did you, what was told to you?
He said, I believe he said that he knew J.B. Auto.
Okay, did they say it was an umbrella or somehow related?
It was JBR, I believe he said that MK5 Auto was a company, I think, owned by JBRto.
And then did you look at the L&I website for 529 Woodland Avenue, the JBRto site?
And what did you see via the L&I website?
i saw mk5 auto
and did you see violations related to that site
i saw violations related to jb auto okay um all right miss hackins i don't have any other
questions for you unless you'd like to share anything else with the board not at this time
Mr. Consul, do you have any questions?
Ms. Atkins, at the meeting that we attended,
did you once mention the noise that the councilman's council has mentioned
several times today?
Was that something that was brought up by anybody at the committee meetings,
community meetings?
excuse me was the issue of the clang clang bang bang that you both have talked about a couple of
times brought to anyone's attention prior to this hearing right now i i can't say i don't remember
okay additionally do you recall there being a representative from the clean air council
at the community meetings who discussed mitigation of harmful odors and that sort of thing?
Do you recall that professional being at the meeting?
I recall a professional being at the meeting, but I do not remember him stating how to mitigate anything.
Okay. You don't recall the Clean Air Council folks being at the meeting?
I only asked that because part of our agreement with the community.
I said, I remember that the Clean Air Council was there, but I don't remember him offering any suggestions about mitigation.
What I do remember was him saying that you guys needed an air permit.
and do you recall him providing us with the permit application and i'll just
suggest that that led to the application being filed on his bequest and became part of our
suggest that that led to the application being filed on his bequest and became
agreement with the RCO. Do you recall that?
What I recall is that he suggested that you guys get some type of air permit because you didn't have one.
That's all I recall.
Okay. So when you said that the odors was not mentioned, that wasn't correct.
Okay. Did you visit the site visit during any of the RCO visits to the site?
No, I was not notified of any site visits.
Did you visit the Woodland site, my client's other property during the scheduled visit?
Again, I was not notified of any site visits.
Okay. I have nothing further for Ms. Atkins.
Thank you, Mr. Catuzzi. Thank you, ma'am. Mr. Catuzzi, we'll try Franz one more time. Yep.
Franz has been allowed to speak. Please unmute yourself, Franz.
Good afternoon, sir. Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Good afternoon. Can everyone hear me? We can. Wonderful, wonderful. Yes, that's Franz Pierre.
That's F-R-A-N-T-Z, last name Pierre, P-I-E-R-R-E.
Swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Yes, I do.
Please proceed, Mr. Cattuzzi.
Thank you.
All right, Franz, do you currently work for Council President Johnson?
Yes, I do.
And what's your role in his office?
Yes, I'm the zoning liaison.
And what do you do as a zoning liaison?
Yes. So as a zoning liaison, I assign RCOs, zoning appeals or zoning notifications when they come across.
I connect them with the applicant and help them through the zoning process.
And essentially, I'm the liaison between the applicant and the community.
And Council President Johnson has authorized you today to be here to convey his office's position on this application and project?
And can you tell the board what Council President's position is on the application?
Yes, absolutely. So, Mr. Chairman, fellow board members, the council member is presently in opposition to this appeal.
And can you explain why?
Yes. And the reason why is because this property is mainly a residential, well, within a residential area, and the Southwest community is particularly burdened by such auto-related businesses.
In fact, it's to the extent that our office likely intends to pursue legislation to prohibit auto shops from operating within a certain distance of residential areas.
So, this is essentially a quality of life issue, and understandably so, because folks simply just don't want to live by auto shops due to noise, chemical waste, and vehicle storage.
Thank you, Franz. Now, can you see what I put on my screen here for you?
Oh, I just put that on. Hold on here. Let me stop sharing. I put the wrong screen on technology.
All right. We'll get it right this time.
All right. Sorry, everyone.
Okay, Franz, what do you see on your screen right now?
Do you see a letter on Stradley Ronin letterhead?
Yep, and do you see it on your screen right now?
All right, so this is the July 19th letter that was submitted with our exhibits.
I want to run through a few things.
You had mentioned the community is predominantly residential.
I'm showing you exhibit one to our package.
Do you see the, does this reflect the zoning map for the community?
And the actual zone plan is predominantly residential, both in front of and behind and all around the located area?
And if we go to exhibit two, does this show an overview of the property and neighborhood?
yes it does okay and you'd agree with me again that not only is it zoned residential
but in fact there are residential row homes all surrounding this property
yes okay i'll object to that being zoned residential are you speaking about the
property itself or surrounding properties the the general contemplated surrounding properties
The general contemplated surrounding properties, Franz, they're residential, right?
fronts. They're residential, right?
And so that's the zone, but also the way it's been developed, it's in the middle of a residential neighborhood.
You'd agree with that characterization?
And you've been there and walked around the neighborhood?
And in fact, other non-residential uses that would be nearby, or there's some community gardens, a handful of churches, and a restaurant?
And you're familiar with the Philadelphia Zoning Code, Franz?
Yes, I am.
And the Zoning Code does contemplate that there's an IRMX as well as an ICMX use?
That is correct.
And the IRMX contemplates residential.
That doesn't allow any types of automotive-related uses, right?
And the ICMX prohibits paint shops, right?
That is correct.
And it prohibits the repairs of commercial vehicles, right?
In fact, none of the uses presented in this application would be permitted by right, right?
Okay. And in terms of neighboring communities, the permitted zoning uses, there is in fact a number of community-oriented commercial and retail uses permitted by the zoning code, right?
That is correct.
Like pharmacies, food stores, clothing shops, eateries, studios, businesses, medical offices, those would all be permitted, right?
That is correct.