storage as accessory use at the deli with that i would like to have my client dan mcveigh adopt
my testimony
dan you out there yes i could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
he's coming in now okay
dan mcveigh you're allowed to speak yes sorry sir could you please state your name and spell
it for the stenographer yes it's daniel c mcveigh d-a-n-i-e-l c as in charles mcveigh m-c-v-e-y
you swear or affirm that tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
Yes, I do.
Counsel?
Dan, did you hear all of the testimony and see all of the exhibits that I presented to the board?
Yes, I did.
And you are a member of Triple Deuce Real Estate LLC?
Yes, I am.
And was all of my testimony and all of the exhibits, were those all true and accurate to the best of your knowledge?
Yes, they were.
And would you adopt all of my testimony as though you had given it yourself?
Thank you.
and i guess just for the record what's the cross street it's hartel and what and burham avenue thank
you um i would uh turn it over to the board for any questions on the board
did you do any upgrades to the garage in terms of insulation or did you just take out the door
and replace the the door just replace that that front entry there there is some insulation on
that front wall where the existing garage was garage door okay because I know you mentioned
non-perishables and other dry goods but a lot of those still want to be in like you said room
temperature but a lot of garages in the summer are above room temperature just because of the
weather and global warming yeah we also that's why we installed some windows that let some air
you know move around in there not to create moisture moisture issue okay all the questions
questions smart attorney hillary emerson not at this time mr chair questions or comments from
the virtual audience there are no hands planning commission any board with the planning commission
Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission. The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the RSA3 Residential Single Family Zoning at this location.
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsc
This property has a prior approval for first floor food and beverage and grocery sales with a second floor dwelling unit.
The proposal is to convert an accessory structure to be an accessory to grocery sales.
This is a corner property with on-street parking available and the 15-foot-wide sidewalk on Borougham Avenue side of the property.
The proposed use will endure the use of adjoining properties. The planning commission recommends that the board grant the proposed use variances for no parking. All right. Thank you very much. Um, council, this case will be closed and we will vote on this once we receive, uh, the tax.
Am I correct? Thank you very much, uh, Mr. Chair. Yes, we should. Hold on. Hold on. Our, our council was, when you thank me, you let her talk before you say thanks.
um no so so we'll give this um we'll give this a date about 30 days out um uh september 16th
um at 9 30. we don't have hearings on the 9th otherwise we would do it okay so 9 16 at 9 30.
great um and we are diligently working to get that tax clearance certificate so that should
be in before then like not a problem thank you all right thank you board okay number
number 11. mi 2026 000 986 6139 ridge avenue eric carroll is the attorney
Eric Carroll has been promoted
good morning Mr. Rearman hi good morning uh council could you please state your name and
spell for the sonographer Eric Carroll E-R-I-C C-A-R-R-O-L-O right do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth truth i do would you identify your
client in relationship to this property yes um the applicant is moniquetta coats she's actually
the contractor for the commercial lessee shawana custis okay and there you have letters of support
from central roxburgh civic association also a letter of strong support from roxburgh cdc
our vice chair has a few questions good morning have you submitted your documents and exhibits
five days in advance of this hearing I have and this is a referral so do you waive the reading
of the referral and stipulate to its accuracy I do all right thank you you can share your screen
to proceed with your case. Thank you. Okay. As I mentioned, my client is Shawana Custis.
She leases the first floor commercial space at 6139 Ridge Avenue. That is in the Roxborough
neighborhood at the corner of Ridge Avenue and DuPont Street. First floor is about 1,500 square
feet. The history of that first floor space is exactly what Ms. Custis wants to do just with
the new business. It's been used as an event space in the past. Showers, graduations, networking
events. It's not a, you know, open daily restaurant or bar, something to rent out for
private uses. The building is zoned CMX2, and to have the assembly and entertainment use,
we got a referral from L&I, and we're required to obtain a special exception, which is what
brings us here today. This is a photo of the first floor of the building. This is from the
corner of Ridge and DuPont. You can see above it, there are two rental units. Along Ridge,
the the property's a little bit narrow but it stretches back pretty far in dupont um the lap
miss cussis's lounge will be called the level one lounge this is a photo of the front door on the
ridge you can see the the zba notice is posted right there uh this is the view from dupont
street same thing on the window the notice is posted further down the dupont street block same
thing uh this is the interior of the property uh you can see it looks like a space for for
showers and graduations celebrations private meetings
uh the the you know the clients can fit it out any way they they want
uh the the you know the clients can fit it out any way they they want the max occupancy is is 50.
uh this is the bathroom and then this is a view from along dupont street to the right you'll see
that reddish orange fence that's actually the rear of the property so as far as trash storage goes
uh the lounge kitchen is in the back you can exit through the back and trash storage
will be outside in the rear enclosed by that fence this is from the inside of that fence
you can see and that that door leads out to to ridge avenue i'm sorry to dupont street
uh these are the plans um sorry let me just so in the left corner which is the top left of this
photo that's actually the front door at ridge and dupont street when you walk in the door um
there's that open space so the pictures we saw earlier you know depending on the the event the
tables will be and chairs will be set up differently um there's no liquor license
here this is this is not that kind of establishment um you know beer and wine can be brought in for
certain events moving so you're on this you would be walking north or east along dupont street as
you go down this photo bathroom and then a lounge in the back and then the kitchen and then again
at the bottom this would lead to the rear trash area. My clients met with the Central Rocksboro
Civic Association back in June. 49 people were present. There was unanimous support. A couple
concerns that the rco raised uh vehicles not even temporarily parked for deliveries or pickups at
the corner of dupont as this impede septa bus turns my clients will direct any any delivery
vendors to to deliver along bridge avenue trash will be retained in the dumpster as i pointed out
where um takeout food terrace will require a separate permit not granted with this application
again this is more of an event space than than any kind of takeout restaurant so that's not an
issue here but at the end the um the rco does support the appeal i also included in my uh
exhibits that i submitted last week the commercial lease agreement between the building owner
and my client shawana custis the tax clearance certificate was included uh project information
form and and the application uh one thing important to note as i said this this space
has been used for the exact use we're trying to do this is a use permit from a prior tenant dating
back to 2017 this had just lapsed and that's my client now had to reapply for it so again we're
not changing any use here the neighborhood supports it there's ample there's parking
along ridge the whole ridge avenue corner is commercial and then you go back to dupont there's
actually a private paid parking lot it's not run by ppa but it's run by park of america uh halfway
down the block that probably has about 100 100 pay spaces so parking will not be an issue either
so i can bring uh miss custis on to adopt my testimony and answer any questions that the board
may have counsel what's the exact address of the location it is 6139 ridge avenue okay that's
squarely in Roxborough. First floor, right? First floor only, correct. Right, okay.
Ms. Custis, can you raise your hand?
She's promoted. Shawana Custis, you're allowed to speak.
Good morning. My name is Shawana Custis. Spelling up, my name is S-H-A-W-A-N-A. Last name Custis, C-U-S-T-I-S.
swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes counsel thank you miss custis uh you are the commercial tenant uh under a lease at 6139 bridge
avenue yes okay and you intend to open and operate a level one lounge in that space that is correct
yes okay did you were you present on the zoom and did you hear my testimony to the board this morning
yes i did was everything i said truthful and accurate yes if you were to testify here this
morning would you adopt my testimony as your own yes i would okay thank you questions from the board
yes um what are the hours or operation for the events yeah uh tuesday through thursday 1 p.m
to 11 p.m friday and saturday 1 to 1 p.m to 1 a.m and sunday 11 to 9 p.m and those
hours were discussed at the rco meeting and that and nobody had any issues with that
hours were discussed at the RCO meeting and that and nobody had any issues with that thank you that
was my second question thank you other questions is there a space in there so that you can clean up
and what have you without having to use the bathroom is there like a a utility room or
something that where you can i can answer that i can answer that it's on the plan
that was the first thing i looked at thinking of you
all right but she should but somebody should answer that though
there's a kitchen area uh it's a fairly uh fitted out kitchen there's a prep area
i mean it's everything you would see in a regular restaurant it's just it's just that's not the
the attended use okay and about how many people do you think you will be entertaining at any
even time well per the per the fire code the max occupancy is 50 so so that would be the limit
all right okay thank you all the questions how many events are you planning to accommodate a week
i'll let ms custis handle that but i mean i would think as many as this business would
would permit yes um on a on a normal week i can say that it would be two to three it could be three
to four basically so thursday night sometimes friday night saturday and then early sunday
and then do events impact takeout service or is takeout service happening around the clock
we don't currently do takeout services okay and then i know you have the two different
spaces the lounge in the back and sort of the main hall in the front what is your staffing plan
when events utilize both spaces do you mean as far as um having staff available yeah like is
there a person that's dedicated to each room yes is there security in each space like just trying
to understand yes so we do have a plan yes i'm sorry yes so we do have security um that is
available at all times when any gatherings are happening and then we do um make sure that we
have enough staff on board for each area okay and then are you doing only in-house catering or
are your renters allowed to come in and bring their own food um they are allowed to bring their
own food okay but somebody from your team is always on site when an event always on site yes
When they have their parties and they bring their own supplies in, we do keep someone there at all times just to make sure everything is running right, there's no issues, make sure everything is calm at all times.
And then is your team handling trash?
Those are my only questions.
Questions from our attorney.
um just trying to clarify this is a buy right you so it it doesn't matter but the the sit down
restaurant piece of it why is why is that on if this is an event space why is that on the refusal
a referral just to preserve the options for the future but that's not the intended use in the next
you know year or so okay all right sounds good thank you questions or comments from a virtual
audience hold on i i do have one more question um can i see the the door again sure which which
door exactly the entrance to this is this is the door at dupont and ridge and then there's there
are other doors further down dupont but this one has the writing on it correct okay then this is
a current photo this is just what i could get together for tonight this is this is the prior
occupant okay this was just the best way to show what the property looks like from a far away view
okay well just just comment um if you're gonna have uh writing that writing on the door
makes that a sign so um you may want to get if you're going to keep it you're gonna have to get
some kind of separate permissions for that for the sign right and that that was not part of the
lni application i understand that i'm just i'm just pointing out that you didn't include that
in this so if you want to have permission to keep that or you want to do your own version
um you're going to get a separate permit for that okay okay questions from the virtual audience
no hands chair planning commission amy boy with the planning commission
amy boy with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change in
the comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning at this location
zoning at this location from the existing cmx 2.5 commercial mixed use the appellant has demonstrated
that the proposed use will not have detrimental impacts beyond what would reasonably be expected
the planning commission recommends that the board grant their requested special exception
for Eating and Drinking Establishment.
MI 2026, 000986-6139 Ridge Avenue.
I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes.
Tywin, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
Thank you.
You have your votes.
Number 12, MI 2026, 001079, 2556 Emory Street.
Vern Anastasio is the attorney.
Vern is rejoining as a panelist.
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
I had you in earlier, I swore you in already, am I correct?
Yes, sir.
So just for the record, please state your name.
Yes, Vern Anastasio for 2556 Emory Street on behalf of Ibrahim Walden.
And I have here a letter of non-opposition from Old Richmond and also a letter of non-opposition
from Councilmember Squilla. Our Vice-Chair has a few questions, sir.
Thank you.
DARYL FOXMANNELL, Good morning.
Good morning.
DARYL FOXMANNELL, Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance
of this hearing?
I have.
DARYL FOXMANNELL, And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
DARYL FOXMANNELL, All right. Thank you. You can share your screen and proceed with your case.
2556 Emory Street is an RSA 5 property.
This is rather straightforward.
We're building a single-family home.
we're here for relief because we'd like to get a garage and it's a front loader
because there's no access to any shared driveway alley or rear street so we are