questions for him cmx2 property um all we're trying to do is have a there's already a permit
of record to allow for an eating and drinking establishment on the first floor this all has to
do with just reinvigorating the use of assembly and entertainment and that's what we're planning
to do here hopefully with the board's approval and again this has a long history of that
letter of support from the coordinating rco they had you know and a letter of non-opposition from
the council member they had a resolution and again i think the only enforceable provisos
are commercial trash pickup there's also already a dumpster in the back that's shared with another
operator of another property nearby as well as no live music on the first floor use registration
just again just showing the history of this property as far back as 1961 this has had this
type of use and then the petition my client did it like it worked really hard this is really
important to him and i think to uh you know the people on south street too to kind of wiping up
the place and then a letter of endorsement from the police department so he he's you know he's
done everything diligently and responsibly to get that special assembly occupancy license
and then the press again tells a little bit about matt and nikki lopez and what he's planning to do
here um and you know how he's taking over the former uh jc dobbs venue and then just a little
bit more press about like how pearl jam the runner played there and then about a little bit more of
the history of it and then maps of the area again cmx2 we're in the commercial corridor this has
a long history 64 years of similar type of use and then this is what it looks like now it would
be nice to take away uh that that boarding on the front uh to like open this place back up
orange notice posters south street to the right of the property to the left of the property
interior photos so that's not they're not there that's just a promotional what it looked like
back in the day but this is what it looks like now that's the first floor um our plans and
drawings pretty basic you know there's two ways to get to the to the live venue uh you can go
through the front door on this and you go straight up the steps to the second floor where you have
the stage and live venue or you can go through the first floor where it's the the bar in terms
of food it's really they're not cooking on the premises they're it's like hot dogs so it's they're
not there for their food um but there's you know ticket merchants as well where you go up the rear
steps to that second floor and then the third floor is just a green room where the talent you
know hangs out until they perform and then there are some offices and some storage on the third
for rco meeting notice we met on november 14th at 6 30 p.m we emailed that notice of 10 days
beforehand to the coordinating rco and other relevant parties laying them no we mailed that
notice to 303 addresses which of those addresses showed them also proof of mailings those addresses
our application for appeal that we filed on nikki lopez's behalf
the venue along with the notice of refusal and the project information form the relevant
portions of the lease so we have the front page you know and more importantly the signature pages
certificate of tax clearance again none of these taxes are due until like march 31st of this year
i will unshare my screen i would ask that matt virtually raise his hand
Matthew has been allowed to speak.
matthew has been allowed to speak matt could you please state your name is spelled for the
stenographer matthew paneth m-a-t-t-h-e-w p-a-n-e-t-h you swear or affirm to tell the
truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do please proceed counsel yeah matt you heard
everything i had to say today about your zoning matter yes and is it true and correct that's
correct. And do you adopt as your own testimony? I adopt that as my own testimony. Thank you.
Questions from the board?
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Just going back to what Mr. Alckmson said, if the board wants to take provisors from
um the resolution that was passed with the rco um i think no live music on the first floor
um would be enforceable and then um commercial trash pickup commercial trash pickup yeah there's
some other things about trash in here but there are things that i think we can get into involves
another um another business may i comment um why don't we let your lawyer comment here
Yeah, I think we're good. Matt, do you have any objection to those provisos?
No, I specifically appreciated the trash proviso, and ahead of the meetings, I reached out to my business neighbor, the Brooklyn Dumpling Shop, and set up a trash program that was identical to theirs.
I am very motivated to be a strong, productive, friendly member of the community.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning at this location from the existing
commercial mixed use CMX2.
The proposed use is consistent with prior use and the existing commercial corridor.
The Planning Commission recommends the Board grant their requested variance for assembly
and entertainment.
MI 2024-006-100-304-South Street. I vote yes with proviso. Commercial trash pickup and no live
music on first floor. Michael Johns, my vote is yes with provisos. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes
with provisos. Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with provisos. Iowina, my vote is yes with provisos.
Ishmael Shahid, Mahbouda Shahid, we're provisors.
Nockmson, just stay on, please.
So, number 11, MI 2024-006-108-827-North 22nd Street.
Mr. Nockmson is the attorney.
There's a letter of opposition from Strawberry Mansion.
Mr. Nockmson, just state your name for the record.
Yes, Alan Nockmson.
And, Mr. Chair, I think I heard you say 827 North 22nd Street is actually 827.
I'm sorry, it's 1827.
Yeah, I just want to make sure for record purposes.
Okay, sure.
And then, did you identify your client in the relationship to the property?
Yeah, my client is 1827N22 LLC, the owner of the property.
And in the virtual audience is Michael Olley Dodd, one of its members.
vice chair has a few questions council good afternoon uh do you agree to wait to read another
refusal or stipulate to its accuracy i do have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits
needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing yes we have thank you
Council, please proceed and share your screen. Thank you so we're presenting 1827 or 22nd street in the strawberry mansion section of Philadelphia.
First thing we'll review is the notice of refusal.
So this is an RSA 5 lot, rather large in nature.
It is 1,728 square feet.
It's on a block, which has not much development on it.
But the development that there is, is multifamily in nature.
So we did meet with the community.
And the one member of the community that did show up that lived nearby on that block actually supported the project, was very happy that there was going to be some new development on that block.
was very happy that there was going to be some development, new development on that block, because there's a lot of vacant land there.
So we're all surprised that, you know, the Strawberry Mansion Community Concern sent a letter of opposition.
Most of those items are non-zoney related, talking about construction and things like that, how it would be disruptive to the community, and, you know, dealing with a lot of non-zoney related issues.
Now, we did talk after receiving that letter, we did talk to the council member's office and, you know, I don't want to speak for them, but it was, you know, we did talk about how, like, you know, there's a lot of multifamily around there and, you know, that I think what makes more sense is four units.
So if we were, if this board is so inclined to grant the variance request, we would ask for a proviso maximum for units, which falls more in line with the amount of units that are on that block, you know, for other properties.
And then we'll go over the nearby comparable RSA 5 density.
But there's many examples of multifamily on that block, even though there are RSA 5 properties.
Aerial view of the block will show that there's a lot of vacant lots here, and we're trying to spur development through this.
Zoning map will show, you know, the maps of the area from a zoning perspective and generally.
Photographs of the property and the surrounding area.
Our plans and drawings, the only thing is we'll keep the same building envelope.
The floor plans will change slightly because of the 726 units.
There'll be four units. We talked to the council member Zoning Aid yesterday, Colin.
And, you know, so we didn't have time to update our floor plans, but the building structure is going to stay the same.
So from an elevation footprint point of view, like there's no difference from a zoning perspective.
RCO meeting notice. Again, we met with the community.
The only community member that showed up who lived on that block was in support of this project.
Application for appeal, the deeds of property and certificate of tax.
So there was a refusal. So while this is an RSA 5 property, this is a rather massive lot in comparison. It's 1,728 square feet.
We have, in addition to the use refusal, where here it says six units, now we're asking for maximum four units.
There is a slight occupied area refusal where we're required to only occupy 75% of the lot with the building structure.
And we're at 78.8%, which is de minimis in nature.
My client just wants good floor plans and hoping that the board will also accept that refusal as part of, you know, hopefully the granting of this various requests.
Strawberry Managing Community Concern, as indicated, again, you know, the person that showed up in the community was in support of this project.
For some reason, strawberry-managing community concern is against this project, and maybe it has more to do with the fact that, you know, the amount of units, the six units, we presented something similar for a smaller lot at 1820 North 22nd Street.
They did not state their objection at that moment. I do believe it was more of like, we'll leave it to the board. So I don't understand why they would be concerned and object if it was in the same meeting that someone else supported it.
again talks about you know security risk by having shared common areas noise and quality
of life concerns like it's insufficient open space which you know again our request is to
in nature we have a rear yard setback of 16 feet our open area for this property is 368 square
feet. So those are not things that I think make sense from a zoning perspective. And then the last
objection had to do with construction disturbances. So whether it's single family,
multifamily, you would still have construction. And again, you know, my client is a well-known
quantity. He's an affordable housing provider, which he would do here too. But, you know,
He's very experienced in infill work in the state of Philadelphia, and he would obviously respect the needs of any nearby neighbors as well.
And then nearby comparable density here.
So according to my notes, 1829, 1839, 1843, 1845, 1834, and 1800 are all multifamily
in nature, even though there are RSA libraries.
And then the aerial view of the block.
And then the aerial view of the block. So you can see there's a lot of vacancies on this block. So we're hoping to build a four-unit building here that makes sense for the community, also to provide affordable housing.
So you can see there's a lot.
And then, you know, just to see where we are in the neighborhood. Not that far off from Ridge Avenue, so help support the commercial corridor by increasing the density in this part of the neighborhood.
photographs of the property so it's a vacant lot it's been vacant as far back as you can see on
at least google earth or a street view proof of uh posting of the property for today's hearing
north 22nd street to to the right to north of the property to south of property our plans and
drawings so again my client intends to have a flat building facade in the front with lintels
for the windows for cornices on the top traditional brick facade and then the floor plans are going
to change because this was originally a six unit but my understanding took notes when i was talking
to my clients because we try accurately state what he's going to do so the first floor is going
to be a two-bedroom two-bath so originally he broke this up so instead he's going to have a
two-bedroom two-bath on the first floor a two-bedroom two-bath and that's around 1100 square
feet and then same I think maybe a little smaller on the second floor a two-bedroom two-bath
So you'll probably have the, in this portion of each of the two units here, you would have a living room, dining room, kitchen, and then you have two bathrooms and bathrooms in the back.
And then he would keep the one bedroom, one baths that are currently illustrated on the third floor.
We met with the community on December 11th.
Alan, there's no basement living? Alan, the new plan would be no basement living?
um he would have an open floor plan down there for that like you know he does not intend to have
any bedrooms down there but he does intend to have an open floor plan again you know we we're
not going to be virtual come next week at least i'll be visiting you guys like you know in person
but a lot of people still work virtually and you know they just want that extra room so his intention
is to have an open floor plan down there um we defer to the board if they want to put special
protections down there for people but there will be like uh light you know uh window wells in the
front and the back just like that's here but we defer to the board um rco meeting was december 11th
um again there were requests to show even the envelopes a certain way so people didn't think
it was junk mail so you know we you know we had both the 1820 and 1827 north 22nd street meetings
at the same time and by the way the board granted 1820 north 22nd street i think just before the
holidays which was a smaller lot where this one's a bigger lot we're asking for four units
but saying no junk mail please open because that's always been an issue with some people
We emailed proof of mailing of that notice a few weeks beforehand, showing that we mailed it to 158 addresses, proof of mailing to those addresses, the application for appeal, along the notice of refusal, the project information form, deed to the property showing the 1827 N22 LLCs, the owner of the property, and then finally the certificate of tax clearance.
Taxes are actually paid in full.
So I would ask that Mr. Ali Dodd virtually raises his hand.
Let me ask you a question.
1820, how many units?
Three units, but the smaller property.
That was a little more, or let me, I'll tell you exactly, I have it in my notes.
That one was 1,552 square feet.
This one's almost 1,800 square feet.
So it's bigger.
So which kind of goes with the other properties that because there's other properties that have four units on that block and kind of go with this.
Like, for instance, 1800 North 22nd Street, we're actually bigger and that's four units.
So. Mr. Ali Dodd.
Mr. Ali Dodd has been allowed to speak.
Sir, could you please state your name? It's spelled for the stenographer.
My name is Michael Al-Haddad.
Could you spell it, please?
Al-Haddad, A-L-H-A-D-A-D.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Mr. Knackson, please proceed.
Michael, you heard everything I had to state today about your zoning matter.
Yes, I have.
And is it true and correct?
And do you adopt this as your own testimony?
Yes. And based on my communication with the council member's office, where they're asking for a maximum of four units, you find that acceptable?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Questions or comments from the board?
So question. So there are four units. Is the first floor all one unit and the second floor all one unit? Or are they bi-level units like you have on plan?
No, I think, again, talking to Mr. Ali Dodd, we anticipate that the first floor unit will be, well, the first floor would be one unit, which would be a two-bedroom, two-bath.
And then the second floor would be its own unit, a two-bedroom, two-bath.
And so this basement, full access to just the one unit or full access to all the units?
Just the one unit.
Just to one unit. So the basement will be part of the first floor unit.
that's right to provide additional square footage
it's a lot of square footage for the one unit and that's a two-bedroom unit
again it's us having a conversation late in the afternoon with the district council members only
eight uh so again that's our intention based on you know having talking about this for less than
24 hours yeah okay so are you going to submit revised plans for us to look at or no i mean