So if that's what you have to do, I guess.
And again, you might hear silence because when you're promoted, it sounds like you're
getting bumped out, but you're being bumped up to a panelist.
Thank you.
Okay. So, Mr. Chairman, members of the board, we have a package of documents and fixtures that we've presented from A1 through, I believe, A14.
This is a an application for a temporary variance that we've worked out with the Northern Liberties Neighbors Association.
I believe that at Larry Friedman, who is the longtime zoning chair, has issued his letter of support.
We have it at A10. I believe it was hopefully the board has already received it.
And it's attached to our A14 because what is is happening here is this is a narrow piece of vacant ground that is across the street from Jerry's Bar, which Bill Proud and Sarah have been operating for about nine years.
They have, during COVID, been able to get a temporary street license that expires at the end of this year at 1231.
2021, that is in our packet of exhibits at A12 from the City of Philadelphia.
So in going to the Neighborhood Association, since this is a narrow piece of ground that cannot be used for a single-family home as allowed in the RSA 5 district that it's in,
So that's the unique and physical hardship to this property. We asked to see, especially, I guess we were a little bit, unfortunately, crystal balling, but this is to provide outdoor dining for about 35 patrons on a temporary basis to run through the end of the year to go co-terminus with our temporary sidewalk street cafe license that we have with the city.
and that we've agreed to certain provisos and in our A14 we do hopefully
And in our A14, we do hopefully address the situation, and I'm sure Ms. Saleta is very familiar with this, that the board does have the right and ability to limit the size and duration and place conditions on a variance.
So that's why we've agreed just to have it run through the end of the year, through December 31st, 2021.
21. There are six different proviso conditions. Our hours will be as stated in number two on
my proviso list, but it also matches up to the letter number two in Larry Friedman's letter of
August 25th, so that our hours will be closed on Monday, Tuesday to Thursday, 3 to 10, Friday,
3 to 11. Saturday and Sunday, they want to have a brunch. And then what we agreed to was a hard
stop at those hours. So that it wouldn't be that if you got there five minutes before you could
linger, it's a hard stop, everybody off at the end of that. As part of this, we've agreed to
no live or amplified music. There is an existing trash facility that Jerry's bar uses. And we've
also agreed no no fire pits no glassware uh the hope is that after going through this season
uh that if things prevail that we need it again that we will be during the winter at winter months
working it out again with the northern liberties neighbors association after we've had this trial
run to see where we go with further use of the property so with that presentation uh i would ask
that maybe bill proud be at least sworn in so he could i could have him adopt what i've stated on
the record bill you i think you're there yeah i'm here steve okay uh mr chair i i guess we need to
swear to proud please identify yourself spell your full name and i'll swear you in uh william proud
w-i-l-l-i-a-m-p-r-o-u-d
we're a firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes i do thank you mr pollack um bill you've heard what i've stated on the on the record uh
do you adopt everything is your testimony yes i do okay uh members of the board um we also have
with us lauren thompson who designed the plan uh that we we've presented to the board um just if
i could have lauren on very briefly just identify herself for the record and just confirm let me
ask you this is there any change in the plan from what currently exists no i think we can we can
accept that that plan will remain as is okay uh with that mr chair members of the board uh
We have some pictures you can look at. We have exhibits A1 through A14. I would ask that they be all accepted and entered into the record as duly entered exhibits and accepted by the board and used as the board for its basis of any decision it may render.
And I don't know if Larry Friedman joined us today, but as I said, our Exhibit A14 has the proviso conditions where I've listed them and attached Larry's letter so that it's very clear as to what we all are agreeing on for this temporary variance.
Given the Delta variant and what impact it's having on people's willingness to go in for dining, this is a survival kind of thing.
So instead of us taking up sidewalk of a public right-of-way, Bill and his family are using private property that they own for this temporary use.
With that, we would rest.
Thank you. Any questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
Okay, anyone else like to testify in this case?
If so, please raise your hand.
Mr. Chair, Mr. Larry Friedman.
Thank you.
Mr. Friedman, please identify yourself and I'll swear you in.
Can you hear me?
Yes, we can.
Larry Friedman is only chair, Northern Liberty Neighbor Association, 700 North 3rd.
Spell your last name, please, Larry.
F-R-E-E-G-M-A-N.
We're a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Please proceed.
We're good.
Okay, short and sweet.
Thank you.
Anyone else to testify in this case?
Thank you.
you know further hands mr chair thank you planning commission
i think he's muted there you go sorry thank you there you go good afternoon chair peter
bernard for the planning commission here's by your last name i'll swear you in b as in boy
a as an apple r as in roger and as a nancy a as an apple r as in roger d as in dog
where from to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do chair thank you please
proceed this property is indicated for single family residential in the comprehensive plan
we recognize the unusual circumstances created by covid and their impact on the restaurant and
hospitality industry. Accordingly, the Planning Commission supports granting a temporary variance.
Thank you. Steve, could you slightly move up that page? Because I'm going to make sure I get the
the advisor. That's good. That's good right there. Thank you. And there's two more on the second
page. So we'll have to go to the second page too. Go back to the hour. Just hang in there for a
minute. That'll do it. Now you've got all six of them. Yep. Yep. You got it. Thank you. I wrote
it down but i want to make sure i don't miss anything uh mi 2021-001859 1007-13 new market
street my vote is yes with the following provisors monday establishment will be closed
hours of operation tuesday through 30 3 p.m to 10 p.m friday 3 p.m to 11 p.m saturday 9 a.m
to 11 p.m. Sunday is 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. All of these are hard stop hours. Capacity is 35 seats,
no live or amplified music, and to continue use of trash facilities, no glassware or fire pits.
Mr. Chair, I think you just add that it's a temporary duration.
Variance to expire December 31st, 2021.
Perfect.
Confess the plaza.
My vote is yes with provisos.
James Snell, my vote is yes with provisos.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with provisos.
Thank you.
Good luck to everyone.
All right.
Thank you, everybody.
Have a safe Labor Day.
Bye-bye.
Number three on our list, MI 2021-001866.
1-8-2-0, West Venango.
Rachel Pritzker is the attorney of record.
Tayo United, Inc. sent a letter of opposition.
And to the court reporter, remember, if you need a break, just let us know.
Good afternoon, Chairman.
Rachel, R-A-C-H-A-E-L, Pritzker, P-R-I-T-Z-K-E-R, 1635 Market Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia, PA, 19103.
No time to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Thank you.
Please proceed.
Rachel, you agree to waive the reading of its refusal and stipulate to attack her seat?
And have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance,
copy of the refusal or referral photos and plans five days prior to this hearing yes and have you
met with the rco and have a letter yes i'm a little confused about the letter of opposition
we actually met with them last week and there was uh it was a second meeting and there was a vote
of support so i don't know if there's a i'm only going by my notes so you'll clear that up for us
thank you yep um okay i'm going to share my screen
okay this is 1820 west venango street um this is an application for the erection of an attached
structure with a partial basement uh for use as a seven family dwelling units um originally the
application was for six um we did have do have revised plans and um i did speak with uh miss
who let me know that via Proviso, we could have it as seven units. We're adding one affordable
unit. So just want to clarify that on the record. That's the only refusal that we have as far as
this application is concerned. It's just for use. I'm just going to scroll down.
So, essentially, as you can see, there's a lot of other properties on this block that are multifamily, three, four, five, and six-unit properties, and so in addition to the fact that this is a large corner vacant lot at almost, I think it's almost 2,100 square feet, 2,080 square feet, we're proposing seven dwelling units, one affordable unit,
So essentially, as you can see, there's a lot of other properties on
Thank you.
And we do believe that this is in the spirit of the North District plan, as the multifamily dwellings that we're providing achieves the plan's goal of developing vacant land, which is on page 24 of the comprehensive plan.
Just to go through, this is the deed.
As I mentioned, this is a really long, large corner lot, as you can see from the aerial zoning maps.
It is zoned single family. However, it is a corner in most of the directly adjacent properties, 1814, 1812, and most of them on North 18th Street and on the 1800 block of Venanga are all multifamily, despite the base zoning classification.
In addition, it is a corner, so we believe it can absolutely support more than just one single family home.
As you can see from the aerial view, again, very long, large lot, almost a little over 2,000 square feet.
And as you can see, just from the aerials and even from the street view, the adjacent buildings are massive as well, typically why they house three, four, five, six units, as opposed to this would be an extremely large single-family home on the corner and would be out of character with the additional properties in the neighborhood.
These are the zoning posters, as you can see, how large the lot is.
and on here as you can see it also has a history of being multifamily for six dwelling units which
is why we had originally proposed six dwelling units it was increased from four to six
for the city's archives again we're looking for seven units here in order to provide one
affordable unit we originally met with the rco the tayoga united back in june and then we had
a follow-up meeting last week. I know that their original position was of opposition, but this was
a letter from the June 24th meeting, and I am hopeful that Mr. Ali is on because we had a
meeting with them, like I had mentioned last week, in which the vote was in support. We also have
a number of letters of support from near neighbors, 1639 Benango, 1703 Benango, 1703 Unit 1,
1728 West Benango, 1814 West Benango, which is the directly adjacent owner given there's a
vacant lot between us and them, 1814 West Benango, 1841 West Benango, 3637 North 16th, which is a
a few blocks away, two blocks away.
And then I believe we have Scott Woodruff here
from Design Blends who can go through the plans
and specifically the revisions that we made to the project.
Mr. Woodruff, please spell your full name
and I'll swear you in.
would have been allowed to speak sir uh scott woodruff uh w-o-o-d-r-u-f-f uh four thousand
i'm sorry uh 4001 main street suite 203 philadelphia pi
do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do thank you miss
Scott, could you present the plans to the board and specifically the revisions that we made at the meeting?
I think it was last Thursday.
Yes, I can.
I can get access. I can share my screen.
Okay, Mr. Woodruff has been promoted to panelists now.
Okay, this is the proposed building at 1820 Menango.
Most of the changes that were asked and that we made related to the ground floor, specifically
specifically again for accessibility and adding the affordable unit as well as some of the
for accessibility and adding the affordable unit.
areas of access the building is developed in a way the first floor has three units
on it it used to have two we added an additional unit to the ground floor that also has access at
grade so that it can be used potentially for a senior or elderly person just to provide
better accessibility to that actual unit.
The first one's entered through the front, and there's a common stair and lobby that
goes up to two units per floor.
The second and third floor would be typical, both with two-bedroom, one-bath units.
and then the first floor has one bedroom one bath units specifically changes that were made to
the exterior we're just adding some more lighting along the street frontage
and then just some revisions to the fence in the back but the majority of the exterior was received
well from the neighborhood and was was mainly just um regarding some of the the additional unit
that was was on the ground floor rachel is there anything you wanted me to walk through
else than that nope um i think that that covers it and i do believe uh a representative from
tayoga united should be calling in or called in at this point that can speak to uh
let me ask the board if the board has any questions first no mr chairman no no and
anyone else would like to testify please raise your hand
no stevenson had his hand raised he's been allowed to speak mr stevenson please spell
your name and i'll swear you in yes donald d-o-n-a-l-d stevenson s-t-e-v-e-n-s-o-n
it's where for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do
i i i'm not sure what i'm sorry i thought he was your i apologize i'm sorry mr stevenson please
proceed all right um so um tayoga united is an organization but it's also uh involves the
community so most of the neighbors on the corner of this block which is grad street not venango
were never notified of any meeting that was being spoke of of last week um we didn't even know about
the zoning board meeting until the 28th or the 27th of August. But as far as this meeting that
this lady is talking of, who we met at the Tioga United meeting, the first meeting, we didn't know
of a second meeting. And before any decision is made, there are numerous of people on Grad Street,
the 3,500 block of Grad Street, which sits the side of this house on the phone lines and also
maybe on a Zoom call as well. A lot couldn't get Zoom, so they are actually on the phone lines.
and I just wanted to make you guys aware. I'm sorry, Chair. This is Tanya Sunkett. I would ask
that the witness currently testifying identify if they are affiliated with the RCO or just a
standalone neighbor. A standalone neighbor. Thank you, Kylie. Thank you. Yes. Rachel, could you
answer any of those comments and uh sure we did send out notices for uh for the second meeting i
have the proof of mailing that was submitted in the packet for both 1820 and 3323 north 16th street
um as mr stevenson may remember at the end of the first meeting uh the tayoga united had asked
would we be open to making some revisions that address the community's concerns we said yes
And they said to the near neighbors on the call, would you be willing to meet separately with the applicant?
They said, no, we have no interest in meeting. But Tioga United was happy to hold a meeting with us.
And again, the property has been posted. We sent out everything to the near neighbors as per the city's requirement.
And we submitted certificates of mailing. So and my phone number is on everything.
My cell phone numbers. And I haven't received I hadn't received any phone calls from your neighbors.