civus
Hearing audio

ZBA Hearing - April 8, 2026

Philadelphia Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA)Apr 8, 20266h 12m

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q a is for questions during the hearing do not comment on cases in the q a and fourth

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In case of an evacuation, the rally point is at Love Park directly across Art Street.

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Please remain there so we can account for you.

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So I'm going to go over the list that we have for this afternoon.

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So, number one is MI 2021-004-365-4501-03 Belgarage Street.

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I vote to dismiss and waive and with a waiver of the two-year rule.

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Michael Johns, I vote to dismiss and waiver of the two-year rule.

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cheryl gaston i vote to dismiss with waiver the two-year rule it's not a graham i vote to dismiss

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with wavering the two-year rule ryan mcadams i vote to dismiss with waiver of the two-year rule

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hi i want to dismiss with waiver of the two-year rule and so number two mi 2024 002 779 6907 to 11

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Tarsdale Avenue. I recommend a dismissal with waiver of the two-year rule.

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John, I recommend a dismissal with a waiver of the two-year rule.

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Cheryl Gaston, I recommend dismissal with waiver of the two-year rule.

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Tanita Graham, I recommend dismissal with waiver of the two-year rule.

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Tywin McAdams, I recommend a dismissal with waiver of the two-year rule.

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Tywin, I recommend dismissal with waiver of the two-year rule.

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And number three, MI 2024-006-394-1747 West Venango Street.

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This case is continued attorney moving party.

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And then number four, MI 2025-006-395-4020-58th Street.

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No exhibits, first listing.

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owner is Lycomen Investments, listed owner LaVar Scott.

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Good evening, Mr. Chair.

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This is Jason Handel, your co-host for this session.

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There are no hands raised for the matter, and I do not see either

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in the virtual audience today.

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Thank you.

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So MI 2025-006-395-4020-58th Street, this case is continued to August 19th, 2026 at 3.30, and Mark must be heard.

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Excuse me, Mr. Chair, I'm sorry.

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Can we go back to the dismissals and just vote those as dismissed with two-year rule waived and not recommended?

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Because we're making a decision that that language was recommendation for you.

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So, yeah, I'm sorry for the confusion.

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Right.

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So, okay.

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So I think I only did it on the second one or both?

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Both.

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Both.

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Okay, sure.

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MI 2021-004-365-4501-03 Belgrade Street, I vote to dismiss with waiver of the two-year rule.

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Michael Johns, I vote to dismiss with waiver of the two-year rule.

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Cheryl Gaston, I vote to dismiss with waiver of the two-year rule.

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Tenetta Graham, I vote to dismiss with waiver of the two-year rule.

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Ryan McAdams, I vote to dismiss with waiver of the two-year rule.

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Tywin, I vote to dismiss with waiver of the two-year rule.

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And number number two, MI 2024-002779-6907-11, Tarsdale Avenue, I vote to dismiss with waiver of the two-year rule.

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Michael Johns, I vote to dismiss with waiver of the two-year rule.

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Cheryl Gaston, I vote to dismiss with waiver of the two-year rule.

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Tana Graham, I vote to dismiss with waiver of the two-year rule.

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Ryan McAdams, I vote to dismiss with waiver of the two-year rule.

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Iowan, I vote to dismiss with waiver of the two-year rule.

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Here you go. Thank you.

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Thank you.

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number number five mi2025-006-988-7975 oxford avenue joseph consul is the attorney

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hey

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hey

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hi joe i think i i saw you earlier today right i mean it seems like a long time ago it does yeah

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just for your just for the record could you please state your name because you've already

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been sworn joseph console right could you um identify your client a relationship to the

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property yeah my clients i'm mr james brody and he is the tenant hoping to um to run a coffee shop

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in this location okay and um we have a letter of unanimous support from fox chase civic association

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25 total votes um community was very receptive to having a coffee shop on the avenue and our

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vice chair has a few questions good afternoon have you put uh submitted your documents and exhibits

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five days in advance of this hearing yes and do you waive the reading of the referral and

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stipulate to its accuracy i do yes all right thank you to your screen and proceed with your case

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All right, everyone. Joe Consul here for Mr. James Brody. He's on the call today. I think I just heard him raise his hand. We are seeking a ground floor commercial space for use as a coffee and prepared food shop. It's not the kind of place where they're going to make food.

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they're going to have that, you know, prepared food purchased and brought in and sold at their

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location. It's zoned CMX1, as you can see, and we're here seeking a special exception. We believe

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this is a straightforward, low-impact application. This use would be conditionally permitted as a

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special exception in CMX1, and we're here seeking the board's approval, as we don't believe this

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provides or will cause any more of a detrimental impact than would any other similar use.

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As mentioned, we got unanimous approval from the Fox Chase Civic Association.

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Give you photos of the interior of the space. Here's what it looks like now.

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we have a rendering which we'll get to in a second show our posters on the outside it's an all-state

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office here's the layout we can come back to that if we need to

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Here's the proposed rendering. As mentioned, small space, no kitchen.

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A few other different angles here.

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uh let's see we've got the lease which we we supplied proof of mailing

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and our posters and anything else that might be relevant we already looked through these

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and we're gonna look through that there's a tax clearance certificate

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um yeah it's pretty straightforward i don't see um what else we would really

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present to you proposed hours are 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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no alcohol and low intensity use with community support with that i would call

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mr james brody sure why don't you bring him on

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i'll be coming back in there's a panel of short

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are you there james yes i'm here okay sir could you please state your name

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and spell for the stenographer yes james brodie j-a-m-e-s-b-r-o-d-i-e right do you swear or affirm

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to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes counsel james are you the applicant

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and the tenant for the space at 79 75 oxford avenue yes are you seeking a special exception

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to open a small coffee

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and takeaway pastry shop

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called Avec Coffee Company?

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Avec.

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Avec Coffee Company?

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Yes.

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And did you hear my testimony just now

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regarding your application?

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Yes.

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Do you adopt it as your own?

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Yes.

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I have nothing further.

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Questions from the board.

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Questions or comments from our attorney,

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Questions or comments from our attorney Hillary Emerson.

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Hillary Emerson?

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Not at this time, Mr. chair.

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Questions or comments from the virtual audience.

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I do not see any hands. Mr. chair, any commission.

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Amy put with the planning commission, the comprehensive plan recommended no change in zoning to the previous to commercial mixed use.

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the planning commission voted not to approve the down zoning of many cmx2 properties

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to cmx1 in council district 10 in 2021 the proposed use will be allowed by right under cmx2

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the planning commission recommends that the board grant the requested special exception

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for eating and drinking establishment mi2025-006-988-7975 oxford avenue i vote yes michael johns

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My vote is yes.

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Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.

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Sonetta Graham, my vote is yes.

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Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes.

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Thank you, Board.

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Okay.

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Thank you.

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Council?

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Number 6, MI 2026, 00787, 226 Harvard Street, Harvey Street, David Orfanides is the attorney.

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This is a reconsideration hearing.

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So, counsel, could you state your name and you you're already been sworn once today. So just state your name for the record.

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My name is David. The last name is both O R. P. H. A. N. I. D. E. S. Right. Mr. Orphanides. Could you identify your client in this case? Sure. My relationship to the property. Certainly.

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I'm cutting everybody off today. Sorry. I'm eager to go. I apologize for cutting you off.

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Sure. 226 W. Harvey ST LLC is the owner of the property. And as you know, in the past, we've had

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there's several letters of opposition relative to this case, but this is a reconsideration,

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them, right? Sure. The evidence and testimony presented at the November 19, 2025 hearing in

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this matter are incorporated into the record for this hearing on reconsideration. The scope of

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this hearing is limited to the presentation of supplemental evidence and testimony only. The way

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we see it, there will be, you will make a presentation, there'll be questions from the

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board there'd be public testimony and then planning okay so start your certainly um mr chairman um

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members of the board uh the property in question 226 west harvey street um again is owned by my

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client 226 w harvey st llc i i have with me uh brady martinez who is who is the entity he owns the

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entities here with me today he appeared at the last hearing as well i have a couple of other

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witnesses as well. I have the contractor who can just speak to some of the costs that are

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associated with some of the different options regarding the number of units. I have Carlo

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Batts who was before you yesterday who submitted an appraisal report. I have Brett Slackman who

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provided the work with RATI and provided the financial analysis that was submitted with the

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request for reconsideration. So I've listened to the recording from the last hearing. It was a

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pretty basic presentation that was presented to the board. I think there is a basic misunderstanding

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right from the beginning, and that's one of the things that I presented as my first point

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in my request for reconsideration. This application involves a permit for a total of six units

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at this property. At the time of the last hearing, the zoning archives for this property

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only included the permit, and I can give you the number, but it's a permit from 2015 that

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was approved by variants that went in front of the community group, and I believe they

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were opposed to it, but the zoning board at the time voted to approve the variances for

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six units and now it was first of all clear in that permit and in that approval it was change

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it was taking four units in a daycare two units on the second floor two units on the third floor

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and a daycare on the ground floor which had once been two units on the second floor two units on

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the first floor units on the third floor so it had been six units since the 50s hadn't been I

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I think, a single family since the thirties.

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I have to look at my notes on that.

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But a long time ago was one,

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then from the fifties on it was six.

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At some point then there was a daycare at 222

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West Harvey Street, and they applied and they went into the expanded into the ground floor. And I thought expansion originally meant that they were the building next to it. They're actually separated by space, which is interesting. And I'll show you some street view images where you can actually see the sign for this daycare in front of our property in front of 226.

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West Harvey Street and they applied

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and they went into the expanded into the-

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so at some point that daycare on the first floor and then how many units so there was it so there

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were six and then they removed the two on the ground floor and put a date and the daycare that

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was at 222 went into the ground floor at 226 and then at some point that daycare left and in 2015

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the application it's on the application form itself it shows daycare ground floor two units

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on the second two units on the third and then what they applied for in 2015 was two two and two

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to put the two back that had been there before the daycare. So the variance, and because I

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listened to the testimony, it seemed that some of the neighbors were going off into single family

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land. This is a question of, is it going to be a four family with a vacant ground floor,

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or are we going to allow additional units, residential units in the ground floor, or

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maybe leave it open to someday be in the daycare again? So it's not a question of, is it going to

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be six or one? Is it going to be six or two, six or three? It's a question of whether it's going to

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be six, five, or four. And if it's left at four, then that means that the ground floor, and we're

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going to have testimony, is going to be left vacant because of the financial costs of incorporating

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the ground floor into one or the other of the second floor units. So that's number one. And

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the reason why I was able to, we were able to figure this out is once I was retained in the

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permit for 226 from 2015 they referenced a an expansion of daycare from the budding property

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and again I thought it was this other side of the twin at 228 wasn't there 222 that's where we saw

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these permits and those permits are included with my exhibit package that now provide this very

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important history for this property it kind of completes the puzzle of how we got to where we

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got and that also answers i think um board member win and board member john's points where they said

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that there was a permit for only two units that's because the only thing that was being permitted

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added was the two units at the ground floor so that's what the building permits that were

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referenced that i've included in my exhibit book uh other permits i think there's a mechanical

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permit or electrical permit that was issued following that 2015 variance and zoning permit

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reference the six units. So just to clarify this, again, it's a question of four or five or six,

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not going all the way down to one. Are the four units rented now?

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No. So what happened was, and this is another part, I don't know that this completely came

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through. So that developer started construction and started doing some work and ran out of money,

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put it on the market with the permits. And my client paid, and he can testify to this,

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