No, he does not.
Okay. And the landlord sent a letter to you. Is that, is that the email that you received
from the landlord?
yes that is and there it says that you have exclusive right to both the parking lot associated
with this uh a piece of real estate and uh full availability of the dumpster for the trash to be
shared with the other commercial spaces on the space in the area right yes and the other commercial
spaces mr chair members of the board are a vape shop a beer distributor uh so this is certainly
an upgrade uh and so it's actually something that's a little bit more uh for the community
not necessarily being placed on the community okay um questions from the board where is the
associated parking lot in relation to the commercial space it's in the front christina
please yes so it's in the front um it's about from that photo that was up there about maybe
four spaces down um if you go yeah right there so ashley if you see where that blue um outline
is at on that first image the parking lot is yep if you yeah like keep going down a little bit more
where the cars are parked right there that's the parking lot this is the parking lot buildings
down the one the one behind the building that's correct and then how do that's only for commercial
tenants no residential tenants can park there and that's accessed off 72nd street so it would be the
i'm not sure yes parking lot in the front um about the third building down is where the parking lot
starts to um begin here yeah okay here oh right here how do you how do you get from the how do
you get from the parking lot to the the front door to your unit yeah you just walk it's a sidewalk
okay so the parking lot in the rear is not for um visitors that's not the parking lot we would
be utilizing it would be the one in the front right here okay gotcha so they park here this
is not for any of the residents this is just for the commercial space and as we all know uh you know
vape shops don't don't stay open very late i think the beer distributor might be open until about nine
or ten um and this is what the space would be they're open seven days a week six days a week
my client would have space you know two or three days a week tops her lease is for four years
to be even more reasonable she's just asking for a four-year a special exception to be sunset after
the end of the end of the lease she wouldn't want to vacate the space and have the special exception
run with it because obviously anybody could have any kind of event space that they'd like
uh that would be a little different than what she's proposing today did you say the landlord
was the same landlord for the rent for the uh uh residential units above or no no they're different
they're different oh yeah yeah yeah because it's condoed letter from the from the uh landlord of
the residence no we had a um there were no no one expressed any uh concern as far as with the
residents you know because again noise mitigation uh limited hours uh limited days of the week
would have very little impact on on the residents yeah what about the rco since the rco is in
on on the residents yeah what about the rco since our shows in opposition what happened at the rco
opposition what happened at the rco
meeting well the rco meeting was pretty much uh taken by uh there's an organization called orc
orca i think yep uh they happen to have uh you know they're an interested party because they
happen to have event space they had an event space across the street uh they have a event space five
minutes from this site so i i think they believe that this might be some sort of competition it
will not be uh you know their event space is parties um this is not what christina is planning
on doing not at all um but uh you know the landlord did make sure that we addressed every
issue with respect to parking with respect to trash uh she's committed to the noise mitigation
and as you know so long as we we do that and her and her mother are long time members of this
community um she's been a realtor in the in the neighborhood and you can speak to that christina
My mom has been a realtor in the community. She worked across the street from where this event
space would be opening up at for many years. I don't want to say how many years, but I know
she was there for many years. She also worked at the restaurant. It was a popular restaurant
called Relish Restaurant that used to be there. She worked there as well for, I believe, four or
five years as well. So she's been very used to the community. There's also an event space right
behind already that's been used with no incident, absolutely zero incident. So the space, the vision
is kind of to create a beautiful upscale boutique event space, feels elegant and welcoming. They
plan to upgrade the suite with porcelain flooring, crystal chandeliers, new ceiling tiles, other nice
touches so it becomes a real asset to the block instead of just sitting vacant. Space will be
used as she said for community meetings and workshops churches and faith-based gatherings
book signings networking events repasts milestone celebrations senior events youth workshops and
things like holiday toy drives this yeah i don't how but how do how do if we were to agree with
this i don't know how we um uh you know commit to the space being used that way and not being
used another way you know what i mean i don't think there's a proviso that we can provide them
that you can't have a party in an event space i don't know that's true i would also argue that
some repasses are parties they can be yeah yeah they certainly can but that's not what christina's
plan is i feel like like you know like again uh it's it's a modest space 45 people it's it's you
know uh and christina's she's explained her vision but yes of course especially if you go to new
orleans lots of repasses any other questions i have two more i have two more questions actually
you'll you'll have an opportunity uh i think my my first question is about deliveries because
knowing that now there's the two different parking lots how do you plan to manage deliveries drop
off because the you've got a variety of events here i'm assuming you're going to need a furniture
you know you're going to have load in and load out for event purposes and where do you intend
for that to happen so the type of events we're doing we're not really um anticipating like large
scale deliveries um we already work time by supplying tables and chairs they're staying
within the space we also have a basement as well you do have a basement okay yeah so we can store
things down there as well so anything that someone would need to use would already be within the
space that we wouldn't be having large scale deliveries dropping things off and then my second
question is related to this parking because i know you mentioned a few of the tenants are the few of
other tenants but like looking at this there's about 11 tenants that are underneath that
residential building and then you've got ogons plaza where there's some other bigger there's
like another what 11 to 15 tenants including uh pin dot center and including a wine and spirits
which i would consider have like much larger uses so are they all sharing that one lot
we all are sure you're all sharing that one dot does close i believe at four o'clock
wine and spares, I think they close at 9 or 10 o'clock, but a lot of other spaces are
vacant spaces. There's not a lot of other businesses in that lot, maybe three or four
other ones. Oh, really? Yeah. Because on Google, it looks like everyone was full.
Yeah. Not that I'm aware of that they're all full. Not that some are open. I mean,
I know some of them are available for leasing as well. So, and I know the parking lot does
hold 60 spaces. So, we were thinking like outside of the hours that we would choose
to probably have anything there it shouldn't the parking lot wouldn't be utilized as much as it
would be maybe earlier in the daytime for other businesses but also i want to i've already moved
this into evidence earlier april 3rd letter from the landlord uh it says here that the uh
he's of course supporting this use you know obviously because it's uh the endorsement
The endorsement is granted with the understanding that all applicable regulations and community interests will be respected throughout the process.
is granted with the understanding that all applicable regulations and community interests
We'll be.
The condominium documents for the reference property clearly state, quote, all units are unrestricted as to use.
There was a question as to whether this use could be consistent with the condominium documents.
Obviously, this letter provides that, you know, refutes that it in fact is with no right of approval given to the condominium board or any other tenants in the building.
So this use does not have to go before any board. This will be the final say here today.
In addition, the tenant has stated the type of events they plan to host will not be noisy or offensive to other tenants in the building.
Rather, they will be low-impact events.
Pursuant to the terms of the lease, the tenants are prohibited from producing sounds that are audible beyond the confines of the premises
and will comply at its own expense with all ordinances and laws,
all regulations of government and authorities and all sound mitigation and he's confident that
it'll be an asset and it goes on and i've moved that into evidence i just needed to make sure
that you understood we have a plan we've uh we of course there's always concerns with a new
commercial so you agreeable with like a temporary variance you were saying absolutely absolutely
temporary variance we've got the parking and the questions and the trash yes okay um when you talk
about these different events i didn't hear much about uh food services so what are we talking
about with respect to those like some of them you're talking about community meetings and things
like that then others you've been talking about maybe repast and things like that so how are we
handling that and is there other facilities in there to handle uh there's a kitchenette
kind of kitchenette yeah so there is a small kitchenette in there um that would be able to
be utilized for any prepping of food there's not a full-scale kitchen so there's no cooking
that would be allowed in the premises at all um but if they just wanted to like have food
like presented on the counter or something like that or prep a salad or something it would be
space for that um outside of that we're not supplying food it's not it's not a commercial
kitchen and there will be zero cooking on the primary at least at least there's a place where
you can clean it uh that is what's my next question yes so there's there's uh some kind
of sink and water facility so that you can bring i can bring the plan oh yes yes okay all right
thank you any other questions yeah real quick have you run to places like this before so i've been
i actually have a friend who owns an event space um so i've been talking to her i have not personally
granted, but I've been in conversation with her for the last five years. So I know like a lot of
what she's experienced, she's been able to walk me through a lot of her pitfalls and challenges
and things that she's changed. She actually was the one who initially when I had the idea who
suggested not to get into the parties because she saw that it would be better and probably a little
bit more manageable doing other type of events. So that's why I'm not trying to really get into
like the party aspect of it as much, but I haven't personally read it. And I've also was part of a
mentorship program for six months that I paid money into by some, it was ran by someone who
actually also operates events basis on a large scale. And they, during that mentorship, went
through like all the processes of how to open one, how to legally run one, a lot of the pros
and cons of how to run one and be successful with it. Okay. Questions or comments from our attorney?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair. Could you do me a favor? Could you take a seat in the back a minute?
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, we have a hand up from a Kimberly West Brown.
No, I have two in the audience here first.
I'm going to do the audience here first.
Okay, ma'am, want to come up?
Good morning.
Make sure the mic is closed if you can, okay?
Could you state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Christine.
davis c-h-r-i-s-t-i-n-e right davis d-a-v-i-s do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth nothing but the truth yes are you a neighbor yes please proceed well the neighbors
are expressing concerns regarding one of the main issues is parking.
We have a senior citizen's center less than a block away.
The traffic is a serious issue.
Now, they say they have parking.
that parking lot that they're talking about is full okay my house
is full okay my house is right around the corner from here
you can't get a parking spot over there in that lot
the area that they're talking about it could bring a lot of negative traffic
or not a lot of negative um they start off with events they always do
We don't want, I'm trying to be nice about, but straight up, we don't want no negative foolishness in that area. The corners are already loaded. The traffic is loaded. The neighbors do not want them parking in our driveway.
and if you've been to events when they come to events they're going to park anywhere that they
want and we won't be able to get into our garages or our driveways we don't want this event center
all right and there's just no parking the senior citizens come around now when they get ready to go
to the um senior citizen zone they parked on our streets when we come home there's no parking i'm
fortunate enough to have a garage but they're gonna trust me they're gonna come in that driveway
and park all right i i we would we respectfully ask you not to allow this burn do you have any
questions just one ma'am are you aware of the event space that is right behind this site this
that yeah okay thank you all right thank you do you want to please come up
good morning good morning mr chair and good morning could you um state your name and spell
for this stenographer absolutely my name is kimberly lloyd k-i-m-b-e-r-l-y lloyd l-l-o-y-d
you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do are you a neighbor
i am a uh president of the uh community development corporation called ogans avenue
revitalization court known as orc yeah and i am also president of in ogance hall investors
which is the majority owner of the condominium association of which uh this project this unit
is a part of why don't you start your testimony absolutely so first and foremost i'd like to note
that proper notice was not given to the community nor to the condominium association
secondly the condominium association of which we are 78 percent owners and to this current landlord
orders 22% never notified us of this particular project number three the condominium document
which is a recorded document in this project was developed redeveloped as a low-income housing tax
credit project with commercial space on the first floor in 1990 and this is a recorded
document with the city of Philadelphia there are use restrictions in regards to every commercial
unit in this condominium association the restricted usage is a adult bookstore adult video store
massage parlors taverns discotheque video amusement arcades and our pawn shops so quite a bit of what
this potential tenant has indicated that they were due is a use restriction to the condominium
association the other issue is the trash as previously noted by the resident so every
tenant has to have its own medallion uh i met with the potent the tenant regarding this project
the issue was was that one there's no parking as noted this is that parking lot is occupied by
people who are going to pendot fine wine of spirits or any of the other shops that are along
that corridor from the 7100 block to um uh to the corner that sits where the gulf is
the other issue is that there's no place for them to put a trash receptacle uh we get a lot of
notices about illegal dumping and in talking with the tenants they did not know that process of
getting a receptacle for trash. The other issue is the cars. Ogons Avenue is the gateway into
Philadelphia. There is no place to park on Ogons Avenue. There's no place to park behind Ogons
Avenue. Typically, the residents are in that area. They rarely move their cars. The apartment
building that is above is mainly a senior housing project. For any type of noise that to filter up,
For any type of noise that to filter up, and this is quiet enjoyment, as according to the condominium document, is to be enjoyed by the residents.
And this is quite enjoyment as a court.
And so to have something such as that would be, again, an issue in regards to the apartment renters who are above.
And we have individuals who have been in these units for over 15 years.
The other issue is that the tenant, when they met with me, expressed that their monthly rent is $4,000.
$4,000. By the way, nothing that has come out of this witness so far is even relevant.
Say that again, the rent? Yes. It was indicated to me by the tenants
that the rent is $4,000 for this property. It's not even relevant.
I understand. The reason why it's relevant is because to meet their rental obligations
that they will not be able to make money off the uses that they're currently indicating
for this project. We appreciate Madam President's business acumen, but I think my client knows what
she's doing. Okay. Okay. In addition to that, I just want to note something that was noted by
the attorney. So ORC does not own the rental space across the street. The rental space across the
street is owned by Maine Development. Maine Development, it used to be a Ogon's Realty.