this stuff um one of them being a deluxe listing which mr lolio has been here in the past and
had testified to his strict vetting and strict maintenance of the properties okay and um does
he have like a rating gillian do you have a rating yet anywhere it's a rating on the on the on the
airbnb platform you mean yes yeah it's it's it's i believe it's around like 4.8 4.9 but i've
it's it's very hard yeah out of five stars that's right oh okay that's high yeah
questions from our attorney not at this time questions or comments from the virtual audience
i think cheryl's shopping no hands at this time chair any commission michael gall with the
philadelphia city planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends a change in
zoning at this location from the existing RM1 residential multifamily to RSA5 residential
single-family attached. The appellant has not demonstrated that there are any unique
the appellant has not demonstrated that there are any unique physical conditions or circumstances of
physical conditions or circumstances of the property that would
the property that would prevent it from being used in strict conformance with the zoning code
therefore the city planning commission recommends the board deny the requested variance for visitor
accommodation use in my 2025-005-438-2408 nicholas street i vote yes temporary variance expires 5729
Thank you, Michael Johns. My vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaster, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Taya Wayne, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
MI-2025-006-773-2233 North 7th Street. Eric Carroll is the attorney.
they're being promoted to panelists share
unanimous support from 37 ward RCO and non-opposition from council member Young
good morning chairman panel Eric Carroll here for the applicant appellant
hi Mr Kers could you please spell your name for the stenographer
certainly eric c-a-r-r-o-l-l right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
but the truth i do and could you identify your client a relationship to this property yes so my
client is um unique consulting and investments and the principal of that firm moniquetta coats
uh is here in the virtual audience she is the contractor and consultant for the tenant in this
the commercial tenant in this space son Sarah Hammond or voice shares a few
questions good afternoon have you submitted your documents and exhibits
five days in advance of this hearing yes and do you waive the reading of the
referral and stipulate to its accuracy I do okay thank you can show your screen
and proceed with your case okay the the property here at issue actually goes by
two addresses 22 33 north 7th street as well as 22 24 to 22 50 germantown avenue uh the proper
the property as a whole is this white building here that was erected in 2021 dolphins dolphin
street is immediately to the north uh germantown avenue is to the east and 7th street is to the
west and it's it's a triangular property at the end of the block so you can see it's a four story
building. Those are residential apartments on floors two, three, and four. And the first
floor is, it's a commercial space and some offices for the leasing company.
Property zone CMX2. My, as I said, my client is unique consulting investments. They're a
contractor and development consultant they were retained by Sun Sarah Hammond an individual who
signed a commercial lease for part of the first floor space what Ms Hammond wants to do is install
a event space it would be known as S and S Lux suite this would be an event space that you know
where people could rent out it's not a bar or a restaurant it's for private events
i've submitted all the documents this is the refusal as you see the application is for event
space with occasional live entertainment and that proposed use is not permitted here this
is a referral for special exception not not a not a refusal the appeal was submitted
project information form was submitted
these are the plans as I mentioned it's a it's a triangular property the event space would be at
the point of the triangle which is on the left of these plants here but actually to the north
pointing towards Dolphin Street you can see the layout you would walk in at the at the entrance
at the building and then there's the event space here uh where the tables and chairs or whatever
people renting the space would want to put in would be kitchen and bathrooms in the back the
whole area is only 2662 square feet the other portion of the first floor there there ultimately
may be other tenants in there but we are only leasing this Porsche this front portion here
this these are pictures of what the interior looks like as you can see
These are pictures of what the interior looks like.
As you can see, the fit out has been completed.
Another one here.
My client actually met with the RCO back on April 15th.
And as part of that meeting, she prepared this overview.
So what it is, professionally managed indoor event space for private celebrations,
small gatherings, business meeting, community events. This is not a very big space, so there's
not going to be a lot of people there. There's no liquor license. There's going to be no alcohol
sales. This is not going to be a late night club or anything like that. There's ample parking along
Germantown Avenue. For this part of the city, it's an oddly low density area, and there's ample
street parking the 37th ward rco voted unanimously in support 13-0 on april 15th
i have the pictures of the posted notices along the building
certificates of mailing for the rco meeting
uh and this is also the tax clearance certificate
for son sarah hammond and her lease with with the with the actual building owner germantown owner llc
um i have miss coates in the audience in the virtual audience i would ask that she be
elevated unless there's any questions at this point um is it possible that the tenant could
be asked to adopt your testimony as opposed to the contractor who she hired because i do
looks like she is in the audience uh if ms hammond is in the audience yes she could be elevated and
i've absolutely thank you
what's your name again
since sarah hammond can you raise your hand please currently miss hammond and miss coates
are both declining to become panelists at this time um let me see i have hold on let me see if
i can get in touch with them okay she's trying i just got a text from my client apparently she's
trying to join right now okay all right miss hammond can you please accept the request to be
promoted to a panelist do we share
Ms. Hammond, can you please unmute yourself and turn on your camera, you've been promoted.
Thank you.
so how are we making out with seeing her um it looks like she went off of the zoo so so council
you know officer the court could can you answer most of the questions you think yes okay questions
from the board what's your hours of operation um it would mostly be in the afternoons uh on the
weekends or evenings but i think the latest thing will be scheduled for like the limit at the end of
night would be 9 or 10 o'clock maybe even earlier would you say to end at 9 yes yes this would not
be a late night establishment i have a question about deliveries um i understand that you guys
have that primary entrance that's at the corner of germantown and 7th street um but it is you know
there's a column in front of it so i'm wondering is it your plan to have like all if you're going
If you're going to have a rental furniture, if you're going to have catering coming in and out of that same entrance, or do you have access to like a loading dock?
to have a rental furniture if you're going to have catering coming in and out of that same entrance
There's a, yeah, there's actually a, there's a, on 7th street, there's a side door entrance and that's, which once you go into that, that's, you know, where the trash trucks come in and out there.
There's a large space in inside the building coming off 7th street.
and your client will have use of that space yes that's an agreement with building management yes
and then my second question and what is the plan on site for amplified sound or music or even live
music um to the extent there would be live music there would not be it would not be a situation
where there wouldn't be a concert situation it would be like a small band or a dj or something
like that um but it would decibels would be contractually limited
understood but there's still so there's plan to have that on site
what's going to be the plan for sound attenuation between the floors for the residences above
The landlord does not have an issue with this. As I said, it's a new building.
I understand that. That wasn't my question.
I'm sorry. Could you rephrase your question, please?
My question was, what is your client's plan for sound attenuation between the units, given that
this is a first commercial condo and there are a rental unit and there are residences above
i don't we don't think that that will be an issue given the construction but if it is i mean we're
just going to have to further limit the the decibel um cap on the on the contracts okay
and then on the plan i just because i'm looking in google maps hi good afternoon this is sansari
hammond i apologize for the delay sure could you please state your name and spell it for the
stenographer. Sure. Sanceri Hammond, S-O-N-C-E-R-A-H-A-M-M-O-N-D. Do you swear or affirm the
tell the truth, told truth, nothing about the truth? Yes. And you're the owner. Yes. You're
going to be the tenant. Yes. Of those speeds. Yes. Questions? Ms. Hammond, could you speak to
the volume issues with the live music? So there shouldn't be any live music here. If you heard
live music it can be from my other cell phone which is vibrating but there should be live music
at the no no at the in the event space you're going to have djs oh i'm so sorry i was i was
out of the meeting for a moment so i didn't hear that information so we will allow djs but to a
certain extent and we do have speakers also that we do provide yeah so my question was actually
what is the plan for sound attenuation between your unit and the residences above
so the ducting work that was built into the space does allow the information to be sound
proof for the tenants above so there shouldn't be any sound issues with the tenants being able
to hear anything that goes on within the commercial space okay and then uh the other
question was about loading in like for furniture or for catering and deliveries so we don't allow
any catering um if people can bring food but not a physical caterer because we do not have
a kitchenette inside the space low and then we do load it we can load in from the main entrance
into the side the suite so your plan is to do drop off catering only yes okay and then what
so what type of events are you planning on having in this space typically small intimate events such
as baby showers um office events cater um not caterers office events baby showers parties very
intimate set set in no more than about 60 to 70 people and then what's the max uh what's the max
people that can be in the space 75 okay all the questions questions from our attorney
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
no hands at this time i did want to clarify um because this is a large building and there are
i believe multiple commercial spaces is this considered unit b this is considered commercial
2. Yes. Tenant B. Yes. Tenant B. Commercial 2. Okay. Yes. Thank you. No problem.
Anyone in the virtual audience? No hands at the time, Chair. Planning Commission.
Michael Gall with the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. The comprehensive plan recommends no
change to the existing CMX2 commercial mixed-use zoning at this location. This property has a long
documented history as a hotel location dating to well before the adoption of
the city's first zoning code and the property subsequently operated as an
auto repair business. In the new building, the proposed use of this
In the new building, the proposed use of this property as an assembly facility is consistent with the corridor nature of Germantown Avenue and should cause no undue detriment to neighboring properties beyond what might otherwise be expected.
property as an assembly facility is consistent with the corridor nature
Therefore, the Philadelphia City Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the requested special exception for event assembly facility use.
MI 2025-006-773-2233 North 7th Street.
I vote yes with proviso. Events to end by 9 p.m. and commercial, unit commercial B only.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Taya Wynn, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you, Council.
And just to clarify, I'll put on the notice of decision, it's commercial 2 slash tenant B.
That's kind of a double name.
i'll put both on there so it's clear thank you um number 15.
MI-2025-007-015-203-09, Diamond Street. Myra the Ferliger is the attorney.
Non-opposition from Council Member Lozada. Letter of support from Norris Square.
Council, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Meredith Ferliger, F-E-R-L-E-G-E-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
My client is SAV Investments, LLC, and that LLC is represented today on the Zoom by Dan Hirschel.
Okay. Our Vice Chair has a few questions. Hi. Good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing? Yes, I did. And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? Yes, I do. Okay. Thank you. You can show your screen and proceed with the case.
all right we do also on the zoom today have our architect logan dry from kca in case there are
any questions before the board today is a proposal that will eliminate a long vacant lot at the
corner of diamond street and north phillip street in the city's nara square section of north
philadelphia this identical proposal was approved by the board back in 2020 though with different
refusals at the time than are before the board today due to a change in zoning that has occurred
since then the property involved as you know is 203 209 diamond street and is currently zoned rsa5
it was last zoned cmx2 during the initial approval the board has an exhibit packet in front of you
with 16 exhibits, including tax clearance at Exhibit 2 and the deed to the property at Exhibit 3.
As Mr. Chairman mentioned, we are also pleased to include at Exhibit 16 letters of support from
both the Councilwoman and the official RCO for this property.
Turning to the zoning map here on the screen at Exhibit 5, you'll see that this lot here
is at the corner of diamond street and north phillip street just by way of context north
american street is just to the west of the property what is notable here is that this is the
only rsa5 zoned lot facing diamond street for many many blocks to both the west as well as to
the east and if i just sort of scroll over i on the view that i have here i can't even get an rsa5
lot to the west, and the next one to the east is all the way over here at Hancock Street.
Other than this anomaly in zoning classification, all of the other lots facing Diamond Street are
zoned RM1, CMX2, or ICMX on the American Street corridor. As you can see on the next couple of
pages, this area was rezoned shortly after the board's last approval for this lot, rezoning the
lot from cmx2 to its current condition rsa5 the aerials to the property are shown at exhibit 7
the aerials to the property are shown at exhibit seven just to give you a little bit more context
just to give you
in the first view here looking north you'll see the vacant lot that is the subject of this
application at the corner now if the board takes note of the surrounding area you'll see a dominant
industrial commercial stretch along american street and then more more uh proximate to this
property you'll see an auto repair garage directly next door to the east of the property
now from this view you'll also see the newer multi-family
developments that have been constructed closer to diamond street along some of the side streets
the next image here is just a closer view and again just showing you a little bit
better context of north second street just to the east of the property
And again, this is looking at the property from the east direction, looking towards North 2nd Street.
And then this large vacant swath of land here that you can see in the image is currently under construction for a new commercial office building.
looking at the uh street view images here this first image of the property is from north phillip