additional features and then second floor in operation now i don't believe so at the moment
um so the second floor was the daycare now they want to use the first floor too
yeah i think back in 1989 is when that um permit was pulled i don't think it's still in functioning
since uh their ownership i just think given the state of the interior i would i don't think
anybody is in there at the moment.
So if we could call Stacey and Brian Phillips
so that they could be sworn in
and provide any additional information,
that would be great.
They should be coming back in as a panel shortly.
Stacy and Brian. Yes. Good afternoon. Hi. Hello. Hi. Why don't I do this in case both of you want to testify. I'll start with Ms. Phillips. Why don't you go first? State your name and spell for the sonographer.
Stacy Phillips. S-T-A-C-Y-P-H-I-L-L-I-P-S. You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes.
Mr. Phillips?
Brian Phillips, B-R-I-A-N, P-H-I-L-L-I-P-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Counsel, please proceed.
Brian and Stacey, have you heard my testimony today?
Do you believe it to be true and accurate, and can you adopt it as your own?
Yes, we believe it to be true and accurate, and yes, we adopt it as our own.
Thank you.
I just want to before any additional things you want to address, the chairman had asked the second floor is not has not been in use and it is not in use for the child care center currently.
Is that correct? That's correct. Okay. Do you know the last time since your ownership was, has it been any use for a child care center in there on the second floor?
Not since our ownership now. Okay.
If you want to share any comments briefly, you're welcome to do so at this time.
We are, as our attorney said, we are members of the community.
We were born and raised in the area.
We came back in 1990 and started a preschool on 56th Street.
So we've been in the community as a preschool for 35 years, since 1990, 1991.
and we then expanded to another center on 63rd street just a few years ago and it has just been
the the request of our community members and also our current clients to expand the the daycare
center to provide more services in the area and we just want to make sure that we're continuing
to beautify our neighborhood and also providing a much needed service and safety for the students
and children in our community can you just share just lastly about some of the um is it free
programming as a paid programming how many students will it be what are the ages just give a little
back detail to the board as well sure uh so we've we've received support from the reinvestment fund
so we will be able to provide um hopefully currently we provide free programming through
the City of Philadelphia's PHL Pre-K program. So a lot of the programming that we hope to provide
in this facility will mirror the others where there's no cost to the families for the daytime
programming. The city has provided a program for that. Also, there's going to be two and above,
ages two and above, and there will also be an after-school component so that the students
up to age 12 will be able to come and utilize the facility, and we also will accept families
And we also will accept families of all kinds, obviously, no matter what their affordability is.
of all kinds, obviously.
But for the most part, we do plan to have the PHL Pre-K program, which will provide free programming.
It will also increase at least 7 to 10 jobs, increase it by 10.
And also the number of students would be 60, roughly 60 preschoolers and around 15 after school students, before and after school students.
And then just quickly, Brian, if you could just address construction timeline, I just think that would be helpful for the board as well.
um the existing construction timeline would be about between uh three and four months give or
take how long it takes to get permits uh we only have to put up a new four classrooms so it's about
four or five partitions we're going to be provided that'll be new um all the other space would be
existing and then we would be putting down just existing um like finished floors in the existing
space. But like on the second floor, where they used to have a very, I'd say about 2,000 square
feet, we're breaking that up into two smaller classrooms. One may be about 600 square feet,
the other one give or take 500 square feet, just to make it more intimate and teachable with smaller
preschool sizes. But for most of the building, we're utilizing a lot of the space that's
there. And we have two nice medium-sized spaces for after-school programs. We're looking for,
as Dr. Phillips said, for ages up to like 12 years old. Thank you.
Mr. Phillips, maybe you could explain to us just real quickly, are you going to have
the cooking food on site for people? Will there be a commercial kitchen?
How many bathrooms are you going to put in? That kind of issue.
um well the kitchen is a commercial based kitchen most of our sites um we have a service where the
food comes prepared we just do warming we don't have it's not like a full service kitchen where
we're cooking yeah all of the classrooms has a separate bathroom for each classroom but there's
also on the first floor there's an extra like four classrooms that can be utilized but at all our
newer centers, each classroom has its own bathroom for the kids.
And then there's a separate set of gang bathrooms just as a backup
for staff to have their own privacy.
Questions from the board?
Is there any outdoor space?
On this particular site?
A yard or anything like that? No.
So what's the plan for outdoor activities for the young people?
So for the requirements for the outdoor play space, if there's no outdoor play space, then we need to provide indoor play space.
And so we will be taking one of the classrooms and it will be converted into an indoor play space.
And then there's also outdoor play space in our facility that's just a few blocks down.
There's also the public rec center right there at 57th and Vine, where we can take the students to the playground, the park, so we can utilize the public facilities for outdoor play space.
But we do provide indoor play space.
Thank you.
I think the outdoor option is really good.
Also, there was some opposition.
Do you know what the opposition was for?
you had like folks that opposed to what it was for well one one concern was about um they asked
about parking um and we kind of explained to them in traffic of course um that in the morning you
know it gets a little heavy for drop off at none of our centers we have any traffic concerns because
most of the parents are trying to get to work so they come and drop their kids off um we have a
real good intake process, and then they're gone. So we just told them, you know, for five to ten
minutes, you have a few cars coming in, but none of them are hanging around, double parked. So that
was one concern. And then the other concern was just about the neighborhood itself. It really had
nothing to do with the building or in the business. It was just, she was just kind of adamant about
the safety of the area. But also we told them we bring our own security. We have people that come
and just check on the centers just to make sure that we're okay. And we have a relationship with
the police and the fire department to do things with our kids. So we try to keep a presence
as well. And all of our centers have security with cameras all the way around. So we try to do the
We try to do the best we can with that. So that concern we really couldn't address, but we could address what we could do structurally to our facility.
the best we can with that.
So that concerned.
There was also one more concern about our vehicles. Would, you know, school buses or anything like that be parked at the vehicle at the facility?
and we did explain that there's a parking spot at our original facility on 56 and Vine
for where we park our van and our bus.
So no vehicles would be parked at that facility.
Will, handicap accessibility, how are you?
We have a proposed ramp at the entrance as soon as you come in.
We have a set of double doors and a single personnel door,
But the set of double doors ramp, we have an interior ramp that comes in and gets us to the first floor there.
So you're going to have an exterior ramp also because it looks like it's a.
No, the ramp is interior.
As soon as you open up the double doors, you walk about, give or take, six, seven feet.
And there will be a ramp to get you up into the open space, which used to be the sanctuary of the church.
OK, so there's so OK, so there's zero step entrance into them.
OK, gotcha.
Yeah. You got it. Other questions? So how many children all together in the different
facilities that you have are you servicing or providing your services to?
In addition, there was 60. You're projecting there'll be 60 here. Is that what I heard?
Yes. Yes. And then you said you had two other facilities.
Yes. So you want to know what the yeah, what the student count is at our other facilities?
OK, so on 56 and Vine, we have 84 students in that building and it's a building with a trailer and a large play yard.
And then one block down, there's a we occupy the basement of a church and there are 90 students in that building.
And then on 63rd Street, we currently have around 68 to 70 students in that building.
And then this is going to be an additional, how many did you say?
I thought I heard 60, but then I heard something about maybe 15 after school.
yeah so full-time 60 full-time students and then roughly um 12 to 15 before and after school
students okay all right the questions how many how many how many staff members did you say you had
at this facility you were planning this facility will add from eight to ten staff members
okay all right thank you you're welcome questions from our attorney
uh no chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
i do not see any hands mr chair planning commission amy boyd with the planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning to the current rsa 5 residential single
family. The proposed child care center is an expansion of a line standing permitted use.
The proposed use will have minimal impacts on the surrounding properties and the appellant
has shown that there are unique physical conditions or circumstances that would prevent
the property from being used in conformance with the zoning code. The Planning Commission
recommends that the Board grant their proposed variance for child care center.
MI 2025-004020, 236 to 40 North 60th Street, I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes, and I commend you for the work that you're doing and the number of children that you're serving and providing some needed, I would think, boost to their young educational lives.
Absolutely.
thank you tenetta graham my vote is yes ryan mcadams my vote is yes thank you number 11 thank
you thank you oh thank you number 11 mi 2025 004 825 1 convention avenue ronald
patterson is the attorney and then um alan will be with you and you'll do three in a row
Mr. Patterson, could you please state your name and spell for this sonographer?
Good afternoon.
Ronald Patterson, P-A-T-T-E-R-S-O-N, Claire Harrison Law Firm, 1834.
Patterson, P-A-T-T-E-R-S-O-N, Claire Harrison Law Firm, 1835 Market Street.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Could you identify your client and relationship to the property?
With me is Derek Tash, T-A-S-C-H, and he's an architect with the University of Pennsylvania Penn Medicine.
Okay. And there is a unanimous support from Southwest Philadelphia District Services and a letter of non-opposition from Councilmember Gauthier. Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, I have.
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Okay, thank you. You can begin your presentation.
so this application regards one convention avenue it's the university of pennsylvania
penn medicine pavilion hospital located next to the penn museum its services include cardiology
neuroscience and oncology it's an innovative facility that supports research and clinicians
and faculty. It has approximately 500 private rooms, 47 operating rooms, and 1.5 million square
feet of floor space. I would say it's the icon of the campus. It has existing building identification
sign, as you see at the top here on both sides of the building. It has the pen shield and pen,
and it also has a monument sign, which I'll show you in a minute.
It has another sign package throughout the campus that includes wayfinding signs
and right-of-way signs on the sidewalk.
It's located in an SPINS district, which allows flat wall and freestanding signs,
but no greater than 64 square feet each.
The hospital opened in 2021, and in 2021, the board approved these two roofs, we'll call flat wall signs on the upper floor, not a roof sign, and a monument sign.
Today, we are seeking changes to the signs.
Let's see if I can show you this.
This is the location of the two building identification signs.
Here's an existing monument sign, which I'll show you, and we're asking for an additional monument sign at this location.
So we're looking to, I'll say, rebrand the hospital for a few important reasons, for rebranding, for identification, for waif signing, and increasing traffic safety.
We have three refusals, one for each sign, because we'd exceed 64 square feet.
I'll have Derek now testify with me.
Derek, if you want to tell the board your name and address.
Derek, why don't you state your name and spell for the sonographer?
My name is Derek Tash, D-E-R-E-K-T-A-S-C-H.
All right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Counsel, please proceed.
Thank you.
Derek, what's your position with Penn?
I am the health system architect for Penn Medicine.
You've heard my presentation so far.
Would you agree it's true and accurate?
And you would adopt it as if it were your own?
I would.
So why does Penn Medicine want to change these signs?
You might say it was initially triggered with the renaming of the building itself.
Earlier this year, we did receive a generous gift in exchange for renaming the building from the Clifton family.
very long-standing supporters of the of the health system and the university as a whole board members