community development corporation my name is spelled c-h-r-i-s and my last name is spelled
s-p as in peter a-h-r um i we're in front of the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do please proceed uh yes i i was not going to speak today i was gonna there's several residents
who are on the call who i believe are going to speak um and i was going to leave it up to them
But after hearing Mr. Labor's presentation, I felt it necessary to correct his inaccurate statements around engagement with the Centennial Parkside CDC.
We have been engaging with the owner of this property since he bought the property.
We have invited him to our office and had multiple discussions.
We have invited him to East Parkside Residence Association meetings, which he has not attended.
We have tried to work with them to figure out what was the best way to produce this.
And we are supportive of a new restaurant space in this area.
We appreciate the effort that he has put into renovating the building, as well as renovating the building across the street.
We think he's done a nice work with the with the facade improvements and so forth.
We the concern that that and the times that he has presented to me about putting in a drive through there.
The only feedback that I have given him is that I don't think the community would be receptive to it because of the major traffic congestion that exists at the intersection as a result of the zoo traffic.
as well as the trolley line, as well as the high school of the future across the street,
and having a drive-through there would not be conducive. So that is the advice that I have
given him. He's still gone forward with the idea of the drive-through. I understand it as a business
reason, and I do understand the cause of that. But as you will see from the letter from the RCO
meeting, which is the one time he decided to meet with the community, it was unanimous to oppose
an option for a drive-through at that space.
I'd also like to note that the letter that Mr. Layers provided from Evan Litvin
supporting the project, Evan is not a resident of the community. He owns
1130 North 48th Street, which he bought about a year and a half to two years ago.
And so he is a business, he's not a business owner in the community,
he owns a building, it's a vacant building right now, does not live in the community. So I just wanted
to clarify that. And I will leave
the the rest of um the conversation today to some of the residents who have a deep concern i just
want to do um correct some of the inaccuracies accuracies that mr lavers uh spoke about about
the cdc not being mr laver mr laver hold on one at a time please so yes i just i just wanted to
clarify and correct the inaccuracies that were presented because we did not appreciate that
after the effort we've put into trying to work with the owners of this building um and and it's
been the meetings have been fine we've had great discussions but it's not that we have not met
and tried to work with them so i just wanted to clarify that thank you mr laver uh don't want to
get into a big debate here uh state whatever it is you want to state and i have some suggestions
i i'm sorry hold on again mr there's total feedback again
everyone sounds like they're in an echo chamber i think you'll be fine now thank you mr chairman
and members of the board this board knows me and my i care very much about the words that i state
to this board uh i i heard mr spar i respect him i think that perhaps there there may be some
miscommunication because Mr. Spahr, Dr. Spahr, rather, as I understand it, is a paid professional
with the organization, and I was asked to speak with community volunteers, including Lorraine
Gomez, with whom I had the most interaction. We desperately are interested in ongoing discussions
with the community, and they have not happened after that meeting. I don't, like you said,
Chair, I don't wish to put that, go into those types of details on the record.
on the record. The legal issue before the board is the takeout restaurant. I understand the
The legal issue before the board is the takeout restaurant.
concerns on other surrounding issues such as the drive-through which we are committed to ongoing
dialogue on that piece. So it sounds to me from your earlier statements and your recent statement
just now and from Mr. Spahr that there's still maybe an opportunity to have a continued dialogue
pardon me we would welcome it chairman would you want to do that by way of a definite date or have
an attorney moving party i think a definite date would make sense considering my percent i i want
to make sure that we all make this a priority to me all right is mr spar available
and i don't mean to discount the other folks who might want to weigh in on this but
But if we're going to continue this, the plan may change somewhat and there may be some acceptance later on.
So rather than go through this exercise, it might be better off if we continue.
Mr. Spahr?
Yes, I'm still here.
Did you hear what I asked, Mr. Labor?
Yes, I just would like clarification as to what you are proposing.
uh well we can continue this case which would give uh you and uh your your neighbors and the
applicant opportunity to have further dialogue and maybe come up with something that is acceptable
maybe not i don't know but that's we can give you some extra time i mean i i think we're we're happy
to have uh further dialogue we're always open to dialogue um uh we've had dialogue for several
years on this um but i do think it's important that residents are given the chance to speak at
this meeting as well because i know that several of them are i've been waiting for a long time to
say something as well i understand but if we're going to if there's an agreement to continue this
case there are things that may be uh introduced at the next community meeting that may may be
acceptable to the community so i rather not just deal with the case as it is in front of us
because there may be some uh amendments to what is being proposed i don't want to belabor the
record on something that may not be something we're going to be asked to vote on after the
next community meeting we certainly would be willing to discuss that um one condition i would
ask that you just allow one more person to speak today uh if you could allow joy smith who was on
the line to speak as well and again we don't mean to be disrespectful but again we might not be
talking about apples to apples two weeks and i don't i don't feel you're being disrespectful i
just i just i understand where you're coming from um i would just like the vice president of my
board joy smith to have an opportunity to chime in i'll do that momentarily but the next question
is when is your next meeting or when i'm trying to get a timeline for both sides
it's two weeks too soon or is it i mean what are we looking at i i think we i would have to discuss
with our zoning chair lorraine gomez who was mentioned earlier um because she scheduled those
meetings but i i don't see it a problem but she's the one who does the scheduling so i would need
her to uh i'm not sure if she's on or not um if she is i'll ask her to raise her hand she's
I'm going to try to be on.
Chair, I have a question.
Mr. Spahr, what board is it that you're part of?
I'm the executive director of the Centennial Parkside Community Development Corporation.
We're the community development corporation for the neighborhood as well as the RCO for
the neighborhood as well.
One of the RCOs for the neighborhood.
Yeah, I'm familiar with that neighborhood also, Chairman.
It's a wonderful neighborhood.
It really is.
It is.
It's great.
Who was the lady you had mentioned?
Ms. Joyce Smith, she's on the line as well.
Ms. Smith, if you can please identify yourself, name and address.
Ms. Smith, you've been unmuted, please unmute yourself.
Okay, thank you, I have. Can you hear me?
Yes, Ms. Smith, please identify yourself, name and address.
Yes, my name is Joy Smith. I live at 4251 Viola Street. I'm a resident of East Parkside and also
president of the Centennial Parkside CDC. Thank you. Swear and affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Yes. Have you heard my statements, my questions
about does it make any sense to have this case continued so that the community and the applicant
and his attorney can, you know, address any outstanding issues.
And maybe there's some adjustments to what we're talking about today
to what we're talking about today that might be, may be acceptable to the community going forward.
that might be acceptable to the community.
And if that's agreeable, I'm trying to get a timeline for when you guys will be meeting next.
We could do it within a month or so, but I still would like to present from a resident's
uh perspective uh just a very short statement or two please do thank you okay i just want to say
at our rco meeting the community unanimously opposed this use for a variety of reasons but
for the primary reason which i will state here um was the exact as the this current use will
exacerbate the existing conditions we are already burdened with um we have a high volume of traffic
in this area and specifically at the corner of 40th and dry now in the photos i was looking at
the developer's attorney's photo, and it's missing a very important element, something that residents
experience in our everyday life. It was a very nice drawing, but this is not conducive to a
walkable community. This highly congested area is a maze for residents. Crossing the streets is
extremely taxing. We have cars, septa buses, trolleys at this very complex intersection.
This area is a thoroughfare for East and West 76th Highway, the Vine Street Expressway, just two blocks down the street.
There's a lot of speeding cars. We see a lot of trucks, high volume of automobiles, traffic from tourists driving to Screamer Park, the Philadelphia Zoo.
Please touch me, Sam, and other nearby cultural institutions.
There's a high school across the street, and it's not safe for them.
A few stats. Philadelphia Zoo receives over 1.2 million visitors. The museum alone gets 500,000 visitors. The combination of Derod Avenue and Parkside would intersect daily over 27, almost 28,000 traffic cars we see back and forth.
this community overwhelmingly opposes this particular use that would only add to increase
the traffic congestion in this area. Any additions or increases to traffic will definitely have an
adverse impact on the quality of life in East Parkside. Now, the community welcomed development,
we really do, and we welcome a continued conversation with this developer, but we
respectfully ask that developer
reconsiders
his use, and we
the community would love to be able
to sit down and talk to him about that.
Thank you. Thank you.
Mr. Lavery, still interested in having
a further conversation?
We've been interested in speaking.
I don't know
what this may or may not
yield. I didn't
want to cross-examine at this
particular time
there's additional information if we are not able to agree that I will have to put on the record
but I believe that as the chair suggested a conversation may make sense okay Tanya we got
something about a month out or or Fatina someone March 24th at 9 30
Okay. Again, no disrespect to the other folks we're waiting on to testify. Things may change
between now and March 24th. So we'll wait to hear what happens on the 24th. MI 2020.
Chairman. Yes, I'm sorry, Tom. Yeah, I'd like to put on record my opinion.
yeah sure I'm sorry I forgot to ask I am familiar with the neighborhood and I believe the
major traffic problem is at the gasoline station and not 40th and uh Girard so I just want to put
that on record thank you okay Mr. Chairman can I echo yes can I can I echo what he said I'm
extremely familiar with that neighborhood and i agree with what tom said okay but again we may
not be talking about right similar project going forward maybe maybe not uh in the interest of
everyone's uh concern we're going to continue this case mi 2020-002-482-3948-50 west
gerard avenues continued to march the 24th at 9 30 a.m thank you mr chair yes i'm sorry
if i could just interject this is a resumption hearing i'm sorry yes therefore no posting
is required thank you mrs okay okay thank you all thank you calendar number
Okay thank you all. Thank you. Calendar number 2479-435 South 56th Street.
Should be Vern Anastasio.
Mr. Anastasio has just been promoted to panelists.
Hi, Vern. Can you put your name and address on the record and spell your last name, please?
Sure. Vern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O, 1315 Walnut, Suite 1006, Philadelphia, 19107.
You're already under oath. Do you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate
its accuracy? I do. Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership,
tax compliance refusal or referral photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of this
hearing and have you met with the rco and do you have a letter uh yes to all of that and you may
proceed i don't know if i personally have the letter but i know the letter has been sent
okay thank you you may proceed thank you i'm going to share
this first
good morning mr chairman and members of the board this is the subject property 435 south 56th street
it's a corner property that last known legal use was a commercial first floor and a nine unit
a boarding home, a single room residence with nine units. So there were nine residential units
and one commercial space in the two-story property. And I'm going to go to this prop.
This project goes back pretty long. In 2019, we put an application in for a four-family dwelling
and uh we met with achievability and in person this was of course pre-covid
we met with the community achievability which was the rco at the time uh we met to a full house
everyone on the block uh and as this letter states uh there was overwhelming support for the
the applicant's variance request. Then my client, Mr. Wright, unfortunately had a stroke and went
into a coma for a very long time. When he came out and recovered, he decided that what he'd like to
do is put an addition on the property so that the units, instead of four very small units,
could be very you know substantial very nice high quality units that would promote longevity with
larger you know larger families not just you know single individuals so we submitted for
the construction of an addition at the rear and above existing structure with roof deck
and roof deck access structures for the use of as a four-family dwelling. We got a bunch of
refusals. We have submitted new plans with the proviso sheet for new plans that eliminate the
first two refusals. The pilot house associated refusals are no longer germane. The maximum
occupied area and the rear yard those two are already pre-existing non-conforming uses so the
property already fits where it sits and so there's nothing really we could do about that
so the primary refusal of course is for the four-family dwelling which again achievability
room full of people had approved. Let me take you through.
Here's the plot plan. Here's the existing condition. Here's the addition, rear and third.
as of the date of this design each unit was a is a three family dwelling i'm sorry a three
bedroom apartment uh after some discussion with my client uh it it appears as though there's an
there's a want for a larger living area. So my client, if this board approves this appeal, my client
So my client, if this board approves this appeal, my client would be willing to accept gladly the proviso that no more than two bedrooms per unit.
That would ostensibly add a significant amount of living space, and it would be done relatively easy just by removal of a wall adjacent to the eat-in kitchen.
So, we then circulated petitions for this, which is right here, there's the proviso.
And I also want to tell you that what we did is with the revised plans, we went up and down 56th Street.
I'm going to stop sharing this for one moment.
I'm going to share another document, if you don't mind.
56th Street.