I just like to point out there will be no coffee roasting at the space and there will be no food preparation.
Any food that's sold is pre-prepared foods.
And, yeah, the concept is, you know, to serve families, to serve the community and to provide someone a safe and friendly activity.
The proposed hours would be daytime, 10 to 7, likely six days a week, potentially seven days a week if there's a need and demand.
And as I said before, the ceramics is a very popular activity in the region and in the area.
It's underserved because there aren't a lot of similar studios close by.
And it might it's something that could also serve the after the need for after school care, potentially family activities, birthday parties, something that that the that the that the neighbors were happy about and excited about.
I would like to point out there is some hardship to be aware of. The owner, Mr. Fung, has attempted to rent the air, rent the space for similar uses such as office space.
The only interest that he received was was more impactful uses such as a bakery, some interest for a bakery, some interest for a butcher, some interest for a deli.
And, you know, the reality is that the neighborhood probably doesn't need another bodega.
And, you know, certainly a butcher has more impactful use than than a coffee shop and an art and an art studio.
And the uses is consistent with the historical use of the of the building.
I the the the tenants are available should be available for any questions.
This is just the layout. So the this is the this is the front door, South East Street.
You you would walk in. There's a the coffee bar area and retail area.
Then there's the clay workshop and classes area. You have the existing bathroom.
And then this is the storage facility in the garage area. Trash can be maintained inside.
We plan to do commercial trash pickup as needed once to twice a week.
And there's no planned impact on the vicinity. We expect that most of the customers would be
pedestrian, walking customers. We don't foresee a need to impact the parking or the density of
the neighborhood. The tenants are here that can answer any questions as well as a ceramics expert
who can answer any questions. I'm not sure if the owner of the property is on the call. He had
another commitment, but we've represented the owner of the property historically as well. So
I have personal knowledge as to the matters that I'm testifying to. And I ask that the board adopt
my testimony and um and um why don't why don't we have one of your uh clients come on and adopt
your testimony thank you hannah lewis you available
they've been about to speak hi sir could you uh uh state your name and spell it please for the
court reporter. Hi, this is Hannah Gaudit, H-I-N-N-A-H-G-A-U-D-I-T-E. Right. Do you
swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? I do. Proceed,
counsel. Hannah, is anything that I testify to inaccurate or needing revision or correction?
no would you agree that my statements were truthful and consistent with um your plan to
operate the business proposed business yes okay thank you questions from the board no
Thank you. Questions from the board? No, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
No further answer, Mr. Chair. Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good morning, board members.
David Fecto with the City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single-family zoning at this location.
the applicant has shown that the configuration of the ground floor is consistent with a proposed
commercial use. The City Planning Commission recommends the board grant the use variances
for a prepared food shop and multiple principal uses on the lot, but deny the variance for limited
industrial use. Thank you. MI 2022 007333 1155 South A Street, I vote yes.
Thomas Holman, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
Okay, number 12, MI 2022-007-054-3103 Euclid Street.
Lynn Nichols is the attorney.
letter of support from strawberry mansion cdc with proviso
should we be joining this panelist sir okay good morning chair and good morning members of court
good morning miss nichols could you state your name please and spell for the court reporter
lynn nichols l-y-n-n last name n-i-c-h-o-l-s right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do could you identify your client the relationship
to this property brian watson and he's the he's the owner of the owner of the property okay our
Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its
accuracy? I agree to waive it. It is inaccurate in one respect. It has the Philadelphia Housing
Authority as the owner of the property, and that's not accurate. Okay. But I waive it in
all other respects. Okay, no problem. Have you emailed then all the required documents
and exhibits that are needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, and I emailed Hillary an amended packet last night with some documents that she had requested.
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen. You're welcome. Before I begin, Chair, can I ask
if there are any interested persons in the audience that intend to testify in this matter?
You can. Are there any? Are there any hands, Jason?
No, it's any hands at this time, sir. Thank you. Council, I have one question. I know you said the name still states Philadelphia Housing Authority, but do you have this project has anything to do with the PHA?
No, he bought the property from PHA. So you can see that I'm scrolling to it. I hadn't shared my
screen yet. On the deed, you'll see that it was a transfer from the Philadelphia Housing Authority
to BJA Real Estate LLC, which he is the owner of. Okay. Thank you. No problem.
You're welcome. May I share my screen? You can. Thank you.
All right. Can you see my screen here?
We can.
All right. So in this packet, there is the petition of appeal form, which indicates that this project will not increase traffic congestion.
It won't substantially or permanently harm neighbors.
And this is the least variance that we are seeking in terms of the code to provide relief.
We're seeking a two-family dwelling in an existing structure. The hardship here is that the neighborhood has changed in character from mainly single-family to multiple-family units.
right next door to 3103, 3105 Euclid was a single family and is now a duplex that was granted in
2016. There are other multiple family units on the block as well, 3114, I believe, and also 3100.
You see our zoning permit. Here's the deed, which shows that this was a
You see our zoning permit. Here's the deed, which shows that this was a property transferred from the Philadelphia Housing Authority to BJA Real Estate LLC.
see. The certificate of tax clearance is here. We mailed notices to 172 near neighbors and the RCO
meeting was held on April 27th. In attendance at the RCO meeting, we received our letter of support
after showing that the owner intended to make sure
that this property was for affordable housing units
in this area.
You can see here in the photos,
looking to the right of the property,
and this photo is looking to the left of the property.
We have a photo showing the front view of 3103
right here on the corner with the zoning notice
on the green door.
um i'm gonna use a different screen for the plans here we have the plans for the property the first
floor would be a single apartment with a kitchen closet bedroom the second floor is a split level
apartment which has the kitchen on the second floor and the bedrooms on one bedroom on the
second floor and two bedrooms on the third floor as well as a bathroom. The RCO wanted to make sure
that the property did not present an issue of trash. So we agreed to provide them with a proviso
which is attached showing a sanitation plan which says that the tenants will keep trashing containers
in the rear until collection and the perimeter will be clean as well as they wanted renderings
of what the property looked like once it was completely renovated and we did provide those
to them and they therefore then gave us a letter of support which is attached here showing that
there were seven out of the nine people who attended the meeting seven supported it and two
opposed it and they also put in there what they had asked us to provide them with
so again we're asking for multi-family dwelling variance in this property in a neighborhood
which has become mixed use single family and multi-family at this time chair I would like
to call Bryant Watson okay Mr. Watson are you in the audience
he's been allowed to speak. Mr. Watson could you state your name please and spell for the court
reporter? Uh uh uh Watson. B-R-Y-A-N-T Watson. W-A-T-S-O-N. I'm sorry can you hear me? Yeah it's a little
little little garbled but spell your last name. Spell your last name. Watson. W-A-T-S-O-N.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I did. Proceed, counsel. Thank you. Mr. Watson, are you here on behalf of BJA Real Estate
LLC? Yes, I am. And what is your relationship to the company? I'm actually the owner of the
company. Okay. And Mr. Watson, did you hear my testimony and presentation given here today?
yes and i agree with everything you said okay thank you that's my question um does anyone
on the board or the chair have any questions questions from the board
no mr chairman no chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no answer mr chair planning commission thank you chair bergman and good morning david
defecto with the City Planning Commission. Mr. Chairman and board members, the comprehensive
plan recommends no change to the residential single-family zoning at this location. This is
a primarily multifamily block face, so the proposed two dwelling units matches the character of the
block. The City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant the use variance for two
dwelling units. Thank you. MI 2022-007-054-3103 Euclid Street. I vote yes with proviso. Trash
stored in rear of property. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso. Ishmael Shahid, my vote
is yes with proviso. Thank you, counsel. Thank you. Is there anyone in the virtual audience?
Thank you, counsel. Thank you. Is there anyone in the virtual audience
whose morning case has not been called?
Mr. Chair, I was going to say number 15. Okay.
Oh, my fault. I'm sorry. Okay. Okay. MI 2022 007 051 243 to
45 South Camac Street. Darwin Bovee is the attorney. Letter of non-opposition from Washington
Square Civic Association. Letter of non-opposition from Council Member Squilla. Sorry about that.
I'm back as a panelist. Okay.
Good morning, Mr. Bovee. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
yes yes uh darwin beauvais b-e-a-u-v as in victory a-i-s as in sam uh representing the
ownership uh red husky llc which is a subdivision of the tavern group um thank you for for finally
recognizing us i felt like a redheaded you swear or affirm the general truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth. I do, Mr. Chairman. And also in the audience, there's Stephen Carlino,
the owner, as well as Scott Ritchie, the architect. Okay. Could you, our vice chair has just a few
questions. Good morning. Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to its accuracy? Yes, I do. Have you emailed in all the required documents and
exhibits that are needed to proceed with this case five days in
advance of this hearing? Yes, we have. Thank you. Please proceed
and share your screen.
Mr. Chairman, members of the board, again, my name is Darwin
Beauvais. And for the record, we are offering an exhibit package
from 1 to 13 that includes our refusal, deeds, site plans, appropriate code sections, as well
as our letter of support from the community. This project, in essence, is for the erection
of a one-story addition to accommodate a new walk-in cooler, which is accessory to an existing
restaurant. And it's all within RM1 zoning class cases. Now, by way of background, I mentioned
earlier, Tavern on Green, Tavern on Comet is the name of the restaurant. And again, it's a
subsidiary of the Tavern Group, which owns several restaurants throughout the city. And we have the
owner here, Mr. Steven Carlino.
Now, our receiver, as you can see,
it's really just for open space.
And we're asking the board to grant our application.
Mainly, let's start with the site plan.
Our site plan, if you can look at the zoning chart,
in essence, so you can at least get a quick understanding of the numbers. We were limited
to 75%. However, this restaurant has been in existence for almost 90 years, and it's always
occupied 80% of its lot. What we're proposing by building this addition to have a walk-in cooler,
we are taking three percent, an additional three percent. Now, just by way of our site plan,
this is what we are looking at. And I can show you photos, but I definitely would like the board
to see where we physically sit. So here's to max three. That's the entrance. In order to get to
where you have to walk down the street, make a right, and make another right onto Fawn Street.
There's existing structures to the left and to the right, but our structure, you would see in
photos, just has sensing to protect the public as well as to protect the commercial privacy
and activities on that lot.
There is a set of stairs, and in essence,
And in essence, we are just looking to add this walk-in cooler in this area where my hand is floating.
we are just looking to add this walk-in cooler in this.
I believe we can, you can see with our proposed site plan, this is what we're adding right here.
Now, like I mentioned before, this is a restaurant called Tavern on Camac.
And I would like the board to also note that this particular property has been a restaurant since 1936, and it's been in its current form since 1946.
So we believe our use has been well-established.
I believe the open space was never at 75% because of the renovations that took place in 1946.
Let's go to the photo.
Here's the front of the building.
Very good-looking restaurant.
if i might add good food um here we are just looking towards the east
and as i mentioned we had to turn around the corner
you see how we are in releasing to other properties and then we get to the rear
this structure here where my hand is floating is not our property it is where the fence is
And what I still do on our site plan, I think when you see the – when you look beyond
our yellow poster, you'll see a blue bin that our walk-in cooler is going to extend
out to there.
I'll give you another view.
view. This is what our intention is. We'll build this structure here, and it will only
be accessible from inside. Again, this is how this treat is used. I'm not going to say
as an alleyway, but it is definitely used for a lot of back office
or logistics, if you will.
And that is another view from the opposite side.
So in essence, we did meet with the RCO on April 25th
of this year and they concluded that they should that they will give us support but not opposing
our project. They did also make concerns which we're more than happy to do to I guess
make sure that our addition is aesthetically pleasing. They did suggest painting. We're not
too sure if that will be the case, but we definitely want to make sure that we work with
the community since we are sitting in the community and the community patronizes us.
So having said all of that, we're taking the position that we have no negative impact by
providing this, by expanding our cooler. We're looking to do this. Why? Because there are supply
pain issues we even know that this group has done a phenomenal job surviving the pandemic
there were supply chain issues and by having a walk-in cooler where we're trying to alleviate
or find some relief to make sure that that doesn't happen again um as i told you from the site plan
everything is done on site we don't spill over into into the right of way at all this cooler will
We'll continue that tradition, and because the RCO does support us, we're asking that