So the refusal is to...
Ms. Fast-Quest, why don't you go to the photos?
So this is photos from the before and after.
So this is what it currently looks like now.
And this is what it looked like before.
I have also included some of the pictures to reflect how the neighbors in the same street use their driveway as their designated parking spot.
Rarely anybody uses at all their garage for their cars.
This is the entire street.
And then this is a block over.
And I have also included on the same street neighbors who have also changed the outside of their garage.
to a similar appearance. And this is the letter of support from the Neighborhood Association.
And then these are the receipts of the mail with the same notice of the same meeting that
were sent out. I have also included, per the RCO's recommendation, the homestead exception
because I know that this is a concern that came up in the meeting, which specified that
this is for only a residential one-family-use home, nothing more, and the certificate of
tax clearance per the requirement. These are the photos that reflect the posting of the
notification of this particular meeting right outside the home. And these are photos that
show that once the work was stopped, once we received the notice of refusal. And then
lastly, I have two supporting letters from the engineer on the reasoning of the work
and the plans for the variance thought out.
I believe he joined the Zoom meeting
so we could speak a little bit more
on the specific of it.
His name is Joseph Bernardino
and he inspected the work confirming
that no structure change was made.
Thank you.
Okay, questions from the board?
And Ms. Vasquez, if there's questions
relative to the engineering,
we'll call your engineer,
but at this point i'm going to take it to the board so questions from the board no thank you
questions or comments mark tourney hillary emerson um yes mr chair i just wanted to
clarify with miss vasquez um so the refusal says accessory storage but is this place can
is this area going to be turned into a living area no okay so is there going to be access from
the accessory storage to the rest
the accessory storage to the rest of the first floor it already has an existing access to it so
of the first floor?
It already has
yes okay all right so it just makes it easier to get to the storage direct access to the storage
okay thank you you're welcome questions or comments from the virtual audience
i do not see any hands mr chair my planning commission
you got ron bednar city planning property is indicated for residential use on the city plan
given the physical circumstances of the site we recommend the request for guidance for granted
thank you mi2023 002 956 9312 whisson gnoming street i vote yes
james snell my vote is yes
miss vasquez you have your votes thank you thank you very much thank you all right so we're going
to go back to the beginning of our list one two number three mi 2023 002 872 1713 north front
street adam laver is the attorney there's a letter of support from fishtown neighbors association
There's a letter of support from Kentington, Fishtown, Kentington Area Business Improvements, and a letter of non-opposition from Council Member Lozada.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Good morning, Mr. Laver. Could you state your name, please, for the court stenographer?
Adam Laver, L-A-V-E-R, Blank Rome, 1 Logan Square, Philadelphia, 19103.
Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, Mr. Chairman, I do.
Could you identify your client and relationship to this property?
Certainly. Blank Rome represents 1713 Front QOZB LLC, which does business as Khosla, K-H-O-S-L-A,
Khosla Properties, the owner of the property at 1713 North Front Street.
our vice chair has just a few questions sir thank you good morning counsel do you agree
to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy good morning mr vice chairman yes
i do have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed and
required to proceed with this case five days in the pants of this hearing yes mr shaheed we have
thank you very much please proceed and share the screen thank you
Mr. Chairman, members of the Board, as I mentioned, Blanquoam represents the owner of the subject property, which is located at 1713 North Front Street.
Up on the screen before you is an aerial photo. I must say at the outset that this aerial photo is not up to date because this block and this neighborhood are changing so quickly.
I will show you more up-to-date photos, but I always like to begin with an aerial, and here you can see that what's relevant for context is we are immediately adjacent to the elevated line, the L.
There is a buy-right development currently under construction.
Coastal Properties is a 100% minority-owned Philadelphia-based real estate developer.
Anuj Khosla is the principal who's with us today, along with his director of development, Greg Oldsig.
Kano Design Architects, which has appeared before the board many times, has designed the project.
Harry Jackson Jantz and Thomas Keller are here.
On the screen now, you can see the by-right development, which is under construction,
the permit for the by-right development, and I've taken the liberty of just highlighting
the basics of what's underway. There's a previously approved approval for a six-story
structure with 55 dwelling units, ground floor commercial space, and ground floor accessory
parking for 10 automobiles. That's what was approved in conformity with the zoning code.
Let's go to some current context photos. So we're looking at the subject property.
I'll use the cursor. It includes this structure and the open area to the right. And you can see
that it's located next to Evil Genius, which is a neighboring watering hole. And to the right,
of the property, there's new construction
unrelated to this site.
Here you're just seeing a close-up of the subject property, the area that's unimproved.
Here, you're just seeing a close-up
of the subject property, the area that's un-
You're seeing to the left the Evil Genius, which is to the left of the subject property.
This is Evil Genius, the outdoor beer garden.
And to the right, by the shared party wall, is my client's property.
And beyond it, you can see new construction, another project.
This is a transit-oriented mixed-use prime. You can see the elevated line is right here.
And all around the subject property, there is new development that's under construction.
On both sides of the street, we're looking across the street,
actually to a project that I had taken before you previously.
The site is on CMX 12, as you'll see from the zoning map up on the screen, and moving
to the notice of refusal and the reason we're here.
So I had mentioned that there's a buy-write approval that's under construction.
We received feedback from the RCOs and from neighbors on the code-compliant development,
which suggested that the previously approved accessory parking, 10 required accessory parking
spaces, which took into consideration the appropriate parking reductions, disrupted
the pedestrian sidewalk along Front Street, and that off-street parking was not ideal at this
location. We took that feedback from the neighbors and the community and worked on revising the plans
By removing that required parking, one refusal was generated. That's what brings us here today.
It was suggested by stakeholders that the parking be removed and replaced with active
commercial card or retail commercial. The removal in response to that feedback is this single
refusal. So a couple things that are very relevant for your consideration. Number one,
the proposed change is more compatible with the commercial nature of Front Street.
But perhaps most importantly, upon additional review of the previously approved plans,
implementing the off-street parking, which has to be off of Front Street because there's only
one street frontage here, would be very challenging. The elevated line columns would make installation
difficult, if not nearly impossible, in that cars turning in and out would have
rate difficulty in the required turning radius in and out of that property.
Here you can see some conceptual renderings of the development. And what's really significant
about this conceptual rendering in front of you is that previously we would have had parking coming
in by the elevated, the L column, and some said that created some dead space. Well, here you can
see an idea of activation and working into the neighborhood plan with improvement to the
the previously approved plans for commercial that would be permitted within the CMX3 district,
which excited everybody.
On the screen before you, I know that the type is small, but it's not the details, but
more the concept that I wanted to bring to your attention.
In the upper right-hand corner, in red, you can see the area that previously would have
been parking now uh substituted with retail commercial in conformity with the overwhelming
support of all of the rcos the district council member and the next door neighbor
the coordinating rco letter of support is on the screen before you fishtown neighbors association
noting the positive nature of the activation of north front street as a commercial corridor in
the neighborhood benefits of removing a curb cut which would otherwise pose a hazard to pedestrians
and the attractive design enabled by removing the previously approved garage door.
Similarly, from the Fishtown Kensington Area Business Improvement District,
unanimous support, noting that the updated design would enhance the walkable district.
Quote, we believe that a dynamic commercial space with ample bicycle parking
and the expanded sidewalk is the best use for this area, end quote.
Council Member Lozada notes community support in her letter.
The immediately adjoining neighbor, which is the Evil Genius Beer Company, was deeply involved in reviewing this matter and expressed their support in a letter submitted to the board.
and expressed their support in a letter submitted to the board.
So, Mr. Chairman and members of the board,
the proposal fits into a dynamic, vibrant commercial corridor of the surrounding neighborhood.
The variance would represent the minimum variance to afford relief
and represent the least modification possible of the regulations at issue.
The grant of variance relief will not substantially increase congestion in the public streets,
increase the danger of fire or otherwise endanger the public health, safety, or general welfare.
This will not adversely affect transportation or unduly burdened water, sewer, school park,
or other public facilities. There are no environmental issues. I have the full team
here and at the appropriate time, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Khosla would be pleased to adopt and affirm,
I'm sure. Why don't you bring your client on and adopt your testimony?
Thank you. Mr. Anuj Khosla, would you please raise your virtual hand?
I have a Greg Oldsey with the hand raised.
That's fine. Mr. Oldsey is also with my client.
He's been allowed to speak.
Sir, could you state your name and spell, please, for the court stenographer?
Hi, yes. My name is Greg Oldsey, G-R-E-G, and then O-L-D-S-E-Y.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you. Good morning, Mr. Oldsey.
Have you been present for the entirety of this virtual hearing?
Yes, we have.
And you are Director of Development for Coastal Properties, is that correct?
Correct.
And would you adopt and affirm the testimony that I've offered as your own?
I would, yes.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
What questions from the board?
Excuse me, Mr. Chairman.
Can you hear me?
Tom, we hear you for the first time and it's wonderful.
Thank you.
I have no questions.
Thank you, Tom.
It's great.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands.
Planning Commission.
Ryan Bednar, City Planning.
Property has fully completed the civic design review process based on the revised plans.
We recommend the request for advance be granted.
Thank you.
MI 2023-002-872-1713 North Front Street.
I vote yes with proviso.
Her amended refusal dated 8-21-23.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with provisos.
James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you, Mr.
Okay, MI 2022-002-908-740-44 South Street. Darlene Treat is the attorney.
We, this is a resumptive hearing. We have a letter of opposition from Councilmember Squilla.
uh we're still waiting for information from the rcos um hillary why don't we start to see if
there's anyone from the rcos present yes i see um as three is present um but yes we could ask
if anyone is present from the rcos to give an update we did not receive a letter good morning
darling good morning all right could you just state your name for the record please
and spell it for the course.
Darlene Threatt on behalf of the applicant.
Darlene, D-A-R-L-E-N-E, Threatt, P as in Thomas, H-R-E-A-T-T, as in Thomas.
You swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, Commissioner.
Is there anyone from the RCOs present?
I see no hands.