So we don't have any zoning plans or floor plans because there will be no structural additions,
only the addition of custom furniture and some plumbing work.
and here is some photos of the zoning notice that was posted on the property back on the 4th of
January. We're also sharing a draft menu and you can see that they're going to be featuring bagels
with cream cheese, bagel sandwiches, pastries, drinks. Baking will be performed off-site, I'll
note at a wholesale facility and delivered daily. Their waste management will be a combination of
garbage disposal and trash, which will be stored internally in the basement and picked up daily
by a third-party trash vendor. The store will be open five days per week from Wednesday to
Sunday, and hours of operation will be 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. So lastly, I'll just run through,
we have the tax compliance certificate and a copy of the application for special exception
and project information form. And I apologize for so many difficulties with these exhibits. I'm happy
to go back to earlier ones if you'd like to see them once again. I think we're fine. Okay. So that
summarizes my testimony on the application. So if you would please promote Jacob Cohen to be sworn
in to affirm my testimony. I'd appreciate it. Hello. Hi, could you state your name and spell
for the court reporter, please? Absolutely. Jacob, J-A-C-O-B, Cohen, C-O-H-E-N. Do you swear
for her? Oh, sorry. My wife and partner is next to me if you need to swear her in as well.
sure sure we'll do that right hi it's alexander cohen a-l-e-x-a-n-d-r-a-c-o-h-e-n right do you
both swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do okay
thank you okay jacob and alex um did you hear the testimony that was provided to the board
this morning? Yes, I did. And do you affirm that my presentation was accurate? Yes. Do you adopt
my testimony as your own? Yes. Okay, great. Is there anything that you'd like to add that
should be considered by the board? Just simply that Fishtown has taken us in with open arms
from day one in the middle of a horrible pandemic, and it's been a beautiful experience. We did a lot
of pop-up events in the neighborhood for a year and a half. We've really built a community there.
And ever since announcing that we're going to be coming to Fishtown, there's just been an enormous amount of support.
And we're just really excited to put down proper roots there.
So great questions from the board.
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions from the virtual audience.
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman. David Fecto with the City Planning Commission.
I believe you've already been sworn, David.
Yes, sir, I have. Mr. Chairman, members of the board, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the commercial mixed-use zoning at this property.
The applicant has shown that the proposal for takeout will have no more of an impact.
the applicant has shown that the proposal for takeout will have no more of an impact than a
takeout restaurant would be expected to have so the city planning commission recommends that the
board grant the special exception thank you mi 2021 004328 113 east rod avenue i vote yes
carol tenary my vote is yes thomas halliman my vote is yes
james snell my vote is yes ishmael shaheed my vote is yes thank you thank you
okay here we go let's see okay mi 2021 004 272 1817 tarsdale avenue
Melanie Lacey RCO impact community development corporation letter of support
councilman school letter of non-opposition
Ms. Lacey is coming back in as a panelist great
hello once again i just just state your name you've already been sworn okay melanie lacy
with claire harrison and our vice chair has a few questions hi it appears that you've submitted the
proper exhibit packet is that correct that is correct you may proceed okay is everyone seeing
my screen this time. We do. Wonderful. And it is the right exhibit package. Okay. Good afternoon
again. This time I am presenting an appeal of McDonald's restaurant located at 1817 Torresdale
Avenue. I'm accompanied by Eileen Seberger, area construction manager at McDonald's, Mary Backard
from Bowler Engineering, and Ken Youngblood, a representative of ET Partners, which is the owner
and operator of the property. So this is a fairly simple sign application, as you'll see from the
refusal letter issued on September 10th of 2021. We're seeking variances related to the digital
aspect of the signs and the quantity of the signs. And the zoning history shows that the ZBA already
approved several signs for this property back in 2015. And what we're here for today is the owner
is seeking to swap out a few of them, and I'll describe them in a moment. So first, we met with
a coordinating RCO, which is Impact CDC, back on December 16th. We received this enclosed letter
of support, and the property is zoned CMX3. It's surrounded by commercial properties and falls
within the transit-oriented development overlay district, but it's actually the CMX3
space district that provides the sign controls. So here are some photos of the property. I have
an area here which shows that there is driveway access on Torresdale Avenue, Kensington Avenue,
and Huntington, East Huntington Park Avenue. I should probably zoom out so you can see.
And these are some photos of the existing restaurant building. You might notice that
it was recently renovated and the appearance is very clean and modern. The next photos show
the drive-through layout. Here you can see it has two lanes to better accommodate queuing
and these photos depict the current locations of the signs and the existing signs that some of which
will be replaced which include the pre-browse menu boards, the menu boards, and the canopy signs.
You can see here.
So we posted the zoning notices back on the 30th of December, and there are multiple images
showing the posting on each of the three roadways.
and here we don't have renderings but we have photos of a similar location
so the existing signs that I previously showed you are already illuminated as you can see in
this photograph but the proposed signs will be digital so I'd like to clarify that even though
the referral letter says animated sign illumination, there isn't going to be any flashing lights or
movement. We're proposing modern signs that are static, but they'll allow the restaurant to
display and update the menu electronically without swapping paper inserts. So coming close to the end.
paper inserts. So coming close to the end, here is the zoning plan. You can see
there are various letters here, and I'll designate that sign A, B, and C are the ones in question.
You can see that there are two sets of A signs, which are the display menu boards,
two sets of B signs, which are the pre-browse menu boards, and there are two of each to serve
the two queuing lanes. There's only one proposed canopy sign since the canopy overhangs both of
the lanes. And you can see the dimensions at the bottom of the plans, but I also have a chart that
that compares the existing versus proposed sign areas.
So just quickly, the chart clarifies
that the canopy sign is being removed and replaced,
but there are three existing monument signs,
whereas we're proposing four.
So there'll be one additional monument sign
and that one is gonna be a pre-vows menu board sign
that wasn't previously there.
So I'd also like to highlight that the new signs would be smaller since a combined area of the three signs is, of the three existing signs is 93.7 square feet, while the combined area of the proposed signs are only 60.2 square feet.
Lastly, we have the tax compliance certificate, property deed application and project information
form, and RCO notification.
So that summarizes my testimony on this application as well, and if you could please promote Eileen
Seberger and Ken Youngblood to be sworn in.
Thank you.
Could you square in the owner, the group that runs it?
Why don't we get him to adopt your testimony first?
Could we do that?
Yeah, they need to be promoted.
So it's Eileen, I might have misspoken, Eileen Seberger and Ken Youngblood.
Hello.
Could you state your name and spell it for our court reporter?
My name is Eileen Seberger, E-I-L-E-E-N, last name Seberger, S-E-E, Berger, B-U-R-G-E-R.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
Is there somebody else in?
There's no user by the name listed.
okay he may not have been able to make it he has a number of locations so um i can certainly
attest to melanie's um testimony the only one item melanie that you had mentioned was that
the canopy goes over both lanes let's go back there will be a canopy over each menu board
it is the gateway so the canopy right there there'll be one at each menu board but then
at the entrance because the um uh the two drive-through lanes start as one lane so the
there's a gateway that really just makes sure
that nothing too high gets through the drive-through, right?
To really just ensure the height of the truck.
So there'll be a canopy over each menu board,
but one gateway at the entrance
where it's a still a single lane.
Okay, yes, thank you for that clarification.
Does everyone on the board understand that as well?
yeah we're good okay all right um so eileen uh you heard my testimony that i provided uh to the
board this morning is that correct yes i did and do you affirm that my presentation was accurate
yes i do and do you adopt the testimony as your own i do okay great thank you and thank you
questions from the questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman questions from the
virtual audience i see no hands chair planning commission thank you sir david fecto city planning
commission mr chairman members of the board the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the
Mr. Chairman, members of the board, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the commercial mixed use zoning at this location.
commercial next.
The zoning for this block changed in 2017 to commercial mixed use three.
Although animated signs are not strictly necessary to enable the applicant to derive value from the restaurant,
since the animated signs are limited to the drive-thru only,
the City Planning Commission recommends the board grant the variances for the new sign package.
Thank you, David.
MI 2021-004272, 1817 Tarsdale Avenue, I vote yes.
Harold Tenere, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Okay, that was number six.
MI 2021, 004057, 2811 Kingston Street.
Attorney Meredith Fedricker, RCO Port Richmond Civic Association, letter of support.
good afternoon mr chairman members of the board could you state your name and spell it for the
court reporter please of course my name is meredith ferliger with delworth paxton 1500
marcus street suite 3500 e ferliger is f-e-r-l-e-g-e-r all right do you swear or firm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do a few questions from our vice chair
hi meredith do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
I do. It appears based on the notes that you have sent in all of the exhibits required. Is that correct?
That is correct. You may proceed. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, members of the board, my client here today is F3 Investments, LLC, represented by Atif Ahmad.
F3 Investments is under an agreement of sale to purchase the property located at 2811 Kingston Street in the city's Port Richmond neighborhood.
The agreement of sale is included in your exhibit packet at Exhibit 2.
The exhibit packet includes 16 exhibits, which I will walk you through.
Of particular note, you will see a resounding letter of support from Port Richmond on Patrol at Exhibit 15 for today's request.
Now, so you have full context as I walk you through the proposal, today's single refusal, as shown in Exhibit 1.
is for proposing a single-family residential use in an I-2 industrial zoning district.
No dimensional refusals are requested. I'll start first with a basic property overview.
As you can see on the subdivision plan up on the screen here at Exhibit 6,
the property is currently comprised of three lots from 2811 to 2835 Kingston Street that are roughly
17,784 square feet combined lot area. Now looking at the aerials here at Exhibit 10,
you will see that this property sits on Kingston Street and Allen Street and is just south of
Richmond Street, which you can see at the top of the aerial. The property is a rectangular parcel
that is bordered on all sides by single-family residential homes. South of the property across
Allen Street, you will see I-95. And directly across Kingston Street is a large vacant lot
that's currently used as truck storage for the David Weber Company, which you can see up at the
top of the aerial on your screen. Now, we do understand that the front portion of this large
vacant lot on Richmond Street may at some point be requesting residential use, although we were
not able to locate any corroborating documentation. Now looking at the zoning map here at Exhibit 9,
you will see that this rectangular parcel is zoned I2, but it is surrounded on this exact
same block by predominantly RSA 5 zoning and uses. Now as you can see in the photograph starting at
Exhibit 16, the property is fairly run down. And I'll just kind of briefly scroll through so that
you can get an understanding of the condition that the property is currently in. There is
currently an auto junkyard that exists on this property. As you can see here, this blue building
is currently used as an auto repair shop. Now, in looking at the permit history for the property,
Now, in looking at the permit history for the property, which is included in your packet at Exhibit 12, you'll see that although the auto repair business here was permitted at some point, the auto junkyard was never legalized, despite attempts back in the 90s.
which is included in your packet.
Despite the long-term industrial-oriented use of the property, a Phase I and Phase II environmental study was performed and confirmed that no mitigating measures are necessary for this property to be used for residential use.
Now, to walk you through the proposal, as you can see here on your screen at Exhibit 5, the proposal is to subdivide the lot into 15 new lots and to erect a new single-family home on each lot.
Each of the homes will be three stories of about 32 feet high to better blend with the existing two-story homes.
Each of the new lots will have 50% open space and 36-foot-long rear yards to provide ample distance from the homes on Venango.
And as you can see here, you can see where this 36-foot rear yard would be, and this would then back up to the homes on Venango.
Each of these homes will have an interior garage for one space, which will be accessed from a shared driveway off of East Allen Street.
Now, realistically, given the extent of the rear yard, it's quite likely that each home will benefit from more than just one interior parking space.
You can see renderings included at Exhibit 7, and we did include some colorized renderings as well.
Floor plans are shown at Exhibit 8.
To summarize, the homes will be roughly 1,800 square feet with three bedrooms, four bathrooms, and living space.
Given the proximity to I-95, the design team will be investigating filtration options for the ventilation system during the building permit phase.
Additionally, because the property sits within the 500-year floodplain, they will be exploring all necessary protections for basement mechanicals, including considering whether that's the appropriate location for those.
The homes are expected to sell around $400,000.
Now, turning to the refusal itself, as I mentioned, the only refusal that we have is for the proposed residential use on a lot zoned I-2.
We do submit to a considerable hardship here, given the history of this lot, as well as the context of the surrounding neighborhood.
As I noted, this property has extensive history of receiving violations for improper use and is not capable of supporting a modern industrial user.
As you saw in the aerials and the maps, the property has a limited frontage on narrow Kingston and Allen Street.
The River Wars District Plan notes that a modern industrial user would favor horizontal parcels with one-story buildings on extremely large lots, particularly those with easy access to interstates and those that have distance from residential use to mitigate traffic, noise, and debris.
This property has none of those characteristics. It is small, sits on a narrow street, and is
surrounded on two sides by single-family residential homes. Although I-95 is geographically
near the property, the closest access point to the highway is roughly half a mile away at Allegheny
Avenue. As noted in the district plan, this type of property is perfectly positioned for adaptive