uses so one of the interesting and sort of unique uh arrangements there we talked about a lot of
different uses that would be permitted on this site and most of them have a
very high turnover rate whether it's Starbucks type arrangement or a
convenience store type arrangement those food uses and things of that nature that
could come and go on here they have high turnover lots of activity on a
routine and active basis all day long type of deal this use it tends to have a
much lower uh what i'll call traffic count so that the number of cars coming in and out here
in the retail world it's a much lower trip generation than what you would experience
from other some of the other permissible uses thank you and how many parking spaces are being
provided there's 17 total and in your opinion that's more than sufficient for this site
that that that works well within um auto zones program
question if i could mr newell uh the masonry fence that runs from uh metarey avenue uh
along the property line how high what is the height of that fence
so you have a retaining wall which i believe is uh four feet five feet around four feet i think
and then a fence that's another four or five feet as well so you have a an effective barrier back
there question is there any pedestrian lighting along the sidewalks
is it i don't know um i apologize i don't know what the uh street lighting arrangement is out
there I see the one that Greg's pointing to right now that that's clear which
will relocate as part of our process for the thing there may be one other one
it's hard to tell I'm sure there's something on the dairy I honestly can't
see that from this plan on that note the community did ask that the lighting
within the property remain within the property, that the light shadows remain within the property
boundaries. You mentioned that in your opening statement, that and the security cameras. All
right. Okay. Thank you. Do you have anyone else, Ms. Tancredi? I do. Are there any further
questions for Mr. Newell? No. No. No. Thank you. I would ask Marshall Cook to be called.
Can they raise their hand?
I don't have anyone with that name okay maybe he's calling in with that I would call my
Maybe he's calling in.
With that, I would call my client, Carl Wright.
Carl can unmute himself and wait to be sworn in.
Ms. Sunkit, I believe that Marshall is on the phone.
He's not available by video, but on the phone.
Do you see him?
Well, he would have to provide the last three digits of his phone number.
Let me ask for that.
He's been unmuted and can wait to be sworn in.
This is Marshall Cook.
Cook, please spell your first and last name.
marshall m-a-r-s-h-a-l-l cook c-o-o-k
uh 2301 oh geez all right let me give it a regional office address sorry
all right why don't you do that just your involvement your your position with this um
i'm the yeah i'm the regional manager for autozone philadelphia
thank you swearing the firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing about the truth
I do. Thank you, Ms. Campredi. Thank you. And Mr. Cook, you're familiar with the site
at 6301 North Broad Street and the proposed AutoZone here? Yes, I am. Okay, and have you had
the opportunity to hear the concerns that have been raised by the community? Yes, I have.
can you talk about your experience with auto zone in general first can you tell the board
what your geographical area is that you cover for auto zone sure my region covers 108 current
auto zone stores my region starts out in the lancaster area cuts across philadelphia i have
the southern half of New Jersey and the entire Delmarva Peninsula.
Thank you.
So you're familiar with auto zones in urban settings?
Yes, I am.
Are you familiar with issues?
Have you dealt with and addressed litter, security, and street activity?
Frequently, yes.
Okay, and can you tell the board how auto zone addresses these issues?
Well, in terms of litter and trash, we have something, police parking lots, dumpster areas, outside the store on a daily basis, making sure we're picking stuff up left by customers and just trash that accumulates or gets onto the property.
In terms of the, you were going to talk about lot mechanics, is that one of the ones you brought up?
so we don't i don't have any tolerance for lot mechanics and either um and when when possible
we uh we get the city's involvement to help us rid of that because i i do not want lot mechanics
on any of my properties just as much as the city and the people that live around the stores don't
want them. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, do you have any questions for Mr. Cook? Questions
from the board? No. No. No. Anyone else? Yes, I'd like to call Carl Wright.
So, and he's available. He can be sworn in chair.
Mr. Wright, please spell your name, first and last name, and give us your address.
R-O-C-A-R-L, Wright, W-R-I-G-H-T, 20 South Olive Street in Media, Pennsylvania.
Where is the whole truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you. Please proceed.
okay and mr wright you've heard um do you adopt my testimony as though it were your own i do
and is it true and correct it is thank you is there anything additional that you would like to add
no thank you thank you all right i'll go back again any questions from the board
no no no okay anyone wish to testify in this case please raise your hand
here we have sorry we have hillary emerson from the council person's office
we have hillary emerson from the council person's office thank you good afternoon hillary
hi mr chair can you hear me yes a hillary emerson e-m-e-r-s-o-n on behalf of councilwoman
sherelle parker and do you swear to firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the
truth i do thank you please proceed mr chair until um about 203 this afternoon um i had one
statement prepared um but my remarks changed at that point um it changed because we were advised
via email by miss tancredi that the community association had entered into a community benefits
agreement with the applicant a community benefits agreement that was not cleared with the neighbors
that the neighbors are in opposition to and they will speak here on it an agreement that
i know this board doesn't have control over but we would we would strenuously object to
I want to just give a little bit of history that wasn't previously provided regarding this project.
As this board knows, two weeks ago, the applicant requested a brief continuance from the board for additional time to work through concerns raised by the near neighbors in the hope that an agreement would be reached.
Our office did not oppose this request. In fact, at the applicant's request, we convened a meeting on September 30th with four of the near neighbors on North Park and Midary Avenues, along with representatives from the applicant and OLCA, the coordinating RCO.
During that meeting, there was an in-depth discussion of the proposed changes the applicant had made to the project to address the issues raised by the near neighbors.
Questions and concerns remained after this meeting, as well as a willingness to continue
the conversation. So our office, the applicant, and the near neighbors continued to dialogue over
the next couple of days to determine if a resolution could be reached. Ultimately,
the neighbors decided that they did not believe the proposed use was appropriate for this location.
And as I mentioned, I believe there are neighbors on the call here to explain why.
Because of the neighbor's opposition to this project, the councilwoman is in opposition
as well. We understand this is a commercial property, but there are also a number of
commercial uses, as some of which were mentioned by the applicant, that would be feasible at this
site other other options include grocery store consumer goods sit-down restaurant personal
services all of those are by right uses and i also wish to note that the rco in its previous two
letters to the board indicated that it was supporting the neighbors in opposing this project
We were not aware that they were having continuing conversations regarding a community benefits
agreement with the applicant or that one had been reached.
One that I might include, I might mention includes donations to the community organization.
The neighbors, like I said, were not involved in the discussion of this and had, were not
aware that the community organization had changed its position on this matter.
The community has made clear to our office that they do not wish to see
another auto-oriented business in this location because they have not had a
good experience with the current business in this location and as the
applicant attorney noted there are a number of other auto-oriented businesses already in this
area so this would be an oversaturation um based on the quality of life issues that the the
applicants excuse me that the residents the near neighbors who are most immediately affected by
this business have raised and their opposition the councilwoman strongly requests that this
board deny the variances requested in this case thank you thank you um miss emerson you did mention
that up until around 203 this afternoon uh you you had different information have you seen
the entirety of the community benefits agreement i've gotten to take a brief look at it
and the neighbors i shared it with one neighbor at that time um i don't know if any other neighbors
have seen at this point because I don't know who the who else the applicant has shared it with
That's where I was getting it.
that's where I was getting it I'm going to see how many people are aware of or made aware of what
I'm going to see how many people are aware of or made aware of what the community benefits
agreement had in it.
Ms. Tancredi, could you answer that?
Would you happen to know?
What I happen to know?
Would you happen to know if other neighbors were made aware of the community benefits
agreement that was put together by the RCO and your applicant?
So, Mr. Chairman, we've been meeting with the RCO as is customary.
we've reached out to the membership to the leadership of the rco we've had a couple meetings
with them we've we've made ourselves available to the rco since early may and we've provided
answers to all of their questions we've made changes to the plan just to policies we've
essentially addressed every issue that has been raised by the neighbors. And I've even followed
up with the councilwoman's office, because here we are the day of the hearing, and we've been
reaching out to them to say, if there are additional neighbors that have concerns,
please let us know who they are so that we can talk to them. I mean, just on Friday, I know that
my client met an adjacent neighbor at the property and we made arrangements to address the concern
about a gap in the fence between a neighbor's property and the auto zone property so we've
continued to make ourselves available with full transparency and really the the councilwoman's
office is here telling us that there are additional neighbors who have issues and
We've made ourselves available to everyone through the councilwoman's office, through the RCO, to answer and address and continue to discuss any questions.
So if there are additional neighbors here today with concerns, I'm not aware of which neighbors those are.
That was the answer. I wasn't accusing you or your client of not reaching out.
I just was wondering if, as of today, who were those other neighbors, and were they notified of the community benefits agreement?
Obviously, you can't answer that.
I can't answer that.
The agreement was provided to the leadership of the organization.
And with that being said, I mean, a lot of the issues that are memorialized in that agreement have been addressed throughout this process.
Mr. Chair, my objection is I don't believe that the agreement reflects the wishes of the near
neighbors who are the ones most immediately affected. It was entered into with the community
organization, which as of last we heard, was standing with the neighbors and opposing the
agreement. So this sudden turnaround is concerning and suspect and lacks transparency.
Again, what I'm asking is, Hillary, is does any of the near neighbors, were they made aware of
what's in the latest community benefits agreement only the one that i sent it to upon receiving it
i don't know if it was shared with anyone else but remember we only got it less than two hours
ago yeah yeah i understand that's what i'm getting at so it's possible that there's other near
neighbors who haven't seen the benefits agreement and it's possible that they may have a change of
heart that's all i'm saying they may i know i know that neighbors were are here prepared to
testify in opposition and had obtained petitions that they wanted to present to the board in
opposition understood but those folks we don't know when they get on we'll ask where are they
have they been made aware of the recent community benefits agreement the one that i was able to
reach at 203 yes other than that one the other i do not know mr chairman i i don't know why we're
the councilwoman's office is speaking so vaguely like which neighbors like we've made ourselves
available and in fact um i know that the near neighbors um are their concerns are addressed
specifically in the agreement all right let's see who gets who who testifies and where they live
okay we have a sharon wilson sharon you can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in
wilson when you get on would you please spell your first and last name and give us your address
yes can you hear me yes we can great my name is sharon wilson s-h-a-r-o-n last name wilson w-i-l-s-o-n
and the address is 6220 north camac street north camac yes come back if i'm not mistaken runs
between Broad and 13th, correct? Oh, that's pretty good, Mr. DiCicco.
13th and 12th, is it? Yeah, that's right.
It's between 13th and 12th, correct? Yes, it is.
Okay. And do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do. And what was it? I know it's Camac Street. What was the number? 6220.
What was it? I know it's Cammack Street. What was the number?
Okay, thank you. Please proceed.
Okay. I represent the OCA, the Community Association slash RCO. And we did, in fact, enter into a community benefits agreement. And there were perhaps conversations that the councilman or Hillary wasn't aware of.
we've been talking to the near neighbors repeatedly and in fact one of our most detailed
conversations happened on sunday they've allowed one of the neighbors to speak on their behalf
and we were having an ongoing issue with one of the neighbors joanne about the retaining wall
and as miss tancredi represented she went out the client actually went out and talked to her
and she felt that she had resolution apparently was regarding that particular wall the other
neighbors were also asked for certain things regarding lighting and curb cuts. We went out
and we physically walked with neighbors on Sunday, and we worked on Monday also talking to near
neighbors. So we talked to neighbors who were actually, when we walked around, in support of
AutoZone, and we talked to neighbors that were not in support of AutoZone. But the bulk of the
neighbors that we spoke with that came out at the RCL were in support if we could get certain
conditions and that's why we entered into the community benefit agreement. There are near
neighbors who haven't physically saw the agreement but are aware of what we were doing and what we
were offering and what we were authorized to agree to. Was it your intention to inform those
near neighbors who have not yet seen the community benefits agreement? Of course.
Well, once we were up against this deadline, that's the only reason why they haven't seen
the physical document, but they are aware of the parameters of the document.
That's understood. And when you say near neighbors, are you talking about folks on
Madari Street? Yes, on Madari, right across from the auto zone, on Park Avenue, that sort of goes
sort of a cat a corner from the auto zone we talked to the neighbors on the other side of
park avenue that would be behind the auto zone we also went to visit some neighbors on broad street
which is you know a little bit down from the auto zone but still close enough for us to be
considered near neighbors so there's still some legwork if you will that has to be done in terms