Thank you.
chair we have 54 attendees and we can start when you wish thank you good morning my name
is bill bergman and i will be chairing this morning zba hearings with me is ishmael shaheed
our board secretary he's here he's he's here thomas holliman our board member good morning
mr chairman thank you james snell our board member present mr chairman thank you also our
board attorney hillary emerson and our zba hearing supervisor lakeisha dandy are also present before
we begin, here's our virtual format. The proceedings are being recorded. By participating,
you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded. A video will be available by contacting
tonyasunkett at phila.gov. For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask the attorneys
and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying. If you're participating by phone,
if you wish to testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute. To enter an
appearance statement, call 267-270-5548. Leave your email and the address of the property in
question. And finally, the question and answer box on the screen is not for comments or testimony.
Any comments have to be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sumpit.
So let's look at continuances that we have today. Number one, MI 2022, 002-379-4890 Somerdale.
That case is continued. Number two, MI 2021-005-225-120 North 53rd Street. That case is
continued. And number 12, MI 2022-000-479-8917 Revere Street, that case is continued.
Does anyone have any comments relative to those three cases?
is there anyone who has any additional continuances
i see no hands chair thank you number 10 is a withdrawal mi 2022 003 821 1600 north 11 street
that case has been withdrawn and also i have number seven
number seven is mi 2022 003 585 1500 to 30 east erie avenue that case has no exhibits it's the
second listing. I see no hands. Okay. So MI 2022 003 585 1500 to 30 East Erie Avenue. That case is
continue and mark must be tried so we're going to start our our regular list
number three mi 2022 002 205 233 south 24th street jared klein is the attorney
there's a letter of opposition from center city residents association
um council person kenyana johnson is also uh at the same position the center city
resident association is but there's a petition in support signed by approximately 137 neighbors
mr klein is coming in now as a panelist thank you you're welcome
You're welcome.
Thank you.
Mr. Klein?
Good morning, Mr. Chair, members of the board.
Good morning, Mr. Klein.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Certainly.
It's Jared Klein, J-A-R-E-D, last name Klein, K-L-E-I-N.
All right.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Could you identify your client and relationship to the property?
Certainly.
I am representing Ambrosia Restaurant, which is the owner of the property through its operators,
Freddie and Georgie, who are on the line with us today.
All right.
Thank you.
Ismail Shahid has a few questions for you.
Certainly.
If he's not available, Mr. Chair, I can
Why don't you run through it? I'm sure you have it down.
Do a sign, sir. Mr. Chairman? Yeah, go ahead, Thomas.
Good morning, Counselor. Do you agree to waive the reading of the
refusal and stipulate to his accuracy? Yes, I do.
Did you email all of the
exhibits and documents as required, such as
proof of ownership tax clearance copy of the refusal or referral pictures or drawings of the
property five days in advance to this hearing did you meet with the rco and do you have a letter
yes to all the above sir thank you please proceed and show your screen thank you very much
so we are here for uh 233 south 24th street there's an rm1 zone property uh one property
off of the corner of 24th and locust street just to orient the board as to where we are
this is the property here there's some new residential housing here this property at
the corner and then apartment buildings surrounding the zoning map for this is is worth uh just a brief
a brief comment this is our lot here you can see the rm1 zone lot this lot here is the existing
location of Ambrosia Restaurant, and you'll see some better photos of that in just a moment.
But that's been an active restaurant use since well back into the 1950s. The application here
before you is to join the current Ambrosia Restaurant site with this lot and expand the
restaurant seating capacity into this lot. I'm pausing on the zoning map just to show the board
that although our lot is zoned RM1, we're immediately next to CMX3 zoning, immediately
across from ICMX zoning. So it is not a purely residential area. There's really certainly a mix
of different zoning types, different base zoning districts located in this immediate area.
Here's the property. This is the existing location of Ambrosia. It's been there for quite some time.
this is the property here that they're seeking to expand into this property here was recently
constructed residential housing so this is the building that we're talking about ambrosia
currently has outdoor seating via a licensed and permitted streetery this is on locust street
and the property as you can see the ambrosia because it's a corner uh has the outdoor seating
on locust street and has some additional approved seating on 24th street just another photo to
orient the board as to the location again what we're looking to do is expand the restaurant
from this structure here into into this one there and just to give the board context of what's
around it these are the apartment buildings that are immediately across the street and the new
residential construction i i mentioned previously photos of the zoning notices that are posted
and this photo i'll pause on this photo members of the board is the rear courtyard area
this area is shared by the homes that are immediately adjacent to ambrosia so our lot
the lot at issue 233 owns a portion of this rear yard space and there are adjacent structures
who have residential owners who also share this space.
You'll hear a lot about this shared courtyard later today,
so I thought it was important to give the board a perspective
of what that area looks like back there.
In terms of what we want to do here, it's fairly simple.
We're going to break through from one structure to the other
and allow seating inside the new building
and a limited amount of seasonally appropriate seating in this rear courtyard area.
By that, I mean no more than six tables.
By that, I mean no more than six tables and only from the months of April until October, not year round and not trying to fill every single space.
What the owners of Ambrosia are trying to do here is to create a very European style dining experience.
And if you go through certain areas that have this mix of residential and commercial use, you'll see many, many situations where there are outdoor seating areas for restaurants nestled into residential areas.
And they think that that is a dining experience people in Philadelphia want to have, and they're trying to expand their offerings to give that.
this photo here or drawing we have heard and obviously are sensitive to using the rear garden
area as there are people who do live immediately adjacent and we're trying to be as contextually
appropriate as we can one of the things that we are suggesting that we do is install a sliding
glass canopy over that rear portion to try and minimize any noise that would come from that rear
area that will not be a perfect solution but we're really trying to think creatively as to
how we can utilize that rear space and be as sensitive to those around us as we can
give the board a sense of what the interior of the new space is going to look like these are
some renderings that just show the additional seating and how things might be laid out
um to spend just a moment on the some of the history of the site uh as you can see here back
in 1959 it was approved for a luncheonette um and it has been ongoing as that restaurant use
since that 1959 time period i believe it used to be called sandy's and it was more of a greasy
spoon type of diner in its first first iteration uh and now now it's obviously ambrosia and has
the ambrosia for quite some time. Here is just the zoning permit going back to show what the
initial use was at that site. And so what we have here really is an expansion of a pre-existing use.
This restaurant has been there since the 1950s. They're looking to attach this additional property
and expand into it. And there's a situation here where the hardship unique to the lot is the
presence of the restaurant that's been there since the 1950s. This lot has always been adjacent to
this restaurant use. It's a pre-existing use that's been in the community. And it's important
for the board to also understand that the process for them to acquire this lot, which my clients do
own the lot now, they acquired it from a short sale from a property that had been on the market
for two years and was listed and marketed for its residential use. It was zoned as a residential
property. It did not sell as a residential property. My clients eventually purchased it
from a short sale and are trying to operate the property as the business. So the longstanding
pre-existing use at this corner and the difficulties that they encountered trying to
sell this property all speak to the hardship. I wanted to just share with the board, there was
some comments at the Civic Association meeting that I'll touch on. There were many comments
from some near neighbors about the permitting and licensure status of the property. I'm not
going to go through this in depth, but I did include for the board in our packet some of
certifications and fire alarm inspections uh that are current uh as of september of 2022
uh just to uh alleviate any concerns than your neighbors that there was a lack of
fire safety and other permitting at this property as you can see everything has been tested
and they are up to date with all their fire suppression permits
um mr chair you you mentioned as i was logging in that we do have a petition that was signed by
over 100 people. That is in the packet of materials I sent to the board. Sample page
looks like this. I will not go through every single page. But there is substantial community
support, including from people, and I'm just pausing on this sheet, this is the building
that's immediately next door. 249 South 24th Street is the next property up, and they are all
supportive of this of this project um we did uh as as we noted we had a meeting with center city
residents association and they did submit a letter of of opposition um i i think that that is
primarily being driven by several immediate near neighbors who do have some concerns about the use
of that rear yard for proceeding areas um i think that when you look at the project over
proceeding areas. I think that when you look at the project overall and what Ambrosia has meant
to the neighborhood, the improvements that it's made to the quality of life, to the eyes on the
street, I think that just about everybody, save for a few neighbors, would agree that this is a
neighborhood asset and something that should be allowed to exist in the immediate area.
And so we respectfully disagree with CCRI's choice here. I understand that they need to take the immediate near neighbors into account. I think there's a larger neighborhood perspective here that should be accounted for, particularly with a business that's had active restaurant use at this corner since the 1950s.
I would like, at this point, to have my clients come on and adopt my testimony, and then I'll be happy to answer any questions the board may have and provide any additional details.
Could Freddie or Georgie, I don't know which of you is on, could one of you raise your hand, please? Raise your virtual hand.
Do we see the hand?
I thought I saw him in the audience.
Yes, it should be Freddy or George.
But if they're not there, Mr. Chair, I will, as an officer of the court, obviously.
Mr. Klein, we take your testimony.
Is there questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands.
I see a hand from a Jill Webber.
Good morning.
Could you state your name and spell it, please, for the court reporter?
Jill Weber, who is.
Hello, I did.
Ms. Weber.
Ms. Weber, can you raise your hand again, please?
Ms. Weber, can you unmute yourself?
I just did, I believe.
Is that, can you hear me now?
Yes, yes.
Could you state your name as spelled, please, for the court reporter?
so my name is jill weber j-i-l-l-w-e-b-e-r but i'm also on with the lawyer representing us right
now and that's bill mafucci well we we want your testimony right now okay okay do you swear for him
to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do proceed let me start my video
please. So I can appreciate Ambrosia believing that they're an asset to the neighborhood. And
I know quite a few people do like them and do like their food. That doesn't make them a great
neighbor. And one of the main problems here is that it has really impacted my, I'm sorry for my
voice has really impacted my my living frankly on a daily basis I cannot even open my windows
because of all the idling trucks that stop right in front of my windows um and you know I I think
I think this would have been a little more tenable I'm not anti-business I own four restaurants
myself and I I understand business I love business um but what what Georgie and Freddie
have not made attempts to coexist on a on a on a friendly level with many of the surrounding
neighbors um so many of the pictures that they showed you show actual illegal activities um for
instance their streetery which is within i think six feet of a of a crosswalk and it's supposed to
be 20 feet away um they recently were cited for a lack of crash barriers when they were cited they
they were reinspected, they passed, and then they immediately this weekend put up more seating
without crash barriers outside. You know, they put up electrical conduit to their streetery
after they knew it was illegal and after there was supposed to be road work on our street and
the paving had been done and they're supposed to take away the streetery within 48 hours.
We finally got our street paved after a month and a half. But, you know, the pattern here is that
they just continue to do things. And so they're forced not to. One of the things I think that is
particularly terrible to us is that, you know, they don't make any attempt to prevent all of
They don't make any attempt to prevent all of the delivery traffic from hindering me and my neighbors and my driveway and my windows, despite the fact that they've reserved more streetery space for themselves that they often just park in, as well as they've not made any attempt to, let's say, play nice until they've received any legal action.
the delivery traffic.
And then they generally just do what they want anyway, including using the backyard at 233 for their warehousing right now for the commercial property, despite the fact they've gotten the, they haven't gotten the ones, they were turned down.
All right. So you're against the expansion.
Oh, I'm sorry. Yes, I'm against the expansion for sure.
Right. Okay. All right. Thank you very much for your call. And thank you for your time.
Thank you.
Mr. Chair, can I very briefly inquire of this?
Mr. Klein, Mr. Klein, Mr. Klein, why don't we do this?