Could you identify your client, the relationship to this property?
Yes, my client is actually the owner of the property, and they acquired it in two acquisitions last fall.
Okay. Do you waive the reading of the refusal, and do you agree with its accuracy?
I do waive the reading. There is one issue on the refusal.
It indicates 15 to 17 South 2nd. The actual property address is 15 through 25.
5 South 2nd Street, which encompasses both parcels that I just referenced.
South 2nd Street, which encompasses both parcels that I just referenced.
Okay. Mr. Orphanides, could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Certainly. My name is David Orphanides. The last name is spelled O-R-P-H-A-N-I-D-E-S.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Mr. Orphanides, could you identify a client, a relationship to this?
Certainly. My client is Second and Trotter, owner LLC. They own 40 South 2nd Street.
it's a property located across the street and a couple doors down okay and at this moment we're
an interested party so um but we've had mr kerr and i've had some discussions okay thank you mr
kerr could you please start your presentation and share your screen uh yes let me find the screen
share okay here it is
are you seeing that it should say tab eight we see we do not see anything sir okay hold on
It's coming up now. Wait a minute, it's starting to come up. Okay.
Tabby.
I see Tabby. Okay, great.
All right. So I'm
representing the Tun Legacy Foundation, Inc. here today.
The Tun Legacy Foundation is a 501c3.
And it's an entity that's looking to reestablish what was the historic
Tonn Tavern, dating back a couple centuries. With me on today's call, there's Mr. Pat Daly,
who's president of the Tonn Legacy Foundation. We also have Keith Mock, our director of design
and construction, and Craig Bryson, who's our engineer with Pinotti Engineers. I'm going to
do most of the presentation initially. I'd like to just show you some photographs of the property
to give you an orientation. So these are included at tab 8 of the exhibits that we
had provided. This is a view of the property from across 2nd Street. It's currently a vacant parking
lot. And then I have some additional photographs. This is, both of these are from 2nd Street. This
photo is 2nd Street looking towards Chestnut Street. This is 2nd Street looking up 2nd Street
towards Market Street. And then we have 2nd Street looking northwest towards Market.
And then this is a view from inside the site looking out towards 2nd Street.
And then we also have the historic Black Horse Alley, which abuts the property
to the east. And then this is the black, the site and the Black Horse Alley, again, looking east.
Now I'm going to go back to my overall exhibit list. Just wanted to give you a sense for what
we have here. We have our application. We have a copy of the referral. We have a copy of the deed
for 15 to 17 at tab 3. Tab 4 is the deed for 19 to 25 south second. We have our zoning plan at tab
5. We have our landscape plan at tab 6. Some project graphics that Mr. Mock may get into if
the board desires to see those. Site photos I just showed you at tab 8. Tab 9 has the photos of the
property with the zoning posters in place. Tab 10 is an aerial photo to give you a sense for what
the neighborhood looks like from the sky. Then we had three RCO letters that went out because we
had an earlier hearing, which was continued based on some of the discussions with the neighbors.
The latest RCO hearing letter went out on January 17th. So we've included that. And we've also
included a certificate of mailing for that January 17th letter. That's page one of the
certificate of mailing. There were numerous pages. I didn't want to bog down
the exhibit package. Now, we do have an RCO letter of support from
the Old City District, which is at tab 15, and then
a letter of non-opposition from Councilman Squilla
at tab 16, our tax clearance certificate at 17,
and at 18 is our OPA property record.
So at this point, I'm going to go to the plan
okay here we go so this is this is our site plan as i said this is the extent of the property both
Okay, here we go.
parcels uh again currently a a vacant lot and what we're proposing is to build this
so three three story building and then this will be an exterior courtyard which we're going to
refer to as the Tunn Alley. So what I'd like to do is, now the Tunn Tavern, just to get into a
little of the history, was originally constructed back in 1686, and it was in place for about 95
years until 1781 when it was destroyed. There's a lot of history with the Tunn Tavern. It was
originally the birthplace of Freemasonry in Pennsylvania, dating to 1731, and it was the
first documented Freemason Lodge in Pennsylvania, or excuse me, in North America. It was also the
founding place of the United States Marine Corps in 1775. And the Tonn Legacy Foundation is
essentially a joint venture of a group of Marines, former Marines, and Freemasons, a group of Freemasons.
Some other history, John Adams and the Naval Committee met there in 1775 and outlined the structure for what became the United States Navy.
Benjamin Franklin was the first grandmaster of the Tun Tavern Freemason Lodge.
And then George Washington was also a Freemason, and we have documentation that he visited the original foundation.
So what we're looking to do is to recognize this history and reestablish a successor to the Ton Tavern here in Old City, which we think, based on the history of Old City, is an appropriate location.
And once it's rebuilt, the Ton Legacy Foundation will donate all the proceeds from the operation in perpetuity to veterans' charities and other charities that are associated with the other heritage organizations, including the Freemasons.
Now, the property is CMX-3, the Center City Overlay District.
The referral obviously indicates that we need a special exception.
And we're looking to do a sit-down restaurant, which is what requires the referral.
And the legal standard, as you're aware, basically for approval of a special exception is that any impacts from the proposed facility
are in keeping with the impacts of a similar facility or a facility of a similar use, size, and scale.
And we believe we do meet that standard.
What we're proposing on the parking lot is the three-story sit-down restaurant.
The 170 seats will have a bar and tavern.
We anticipate that the clientele will be locals and then also tourists and visitors
visitors who are drawn by the historic nature and the historic connection of the ton most of the
operation will be indoor as i indicated we will have that outdoor courtyard area which will be
designated as the ton alley there will be some outdoor seating in that area the city tavern the
old city tavern is kind of the model for this facility now the days and hour a week it will be
seven hours, or excuse me, seven days a week. We'll be doing lunch and dinner on weekdays
and weekends, and also doing breakfast on the weekends. Now, one of the things we've agreed to
with Mr. Orphaniti's client and some of the other interested neighbors is there will be no outdoor
music in the Ton Alley portion where the outdoor seating will be located. I'm just going to run
through our hours of operation weekdays during our peak season. The maximum hours of opening
will be 11.30 a.m. to midnight during the weekdays, and then that would be indoor. Then
outdoor, we would close at 10 o'clock during those weekday hours. Fridays and Saturdays,
our indoor hours will be 11.30 a.m. to midnight. Outdoors, we would close at 11 p.m.
on Fridays and Saturdays. And then on Sundays, we would do indoors starting at 9 a.m. So we would
have a Sunday brunch, Sunday breakfast, and then close at 11 p.m. And then Sundays, the outdoor
area would start at 9 a.m. and close at 10 p.m. We'd have no dinner service after 10, so we would
stop serving at 10. If folks wanted to sit until closing and finish their dinner, they can.
But we will stop serving dinner at 10 every evening.
Every evening, alcohol service will stop a half hour before closing on any particular evening evening.
Alcohol service will stop a half hour before.
And that would be that would be determined by the closing time.
Again, we would stop serving alcohol a half hour before closing.
One, a couple of things that distinguish this and we think make it better than a similar restaurant type use is that we won't have any sidewalk dining.
Our dining will occur in the Tonne Alley, so it'll take it off the sidewalk and prevent the interference with sidewalk traffic and conflicts with what's happening on the street.
Also, you'll see, if you look at the landscaping plan, we're proposing a significant landscape area that's about nine foot wide that's between the Tonne Alley outdoor seating and the sidewalk.
Mr. Kerr, it would probably be really helpful as you're talking if you start going through some of what you have.
okay i can do that i'm sorry the landscape i don't then go back and tell us the landscape again so
as we're sitting here why don't you show us some of the things you have yeah i apologize i'm looking
at my notes and uh and i should have gone there but anyway this is you should be seeing a landscaping
plan which says l 1.0 in the lower right hand corner yeah okay again this is second street
and the landscaping i'm referring to is this nine foot area here between the ton alley and
Second Street. And then there's also a significant landscaping area to the side and sort of
perpendicular to Second Street, which will also act as a buffer for the ton alley from the street.
Okay. So we believe that that landscaping and the fact we don't have any on-street
seating will actually result in fewer impacts to the neighborhood from this particular use
than a standard restaurant would impose.
Now, our employees, well, our maximum number of employees at any time would be 20.
as far as parking there is no parking required but what we're anticipating using a municipal
garage that has 400 spaces which is a just a short way down the block on second street and
then there's also a garage with 100 spaces which is much closer and it's only two properties away
so there's about 500 parking spaces available within within very easy walking distance for
patrons. As far as our trash, we'll have an indoor trash room and we'll have daily pickup by a
private trash hauler. In addition to just the regular restaurant seating and the bar and the
tavern, we would possibly do, the interior would be configured to allow us to do private parties
of up to 60 people. We wouldn't do a private party of anything larger than that because we
wouldn't be able to accommodate that. All of this, we believe, is standard and consistent with what
you typically find in a standard sit-down bar and restaurant. There's nothing unusual. Therefore,
it's our position that we wouldn't have any extraordinary impacts, including because there's
no sidewalk dining, and we do have that landscape buffering. So we believe we do meet the legal
standard. You have renderings, Mr. Kerr? I do have renderings, and I'm going to have Mr. Mock
actually go through those for you?
Mr. Kerr, how long do you think this presentation will be?
It should be another five, eight minutes.
I'm basically done.
I'm just going to have Mr. Daly adopt my testimony now.
Okay, so if we could admit Mr. Pat Daly as a participant.
Mr. Daly, if you could just raise your hand.
You see Mr. Daly.
do we see mr daly saying yes mr chair he has been allowed to speak thank you
yes sir mr daly could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
patrick p-a-t-r-i-c-k daly d as in delta a-i-l-e-y you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i do please proceed counsel okay yes good afternoon
mr daly um have you been on the uh the zoom for the duration of my presentation here this afternoon
yes i have and do you uh agree with everything i said that i did i say anything that was inaccurate
no that's uh what you said is accurate okay do you adopt my statements as your testimony here today
yes i do okay that's all that i have for mr daly if the board has any questions for him
otherwise we'll move to Mr. Mock
Keith Mock
Keith, raise your hand
in the
David, excuse me
David, excuse me, Mr. Orfinetes, do you have any questions for Mr. Daly?
Mr. Orphanides
No, no, no, I don't have it now.
Mr. Mock.
They've been allowed to speak.
Mr. Mock, please state your name as a bell for this phonographer.
Okay, thank you.
Good afternoon, Mr. Mock.
Excuse me, this is the court reporter.
I am not hearing the witness.
okay they've been promoted to um panelists they should be allowed to speak now
keith are you there hi mister i am here all right mr mock could you please state your name
and spell for this stenographer keith mock k-e-i-t-h m-o-c-k you swear or firm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do please proceed counsel
Okay, Mr. Mock, you've been on for the duration of today's hearing?
Yes, I have.
Okay. Now, on the screen, you see an image which shows a graphic of the ton with a label, Philadelphia Zoning Board of Adjustment. Is this an image of the historic ton as it existed back in the 1700s?
Yes, it is.
And were you involved in preparing this graphics package?
Yes, I was.
Okay, could you describe what I'm showing now on this second page of the graphics package?
So the image you're looking at is an aerial view down towards 2nd Street.
You see the historic Tun Tavern as it was depicted in that historic photograph.
To the left of it, you see Tun Alley.
It is the brick pathway that leads you through along with the landscaped area that was previously mentioned.
And then in that courtyard is the seating where we have approximately 44 dining seats.
And then the rest of the seating will be indoors, correct, Mr. Mock?
It will be indoors.
We also have on the third floor, you can see there is a covered dining area that is only open into the Tonn Alley Courtyard.
Okay, I'm going to scroll down to the next graphic, which is the location plan.
And can you just describe for the board what this depicts?
Yes, so you'll see two stars. The star to the lower left is the original location of the historic Tun Tavern. If it were there today, it would be sitting in I-95.
We were fortunate to find the Second Street site, which is the second star, and a perfect location given all of the historic museums and cultural activities in the area.
and then we have the project summary site plan if you could just briefly describe this for the board
yes again second street to the left hand side you see the arrow depicting the entry into the
ton alley courtyard with the dining area and then there's a open porch where there's an access into
the historic tavern building with the second entrance there into the restaurant.
This is the basement level, which is primarily utilities and back a house, including restrooms.
Next slide.
As we move to the first floor, again, to the left is Second Street.
You see in yellow the period tavern, and then behind in orange the sit-down restaurant area.
The rest of the space is back of house.
That includes restrooms, employee areas, as well as the enclosed trash room.
That is accessed then off Black Horse Alley.
The trash room where you see the words back of house, it's just below the back of house
area, that big room.
Second floor, we have two restaurant areas.
One, we will have a period restaurant over the historic tavern.