there's going to be max required and again it's not public you won't have a lot of traffic
it'll just be a few people let me share my screen i'll show you a layout um briefly here
so hopefully you can see my screen can you see it
yes my sharing screen okay mr chairman yes okay so you see here it's rm1 it was cmx2 though
when it was built I'm not sure why the examiner didn't put that information on
the refusal but let me show you the layout it's not a huge space in a minute
here that's the new building this is the the windows and you can't really put
residential in here because there's there's all front windows there's no
windows in the back there's only one bathroom it's just not laid out for
residential so and plus if even if we wanted to add a unit that would increase
density and you know we might have problems with the community and doing
that this is the floor space you can see how it's a commercial space about 1500
square feet that's the two bathrooms and this is a rendering of the interior you
know the equipment's going to be pretty spaced out people are going to be able
to work out without being close to each other and we'll have masks and I'll just
So we had our RCO meeting before the shutdown, right before the shutdown, an in-person meeting, and the RCO has submitted a letter based on our testimony.
an in-person meeting and the rco has submitted a letter based on our testimony of um support
and that's the certificate of mailing and here's the rco letter so let me see if i can get eric
marshall on the call he hopefully has his hands raised he's listening he says um
i hope let me tell him to raise his hand just so he can verify eric you can unmute yourself and
Oh, good.
I'm here, yeah.
Thank you so much.
Oh, he's here.
Great.
Eric, did you hear my testimony?
I did.
Did your testimony as your own?
That's correct.
That's all I have, Mr. Chairman.
Pretty straightforward.
Mr. Eric, would you please identify yourself, name and address for the record?
Eric Marshall for 6615 Ridge Avenue, Philadelphia, 19128.
Swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Thank you.
Please proceed, Mr. DeMarco.
That's all I have, Mr. Chairman.
We clearly meet the standard.
This was an unfortunate situation.
The building was constructed to comply with the code.
The code has now changed.
They have been unable to get a tenant.
So clearly they meet the standard for unnecessary hardship.
As this property was built to have a commercial space here and the zoning has changed, therefore, this is the best that we can do now under the circumstances is to have a private gym.
so we'd ask for your uh uh your vote in favor
questions from the board no no no questions anyone else who wishes to
testify in this case on this case please raise your hand
no hands at this time chair okay planning commission
since this property has been recently remapped for residential use
city plan we have no objection to the granting of the variance
thank you calendar number 39881 6615 ridge avenue my vote is yes
my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes thank you that concludes my business
everybody stay safe thank you for your time thank you thank you appeal number h a two zero two zero
zero zero zero zero five seven the address is 98 98 east roosevelt boulevard the attorney is
Hercules, Griegos.
Augusta, you've been promoted to panelists.
You may now unmute yourself and share your screen as necessary.
Thank you, Tanya.
Can we swear her in?
Can you put your name and address on the record, please?
Sure. Augusta O'Neill. My address is 1835 Market Street, Suite 1400, Philadelphia, PA, 19103.
And do you swear or affirm to tell the truth and nothing but the truth?
You're here for 98 East Roosevelt Boulevard.
That's correct.
Good morning, everyone.
I'm here representing the owner of 9898 East Roosevelt Boulevard, known as the Red Line Plaza.
Our application is for a use change to put a dental office in an existing shopping center.
The dental office is for Aspen Dental, which has over 800 offices all across the United States
and offers a variety of dental procedures and services, from veneers to tooth whitening to
crowns and dentures. Each Aspen dental practice is owned and operated by a licensed and local
dentist. Their hours of operation for the proposed location will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. They will
have between 9 to 11 employees on site, depending on whether or not they have an oral surgeon on
site that day. The property is zoned CA2 and is in the far northeast overlay, just as you can see
from this zoning map. In that overlay, medical offices, medical office uses are prohibited in
order to prevent certain medical practices from opening up. We previously met with the
We previously met with the Greater Busselton Civic League on July 8th of 2020, and we did receive their support for this project.
Greater Busselton Civic League on July 8th of 2020.
With me today is Eric Wolf of Finmark, who is redeveloping the property, and also with me is Lauren Russell-Wood, who is here to represent Aspen Dental.
They are both available to answer any questions that the board may have.
Thank you.
Are there any questions from the board?
no no no is there anyone else who wishes to testify in this case please raise your hand
no hands at this time thank you planning commission
property is indicated for commercial use on the city plan we have no objection to
annual variance. Thank you. Appeal number, H as in Harry, A as in Anthony, 2020-000057,
9898 East Roosevelt Boulevard. My vote is yes. My vote is yes. My vote is yes. My vote is yes.
My vote is yes. Thank you. I think that concludes the 930 session.
no there's there's one more there's one more chairman
i apologize thank you very much calendar number three nine one two eight six nine zero six castor
Aveno. Mara Rose, you have been promoted to a panelist. You can speak by unmuting yourself
and share your screen as necessary. Okay. Good morning. Are you an attorney? Yes. My name is
Can you put your name and address on the record, please?
No problem.
My name is Mary Rose Roach.
That's spelled M-A-R-I-R-O-S-E, Roach, R-O-A-C-H.
That's attorney ID 205-225.
My office is located at 6950 Caster Avenue, and that's Philadelphia PA 19149.
Do you also swear or affirm to tell the truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, one last question. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Thank you. You may proceed.
Okay, so I do want to apologize. This is my first zoning
Board of Adjustment virtual hearing and I did submit all of my documents ahead of time.
I'm trying to figure out now how to share my screen, but if I can, I believe you have all the documents I submitted.
So if I'm unable to share, I can just go through what I submitted, if that's okay.
All right.
Hello?
All right.
So just go through.
This application was appealed because there was a refusal for the business professional use proposed.
There are two lots that sit on the property of a church.
One lot is a church that will remain religious use and remain holding services, religious
services.
The other lot is a smaller lot, and it was the rectory of the church, and we're proposing
that it continue single-family use and also be used as business professional use.
So we would be asking for a special exception.
In addition, there was a refusal based on parking space requirements.
there's a total of seven parking spaces needed for the church and one parking space needed for
the the other lot which is the rectory and proposed business professional use. The refusal
also includes signage one flat wall sign on the rectory as well as signage a single-sided signage
in front of the rectory. And there are, we did provide layouts and drawings that reflect the
same. If we go through, I have, I've submitted postings of the, oh, yeah, you have it right
there. Okay, great. There are postings, the zoning board of adjustment, adjustment notice of hearing.
If you scroll down, we have the project information, form, required, tax clearance, if we just
continue to scroll out.
I'm sorry if I'm going too fast.
Concilio Arbol, International Cristiano Arbol de Vida owns the property and the deed follows.
Concilio Arbol, International Cristiano Arbol de Vida owns a-
So it was purchased back in March 2015 and the use has always been the same.
What they're proposing is that with the subdivision of the property separating the existing lot into two separate lots,
one for the church one being for business professional and residential that the zoning
board of adjustment were consider their appeal and granting a special exception
for business professional use in the smaller lot which is lot d
proposed small
we did have a meeting with the rco back in february of 2020 and there was no objection
to um our plans um the relocation of lot lines the business professional use or the signage
and like i said we did provide the relocation of lot lines um that shows how the property would
be changed from one property including a church and a rectory to two separate properties one being
the church, one being the rectory with business professional use. And the descriptions are also
included. That was provided by Philadelphia, City of Philadelphia's streets department.
I also provided the layouts for the rectory of the church
where the first floor will be residential use. We're not going to change any structural,
anything structural within the rectory of the church that will remain residential use.
Living room, dining room, kitchen, laundry room will remain the same
and there are pictures of that if you continue to scroll.
And then if we move forward the second floor, some of this was renovated but if you continue
to scroll down, it's bedroom, bathroom, residential use for that main floor.
I'm sorry, the second floor. And then finally, the bottom floor, which is the basement.
This area was used as a home office in the past, and the objective would be to have more office
space in the basement. There would be four offices down there as well as storage. And if you continue
you to scroll through you'll see the pictures of what that space will be used
for finally there is signage proposed as of right now there is a sign that was
on the property that was used for the church it would be the same signage no
difference there I do have to apologize we did work with fast signs to get the
plans put together for this zoning hearing and they are they're no longer I guess working with
the public or the people that we were working with because of COVID they had to shut down so we
we lost track of them and we didn't have time to get professional plans drawn up but I mean
the actual sign that was approved on the church property will just be moved down to the parcel
uh d the other property where the rectory is so it's the same lot just moving that sign down
um in front of the rectory of the church excuse me this is sharon sletta again um that was not
part of your zoning application is that correct oh well it was so the zoning application had a
flat wall sign affixed to the rectory of the church as well as a sign on the street
um and that is let me just look through here on the refusal it does say that okay it says a flat
wall sign and one single-sided freestanding sign that's the single-sided freestanding sign
okay but right now you are i think suggesting that the sign is going to be moved to another
property um just didn't want any it you to believe that the board is approving that
So the single-sided freestanding sign, this was approved for the existing property at 6906
Castro Avenue. Because there'll be a subdivision, I mean, essentially the sign could stay there,
but because there's a subdivision, it's actually not in front of the right building.
Okay, I understand. Thank you.
No problem. I'm sorry if that was confusing.
um so finally there was there not was there is an issue with parking as far
So, finally, there was, not was, there is an issue with parking as far as the city did refuse the fact that a variance would be required.
I just make the argument that this building has been used as a church for several decades.
The only change is that there's going to be about 940 square feet of business professional use at the property.
And that would include, you know, law firms, like a law firm type business, like where you're seeing clients by appointment only. So what they're requiring is that there would be, you know, in total eight spaces.
So we did have plans drawn up, but the cost and the construction to do something like this, although it wasn't opposed by the RCO, would create a hardship.
And we would just argue that there hasn't been a change in the use.
The small amount of usage for a business professional isn't going to create an additional need for parking.
and that we would ask that you grant our variance and not requiring that the parking be required
with our appeal. So finally, it's just a proof of mailing that we sent out all the mailings
to the surrounding community. Did you have any questions, board?
we have a recommendation from the RCO we do and that was Paige let me just um
you see I can pull up the exact page you don't have to go through everything
they in support of no not in support of so they did send a letter and that is
they did draft a letter and I know that they provided it to the zoning board as
well that's page 26 of the presentation so there is as far as they're being
support I wouldn't just say that there's no objection to opposition no opposition
right and that's page 26 and 27 of the packet that i submitted
any questions from the board no no no anyone else wishes to testify in this matter please raise your
hand we have hillary emerson hillary you can unmute yourself and speak hello can you hear me
Yes, Ms. Emerson, please identify yourselves by your name for the record.