as relates to their sunlight and sight lines they may reach a memo of understanding on those issues
which are mostly design and construction related except for noise from rooftop recess these
residents to the west of the project will not experience the great impact on quality of life
Ms. Rosen, Ms. Rosen, you've indicated you're against this project. We understand that your
time is up, but thank you for coming. Could you please state your name and spell it for the
stenographer? Just one thing. I know many people that would want to send their children to such
a school, and they absolutely are opposed for safety reasons. Could you please state your name
is spelling for us my name is ruth r-u-t-h d-coup capital d-e capital c-o-u i live at 738 rodman
street for 30 48 years across the street from the garage do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth you have two minutes please to give us your position thank you
i oppose this the non-conforming garage has been not been actively operated on the property since
2016 and the use permit lapsed in 2020 the owner plans to replace the non-conforming use
with a different non-conforming use and expand non-conforming height by 10 feet
consequently the proposed school and residents must conform to current rm1 dimensional and use
standards specifically educational facilities must be in a completely enclosed detached building
this building is fully attached on three sides to 10 residential properties the code makes no
provision for fully attached buildings therefore it is illegal and must not be approved no schools
and no legitimate adaptive reuses in the city are fully attached none that nevertheless the
are fully attached nonetheless the applicant calls his project adaptive reuse and expects
applicant calls his project
the board to contone it despite the fact that it does not qualify for a special exception
required in rm1 his reasoning is specious the comprehensive plan seeks to quote showcase the
built environment of philadelphia by reusing vacant or underutilized sources such as schools
and factories designed to high standards in ways that allow them to continue giving identity and
character to their neighborhoods this the plan does not seek to favor religious organizations
by granting them zoning relief that would not be awarded to secular groups seeking the same
variances thank you very much your time's up and we do understand where you stand on this project
okay thank you very much thank you um next person to testify could you come up and get close to the
Mike. Why don't you state your name and spell for the stenographer? My name is Vera Akula, V-E-R-A-A-K-U-L-A.
Corporate reporter, did you get that? Chair, I was just about to ask for a repeat. Could you get the
mic a little bit closer to you, if you don't mind? We'll have that attorney help you a little bit.
hi could you state your name again uh my name is vera akula uh v-e-r-a-a-k-u-l-a right do you
swear or affirm that's all the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
so could in two minutes you give us a sense of where you stand with this project
what do you mean by that say that again what do you mean by that do you want this project to go
forward or not? Yes. Okay. And could you tell us quickly why? Last year, I asked my mom to
sign me up for Hebrew school. In the past year, I've learned so much about being Jewish that I
was able to compete internationally. I even won a gold medal. My year-long journey could only
happen after school. I don't have a place to go to that's like my Hebrew school, but also teaches
me my subjects like math, LA, science, and social studies. A school like the one Rabbi Goldman wants
to build could help me and others who want to continue to gain a sense of community the school
is really important to have in my neighborhood i'm asking for you today to approve the building
i understand some neighbors aren't sure about living near the school but from what i know
they'll love it just like me thank you well thank you very much for coming we do appreciate your
comments thank you sir could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer if you would
get closer to the mic? Yes. My name is Samuel Gordon, G-O-R-D-O-N. Right. Do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes. Sir, in two minutes, could you
tell us where you stand on this project? Okay. I'm not here in official capacity, but I am a member
of CCRA, Center City Residents Association Zoning Committee. We almost did not allow the Goddard
school um thankfully we did it was a lot of neighborhood opposition the school is now on
pine street and fits seamlessly in a wonderful addition to the neighborhood but on a bigger note
in judaism we have a body and a soul same in most religions the school that's being proposed is the
body the soul of it is the rabbi and his family who proposed to live there to have the the school
without the family is really missing the soul the soul in chabad is what pulls everything together
and and by having the rabbi and his family living there 24 7 they will make sure that they maintain
good neighborly relations with everyone that's around and even the people that are now opposed
to it hopefully will see that this is a great addition to the neighborhood and will build on
the family nature of the neighborhood. Thank you very much for coming in. We appreciate it. Could
you please state your name and spell it for the sonographer? Susan Thorin, S-U-S-A-N-T-H-O-R-E-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
in two minutes could you tell us your position yes i wonder if any of you have seen our little
street or visited it okay thank you if any of you have seen our street i've submitted photos
i don't know if you've been there do you have any idea what it feels like it's a very small street
it's one lane directly across from the entrance to this proposed project the entry onto rodman
is from 8th 8th is a very high traffic use area and bus route that's been noted between vine street
all the way to south just a half a block away the traffic often backs up between pennsylvania
hospital at spruce and south where 8th goes from two lanes to one lane heading further south and
one lane dedicated left turn on very very busy south street this routinely block
on very very busy south street this routinely blocks our street in early may
on a random tuesday it took me 20 minutes to cross lombard street to my left turn under rodman a
half a block away the added intensity of 180 to 200 school children requiring twice a day vehicle
drop-offs pickups teachers staff trash deliveries will obviously add to it substantially to an
already overwhelmed small community we already have frustrated drivers trying to avoid south
street by zooming down our street we all knew what we were getting into when we bought on the street
and its proximity to the south street what we didn't buy into was an added this added burden
on our community thank you very much for your presence that's your two your two minutes are up
thank you i'm opposed understanding right sir could you please state your name and spell it
for the stenographer. My name is Brian Cahill. It's B-R-I-A-N-C-A-H-I-L-L. Do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? I do. In two minutes, sir, could you
give us your position? Opposed, as many or almost all of our neighbors on Rodman Street, such a
large, out-of-scale business, and a school is a business, would have a profound, deleterious
effect on the lives of all nearby residents. Much has been made about the facility being a benefit
the community when it is actually consists of an insular community that has few touch points to the
larger community the engagement with us near neighbors has been evasive dismissive and obtuse
it started as a home project several years ago the details of which were only available in an
obscure library in a time when people don't use libraries at previous meetings eba asked about
the origin of the project and the team lied to the board about a beginning as a school project which
it was not this was accepted without question by the board to whom actually hugged the proponents
lawyer ahead of the hearing throughout the process of it morphing into a proposed school
our concerns were dismissed at the meetings we were finally able to get into two paid traffic
studies ignored rodman street which would be irreparably damaged uh all this time and money
has been wasted on this facility that would be wholly inadequate for the synagogue's ultimate
needs maybe a much larger space detached stool you've heard it the best use for this garage
would be a garage thank you very much sir we appreciate you coming in anyone else in that aisle
the wait wait wait there's a quite a few aisles in front of you right um the third aisle who in
the third row oh i'm sorry i'm just trying to get the next seat go ahead sir uh my name is jeff
j-e-f-f-k-r-i-s-c-i-u-n-a-s right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth not
to quit the truth i do sir could you in two minutes give me your position sure good morning i live at
740 robin directly in front of this property while discussions have occurred with the neighbors
behind the property the residents who experience the most direct and continuous impact on this
is the a street rodman and bradford streets we are the front entrance we observe the traffic
the congestion the drop-offs the deliveries the parking every single day our group the 510 front
door community has canvassed the immediate impact areas not only residents but business as well
the petitions that we have submitted contain well over 160 signatures and half of those are within
the 250 feet radius of this project we were here for the last meeting on may 19th we only had 120
so numbers are growing for this protected project against us and becomes clear that this project is
not wanted by the local neighbors who are affected let me be clear our concern is not with education
our concern with scale intensity and location as you have heard from experts and the deficiencies
are real also no local rcos have some more submitted support for this project as they
have attended other presentations with all of us over the past year with the development team
and understand the impact of community as well the traffic and land news studies is insufficient
it does not adequately analyze peak overlap between schools drop off commuter traffic bus routes
It does not meeting fully evaluate surrounding intersections beyond the immediate block.
It fails to address parking demand, delivery, refuge, and immediate impact of school combined
with this, including evenings with events, because that's what will occur.
We have been told by the school to manage to pick up what might happen and drop off
or prevent street parking.
However, the afternoon of our last meeting in May 19th, I attended and went to the school
that they currently have their kids at.
I submitted pictures where the cars were parked already on the street, those vehicles are
not actually picking up children this occurred at a smaller site an additional scale and activity
here sir thank you very much we understand your position thank you thank you could you please
state your name and spell it for the stenographer sure my name is lisa hardy h-a-r-d-y do you swear
or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do please proceed sure
i live at 714 rodman and have been there for 25 years yep this i am opposed because this is a low
This I am opposed, because this is a low rise residential neighborhood defined by 2 and 3 story homes walkable residential. Many reasons you've heard today for this.
residential neighborhood defined by two
Density of application is not appropriate. The huge number of people coming and going is not appropriate. It'll affect Rodman street, but also the back alley that exists between Rodman and south where cars will cut through.
and this is where people walk and kids play and it's just not appropriate to have this many people
coming and going zoning exists to protect communities from exactly this type of incompatible
development without these exceptions without hardship we undermine the integrity of the
entire zoning code and we enrode trust in this process thank you very much for coming in we
appreciate it ma'am could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer get closer
to the get close name is rachel glenn g l y n and i'm speaking here hold on hold on hold on
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes sir please proceed
so my name is rachel glenn and i am here to speak up in favor of the variances and in favor of the
building of the school i think the school is going to be a great asset to the community
I think the reason is because Rabbi Goldman, his wife Leah, the architects, they are doing everything humanly possible to accommodate the needs and the concerns of the neighbors.
I myself was once a neighbor facing a zoning board about the building of a school when I lived in New Jersey, and it was a terrible situation where nobody cared about our concerns.
I'm seeing exactly the opposite.
it is fundamental to what rabbi and Leah believe in, that they believe in treating people as
made in the image of God and to be respected. We thank you. Listen to. We understand your
position. We thank you for coming in. Thank you very much. Next person, please. Good morning.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer? Yes, chair. My name is Jordana,
j-o-r-d-a-n-a greenwald g-r-e-e-n w-a-l-d do you swear or firm to tell the truth told truth
nothing but the truth i do could you please give us two minutes of where you stand yes thank you
so much i am opposed um as is my husband who's here representing us to this project i am here
in my capacity as a co-owner of 530 south 8th street which is directly adjacent to this property
The entire north side of our home is attached to the existing building that is there, and you know I think this board is called on a lot of the time to make really difficult decisions.
I don't think this is one of them. I think there is a lot of emotion attached to what's happening here, and that is completely understandable.
But at the end of the day, the facts are and the law are what this board needs to consider, and the applicant has not met their burden.
There is not evidence of an actual hardship.
What we're being talk is being talked about and presented is a hardship that is based on the personal decision of the person who purchased this property to decide to use it for in a very generous manner to try to do something for their community, which is lovely.
but they still remain subject to the same zoning laws as everybody else.
Thank you very much for your time. We understand your position. Thank you.
Sir, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Sure. I'm Stuart Balno, S-T-E-W-A-R-T. Last name is Balno, B-O-L like lion, N-O.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I do, sir.
Could you give us two minutes of where you stand?
yes we're here today to discuss the immediate and long-term future of an abandoned property
at present it stands unoccupied and unused in the middle of the block in a relatively
prosperous neighborhood of philadelphia the vision of benay abraham is to improve the building
to serve the community in a positive and meaningful manner in this moment the zoning
board has two choices yes and no if you enter no the vacant building which provides no purpose or
asset to the community will stand as is since we can't predict the future none of us has any idea
about what may come next if you answer yes you already know benay abraham is a responsible
neighbor you can expect we will continue to play by the rules and meet obligations after all the
Members of the congregation have a religious,
as well as moral, command to love thy neighbor.
Before you decide, please consider the wisdom and reality of compared to what?
Before you decide, please consider the wisdom
and reality of compared to what.
Nature abhors a vacuum.
B'nai Abraham is offering this opportunity to fill this vacuum with a responsible, considerate, and time-tested partner.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
I really understand where you are.
Sir, could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer?
Michael Slowey, M-I-C-H-A-E-L-S-L-O-W-E-Y.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Sir, could you take two minutes and tell us where you stand?
I'm in favor of the school.
I think that if we revert back to the little girl's testimony and you listen to the children's side instead of what traffic is about, that they'll all have a similar story and the blessings that it's going to bring.
Thank you very much for coming in.
We appreciate it.
Sir, good morning.
Could you please get close to the mic?
could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer my name is larry schiffman
s-c-h-i-f-f-m-a-n right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth sir could you get close to that mic and then tell us for two minutes where you stand okay
i stand strongly in favor of the new school um i have two grandchildren who were products of the
manet abraham preschool and it was a transformative experience for them it was a very wonderful thing
that they've benefited from tremendously um i walked past the building on the way here uh this
building is scrap is decrepit it's falling apart today one of the garage doors was open and you
could see the interior which was truly alarming looking um this school is going to add tremendously
to the community it will be appreciated greatly and I hope that people can see can be a little
bit more generous Benjamin Franklin donated money to the first synagogue in Philadelphia his own
money and I'd like to see that spirit continued now all right all right thank you very much for
coming in good morning ma'am could you please state your name and spell for the sonographer