Yes, Michelle Feldman, M-I-C-H-E-L-L-E-F-E-L-D-M-A-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
Well, first, thank you to the zoning board for your time and consideration this afternoon.
I'm testifying today in my capacity as the director of the East Falls Development Corporation.
Our organization is dedicated to the long-term health and growth of our small business community
and commercial corridors, and we testify today in strong support of the Falls Air Club's
application.
Since opening their doors, the Falls Air has constituted a burst of positive energy in
East Falls, a partner to our small businesses, a spark for commerce, and a gathering hub
for our residents and visitors.
Our organization believes the special exemption requested here is critical to the club's ability
to continue to positively impact our neighborhood.
We also believe the club's growth has the potential to bring in new businesses and shoppers.
And the club's team is incredibly community-oriented.
They go above and beyond to support our residents and business owners,
including proactively addressing any concerns of near neighbors.
Thank you so much for your time today.
Thank you for taking the time, Nicole, and we appreciate it.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
chair we have laura herschel they have been unmuted and allowed to speak
hi could you state your name please and hello my name my name is laura herschel that's l-a-u-r-a
h-e-r-s-c-h-e-l right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth yes i do please proceed um i just wanted to voice my support of the exception um and granting
the exception. Um, I have attended multiple community events, um, before it was even the
Falser Club. Um, I've attended, um, East Falls Forward meetings, uh, Joy Fest, uh, musical events.
And I just want to say it has definitely brought community together. Um, Felicity is always
proactive in addressing like any issues. There's any noise, uh, any complaints. Um, I've never
had to complain um i have never seen any issues um and i just see it as a great asset to our
neighborhood okay thank you very much for taking the time to call us is there anyone else
i see no hands at this time chair planning commission
good afternoon chair peter bernard for the planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing cmx 2.5 commercial mixed use zoning
at this location the property has a long history of use as a community accessible space and we feel
And we feel the adaptive reuse of the existing building advances the district plan.
the adaptive reuse of the existing building advances the district plan
Accordingly, the Planning Commission recommends the board grant the variance.
Thank you.
MI 2023-006-336-3721 Midville Avenue.
I vote yes with proviso.
All events to conclude by midnight.
James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso.
LaBara Leonard Palmer, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you, counsel. I will be calling you back very shortly.
Number two, MI 2023-006-279-5843-45, Rising Sun Avenue. Leonard Altieri is the attorney.
Letter of non-opposition from Longcrest Community and a letter of support from Council Member Phillips.
Leonard Altieri is coming back in as a panelist now, Chair.
Counsel, you've already been sworn. Just state your name for the record.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman Leonard Altieri, A-L-T-I-E-R-I, the law firm of Claire Harrison in Center City, Philadelphia.
Could you identify your client, the relationship to the property?
Yep, my client is Oak Street Health. They are the tenant at 5843-45 Rising Sun.
do you waive the reading of the referral and agree to its accuracy i do and all your
paperwork was sent in within five days last five days it was mr chairman and then i did supplement
the packet this morning i received a letter of support from councilman phillips office and sent
that in uh after this morning's hearing sir thank you could you uh share your screen and begin your
presentation. Yes, sir. Can you see my screen, Mr. Chairman? Yes, we're good. Perfect. So again,
Mr. Chairman and members of the board, for the record, Leonard Alterior, the law firm of Claire
Harrison for the property located at 5843-45 Rising Sun. The property is located in the CMX2
Zoning District. It is a former CVS building, and the applicant is seeking a change of use to allow
group medical, dental, and health practitioner's office in it. The applicant, as I said, is Oak
Street Health. Oak Street Health is a primary care provider specializing in Medicare patients.
Their medical offices allow their patients to regularly and easily see their physician to keep
their health under consistent surveillance the program includes exam rooms consultation rooms
the lab various office spaces for the staff as well as the community room as i noted in the
beginning we did apply to l and i we received a notice of referral because the proposed use of
group medical dental and health practitioners offices requires a special exception as i also
noted we did receive a letter of support from councilman phillips office as well as the long
Crest Community Association. There were some notes that I'll address later that the Longhurst
Community Association raised. Again, it is an existing CVS. We are not proposing to do anything
to the exterior of the building with regards to taking down walls or anything. Everything will be
contained within the actual structure, which is shown here. So essentially the way to think of it
is it's multiple office, excuse me, multiple medical building, excuse me, multiple medical
offices contained in one building, as you can see in the plans shown here. The criteria with
regard to a special exception, we do not believe that this change of use will create any additional
congestion in the streets or the transit system. We do not believe that it will overcrowd the land.
It will not impair any light or air to adjacent property. It will not burden the public facilities.
It will not impair or permanently injure the use of adjacent properties, nor will it endanger
the public health, safety, or welfare, and we do not believe that it is inconsistent with the
comprehensive plan of the city. As I mentioned before, the Longcrest Civic Association did raise
four notes inside their letter of support with regards to lack of parking, the need to repave
the driveway and the sidewalks, the need for an enclosure of the dumpster area, and a commitment
to hire local residents. It can be expanded upon even more by my client, Mr. Sean Clark,
from Oak Street Health. But in consultation with Oak Street Health, with regards to parking,
the Oak Street Health provides a van, essentially a Dodge Caravan. 60% of our patients that use
Oak Street Health are transported to the facility through that transit forum. We think that there's
sufficient parking at the location and parking is not actually something that would be flagged with
at the location, and parking is not actually something that would be flagged with regards to
with regards to this
this change of use. With regards to repaving the driveway and the sidewalks, Oak Street Health is
looking at the sidewalk as well as the driveway and will address any areas that might raise some
safety concerns. With regards to the dumpster area, we too are looking at that and have no problem
doing so. And with regards to the hiring of local residents, it is Oak Street Health's philosophy
to always hire from within the community.
It's easier to have individuals who live in close proximity to the location
as opposed to individuals who might have to travel long distances.
At this time, Mr. Chairman, I don't have anything else with regards to the presentation.
I do have my client, Mr. Clark from Oak Street Health,
that I can come in and have him adopt my testimony and offer him for any questions.
So, Sean, if you could raise your hand and we'll have you join as a panelist.
Sean Clark has been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Sean, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Sean Clark. That's S-E-A-N-C-L-A-R-K.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you very much. Sean, were you on the call when I went through the presentation?
Yes, I was.
And were you able to hear everything that I testified to?
yes i did and if you were to be called today would you answer in a similar fashion to the
to the presentation i provided yes i would and so you would adopt this testimony as your own
yes and the last question i'll have is everything that i said was true and accurate to the best of
your knowledge and belief yes sir all right i have no further questions mr chairman questions from
the board no mr chairman no mr chairman questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands chair planning commission
good afternoon chair peter bernard for the planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing cmx2 commercial mixed use zoning at
this location we believe the proposed health group practitioner's office will have no more
impact than would be expected to have given its location accordingly the planning commission
recommends the board grant the special exemption mi 2023 006 279 58 43 to 45 rising sun avenue
I vote yes. James Snell, my vote is yes. LeBaron, Leonard Palmer, vote is yes.
Thank you. Thank you, counsel. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Have a good day.
Okay. Number three, MI 2023-006-287-420 West Mermaid Lane. Stephanie Boggs Magna is the attorney.
Letter of support from the Chestnut Hill Community Association.
Applicant provided six form letters of support, non-opposition from their neighbors.
And there was an earth-moving plan submitted and reviewed by the Planning Commission.
Counsel, you've already been sworn.
Could you just state your name for the record?
Stephanie Magana?
Right.
Do you waive the reading of the refusal and agree with the accuracy?
I'd also like to note that this application is very closely related to another application on the calendar for today.
For today, that's 7504 St. Martin's Lane.
I think I'll move to that next.
I didn't know if we wanted to consider those in conjunction.
The materials are much the same.
I think we talked a little bit about that, and I think what we want to do is hear this one, and then I'm going to go right to that.
We're going to hear them separately.
Is that right, Hillary?
Yes, that's correct, Mr. Chair. While the properties are adjacent and have the same owner and similar refusals, what's being asked in each case is a little bit different, so we need to look at them differently, at a different time. Thank you.
Proceed, counsel.
Sure. Our project architect, Sarah Griffith, is going to be sharing her screen. So if she is not already, she can raise her hand and be promoted. We have two other professionals that will also be testifying if you want to swear them in collectively or as each one is called. I defer to what the board.
Why don't we do this? Why don't we have the person that runs the screen and then let's see, you know, how your presentation, how it goes, and then we'll go from there. OK.
Sure. So, Sarah, if you can, I see you're on the screen here. If you want to be sworn in first, you can share.
I think, is she going to testify to Stephanie or just use the screen?
She is going to testify. So, to start with, at 420 West Mermaid Lane, our clients are Meredith and Dane Jensen.
They purchased the property in 2021 in conjunction with the St. Martin's Lane property with the intentions of making the 420 West Mermaid Lane property their single family home.
with the intentions of making the 420 West Mermaid Lane property their single-family home.
So they began renovations to the property in 2022 under separate and prior buy-write approvals, and those are ongoing.
The current application is seeking approval to construct an accessory cabana structure related to an in-ground pool at the property,
all accessory to the single-family home in conjunction with fencing and related landscaping site improvements.
The size of the structure, the total area of the cabana structure, requires variance under the zoning code as it exceeds the permitted total area of such an accessory structure.
We are also seeking relief from steep slope protections for disturbance within an area with an existing slope between 15 and 25 percent at St. Mermaids.
So, Sarah, if you'd like to go through our presentation as we have, maybe we can stop a little bit short of West Mermaid.
But as she's scrolling through here before she begins, as was mentioned, we have a letter of support from Chestnut Hill Community Association for the Mermaid property.
And we also have discussed this presentation as well as the connected one with all six affected neighbors.
They have also submitted letters of support or non-opposition in regards to this project and they are submitted within our exhibit package.
So, Sarah, with that, if you want to start, specifically, we can focus on West Mermaid for now, and then we'll move on to the project at St. Martin's.
That sounds good.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Sarah Griffith, S-A-R-A-H, last name G-R-I-F-F-I-T-H.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do, yes.
Please proceed.
Okay, so thank you guys for taking time to meet with us today. I'm an architect at Peter Zimmerman Architects. We're here to review the refusals on 420 West Mermaid, again, for the accessory uses of the cabana and the steep slope.
for 420 West Mermaid. The main refusal is for the cabana size. So here is, just to situate
everybody, this is the main house and the existing garage, mostly interior work happening here. And
then this is the cabana that is over the allowed 130 square feet size. These are all the neighboring
properties that have given their letters of support that Stephanie touched on. And then this
is the other property owned by the client that we're going to address later. So this is just a
quick overview, zoom in of the 420 West Mermaid Lane property. Again, this is the existing house
and existing garage. And then this is a more in-depth and detailed plan of the cabana that
as proposed along with a new pool that is in the existing footprint of the existing pool
on their property. We'll just briefly go through some renderings of what this cabana will look like.
It's going to be two masses with a roof covering an open air villian that leads out to the pool.
Here's just another view from that South St. Martin's property that is also owned by the
same client. So the total footprint under roof is 672 square feet. Each enclosed mass is 180 square
feet, which is what is prompting the refusal. But here you can see a blown up floor plan of
what will be enclosed in this cabana, which will be this open air living room, open air living
space, kitchen, powder room, steam shower, and sauna, and then in the lower level will just be
a gym, some storage, another powder room, and a laundry room. Due to the existing steep slopes,
we're able to get a basement in there and still meet the 15-foot height requirement in this zone.
These are just some elevations, so you can see a more detailed look, but they're also
mimicked in the renderings that were shown above.
Here is a site section that kind of shows you how the existing steep slopes let us get
a basement in there and how we're working with the site in order to grade down to this
basement.
um and you can see the existing house and garage that is going in in here
uh this is another section through another view through the pool so this is a new pool again in
the same location as the existing pool and a site section through this open air covered um cabana
through this open air covered um cabana space between the two enclosed masses on the property
um next i'm gonna ask for jason kelso to to speak to the steep slopes on the property
okay 420 west mermaid okay thank you jason kelso is our landscape architect jason if
you have not already please raise your hand and identify yourself with the board
jason kelso has been unmuted and allowed to speak