So particularly because of the dwelling unit.
Right.
Well, there's the retail spaces in between the daycare and the dwelling unit.
So there is a whole floor in between.
But your remark on that right now, there's no sound proofing down there and it does echo. So my plan is to put panels on the wall to muffle the sound, not only for people around, but our own ears as well.
Okay. And then I always ask about, is there ventilation and what have you for the dog care like space? And I guess I'm tying it to the disposal of like, you know, dog waste and what have you and how are we handling that?
and how are we handling ventilation to make sure that you know you don't accumulate smells and
things like that right I mean not not being smelly is very important to me too so currently
if a dog does have an accident inside we clean up right away we have a small metal trash can with a
lid where we put the waste and then the day the night before trash pickup I will bag it and tie
it and then put it out for the trash to be honest we accumulate only one bag of trash per week at
our current location now we don't have like tons and tons of waste but that's the way that i've
been handling it um i'm not gonna allow for you know urine or other to sit we clean up everything
right away um there is like a door um to go outside which could provide for ventilation and
then also just like the I guess that would be more like fans or some other kind of way yeah there's
no fans in the in the rec room right now but I do have fans and scalawags currently and I'll probably
just install them just for I like to use them to dry the area to make sure nobody's slipping
okay all right thank you for the rear sort of paved yard that you're using for the dogs
it looks like that backs onto an alleyway that has car access and so i guess my question is
is it completely fenced in there's no cars back there so because google maps says different
it's the canal it's a it's a it's a bike path but there is a double fence back there there's
access through the back and there's one gate and another gate before you would get into the
backyard um it's not completely privacy right now and that's one of the things that i want to do is
just make the fence full privacy so that people can't see in the dogs don't get riled up for no
reason that kind of thing so i will be like securing that more but there is a double gate
system to go out to the back canal anyway what's your what's your hours operation
8 a you said 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. to 7 p.m.
other questions questions from our attorney hillary emerson not at this time mr chair
questions or comments from the audience the virtual audience
no hands chair planning commission amy boy with the planning commission the comprehensive plan
recommends no change in zoning at this location from the current cmx2 commercial mixed use
the appellant has demonstrated that the proposed use will not cause detrimental impact beyond what
would reasonably be expected the planning commission recommends the board grant the
requested special exception for animal services just for a point steve i would tell you your
photos even brought laughter up here it was the only time everybody saw the dogs running
just got the plays laugh so and my 2025 004 956 4324 main street i vote yes michael johnson my
Michael Johnson, my vote is yes. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes. It's another Graham. My vote is yes. My vote is yes.
What is yes?
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
It's another grant.
Thank you. Thank you so much. Congratulations. Thank you.
Okay, so we're going to, we'll do Alan, then we'll take a quick break.
m i 2025 004 963 4507 locust street t-b-397702
um mr knockamson you've already been sworn just state your name for the record alan knockamson
and i also see here there's a letter of support from spruce hill community association
would improvise a trash be stored on the side street of the property okay um our vice chair
has a few questions good afternoon have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days
in advance of this hearing yes we have and do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to
its accuracy yes i do okay thank you you can show your screen and proceed with your case all right
thank you so this is 4507 locust street um we're in the min so um we had we have requirements in
terms of affordable housing um where this is one portion of this project that's over 10 units
So ultimately, 20% of these units have to be deemed affordable.
We're allowed to build five residential units and one commercial unit.
We're mid-block on Locust Street.
We just want to build five residential.
We want to get rid of the commercial component.
That's our case.
That's the refusal.
So we're a CMX2 property.
We would like not to have the commercial unit.
We're not even asking for any more residential units.
There's five residential units, which is allowed by right.
We met with the community.
They were in support of it.
They want the trash stored on the street side of the property.
Like, we have trash stored outside in the rear.
We think that's appropriate.
You'll see that from the floor plans.
But, yes, there's support.
And we have support from the nearby neighbors.
Our next-door neighbor to the left of us on Locust is in support.
The properties in the intersecting street on 45th Street are all in support.
So anyone that touches us is in support.
We did some revised plans.
So we reversed the entry stair direction.
We changed the entry ramp on the side from a ramp to stairs.
And then we added an egress walkout in the rear
So that the lower level unit in the rear not only has access through like a common front door, but they have a separate egress through steps that lead up to the ground level.
And here, those are the three changes.
Reverse the direction of the steps, add the steps to that side area, and made egress steps as well in the rear.
Just showing that we do have a permit for 4 plus 1.
The reason why we didn't do 5 plus 1 was we basically just want to take that commercial space,
well, what should be a commercial space, and make it residential.
But we're allowed 5 residential, 1 commercial.
We want 5 residential.
Letters of support, we have 4509 next door.
However, he doesn't want a commercial component next to his residential component, mid-block.
22228 South 45th Street, a little late in the day, also support that's an intersecting street.
232 South 45th Street, also intersecting street that touches our property essentially, and 230 South 45th Street as well.
maps of the area again strange where cmx2 property everything on this block is residential
so i mean it's more about walnut street here than locust but you know it is what it is um so this is
the front of the property now this is what the properties look like forever uh this is orange
notice poster this is the locust street to the right to the left that's we got from google street
view um gnome architects who's also in the virtual audience matt from gnome architects
they provided nice contextual photographs of showing this block that you would not expect to
have any commercial component here and then our plans and drawings again doing some of the same
doing some of the same stuff that we do maps of the area kind of where we are contextually
stuff that we do, maps of the area, kind of where we are.
from an aerial view and a site map view and then just aerial views as well and then same similar
photos we took their photos just kind of showed the residential nature of this block
and then kind of put the site plan that we have in our revised proviso form as well
and then just our floor plans pretty straightforward this is the first floor
you come in through locust street this is unit number one it's a bi-level
instead of doing unit number one you have this walkway common area entryway you have unit number
two which is first floor lower level and then again there's lower level use instead of you
know, those two units, you go onto the second floor, kind of similar type of thing. These are
all two bedrooms, two baths. Yeah, they're all two bedrooms, two baths. You have a unit here,
you have a unit here, and then the third unit, which doesn't take the full length of the third
floor, is also a two bedroom, two bath. That's right here. And then, you know, again, we tried
to make it pretty we have a mansard roof here nice brick work just information i know the board
knows about the minimum uh the min overlay uh but you know 40 uh 20 of the units have to be
affordable at 40 ami and so those numbers and that's a 50-year deed restriction as well and
we don't get to choose the units we work with planning commission after this is all said and
done to like they choose it and they tell us which ones they are um and then this this is all
the paperwork we filed with regards to this and then we met with the community as a well attended
meeting i think they understood what was there most of the neighbors that touched us were there
as well they don't want commercial on the ground floor proof of mailing or application for appeal
with the notice of refusal and the project information form,
the deeds of property showing Penn Locust LLC is the owner.
And then finally, the tax clearance certificate.
No taxes are technically due.
So with that being said, I just had a curiosity.
Can you show how that looks with the other buildings around it?
Well, the other buildings are more portion in nature.
So, but, you know, we wanted to have a good amount of space
for those unit owners like even like it we couldn't even do five plus one it would just be
way too tight i mean our units um for the five units on this cmx2 property are ranging anywhere
from 644 square feet to as large as 1037 so um and that's not having the porch there if we would
have done the porch there um it would have been a lot lesser um i think it's a good project i i
think people while want you know this is more of a porch type of neighborhood they appreciate the
design that was there um we didn't try to squeeze a center city design or south philly design into
west philly so um this property by the way i don't think i brought that up is owned by penn locust
llc um and in the virtual audience audience should be manesh shah okay so if he could just
virtually raise his hands. Okay.
You're being promoted now.
Thank you. You're welcome.
Hello, this is Tanesh Patel and I'm T-A-N-E-S-H, last name is Patel, P-A-T-E-L, I'm a member
of the Penn Locust LLC.
All right, do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but
the truth?
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Can you hear me? Can you hear me?
Hello?
Yeah. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I don't think he hears me.
can you hear me i i hear you but i don't think you hear us
Can you hear me?
I hear you, but I don't think you'll hear us.
mr patel
uh i don't i don't think his his headphones are working now yeah
i mean we also have we can you know as an officer cord hello hi mr patel i don't think your earphones
are working alan at this point you're an officer of the court we will take your testimony unless
you have someone else uh the only person i have and would be to answer any technical questions
uh you may have is matt from gnome architects why don't you bring it when you bring him on
what's his name uh matt uh from boletti gotcha
matthew has been promoted
hello hi matt could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
yeah my name is matthew from luti uh m-a-t-t-a-t-w-f-r-o-m-b-o-l-u-t-i
great do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes council one of you just see if you can you know he'll adopt your testimony
Well, Matt, in terms of the architectural representations that I made, is everything true and correct?
And you adopted as your own testimony?
All right. And then, obviously, he's here if there's any questions from an architectural standpoint.
Questions from the board.
Yes, I have a few questions.
One, just talking about the basement level, bi-level units, and I wanted to know what's the depth of the units below grade?
so um matt i'll bring up the drawings yeah the um the there's actually a grade change from the
front of the building to the back of the building so at the front of the building
uh the basement units are four feet below grades or you know what i mean um and then at the back
of the building is actually even with grade but i thought but i was like wait we're up there
not long enough and that's why we added the egress steps in the rear for safety purposes
and so i know because like it looks like there's like a little bit of a sort of paved
rear yard do all of the units have access to sort of the both the courtyard and the rear
of the property there um there is a i'm sorry i was going to say there isn't it
i mean um you've been talking a lot um there is a um no i'll say no the the backyard is really
only for the access of the back unit but there is a breezeway a passageway um that you can get from
the front of the building to the back okay so if there's trash or anything like that you can put
that in the backyard and be off of the street and then i'm assuming the top unit the third floor
unit is the only one that has access to the roof deck that's correct okay um and then my second
question is about trash storage because i do see that you've got the washer dryer mechanicals all
in one combined closet but is there any sort of universal trash yeah my understanding matt correct
me if i'm wrong i thought you put in the drawings here that this would be common trash trash storage
in the rear saw that but then i read that as only belonging to the back yeah that's why i didn't
understand either um yeah sorry that would be common trash storage in the back there and the
units can get through the front door and kind of walk through the breezeway to get into the uh the
back area that's why we also added steps to make it more convenient for people than a ramp especially
this time of year when there's snow and things like that and then the unit facing locust street
their only access is that door facing locust street right that's correct so i think just my
comment was sort of for that one unit that's facing locust it seems unlikely that they're
going to like come out the front door turn the corner come all the way up the steps down the
breezeway all the way to the rear of the property to store their trash so i think at the very least
having something provision for that bi-level unit at the front understanding that all the other
units they're using the shared courtyard are going to have access to the rear matt is there
a place in the kitchen that area maybe to put a some type of ventilated trash storage closet
it looks like here there's a pantry closet of some sort maybe cut that in half a little bit