throughout the city and even outside of the city, can you describe to the board the impact
of these substations in terms of noise? In SEPTA's experience, the new transformers are
a significant improvement over the transformers of yesteryear. The new transformers are a dry
type transformer which are significantly quieter they're the existing oil-based dc transformers
i personally went out to 69 street substation which has similar attributes to this location
it's located off victory avenue which is also a busy city street similar to baltimore avenue
it has the trolley maintenance yard located behind it with significant trolley car traffic
and the 69 street substation which also includes these new dry type transformers
At a distance of 10 feet away from the 69th Street substation, I measured noise levels of 63.2 decibels, and at 50 feet away, noise levels of 60.3 decibels.
This is equivalent to a normal conversation that we're having here today.
How about in terms of equipment safety?
As I indicated previously, the new transformers are to be a dry-type transformer.
This specific type of transformer provides significant safety improvements over the oil transformers of yesteryear.
As the dry tripe transformers do not contain oil or any other compressible materials, there is little chance of a catastrophic event occurring.
In the event that there is a power surge, additionally, SEPTA has various pieces of safety and switching equipment that will be put in place.
temperature sensors, surge protection equipment, et cetera, that would interrupt the circuit prior
to the transformer failing. Additionally, I'll add transformers are extremely expensive and
SEPTA does everything that we can to protect them and to maintain a safe network at all times.
Equipment is also monitored from the 19th floor at 1234 Market Street via SEPTA's SCADA system.
How about in terms of equipment vibrations? Are there any expectations there?
There are no anticipated changes to vibration from the current system. The substation does not produce any vibrations.
Can you talk to the board just briefly about what you would expect in terms of traffic to the site?
SEPTA does not anticipate that this substation will significantly add to the traffic seen around the portal. Other than maintenance staff, there is no other anticipated traffic that is expected above current levels.
I'd like to remind the board that this is not a public building.
Additionally, with SEPTA-specific parking spaces, this should help alleviate some of
the SEPTA maintenance vehicles parking along the property lines of Woodland Terrace Avenue.
Can you just briefly discuss the plans for overall maintenance and security to this building
and the equipment contained in it?
SEPTA will have an on-site substation maintainer in the realm of once per week to once per month,
as is required by our standard maintenance schedules.
Additionally, SEPTA has their bridges and building staff on site periodically to perform routine maintenance.
Any trash that is accumulated around the site will be picked up by either the substation maintainers or the B&B staff.
And how about in terms of security?
The building will be equipped with security and intrusion alarms, as all substation buildings are.
Additionally, there will also be fire alarms present, which are remotely monitored by SEPTA's 19th floor.
So I think you've alluded to this fairly clearly, but is SEPTA able to monitor the
condition of the building and the equipment remotely? Yes, they are.
Yes, they are.
Now, the board has not necessarily seen the design yet, but just a preview.
Now, the board has not necessarily seen the
Based on SEPTA's work in working with your designers on this building, can this building be redesigned to be zoning code compliant while still meeting the minimum requirements for this type of substation improvement?
Unfortunately, it cannot.
There are required clearances inside the building between equipment and walls that are dictated by various electrical and building codes.
These codes are primarily in place to keep substation maintainers safe as they perform their standard job duties.
There are also physical clearances required to install, maintain, and replace equipment should the need arise.
SEPTA worked with STV to prepare a very detailed question and answer sheet that further addresses responses to a variety of community concerns and other aspects of this proposal that are not necessarily going to be directly addressed during the hearing.
Is that accurately reflected at Exhibit 20, which I will bring up?
That is correct to both of your questions.
Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, I have one more witness for today.
Would you prefer that I have the board ask questions?
Hold on, hold on, hold on.
I think what we're going to do is this needs a resumptive hearing.
We still have three cases left on the two o'clock list.
So I'm going to break now.
You'll get plenty of opportunity the next time we meet.
And we're going to be real clear to all the people that want to continue today.
They they will have a chance to respond and things of that nature.
But hopefully from now to when we meet again, there'll be had been some meetings and maybe we won't need quite as much time.
But I'm going to break right now. And, you know, this will be a resumptive hearing.
OK, Mr. Chairman, as long as we're going to be given the opportunity, you're going to have the opportunity to call who you want.
But we still need to get through the day. And whatever we do, whether you take another witness or not, we're going to still need a resumptive hearing.
So we're going to break right now. And we appreciate, I think we have a general idea what he said, where he is at this point. And then either next time around, you can bring your other witness on. Okay.
Sounds like a plan.
Thank you.
All right. Thank you.
Number 10, MI 2024, 002-2227, 1801 Poplar Street.
Michael McElhenney is the attorney.
There's a recommendation of support from United Francisville Civic Association.
Vote was 10 in support to oppose.
Michael McElhenney has been promoted.
Good afternoon.
Hi, counsel.
Could you please state your name as Bell for the court stenographer, sir?
Michael McElhenney, M-I-C-H-A-E-L, M-C-I-L-H-I-N-N-E-Y, counsel for the property owner.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you identify who your client is and the relationship to this property?
The client and the owner is 1801 Poplar Street, LLC.
Our vice chair has a few questions, sir.
good afternoon council do you agree to waive the read another refusal or stipulate to its accuracy
uh we do i've emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to
proceed with this case five days yes no problem uh please share your screen
sorry and i know we're running behind so i will be quick uh mr chairman members of the board
Mike McElhoney on behalf of the property owner, 1801 Poplar Street, LLC, and here with me are
two members of the LLC that are brothers. In summary fashion, we have our appeal at Exhibit
7, our zoning notice having been posted at the subject property at Exhibit 8, the neighbor
notice letter at Exhibit 9. We met with the community on June 12th, and we do have that
letter of support. Exhibit 10 is my client's deed. They took title to the subject property
on October 17th, 2019 and renovated that property. The tax clearance is at Exhibit 11.
Exhibit 2 is my client's referral. This is an application to use the existing building
for a takeout restaurant. The property is owned CMX 2.5 that allows for sit-down restaurants,
but takeouts require special exception approval. And we have one referral, which is why we're here
today exhibit three are the zoning maps and aerial maps for the property just to orient the board
This property is in the middle of the screen. It is the Triangular Partial Zone CMX 2.5.
this property is in the middle of the screen it is the triangle triangular part
It's at the intersection of Poplar Street and Vineyard Street with Ridge Avenue to the north, and the properties to the west of us are RSA 5.
The second photo is just another map of the properties. I'll go to the third photo, just showing the aerial view.
We are approximately 70 feet to the southwest of the Ridge Avenue Commercial Corridor, and to the north of us, to the west, are residential single-family buildings and then multifamily buildings.
And the site photos at Exhibit 4 will show that more clearly, and I'll turn to that now to save time.
So on the screen is the subject property, which is the Gray Building, 1801 Poplar, and this is a view looking north.
The properties to the left are single-family residences.
This property is ground floor commercial with two apartments existing above.
My clients purchased this property, and they will be the owner-operators of this restaurant use.
They purchased this in 2019, renovated the property, and the ground floor has been vacant ever since.
The next photo is just showing the entry to the residential way and the ramp up to the commercial space to the commercial door.
The next photo is showing the intersection at Poplar Street and Vineyard Street, and the commercial door access.
The property is abutted by a shared alley that gives us access to the rear yard of the subject property.
And then we have photos just showing the 360 degree of the block.
These are photographs at page two looking to the west, the multifamily building to the far right, to the far left, rather, and single families on the right side of the photo.
The next photo is a view of the property at the rear of our subject property to the north, which is the property on Ridge Avenue, 1724.
And then properties across the street to the east is the 1708 Ridge Avenue complex, which is a series of planned development.
And then there's some photographs of the properties on Vineyard Street to the south.
Again, those are just single family homes in the neighborhood that are zoned single family.
Turning to Exhibit 5 is photos of the subject property and interior.
Again, the first photo is the front of the property showing the commercial access on
the right.
Standing in the front door, it is a very small space.
We are talking about a 700 square foot commercial space.
My client's not been able to rent it since he purchased the property in 2019.
So they're going to open up their own restaurant themselves, the two brothers, to basically
serve a small chicken concept for takeout use.
So on the back of this photograph, on the left, is a bathroom for the commercial space.
And on the right is a space that will be used to access a rear spot for cleaning dishes and whatnot.
And it provides access to the rear yard.
The next photo is a view from the bathroom looking out to the front door and the main windows.
I said it's a very small space.
This is a photo at page three of the rear yard to the commercial space.
and the door that allows access from the commercial space to the rear yard
and access to the alley out to the front of the property.
Exhibit 6 is the floor plan for this commercial use.
And I'll zoom in. It's very hard to see.
There's not much really to show, though.
We have the main entrance on the corner of Poplar and Vineyard Street.
The plan is to have an entryway for the people coming in to purchase food
to basically go to the point of sale, the counter at the front.
The rest of the space is really for the preparation of the chicken, the coolers, the refrigeration
is on the left here, this entire box on the left.
We have that bathroom that I called out earlier.
We're going to have a, and it's really hard to read, so I'll zoom in, the reach-in freezer.
And on the right-hand side is, again, frying stations, preparation area, and a display
for takeout food that can be picked up.
There's no interior seating here.
This is purely a small takeout use.
And the back room is the sinks used to clean all the wares for the production of the chicken.
And again, the back door leads out to that rear yard that does have access to an alley
out to the front of the property.
Now, the plan for the takeout restaurant, it's going to be a very small takeout store.
Since the clients were not able to run it out to any third-party tenants, they're going
to make a go of running their own business.
they would run this operation like any other restaurant and it would be lunch and dinner
11 7 11 a.m to about 9 p.m and monday through sunday and it would be um popcorn chicken is
the concept that they would be using so it'd be a very small menu very small um use it would have
no impact on the neighborhood unlike um it would be similar to any other takeout restaurant and i
It will be similar to any other takeout restaurant, and I would submit even less so given its very small size and small menu.
would submit even less so given
And we would submit to the board that this will have no adverse impact on the community or any of the near neighbors.
It will not congest the streets. It will not affect the later error of neighboring property owners without proposing any construction as part of this application.
It will not overcrowd the land, and it's consistent with the comprehensive plan.
And as I mentioned, it's a CMX 2.5 property.
It's a special exception that we're seeking.
And it is deemed proper unless this use is more intensive than a normal use, such as
a takeout restaurant.
And this, as I said, would be a less intensive use than most takeout restaurants in the neighborhood.
And we do have pretty much full support from the community.
So with that, Mr. Chairman, we are available to answer any questions.
And if I could call...
Why don't you have your testimony adopted?
Jeril, can you please raise your hand?
your rose has been allowed to speak i could you please state your name and spell for the
court stenographer yes my name is gerald kalprambit j-e-r-r-i-l-k-a-l-a-p-a-r-a-m-e-a-t-h
are you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes please proceed counsel gerald did you hear the statements that i presented to the board
yes were they true and correct to the best of your knowledge information and belief
yes and would you adopt my testimony as your own yes
questions questions from the board no chair
no chair no questions questions or comments from our attorney ryan mcsherry no chair questions or
comments from the virtual audience. There are no hands, Chair. Planning Commission. Thank you,
Chairman. Good afternoon. David Fechta with the City Planning Commission. Chairman and board
members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the CMX 2.5 commercial mixed-use
zoning at this location. The appellant has shown the proposed takeout restaurant will have no
detrimental impacts to the neighborhood beyond what might be expected. The City Planning Commission
recommends that the board grant the proposed special exception for a takeout restaurant.
Thank you. MI 2024-002-227-1801 Poplar Street, I vote yes with proviso. First floor only.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso. Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Panetta Graham, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Iowan, my vote is yes with Proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
MI 2024, 002-262-3232 Henry Avenue, Suite 1.
Peter Kelson is the attorney.
There's unanimous support from RAH, Ridge, Algany, and Hunting Park Civic Association.
Mr. Kelson.
Peter Kelson has been promoted.
Good afternoon, Mr. Kelson.
Just for the record, could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
um i'd like to promote mr gregorski if i could so he can run the sure and um could you state
your name to start and spell for the course it's peter kelson k-e-l-s-e-n uh one logan square