ZBA Hearing - March 18, 2025

of both signs that was at the request of the community and that happened after our first

community meeting so that awning sign is going away it's being replaced by a very slender sign

we're getting refusal for sign area which is an rsa 5 code provision i want to note that the sign

that's facing sort of the RSA 5 portion of the property is 11 square feet. You're allowed to

have 15 square feet of sign area. So I think we're matching the spirit of the code. The large sign,

flat wall sign that you see there is obviously larger than 15 square feet. But again, it's facing

industrially zoned and commercially zoned properties. I'm going to scroll back up just

quickly and point out that we did receive a letter from the adjacent property owner authorizing

sylvia and the one or two other employees who works in this office because that's all the tap

that happens here um to park on his lot um and that is what you see on the screen here um 2001

south 70th street so they have a good relationship with that neighbor there's not again many people

in this building at all it's sylvia and one or two other employees it's just office work and

we're proposing a one-bedroom apartment i think we had the testimony before okay and then i know

mr melodosian submitted a letter this morning and i refiled that i don't think that that's in the

version that's being shared on the screen but i imagine the board has seen that um yep and it

points out a lot of the items that they were in opposition to that have now changed such as

the use of the property the the signage there was an atm at the front of the property which has

been removed that's been gone for months now after the first meeting it's been replaced with

a little free library that's registered as a little free library that just has books there

for people to use um and sort of the last thing i want to mention and she can expound upon is the

fact that um you know 70 of their employees come from this community there's over 120 people that

work for her um most of those people never see this property at the time of our first community

meeting she estimated that about 34 employees were picking up physical checks um after that was

you know explained as a potential pressure point from the community she's asked her employees to

consider finding some form of electronic payment that's now down to about 12 people who are coming

by mondays and tuesdays one to four is their window to pick up their payment um and you know

84 of her employees of the 120 are from southwest philadelphia they're from the surrounding zip

codes there are three from this block and there's a letter of support in our packet from one of

those neighbors at 2006 larry street um our hours of operation are 9 a.m to 4 p.m monday through

friday very quiet just paperwork um and as a part because we are proposing to add a residential

dwelling unit here uh at the request of the community we're happy to agree to a proviso

you know to obtain a co as a part of this process trash will be stored in the rear

there's a there's a side you know sort of breeze way to get back there um with that you know i'd

like to ask sylvia to adopt my testimony could you please state your name and spell for the

stenographer dr sylvia carver s-y-l-v-i-a you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth

nothing but the truth please proceed counsel sylvia did you hear my testimony today yes and

was it true and correct and would you adopt it as your own and is there anything else excuse me i

and would you adopt it as your own?

And is there anything else that you'd like to share?

Excuse me, I'm sorry, pardon me, sir.

We'll take care of that.

Get a little closer to the mic.

Yep, that's good.

I'll try that again.

It'll come right to you, Paul to you.

Can you spell your first and last name, please?

My first name is S-Y-L-V-I-A,

and my last name is K-A-B-B-A.

Sylvia Khabar.

All right.

Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,

the whole truth, nothing but the truth?

Yes.

Thank you.

Sylvia, did you hear my testimony today?

Yes.

Was it true and correct?

Yes.

And do you adopt it as your own?

Yes.

Is there anything else that I may have left out

that you'd like to share with the board

or the virtual audience or the physical audience?

No, not to my knowledge.

I mean, I just want to echo that, you know, we serve the community, and most of our employees

do come from.

Thank you very much.

Questions from the board?

I have a question.

So does the business and the unit share the same entrance?

They do.

So I'll scroll down.

There's a common vestibule.

and again i want to point out that this property does have a documented history of

one commercial unit on the ground floor and a residential unit above

as i'm scrolling to to show you at you know you can see what the existing

or what the pre-existing conditions of the property were before they purchased it

um and the the how greatly improved it is

here is the zoom out if i can get to the minus sign there

here's the site plan this is that narrow signage that's going to now go below

um the large sign and here's that first floor so there's your you know you sort of go straight

through that vestibule to go to the upstairs steps and then you make a right here to go to the

business use sure yes thanks for your patience on

so that's the that's the only entrance to the second floor to the apartments is through that

ground level that's correct there's a there's a rear exit of the office space

um but the there's you know just just the front door um access point to the residential unit

above okay and the the um the nine inch by whatever length that sign uh that proposed sign

is is you said it's going below the existing sign correct you can yeah you can see this yellow

outline here so that awning sign will go away completely that was a request that was made to us

and this narrow sign will go there in its place gotcha proposing to keep and legalize the the

flat wall sign that's on the other facade okay so that sign will remain so that's correct

you're removing that awning it looks horrible yes this is unsightly it's going away all right

and then i have two questions one i'm just confirming both the signs will be illuminated

but with lower lumens correct and that's already happened okay yes and then what's going to be the

use in the basement for the business storage uh it's an unfinished basement i think there may be

some laundry that happens down there um storage we keep like when some of our patients are unable

to get like diapers we keep it okay and another checking because there's a bathroom in the

basement and typically you don't see bathrooms in unfinished basements yeah i think it's it was

an existing bathroom when they purchased it and another thing um you know they do a lot of

community sort of work and fill abundance and they um abundance so they're they you know they

store some of sort of donations down there as well yeah we get donations and so we start there

when you did the renovations what did you do in the basement to ensure that that bathroom

is going to continue to be functional

in the unfinished basement?

What work did you do?

My husband is a contractor.

He will answer that.

I don't do the contracting.

Would you like him to come up?

He's the co-host.

He's going to come up anyway.

It's a group of people.

He's probably going to come up.

Yeah, sure.

If there's any provisos

that you'd like to put on the basement,

You know, it's just storage for the office use.

it's just storage for the office use.

Other questions?

Other questions?

Questions from our attorney?

Not at this time, Mr. Chair.

Questions or comments from the audience?

Whoever wants to speak, come up.

All right.

Good morning.

Good morning, sir.

Good day, everyone.

Good morning.

Hi, could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer?

My name is Sultan, S-U-L-T-A-N.

Last name is Ashley hyphen Shaw, A-S-H-L-E-Y, S-H-H-A.

Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?

I affirm.

Sir, are you a neighbor?

I'm a resident of Philadelphia.

I represent the Philadelphia chapter of the National Action Network.

Okay.

I'm sorry, Chair.

This is the reporter.

I cannot hear the voice.

I know.

No, we've got to get another chair here.

And right to your face.

That's perfect.

Is that better?

Yeah, it's outstanding.

Very good, thank you.

Are you in favor of this project or against?

Very much in favor of this project.

It's much needed in our community

or throughout the city of Philadelphia,

more important,

and particularly in the area that it resides in.

Again, I've met with the neighbors

and I've met with the owners of this business.

I find that to be very honorable.

I find that to be very dedicated to the community

and it's the things and the needs of that particular

neighborhood as well as the city of Philadelphia

their charity

their donations

their efforts in terms of

health care

for people throughout the city of Philadelphia

has been magnanimous

thank you very much sir

thanks for waiting here we appreciate it

next witness

good morning sir

good morning

Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?

My name is Joseph Sacco, spelled as J-O-S-E-P-H, last name is spelled S-A-C-K-O-R.

Right.

Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?

Yes, I do.

Sir, are you a neighbor?

I live around the community.

I live on 70th Street.

All right, very good.

Sir, are you in favor of this project or against?

Absolutely, in favor.

Thank you very much.

Can you tell us anything other than what we've already heard?

Absolutely.

Well, first of all, let me just take this time to commend this young lady.

Okay.

A couple of years ago, I met her when she was in the process of establishing this business

when others had asked her to go to Chester.

So I met her because I live in the community.

I also operate a non-profit organization, and I distribute food around there.

And I said, well, listen, our people need work in this area.

Right.

I really want to encourage you to stay in the southwestern Philadelphia area, okay?

But back and forth, and I assured her that we will support you.

She had done everything possible going into her 401k to empty that Alisa to invest into this business.

so it is imperative upon us as residents of southwest philadelphia to support this young lady

for what and also commend her for what she has done this is why i am here to support her thank

sir thank you for waiting the time and coming here today we appreciate it thank you next witness thank

you good morning sir could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer good morning