And they have an images program, which is geared towards teenage daughters.
They committed to hold meetings there once a month at this event space if we are granted this variance.
Both Samaya Miners and Alexander Daniels also are going to hold seminars there.
Samaya, life and health, she does insurance.
Her commitment is listed here.
Alexander Daniels not only was a real estate agent at one time, but he's a real estate investor,
and he liked the whole seminars to try to teach that and provide other real estate information to members of the community.
Lastly, I, myself, as an attorney, also am committed to doing Know Your Rights workshops,
family law, estate planning, and the other legal understanding workshop here, which I already do.
with the local school district, certain churches, and other areas.
Next, I do believe the concerns were heard, and you see, sorry, this letter of support from the councilman.
The councilman is aware of the RCO's letter, the neighbor's letter,
and the councilman put in here conditions in which we believe, which is...
The councilman put in here conditions in which his support would be given, and we already have the same hours that he's put here, so he got that from the conversation with us.
He's asking that we stay with those hours, but he also put no purchase of liquor, which was the main concern, for not to be a hookah lounge and to arrange parking with neighboring churches.
So we've done that.
We've arranged parking, and with regard to the hookah lounge, it won't be a hookah lounge.
This event space is for private events, so it won't be open to the public event space.
And lastly, my clients did sign a proviso, which we have attached, which says that they agree as a condition of getting the zoning variance experience not to use, not to sell alcohol or never to apply for or try to obtain a liquor license with this business.
One of the things that I saw that I noticed from the conversations with the neighbors, and we had conversations not only with the RCO meeting, but we actually went and rang every doorbell, went face-to-face and talked to the neighbors, is that their concern is about the violence in the city.
And I believe that it was because of that they're operating from a place of fear, and I don't think they see my client's vision.
My client, somebody who I've known almost three decades now, and I see them actually doing what it is that we spoke of years ago, how we can contribute to the community.
I believe that this event space will do exactly that.
Many of them say there's nowhere, I saw in their letter, Ms. Campbell said there's nowhere for our children to play.
They're closing schools, they're closing resources.
And I believe that this is a resource that the community needs.
I believe that those neighbors, because of their fear for a liquor license, which is unfounded, some other fears that they might be arguing and bringing for a drawing of the wrong crowd to this neighborhood, I believe that their non-support is misguided.
And I truly believe that clients are investing in the community, providing space for sororities like Alpha Kappa Alpha by programming for people in that community, opportunities for people like me to give out information and opportunities for them and other people, other stakeholders, which we've been lifelong residents in the city.
We know a lot of people for us to reinvest in our communities and not take our assets and investments and put them outside the community.
So I believe that what they've done with this building is great.
I believe we had some more pictures, but I'm sorry.
We've had technical difficulties.
I don't see the pictures here.
Why don't you bring your client on and adopt your, have your testimony adopted?
Wonderful.
It'll be some Maya Miner.
And Alexander Daniels, they're together, but they're under the name Samaya Minor.
Samaya Minor has been allowed to speak.
Could you state your name, please, and spell it for the court stenographer?
Yes, my name is Samaya, S as in Sam, A-M-A-I-Y-A, Minor, M-I-N-O-R.
You swear or firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Chief Counselor.
Thank you.
So, Maya Minor, did you just hear my testimony to the zoning board?
Is it true and accurate to your knowledge?
You forgot my statements.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Yes, Mr. Chair.
Two things.
Um, first the, the wrong tax clearance was submitted in this case. It was for permits
and licenses instead of zoning. So I checked the real estate taxes and there's a small balance due
from 2022. Um, so we will not be able to vote on this case until that is resolved. Um, the second
thing that I do want to check on is there is a dwelling unit above that I'm unclear that it is
referenced in prior zoning permits but I'm not sure um if that use needs to be re-established by
being listed on this refusal it's a by right use but I just want to check that with L&I just to
make sure um that is not being missed and um it's just it's included with whatever the board does
here so um yeah so if we can if we can hold this once we've heard from the public and um planning
that would be great questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands chair planning commission
Planning Commission.
thank you chair bergman and good afternoon david effecto with the city plan
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good afternoon.
David DeFecto with the City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the commercial mixed-use zoning at this location.
This property has a history as ground floor shoe repair shop dating to 1969.
However, while a cobbler is compatible with residential block, assembly and entertainment is not.
that is why the zoning code allows assembly and entertainment facilities on commercial corridors
with a special exception and not on residential blocks the city planning commission recommends
the board deny the proposed use variance for assembly and entertainment thank you um we will
not vote on this until uh we receive the tax but the record will be closed other than that hillary
am I correct? Yes, Mr. Chair. The record will be closed, and as soon as we rectify the tax issue
and figure out what L and I, then we'll relist this for a vote. We can't give it a date right
now. Am I right? That is correct, Mr. Chair. Okay. So, counsel, did you hear me? I did. Can
you hear me? Yes, I can. So, as far as the tax clearance, we just send that to the same
uh emails we sent the attachments to yeah and there's nothing that we need to do with l and i
just wait for them to get back to us yeah i i will i will look into that um mr duckett i i
yes i was just seeing seeing what you submitted and what was listed on the refusal there is a
discrepancy so i will just check with them to make sure there isn't anything that the board
would need to include in their decision to rectify that thank you miss emerson all right thank you
very much. Is there anyone in the virtual audience
whose 2 p.m. case has not been called?
I've seen no hands, Chair. Okay, we're going to take a five-minute
break, then we'll come back and we'll finish up, okay, with the 3.30 list.
Thank you. Good afternoon, Mike.
Good afternoon. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing
the 3.30 p.m. meeting. With me is Thomas Holloman, our board member. Present, Mr. Chairman. James
Snell, our board member. Present, Chair. LeBaron Leonard Palmer from Development Services, who is
serving as our alternate board member. Present, Mr. Chair. Also present is Hillary Emerson, our
attorney, and our executive director, Tanya Sunken. Here's a virtual format. Be advised
the proceedings are being recorded. A video will be available by contacting tanyasunken
at phila.gov. For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses
to identify themselves before testifying. If you're participating by phone and you wish
to testify, press star 9, raise your hand, and star 6 to unmute. 200 appearance statement
and call 267-270-5548.
Leave your email and the address of the property in question.
And finally, the question and answer box on the screen
is not for comments or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our executive director, Tanya Sunkin.
Let's look at our schedule for this afternoon.
Let's see here.
Number one, MI 2023-002-341-741 South 20th Street. That case is continued.
Number two, MI 2023-000839-2349 East Allegheny Avenue. The case is a continued attorney moving party.
Number seven, MI 2022-001110-6619 Musgrave, Abe Moharad.
This is a request for continuance.
The appellant must appear.
are you in the audience
i see no hands chair
mr chair i i see someone with that name but they're not
raising their hand okay
this is for 66 19 musgrave street
hey maharad please unmute yourself yes can you hear us now i can could you
Can you hear us now?
I can. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Abe Mujerat, M-O-J-A-R-A-D.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Sir, this is the fourth listing, but you want to continue. Could you tell me what's happening with this case?
because we try to get
appointment with RCO
sometimes we are very
unable because they change the
people and we haven't been able
to get the meeting with them
so here's what we'll do
you try again and when
this case comes up again it must be heard
whether or not
the RCO responds or not
but make sure that you notify the RCO
you're ready to meet okay
okay so
So MI-2022-001-110-6619 Musgrave Street, cases continued, will be marked, must be tried, and must be heard.
Number eight, MI-2023-000-784-263 East Upsil Street, that case is continued.
Are there any comments relative to the four cases that I just continued?
I see no hands chair are there any other requests for continuances
I see no hands chair thank you we're going to go to I'll be right with you
continue we're going to hear number three and number four together
So MI 2023-002-329-229 South 60th Street, Parcel A, and MI 2023-002-328-215 and 19 South 60th Street.
William Kerr is the attorney.
There is a letter of support from the Third Ward Executive Committee.
Councilman Gauthier has taken a position of support.
Mr. Kerr.
Mr. Kerr is coming back in as a panelist now, Chair.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair. Can everyone hear me?
Again, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Certainly. William Kerr, K-E-R-R. I'm an attorney with High Sports, 40 East Erie Street, excuse me, in Norristown.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you turn on your video, please?
I did. It's on.
We don't see it, sir.
Do you have something blocking your camera view?
Maybe you have something over your camera or the lens closed on your camera?
There we go.
There you go.
There you go.
There you go.
Technology is not my thing, so I apologize for that.
All right.
So, do you swear a firm to tell the truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client and relationship to the property?
George Bantel is a principal at the West Philadelphia Real Estate 7th, and Mr. Bantel, I think, is somewhere on the call here today.
Mr. Holloman has a few questions for you.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
Did you email all of the exhibits and documents as required five days in advance to this hearing?
I did.
And then we had sent everything in one packet and we were notified we needed to split them up.
So you should have two separate exhibit packets for both property at this point.
Thank you.
Please proceed to share your screen.
you're up okay good um again i'm representing west philadelphia real estate seven um owner of
owner of both of these properties and the screen that i've i have uh displayed here
both of these properties and the screen that i i have
gives you an overall view of of the project this is 215 to 19 south 60 is sort of the focus
of this this uh project and these application things what you're seeing on the screen here is
It's the approved L&I and ZVA plan for phase one.
What I'm showing here with my cursor outlining, that's the site of what used to be the Imperial Ballroom.
It was an event facility on South 60th Street for many years, and it closed a number of decades ago.
So it was an abandoned event space.
Again, the Imperial Ballroom, 215 to 19, South 60th.
First phase of this project essentially took the rear portion of this property that fronts on Chancellor Street and subdivided it into 10 separate parcels on which we got approval to build townhouse units.
And each one of those townhouse units had a number of affordable housing units, which were constructed within the units.