Good afternoon.
How are you doing, Mr. Chairman?
All right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
What case do you want to talk about?
Number 4913?
no 2100 robbins street 4100 robbins mr chair this this case is on our add-on list
mr rojas this was scheduled to be voted today however we are going to need to move the vote
to next week in order to have all of the members present who were at the hearing last week and the
chair is going to announce that on the record you'll hear that shortly and i will make sure
that you know i remind you that when i do it okay so we'll be calling that in a matter of minutes
all right thank you so much sure that's fine so number six
mi 2022-005-088 4913 north lawrence street
uh axa flores gonzalez and also cgi construction this is the third listing we have no exhibits
do we see any hands i see no hands at this time chair thank you so mi 2022-005-088-4913
north lawrence street uh this is the third listing we still don't have any exhibits i vote to dismiss
thomas holliman i vote to dismiss james still my vote is to dismiss
Thank you. And then I have number four, MI-2023-001-892-1115-27-Frankford Avenue. This case has been withdrawn.
We're going to go to our add-on list.
Number one, MI-2023-003-246-2990 Southampton Road.
I vote yes with Proviso.
Revised plans, one page, stamped by ZBA on November 1st, 2023.
Smoking lounge use limited to smoking of cigars and other tobacco products.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with Proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Thank you.
And number two, MI 2022-001-058-332 Delancey Street. The vote in this matter is being rescheduled to Wednesday, November 8th at 2 p.m.
Number three, MI 2023-003-558-2334 North 30th Street. The vote in this matter is being rescheduled to Wednesday, November 8th at 2 p.m.
Number four, and Mr. Rojas, this is your case. MI 2023-002-107-2100 Robbins. The vote in this
matter is being rescheduled to Wednesday, November 8th at 2 p.m. And number five, MI 2021-004-819-2900
Distance Street. The resumptive hearing in this matter is being rescheduled to Wednesday,
November 8th at 2 p.m. We're moving to our regular list. Number two, MI 2023-003-744-1807
Walnut Street. Ronald Patterson is the attorney. Letter of non-opposition from the Center City
A letter of non-opposition from the Center City Residents Association.
Residents Association.
Mr. Patterson is coming back in as a panelist now, Chair.
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon, Mr. Patterson.
Could you state your name and spell, please, for the court stenographer?
Sure, Ronald, R-O-N-A-L-D, Patterson, P-A-T-T-E-R-S-O-N, with Claire Harrison Law Firm, 1835 Market Street, Philadelphia, 19103.
Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
Sure, I represent the tenant at this location, which is the Star Restaurant Organization through its LLC, Smallville Restaurant Associates.
And Mr. Hallman has just a few questions for you, sir.
Good afternoon, Counselor.
Good afternoon.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Did you email all of the exhibits and documents as required five days in advance to this hearing?
Yes, I did.
Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you.
Okay, can you view my screen?
You can, sir.
Okay, thank you.
So, as you mentioned, this application actually was filed under this property is 1801 through 1809.
As you see here, it's at the corner of 18th of Walnut Street.
um it's comprised of two properties uh 1801-03 and 1805-09 which is what we're here for it's
but i it's filed under 1801-09 because it's it exists under a unity of use um i did file under um
1801-09 the proposed space is 1805 yet the refusal letter says 1807 so i submitted this
revised proviso plan form to correct that address.
I had asked the department to correct it, but my request
was not answered. So Ms. Emerson has this
application request on the record. So as I mentioned,
the application regards this space, which is vacant, which was formerly occupied
by the Barnes & Noble bookstore across from
Rittenhouse Square. Here are some location pictures.
As I mentioned, the tenant, what is proposed here is a sit-down restaurant on floors one
through three, which would be the business with an accessory office on floor number three.
There are no changes proposed to the building height, footprint, or area, i.e. FAR.
are. The property is located in the CMX 5 commercial zoning district, which permits
sit-down restaurants. But as we know, it's within the Center City control area, particularly on
Walnut Street, which requires any restaurant to seek special exception approval from the zoning
board. And the special exception approval, as you know, routes us through the RCO, which in this
case is the Center City Residence Association, where we discussed, presented the case and
discussed their typical proviso conditions, which in effect lessen any adverse impacts
that may arise.
So as I mentioned, the properties, the actual business for the public would be on the first
floor and the second floor, which would be in this area here, because we'll get into
more detail for private events.
With me is Michael Palermo, who is the Vice President of Development and Facilities of the Star Restaurant Organization.
If you could promote Michael so he could testify.
We see Mr. Palermo.
Mr. Palermo has been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Mr. Palermo, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court's stenography?
sure my name is michael palermo m-i-c-h-a-e-l p-a-l-e-r-m-o you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do proceed counsel thank you uh michael uh you've
heard my opening in my statement would you agree that it is true and accurate yes it is and would
you adopt it as if it were your own? I would. Can you see my screen? I can. Okay. If you
I can.
If you wouldn't mind to just briefly describe to the board the operations proposed on the first and second floor, the number of seats and the location of the trash, interior trash storage area.
wouldn't mind to just briefly describe to the board.
We, the front of the building, if we're looking at the screen, is to the right.
we propose a modest sidewalk cafe uh on the on the sidewalk that contains approximately 32 seats
the interior of the restaurant on the first floor contains about 170 seats
uh that consists of a kind of a little cafe dining area in the front uh the a bar which
is kind of l-shaped that's got an arc uh there's some seating there above the bar and there's about
an 80-seat dining room in the back for approximately 160 seats all together on the ground
floor in addition to that on the ground floor we have a back of house area which consists of
locker rooms trash storage areas uh employee restrooms and an office for the restaurant
and there's some storage for wine there on the second floor is a approximately an 80 seat
dining room which we would use for events and private parties in the front of the restaurant
It has another small bar with about 14 seats around it, and the primary cooking kitchen for the restaurant is on the second floor.
The balance of the second floor consists of real cooking kitchen functions and food preparation functions and dishwashing and storage for proteins and vegetables and fruits.
80 seats on the first floor and and uh the hours of operation the restaurant will be open for
breakfast lunch and dinner seven days a week uh no live music just recorded background music and
of course our our refuse would remain inside the building until uh nightfall where we have
a garage on the back side of the building and inside that garage is where we would store
our trash for morning pickup. I got a trash room is on the on the screen is in the lower left hand
corner where I'm showing you and comparatively speaking the first restaurant compared to
the park is same smaller or larger would you say? Believe it or not we own and operate the
park restaurant at 18th and Locust Street. And these two restaurants are approximately
10 seats apart in capacity with the park restaurant being a little bit larger.
Thank you. And also, when we talk about the outdoor cafe, the windows here, are they operable?
Windows are not operable.
Thank you. So again, this is a special exception. And we would agree that we've met
The standards to establish that there will be no greater impact than what would be here for a fully permitted use, like the bookstore.
And we believe that is adequately addressed through the standard provisos that CCRA proposed, which we agree to.
And I can bring them up on the screen if you'd like to see them.
And, Mr. Chairman, that's all I have.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
no chair questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
um yes mr chair i indicated in an email to mr patterson and mentioned this to the board earlier
if we could just hold this to make sure we don't need a corrected refusal for the address
um because the board the board cannot correct the address um but if there was an error in the
address we will need lni to issue a corrected refusal okay thank you questions or comments
from the virtual audience chair we have wade albert they have been unmuted and allowed to speak
good afternoon mr albert could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer
sure wade albert w-a-d-e last name is a-l-b-e-r-t do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth nothing but the truth i do mr chairman please proceed sir thank you so i am counsel
for the Center City Residents Association,
and I echo that we do not oppose this project.
With regard to the provisos issue,
I don't think it was clear in the letter,
so I just wanted to make our point clear.
We presented standard provisos to the applicant,
uh to the applicant and based on uh zba practice the the only proviso that i'm asking to be included
and based on ZBA...
in the license is uh the trash being uh uh be held internally um prior to uh to pick up uh and
and with that um thank you very much thank you thank you for calling in we appreciate it is
anyone else in the virtual audience i see your hands at this time chair thank you planning
commission thank you chairman and board members david vecto with the city planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the commercial mixed use zoning at this location
the appellant has shown that an eating and drinking establishment will have no detrimental impacts
beyond what might be expected the city planning commission recommends the board grant the proposed
special exception for eating and drinking establishment thank you david we're going to
hold the vote hillary can we look for this to be maybe next wednesday can that be done by then
yeah that that should be fine let's look for next wednesday at 2 p.m we'll vote okay
thank you so much thank you mr patterson all right you're welcome have a great day
number three mi-2023-003-603-1921 north 2nd street joseph consul is the attorney
letter of support from norris square alliance letter of non-opposition from council member
good afternoon mr consul just for the record could you state your name and spell please for
the court stenographer. It's Joseph, J-O-S-E-P-H, last name, Consul, C-O-N-S-O-L-E.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do. Could you identify your client and relationship to this property?
Yeah, my client is Mr., well, it's Two Street Properties, LLC. Representative James Brand is
on the call. Okay, and Mr. Holloman has just a few questions for you, sir.
Good afternoon, Counselor. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yep. Yes.
Did you email all the exhibits and documents as required five days in advance to this hearing?
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
All right. Okay, we're here on 1921 North 2nd Street. This is 2nd Street between Norris and
Burke Street. As you can see on the map here, it's zoned CMX 2.5. The other side of the block
is zoned RM1. We're here because this property was originally constructed as a multifamily with
no commercial space. And having been rezoned as CMX 2.5, my client, while he initially
had intended to attempt to create commercial space on the first floor of this property,
It became clear while he was in that process with his engineers and such that it was just impossible for him to retrofit based on the way the property sits the first floor into any commercial space.
And as you'll see on picture of the block, there's the property there, this sort of shell in front of you.
It sits up a little high to make it a commercial space.
First of all, it's too small, but also there would have to be a lift there that he just wouldn't be able to accommodate.
And just generally, the reason for the hardship is it's never had commercial space.
You can see the property next door clearly didn't either.
There are commercial spaces on the block, but there are also plenty of multifamily and single family homes that never had commercial space on them.
So for that particular aspect of the refusal, we're seeking a variance to remove the commercial space entirely.
Now, the second issue, which is number of dwelling units, we had originally proposed four dwelling units.
Three is the number that is allowed in CMX 2.5 per the square footage that we have here.
And that's all my client is asking for today is three units.
So really, the second refusal is not relevant, and we're just seeking approval to not have to convert the first floor into commercial space.
To that end, we visited with North Square Community Alliance in-person meeting, and we got their full support.
And we got their full support.
We received a letter of non-opposition from Council.
We received a letter of non-opposition from Councilman Lozada, Councilperson Lozada.
And that is kind of it.
I'm going to scroll through the photos and the plans.
Like I said, my client will rehabilitate this property and make it into a nice three-unit building.
and we have the plans that we included in the packet showing the breakdown of those three
units we actually had the plans um redrawn uh that's what we included in our packet that we
submitted to show the three units that we presented to the rco um following the plans
we have all the other necessary documentation including the deed and the project information
form um it's not a lot else to highlight for this property except to reiterate no commercial space