The immediate building to the property to the left is where Godabad is right now.
it's 7620. There's a breach in the wall between 7620 and 7622 that allows the kids
There is a breach in the wall between 7620 and 7622 that allows the kids to go in between seven will allow kids to go in between 7620 and 7622.
So keep going down just so that the white go back where the car is.
That's where we're going to spread into the existing one.
Gan Habat is that first property to the left of the stucco building at 7622.
Go ahead.
so that's just we're tied to a beverage center a laundromat and nails and spas
just some more properties along castor avenue this is looking towards
the building that protrudes out is the beverage center the building just in front of that is
where we are existing there's some of our kids out on the walking back from a play area go ahead
this is our outdoor play area that's on 76 22 keep going just some more shots of the player
And this is Long Caster and Napfleet. Keep going, Nico, just to show that. And that's the rear of the property. And that's the housing behind us on Napfleet. Keep going. And it's just another shot of that, another shot. And that's a further view looking back towards Caster Avenue of our play area for the kids.
another house across the way and across the street from us on Nathley go ahead and then
that's our side looking at the side yard view of the outdoor player now go to our
and that's a corner view from Castor Avenue looking south towards Nathley southwest
and that's where we'll be go ahead I think we ought to go now to our our plans
that are in a different segment.
We had to break it up into two segments.
So this is the existing Lubovitch Center at 7622.
What we're going to do, keep going,
is this is how the building is set up.
We're going to use a portion of the building
in the existing prayer space, go to the next area.
And that's the area where we're going to expand in
with the childcare.
If you go back down,
we can show that there's an existing connection down here to the left where it says existing
foyer. And there's a, to the left, go over to the left a little bit. There's an actual little
breach in the wall and we provide at our exhibit A12 that shows the breach has already been
approved. So keep going. And we have a lunch program, you know, a daily schedule. We have a
lunch program that's approved. This shows some of the meals that are approved through this
program, CAACFP. We already have been existing at this location since 2012 with operating out of
the 7620 property with 29 children licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as well as the
city of Philadelphia. And we're just really looking to move, have some space for some of
the younger kids in the back of 7622. So we have a pattern of how to handle traffic that
But we have a letter that we've put together that we've never had any problems with traffic dropping off and putting and picking up children right along Caster Avenue in that area.
So we believe that the history of this property being there, being used for this daycare center shows we're not congesting the public streets.
We're not overcrowding the land. We're not changing any of the outdoor, any of the structures.
So we're not impairing adequate supply of land, of air and light and air.
We're not burdening the water and sewer in public facilities because they're already existing.
And we believe we're not endangering the public health, safety and welfare.
And since it's a referral case now rather than a refusal, we think we're consistent with the comprehensive plan.
The days and hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 730 to about 530, 630.
You know, there is some after-school care for kids, and that's how it's been operating. We're not at 29 kids right now. The hope is that, you know, it ebbs and flows during the summer months.
So with that, if I may, we have pre-marked exhibits A1 through A17. As you noted, Mr. Chairman, we had a letter of support from the Roanhurst Civic Association for both the original request and the revised request as a referral.
Now, Len Leehorn has been a very generous and good zoning chair as the way he's treated us with regard to this application.
So I would move for all our exhibits and then I would ask that Riefka Weber be allowed to be promoted so she can come in to testify very quickly on this matter.
Yes. Come in to testify very quickly on this matter. OK, thank you, sir.
Okay, thank you, sir.
Rifka, are you there? You have to raise your hand. I know you're there. I'm here. Hello.
Could you state your name and spell it, please, for the court stenographer?
her. Sure. My name is Doba Weber, D as in David, O, B as in boy, A, Weber, W-E-B-E-R. My middle
name is Rivka, R-I-V-K-A. Thank you for clearing that up.
Or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Rivka, you've been operating Gan Chabad at this location at 7620 since about 2012. Isn't that
correct? Yes, that's correct. Okay. And you've heard what I've stated on the record. Do you
do you agree that what I've stated is true and correct? And do you affirm it?
Yes, you did a great job. And thank you. Yes. Okay. And what I've stated on the record,
do you adopt that testimony as if it came out of your own mouth today? Yes. Okay. With that,
Mr. Chairman. Questions from the board? No, Mr. Chairman. No, Chair. Questions or comments from
the virtual audience? I see no hands, Chair. Cleaning Commission. This is Ron Bednar, City
Planning. The property is indicated for neighborhood commercial use on the city plan.
we recommend that the requested special exception be ran. Thank you. MI 2023 002 130 7622 Castro
Avenue. I vote yes per amended per referral dated 8-17-23. Perfect Mr. Chairman. Thomas
Solomon my vote is yes with proviso. Jane Snell my vote is yes with proviso.
My vote is yes with proviso. Thank you everyone. Thank you all. Happy Labor Day for everybody.
Thank you. Number 11 MI 2022 006 833 1713 North 42nd Street. Alan Mockamson is the attorney.
Mr. Nockamson is coming back in as a panelist.
Recommendation of support from Central Parkside CDC.
Good afternoon.
Mr. Nockamson, you were already sworn.
Just state your name, please, for the record.
Alan Nockamson.
And could you identify your client in a relationship to this property?
There are two corporate entities that own this property, 1713N42ndSTLLC and 2144NDARIANSTLLC, and in the virtual audience is Rod Sohn, its members.
Okay. Our vice chair has just a few questions for you.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed them all the required documents and exhibits that are needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, we have.
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
i'm here to present 1713 north 42nd street um we actually our office actually has received
similar uh variance approvals for 1715 1717 to 179 19 north 42nd street so what we're
proposing is not out of character alan could you get a little closer we're really struggling
I guess, I don't know, maybe I took a week off. Maybe my phone was off.
Maybe.
So, yeah, so it's not out of character what we're asking for, because this board on three separate occasions has approved similar zoning variances right next door.
So what I'm going to review with you is the notice of refusal that we received from L&I.
The correspondence we received from Centennial, Parkside, CDC, where they're now in support of this project, given the reduced unit count of four.
So we have a proviso for maximum four units.
We're also eliminating two of the refusals by decreasing the size of the building structure.
So we only have a single-use refusal.
um and through that we also have a an email from andrew goodman where their office stated
non-opposition to this project because of the support of the community we also have a zoning
uh board alan could you do me a favor could you send goodman's
you know to our attorney yeah it's in it's in the package yeah because i but i the last thing
note to our attorney yeah it's in it's in the package
we have here from counselor gathier is i she wrote something prior to the meeting and they sent that
okay i can read i mean it's in my presentation material okay fine fine fine yeah that's what i
meant i just attacked because we actually had i think it was 1715 we had to uh there were two
separate cases and we had that approved like several months ago so i have that same email
that was included as part of that.
But I can also resend this separately
to Hillary after the year.
So we have non-opposition for Mr. Goodman.
We also have our revised proviso plan,
which form completed,
which shows, again, reducing the unit count to four
and eliminating both of those dimensional refusals
for rear yard and occupied area
by way of the revised plans.
Right. Again, not out of character to have similar type of zoning for RSA 5. And we'll show you that maps of the area, photographs of the property or plans and drawings or RCO meeting notice or applications for appeal or deeds to the property showing that my corporate clients own the property.
And again, I have Mr. Sohn in the virtual audience who will raise his hand at the conclusion of my presentation, be sworn in, and then I'll have a couple questions about my presentation where he'll adopt my testimony as his own.
And the Certificate of Tax Clearance showing that we're in good standing with the city of Philadelphia.
First things first is our notice of refusal.
You can see it's a rather old refusal dated October 11, 2022.
We had a lot of meetings with the community that were very impactful, which ultimately we received their support for this project.
Again, originally we offered six units through negotiations and compromise.
We're agreeing to a maximum of four units.
We also had two other refusals regarding maximum occupied area and rear yards, which we're eliminating because of the reduction in the size of the building structure.
And then here's the correspondence from the coordinating RCO. As you can see, we have support from them now, as well as this is the email that we got from Andrew Goodman dated June 27th of 2023.
But ultimately, it stated because, you know, if we agree to four units, they would, you know, because of the size of the lot, which is rather large, they would be in agreement to not oppose this project.
And then here's our RCO, excuse me, revised proviso plan form.
We're reducing the occupied area to 75%.
We're increasing the rear air set back to nine feet.
We're adding a front porch to match the character of the surrounding properties, and we're reducing the unit count to four units.
And then here's our updated site plan.
And then nearby recently granted RSA multifamily variances.
uh you know again you know we have 1715 north uh 42nd street 1717 north 42nd street
and 1719 1719 north 42nd street under similar circumstances this board has granted
variances for multifamily uh use on these neighboring properties and then oops maps of
the area as you can see there's a mix of zoning we're not we're essentially a block and a half
away from Vermont Park um so and we're we have a trolley line on Girard Avenue so we have ample
public transportation and then this is a map showing that as well and then photographs of
the property um this has been a vacant lot for some time and you can see this goes far back as
As far back as Google Earth goes, we know that this has been a vacant lot for at least the last 15 years.
And then this is North 42nd Street to the right of the property, to the left of the property.
As you can see, there's a lot of vacancy here.
Proof of our notice poster being mounted to the property so everyone had notice of today's hearing.
And then our plans and drawings, as I stated, several compromises.
compromises. We reduced the size of the building structure. We also added a porch, and you can see
from the bay windows to match the architectural detail that you would expect in this part
of Philadelphia. Again, we have a trash room in here that is, you know, amenable to all of the
units as well, which was important to the group. And then our RCO meeting notice, we met last with
a group on June 20th. 120 addresses were notified in the meeting. List of those addresses, proof
list of those addresses, proof of mailing to those addresses or applications for appeal that
of mailing to those addresses, or applications for appear.
we filed on behalf of our corporate owners, along with the notice of refusal, the project information
form, and then the deeds of property showing that it's actually 1713 North 42nd STLC as the owner.
And then finally, our certificate of tax clearance. With that being said, I would ask that Raj
Raj virtually raised his hand to be sworn in.
Sir, you're free to speak.
Please unmute yourself.
Take your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer.
Raj Soin, R-A-J, last name S-O-I-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
may i uh yeah please see oh yeah i didn't hear all right uh raj you heard everything i had to
state about your zoning matter today yes i did and is it true and correct correct and do you
adopt as your own testimony i do thank you questions on the board no chair no chair
questions or comments from the virtual audience here we have jihad ali
mr ali please state your name and spell for the court stenographer
hello commissioner my name is jihad ali j-i-h-a-d-a-l-i do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes sir proceed so i'm a member of the
community and as the counselor is very familiar with me uh yeah i participate in all the meetings
around there we uh did engage in that dialogue with the developer and uh he's a developer is a
very nice guy our problem is it really was with the crowding of the neighborhood with the new as
the counselor said you know it's in the past we've been uh overwhelmed with so many so much
quantity of multifamily although we we support development um and you know most lawyers they
always point out that it's a vacancy. Well, it's not because of the community, it's because of
systemic racism and all the other things that held back African-American neighborhoods. So we're
glad to see development come in. We're glad to see investors putting money. It just has to be
done with our cooperation. This developer has been a real nice guy, but he just needs a little
bit more supervision of his workforce because, you know, we still get a lot of trash left on
the sidewalk. We did have an agreement about construction, Counselor. Do you recall that
about, you know, the hours of operation and picking up trash and so forth and so on?
I mean, again, these are conversations I believe that you had directly with Mr. Sohn. I know there
are L&I regulations regarding construction hours. And in terms of obviously respect to the community
to make sure that his current construction sites in your community are kept clean and responsibly maintained.
Yeah, that's all we want.
And, Mr. Chairman, we do support this with the new change.
I just want to defer it to the Councilwoman's office because it was only through their help that we were able to make these changes.
But whatever you decide, sir.
Thanks for taking the time to call in.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
I see no handshare.
uh planning commission uh ryan bednar city planning the property is indicated for
residential the city plan given the physical circumstances of the site we recommend the
requests of variance be granted provided maximum two units only okay thank you um
ryan did you see there was a so there would be a permitted uh
uh a refusal dated right five did i see that eight eighteen yeah i'm just looking for it right
now yeah i think alan showed that ding alan the amended refusal see an amended refusal i i have
revised plans i could be incorrect but i don't believe that we have an amended refusal so what
so then we would just inside the dwellings and make that a proviso how many dwellings yeah i mean
And it's in our revised plans, but yes, Mr. Chair, as a precautionary matter, I would request that, say, maximum four units, and then the other proviso would be the revised plan.
Okay. All right.
MI 2022-006-833, 1713 North 42nd Street, I vote yes, proviso, maximum four units, and revised plans 818-23. Does that sound right, Alan?