here um that again as i said that the building uses so um if there's anything else mr chairman
and I'll have a Mr. Ron.
Navrosidis,
Navrosidis,
promote it, please.
N-A-V-R-O-S-I-D-I-S.
Savas, last name,
N-A-V-R-O-S-I-D-I-S.
N-A-V-R-O-S-I-D-I-S.
N-A-V-R-O-S-I-D-I-S.
Sir, could you please state your name?
Hi, could you state your name
and spell for the course there?
My name is Savas.
That's my first name.
The last name is Navrosidis.
N-A-V-R-O-S-I-D-I-S.
Hello, everyone.
Swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Sabas, you've heard my presentation and testimony.
Would you agree that it's true and accurate?
Yes, I do.
And would you adopt it as if it were your own?
And if there's anything else you'd like to add as to the nature of the operation,
but I did mention that there are 22 chairs proposed.
is that correct yes and i guess new jobs would be 10 to 15 new employees at this location
approximately yes and the hours of operation are monday through sunday from 7 a.m to 7 p.m
yes and uh you're also aware of how the trash should be handled in storage yes how would that
be we're going to be using the dumpster that has been used by the other restaurants and the hotel
so it's part of the common hotel area it's part of the contract at least with uh yeah
comment in the loading dock yes okay mr chairman i have no further questions um ron did you see
the other venting through the roof the proviso from center city yes we we have no vents mr
chairman just warm plates to eat up okay all right we're fine with the typical provisors thank you
questions with questions from the board no question no questions or comments from our
attorney hillary emerson not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands at this time chair planning commission thank you chairman and good
afternoon david effecto with the city planning commission chairman and board members the
comprehensive plan recommends no change to the cmx5 commercial mixed use zoning at this location
the zoning in this block dates to 2012. the appellant has shown that 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 or propose special exception
for a take-out restaurant. Thank you. MI 2024-002-414-1441 Chesson Street, I vote yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes. Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Tanada Graham, my vote is yes. Tyowyn, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes. Thank you. Thank you, counsel. Is there anyone in the audience
whose 2 p.m. case has not been called i see no hands at this time chair we're going to take a
five-minute break and then we're going to come back and do the 3 30 list thank you everybody
good afternoon everyone my name is bill bergman and i will be chairing this
Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this afternoon's ZBA hearings.
With me is our Vice Chair, Ismail Shahid.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, James Snell.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Cheryl L. Gaston.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Tanada Graham.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Michael Johns.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And our board member, Taya Nguyen.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also present is our attorney, Hillary Emerson, our executive director, Kathleen Grady.
Here's our virtual format.
The proceedings are being recorded.
With your participation, you agree to be recorded.
A video will be available by contacting Kathleen Grady at Kathleen.Grady at phila.gov.
For our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying. If you're participating by phone, press 9 to raise your hand and 6 to unmute. To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548. Leave your email address and the address of the property in question.
Finally, the question-answer box on the screen is not for comments or testimony. All comments should be directed to our executive director, Kathleen Grady.
Let's look at our schedule. Number eight, MI 2024-001173, 7611 Revere Street. That case is continued.
Let's look here.
And also, case number two, MI 2022, 007349, 5652 Windsor Street.
That case has been withdrawn.
Are there any other requests for continuances?
I see no hints at this time, Chair.
Okay, we're going to go first to number three.
MI 2023-003-577-1007 East Quarter Street. Chantol Samuels is the owner-operator.
There's a letter of unanimous opposition from the 50th Ward.
Chantol Samuels has been allowed to speak.
The applicant also has a letter of support, petition of support signed by five neighbors.
Santana.
She's coming in as a penalist now.
Thank you very much.
Hi, good afternoon.
Can everyone hear me?
We can.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Chantal Samuels.
It's C-H-A-N-T-O-L, last name S-A-M-U-E-L-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
This application is for use as a personal care home in an existing structure.
The proposed use personal care home requires special exception approval in the RSA 3 zoning district.
Our vice chair has just a few questions for you, okay?
Keish?
Good afternoon.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits?
Yes, can you hear me?
I can hear you.
you move have you mailed in all your documents five days in advance yes why don't you share
your screen and start are you able to see my screen we do 1007 east okay you hear me now chair
we're good we're fine okay okay uh so my property is located in the mount airy uh area and um as you
said i'm proposing to do what under the requirements says a personal care home it's actually
to be specific um a residential living waiver that i'm trying to operate under
And said waiver would allow me to have up to eight persons who are not related under specific requirements of the waiver that deals with those in a community with chronic illnesses that need help with managing their care.
and said waiver would allow me to have up to eight persons who are not related
So they would be there for nine to 12 months at my home where we show them how to make their doctor's appointments, take their medications properly so that they can live independently.
So eventually, the point is to get them to stay in their homes.
And this is an initiative that was put together by Medicare and Medicaid through various insurance companies, one specifically under Community Health Choices, which is the waiver that I'm seeking.
And in my home specifically, my home is a three, well, four bedroom, three full bathrooms with a basement.
What you could do is why don't you start showing photos of your house as you're speaking?
that we'd be able to see what you have, okay?
So this is my
street.
Okay, this is my street. My home is located
here. And across from
my home, so the one side of
the street is houses,
and the other side of the street is
the park and the
Finley Recreational Center, which my
house is directly across from.
I face their front door.
okay this is the front
see the sign posted
as required
inside of the property
so in 2021 my house sustained um a fire um and so it's under refurbishment it's almost done
actually um i'm restoring it to what it already was so i'm seeking the variance for this but
There's no additional, say, special parking or extension that needs to be approved to be done to the property.
The property will remain as it was before.
I'm just restoring it to what it was before.
Like I said, it's almost completed.
So the pictures that you see are current.
That's why it looks like it is.
and you have eight residents
so i'm allowed to have eight but with the accommodations that i have in my house
i can only have six tenants for this waiver
uh so according sorry this is the petition that you put out yes yeah um i actually i started this
process without an attorney and so it was a learning process and so i i understand there
was a learning curve yes to what i needed to do and who all who i needed to speak to it's been a
very long process as you can see it's been a two-year journey to this point to speak to you
guys um so when i spoke to the rco they were in um full opposition and um for reasons that
concerned parking that I will address, security I will also address. But the meeting ventured
into areas of this is a money-making scheme. I'm going to buy up the properties in the
neighborhood. It kind of took a turn for the worse. So I want to clear up some things
because according to their refusal letter, there are some things in there that need to be cleared
up. I lived in this property for 10 years before a said fire happened. When the fire happened,
my nine-year-old son passed in that incident. And so I ended up moving back to my family home,
which is only several blocks away from the property. And so I raised my children here.
I have no intentions at all of bringing any kind of disturbance to the neighborhood. I was actually
the only one on the block who had children, everybody on our particular block. They only
saw kids who came to the rec center and the park and such. So my household, it's not only an
ownership, but there is sentimental value there for me, which is why I have not sold the property.
I have been a nurse for over a decade. And so this proposed plan is not going to be run by a
stranger. It's going to be run by me. DHS requires that these tenants who are going to be under care
these tenants who are going to be under care management will have 24-hour supervision. So in
management will have 24 hours.
terms of security, these people will be vetted. They have to qualify for this waiver in order to
stay there. Now, I am making it specific so that the neighbors feel comfortable to be women between
30 and 64 years old. These people will not be having records of any kind. They will not be
coming from any nefarious places such as prison or drug and alcohol. They are people that already
live in the community that are going to be referred to us through doctor's office, the
hospitals, you know, they're not showing up to their appointments. They're not, you know,
taking their medications. And so this is a preventative measure put in place, which is
why I said waiver was created. Also, my requirements by the state for supervision is that there
should be three personnel. So I would be house manager, it is my house, and with my nursing,
and then two other personnel who happen to be my siblings.
My sister is also a nurse
and my brother has his bachelor's
in adult family organization.
For security purposes,
there will be 24 hour surveillance on the property.
Also, like I said, we will be present.
Neighbors were concerned about parking.
So let's go back up to talk about the parking.
it's uh right here okay so you can see where my house is located right here and as i said
finley recreational center is directly across from me they host a bunch of events all the time
which uh let me precedent this by saying i have no problem with those events and such but the
neighbors concerned uh were for parking parking is always a concern for us because of the playground
They refurbished a playground. So now it has sprinklers and, you know, a sandbox and a bunch
of other stuff that makes it appealing to those that don't even live in the neighborhood. And
they come there all the time, which is of no consequence, but it does take up a lot of parking.
Now, here's the special thing about parking for us. On the one side of the street, yes,
it's residential, but on this side of the street, there's no, you know, there's just a park and a
rec center. So we have both sides of the street for parking. And then every house on our block
has its own driveway then we have on Mansfield both sides are available for parking
and this is also the Rex and the park which holds a basketball court a tennis court it goes all the
way around to Upsil which also holds one side of residential living and then the other side of the
streets open for parking there's also a field there where they host baseball practices all types
of sports-related practices and games. And then there's Laobar, which has the same thing.
So I would not be causing any detriment to the parking because under said waiver,
none of the six tenants that will live there are allowed to drive. That's part of the requirement.
They're not allowed to drive. Now, in terms of visitors, because they were concerned about