Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with Proviso. Brian McAdams, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Tywin my vote is yes with proviso thank you counsel thank you board I appreciate your time
Tywin, my vote is yes with Proviso. Thank you, Counsel. Thank you, Board. I appreciate
is there anyone in the audience whose case has not been called from the 9 30 list
I see no hands at this time too see everybody at 2 p.m all right
Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this meeting
in the Philadelphia Zoning Board of Adjustments. With me is our Board Secretary, Cheryl L.
Gaston.
Present Mr. Chairman.
Board Member Michael Johns. If he's not, he'll be on any many areas. He's there.
Board Member Taya Nguyen.
Present Mr. Chairman.
Board Member Ryan McAdams.
Present Mr. Chairman.
Also, here is our attorney, Matt Webster.
our ZBA director, Ian Haggerty, and our board administrator, Lakeisha Dandy.
This hearing is being recorded and will be posted on the ZBA website.
By participating, you agree to be recorded. This is an in-person meeting with remote participants.
Whether in person or on Zoom, if you are called to speak, please state and spell your name and
then wait to be sworn in after being sworn in you must identify state your name each time before
testifying to enter an appearance indicate the property address while on the zoom webinar
speak with a staff member
or call this eba office by the end of business tomorrow
call 215-686-2429 please leave your name email and address of the property in question
remote participants raise your virtual hand when directed so that we can call on you
when we do call on you please push the button join join as a presenter a panelist
Use your Q&A only for procedural requests, not anything comments relative to the case.
If you are joining by phone, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
In-person attendees, get close to the mic and speak as loud as possible so that all attendees
and the court reporter can hear you no talking eating or drinking during the hearings
aggressive behavior will not be tolerated in case of emergency follow staff instructions
the the main exit is the doors in the rear and the elevator is to the left the the stairs are
to the left if we evacuate please go to love park across our street and please stay there so that
we can account for you but let's look at our schedule for today
number one mi 2025 003 392 2231
fernell's fernell street um gsb 3 ltt is the limited owner um we have no exhibits
this is the third listing.
Also an attorney needed for this.
Good afternoon, Chair. This is Jason Hand. I'll be your co-host for this session.
I do not see anyone answering to that name in the virtual audience, and I do not see any hands
raised okay thank you very much so mi 2025 003 392 2231 fernell street i vote to dismiss
cheryl gas that my vote is to dismiss
ryan mcadams my vote is to dismiss i win my vote is to dismiss
number three mi 2025 006 856 10 16 to 18 ray street um we have no exhibits this is the second
listing the listed owner is um betty mon and g p
betty mon and gp race llc
sorry chap once again i do not see any hands raised for the matter and i do not see them in
the virtual audience so mi 2025 006 850 10 16 to 18 ray street i vote to dismiss
michael johns my vote is to dismiss
cheryl gaston my vote is to dismiss hi mcadams my vote is to dismiss i win my vote is to dismiss
number five mi 2025 007 020 2408 west lehigh avenue this case is continued until 7 15 26
at 2 p.m.
And number 7, MI 2026, 002-228-610-40 High Street.
This case is continued until 7, 15, 26 at 2 p.m.
Are there any other requests for continuances?
Chair, I do not see any further hands raised.
We're going to go to our add-on list.
MI 2026-000214, 1942 North Grad Street.
The vote in this matter has been continued to Wednesday, May 20th at 2 p.m.
And number two, MI 2023-2025-006-865-2530 North 11th Street, I vote no.
Michael Johns, my vote is no.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is no.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is no.
Ryan Wade, my vote is no.
First case will be, let's see here.
Number two, MI 2025-006-774-6340 Musgrave Street, Gabriel Fellis is the attorney.
I'll be coming back in as a panel shortly.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair.
Counsel, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
my name is gabriel fellis g-a-b-r-i-e-l last name f-e-l-l-u-s do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do um could you identify your
client a relationship to the property sure my client is troy prater he is the owner of
the property atmosphere well there's a letter of non-opposition from the 59th ward our um
our board secretary has a few questions for you good afternoon counsel submit your documents and
exhibits five days in advance of this hearing um i believe i submitted actually saturday morning
just i think there was a little bit of a miscommunication but on saturday morning
all right and uh do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
And you can share your screen and begin your presentation.
Thank you.
Thank you.
All set up, Chris?
We should.
Great.
Thank you, Chair.
So my client is seeking approval for use of the property at 6340 Musgrave as a sort
of quick serve bodega style takeout concept.
The store will be used primarily for general convenience sales, but it will also focus on
also function as a bakery and a pizzeria where guests can order from the counter and take out
those food items that are prepared in-house. So again, a bit similar to like a bodega-style concept,
the property is zoned RSA 5, so the concept generated these four refusals.
So before we get into the details of the project, I just wanted to provide a little bit of background
on Mr. Prater. He's been a member of the Germantown community for over 20 years.
He's been working in the food industry for over 30 years, where he has extensive experience
owning and operating small community-focused businesses.
This photo here is from 1993, where he started probably one of the first take-out and delivery
food businesses in the area.
He also operated several pizzerias and bakeries in and around Philly since he first started
in 1993, and one of them is Troy's Pizza, shown here.
So the property is currently vacant and basically in shell condition.
So the property is currently vacant and basically in shell condition.
We'd be looking at using only the first floor for the storefront with the top floor remaining as a residential unit.
Here we have the proposed site plans showing the anticipated layout.
So as you can see, there's not much seating or anything.
So the focus is mainly going to be on the quick serve takeout business and the convenience store sales.
these tables are just mainly going to be for guests to sort of wait around for their food to be ready
so here we have some photos from the street it's a corner unit with ample parking so there really
should not be any serious issue of a bunch of cars parking on a small residential block
the property takes up nearly the entire block so guests can park directly in front of the store
here. And again, because it's sort of a takeout focus concept, patrons can be in and out within
10 to 15 minutes. So here we have some interior photos of the property and its current condition.
Like I said, it's basically in shell condition. So there's going to be a lot of interior renovations
and cosmetic upgrades, but we're not proposing any exterior construction or demolition at all.
here we have some aerial views of the property in relation to the other properties
here we have our zoning map again the property is owned rsa5
so now turning into our community outreach efforts uh like you said we met with the 59th
democratic ward on april 21st where we received their letter of non-opposition this is the
notification letter that our office sent out on March 18th, notifying nearby neighbors of that
meeting. And this is the letter from Mr. Patrick Jones from the 59th Democratic Ward summarizing
that meeting and affirming their stance of non-opposition. Mr. Pereira and his family have
also been extremely proactive in engaging with the neighbors on the block with this project.
uh he's personally reached out and uh he reached out to explain the project
uh and address any concerns that neighbors might had um he's spoken with and he gathered 56 signatures
of support this is the deed to the property showing troy taking title in april 2009
Here you have our application for appeal and project information form.
We have our hearing notification posters at the property, advising neighbors of the hearing
here today.
And here we have our statement showing that Mr. Prater has a payment agreement with the
city for real estate tax payments and these are our certifications of
mailing for the notifications sent out for the RCO meeting in March so with
that I'd like to bring Troy on to adopt my testimony and help answer any
questions you guys might have okay you should be in the virtual audience
council for the record is that uh troy pater yes
Troy Prater please raise your virtual hand once more Troy Prater please raise your virtual hand
I wait to be sworn in.
Okay, they should be coming back in as a panel shortly.
Thank you.
Keep a hand keeps going up and down for some reason.
I'm sorry about the delay council council while we're waiting, is there any commercial
or retail anywhere around there at all?
not much
to be honest with you
okay now that we're coming back in
thank you
Thank you.
you're welcome
You're welcome.
can you hear me i can't please uh state your name and spell for the stenographer
yes hi my name is troy prater first name is t-r-o-y last name is p as in paul r-a-t as in
tom e-r do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes i do counsel hey joy uh have you heard my testimony here today yes i heard you thank you
and was it true and correct to the best of your knowledge yes it is okay and would you adopt it
as if it were your own yes it is great thank you any questions you guys have we have an answer
sure questions from the board uh yes um so this is a corner property and it's attached to another
property on the one side is it a correct twin yeah okay and uh have you talked to that neighbor
and do you have their agreement with this well most of the time they're not at home i've spoken
to them we speak casually but i'm not sure what their work schedules are so it's kind of hard to
catch you know speak with them and they are aware of what what my plans are okay and then
um we've already established that there's no other commercial um use here um so uh what are
you planning to do with respect to making sure that um the noise and traffic and what have you
from this use will not disturb the adjoining neighbor in some way.
Well, one of the things that we are implementing is to make sure that the area is well lit
and to have security cameras, and that's one of the advantages to having takeouts,
so there's really no need for them to stick around.
And I've also spoken to the 14th Police District and have initiated a police log as well.
they've agreed to you know follow through on the police log as well okay and uh what are you doing
about venting of the property i'm sorry i didn't hear you what are you doing about venting like
venting of the um for the pizza oven for whatever if you're gonna have fry machines or what have you
Yes, I've spoken to two of the area companies that would come in and they would set up a professional exhaust system and make sure that everything is vented well above the roofs in the area.
So they've explained what, you know, what they would have to do, but it will be a professional company that does that.
Okay. You don't have that on your plan anywhere. So I just want to make sure that, you know, we've made some kind of provision for that.
yes i apologize yeah you're gonna have those kind of smells and what have you which could again
uh disturb the adjoining neighbor okay um all right thank you you're welcome
council can we bring up question go ahead can we bring up the plans again okay
so uh what is your go ahead i'm sorry go ahead i'm sorry mike um i was i was looking at is the
only entrance through the side door going into the establishment there's actually two entrances
one in the front and one on the side as well so the front's in the corner right would that
be where the bathroom's at that's actually the side the front is no i'm sorry yes that's the front
okay i see the accident where the uh but they're both on the side correct
no if you can in the diagram it says uh what the tables are and it says uh entrance and exit
that's one there yes okay so you have you don't have a rear exit out of out of it yes the one
that says back room yes that's a rear exit and bathrooms it's next to the bathroom okay so what's
your trash plan then for i've also spoken with waste management and they've agreed to come out
And they've agreed to come out and under a contractual basis to pick up the trash at least once or twice a week, depending on, you know, how I felt it needed to be removed.
and under a contractual basis to pick up the trash
So that's not an issue with them either.
So I'm just looking at the property like it is now.
There's a there's a door next to the steps going up to the I'll just say for lack of better second floor.
And then there's a side door.
Is there you're going to add a door to is there another door at it or not?
well there's there's two doors now but if if another door needed to be added i could
right oh yeah yeah your your your plan does not match the existing conditions basically
you show two doors on the side of the building but there's one in this picture there's one door
on the side and then there's another door in the front your plans don't match what the building
so that was the question
like are you putting in a new door
because it doesn't match what you show
no there's
two doors one on the side one in the front