and the other openings
are actually windows I don't know if that's
with the
we are all in agreement that there's two doors one on the side
and one in the front and your drawing only shows
two on the side which would
lead us to that you have two
okay you see that right yes yeah yeah and and the other things on the plan that are on a party wall
right and and the dimension of the plans don't make sense as it relates to the furniture and
everything in the layout because there's clearly not enough room if it's only a
14-foot wide house so the plans don't make sense and don't and don't relate to
reality we're really willing to I guess we move to the tables if need be no I'm
not I'm not saying that your your dimension on this plan that you show says 24 by 14 right
and if your width of that building is 24 foot wide there's no way you can put all this stuff
in there right you can't have pizza oven then the space for people to work in then a countertop
then a then a then tables you just don't you won't have enough room to do all that that takes
up about 10 feet right there you only have five foot left probably you see anything so this is
that they're just it's just not reality and then you're showing doors that don't exist
and they're not in locations where the doors are it's like this plan makes no sense as it relates
let me ask you a practical question i mean this is an area that has no commercial no retail
why did you select this this row I'm going to call row house why did would you select this row house
to put a pizza shop well it's because uh that's that's our family home and my kids were raised
there and we're familiar with the community we we realize that there's not a lot there
okay all right that's that's that's your answer any other questions
questions from our attorney no Mr. Chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
the current audience i do not see any hands raised mr planning commission addison matera
planning commission staff m-a-d-i-s-o-n-m-a-t-e-r-a do you swear we're affirmed to tell the truth the
whole truth nothing but the truth yes please proceed the property was remapped from rm1
residential multi-family to rsa5 residential single family in 2019 the appellant has not
shown that the property cannot possibly be used in strict conformity with the zoning code and that
a variance is therefore necessary to enable the viable economic use of the property the city
planning commission recommends that the board deny the variance for change of use for retail sales
in an existing attached structure with other uses in the same structure mi 2025 006 774
63 40 musgrave street i vote no michael johns my vote is no cyril gaston my vote is no i am mcadams
my vote is no hi owen my vote is no thank you council thank you number four mi 20 25 006
908-1500
German
1500 to
Germantown Avenue
Germantown Avenue. Alan Nockmson is the attorney.
Al Nackamson is the attorney
So, Nockmson, you've already been sworn in once today, so could you just state your name for the record?
Alan Nockmson.
Could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
Yes, my client is 1500 Germantown Ave LLC. And in the virtual audience is Iman Shahita, who's going to be the operator of the prepared food shop.
I understand you have unanimous support from South Kensington Council and a non-opposition from Councilmember Lozada. Our board secretary has a few questions.
Good afternoon, counsel. Did you submit your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, we have.
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
yes to the current refusal we're going to have to update the refusal um i spoke to uh miss emerson
uh previously about this matter this is actually going to be a whole oh excuse me a hold okay
great uh then you can go ahead and uh share your screen and begin your presentation thank you thank
Thank you.
As the chairman stated, we did receive unanimous support. A little strange situation here.
We're looking to do a coffee shop here at the corner of at this corner of Germantown.
We showed another operator who was going to be a prepared food shop coffee shop, you know, to the community group, and we did receive unanimous support. Unfortunately, that coffee shop backed out after the community meeting, but before the hearing, we were able to get another coffee shop to, you know, come into the space.
uh we're finalizing the lease here but we did have a pre-community meeting with that same group
um so we want to be you know honest with them that yes you supported this other operator
we have another operator we met we met with the executive board of the coordinating rco
they didn't see in it see to have an issue with it we want to at least present this again in front
of the community again with this new operator who's well known in the community as well so
And we'll have to modify the notice of refusal because in addition to a prepared food shop, it's going to be like almost like a Capital One Cafe where this operator is also a tax preparer in the neighborhood.
So part of her business model would be also to have like tax preparation services during certain portions of the year in addition to a coffee shop.
So we just wanted to make sure that we cleaned everything up, but I didn't see any reason for delay to present to the board, and we don't anticipate any issues with the community group either.
So we have 12 exhibits here again at the conclusion of my presentation.
I'll ask Amon to virtually raise her hand and have a couple questions for her.
But the refusal here is this.
This is an RSA 5 property.
It's a corner property, and we're looking to use this prepared food shop and for office use as well.
If this was the CMX 2 property, this use would be allowed as a right.
Why do I say that?
If you look at the bottom of the notice of refusal, this board, maybe not this board, but a ZBA board previously approved this in 2020 to have four residential dwelling units and on the ground floor is to have a commercial space.
If they would have put, you know, a commercial space with allowable CMX2 uses, we wouldn't have to be here today.
But because it just said commercial space, we're seeking a variance for that specific purpose.
We did get a letter of support, overwhelming support for a prepared food shop. I think everyone agreed that this was an appropriate use of the property generally, right? I mean, obviously we still have to bear the burden to show this operator is qualified and appropriate under the circumstances.
But you can see here was unanimous support 11 to 0. I don't anticipate having any issue with this operator because this operator actually has a tax preparation offices around the corner. She's been in business for many, many years. And she's also a member of the mosque, which is across the street. And she's been a member since 2001. So she's a well-known quantity in the neighborhood. And she thinks she's going to be very successful here, given her relationship
you know from a business and you know religious you know perspective so and again you know i don't
anticipate the letter of non-opposition from the council member will change but we do have
council member will change but we do have a letter of non-opposition based on the community support
a letter of non-opposition based on the community support
again the property history here is the zoning permit that was issued in 2020 based on four
residential units plus an empty commercial space and then again not out of character to have nearby
rsa5 properties their corner properties uh which also have commercial use so 1501 north 4th street
1519 north 4th street uh and then maps of the area again if we were just diagonal across the street
Here's a CMX2 property. Again, it would not be out of character.
Germantown Avenue tends to have more of a commercial corridor presence.
You can see there's some ICMX, so RM1.
So there's clearly density support this commercial space.
And then you can see the mosque right here, which is across the street that my client is a member of.
You also can see there's a grocery store as well.
And then photographs of the property. This is its current condition.
It's leased up the residential space, and we're looking forward to hopefully leasing up the commercial space.
And that's from both sides, from both Jefferson and Germantown.
And then here's our orange notice poster showing proof of posting for each public streets.
Germantown Avenue to the right of the property, to the left of the property.
Jefferson Street to the right of the property, and to the left of the property.
So again, it's more than a vanilla box. You've got nice floors. It's ready to be occupied, hopefully.
And then there are plans and drawings. They're a little small. I'll try to expand out here.
but there are multiple entrances here you can see for the space itself
you have it right here is the residential space they come in through jefferson
there's also double doors for the commercial space on jefferson oh here's jefferson i apologize
this is jefferson street this is germantown multiple entrances there's also as you can see
here a lower level where we'll probably have storage but no one's going to actually be working
down there but you know it's an open floor plan you have a number of tables you also see here
we'll be able to leverage that we mean in the commercial space we'd be able to leverage
the separate trash bins and you know obviously as a commercial space they would
you know avail themselves of trash pickup but you know there's counter space here
point-of-sale system here again it's a prepared food shop so there'll be no cooking on the
premises you know similar to you know like a starbucks heat things heated up but nothing
other than that and the space itself square footage wise is approximately 1276 square feet
and then we met with the community on february 25th again different operator but same plan
And other than expanding it to have some office use in there, maybe it'll be a subdivision of some sort to have an office for privacy purposes for tax preparation.
We sent notice to 111 addresses.
These are the addresses, proof of mailing to those addresses, our application for appeal.
Now, we did file on behalf of the landlord.
We spoke to Ms. Emerson.
We will provide an executed lease once we have it before the board votes.
So they'll see the, you know, the terminal lease and, you know, the arrangement between the landlord and the tenant.
There's the notice of refusal, the project information form, the deed to the property showing that 1500 Germantown Avenue is the owner of the property.
And then finally, it's a certificate of tax clearance.
Some information, hours of operation that we anticipate having Monday through Friday is 7.30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
And then weekends, so Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Delivery schedule, the pastries will be delivered in the morning.
The estimated timeline to get the place up and running in terms of minimal renovations, 30, 60 days.
as i stated about trash pickup we'll be leveraging the buildings you know trash
room exterior trash room and there is also going to be trash stored in that room and
that's basically it my client also will be collaborating with her sister who has experience
in the coffee industry she's been a barista in the service industry for over four years
I would just ask my client to virtually raise their hand.
I will make note to Ms. Emerson is back.
I know.
I saw her.
I know.
I just wanted to make sure everybody knew you weren't just talking to a vacant Ms. Emerson.
to a vacant Ms. Emerson.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, exactly.
Chancellor, Mr. Chair,
let me come back in as a panel shortly.
Thank you.
Hello?
Hi. Could you please state your name
and spell it for the stenographer?
Sure. My name is Iman Shahada,
and that's spelled E as in elephant, M as in Mary, A as in apple, N as in Nancy.
Last name Shahada, S as in Sam, H as in Harry, E as in elephant, H as in Harry,
A as in apple, T as in Tom, A as in apple.
Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Counsel?
Iman, you heard everything I had to say today about your zoning matter.
Is it true and correct?
And do you adopt this as your own?
Specifically, I stated hours of operation on weekdays from 7.30 a.m. to 8 p.m. and weekends, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
That's correct, right?
Yes, that is correct.
And that trash would be stored in the outside trash room as part of your operations, correct?
and and you know again that you know your relationship to the neighborhood that you've
been a member of the mosque that's across the street since 2001 and that you have an office
right now for your tax preparation offices around the corner is that correct that is correct and
that you will be collaborating with your sister who has much experience in the coffee and service
industry yes all right thank you questions from the board yeah looking at the plan where
is the cold storage uh to be located let me see i i don't i don't know if it's going to be cold
storage i mean but i'm sure there's a very summer if you're doing a prepared food shop won't things
need to be in cold cases until they're heated up or frozen yeah let me take a look at that
they also milks and stuff yeah i i don't know if they have like a expectation to like have like a
more of a display in the front but yeah i would expect that there would be some place for storage
on my uh computer's just freezing
i i thought i saw something on the list of equipment but i'm not you have to bring it up
So there was a, I think like a refrigerated glass showcase and that's where like the majority
of the cold refrigerated pastry will go.
And I think under the counters, there are a few fridges where the milks and stuff will
be stored near the, near the, the espresso machine and things like that.
correct me if i'm wrong and i do note that there's some numbers labeled to them i want to stay on the
floor plans but we can go to the i mean i know what the icons stood for i just know that typically
there's another area in like 97 of the coffee shops i've been in and when it isn't it's a kiosk
where there's like something like a main store close by but okay yeah i mean the other thing is
we're coming back anyway and i'll make sure that we specifically address where the refrigeration
will be so then you know i'll make note of that um so i guess you go down to the list of go down
to the list of equipment i think there was a something there then you could see it's right
to the left so then what's happening in the basement or is the basement not a part of the
it is it's just it's just one of the areas and i'll go back to it let me just look at the list of
equipment let's see what we got here
ice maker
under counter refrigerant number one okay there we go yeah yeah but i'll make sure obviously we'll
we'll denote that a little bit better um you know we have to meet with the community and we'll you
know make a you know presentation obviously to the board telling what the
community thought of it and we'll update our drawings so there is the upstairs
tenants have no what there's a lot of space there's a lot of space down there
the up the tenants upstairs the residential tenants don't have access
to this so I think this is something we're still looking at to see which of
the rooms I would think it's there's one room where the utilities are so I don't
think we would take that room we mean in the commercial tenants I would think
it's one of those two rooms here but we'll have a little bit more definition like i said we pivoted