Thank you.
Thank you. The initial, as noted, is probably the most important document, and I'll try to go through as equiditiously as possible.
Hillary has a summary of the meeting from the Northern Liberties Neighbors Association.
my clients I and a number of the members from the community all met with Northern Liberties
several times for detailed discussions and the provisos that were reached and agreed to by all
the parties should be incorporated into any approvals by the zoning board in terms of
And that's an exhibit package. Here's a summary of the exhibit package that has been submitted. It's the proposals or the exhibits that the Mr. Mary has noted. The refusal is document three. This is a copy of the lease.
here's the refusal the refusal as noted is both a special exception because of eating and drinking
and assembly and entertainment is the variance requested just briefly what is going on here is
this is an existing warehouse set back from the street at 433 Fairmont my clients have leased it
with the intention of opening a craft brewery two young entrepreneurs involved in the brewing
business. And in conjunction with opening this craft brewery at this location, they seek to set
up a testing center and a venue where small receptions and parties can be held in conjunction
with beer tastings and so forth. So that's what generated the refusals and the special receptions
in terms of having beer served on premises and also beer that can be taken away from the premises
as retail sales.
In conjunction with that application,
we've given the notices as usual.
And the more important document is probably,
let me see if I can rotate this.
Okay, this is the,
I'm going to roll it up a little bit.
This is a two-story existing warehouse,
which is going to be renovated
and converted by my clients.
You can see that the major meeting is on the second floor.
The primary use in terms of the second floor in terms of the function, and I've got it upside down.
I'm sorry.
What we've got is the primary meeting area on the second floor.
the first floor is where the brewing function is going to take place with a small bar area.
In addition, they've, we'll see in the photographs that, see if I can find the photos here.
Well, that's a tax bill. Okay, here are the photographs.
This is the parking lot off the rear. We're not using that. This is the rear of the property
on olive street this is the adjacent property rear 433 fairmont
across the street across the street this is the posting of the property notice it's at the
street and this was a fee level and this is the actual front of the property posting is out here
on the street the actual front of the property is a warehouse property and this will all be fixed up
and so forth. And part of the request for the variance is to use this, which is part of the
proviso stipulations with several picnic tables during appropriate weather outside. So we got a
little use outside. We got two floors inside. Second floor is a major get together. The ground
floor is going to be the brewing area. Brewing, this is an ICMX district. The actual craft brewery
itself is legal. The issue is because you're going to have people in here tasting beer and or taking
away beer and so forth, then you need both the variants and the special exception. So it's not
the brewery that's at issue. It's bringing in people to do retail sales. Let's see what else.
to do retail sales. Let me see what else. I can stop there for now and see if there are any
questions. Why don't we, is your client here, sir? Yes. Why don't we have your testimony adopted?
Okay. Sean, are you here and can you raise your hand and then be added? Sean McGuire?
Hi, I'm here. Hi, Sean. Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Yep. My name is Sean McGuire, S-E-A-N-M-C-G-U-I-R-E.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Sean. You've heard my testimony with regard to the presentation of your
desire to get a variance and the use refusal approved here by the Zoning Board.
You've seen the plans and so forth. Can you adopt my representations to the board as true
and correct to the best of your knowledge and belief?
I do adopt Roger's representations. Thank you. Okay. Questions from the board? No, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience? Chair, we have Larry Friedman. Okay.
Good afternoon, Mr. Friedman. Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
yes can you hear me i can sir okay larry friedman l-a-r-r-y-f-r-e-e-d-m-a-n
um right do you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes i do proceed uh i'm just here to i mean basically we haven't a uh provisos that we
we work very hard with uh you know uh with their at our couple public meetings with sean and
Oh, my goodness. Is it Nikki and Roger? And they gave us a little bit.
We gave them a little bit. And we would like to commend them on working with the community.
And we feel that we're going to have a nice operation here and we're looking forward to it.
Thank you for calling in and your input, Mr. Friedman.
Thank you.
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
i see no hands here planning commission
mr plan planning commission
it's uh ron bednar city the first name ron r-o-n last name bednar b-e-d-e-n-a-r
Mike, do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
You see.
In 2016, a zoning map was amended in this area in accordance with the recommendations from the Comprehensive Plan.
The parcel-zoned industrial-commercial mixed-use was intentionally not changed.
Both the refusal and the special exception in this case are triggered by the North Delaware Avenue overlay.
The proposed variance for the assembly and entertainment special exception for eating and drinking establishments will not cause detrimental impacts to the neighborhood beyond what might normally be expected for this use.
The City Planning Commission therefore recommends that the requested zoning for this property be approved for both the variance and special exception.
Thank you. MI 2022-003-641-433, Fairmont Avenue. I vote yes with following provisos. Hours of operation, Sunday to Thursday, close at 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, close at 11 p.m.
Two, no deliveries or trash pickup before 9 a.m.
Three, music on second floor only.
Four, no roof deck.
Five, no cooking on the premises.
And six, outdoor dining only as per site plan,
stamped by ZBA on October 26, 2022.
One page.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes with provisos.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with provisos.
James Snell, my vote is yes, with provisos.
Thank you, counsel.
Okay, thank you, Mr. Chairman and the board.
Number 13, MI-2022-001-709-1746 Lombard Street.
Alfred Fiscaldo is the attorney.
Letter of opposition from Center City Residence.
No explanation.
Mr. Chair, this is Hillary. I just want to note that this afternoon we did receive an email from Councilman Johnson's office indicating his opposition as well.
indicating his opposition as well. Okay. Thank you.
Thank you.
Mr. Fiscaldo. Yes, sir. Good afternoon. Could you state your name and spell for the court
reporter, please? Of course. Alfred Fiscaldo, F as in Frank, U, S as in Sam, C, A, L, D as in David O.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client and relationship to the property?
I represent Harry Dillon Madonna, the owner of the property, and it's also his personal residence.
Okay. Our vice chair has a few questions.
Hi. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance refusal referral
photos under plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing
and have you met with the rco and do you have a letter
i do yes to all okay great you may proceed and start with sharing your screen i think it's
over to you. Thank you very much. Good afternoon. I will also endeavor to be efficient this
afternoon. I represent Harry Madonna, as I said, the owner of the property. The property is at
1746 Lombard, the southeast corner of 18th and Lombard, across the street from the Penn Medicine
Rittenhouse facility. We're seeking dimensional variance relief in conjunction with a fourth
floor addition and roof deck proposed by Mr. McDonough. This is a single family dwelling
purchased by Mr. McDonough in 2012. It's a unique property in that it's an assemblage of two
buildings that were combined prior to Mr. McDonough's acquisition of the residence.
It's a three-story building with no basement, more of a crawl space. The property is built out to
the lot lines in each direction. So there is no outside yard or outside space. There is an
existing roof deck, which is in poor condition and needs to be replaced, which prompted Mr.
Madonna's application to the board. And as part of that roof deck replacement, Mr. Madonna wanted to
add a fourth floor living space to the property to give himself some additional living space. As
you'll hear from our sole witness, Ian Toner, the project architect, the combination of the
properties left behind a structural wall that supports the building. And that structural wall
really cannot be moved, cannot be relocated without great expense. And it really prevents
the reorientation and frankly, the use of a lot of the interior of the property for living space.
um we went to uh the ccra uh and met with them on two occasions um the original application
requested uh height relief uh 53 feet six inches um owing mostly to the fact that the original
application proposed a a wall on the roof deck uh which which uh raised the the height relief
required um the it was a solid wall uh we went back to ccra after they expressed some concern
about the wall and the height and reduced the uh overall height of the building to to 43 feet
just five feet above the um uh 38 foot height limitation in the district um the rco saw that
mr fish they they they did um and they and they they all they you know they still opposed the
application all right thank you yeah um so um again mr mr madonna spent a great deal of time
canvassing the neighborhood um and and speaking to his neighbors uh there were at least 18 neighbors
who signed a petition in support of the project or non-opposition we have an exhibit here today
that will show where those properties are located
and in relation to his property.
And a 43-foot height limit for this structure
is not an outlier in the general vicinity of his property.
There's a number of properties in and around his neighborhood
that are 43 feet or taller.
And we have an exhibit to show that as well.
And Mr. Madonna, in his desire for this approval, is also willing to the board desire to grant relief today to remove his variance request for the height, I'm sorry, for the distance from the roof deck from the front yard.
this is a copy of the refusal you'll see three refusals here listed the first one uh is a uh
This is a copy of the refusal.
they're all dimensional the first one relates to uh the rear yard setback again the property is
built out to the all in all directions so any any height addition to the building is going to result
in an additional variance there um so that's nothing we can do to change that again with a
The second variance request for height, Mr. Benon has agreed to reduce that request to 43 feet.
And then, again, should the board be willing to grant the application, he's willing to redesign the project to comply with the third variance request and remove that from the application.
I'm going to ask Mr. Ian Toner, a project architect, to raise his hand and be admitted to the meeting.
I'd like him to explain to the board in greater detail the constraints inherent to Mr. Madonna's property, if I could.
Could you have him raise his hand?
Ian, could you raise his hand?
I'm here.
All right.
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Ian Toner from Toner Architects.
I-A-N-T-O-N-E-R.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
Thank you.
Ian, you are the project architect on this application?
And you prepare all of the slides and plans that are part of this application packet?
Yes, they're all prepared in our office.
And you're a licensed architect in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware?
And you've testified as an expert in the field of architecture before this board and other zoning boards in the past?
If I could, Mr. Chair, I'd like to have Mr. Toner admitted as an expert in the field of architecture for his testimony.
Yes, go ahead. Proceed.
Thank you. Ian, would you like me to just page through this, or would you like me to have you share your screen, whatever is easier?
You can go through it, sure.
Okay. So I'm going to, I'm going to page through the project information sheet and the refusal, which we've talked about.
These are copies of these pictures of the postings of the property tab for this tab and tab five.
And this is a copy of the original application, the zoning plan.
If you can explain to the board, what we can, not to be repetitive, but what we're proposing and what we are proposing.
Sure. So we are proposing a fourth floor addition. If you look at the site plan there to the right, you'll see the extent of it.
It's Lombard Street's on the left. It's set back from Lombard Street and then is the full width of the property in the rear portion of the building.
um we are uh we are not proposing uh any kind of um pilot house structure above that so we're
going to have a spiral stair leading from the third floor roof uh up to the roof of the fourth
floor um we were proposing a solid wall above on the upper roof to provide structure for a
retractable canopy as well as a surface to mount a television. In our meeting with CCRA, we agreed
to change that to just a metal frame, sort of the outline of that wall so that we would be able to
mount the retractable awning to it, but the wall would no longer be solid and block anyone's view
and there would not be a TV mounted to that. And we also lowered the total height of the addition
between the first meeting and the second with CCRA. And Ian, I think this exhibit, I think,
at tab five also shows the interior layout of the property. Can you describe
this in a little bit more detail to the board? Because I think it's important for them to