Yes, I do. And have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral photos and plans five days prior to this hearing?
Yes, sir. I have. And have you met with the RCO and have a letter?
Yes. Thank you. Please proceed.
Thank you. I'll share my screen, just confirming everyone can see that.
Great. So I have the pleasure of representing the Museum of Illusions, which will be a tenant inside this already existing structure at 101 North Independence Mall.
Museum of Illusions is an interactive museum where patrons can both interact with the exhibits within the museum and learn about those exhibits while they're doing so.
The best way to describe it, most analogous use in Philadelphia, is the Franklin Institute on the main lower floor level that I'm sure you're familiar with, where you can walk through and interact with some of the exhibits while having an educational experience.
This is a similar concept, as they'll have rotating exhibits of an educational nature inside the premises.
The reason we received the refusal, and I'm sure the board is very well aware, there is supplemental use controls that cover the old city area.
And we would fall into, by the nature of our use, the nightclub and private club zoning category, although we are most certainly not either a nightclub or a private club.
As the board's well aware, this was sort of a catch-all overlay that went in to prohibit the proliferation of nightclubs in that area.
And we fall into it due to the fact that we're a use that has people gathering for an entertainment style use.
Though we are we are neither a nightclub or a private club and have no plans to use the facility that way.
Just to orient the board quickly. Here's your property here.
Our zoning classification. Notice posters in the window and photos of the exterior of the building.
Just to orient the board to which property we're talking about.
The most important thing I can show you is the floor plan of the space.
This is space 102. That will be our leased space.
It's got a maximum occupancy of 132 people.
There are restrooms here, and the rest of this remains for other tenants of this existing building,
which is shared with the American Bible Society along with several other tenants.
we did as the chair noted in his summary met with the old city civic association
they were very supportive of the application their letter of support is up on the screen in
front of you and we also received the support or non-opposition of councilman squilla who submitted
a letter as well i've got the owners of the business on the zoom with me if you have any
specific questions about the operation um but i don't want to take the board's time with detail
you might not need anyone to uh adopt your testimony yes i'd ask jason waxman to raise his
virtual hand mr waxman you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair
jason are you with us yes i am uh good afternoon sir please spell your first and last name
jason j-a-s-o-n waxman w-a-k-s-m-a-n you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth i do thank you mr klein jason did you have a chance to listen to my
presentation this afternoon yes i did jared and would you adopt my statements as true correct in
your own testimony yes i do thank you very much uh again mr chair if the board has questions about
the specific use of wax material otherwise we would rest our presentation thank you uh board
have any questions no no mr chairman no anyone else uh like to testify in this case please raise your
hand. There are no heads up at this time, Chair.
There are no hands up at this time, Chair.
Thank you, Planning Commission.
Good afternoon, Chair.
Peter Bernard for the Planning Commission.
Please spell your last name.
I'll swear you in.
B as in boy, A as in apple, R as in Roger, N as in Nancy, A as in apple, R as in Roger, D as in dog.
I'm going to tell the truth, the whole truth.
Nothing but the truth.
Thank you.
Please proceed.
this property is indicated for commercial mixed use in the comprehensive plan
we feel the museum use is appropriate for the location accordingly the planning commission
recommends the board support the variance thank you uh jared uh am i correct in referring to this
as sweet number sweet letter e as in edward uh the specific space i believe is unit 102
or what one yeah 102 mr chair i heard you say that so that's why i was asking okay
Very good. MI 2021-002918, 101 North Independence Mall, Suite 102. My vote is yes.
Professor Plaza, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
Thank you all. Have a good afternoon.
Thank you. MI 2021-002912, 1731 Edgley Street.
Clementa Amazon is the attorney of record, 32nd Ward, RCO, sent a letter of support.
Ms. Amazon, please identify yourself, spell your name.
You've already been sworn in.
Chair, Alan Nockamson is coming back in as a panelist now.
They keep switching up on me.
All right.
oh god mr knockamson my notes have commented when i have it's her when i have her on it's you
we like to keep her fresh i you certainly are okay please identify yourself spell your name
i'll swear you in uh yes alan knockamson a-l-a-n last name knockamson n-o-c-h-u-m-s-o-n
123 South Broad Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia PA, 19109.
Do you swear if I'm going to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you, Mr. Plaza has some questions for you.
Anakosom, you agree to waive the reading of its refusal and stipulate to attack your seat?
And have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership,
proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral, photos and plans five days prior to this hearing?
Yes, we have.
And have you met with the RCO and have a letter?
Yes, we do.
Thank you. Please, Kristen.
Oh, actually, you know what?
Clement is telling me that our office accidentally submitted the paperwork late on Monday,
but that we did submit it to Ms. Saleta after realizing our office had it in the draft queue.
Mr. Chairman?
uh was it the rco letter or the documents it was just the presentation materials um you know we
just want to acknowledge that that was for whatever reason stuck in our our draft inbox
but we did apparently pardon the interruption apparently the letter was received because
these are notes that were submitted to me by sharon and she indicates in her notes that the
32nd ward did send a letter of support no i just want yes i just want to acknowledge that our office
did not submit it within the five-day time frame.
I just didn't want to say the falsehood.
Thank you. Appreciate that. We'll proceed.
All right. Can I share my screen?
Yes, please.
All right. So we're here for 1731 Edgley Street.
This is a proposed duplex.
In our presentation packet, you'll see the notice of refusal,
the letter of support from the 32nd Democratic Ward,
maps of the area, photographs of the property in the surrounding area,
plans and drawings, or application for appeal, proof that we sent the meeting notice to the
surrounding community and that we did have the community meeting, our deed to the property,
and our certificate of tax clearance. This is an RSA 5 property. We have several refusals versus
use. We are looking to put a duplex here. It's not out of character to have a duplex in this area
of town. You'll see in the following exhibit, we have a letter of support from the 32nd
Democratic Ward. Prior to the meeting, during the meeting, and after the meeting, I spoke
to Representative Judith Robinson, and she indicated to us that she surveyed the surrounding
area and indicating that we want to do a duplex. They stated it's not out of character, and
given the support from the surrounding area and the community, she stated typically they
She stated typically they do letters of non-opposition, but here because in her quote-unquote stated that it was a no-brainer.
do letters of non-opposition but here because in her
So that's why they gave a letter of support, but typically they give a letter of non-opposition.
The second refusal is the maximum occupied area.
Whether this was a single-family home or a duplex, we would run afoul of this, you know, just given the length of the property.
and in terms of the setback you have a two-story home on either side we're asking to not have the
eight-foot setback requirement whether it's a single-family home or a duplex we would run afoul
of that because we would need a functional floor plan on the third floor and that's why we're
asking to go straight up again the community was in full support of this project knowing all of
these things and again you'll see here there were six people my understanding it was unanimous
support they particularly not only had the meeting but they surveyed the neighborhood before and
after the meeting and they gathered that the neighborhood was in favor of this maps of the
area as you can see we're in this small little pocket of yellow and rsa5 but otherwise this is
an rm1 neighborhood where there is multi-family even within the yellow portion of that and then
just where we are in the neighborhood uh we're behind between uh french and uh westmont and
17th and 18th the major streets are susquehanna and diamond streets not too far off a broad street
photographs of the area where the the vacant lot in the middle
then you know edgeley to the right of the property edgeley to the left of property as
you can see there are some three-story structures on uh edgeley that go straight up
architectural plans and drawings i'm just going to make this a little bit smaller so we could
just venture through here but you know traditional brick facade uh three-story structure
um our open area is or you know it's not much different to the properties to the left and right
of us floor plans i'm just going to make this slightly smaller so i can just maneuver
where you walk through the front steps there's a vestibule area to the right is unit number one
living room kitchen bedroom number one open floor plan flex space go up a flight of steps the second
floor you have a living room kitchen bathroom bedroom there's trash storage areas for each one
there's a mission here but each unit has a trash storage storage closet and ventilated trash
storage closet and each unit also has a trash compactor unit number two you go up a flight
of steps there are two more bedrooms so it's three bedrooms three baths then
our remaining documents are application for appeal to the zba along with the notice of refusal and
the project information form our proof of mailing uh we had our meeting uh in october early october
there are 134 addresses notified here are the addresses our proof of mailing
and then our detail property showing in 1956 and 8th street llc is the owner of the property
and then our tax clearance certificate with that being said i would like my client
fernando santos to adopt my testimony mr santos can you virtually raise your hands
i only have someone with the last name looks like miliari is that the same person yes yes it is okay
mr miliari you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair
good afternoon mr miliari please spell your first and last name and i'll swear you in
fernando miliar f-e-r-n-a-n-d-o my last name is m-i-l-i-a-r-i
you swear or from to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes i do thank you mr knockinson yeah fernando you heard everything i stated today
yes and is it true and correct yes and do you adopt it as your own testimony
yeah they do okay thank you questions from the board no mr chairman
no what else would like to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
there are no other hands this time chair thank you planning commission
good afternoon chair peter bernard for the planning commission
this property is indicated for single family residential on the comprehensive plan
we feel the proposal represents an overuse and the applicant has failed to demonstrate a hardship
additionally there is no hardship for regularly sized or shaped vacant parcels accordingly the
Additionally, there is no hardship for regularly sized or shaped vacant parcels.
Accordingly, the Planning Commission recommends the board deny the variances.
Mr. Notkinson, I should have asked you this earlier.
Are there any other multifamilies on that block?
Well, besides the RM1, I am not aware.
But again, this tends to be a multifamily portion of the city.
This has been a vacant lot, at least based on Google, for the last 13 years.
Okay, thank you.
MI 2021-002912, 1731 Edgley Street, my vote is yes.
Professor Plaza, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
Mr. Nockimson, are you up next?
or is it coming? If it's North 5th Street, I am up next, Mr. Chairman. It is. Okay. MI 2021,
that's 002924, 1800 North 5th Street, Old Kensington Neighbor Association. I don't see
whether they sent a letter of support or not. You can clear that up. Mr. Nockamson,
just identify yourself. You're still under oath. Yes. Again, my name is Alan Nock. I'm
of Nockmson, PC, 123 South Broad Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia, PA, 19109.
Mr. Plaza has a few questions.
For Nockmson, you agree to wait a reading of its refusal and stipulate to attack her scene?
Have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership,
proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral, photos and plans five days prior
to this hearing?
Yes, we have.
And have you met with the RCO and have a letter?
Yes, we do.
We have a letter, non-opposition, or support, actually, sorry.
May I share my screen?
Please do.
Okay, so what you're seeing here is 1800 North Fifth Street.
I'm just trying to make it bigger.
This is a corner property on the corner of Montgomery and 5th Street, and what we're proposing to do is have a four-unit dwelling here.
This is not uncommon on this property because it has a previous use as a quadplex, plus next door is also a quadplex.
And traditionally, again, most of these corner properties in Philadelphia tend to be multi-unit in nature.
the lot is over 1600 square feet so we're not trying to jam in density on a small lot
here we're trying to put something that has been in the past and hopefully in the future
so in our presentation materials you'll see the notice of refusal the letter of support from the
old kensington neighborhood association a permit showing that this was previously a quadplex
maps of the area photographs of the property architectural plans and drawings or application
for appeal. Our RCO meeting notice also showing the agreement of sale that we're subject to,