yes get moving yes great thanks justin um uh well whom are you employed uh nova care
and what's your position there i'm a market manager so regional manager and so you're
familiar with the location and what's proposed at this location? Yes, sir. It's fair to say,
and you've heard my testimony. Would you agree it's true and accurate? Yes, sir. And you would
adopt this if it were your own? Yes, sir. Great. Could you just briefly tell the board about
Novacare and what's proposed here while I flip through the slides here? Sure. We're a physical
therapy company. We provide physical therapy in local neighborhood clinics all over 38 states.
um we work with patients who recover from orthopedic injuries surgeries uh things like
that we're we're not a gym um we have appointments so people aren't going to be coming in willy nilly
um and at any one time uh you know our goal is to get to two to three full-time employees in
the office so having at one time probably no more than six uh patients in the office uh with a goal
of 22 like visits per day based on our market research so that's the most amount of people in
and out in the day. And the photographs of another facility is pretty close to what you're proposing
here. Is that fair to say? Yeah, this is a little bit larger, but yeah. Okay. Let me go back to the
floor plan. This is the floor plan that we're going to pursue, correct? Yes. And it's accessed
off of Ridge Avenue. Is that fair to say? Yes. Okay. And where's trash? Tell us about trash.
is collected and placed where in the rear uh yeah we're i mean we have maybe one bag of trash per
week uh in any of my offices and is that trash medical ways sharps and the like uh no okay and
it's placed in a common area in the rear here uh yes and then it would be handled by the landlord
for removal is that fair to say yes okay and uh what are the days and hours of operation are
proposed uh monday monday through friday like eight to five to start and then adding nights
as needed and you mentioned a number of um uh patients per hour it was approximately six six
would be the max yes and you heard me mention there's 17 parking spaces in that covered garage
or any reserve for an overcare yes so we're uh negotiating that with the landlord at this point
but the goal is or the plan is for about six great thank you any questions for mr junta i'll
i'll conclude what do you conclude okay sure um i'm showing you the letter from uh the rdc um this
isn't a special exception case the proposed use we believe will not cause or create any adverse
impacts upon the public health safety welfare or traffic also the proposed use will cause no greater
impacts if any greater than would be expected by a permitted use i would add that you know
as i mentioned the rocksboro hospital where a hospital is across director street
um it can occupy as a full one and a half blocks and hence we believe this
use will comport with the character uh context of that neighborhood thank you questions from the
board questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson not at this time chair questions
or comments from the virtual audience or the present audience
are you going to take me further hands Mr. 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 CMX 2.5 commercial use zoning at commercial mixed
use zoning at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 2015 in accord with
recommendations in the comprehensive plan the appellant has shown that the proposed medical
dental health practitioner group practice will have no detrimental impact beyond what might be
expected the city planning commission recommends the board grant a proposed special exception
mi2025-005-493-5801 ridge avenue i vote yes with proviso use limited to first floor commercial space
two michael johns my vote is yes with proviso cheryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso
it's not a gram of what is yes ryan mcadams my vote is yes with proviso
hey when my vote is yes with proviso thank you great thank you we accept the proviso thank you
number nine mi2025-005-802-508 federal street gabriel fellis or orlok sokoloff or the attorneys
There's a recommendation of unanimous support from the Dickinson Square West Civic Association.
There's a recommendation of unanimous support from the Dickinson Square.
14 total votes. Non-opposition also from Councilmember Scuola and a petition signed by 34
neighbors including 12 in the immediate. Council?
council please raise your hand away to be sworn in okay
okay they'll be rejoining as a pen to show okay
gabriel fella okay gabriel good afternoon mr uh could you please state your name and spell for the
stenographer? It's Gabriel Fellis, G-A-B-R-I-E-L. That's Ms. Fellis, F-E-L-L-E-U-S. Do you swear or
affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? I do. Do you identify
your client, the relationship to the property? My client is Brandon Hale, who's the owner of
the property. And our vice chair has a few questions. Good afternoon, counsel. Have you
submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing? I did. Okay. And
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
You can share your screen and proceed with your case.
You guys see the table contents?
We can, sir.
Great.
Thank you, guys.
So, we're here today seeking approval to legalize the existing use of the property for two-family
household living.
The property is zoned RSA 5, which expressly prohibits two families.
When my client, Mr. Hale, purchased the property in August of 2025, the property was already
being used as a two-family dwelling.
The property was marketed and sold to Mr. Hale as a legalized two-family structure.
And when we spoke to some of the neighbors at the RCO meeting, a few of them did mention
that they believed that the property was being used for two-family living for a number of
years before Mr. Hale took possession.
so to confirm mr hale took title to the property in its current configuration
under the misrepresentation that it had been legally zoned he's made no material alterations
to the property and did not plan to do so so here we have our floor plans uh property in its current
condition is a three-story property with an unfinished basement there's a one bedroom one
bathroom unit on the first floor and then a three bedroom one bathroom unit on the second and third
floors. Tenants of both units can access through a single door in front of the building. The
upstairs tenant can access their unit through the entranceway here. The basement is unfinished
with a washer and dryer and mechanical systems.
So here we have a link to a video walkthrough of the entire property and some pictures
of the uh the entire of the front view of the property some interior photos as well as some
aerial view and backyard area photos through here this would be the first floor living room
with bedroom and the kitchen.
This will be the second unit up top.
One bedroom is the second bedroom
with the living room and kitchen.
Here we have our unfinished basement. Again, it's all mechanical
and a washer and dryer.
some aerial views of the property and then a small backyard as well
so this is our zoning map again property is zoned rsa5
now turning to our community outreach efforts uh this is the community notice
letter that we sent on october the 2nd we then met with the dickinson square west
civic association on november 18th where we received their unanimous letter of support
As you mentioned, my client also spoke with nearby neighbors and gathered 34 signatures of support from them, including the immediate neighbors on both sides of the property.
This is the new deed to the property, showing my client taking title to the property in August of 2025.
This is our application for appeal.
is our application for appeal already a duplex when he bought it yes it was
Was it already a duplex when he bought it?
Yes, it was.
and project information form
we have our posters notifying residents of the hearing here today
the statement of real estate tax compliance and our proof of mailing of the rco notification
letters uh sent out um for the november meeting
so with that uh i'd like to bring on my client uh brandon hale
on to adopt my testimony answer any more questions that you guys might have okay
they're coming back in as a panel thank you
hello hi could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
yes thanks mr chairman uh branton hale b-r-a-n-d-t-o-n last name hale h-a-l-e do you swear
or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i do counsel right
uh have you heard my testimony here today yes i have and was it true and correct to the best of
your knowledge yes it was and would you adopt it as if it were your own yes i would great
any questions for mr for me or mr hale we'll be happy to answer questions from the board
questions from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time Mr. Chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
I do not see any hands Mr. 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 RSA 5 residential single-family zoning at this
location a prior owner appears to have recently converted this property into two dwelling units
without the benefit of permits through no fault of the current owner this is a primarily single
family block face the city planning commission recommends that the board grant their proposed
use variance for two dwelling units mi 2025 005802508 federal street i vote yes johns my vote is
yes. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes. Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes. Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes.
Alan, my vote is yes. We're going to go one case out of line here because the attorney has to go
to a meeting. MI 2025-005864-2043, Frankfurt Avenue, Alan Nockamson is the attorney.
There's a letter of opposition from Fishtown Neighbors and a letter of opposition from
council member squilla
council could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer yes alan knockamson a-l-a-n
last name knockamson n-o-c-h-u-m-s-o-n do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth i too mr knockamson could you identify your client a relationship to their
property uh yes uh like what i'm sorry my client is the slider company llc the proposed tenant
for this property, and to the left of me is Chef Will Johnson, one of its members, as well. Behind
me is Anisha Garrett, another member of the restaurant establishment. All right, and I
understand that the Protestants have an attorney, Samuel Franklin. Is he here? Mr. Franklin, why don't
he come up? We'll see you in the front here, and we'll give you an opportunity to cross and things
that nature, right, once they testify. Our Vice Chair has a few questions.
Good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, we have. Okay. And do you waive the reading of the referral and stipulate to its accuracy?
I do. Okay. All right. Thank you. You can share your screen and proceed with your case. All right.
Thank you. And I do apologize in advance that we're going to have to have a pretty comprehensive
of record established here for appellate purposes potentially so um just letting you know um what's
that mean we're yeah yeah yeah yeah i i got him i got him i'm just uh digging him a little bit
i just need to be promoted to a panelist
Thank you.
I know I say this a lot.
This should be a straightforward one.
This should be a straightforward one.
And I'm.
And I'm people were using your words.
People were using your words.
I know.
I know.
I think imitation is the best form of flattery.
But honestly, I mean, honestly, this should be a straightforward one.
This is a referral.
You'll hear about my client.
We've met.
We will meet the legal standard.
And it's rather disappointing the opposition that we do have.
Well, we'll see how it goes.
Again, this should be a case where we celebrate the...
Why don't we just start the case instead of...
So I have 13 exhibits here.
We'll first go over the notice of referral.
So we're on the Frankfurt Avenue commercial corridor in the Fishtown section of Philadelphia.
The only reason why we're here is because we're part of the overlay that requires a special exception for CMS2 properties.
If we were on the other side of the street, we wouldn't even be here today.
But we embrace that legal standard, and the board needs to understand the legal standards this.
We have to establish that our use is no worse than whatever other type of use you would expect of a restaurant establishment of this type.
It's a very, very low burden. We're not talking about variants here. Under the Philadelphia zoning code, our use is conditionally approved. And so we're going to embrace that burden. Factors to consider traffic or transit congestion, overcrowding of land, impairment of light and air to adjacent properties, overburdening public facilities, permanent injury to adjacent property uses, threats to public health or safety, and inconsistencies with the city's comprehension.
Once we meet that burden, very low burden, then the objectors have to meet a burden where it has to be fact specific. It can't be generalized. It has to be specific to this particular applicant, and I will cite several cases.
This is Brae versus Zoning Board of Adjustments, Philadelphia, 1410, A2D, 909, Pennsylvania,
1980, which specifically states that burden.
And then the shifting of the burden back to the objector, Telia Farrow versus Darby Township
Zoning Hearing Board, 873, A2D, 807, Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, 2005, reinforced that
that objectors must provide credible, fact-based evidence of harm.
Enri Thompson, 896, A2D, 659, Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, 2006 case emphasized that
generalized neighborhood opposition is insufficient.
The board must rely on substantial evidence, not sentiment.
All right. So we met with the First Town Neighbors Association on two occasions.
They have a pre-community meeting, so we met with their executive board.
They made some comments about like, you know, how we can improve the restaurant establishment, which we always try to embrace.
Some of the comments were as follows.
They wanted bike racks installed outside. We did that. Like you'll see that we have U-shape bike racks to resets along the perimeter on the Susquehanna side. Add a fence around the trash storage area that's outside. We agreed to do that.
And then they wanted our hours of operation to be aligned with, there's two components here.
So let me just explain what the slider company is planning to do there.
They have a downstairs component, which is more of like, you know, and Chef Will can explain the food, but it'll be sliders and different types of foods and things like that.
Then it's almost like a speakeasy on the second floor.
A speakeasy?
Speakeasy.
yeah it's like a yeah it's like an interesting concept so the second floor it's an elevated
concept with the liquor license and you know so we're going to have lesser hours on the ground
floor than than the second floor and there was concern that well you have this second floor to
speak easy well the ground floor you know it's not activated at all hours that they speak easiest
we stated to them that you know obviously we would have employees on the ground floor you know to