know just you know dial our eyes across our t's so the letter from uh queens village uh neighbors
association stated that they're in support of this you know legalization of the two-par
car uh off-street parking um again my understanding is the council members is in non-opposition uh to
this request as well uh again not out of character to have off-street park
Again, not of character to have off street parking on the 200 block of Fulton Street. Here's 248 and 250 Fulton, also nearby 233, 31 and 219, 226-28, 224 Fulton Street.
I don't know.
And I guess Fulton goes, you know, street to street with Catherine.
So that's 219 Catherine Street, 217 Catherine Street.
Again, the rear of Catherine butts up against Fulton.
213 Fulton Street, A and B, 217 Fulton Street, A and B, 205-07 Catherine Street.
And then 772 South 2nd Street is nearby, 784 South 2nd Street, again nearby.
Right. Again, we're at the corner of Third Street and Fulton right here.
This corner property is an RM1 property.
This is from a Google Maps perspective.
Again, not that far off away from a major corridor.
Photographs of the property. This is our property.
This is just from Google Street View.
But as you can see, it's pretty wide for two car parking.
we don't and this is the property in 2011 so nothing's really changed other than the cars
that are there this is the front of the property from south third street side of the property from
fulton street this is the hearing notice posters for this property for both from both third street
and fulton street this is third street to the right of the property to the left of the property
Fulton Street to the right of the property. And as you can see, there's no parking allowed
on the street for Fulton Street on the left of the property.
Our plans and drawings are this. Very simple. I'm just trying to
legalize these two parking spots. This area
is 16 feet wide
and it's, let's see,
16.6 feet wide, 16 feet, six inches wide
and 16 feet deep.
We had a meeting on August 14th at 7.30 p.m.
We emailed that notice on July 24th
to the coordinating RCO and the relevant parties.
And what we emailed them was that notice
along with proof of mailing of that notice
to 188 addresses.
These are the addresses.
Proof of mailing to those addresses.
Our application for repeal that we filed on Mr. Duraco's behalf,
along with the notice of refusal and the project information form,
our deeds of property, showing that Mr. Duraco has owned it
for almost the past 40 years.
OR CERTIFICATE OF TAX CLEARANCE.
I WOULD NOW ASK THAT MR.
DORACCO VIRTUALLY RAISE HIS HAND AND BE SWORN IN.
DORACCO.
JOSEPH DORACCO HAS BEEN ALLOWED TO SPEAK.
Sir, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Mr. Turaco?
I'm not sure if he's having technical difficulties, but he has been allowed to speak, and he is off of mute.
Mr. Turaco?
Mr. Nockamson, you're an officer of the court.
We will take your testimony.
Questions from the board?
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands at this time, Chair.
Okay, planning commission.
Amy Boyd with the planning commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing residential multifamily
arm one zoning at this location the accessory parking is consistent with nearby uses pending
commission recommends that the board grant the proposed variance for accessory parking
mi 2024 003 725 785 south 3rd street i vote yes michael johns my vote is yes
charles gaston my vote is yes denetta graham my vote is yes i am win my vote is yes
Tynetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Iowyn, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
Number 10.
Thank you, Mr. Notkinson.
Number 10, MI 2024-003-578-1401-North Delaware Avenue.
Stephanie Boggs Magna is the attorney.
There's a letter of support from Fishtown Neighbors.
stephanie bachter is coming in any of the penilists
hi counsel could you please state your name and spell for the
stenographer sorry stephanie s-t-e-p-h-a-n-i-e magania m-a-g-a-g-n-a
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Yes, I do.
Could you identify your client, a relationship to this property?
My client is Delaware River Events 1 LLC.
They are the licensee for a portion of the property.
All right.
And before our vice chair asks you a question, in conversation with our attorney, I understand
we're going to hold a vote on this.
Is that correct?
Correct.
I believe there's additional documentation about the current term and the active status
of that license agreement.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Council, do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, but we do have a revised refusal dated May 28, 2024, so I will stipulate to the accuracy of that refusal.
Fair enough. Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, I have.
Thank you, Council. Please proceed to share your screen.
now see that okay um so this application the property this the property that we're talking
about is the entire block bound by north delaware avenue east berks beach and palmer street here um
adjacent to the delaware river um specifically the entire block is owned by pico and it was
comprised of several parcels up until very recently when pico received approval to consolidate
the existing lot. Here's just a copy of the recent consolidation plan. There's been some
confusion about the address of this parcel because of how recent this consolidation was
confirmed. It was confirmed in April, right about the time we filed this. So the confirmation of new
address came in right about the time we were filing it. It's led to some confusion, but the
new address for the parcel is 1401 North Delaware Avenue. The property is zoned ICMX. It's also in
in the Central Delaware Overlay District.
And this application specifically only refers
to the Northeast most portion of the property.
As I mentioned, the entire site is owned by PICO.
The Southern half of it is operated
as an existing substation for PICO.
And the Northeast portion here,
which is what we're talking about,
has been underutilized.
Most recently it was approved
for equipment and material storage yard,
but it's been licensed by Delaware River One Events,
which is an affiliate entity to Chess Cafe event group for purposes of accessory parking to the battery located nearby.
As I mentioned, it was recently, most recently approved, this portion of the property for equipment and material storage yards and buildings,
so that it's current zoning.
But this application seeks approval to use this northernmost portion of the property as a surface non-accessory parking lot,
specifically for off-site accessory parking in connection with the Switch House,
which is the new Cheska venue located at the Battery Complex about one block away on Beach Street.
We are seeking the parking lot itself will be a service parking lot improved with gravel currently.
260 spaces will be accommodated primarily at this parking lot, but the lot will be valet only.
So customers, visitors, and guests to the switch house
will drop off their cars and pick them up at the battery,
the main entrance to the switch house at the battery.
And this will be a valet only parking lot.
We are also proposing landscaping improvements
along North Delaware Avenue,
which is the primary frontage of this application.
And specifically we're requesting a temporary variance here
given the nature of the license agreement
that we have with PICO.
So we are asking for relief from certain sections
of the code related to the temporary nature of that which I'll get into specifics but I did want
to show you kind of the logistics of how this is going to work so traffic will be controlled
by visitors being a one-way drop-off one-way pickup from the valet this is the main entrance
to the switch house at the battery and the valet will then take the cars to the accessory parking
lot and bring them back so the guests and visitors won't be accessing the parking lot at all all of
So the guests and visitors won't be accessing the parking lot at all.
All of that will happen at the main entrance of the switch house to control traffic.
that will happen.
And all of the attendants that are hired and employed by Chess Cafe here have been trained to recognize any signs for intoxicated driving and are familiar with the operations of the valet parking lot from their other experiences.
Here's just a diagram showing where the landscaping buffer is going to be proposed along North Delaware Avenue.
So we are proposing trees along this primary front edge, whereas the rest of the lot kind of faces back of house and the rest of the industrial district surrounding the battery.
So as I mentioned, we are seeking certain refusals and primarily those are related to the temporary nature of what we're asking for.
So we are asking for a temporary five year variance for the use as a non-accessory surface parking lot here.
um in connection with the valet nature of the valet only nature of this parking lot we are
also seeking relief from the bicycle parking requirements and the ada parking requirements
because guests and visitors again will not be visiting the parking lot directly they will be
picking up their cars and dropping them off exclusively at the main entrance to the switch
house um and while we are proposing landscaping along northdale robin which is the primary
frontage we are asking for relief um from other improvements other landscaping improvements here
given the temporary nature of the variance that we're asking for.
We did present this project to the Fishtown Neighbors Association at our community meeting on June 25th.
I'm happy to include their letter of support in the packet as well.
And I believe they're here today to speak on behalf of the project, potentially.
But I'll note that the vote in support of the project was 20 to 0, with one person abstaining.
um with that i'll bring it um i'll ask that joe volpe um with chest cafe raise his hand and identify
himself um so that he can adopt my testimony and we're happy to answer any questions joe if you
haven't done so can you please raise your hand they have been allowed to speak hi mr volpe could
you please state your name is spelled for the stenographer yeah it's joseph volpe j-o-s-e-p-h
V-O-L-P-E
Where are firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Thanks, Joe. Did you hear the statements I made to the board this afternoon?
I did.
Are they correct and accurate?
They are.
Would you adopt them as your own?
I would, yes.
Thanks, Joe.
Questions from the board?
Questions from the board?
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hilary Emerson.
Thank you, Ms. Magana, for pointing out that the refusal was a revised refusal.
I was not aware of that.
So we will make sure that's included in the board's decision, along with the address that should have been on the refusal when it was issued.
Yes, and thank you.
I think I forgot to mention, we are submitting revised proviso plans.
Simply to note the correct parking count, it's noted correctly on the revised refusal.
It's 260 spaces approximately, so the plans have been updated to reflect that number.
Thank you.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Mr. Chair, I have a hand up from Robert Everett.
I have allowed them to speak at this time.
Good evening, Mr. Everett.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yeah, good evening, everyone.
First name is Robert, last name Everett, E-V-E-R-E-T-T.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, sir.
Yes, I do.
Why don't you proceed?