along the way, but ultimately did reach the right one at United Neighbors and got their full
support. We posted notices, and then we attached the site plans, context photographs,
the RCO support letters, and then the tax certifications. We have printouts from the
City website showing zero tax balance for each of the properties to establish standing.
So effectively, Chairman, these existing properties are blight and vacant lots.
They're now part of what Pathways is calling the 17th Street revitalization.
There are three properties, and I would just scroll down to the plans, but there's effectively
taking multiple properties, doing three consolidations into parcel A,
Parcel B and parcel C. The only reason why we are here today at the Zoning Board is because we are making efforts to provide the required parking for the two multifamily properties.
Just to kind of break these out, there is a proposal for 12 non accessory parking spaces, including two ADA spaces.
to provide off-site parking for 1733. It's located at 1433 through 37 North 17th Street.
It is on the same block as Parcel A and Parcel B, which are slated to have two. Each of them
have a three-story multifamily development on Parcel A, a proposal for 19 units. We have no
refusals for the dimensions or the use for Parcel A, which is 1412 through 18th North 17th Street,
and we do not have a dimensional or use refusals for the number of units, that is,
for 21 units at 1421 North 17th Street, which is Parcel B. While the zoning code does permit
for off-site parking in some zoning districts, there's not such a provision in this RM1 zoning
district and the layout and space necessitates zoning variance under 148029. And I understand
that the board has a a busy docket so i will just kind of quickly get to my primary points one uh
you can see in the refusal for 1412 north 17th street and this is the refusal that we need to
get corrected to add the additional addresses for the consolidation um we are required to provide
under this north central district overlay five uh parking spaces um and as you can see from the
plans. Let me scroll down. There is not adequate space for on-site parking. And here you can see
proposed building B here, which is the plan that's requested. And then parking lot C would be
across the street located at the 1433. And you can see here the three plans, the site plans,
breaking down the parking space, the parking lot, which is at 1433. And again, the only reason why
we're here is to provide adequate parking for these two multifamily buildings at Building A
and Building B, which will be providing affordable housing through charitable giving and state
funding and government funding to provide the development of this project. So this was simply
a technical refusal and um and we are meeting the intent and uh the intent of the zoning code uh
meeting the intent and the intent of the zoning code by providing this parking. It's simply just
across the street and in a in a location right by there. There will be additional bike parking
located within the building to meet the the requirements for bicycle parking. But this
project is in keeping with the city's policy to provide affordable housing as as the chair
probably is well aware in this area, it's difficult to meet these types of affordable
housing development and make them profitable. But this is a nonprofit organization that has
plenty of experience doing this. They have adequate staff, they have adequate funding
sources, and they're simply looking to fill in a gap that is in dire need here in Philadelphia
by making this affordable housing project happen.
And with that, that is the application in a nutshell.
And we did provide the three separate application packets
which were received by the board.
And aside from the amendment to refusal for 1412,
this should be all we need to move forward.
And with that, I would just ask if my client, Christine, the president of Pathways, could raise her virtual hand just to adopt my factual statements as her testimony.
Could you state your name, please, and it's spelled for the court stenographer?
Ms. Viriglia, you've been unmuted.
Aye. Please state your name and spell for the court stenographer.
Christine Simiriglia. S-I-M-I-R-I-G-L-I-A.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Proceed, counsel.
Good afternoon. Did you hear the factual statements I made for the record?
And were they correct?
Do you adopt them as your testimony?
Thank you.
And Leonard, would you make a presentation?
Yeah, so I just want to clarify, I'm not here representing the city as a party or anything
like that in this case, Mr. Monroe's client.
I'm here basically to affirm that Mr. Monroe's clients do in fact have the authority of the
City, Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, and Land Bank, and also Philadelphia Housing Authority
to proceed with these applications and with this variance that's pursuant to a resolution passed
by City Council with respect to the city properties, a resolution by PRA Board with respect to their
properties and land bank. My understanding is that the PHA properties, they may proceed with
the application because it's pursuant to a lease, I believe a lease agreement was signed.
An agreement of sale.
Yeah, I'm sorry, an agreement of sale.
We have an agreement of sale, yes.
Right. However, I do understand, I think, and it's related, I believe, mostly to the
uh discrepancy with the uh consolidation of the 1412 uh north 17th street 1412 1416
and eight and 18 um yes that uh will need an updated refusal there and i believe an updated
letter uh and actually ms emerson can clarify if she needs to on that so you have authorization
letters from the Planning Commission that was sent, I'm sorry, from the Department of Planning
and Development by Deputy Mayor Ann Fadulin. She sent that on the 20th. And then you have another
letter from Bridget Collins-Greenwald, Commissioner of Public Property, which was also sent on July 20th.
um and like i said i think we do need to get updated authorizations um and you know if if
necessary ms emerson can explain what the additional authors or what the amended
authorizations need to need to state but otherwise yep in case there were any questions this has all
uh been approved by the city hillary do you want to respond about what we're going to hold a vote on
right no thank thank you leonard and thank you matt for explaining that yes the the refusal for
1412 North 17th Street should have should have also referenced a lot consolidation as well as
included 1414, 1416 and 1418 North 17th Street. 1414 and 1418 are PHA owned properties. Those were
Those were included in the agreement of sale that was submitted with the applications.
included in the agreement of sale that was submitted.
14.16 is a city of Philadelphia property that was not included in the prior authorizations because we were not aware it was part of the project as it was not listed on the refusal.
So we will get updated, request updated authorization letters just to include that one additional address.
Okay. And just so I'm clear, Ms. Emerson, the agreement of sale for PHA is sufficient to establish their equitable ownership. So we don't need anything. We don't need a separate letter covering that, right?
That is correct. Yes. Thank you.
Okay. So Hillary, we want to vote on two and seven.
That is correct, Mr. Chair.
All right. Let me make sure Tom's okay. Mr. Holliman, are you coming in?
Mr. Holloman, please unmute yourself if you can.
I'm present, Mr. Chairman.
Okay, thank you.
So number two, MI-2022.
Mr. Chair, this is Hillary.
We still need to take testimony from the public as well as the Planning Commission's recommendation.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
chair i see no hands at this time planning commission ron bednar city planning this
applies to all properties that we're in consideration right now the adopted
comprehensive plan recommends no change to the zoning at these these locations there's no unique
physical circumstances were conditioned on the property that would prevent them from being used
and conforming with the parking requirements of the code.
There's also no valid reason why the appellant could not build, at least at the very minimum,
the required bicycle parking spaces within the boundaries of the proposed lots.
Planning Commission therefore recommends that the requested variance be denied.
Number two, MI 2022-006-127, 1433 North 17th Street, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
And number seven, MI 2022-006-107-1421 North 17th Street, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
Jane Snell, my vote is yes.
Right, and Hillary, number five will be continued until we have everything.
Mr. Chair, yes, number five, the vote will be held until we have a corrected refusal and the two updated authorization letters.
Otherwise, the record in that matter is closed.
Just for the record, that's MI-2022-006-105-1412 North 17th Street.
Okay. Thank you, everyone.
Thank you, Chairman. Thank you, Member Support.
Thank you.
Thank you, Leonard.
Number three, MI-2023-001-411-1807 Chestnut Street.
Al Nockamson is the attorney.
Letter of non-opposition from the Center City Residence Association.
Mr. Nockamson.
Mr. Nockamson is coming back in as a panelist now, Chair.
Hi, Mr. Nockamson, just for the, you've already been sworn today, just for the record,
could you state your name?
Yes, Alan Nockamson.
Could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
Yes, my client is Taylor Chip LLC, and in the virtual audience is one of its members,
Doug Taylor.
Okay, and our vice chair has just a few questions for you, sir.
This is the third one, right, Chair?
Number three.
Number three.
Is this one I'm still recusing?
No, no, no.
This is 1807 Chestnut Street.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed to proceed with
this case five days in advance of this hearing?
I have.
Thank you.
Please proceed and share your scheme.
Great.
Thank you.
So, I'm really excited to present this zoning matter 1807 Chestnut Street through this special
Through this special governmental approval we hope to get today, TaylorChip will be able to open its first operation in Philadelphia.
governmental approval we hope to get today.
We'll go through, you know, their history and, you know, why, you know, they're hoping to continue multiple shops in Philadelphia.
But first, we'll review the table of contents.
So this is not a variance.
This is we're seeking a special exception.
So this is a notice of referral, which is a much lesser standard.
We have a letter of non-opposition from the Center City Residence Association.
They have several provisos.
I will highlight the ones which I believe are enforceable provisos.
And we would request that only those provisos are the ones that attach to the zoning permit if the board feels so inclined.
We'll go through the history of tellership and who they are.
We'll quickly look at the cookies that they do sell, their reviews, which are stellar.
Maps of the area, photographs of the property, our plans and drawings, which include renderings of what Doug and Sarah envisioned with regards to their first location in Philadelphia.
Their RCO meeting notice, the applications for special exception, the lease of property, where they hope to be here for many, many years, and the certificate of tax clearance.
Again, in the virtual audience is Doug Taylor. At the conclusion of my presentation, I'll ask Doug to virtually raise his hand, be sworn in, and then get my testimony as his own.
All right, so the first thing is the notice of referral.
You know, this is, again, a CMX 5 property, and we're just looking to put a prepared food shop on the first floor.
Not out of character, we're a couple doors down from Midtown Continental.
There's many like prepared food shops or takeout shops of a similar ilk there as well as restaurants.
So this will fit in well within this part of Philadelphia.
And the only refusal or here the referral that we have is because the proposed use prepared food shop requires a special exception because we're in the Chestnut Walnut Street area district.
And again, as you can see, in 2017, there was an approval for a takeout restaurant as well.
Letter of non-opposition.
Again, I think this is a pretty straightforward zoning matter.
And Center City Residents Association agreed as well.
There were several of these requirements.
And if you look at the bottom, the first one would be to provide an outdoor or outside container for trash disposal during the hours of operation.
We have no objection to that. We want to be a good neighbor, a responsible neighbor.
The second is we're going to label all of our disposable ware with the name of the company, as well as the address of the company on that.
We have no issue with that.
And then the third one is there's no amplified music outside the premises of the restaurant and no music from inside the restaurant, which will be audible outside the restaurant.
Again, we have no issue with that either.
And then just a little bit of history about Taylor Chipp.
Sarah and Doug started it as local locals in Lancaster, PA in 2015.
They got busy enough through their recipes to be able to quit their jobs in 2018.
Then they were awarded a grant in 2020 to be able to expand their business operations.
Well, I guess you take a step back in 2019, they introduced ice cream as part of their operations.
And they're opening up a they opened up a larger facility, a creamery facility, creamery facility in 2021.
Again, this is their first venture in Philadelphia.
And their plan is to open up several locations in Philadelphia within the next year.
And then this kind of goes to that.
They plan to open six locations throughout Pennsylvania. Three are in the works now. They have 50 team members. They had 100% growth in 2022. And in 2023, they're opening up that creamery.
And in 2024, they're hoping to open up even more locations.