will be able to shed some more light on that. This is the project site here. It's across
from the Cruz playground. And it, as I said, is the site of an existing affordable housing
project for ASEE. This was actually their first low-income housing tax credit site. And so there
are affordable units that already exist at this location. And this proposal is seeking to
replace those with a newer and upgraded product. These are the photos of posting so the board can
see what's there now. This isn't really relevant to what we're doing as these structures are going
be coming down but this is the existing site for context. What the proposal is is in two phases
and it's most easily shown with this site plan and phase one will be demoing this front building
and all the residents that are located there now will be put into other housing units that are
owned by ASEE so no one's going to be displaced from their housing as part of this. That's why
we're doing it in phases so that we can relocate those who need to be while the phase one construction
is done. And then in phase two, the residents for phase one, we move back into the then
completed first portion of the project. We're proposing this to be in two connected structures.
The reason for the variance about the front setback, you can see right here,
What we tried to do was angle the building to create a little open space off of the street frontage here to allow for some outdoor space.
What we tried to do was angle the building to create a little open space off of the street frontage.
There's going to be a community area or a sort of general purpose room here.
And so that's going to flow nicely into this open space.
And there's also going to be a tot lot for the senior housing.
It's going to be located back there so that if those families have grandparents or relatives visiting, there will be a place to accommodate kids as well.
This is just to give you a sense of the phasing. As I said, this is the phase one structure,
phase one and a half, and then phase two will be the rear senior building there.
General overview of our site plan. As I mentioned, there's a community room with kitchen here,
this outdoor plaza, offices, maintenance, storage, and mechanicals. And then we have
15 parking spaces that are going to be accessed off of Marshall Street here.
section drawings just to give the board a sense of the scale of the project once
it's completed we are asking for a height variance as we need the additional elevation to be able to
make these nice size units the 24 regular residential multi-family units are a mix of
one two and three bedrooms and the senior housing is all one bedroom so we needed the additional
height beyond what was there now to accommodate that mix of housing styles
these are general floor plans to give you a sense of how the stacking of the building
will look an elevation to show the context of the various phases
and we have a rendering of what the outside will look like we really felt that the neighborhood
would appreciate a little pop of color with the design and that was appreciated at the RCO level
and at CBR as well. We tried to develop something that would stand out a little bit as a unique
addition to the neighborhood rather than just your standard gray box. The remainder of the
materials that I submitted to the board include the tax clearance and the notifications sent to
neighbors with a certificate of mailing. And at this point, we do have the architect, Darren
Edwards, on the line if the board has any questions. But I will stop there and ask Maria
Gonzalez to virtually raise her hand so she can adopt my testimony.
Good morning, Ms. Gonzalez. Please identify yourself with a record, spell your full name,
and I'll swear you in.
Ms. Gonzalez, you've been unmuted. You can speak now.
Okay, thank you. Maria Gonzalez, M-A-R-I-A-G-O-N-Z-A-L-E-Z. Good morning.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Yes, I do.
Thank you. Maria, did you have a chance to listen to my presentation this morning?
Yes, I did.
Was there anything that I said that you would like to correct?
No, you weren't.
Okay, then it's fair to say you adopt my statements as true in your own testimony.
Correct, I do.
Okay, thank you.
Mr. Chair, I don't have anything for it.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
Yes, Mr. Chairman.
I have two questions.
What's the trash plan?
And are there any units below grade?
so the number one the trash plan is um we're going to design trash chutes like we do in our
other developments so we're going to handle the trash that comes from every floor there will be
a trash room at every level and then there will be a trash compactor at the at the bottom that's
going to capture all the trash and we will have private hauling that will take the trash um and
we'll have pick up either once or twice a week depending on the amount of trash that the residents
generate. Right now, we have private hauling there as well. So it's something that we institute in
all our properties. And to answer your second question, Mr. Holloman, no, there will not be
any units below grade. That is good. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. Any other questions
from the board? No. No. Anyone else like to testify in this case, please raise your hand.
Only those who would like to testify in this case, raise your hand at this time.
Chair, we have a Bart Levy.
Mr. Levy, you can unmute yourself and speak now.
Good morning, Mr. Levy.
Please identify yourself with a record.
Spell your first and last name, and I'll swear you in.
I'm Bart Levy for 5301 Euclid Street.
Your last name is spelled L-E-V-Y.
B-A-R-T-L-E-V-Y.
Pennsylvania ID number 204800.
This is Sharon. That is number 11 on your list. Euclid Street. It's not this case.
Euclid Street. It's not this case. All right, sir, we'll be back to you. Anyone would like to
testify in this case, 1426-44 North 6th Street. Raise your hand. All others, please keep your
hand down until we acknowledge you. I see no hands at this time, Chair. Thank you. Planning
Commission. Good morning Mr. Chairman Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing residential multi-family
zoning at this location. The proposed redevelopment is supported by the affordable housing
goals of the comprehensive plan. This case was heard by the Civic Design Review Committee but
the committee did not identify any design issues with the variance refusals and so the City Planning
Commission recommends that the board grant the variance. Thank you. Mr. Kleiner, two revised
pages? One. Okay, thank you. MI 2021-000667, 1426-44 North 6th Street. My vote is yes with the
proviso. Revised plan one page approved today. My vote is yes with proviso. Yes with proviso.
yes with proviso yes with proviso thank you all very much enjoy the rest of your day
you too calendar number mi 2021 000717 2135-37 south 17th street the attorney is jack verman
I see no hands at this time, Madam Vice Chair.
Mr. Furman, is there anyone here for 2135-37 South 17th Street?
Chair, I have someone by the name of Shakira Barrett with her hand up.
Thank you.
Ms. Barrett, please identify yourself, spell your first and last name, and I'll swear you in.
My name is Shakira Barrett, S-H-A-K-E-E-R-A-H, Barrett, B-A-R-R-E-T-T.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed. You're here on this case, 17th Street?
i'm the tenant here and i was proposing for it to be a daycare center um no more than 24 hours
consecutive hours um with serving of food um for the building excuse the interruption but who is
mr jack verman that's probably someone from the owner that's probably like his lawyer but
today the purpose of me coming because this is my um zoning is for the daycare usage
I don't know if he got the same date
because I'm the tenant in the building right now.
Ma'am, are you operating a business LLC?
You need an attorney.
You're a nonprofit or an LLC.
You're required to have an attorney.
So we're going to need to continue your case, ma'am.
I have to have an attorney?
MI 2021-000717, 2135-37 South 17th Street is continued.
Calendar number MI 2021-000727, 2212 North 58th Street.
Lamont Rogers is listed as the person of interest.
that doesn't sound right
rogers
mr chair there are also no exhibits and it's the first listing
all right mi 2021-000727
2212 north 58th street is continued
seven and eight go together carol thank you calendar number
MI-2021-001284, 2815 Graysbury Avenue, and calendar number MI-2021-001239, 2815 Graysbury Avenue.
The attorney is Brett Feldman for both of these cases.
Mr. Feldman's coming back in as a panelist.
Still on the roof.
Thank you, Mr. Feldman.
Name and address, please, and spell your last name.
Yes, good morning.
I'm Brett Feldman, 1835 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19103.
I represent the applicant McDonald's in these two related cases,
is 2815 Grace Ferry Avenue at the Grace Ferry Shopping Center.
I misspoke. He has to be sworn in. I didn't swear him in, really. I'm sorry.
Okay. Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
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, or referral,
photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing and have you met with the
RCO and do you have a letter? Yes to all. Okay. Thank you. We may proceed. Okay. Again, good
morning. Brad Feldman. I represent McDonald's. With me today, we have two witnesses, Jonathan
Basque, who is the McDonald's area construction manager, and Mary Bockert, who is our project
engineer from Boulder Engineering. We passed up exhibits one through 11, which I believe you see
on your screen. Those were our exhibits. And just to orient the board, there's two cases here.
This is for an existing McDonald's in the shopping center that we're looking tired and in need of
renovation. We are demolishing the restaurant and we're rebuilding another restaurant at the
exact location. LNI now needs you to file applications for the building and the site
improvements on one application and signs on another application. So that's why there's two
cases here that you'll see in front of you, but we've consolidated the exhibits so that it's all
as one. So I'd ask Exhibits 1 through 11 to be incorporated into the record. You'll see at
Exhibit Tab 9 is our letter of support from the Tasker Morris Neighborhood Association. So let me
just go through these pretty quickly those are the exhibits list of witnesses
interestingly the the main refusal here is that here here's the building
this shopping center is still zoned industrial so here here's the greatest very shopping center
there's a fresh grocer over here a number of other tenants in this large shopping center
The McDonald's is on a pad site to the right.
The property is still an industrial, even though it's a shopping center.
So once we demolish the existing restaurant, we have to get a variance to rebuild a new
restaurant at the same location.
That is the main refusal.
There's also a refusal for signs.
You can only have two menu boards.
We are one of the main features of this application is we're creating a side-by-side tandem drive-through
option to make it to make this mcdonald's operate better but each each drive-through needs to have
two menu boards on itself so that's the location this is the mcdonald's if you've driven past uh
it used to be a roy rogers um it's really antiquated um mcdonald's has wanted to for a
number of years of rebuild the location that's what it looks like that's what it looks like
just a bunch of pictures here take it through that here there's a posting
and here is the layout now the proposed McDonald's
Mary Walker do you want to just briefly just explain in one minute just the the
the new layout of the McDonald's and how we're seeking to upgrade in all
respects of this restaurant.
I think it could be a very brief description.
Absolutely. Good morning. Can you hear me?
Yeah, please identify yourself and I'll swear you in.
Mary Bockert, M-A-R-Y-B-A-C-H-E-R-T with Bowler Engineering.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
So if we take a look at the layout here that we're looking at the page, everything in gray
is our lease area within the overall shopping center, which will be getting a new coat of
pavement. And then we are tearing down the existing building, which is in the same layout
as proposed. So generally the same position and configuration with respect to orientation
towards Grace Ferry. New side-by-side drive-through. So currently there's just one stacking lane to
new side-by-side drive-through. So currently there's just one stacking lane to one order
point and then they merge and pick up at the building. Now we will have two stacking lanes,
two order points, and then they will merge for pickup. This does speed up the efficiency
of the drive-through and cuts down on stacking both internal and external to the site.
And then a new trash enclosure demolishing the derelict one in the rear and that will
have a matching facade as the building so really no changes to circulation uh or orientation of
the building just a brand new building with a brand new signage package uh and nice new menu
boards and just real quick i think this is this really brings it alive that's that's the proposed
that's what this would look like when it's done and and and just just so the board sees
what mcdonald's has been doing throughout the city as far as new designs this is a location