Michael Johns, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with Proviso.
tanetta graham my vote is yes with proviso ryan mcadams my vote is yes with proviso tyowin my
vote is yes with proviso rayla bibi my vote is yes with proviso and number seven mi2025
007 578 1537 north franklin street i vote yes michael johns my vote is yes cheryl gaston my
vote is yes tanetta graham my vote is yes ryan mcadams my vote is yes hi when my vote is yes
Laila Beebe, my vote is yes. Thank you.
Thank you so much. Thank you so much.
I just want to say it's so interesting.
I did the Hope 6 for PHA in Ludlow
and those other houses that have the garages were ours.
And so it's interesting, years, years later,
we couldn't get people to move in that neighborhood.
And now it's just so different. It's just so changed.
i i live here since i live here since 2008 and i love this neighborhood that's why i'm
yes we literally had to convince people to move there yeah that's how the city progress
right there you go which is great thank you so much i thank you number eight mi2026
6-0-0-3-0-1-2-24-20 East Somerset Street, Mary Ann Finger is Fingal, Fingan, is the
council.
Mary Ann Hujan Finnegan, M-A-R-Y-A-N-N-E-H-U-H-A-F-I-N-I-G-A-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
could you identify your client a relationship to the property my client is the owner of the
property kazim nabavi he's present here okay in the back yep um our vice chair uh has a few
questions good afternoon have you submitted your documents and exhibits 14 days in advance of this
hearing yes i have okay and do you waive the reading of your refusals to stipulate to their
accuracy yes okay okay all right thank you you can see your screen before you before you start
there is a letter of support from the southport richmond civic association the vote was 16 and
two in opposition and there's also non-opposition from council member squillman yes that's correct
your honor start your presentation yes at this time i'd like to introduce my co-counsel an attorney
philip g italiano who's also entered his appearance and he's going to present our case okay could you
please state your name and spell for the stenographer philip with one l last name italiano
i-t-a-l-i-a-n-o do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes i do do you have a computers we do not we had it in previously asked for assistance with
it now are you are you ready yes sir it's displayed now okay thank you i understand we have all your
paperwork so what i would try to do is concentrate on your plans and photos yes sir all right well
what i'd like to tell the board today is what we propose who we are the history of the property
how the neighborhood views our proposed use and the character of the current use of the neighborhood
first who we are to my left we have the property owner chasm nabavi a resident of port richmond
since 1965. Kaz is a fixture in local community in the business and civic scene. He lives directly
across from the subject property, probably closer from where I'm sitting to the hallway.
There you go. Okay. Next is Ali Nabava, Kaz's son, also a Port Richmond resident. He represents the
next generation, if you will, committed to strengthening and growing the community and
adding to the richness of Port Richmond's shared urban experience. And finally, we have Valdemar
Strajusku. He's not here today. He's our chef who learned his trade in the world-renowned kitchens
of Georges Perrier, and he's excited to be bringing to Port Richmond our blend of fine dining,
and he's excited to be bringing to port richmond our blend of fine dining and as he describes it
and as he described
some new takes on some old favorites what we propose is a unique locally sourced locally
staffed dine-in takeout restaurant featuring special cuisine and some local favorite dishes
seating for approximately 40 guests this will be exhibit a6 page 13 showing the seating operations
would be from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. five days a week close monday and tuesday it would be be worthwhile
if we could look at the ian could you bring up the photos of the property of what it looks like and
then maybe where we're going to go with it right because you're going to design yes right okay well
what you can see on the screen now is the side of the property the side yard where the ada access
ramp will be and the adjacent property which as you can see here it also illustrates the ample all
street parking in the neighborhood it also demonstrates the to the immediate west is the
tire center actually owned by mr nabavi showing the mixed residential and commercial use of the
neighborhood and again a demonstration of the ample all street parking and where the location
is at the end of the block right before the tire center okay now if i could that's the
block there that's the that's the rear of the property which by the way when we're talking
about mixed use this could arguably be industrial directly behind this yard and all the backyards
on this block of somerset are the operating tracks for freight freight trains that go by
as part of the railroad that's been there since probably the beginning of the last century
right if i made the history of this property unless we'd like to look at this this is more
of the side yard all of which will be cleared out and the ada ramp will be installed there
okay all righty now exhibit a11 which we had submitted with some 40 pages in length but let
me just summarize it three parts here in 1951 this property was acquired by the tetsy reitz
foreign war veterans home association and for some 29 years they operated as vfw post 250.
it was approved by the board as a private club for that time and then in 1980 it was acquired
by the polish police association of philadelphia they held it for another 36 years with similar
use as a social and gathering hall with various use and various expansions approved by the boards
over the decades the current owner mr nabavi acquired the property in 2016 that's exhibit a1
and in fact a use variance was approved by the board for takeout restaurant in 2019 a cheesesteak
shop i believe but the permit was allowed to elapse that's exhibit a12 page 7 showing the
grant of that residence so in short since at least 1951 or three quarters of the century
This property has never been or been used as a residence.
Now, as to how the community views us, we had our meeting with the RCO on August 12th of 2026, met with overwhelming and I may say enthusiastic approval.
You have the letter for Exhibit A3 showing the support of the RCO, the Southport Richmond Civic Association.
Councilman Squilla's letter shows his letter of non-opposition.
he of course is the councilman for this district since posting the property and that's exhibits
a4 pages 1114 showing the posting numerous neighbors have expressed approval including
our nearest next door neighbor who personally expressed her approval and support to cad uh
mr nabavi okay now i'd like to talk about the character of the neighborhood per the photographs
that we've already seen uh it demonstrates that this is a mixed use of residential and commercial
The immediate next-door neighbor is the tire center, which Mr. Nabavi has operated since 1977. Before that, it was apparently a car wash and used car lot. And, as I mentioned, the railroad, which indicates the even arguably industrial use. And the next main street to the west is Aramingo Avenue, which is, of course, a major commercial thoroughfare.
Now, if we may, I'd like the board to hear from the owner, Mr. Nabavi.
Why don't you show what you think it's going to look like?
Okay, if we can go to exhibit a 6, yes, we have the drawings on do that. I think. Okay. You should probably say, hey, this is what we're going to do. And you're not changing a lot. But no, if we go to a 6 people where the seats aren't there.
Okay, are we in a 6? Excuse me. Maybe you try to just make that a little bit. All right.
All right, and this this shows the, uh, the seating plan on the 1st floor.
as you can see there the tables this is where the servers would be the second the proposed
seating on the second floor the basement for storage and for the utilities basement storage
yes second floor is what that's the additional restroom and
Yes. Second floor is what? That's the additional restroom and propose. If there's overflow seating, the main seating is the first floor. Tell me this will be a sit down restaurant. Yes. Okay. And what kind of like, I mean, just food in general or? Yes. As I had mentioned before, it's a trying to bring a kind of unique dining experience to Port Richmond. Okay. Sure.
so some some wonderful food in fact when i was at the rco and the chef testified
i wanted to make a reservation that night they didn't take it yeah i didn't have a tie at the
time all right okay and if i may can you scroll so that we can see the kitchen please it's a sit
down and take out you're asking i'm sorry did i not say that i apologize go back and show the kitchen
Yes. Okay, so this is our kitchen showing where the service, the food prep stations are the sanitation as well as the main cooking stations at the rear of the property.
If we want to scroll forward, we can see you think you'll vent to right? Yes, everything will be properly vented. Yes, exactly.
all right and then you can see on the second floor the overflow seating if that becomes
necessary and the um and the additional restroom upstairs as well as some additional storage
okay all right okay if i may i'd like to call mr bobby yeah sure okay why don't you get close
to the mic if you can sir all right yeah just state your name and spell it for the stenographer
K-A-Z-E-M, that's a K-A-Z-E-M, last name is N-A-B-A-V-I-A.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
You do? Okay. You said I do?
All right. Counsel? Mr. Nabavi, you heard and saw everything about which I testified before the
zoning board this afternoon. Did you not? Okay. Is everything? Yes, sir. Okay. Yes, sir. Is everything
I said all true and correct? Yes. Mr. Nabavi, do you now adopt all of that as your testimony to
the board yes mr bobby how long have you lived in the neighborhood it's 1965 i don't know how long
about 60 years how long have you operated kaz's tire center
last 50 okay 50 actually june 15 1977. okay and as the owner of 2420 east somerset can you verify
that this property has never been used as a residence since you've owned it and since you
have lived in the neighborhood oh it has not been used it has not been used as a residence
is that correct yes thank you all right all right all right uh i have mr nabavi's son ali to be
sworn in sure questions there with the board's permission as the younger mr bobby is a physician
and to avoid confusion the record may i address him as dr nabavi you can whatever you want to do
okay council could you please uh council please state and spell your name for the stenographer
Good afternoon.
It's Ali Nabavi, A-L-I-N-A-B-A-V-I.
All right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Counsel?
Dr. Nabavi, you've had extensive interaction with the architect.
You're familiar with the electrical, plumbing, mechanical drawings that we put up on the screen?
Now, you know our proposed use of the building is overall takeout, dine-in, and I did walk the board through the proposed use of each floor.
Is what I said correct and true?
Everything's correct. I do want to add the ventilation.
I just wanted to correct everything else was correct that the ventilation would be through
the back as opposed to up through the roof. Just to clarify that.
Okay. Dr. Mbavi, is there any roof deck or roof access plan here?
Okay. And did everything I say about the use of each floor, was that all correct and true?
That's all I have.
Question on the board.
Real quick question.
So there was space on the side of the building.
You said that was for the ADA accessible ramp.
Is there any plan for outdoor seating?
Or is this not enough room?
i don't know they have it yet yeah something you might think about but not now if we can do it we
I don't know they have it yet.
Something you might think about, but not now.
If we can do it.
all happily do it and if we need to apply for a variance then we will you might need to apply for
a variant most likely so it's not included in these plans just so you know okay okay thank you
all the questions i have a question about storage just because it doesn't seem to be specifically
listed in the kitchen or the basement and like where are you planning to store your dry goods
and have deliveries uh dry goods and deliveries you know obviously we'll have refrigeration in
the in the kitchen so some of that will be in there um i believe on dry goods aren't in the
fridge which is correct uh some of that will be in the basement uh any shelving units in the kitchen
and then we also have plans uh you can see on the proposed first floor plan in the backyard there
there is space for a uh a walk-in uh refrigeration unit and you know a rugged storage that's not
existing correct got it okay and then are you planning to have take out services like uber
eats deliver uh doordash and grubhub we do what's going to be the plan to sort of manage pickup for
that um as far as just like some places have a dedicated door some places have a dedicated table
um the way that your first floor is laid out there's not necessarily like a maitre d stand
in the front so like how are you what's going to be the plan to have them because sometimes
they have to wait yeah we don't we don't have a fixed space for that but it would either be
through the side door there through the uh ada access they can come in or through the front
uh and then we'll you know make space for as much as we need hopefully we're too busy to turn the
apps on it's okay questions more attorney um wait a minute oh go ahead i'm sorry um you said that
you were gonna have a uh freezer say in the back it's like a standalone unit is that what you said
uh i believe i believe that's included on the plans there uh you can uh on the uh and you asked
for you asked for permission for that as part of this plan yes i think we did i think that's one
of two that's one of the proposed submitted plans that is on those plans uh on the mep plans uh there
okay well this is the floor plans not the map plans um yeah sorry right yeah but i mean showing
the floor plans yes all the plans were submitted including the electrical and the plumbing we can
go to that if we need to well i don't i'm not but usually like a standalone kind of unit like that
is considered a structure of some sort i think um so i was just submitted del and i yes
as part of your your site plan and your other plans yes it was submitted with with all the plans
that's correct okay okay all right thank you thank you thank you our attorney
you no question but i just want to put on the record that a missing refusal for multiple
principal uses um is missing for an rsa lot just it's nothing you need to do putting it on the
record questions or comments from the virtual audience there are no hands planning commission
good afternoon liz fuselay on behalf of the philadelphia planning commission the comprehensive
plan recommends no change to the RSA five residential single-family zoning at this location
prior approvals occurred in 2019 for a similar use as well as other use types over the past 50 years
there have been no recent clip or failed inspections at this location the city planning
commission recommends that the board grant the proposed use variants for sit down and take out
restaurant mi 2026 003012 2420 east somerset street i vote yes
so guest in my body chest yeah it's not a gram i recuse yes
ryan mcadams my vote is yes tyo in my vote is yes wait would be my vote is yes
but just to clarify is did board member board member john's vote or not no i'm i'm recusing
i'm recusing from this i didn't hear that sorry about that yep sorry about that i sent a text
i just realized okay thank you very much thank you thank you everyone thank you all right number nine
All right, number nine, MI 2026-003-065, 1640 Pine Street.
MI 2026-003-003.
Brandon Saverin is the attorney.
We have everything we need with this.
Brandon Saverin is coming in as a panelist.