What's that?
a couple of letters here, right? Yeah. Yeah. Letters.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman. Counsel, could you please state your name and spell for the
sonographer? Yes. Brandon Saverin, B-R-A-N-D-O-N, S as in Sam, A, V as in Victor, R-A-N as in Nancy.
okay um do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes i do can you identify your client in relationship to the property my client is
mental health matters llc who is the tenant of the first floor and basement all right um we did have
an extra letter a letter of non-opposition from center city residents association um and then
there's a uh a valid current lease that was also submitted is that correct yes that's right our
vice chair has a few questions brandon good afternoon have you submitted your documents
in exhibits 14 days in advance of this hearing yes i did and uh this is a referral so you need
a special exception do you either read know your referral and simulate to its accuracy yes i do
All right. Thank you. You can see the screen and proceed.
Okay. Thank you.
Let's see.
So, members of the board, as mentioned, I am here on behalf of Mental Health Matters, LLC,
who is a multidisciplinary mental health therapy practice that is located in the first floor and
basement of 1640 Pine Street, which is the subject property. And I have submitted 15 exhibits, which
I asked be moved into the record following today's hearing. Okay. So the first of those exhibits is
our notice of referral. This property is already permitted as a sole medical, dental, and health
practitioner, and our special exception application requests that that essentially be upgraded to a
group practitioner because this is an existing therapy practice which has operated elsewhere in
the city. It has three state licensed practitioners whom I'll identify in a moment. And when you have
more than one state licensed practitioner, you're required to carry a group practitioner permit
rather than a sole practitioner permit in order to occupy the premises. So before the practice
can occupy the premises. We need this special exception. Exhibit 2 is a memo of law that I've
offered to the board that describes why our application satisfies all of the code's
qualifications for a special exception. In the interest of brevity, I'm not going to walk you
through all of those arguments, but if you have any questions about them, please feel free to ask
me following my presentation what i will just highlight is that this is a very low impact use
as far as any commercial use and as far as a group practitioner use goes it does not create
any detrimental impacts that would be unexpected from a group practitioner use it is smaller than
most group practitioner uses at only three practitioners it is a really mental health
counseling practice so there is no dispensation of medicine occurring on the site it is by
appointment only there should be only three appointments going on simultaneously at most
at any given time and as i'll show you in a moment this already is a mixed use block with
many similar businesses on the first floor so it fits in with the fabric of this cmx1 block
perfectly so for all those reasons and for the other reasons detailed in the
memo we believe that we are entitled to this special exception and exhibit three
is a zoning map that shows you the location of the building which is near
the corner of 17th and pine streets and here is an aerial of the building at
exhibit four or a couple of photos of the building from across the street at
At the Red Arrow is our building, 1640 Pine. It's a three-story building with residences on the upper two floors. Those are remaining as is and is not subject to this application. This application is only about the ground floor and the basement.
the Red Arrow is our building, 1640 Pine. It's a three-story
and here is a slightly closer photo and you can almost see the sign on the left
our immediate neighbor there to the east also has a therapy practice on the ground floor I believe
there is another therapy practice about three or four down doors down further to the east and then
to the west on the corner with 17th here if you can see my hand is a bakery that used to be called
gem and is now called mighty bread all just to say that this is a mixed use block very common
uh to have you know a low impact business like ours on the ground floor with residences above
here are just some photos of our hearing posters this is our floor plan now this plan has already
been built out under the sole practitioner zoning permit and a building permit but just to briefly
walk you through it. We have a lockable entry vestibule, then a reception area, and then the
three therapy offices. We have an ADA restroom and a rear yard. We also have basement space for staff
and storage. Just to continue, here are some photos of the space at Exhibit 7 just as the
renovations were getting underway here's the ada accessible bathroom in the center just to show
you where that is that would be in this space where my hand is here and in the center of the
first floor and this is facing pine street that's the stairs to the basement
this is midway through construction when we were framing out some walls for the uh the the
counseling rooms. And now this is what it looks like now that the work is largely completed.
This is a view towards the rear yard with the furnished hallway there. This is one of the
counseling rooms. This is another. This is the finished basement. This is the practice's website.
As I mentioned, the practice already is in existence. Rachel Barnett is on the line to
Adopt My Testimony. She is a licensed professional counselor with a Master's of Science in Counseling
Psychology. Her colleague is Dr. Ashley Seaver, who has a doctorate in occupational therapy.
And her other colleague is Rachel Hoppenstein, who has a Master's of Occupational Therapy.
And Watermelon the Dog, of course. This is our letter of non-opposition from CCRA.
The lease, as you mentioned, Mr. Chairman, contains a clause that allows mental health
matters to apply for this special exception, and it contains an 11-year term, including
extension rights for the 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th year.
So under this lease, they can be in there until 2037.
The other documents are sort of your standard copy of application, tax clearance, proof of mailing, et cetera.
So I'll stop there and ask if Rachel can adopt my testimony.
Okay. Rachel?
Rachel, would you raise your hand?
You should be coming in in a minute.
you have the wrong rachel oh yeah i would love to support brandon oh my god you have the wrong
rachel but my vote is yes i just promoted rachel barnett okay okay thanks that's the right rachel
Rachel Barnett
do we see miss Barnett yes she's about to speak now sure thank you very much hi can everyone hear
me? Yes, we can. Could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer? Sure. My name
is Rachel Barnett, R-A-C-H-E-L-B-A-R-N-E-T-T-E. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole
truth, nothing but the truth? I do. Counsel? Okay, thank you. Rachel, are you authorized to speak
today on behalf of Mental Health Matters, LLC? Yes, I am. And you're one of its principals? Yes.
Yes, I am.
And you're one of its principals?
Okay. Did you hear my...
Did you hear my testimony in your case this afternoon?
I did.
Was it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge, information, and belief?
Would you therefore adopt my testimony as if it had been your own?
Thank you.
Questions from the board.
Is it possible to pull up the floor plan again?
Mm-hmm.
And then I just have a question about the number of patients that we anticipate having or people that we anticipate having in the space.
Sure. I'm going to get the floor plan up. Feel free to ask Rachel your question while I while I do that.
OK. I think my question is just trying to get a sense of like number and flow of people across the day.
And, yeah, I was trying to see how big the reception area was. That's why I asked.
The reception area is actually, it is one of those pictures that probably could hold, I mean, it could, if people are standing, it could hold more, but it has four seats with like a bench seating, right?
You know, what we perceive, it would be no more than three, unless one of us is perhaps seeing like a family or a couple, so maybe it would be four.
That's not very common.
And most of the time we are each all seeing one individual person.
And as you know, and that's really as our current caseload is not, it's got to grow to that point.
So hopefully it'll get bigger and can, you know, can't be any more than that because we don't we don't have that that type of time.
But as of right now, it's usually two people in the waiting room at any given time.
OK, understood. And it seems like so you said there's four practitioners and there's four, three practitioners.
and then there's everybody has a dedicated um space office we're gonna call it yeah okay
all the questions oh i did my other question is uh about um did you do anything in the space to
sort of try to dampen the sound i just know like obviously yeah we did um we we put in special
insulation and there's you can't really see it but in the wall of the adjoining the offices that
share a wall there's like a window to help with like natural lighting and that was like special
made glass that's like supposed to you know help with soundproofing um and we have noise machines
and other things like that that are pretty common in all therapeutic spaces and i know that's so
that's mostly for the interior walls did you do anything for the party walls for the building
between like on the walls between you and the building next door no or the front no we didn't
um ty it was um for what it's worth it was it was last in office um and actually i think long
enough ago was already a doctor's office so i think they would have had a difficult challenge
convincing the landlord that like you know interventions in the party wall were necessary
because i think in his eyes this is sort of a sufficient space for this purpose and i think
did the best they can under the circumstances it's fine i mean i was it wasn't uh i think
that wall was actually i was just sort more so wondering because i saw the destruction was
happening yeah and i think that outside wall is brick line too like i don't think that's
an issue sound can travel through brick it's true it just it hasn't seemed to from being in it that
you know we haven't all the questions questions from our attorney um yes i just wanted to make
sure i know you said basement and first floor but i believe in the lease or at least the other lease
it was unit one is that correct uh yeah i mean that's that's that may be how the space is
identified um i'm trying to get to the lease right now i believe miss barnett was like shaking her
head is that correct it's unit one we need to identify it for our you know i believe that's
how it is labeled on the lease yeah if you can just confirm that thank you
Yes, that that's right.
You don't want questions or comments from the virtual audience.
I see no hands chair planning commission.
Good afternoon, Liz usually on behalf of the Philadelphia planning commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the CMX 1 neighborhood commercial mixed use zoning.
at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 2019 in accord with recommendations
filed within the comprehensive plan the proposed use will not cause detrimental impacts to the
neighborhood beyond what would normally might be expected the city planning commission recommends
that the board grant the proposed special exception for commercial business use mi20260030651640
Pine Street, I vote yes with proviso. Use limited to unit one. Michael Johns, my vote.
with proviso use limited to unit one michael johns my vote is yes with proviso
daryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso tenetta graham my vote is yes with proviso ryan mcadams my
vote is yes with proviso tayo and my vote is yes with proviso layla beebe my vote is yes with proviso
okay we're going to move to number 10 and number 11.
number 10 is mi 20 20 26 003 115 150 101 to 23 south 52nd street
and number 11 is mi 2025 003 576 101 to 23 south 52nd street brett feldman is the attorney
mr feldman could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer
Yes. Good afternoon, Brett Feldman.
Why don't you get that a little closer to you, Brett, the mic. You always get a little, not that you don't speak loud, but the mic is a little further away.
So please state your name. It's spelled for the stenographer.
Brett Feldman. Brett Feldman. B-R-E-T-T. Feldman. F-E-L-D-M-A-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
i do could you identify your client for both locations yes and they're it's the same location
um um that that's that's the subject here um 52nd and chestnut street right i represent mcdonald's
of north america so i see let's see here we have yeah there's recent information um
here is 10 11 added pedestrian access from samson street does that sound right correct right and
then there's also address cross crosswalk and speed hump right and then uh lod um decreased
from zero six one to point six zero correct down right correct okay and uh our vice chair has a
few questions. Good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits 14 days in advance
for both cases? We did. Okay. And do you wait that we didn't know your refusals and stipulate
to their accuracy? We do. All right. Thank you. You can see your screen and proceed with the case.
I'm just trying to try to find the exhibits here Mr. chairman if I could just make a comment just to just so given that you've submitted revised plans concerning a change in parking.
that's going to result in you requesting an amended refusal yeah we didn't we didn't think it
we didn't think it would in this case because there wasn't any parking requirement in CMX 2.5
well we believe because you have a change in parking that you should go for amended refusal
request one okay here yeah I'm sorry I'm when I share right now it's not showing
media is he is he in the unit here do we
is he ready to go what's that you're saying you're like it's not it's not yeah i'm saying
yeah i'm gonna make sure you're yeah i'm sorry
becomes our master at this kind of there we go
I want to be able to get that PDF down there.
there we go there it is okay there we go always it's always the toughest part just getting the
exhibits up so again Brett Feldman 1835 Market Street I am real proud to be representing
so again brett feldman uh 1835 market street i am uh real proud to be representing uh mcdonald's um
at this um for this application to take this location this is at 52nd and chestnut street
um probably a lot of us are aware of this location uh it is a over 40 year old um restaurant location
it is to say the least it is obsolete it is outmoded is that 40 years you said i think it's
back from the RDA, back in the day.
I grew up in Upper Darby.
I remember coming through here, coming into West Philly
and to University City and Center City as a child,
coming to this location.
It is the structure itself, outmoded, outdated systems,
electric, plumbing.
But beyond that, the vehicular circulation here
is something that, as Justin, our project engineer, will say, you'd never design in
2026. Just to give some context, here is in context, 52nd Street, 52nd here, Chestnut
here, and the Y is to the right, there's a library to the left, and a SEPTA bus stop
right on 52nd here. And what we're looking to do is, this isn't a remodel, this is actually
just to demolish the whole the whole restaurant and um it would be this uh our state-of-the-art
prototype blow that up just a little yeah yeah and we've got it we've got it on the boards we've got