And we also have a letter of non-opposition from Councilman Jeff Young's office.
if i can just bring on um rustin oler um one of the owners but also an architect to just go through
the plans very quickly we can promote him sure
and he's coming back in now as a panelist thank you very much thank you
hi chairman and members of the board how are you could you please state your name and spell for
the stenographer. Rustin Ohler, first name R-U-S-T-I-N, last name Ohler O-H.
Rustin Oller, first name R-U-S-T-I-N, last name Oller, O-H-L-E-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, told the truth, nothing but the truth?
Counsel?
Rustin, if you want to just go through the plans for your building, and then we can stop for any questions.
Yeah, sure.
So as Rachel mentioned, we bought, purchased, and developed this building for the purpose of maintaining our office.
If you want to go to the next slide, we have about 8,000 square feet of office space here.
um which we no longer fully need unfortunately um just nature of the office market and you know
semi-hybrid remote work so this is the first floor um entrance is on the side up the ramp
that rachel said in the pictures in the front um reception area and meeting rooms in the front of
the building and then open workspace in the back and then rear outdoor space as well just for like
lunch and breaks and then a full set of stairs up and out of the basement not a typical basement if
we need to look at pictures we can go back to that so we fully excavated the rear of the site
so there's windows all the way around the rear and perimeter multiple doors and means of egress
out the back spiral staircase up to the rear yard and back through the building as well as along the
side up a full concrete stairway back up to the street so open kitchen lounge space in the middle
bathrooms and private meeting rooms print room storage utilities and then additional open work
space in the rear this is just our office space which is what we're here for the building itself
also through the residential lobby which is on the northern left side of the building in this photo
has a full interior condition trash room wash bay that's also where we store our trash commercial
trash pickup um i think that's it yeah um thank you yeah that's uh it from our on our end too so
again we're just asking for use um of the existing commercial space for all uses permitted in cx
cmx2 minus a smoke uh or vape shop uh as a proviso um did he adopt your testimony rachel
Yeah, Rustin, have you heard my testimony today? Do you believe it to be true and accurate, and do you adopt it as your own?
Yes, and I do.
Thank you.
Questions from the board.
I have a question about this first floor commercial space. Since it's currently combined with the basement, and I think it sounds like the, you know, the, Herman Deutsch is going to, Euler is going to still stay in the basement.
Are these going to be subdivided into two legally separate commercial spaces?
So it depends on the tenant that we get.
We've had the property listed for, I don't know, well over six months before that for about a year.
We softly within our own, you know, network of individuals tried to see if there was any availability for co-working space.
Unfortunately, with the office market and the amount of cheap space available downtown, nobody wants to cohabitate with us on North 7th Street.
So the tenants so far that have looked at the space brokers, you know, either want the entire space or only the first floor.
So that is flexible. And once we have a tenant, we would submit use applications and compliance with this variance if you so approve it and then submit tenant fit out and amendment plans to the building department of L&I.
So I don't know the answer yet because we don't have any tenant yet.
But we built the building as a CMX2 building and basically just want to continue to use it that way.
And then just understanding that you don't know who the tenant's going to be, but it sounds like you all are prepared to move out should the tenant want both floors and look for a new space?
Our intent is to stay.
So we basically built this building as that would house up to 60 people, right?
we were a 40 person office when we moved into it um with remote and hybrid work we have about 14
people there on tuesdays right um and other than that i mean it still has our server in it it's in
our benefit to stay in the neighborhood and in the building so that is our intention so if that's the
case then we would you know rate and separate the tenant spaces and share any common amenities that
you know works for both parties bathrooms and that sort of lounge area in the basement
be the main thing that we're thinking about
is mostly the shared, like that
and the trash room, the infrastructure
piece? So the trash, yeah, so the trash
room is actually outside through
the adjacent lobby. That's where it gets
picked up. So we have cleaning staff
that takes the trash there every night
and it gets picked up from there, I think,
twice a week. So that would still remain
the 15 units above the next
door also use that same
room. But yeah, so
basically you could come down the stairs in that bathroom
lounge space, we assume it would remain
common space okay i was just i'm thinking less so about you all specifically but like long-term
okay i was just i'm thinking less so about you all specifically but like long-term longevity of
this it's not a typical setup for two commercial spaces so just wanted to think through yeah i
think it only works as i think it works as two commercial spaces as long as we stay one of the
tenants and spaces right and then otherwise it would be you know collectively to a to a new
tenant that would take the whole space but um other questions questions from our attorney um
i just want to make sure your your request is for both the um ground the basement and the first
floor still correct correct yes correct okay you indicated you were going to stay i just wanted to
make sure you still want both floors we would like the variance to be approved for both floors yes
okay great thank you questions or comments from the virtual audience no no hands at the stop
chair planning commission good evening liz fusely on behalf of the philadelphia planning commission
this property was remapped from cmx2 to rm1 within the district plan remapping of 2017. there is an
existing ground floor commercial space built as part of the three-story residential building
the planning commission supports the intent to use the commercial space as noted within cmx2 zoning
however we ask that the uses be limited and in keeping with the extreme residential nature
nature of this block the city planning commission recommends that the board grant the proposed
variance for commercial business use with a limiting proviso to reflect the residential block
mi 2026 003 248 1225 to 29 north 7th street i vote yes
can we use uh use the proviso uh rachel yeah i was just gonna suggest can we do the proviso no
smoke vape or i just wanna we can't do that sure no wait a minute we're we're figuring out it's okay
i don't know our council's saying no okay all right well it's reflected on the record that
we i don't want the community field all right all right michael johns my vote is yes
there'll get in my vote is yes another graham my vote is yes ryan mcadams my vote is yes
tywin my vote is yes layla bb my vote is yes thank you council thank you thank you
All right. Number 13, MI 2026, 003-404-7601-51, Lindbergh Boulevard. Ronald Patterson is the attorney.
Mr. Patterson, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Sure. Hello. Ronald Patterson, P-A-T-T-E-R-S-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client, a relationship to the property?
Sure. I represent the tenant, which is Advanced Stores Company, doing business as Advanced Auto Parts Store.
And someone sent us a letter from Southwest Consortium of RCOs. It's a letter of opposition. Complaining about mechanics working in the parking lot and illegal dumping from the mechanics.
Yes, I'm aware. Vice Chair has a few questions.
I'll address. Thank you.
Good evening. Have you submitted your documents in exhibits 14 days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, I have.
okay and this is a referral so uh taking a special reception here do you leave the reading
of your referral and simply to its accuracy uh i do thank you all right thank you so you're
screening to proceed with the case perfect thanks
so uh this application regards property at 7601 lindbergh boulevard
it's at the northeast corner of lindbergh boulevard and uh island road or island avenue
It was Island Road when I was living there.
It's a commercial intersection, the largest in, I'd say, the Eastwick area of southwest Philadelphia.
And over here is the Penrose Shopping Center and a lot of independent other uses here.
Pet Boys. It's just a service bay now. I think Dollar General and McDonald's.
or a mcdonald's so on on this property here we're talking about uh over here um it's um
So on this property.
right now there's three tenant spaces in the building on the right here is a is a occupied by
a dialysis uh business uh the middle used to be a staples it's vacant i'll know for how long it's
been and what we're here today for is this uh space here we'll call it space one used to be
a Rite Aid. It's been vacant for some time. It's about 15,000 to 16,000 square feet. Over on the
right here is a Dunkin' Donuts, and this building here is a vacant building. To the north here was
the Eastwick Library and the Eastwick Health Center, I'll call it.
So the property, I'll go through some pictures here, give you acclimated.
you see it's pretty much delineated the right eight front
counsel do you have an actual like unit number right i'll call it space space one is it yes space
one what this one doesn't make it it it does make it because uh 7615 is not addressed that
is recognized by l and i and i looked at your lease and you didn't have like a unit one or
various stuff it's the property is like a joint you know the property is 7601-51 right so that's
what they recognize the property as like a bulk property and a lot of times we look for like unit
unit a unit b five anything like that well we know it is unit one i don't know what else to say
when you get an approval for the property it's the entire property it's not per
per space anymore that's not what are it okay okay thanks
uh is the side of the building um and we'll get back to that photo this is important because
we're going to talk about the loading area here um i'll skip these
the property is located in a ca2 commercial zoning district as we know this allows for the
largest size shopping centers our proposed use is an advanced auto parts store and while it's
retail use it's categorized under the personal vehicle equipment sales and service category
which is primarily allowed in um industrial zone i'm not sure why but again i speculate we were
here in august for a similar for the same store down at swanson and snyder but you know that that
category also includes some repairs and body and fender which obviously we're not doing um
it's a large space has been uh difficult to lease as i understand and that's why it's being
remain vacant. So, you mentioned potential opposition, and I wanted to address that.
So, we had our meeting last week on Wednesday. In attendance were four RCOs, the 40th Ward
Republican, headed by my long friend, Craig Maladozian, the Eastwick Friends and Neighbor
Coalition, the Eastwick United CDC, and the Paschal Betterment League.
The meeting went on for two and a half hours.
All the groups attended.
I believe only two persons not with the group had attended.
My official list that was given to me by the Planning Commission shows six
addresses to receive notice within the 250 feet and from my guests and looking
at the addresses none of them were residential buildings residential say
single-family units there they would include and encompass the the shopping
centers on the other three corners and to across the street there is I believe
the Korman Apartments.
So the discussion, obviously, and apparently, as we heard before, centered around the illegal
car repairs as a secondary effect to the auto store.
And look, we all need auto stores, and I prefer going to auto stores other than the dealers
because it's way more economical.
So it's definitely a needed use.
So, it's definitely a needed use, it's just we had to figure out, you know, put these uses in the right place, and I believe this is the right place, as you'll hear.
It's just we had to figure out, you know, put these uses in the right place.
Sorry for scrolling through this, but give me a second.
Okay. So the discussion, you know, there's an auto zone store, not an advanced auto store,
but auto zone store at 70th and Onwood Avenue. And it's received a lot of complaints over many
years for the, what we learned as shade tree mechanics. And not only that, you know, I hear
that it goes beyond that, where there's food and there's music. And I did, there's a picture I want
to show you here of that center. You know, it's a very small center for an auto store, I would say.
And, you know, the issues that are going on there, unfortunately, you know, that brush is,
has a broad stroke and it's bringing us into the realm here. There's also an advanced auto store
at uh island and um wooden avenue which is our one of our stores which we're going to relocate
to this location um again that's a small location as well um
but you know as i said there's a distinction between i believe
helmet avenue and and here i was the cottage industries that started here you know how to
address i understand the trepidation of bringing in an auto parts store i guess however you know
this location where we are there's a major artery it's a major street major intersection
two issues that were brought up the repairs on site and the repairs off site in the streets
apparently it all is going on on the street at 70th and unwood and so how do we address that
that's really an issue off the property um and i'll get to that um you know that's not going to
happen at this location if you know island road and limber boulevard there's nowhere to park on
those streets so what we're left is was dealing with the property within our property balance
craig kindly sent me a list of issues after our meeting with proviso conditions that we were
considering and i did put this together uh which is a part of our package which we'll go through
and i spoke to the police department at the 12th district to get an idea of if they knew what was
going on what the issues were how they were going to address it and we could have an outreach with
them um so they told me that with respect to uh repairs on the street they could enforce that
they wouldn't do it by tickets and they could confiscate um tools i don't know about arrest
because it's a business operating illegally i don't know if it's a crime um but so you know
they said if we called if we saw that they would come and respond um on site is a little different
issue it's private property um but as a result what i was told was that if we adequately uh
sign uh put signs up on the property saying that your uh illegal repair i'm sorry repairs
and installation of parts is prohibited plus we have a towing company uh sign on the building
that we will call the police and the police will respond they will issue a ticket um and they will
try to say that's a an illegal business operating which i think is more of an
you know and i issue but nonetheless they said they would respond and they would try to deter
those activities
The, which we'll go through with Ashton, the provisor conditions, again, were proposed, and then yesterday I was told by Craig that, and he's here to speak, I'm sure, that they voted, they changed their mind and they voted no.
but i would say that these provisions here are very thorough we've edited them up through the
national company and they would adequately address any adverse potential adverse impacts of the
public health safety welfare fare and traffic and i believe that the use falls in within the
character of context of that large commercial area which would have no impact even if those