I don't know if we'll need that, but, you know, we certainly can provide that as it comes in.
Okay, let's see what else we got.
Hey, Alex.
I'm trying to drop this down somehow here.
Hey, Alex.
I'm trying to get rid of the scroll bar here.
This is covering my...
You're underneath it.
I got you.
is there anybody in our group can help i start over again sorry you're off okay
are you trying to share your screen yeah what happened is that your
tool bar
covered my share screen thing.
Got you.
Thank you.
Oh, it's still covered.
I don't know how to
they're underneath.
My exhibits are listed under your
toolbar for some reason.
Share screen. Thank you.
okay i hope you can see that that's the i'm starting with the exhibit list i have a
come up here
okay so all the lists the the normal standard exhibits are listed as one through 10
probably the easiest thing is to go down to the photos of the property we'll see if we can do that
Okay, so this is a three-story warehouse of 2012-24.
I'm going to just show you.
There's the posting and come back.
So the photos will give you an idea of what's going on here.
This is a lot adjacent where we requested to have parking.
This is the actual warehouse itself, the entrance and so forth.
And it's a three-story warehouse.
It was posted.
This is across the street.
and adjacent there too okay so here's you know what it looks like uh this is a uh property that
the um the owner the husband jesse gardner um originally planned to convert this uh warehouse
to 11 residential units and one uh commercial gallery and let's see if i can uh
blow this up a little bit. Okay. So
parking is to the left of the warehouse. The warehouse itself is a three-story building.
Unfortunately, Mr. Gardner suffered an untimely death and his wife is here today, Ms. Chen,
and she has picked up this project again to try to fulfill her husband's desires to repurpose
to repurpose this warehouse primarily for artist apartments and a out an elevator and a small
this warehouse primarily for artists.
gallery here so you know you're going to come in off of Arizona Street he's going to have a little
artist gallery here and that's the commercial space and then he's putting in 11 one-bedroom
units here. This is what the this is what it currently looks like. The parking is going to
go over here. And because this is in an RSA 5 district, of course, it's only eligible for
single family homes. But that would require demolition of the warehouse. And as you saw in
the photographs, this neighborhood is still primarily commercial industrial type uses and so
forth um it's a relatively large building so it it will accommodate this uh the parking over here
for handicapped parking and five cars uh there is a note in the refusal that there was an addition
the addition is in this little back area on three floors and it was to accommodate a single
bedroom for those rear apartments so that was the uh the fill out to sort of fill out the
the space here and this is what it looks like in terms of the footprint so you know the hardship
essentially is that we would have to demolish a very usable structure whereas you know providing
reasonably priced apartments he was very into the artist community and everybody was looking
for something they could do this and then you know artists who may live there will have an
opportunity to use the gallery on a recurring basis. We have filed all the appropriate notices.
That's the mailing we got here. This is a notice that was sent out to everybody and the certificate
of mailing is a certificate of the tax clearance. This is a deed. Ms. Chen is the current owner from
husband, Mr. Gardner. I'm trying to think of it. I don't think there's any really pertinent
other than the addressing the refusal. The refusal was for a variance to allow for the parking
and for the apartment multifamily and with one commercial space. But we think that this is a
valuable addition to the neighborhood. And as you can see, we did meet with East Kentington and did
get a support from them.
Mr. Perry, do you want to have your testimony adopted?
Ms. Chen, you should be there.
Can you raise your hand?
And they will let you in.
Ms. Chen?
And Ms. Chen, you can unmute yourself.
hi miss chen can you hear me yes could you state your name and spell it please for the
court reporter um my name is uh yuhong y-u-h-o-n-g my last name is chen c-h-e-n
right do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes proceed counsel thank you miss chen have you uh been listening to my presentation in
terms of the request for variance for the use of this property? Yes. And would you adopt my
testimony as true and correct to the best of your knowledge and belief? Yes. Thank you.
Before I get up to the board, Mr. Perry, could you describe the surrounding neighborhood?
Yeah, the surrounding neighborhood. Let me see if I have the, just going to look at the,
okay so this is the adjacent property it's a series of this this is across the street actually
there's a series of garages and old commercial property this is immediately adjacent to the
right side again these are old commercial properties a lot of them are still used I mean
this was when i posted the property uh as garages and uh um you know most of these were
what's that what's at the end of the block those multiple windows way down here yeah there's a
couple there's some new construction this is my recollection uh this looks like an apartment
building i didn't look this up um but um you know because this building is uh is very usable
here it is here um it doesn't make any sense to demolish you know a three-story
you know a three-story this is it here three-story building he's put in new windows
this is it here three-story building he's put in new windows
um and you know essentially uh miss chen has taken over from jesse uh mr gardner prior to
his untimely death was uh an artist uh neighborhood person and uh there was a demand to try to get
uh usable space and affordable space and that's uh the essence uh which uh his architect has done
here all right thank you question questions from the board yes mr chairman no mr chairman
counselor what is your trash removal plan i'm sorry trash removal uh trust the the trash is
there's a basement and the trash is going to be stored the utilities and the trash
is in the basement and then they would have to have um if it's multifamily they either have to
pay the city to pick it up, or they can have commercial trash, but it can be stored inside
until pickup is required. Thank you.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission. Thank you, Chair Bergman. Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia City Planning
Commission. Board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing RSA 5
single-family zoning at this location. However, the proposal does not add height or significantly
change the bulk of the existing non-conforming building. The proposed use is also commensurate
with the size and configuration of the existing building. City Planning Commission recommends
that the Board grant this variance. Thank you. MI 2022-003-273-2012-24 East Arizona Street. I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shahi, my vote is yes.
You're a yes, Ishmael Shahi.
My vote is yes.
Thank you.
Thank you, counsel.
Okay, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and board.
Number six, MI 2022, 003-291-716 North 3rd Street.
Zen Jin is the attorney.
Letter of support from Northern Liberties Association with several provisos.
Chair, Mr. Jin is coming back in as a panelist now.
Good morning.
Good morning, Jin.
Good morning.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
My name is Zen Jin, Z-H-E-N, last name J-I-N, 1617 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Suite 1838,
Philadelphia PA, 19103, on behalf of the applicant, who is the tenant of the property.
All right.
Thank you.
Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client?
Yes, Mr. Tan Liu is the tenant operator of the business, which is seeking the variance before the board.
All right. Thank you. Mr. Holloman has a few questions.
Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I will waive a reading. It is a special exception, so it's a referral. Other than that, I do stipulate.
Thank you. Did you email all of the exhibits and documents as required, such as proof of ownership, tax clearance, copy of the refusal or referral, pictures or drawings of the property five days in advance to this hearing? Did you meet with the RNCO and do you have a letter?
Yes, to all questions.
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you. I'm going to share with the board the exhibit that was forwarded previously. Can the board see my exhibit?
yes thank you uh so we have submitted copies of the relevant documentation uh according to the
requirements of the code this is an application for special exception use uh this is a cmx2
district and we're seeking a takeout restaurant use for a cafe now we did meet with lord northern
Liberty's Neighborhood Association, and they have a series of requirements because of the use we
presented. That is why there are these provisals, which my client is in agreement with. This is not
a restaurant. It's actually a cafe. There's no cooking, no exhaust venting, no food prep in the
premises. I would also show that on the plans, but it's a very simple setup cafe with coffee
availability from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. We can keep all
We can keep all the trash stored inside.
the trash stored inside. There's no need for a dumpster because
There's no need for a dumpster because very little trash is actually generated.
No pickup for delivery is mainly applying to those, I guess it would be like food delivery services.
There's no need for that.
Customers walk in to get their coffee, but they will certainly take out their coffee in many cases.
There are 10 seats inside.
There's no outdoor seating at this point.
If we seek that, we'll separately apply and speak with the community again about that possibility.
The property itself is already partially, it was actually in operation before my client received notification that this is actually a special exception.
Seeing that it was CMX2, they thought it would be a buy right use in this particular property.
But it turns out that the overlay there requires a special exception in this case.
We also have a simple layout. There's storage room, restroom. And as you can see, seating can be placed here and here. And there's a counter area which serves coffee. So that is essentially this application. There's nothing here that would make this use more impactful than a use typical of this nature under the special exception rules.
and we asked the board's favorable review of this application.
My client, Mr. Tian Liu, should be here
and available to verify my testimony.
Thank you.
Why don't we have your testimony adopted?
Thank you.
Mr. Liu, can you raise your hand to be identified?
Mr. Liu, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Yes, I...
Good morning.
could you could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please yes uh my first name is
tan last name is liu first name t-a-n last name l-i-u thank you do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes proceed counsel thank you mr liu can
you verify that you uh saw my presentation and heard my testimony before the board
yes and can you uh adopt it as your own testimony and verify that they are true and correct
yes thank you questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman no mr chairman
no mr chairman questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands share thank you planning commission thank you chair bergman ian
Hegarty for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. Board members, this proposed special
exception is not likely to cause detrimental impacts to the neighborhood beyond what might
normally be expected for the use. The City Planning Commission recommends that the board
grant the special exception. Thank you. MI 2022-003-291-716 North 3rd Street, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes. James Snell, my vote is yes.
yes i'm sorry are you going to incorporate any of the i got it okay so i vote yes with the
following provisos no cooking or food preparation on the premises hours of operation tuesday to
friday 7a to 3p saturday and sunday 9a to 3p interior trash storage remove existing illuminated
sign from the front of the building until approved thank you thomas holloman my vote is yes with the
provisos james snell my vote is yes with provisos ishmael shahid my vote is yes with proviso thank
you counsel could you please stay on yes so case number seven MI 2021-005-423-4629
Wayne Avedo letter from Solo Germantown not taking a position letter from Faith
Community Development Corporation
with provisos.
You've already sworn.
Could you identify
your client in relationship to the property?
Yes, my client
is the owner of the property.
He is present with us