MI 2021-004-994-541 East Rod Avenue.
Excuse me, Chair. I don't mean to interrupt. Mr. Mulvihill's picture has just popped up on the screen. I believe he's in there.
Okay, thank you. We'll go back to Mr. Mulvihill.
Thank you, Chair. I'm sorry about that. I was having some connectivity issues.
So I have here.
okay 2428
north 26th street
MI 2021
004986
Mr. Movahill
state your name and spell for the court reporter
Mr. Movahill
okay sorry chair i lost you there for a second because i was
state your name and spell for the court reporter please
leo mulvihill that's leo l-e-o last name mulvihill m-u-l-v as in victor i-h-i-l-l
address right do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth is nothing but the truth
i do okay could you identify your client the relationship to the property yes tyrell phillips
is my client he is the principal of tp realty llc the owner of the property and he's on the
line mr holliman has a few questions for you yes good morning counselor do you agree to weigh
the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy i do did you email all of the exhibits
as required such as proof of ownership tax clearance copy of the refusal pictures or drawings
of the property five days in advance of this hearing and did you meet with the rco and do
you have an rco letter yes yes and i'm not sure whether the rco ever sent in a formal letter but
you have an email i believe the board may have been copied on it okay please proceed and share
your screen thank you so good morning chairman members of the board on behalf of mr phillips
the principal of tp realty llc we're here for a property at 24 28 north 26th street it's a corner
property at 26 and haggart and essentially it looks like it was an old store at some point
the entrance actually opens into the corner you can see whether there's a pole it wasn't the pole
and what mr phillips is looking to do based on the fact that this property appears to have used
to offend cmx is legalize it for a two-family use he purchased it believing it was a two-family
did some work in there um and now has come to realize it's not so he wants to get that all
legalized and up to date um so we this was a copy of the letter that we sent out to the community
indicating that we had a community meeting this was first back in january we just had another meeting
uh very recently which is why i don't think we have that community support letter yet but here
of both of my notices of mailing so my client's refusal again this is for two
rsa5 district there you go it's my client's deed
and i'll show you the zoning map of the area as well so like i was saying this property is
indicated on the map here in blue in a largely residential district the mix of rsa5 rsa3 and
And we're located right here on the corner.
this red dot that i'm showing you right now indicates the exact location of the property
itself we have another of um other um properties in the area not all residential we have a couple
churches we have a laundromat and some convenience stores but these are also also in rsa5
sports renovation
down on 26th
Southbound, Haggard Street, and this is the zoning signs itself when I posted on the property.
So you can see the work was done, which included an entire new electric, new plumbing, new
paint, and the property looks in significantly better condition than it did before.
We'll get to the floor plans in a moment, members of the board.
These are just some other properties in the immediate vicinity.
oh i'm zoomed in far too far so as i said members of the board it's a two-unit building more or less
to get into the unit uh you can come in through the side uh entrance that was painted red that's
everybody saw in the corner apartment a is about uh 597 square feet and you have apartment
living area in the front two beds and kitchen and back rear along with some flex space above
Downstairs is apartment B. It's 557 square feet. You'd end up through the side door to get into there.
It comes complete with one bedroom, washer, dryer, bath, and kitchen.
So it's not terribly large, but it does have enough space for someone to live there.
We met with All in the Family RCO. I do believe they did send in a support letter to the zoning board,
but I'm not sure that I ever received a copy because we did have some correspondence going back and forth with All in the Family.
Mr. Phillips, if you wouldn't mind, please raising your hand.
Mr. Phillips, if you're in the audience, please raise your hand.
There are no hands up at this time, Chair.
we're an officer of the court we'll take your testimony questions from the board no mr chairman
questions from the virtual audience or comments
chair we have a glenda tate with her hand up miss tate you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair
Chair, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Could you state your name, please?
Chair, she can't be muted because the messages say she's using an older version of Zoom.
okay is there any other comments from the virtual audience
chair we have mary jones with her hand up miss jones you can unmute yourself and wait for the
chair good morning miss jones could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
yes good morning mary jones m-a-r-y-j-o-n-e-s on behalf of council president daryl clark
Do you swear for them to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
I'm just chiming in because it seems like the RCO is having some difficulty with speaking,
but they did make our office aware of the provisos that they would like to include with this variance.
I believe it included securing a Certificate of Occupancy in 60 days.
And just a moment.
And I believe she did, they also sent in a letter as well, and that was sent to Miss
ton you sunk in it oh okay so and they also
they just they don't want it to ever be a rooming house
uh so no no group living although i did explain that they would have
So no, no group living, although I did explain that they would have to come back for a special exception anyway.
So it was those two things.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Any other comments from the virtual audience?
Chair, we have Adora Moody.
Just off and wait for the chair.
Hello, good morning.
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Yes, my name is Dora, D-O-R-A. My last name is Moody, M-O-O-D-Y.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed.
I am a person who lives in that particular neighborhood in that block. I live at 2613 West Hagar Street, across the street, just down the street.
Ms. Lacey is coming back in as a panelist now, Chair.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Hi, good morning.
Good morning.
That's spelled M-E-L-A-N-I-E, last name L-A-C-E-Y.
i'm with claire harrison harvey in bransburg 1835 market street street 1400 philadelphia pa
19103 right do you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do could
you identify your client and the relationship to the property yes i am accompanied by eric
cassoway who is a representative for the owner entity adr 541 east gerard ll and mr holman has
a few questions for you good morning counselor do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to his accuracy i do did you email all of the exhibits as required such as proof of
ownership tax clearance copy of the refusal pictures or drawings of the property five days
in advance of this hearing did you meet with the rco and do you have the rco letter yes to all the
above thank you please proceed thank you so i represent craftwork in its application to legalize
an existing projecting sign located at 541 eastward avenue as mentioned and some of you may be
familiar with craftwork which is a popular restaurant and bar in fishtown so we're here
because craftwork seeks to as mentioned legalize here's a copy a picture of the sign this projected
sign that's located on the property. Specifically, we are seeking a variance for the distance
that the sign projects from the building facade. So, Kraftwerk received its refusal letter on
November 9th of 2021 due to the fact that the projecting sign extends more than four feet
from the building facade. It actually extends six feet, but we will discuss the dimensions
when I share the architectural plans. Here I've attached a copy of the relevant section
under the zoning code that was repealed and replaced in 2011. This is the version that was
in effect when the sign was installed in 2010. The old code allowed a maximum sign projection of 10
feet when the sign was at least 10 feet above the sidewalk. And in this case, the projection is six
feet, and the sign is located 13 feet above the sidewalk. And the sign has been in place
continuously since it was installed at that time. And therefore, Kraftwerk has
installed what was previously a buy-write sign with continuous use, and we are making a
grandfathering argument. I'll also note that Kraftwerk pulled building permits last year for
some minor renovations, and that's what triggered the sign violation and caused us to go through
this process so we met with the fishtown kensington area business improvement district on january 12th
as well as the fishtown neighbors association on february 8th and both rcos have provided letters
of support which i have here and submitted to the zba in advance of this hearing the property is
zone cmx2 and as you can see the surrounding properties along this portion of gerrard avenue
are predominantly commercial if not exclusively commercial um and there are also two overlay
districts that do not impact our requested relief i think this is freezing
i apologize i'm waiting for
okay here we go
so I have some photos of the property okay here we go I'm having some technical difficulties
so these are properties of excuse me photos of the um surrounding area um on Gerrard Avenue
um the property if i didn't mention it it's the corner of the intersection of east gerrard
avenue and montgomery avenue and if my computer will allow me i will show you here we go
the intersection um and the sign
is located i apologize my okay here we go my computer is having glitches
So here's a sign, if you can see it, it's circled in yellow. It's at the intersection of Girard and Montgomery Avenue, and it's affixed to the brick facade next to the second floor windowsill, right where the side and front building walls join.
so here's a sign if you can see it it's circled in yellow
Now I have some photos of the property at night where you can see the limited sign
at different angles and from a distance, which obviously helps to identify the establishment.
Here's a close-up as well as here.
And finally, these are images of the posted notice and the architectural plans that I mentioned
earlier. So there's quite a few items on this and I will go through a couple of them. So as you can
see, the sign is a warped wrench, which is a play on the restaurant name, Kraftwerk. It's white with
red lettering in the center, and it's right around the corner of the building. The dimensions
are compliant, code compliant. It's six feet by two feet. It's 13 feet above grade.
And the only aspect at issue is that it projects six feet where four feet is permitted by right
currently so eric and his team submitted an application to the art commission last year
and received an approval on september 1st of 2021 which you can see what that has a remark that zba
approval is also required and to further support the application um both the art commission as well
as this one we have a letter from the structural engineer which describes that changing the sign
will take a lot of engineering since new supports will have to be added to the structure and to the
building, and it states that installing a new sign would entail drilling 12 additional bolts
through the brick facade, and he ultimately recommended keeping the sign as built.
We also have a similar letter from the sign company. They recommended keeping the sign to
avoid safety issues that might arise from compromising the facade if the sign is removed
and replaced in a similar light to what the structural engineer described. And to conclude,
I'd just like to reiterate that the sign has been there since 2010, before the zoning code was
amended to stipulate a maximum sign projection distance of four feet. It's a unique sign that
has become a brand identity for Kraftwerk for over a decade. And that summarizes the application.
I'll have my client, Eric Cassaway, adopt my testimony, so if, Eric, you would click the raise hand button, they'll promote you for swearing it.
Is his last name Mr. Cassaway?
Correct. Thank you.
Mr. Cassaway, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Hi, could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please?
Sure. My name is Eric Cassoway, E-R-I-C. Last name is K-A-S-S-O-W-A-Y.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Proceed.
Eric, did you hear my testimony that I provided to the board this morning?
Yes, I did.
Do you affirm that my presentation was accurate?
I do, and it was.
and do you adopt the testimony as your own yes i do okay is there anything else that you'd like
to add concerning this application briefly um just on behalf of adre i'd like to thank the zba
for their time and consideration it's sincerely appreciated and just to restate that when the
sign was installed in 2010 it was in full compliance of all codes and ordinances and laws
we're asking the zba to grandfather our sign we request that we keep the signs um iconic
orientation and the identity it holds thank you thank you questions from the board no mr chairman
no no mr chairman questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no other hands at this time chair any commission thank you chair bergman ian hegarty
for the philadelphia city planning commission board members this proposed signed variance is
minimal and does not conflict with the purpose and spirit of the zoning code we recommend that
Thank you. MI 2021-002-840-5511 Spruce Street, Mr. Mulvihill.
All right, Chairman and Members of the Board. Hello again.
You've already been sworn. Could you identify your client and the relationship to the property?
My client is Alan Borowich, the principal of CityBlock Acquisition 10, which owns the property.
Mr. Hallman has a few questions.
Good morning, Counselor.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?