uses and then at the top and at the bottom you can see the property located across the street
that was utilized for a daycare so you have a real mix of uses at this intersection
in immediate area, you know, schools, library, daycare, some other commercial uses. And
this property, again, is an RSA 5, but has a very long history of being utilized for
non-residential purposes. And here you will see in 09, the permit that was granted by variance for
the auto detailing. It's interesting, when I went out to take the photos, the guy who used to run
the auto detailing, was actually parked on Baltimore Avenue and called me over and asked
if he could use the property for auto detailing again. We feel that the proposed use of an ice
cream stand and water ice stand is probably something that's more agreeable to the community
than going back to auto detailing again. In 88, I had indicated the property was shown as being
zoned C1. It was a vacant building at that time. In 69, a variance was granted for a mail order
sales. The property is indicated as being C2 commercial. 69, 62, C2 commercial. That was
signage for auto upholstery and private garage, which you can see here was granted in 61. Here
are the zoning drawings that went with the building that was permitted in 61 along with the auto
upholstery and private garage. And you can see those two existing curb cuts that presently exist
that we're going to be filling in and returning on-street parking abutting our property on South
59th Street. There have been prior applications for a church and to build a building which doesn't
appear to have been pursued. Sanborn maps that we have show that the property in 1916 was vacant
as well as 1925. And then you see the auto detailing that in 1976. And then the office,
which I believe is the mail order is 85, 87. Then you have the auto repair in 90, 95, 97, 99, 2003.
three. Here's a site plan for property. Our lot is, again, is very irregularly shaped. You see it
comes to a very narrow point at the top. You've got three street frontages here with a very short
one on Baltimore Avenue. The lot is 2,385.23 square feet. I did pull the OPA records for all
the residential properties extending to the west of us on either side of Latona Street, and they're
1,624 square feet. So our lot is, if my math is correct, 32% larger than those lots, those
residential lots. Here's a ground floor plan of the proposed operation. You can see we're filling
in the curb cuts, creating additional, extending the grass buffer across those curb cuts that
presently exist, adding landscaping and grass to the rear, to the north, and then to the
to the south here along latona street we're providing buffering plantings between us and
the residential structure to the west of us both oops both to the rear and the front of the building
trash cans are shown on the property you'll see there's a windows walk up windows that you have
you'll have to order trash is to be in stored inside there's an interior trash room you have
an office you have a walk-in you have prep areas over here obviously we'll have to submit to the
health department for this additional plantings along or and planters along both the north side
of the property and then the the east side of the property along south 59th street we're proposing
security cameras around on the different fronts of the building you can see the notes here and then
downlights, shielded downlights on the perimeter of the building as well, to be shielded to not
produce any glare to any of the surrounding properties. The existing retaining walls that
were shown in the photographs will be maintained, restored if necessary. The existing steps leading
up from Latona Street will also be utilized. Here's some elevations showing the proposed
landscaping. There's no signage as part of the present application. You know, lighting, security
cameras that I had shown to make sure we have a safe corner. Again, landscaping, security cameras,
lighting along the other sides of the property. And then here's a basic rendering, a mock-up of
what it would look like. The application that was submitted to L&I, a copy of our zoning as
Exhibit 12, a copy of our Zoning Board Appeal, and our Project Information Form or Exhibit 13.
Again, the deed showing 2750 Wharton ST period Property Management comma LLC as the owner of
the property took ownership in 2016. Our tax compliance is at Exhibit 15, a copy of our
hearing notice that was posted at the property on the various frontages in conformance with
the requirements of the zoning code or at tab 17. And then in terms of the 14.303,
here's the email from and the meetings with the coordinating RCOs. Here's the email from
November of last year designating the Cobbs Creek Neighbors Association as a coordinating RCO.
The list of addresses to which we mailed the 14303 notices.
We had to do an initial mailing within the 20 days set forth in the zoning code prior to having a meeting hearing date established by Cobbs Creek.
And then here's the 14303 of the meeting we had back on February 7th, along with the certified certification of the first class mailing.
There is a letter of opposition from the community group.
As you can see in their letter, the only three people attended the two meetings that were held.
The one, the immediate neighbor, Mr. Morton, I was presenting at the meeting.
I was very clear that he didn't want any use of this property and or any type of restaurant use anywhere in the neighborhood.
And I think some of this comes through in the second paragraph, where there seemed to be this discussion of we have enough eating establishments, we don't need more. And that's really not a basis for opposing or when it comes to the criteria for a granting of a variance.
and will let the free market determine whether the community needs them all or not, which ones survive.
And they even acknowledge that the reasons that they stated aren't really the basis for granting or denying a variance.
Real quickly, I'm going to, if Maria can raise her hand and I would have her adopt my statements.
I also have Rustin Oler on the line, who's the architect for the project.
I want to ask him a question or have him adopt my statements and also ask him a question or two.
So if Maria could raise her hand.
Maria, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Has she been promoted to a panelist?
no staff can you allow her to speak please
it bill
panelists because she's on like an older version of
do okay mr orphanetes we'll we'll accept your testimony you're in love to the court okay i can
have i could arrest and adopt as well but just real quickly maria king is a decorated retired
city of philadelphia police officer um she brought this property and um her goal was to
she's always wanted to operate under ice cream stand and um okay kids in the neighborhood and
And, you know, she's a very responsible individual that wants to run a very fine operation for the benefit of the community.
All right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I do. Proceed, counsel.
Rustin, did you hear the statements I made to the zoning board regarding the property and the designs that you've provided on the plans?
And are they true and correct to the best of your knowledge?
Would you adopt them as your own?
And then real quickly, you've been in front of this board countless times, correct?
And you've designed everything from rehabs of single-family dwellings up to, you know, large apartment buildings and office buildings, correct?
And in your opinion, is this property, given its irregular shape, given its frontage on three streets, given the other uses in the area, but primarily the configuration of the lot,
Is it a property that's suitable, suited for what's permitted under the zoning code, the single-family residential use?
No, it would typically be more commercial or mixed-use properties.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Chair, we have Tazon DeVore with his hand up.
hi could you could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please uh yes my name is
tyson devore t-a-i-s-o-n last name devore d-e-v-o-r-e right and uh swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do affirm to tell truth whole truth
and nothing but the truth proceed um i'm an impacted resident that lives on the 5900 block
of latona i'm at 5906. um i'm very very aware of the history of this building and as mr orphanidi
said in the prior use it was zoned as r9 which would allow residents with a doctor's office in
the prior previous uh zoning that means that that particular traffic was controlled when you have
a small block this particular location sits on a more situated on the smaller side of the block
And it's also at the mouth or the opening of Latona.
So it's not really, you got about four feet of Baltimore exposure, but the top of the block is 5,900 block of Latona.
We already have increased volume of traffic over here, and it's very unsafe now.
People speed, we need speed bumps, but we cannot allow speed bumps on Baltimore Avenue because we have the trolley cars.
Latona also is a pass-through block, and so is the right side of this particular location.
So when traffic isn't congested at 58th Street, they're trying to cut through, do this block right behind the library,
which causes even more congestion and causes a dangerous environment for more people to try to pass through and go around each other.
Two, we have a petition that was signed by 23 impacted neighbors all on Latona, and their expressed concerns is safety, traffic, loitering, trash.
And we're also looking at the fact that Mr. Organides and Mr. King never even researched that the Baltimore Avenue is a commercial quarter.
That's true. We also, Mr. Morton also agreed, and the neighbors also know that an ice cream store is coming next spring right on Baltimore, on a 5900 block of Baltimore Avenue.
So now we're going to have two ice cream stores on the same block.
I mean, if we're going to look at and rule this as a business corridor at this point in decision,
now you've got two businesses offering the same product on the same block.
In that particular location on 5900 block of Baltimore, basically is a CMX1, which they are by right.
They don't have to go through the zoning.
This issue of safety is a very big concern right now.
And when we're talking about the increased violence in the city, the increased hit and runs and the increased traffic violations that's going on and nobody adhering to the traffic violations.
This is a very, very deep situation. And I am a developer. I'm an investor. I invest.
the traffic that's going to come through there. And it definitely can't accommodate on Latona
without impacting all the other neighbors. People double parking, people filling in the parking
spaces for the residents, you know, and just pulling up trash that will be blowing down the
street. I mean, right now, Ms. King owned that property for maybe two years. And Mr. Morton,
who sweeps her property up and everybody else's property up, he's like the neighborhood savior
because he keeps that area clean. And what we're trying to tell you is that we understand that
this community is a tight community. We're not just saying no for no reason. We're saying no
for valid reasons. And we're basically just trying to say, hey, if this was a business that had a
controlled type of clientele, such as the daycare, the daycare only has 22 kids approved. So that
means 22 parents dropped their kids at that daycare there's no overflow of kids there's no 45 50 kids
there's nobody gathering out front there's no trash uh blowing there's no there's there's nothing
that's going to bring a major threat to safety to public safety this situation you know at the
corner Tyson Tyson I think you've made your case okay you're starting to repeat I we understand
we understand your position. Thank you. All right. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Mr. Chair, I have Alejandro Utrea with this hand raised. Hi, could you state your name and spell
for the court reporter, please? Good morning, Mr. Chair. My name is Alejandro Utrea. My first name
is spelled a l e j a n d r o my last name utria is spelled u t r i a right do you swear for him
to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do swear proceed hi so i am also
an affected neighbor on this block of 5900 latona and i'm a newer neighbor right i moved in this
year with my wife and being able to meet neighbors on this block especially mr morton um and
understand the character of this block over the last several several years understand the concerns
that they have at this present time about change about more people coming in about more businesses
coming in like just happened at 58th and baltimore up the road um this has been a quiet place a
residential place a place that has had a lot of seniors and just as mr tyson has been as mr
devore has been saying there is concern about changes in the parking but ultimately the most
important thing is the safety and the trash so you're against the property you're against it
yeah all right thank you for calling in and thank you for your input is there anyone else in the
virtual audience. Mr. Chair, Ms. Bernice Wilcox has her hand raised. I will allow her to speak at
this time. Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter? Okay, it'll be Mr. Morton
speaking in my place. Could he state his name, please, and spell for the court reporter? Yes,
Hubert Morton, H-U-B-E-R-T, M-O-R-T-O-N. Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth? The whole
truth is nothing but the truth. Yes. I think the last person referenced you when they spoke. Could
you just tell us, are you against the property? Yes, I am. I'm the person that lives next door.
Okay. Okay. Thank you so much for calling in, and we understand where you are. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Mr. Chair or Mr. Joseph Moorhead has his hand raised. I've allowed him to speak. Mr. Moorhead?
hi could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please joseph moorhead j-o-s-e-p-h
m-o-o-r-h-e-a-d right do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but
the truth yes sir um do you have anything different than what's already been testified
no sir i am against this as well okay and and where do you live mr moorhead 5915 latona street
Thank you so much, Mr. Moorhead, for calling in. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
I do not see any further hands at this time, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman. Ian Hegarty for the City Planning Commission.
Board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing single-family zoning on this site.
However, the existing structure has a pretty clear documented use history.
And as you can see in the photo that's actually up on the screen right now in the exhibits, a physical configuration that's consistent with commercial only use city planning commission recommends that the board grant the variance.
And as you can see in the photo, that's actually up on the screen right now in the exhibit.
Thank you.
Mr. Bergman, would you like to hear from me any other responses to the neighbors or have you heard enough.
Do you do you want to do yourself you want to talk again.
I mean, just real quickly, you know, in terms of, you know, the operations here, this is probably going to be a seasonal operation.
Again, and Maria may be back on right now where she could adopt my statements, but, you know, as a retired decorated police officer, she's not looking to create a nuisance.
We have these types of operations here in downtown Philadelphia. We have Rita's on South Street, Rita's on Spruce Street. We have them, and cars aren't double parking and blocking traffic. The roadways are very wide.
I'm not sure what the statement was Mr. Tyson made about another operation on the same block of, I'm not sure where that would be, 59th Street, there are only two parcels between us and Cobbs Creek, then you have the library across the street, if it's further up or further down, Baltimore Avenue, you know, I would say that that's a different animal.
okay all right thank you mr orphanetes mi 2021 004-592-5901 latona street i vote yes
thomas helman my vote is no
ishmael shaheed my vote is yes so mr orphanage what we'll do is we'll give this to the rest of
the board and let them look at it and then we'll we'll do another vote okay next week okay all
right thank you thank you is there anyone in the virtual audience whose case has not been called
mr chair um this is hillary i i don't know it'll if it'll be next week it just it will depend on
whether the other members have a chance to okay view the video between then and next week but
we'll hold for a vote right well we'll get to it okay yes thank you is there anyone else in the
audience's case okay all right see everybody at 2 o'clock thank you may I
state to all um vba staff and board members try to update i'm sorry um update your um zoom
because we're having a lot of issues um with zoom so if you update to the most recent product
it might work better for us at two o'clock all right thanks okay okay thanks fine
we can begin thank you good afternoon my name is bill bergman and i will be chairing this
afternoon's zba hearings with me is ishmael shaheed president mr chairman thomas hallman
our president mr chairman and james snell our board member present mr chairman also here is
our Executive Director, Tanya Sunket, and our Board Attorney, Hillary Emerson. Here's our
virtual format. Be advised, proceedings are being recorded. By participating, you acknowledge your
agreement to be recorded. A video will be available by contacting tanyasunket at phil.gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves
before testifying. If you are participating by phone, if you wish to testify, press star nine
to raise your hand and star six to unmute. To enter the period statement,