egress based upon the occupancy you know we're using existing masonry stair towers that will
obviously be fitted out with you know new stairs with fire ratings you know the whole building
will get the works in terms of new plumbing electrical mechanical sprinkler um so you know
we did all of that, again, within the existing building envelope, plus that small addition off
the back of the third floor. And again, with the parking mix that we have, you know, we're not
not quite one for one, but, you know, pretty, pretty close, you know, given the existing site
that we had to work with. Thanks, Logan. Yep. Rachel, could you put up the Allegheny West
letter. Sure.
so they reached a position of support given the majority of the people in attendance were in
support okay yeah and and 63 is the least amount of units you can have yeah um the 63 is the most
viable for this project in order to get
the financing that we need and like I said
to compensate for all the structural
issues we had to do as well.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this
time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Chair, we have Charles Richardson.
He's been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Good afternoon, Mr. Richardson.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair.
Just state your name, please, and spell for the court sonographer.
Charles Richardson, R-I-C-H-A-R-D-S-O-N, Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass Room, 508 City Hall.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Certainly do.
Please proceed.
Councilwoman has no opposition to granting the variance.
Thank you very much.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Chair, we have a caller with the phone number ending in 3552.
The caller has been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Could you say, Adrienne, is that you?
Hello?
Hi, Adrienne?
Hi, could you say your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, Adrienne Fernandez.
My last name is spelled F-E-R-N-A-N-D-E-Z, Swampoodle Neighborhood Prices Association, RCO.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
Yes. I just wanted to assure that our letter of support would include the three provisos that were in our written testimony.
why don't you mention the provisos so we have it on the record do you want me to read them okay
yeah please
can you give me a minute i didn't have them pulled up or i think um hillary is it possible
you can read them i'm sorry i'm not in an environment where i can get to them quickly
one moment please thank you okay the first proviso was indoor storage of trash and recycling
except at commercial collection times um two limit of 63 units three no rooftop deck occupancies
rooftop structures for mechanical use only so we can't we don't have a roof deck proposed
so that's not a big deal
but we have a trash enclosure outside
we can't fit a trash
enclosure inside the
structure but we will have commercial trash pickup
and we do have a trash enclosure
designated outside
on the plans
which I did share with
Adrian which
before
Adrian do you have anything
can we do our three provisions
pardon me
can we do all three provisos we can't do the trash one adrian no so we can do one which is
the trash oh we can do the there is no roof deck so there's nothing no roof deck is proposed for
this so i don't know that we need a proviso for something that's not on the plans um okay yes we
wanted to provide though there for any future changes to the building. Okay, you wouldn't be
able to get it without a variance, but I'll leave that up for Hillary. She can make the decision on
that one. What was the other one? Yeah, we're only proposing 63 units. So it could be maximum 63
units. I'm fine with that. Okay. So, Hillary, how many of the providers can be confirmed?
Yeah, well. With the roof, I was going to say, I mean, certainly you can say maximum 63 units
based on the current zoning of the property. You need a variance to go beyond that because
that is what is being requested um with the roof deck i'm not sure with that without further review
whether that would be a by right use or not um i guess we could proviso that um and and as rachel
um and and as rachel said the the trash is proposed outdoors because of space constraints
said the the trash is proposed
closed.
okay so that means that out of the three sorry my background as well out of the three
two of the provisos or one can be confirmed i i think two of them would be okay
okay thank you all right thank you is there anyone else anyone else in the virtual audience
i just wanted to swear in my client as well just whenever that makes sense
okay um uh ben zion siegler if you can uh raise your hand so that you can be brought on
thank you
Ben Zion Seeger
has been unmuted and allowed to speak
Hi sir
could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer
My name
is Ben Zion Seeger
Ben Zion is B-E-N-Z-I-O-N
last name S-I-E-G-E-R
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Please proceed counsel
Ben, have you heard my testimony today in front of the board?
Do you believe it to be true and accurate, and do you adopt it as your own?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Any other questions from the virtual audience?
I see no hands at this time, Chair.
My Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good afternoon.
David Fecto with the City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from industrial to general industry,
to industrial and commercial mixed use.
Previous owners received a use permit in 1996
to convert the property into a church.
Churches are considered in the zoning code
to be compatible with residential blocks.
And the proposed residential use furthers
the conversion of this building away from industry
and is substantially in keeping
with the residential nature of the block.
We acknowledge that this is a tough site to work with,
but the code does allow appellants
to apply for waivers for landscaping requirements
to avoid generating refusals so the city planning commission recommends that the board grant the
proposed use variants for multi-family dwellings but deny the proposed landscape variances
um council you want to respond to that yeah um the city waivers um i believe um
i don't know that if we i listen i've done them on a number of other projects but typically when
you have a bunch of other refusals you kind of lump everything in at once so whenever this was
applied for we tried to accommodate landscaping as much as possible and uh you know again given
we have four or three other refusals and we did our best with the landscaping we felt that that
was was reasonable and again we've provided the information related to the hardship on this site
and the trade-off between parking and bushes and trees.
Thank you.
MI 2023, 005-893-2214, West Ontario.
I vote yes, with proviso.
Maximum 63 units and no rooftop decks.
Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes, with provisos.
James Snell. My vote is yes, but provisos.
Ishmael Shaheem. My vote is yes, but provisos.
Thank you, counsel. Thank you.
Number six, MI 2023-005-892-1204, chest on a treat.
Adam Laver is the attorney.
Letter of non-opposition from Council Member Squilla.
Letter of non-opposition from Washington Square West Civic Association.
Mr. Laver.
Laver is coming back in as a panelist now, Chair.
Afternoon, Mr. Laver.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Good afternoon, Chairman Bergman and members of the board.
Adam Laver of Blank Rome, 1 Logan Square.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, Chairman Bergman, I do.
Could you identify your client and relationship to this property?
Certainly. Blankrome represents RP-DOE-16 Incorporated and Shah S-H-A-H Management Company, the proposed lessee of the subject premises.
Vice Chair has just a few questions for you, sir.
Good afternoon, Counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Good afternoon, Vice Chairman Shahid. We certainly stipulate to the accuracy of the notice of referral.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed and required to proceed with this?
have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed and required to
proceed with this in advance of this hearing yes we have thank you council please proceed
and share your screen thank you mr chairman members of the board on the screen before you
where the cursor is is the location of the subject property this regards the proposed
to use registration of the ground floor of 1204 Chestnut Street for a new Dunkin' location,
formerly known as Dunkin' Donuts.
Pari Shah, who's president and principal of the local Dunkin' franchisee Shah Management
Company, as well as Brian McCauley, director of operations, are present for this virtual
hearing.
Shaw Management Company is a local minority-owned business with a 33-year-long proud record of investment in the community, both economically, for example, by employing local Philadelphians, but also charitably in their good works throughout the region.
Purry owns 19 Duncan locations, 15 of them in Philadelphia.
Nearby locations include 1100 Walnut Street, 808 Chestnut Street, the recently remodeled 809 South Broad Street, and locations in Suburban Station, among others.
The proposed tenant space is in this location here, right off of Chestnut Street, that's covered in purple paper.
It is the ground floor of the found residences. That's the name of the apartment building. The space is about 1,700 square feet. There is the entrance through these doors on Chestnut Street and service access at the rear of the property, which lets out onto 12th.
So here's an aerial. You can see chestnut at the front. The red is showing the lines of the property. This is on one of the city stormwater maps. And here you can see an alley out to 12th Street for purposes of service.
Here's another aerial photograph. The former Beneficial Bank Historic Building, which is now the Drexel Law Building, is on the corner right next to the property.
and here we see 12th street the access to the service alley at the back
the zoning map shows us that the property is located within the cmx5 zoning district
however we're here today because this is subject to the chestnut and walnut street overlay
requiring special exception relief for takeout restaurants the pending application concerns
a single issue a request for special exception relief for a takeout restaurant which i've
highlighted so that you can see it easily here are working floor plans for the property for the for
the duncan showing the entrance off of chestnut street with these through these double doors
It's ADA accessible. There are ADA accessible self-service kiosks along the western edge of the restaurant, a staffed service counter typical of Duncan locations, and most of the space is back of house operations, including room for indoor trash storage.
And at the rear, you can see the egress for commercial trash pickup.
The project was reviewed by the coordinating RCO, Washington Square West Civic Association, which unanimously endorsed a position of non-opposition.
Council Member Squilla offers non-opposition as well.
The proposed restaurant would be a fully takeout restaurant serving as an amenity to residents living at the found residences, as well as to those in the greater community.
Proposed hours of operation would be seven days per week, 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., providing eyes and ears on the street and an active use.
Curry expects to employ approximately 20 people at this location with each shift including
approximately eight to nine employees.
Trash pickup is expected via Republic Services through the rear via totes.
The Dunkin' menu does not rely on on-site fryers or related equipment.
All that is needed is the ability to heat up products.
An exhaust for this purpose is set up through that rear alley that I had pointed out.
The proposal fits into the surrounding neighborhood as evidenced by the neighborhood position, which speaks to the granting of relief being of benefit to the public and within the spirit of the zoning code.
Mr. Shah and or Mr. McCauley are available to.
Mr. Shah and or Mr. McCauley are available to adopt and affirm at the appropriate time, Mr. Chairman.
Why don't you bring him on now?
Okay. Mr. McCauley or Mr. Shah, would you kindly raise your virtual hand to be recognized by Chairman Bergman?
Perry Shah has been unmuted and allowed to speak.