ZBA Hearing - October 28, 2026

all right as the board said we have received a um a letter of non-opposition from both the rco

and from councilman squilla we just want to actually clarify some things on with regard

to the letter from the rco we're fine with those conditions we did meet with the rco on august 11th

and we had a number of follow-up conversations with the RCO chair,

the committee chair, David Goldfarb, following that meeting,

and this is where we arrived at with these conditions.

I just want to make sure the board understands

as far as resubmitting an official application to the streets department.

They were asking for us to plant street trees along Darien Street.

I do have Amanda Albano here from Bowler Engineering,

and she did submit a streets department application probably about a year ago and

because of underground utilities no street trees were required we did agree though that we would

submit an application to the streets department parks and recreation and ask if we can put them

in there we did tell the rco and david goldfarb that it's really up to the streets department we

were already they already agreed that you shouldn't put street trees in there because of the underground

utilities but just so the board's clear that's what we're going to do we don't know the outcome

of that but it may be denied as i said because of the underground utilities but we will submit an

application also they had asked and they had this straw poll that they put in this rco letter of

non-opposition and they said that everybody was opposed to us having a roof an enclosed trash

area without a roof and as we explained at the rco meeting and in follow-up meetings we have a

variance request for maximum occupied area which we're looking for 88 if we had enclosed it with

a roof roof fully enclosed it would increase our variance request we can't do that coming to the

board it would have to be a new application because you can't expand a variance it would

only be a reduction in there in the variance so we just wanted to make that clear

so just to orient the board to the property

it's at 1101 south 9th street as you can see

wanting to enlarge the photos yeah that's one

it's within the south 9th street market or what was known as the italian market

here's the site over here it's currently a vacant lot it's fenced in if you can see the

across the street at 9th and washington there are the 9th street markets here the other retail

spaces as you can see they're one story as well we moved down here's washington avenue here's

our site as you can see there are turnoffs and striping on washington avenue where other cars

or trucks actually pull in

now we move down farther here this is washington avenue again you see the striping existing

striping this is darien street darien street is less than seven feet wide

here it is again this is ninth street you can see the retail spaces that are one one story

until you get farther down the street so what we're asking for is compatible with the existing

until you get farther down the street so what we're asking for is compatible with the

neighborhood and existing market area this is also from darien looking towards the site

here's our aerial this is our site runs right along washington darien and then south 9th street

we have refusals for a use refusal for the accessory sign we have two dimensional

refusals one for the off-street loading and one for maximum occupied area and then we have

a special exception a referral for the roof deck for the commercial space

so with that i'll take us down to the zoning site plan as you can see the lot is an odd shaped lot

there are ins and outs of this property it might be better on the zoning site plan if you can see

here the dark bold line is the actual property line our building is going to be one story

it's going to have about 11 we're looking for about 11 tenants for this property here's the

floor layout the increase in occupied area is going to allow us to provide more space for the

existing or for the proposed tenants the reason for that is so they can have back of house or

accessory uses in the rear of these retail units it's what philadelphia tenants are looking for

and our client can testify to that they're looking for more space if we shrunk the building

to meet the eighty percent we would then have to go up more than one story that wouldn't be

compatible with the neighborhood it would also cause additional troubles as far as meeting the

criteria for variance here's the roof deck just laid out up there it meets the setback requirements

and other zoning code requirements here are the renderings so if you can see this is the proposed

sign it's an accessory sign it says shops at ital at the italian market we have agreed that

it would change to shops at ninth street south ninth street let me be specific about yes shops

at 9th street market the rcos for that that's fine with us as you can see there are awnings

this is one story it's compatible with the adjacent properties

we also require a an off-site loading space the problem with the off-street loading space

is that we're not permitted to have any curb cuts along 9th south 9th street because of the overlay

that was something that the RCO was not looking to support either apparently this came out of a

previous project so our request for a variance just for not providing a loading space

is the least modification you can ask for for this project as I said there are you can't have

a curb cut either along Washington Avenue because of its proximity to the intersections and

And obviously, Darien Street is not a viable option.

The sign is accessory.

It was refused because it's above the bottom of the second floor windowsill, but it's actually

going to be located on the rooftop.

Roof signs aren't permitted.

But again, Washington Avenue, as you know, is a commercial corridor.

This will be more or less a beacon to invite people into the market along 9th Street.

so it will be beneficial to the community as well as the retail vendors along the South

9th Street market.

Did you say you put the deck up?

We have a deck.

There is a proposed deck.

And explain what was that before, the employees that go up and rest?

No, that's a good question.

So there's a potential restaurant tenant right along here, along South 9th Street.

so it would be right exactly it would be for the use of that commercial tenant

you need a special exception for uh rooftop decks um but obviously it would it would cause

no specific detrimental impact to the neighborhood because these roof decks are typical for restaurant

uses and also in commercial areas we also want to note that there would be a hardship if we were

not granted these variances number one because the variances really support the the uses here

The building, everything else about the building and the uses that will be permitted by right in the CMX 3 are going to be supported by this, by the roof deck, by the accessory sign, acting as a beacon to this commercial area.

the building everything else about the building and the uses that will be permitted by right

The loading space, as we noted, there are no viable options, and the RCO would be more opposed to a curb cut along 9th Street.

So our only option would be seeking a variance from the 9th Street overlay, but that would actually cause more problems, be more intense use, and completely be unsupported and opposed by the RCO.

I don't know if anybody has any questions or if you'd like me to.

Do you want to bring your client?

Yes.

First, I'd like to call David Smollett up.

He's the architect.

I would just like to recognize him as an expert, as an architect,

and I can ask some questions before we move forward with that,

before he answers the variance questions.

Why don't I do this?

Why don't I swear him in first?

Okay.

Why don't you get a little closer to the mic?

Sure.

Could you please state and spell your name for this photographer?

Yes, it's David Smollett, D-A-V-I-D, Smollett, S-M-A-L-L-E-T-S.

Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

Yes.

Counsel?

Thank you.

David, could you describe who you work for, how long you've worked for them, and what

your role is with regard to this Italian market project?

I'm the managing principal of the Perkins Eastman Studio in Philadelphia.

We're located at 1216 Arch Street.

Formerly, we were BLT Architects, and I've been at BLT slash Perkins Eastman since 2000.

I'm a registered architect in the state of Pennsylvania since September 2006.

I'm the principal in charge of the project as well.

Thank you.

I'd like to offer David as an expert in architecture.

Sure.

I mean, he's just going to testify about this project, right?

Yes.

So, David, you heard my presentation.

Was it accurate to the best of your knowledge?

Yes.

And if you were to testify, would you adopt my presentation as your testimony?

Yes.

Yes. And is there anything you would like to add about the project that I may have missed as far as the variance request and special exception we're here for today?

No, I think you covered it all.

In your opinion, will the denial of the variances for the location of this sign, as well as the maximum occupied area and the loading space cause a hardship?

Yes.

And if we had to meet that 80%, that would cause an economic impact really detrimental to the project?

Yes. To get the same area, we'd have to add a second floor, which increases elevators and other means of getting people upstairs.

Also, retail tenants are going to want ground floor spaces, so it makes more sense there.

And will the use variance for the sign, will it alter the nature or the character of the neighborhood?

no i think it's good for the character of the neighborhood it's a retail beacon sign it's for

the whole community not just this building okay and you heard me go through the use refusal for

the sign and the dimensional variances would you say that our request today is a lease modification

to this project that we're asking for relief on today yes and will the grant of the variances

and the special exception for the roof increase the rooftop deck increased congestion in the streets

no with an far of five we're well under the allowable development area

will it endanger the public health safety or welfare no and of course the project will go

through building code lni and fire reviews and does it injure appropriate use of adjoining or

adjacent properties granted these variances no all the uh tenant spaces will be you know zoning by

right and will it impact transportation or other public facilities uh no again i think we're well

under the developable area all right will the uh will it impact an adequate supply of light and air

uh no it's a one-story retail building okay and as far as the grant of the special exception

the standard is that it won't cause any specific detriment to the neighborhood

beyond that which would be expected from this kind of views would you agree with that yes

all right that concludes my questions i i can have our our client scott haner come up as well

too but if you bring him up you're just going to adopt you yes yeah he's just going to do that

thanks how are you sir could you please state and spell your name for the stenographer yes i'm

scott haner that's good that's good scott haner s-c-o-t-t-h-a-y-n-e-r right do you swear or

affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes counsel thank you scott you

Thank you. Scott, you heard my presentation, correct?

heard my uh presentation correct yes and would you say that

Yes.

And would you say that my presentation was accurate regarding this project?

Yes.

And if you were to testify, would you adopt my presentation as your testimony?

Yes.

Okay. Specifically with regard to what local tenants and what tenants are looking for in the Philadelphia market as far as additional space to the rear and the economic detriment?

Yes.

Okay. Thank you.

Questions from the board?

yes i have two questions my first question is really about sort of the historic awning quality

in the neighborhood while you guys did include an overhang over the openings um for the different

retail spaces it does have a very different awning approach than the rest of even its block

in the neighboring blocks and i just wanted to understand like why you didn't continue

the full sidewalk army i can um ask david smallest to come back up the architect thank you

david audience we're just just answering questions did you hear the question yes

i think we wanted to be a little bit more comfortable yeah or pull towards you it'll

come right just pull it down am i good now yeah we're looking to be a little bit more contemporary

with the style of the building also with the um our interpretation of the zoning code uh the

awnings actually would be because they're attached to the building would be part of the

coverage so we would have increased coverage so these are actually not um solid at the top they're

open okay okay um and then i think my second question is about the location of the roof deck

um it's next to the only residential properties on that block and so what was done to sort of

mitigate any sound or light transfer from the potential restaurant for the neighbors next door

and then a follow-up question is probably more for either eileen or the owner did either um

that any of those residents come to the rco meeting and sign in support that live above

there's four mixed-use buildings adjacent so I don't know what their addresses were

we sent out the neighbor notice and that's in our packet as you can see there were about 13 people

that actually stayed for our presentation there was a presentation before ours so the room was

full but when ours came up most of the people left so that was those were the people that

apparently had an interest in what was happening so it looks like it's 1135 1137 1139 and 1141

south 9th street are the buildings that have residences above nobody came in they actually

didn't have an issue with the roof deck okay i have a question about um the actual sign so is

the sign lit how is it is the sign lit at night like how is the sign yes so illuminated so as i'm

Yeah, the letters are internally illuminated, but it'll be more or less from dusk until the

hours of operation end. So it's not a dusk to dawn type of thing. It's while the stores are

in operation. And if you're proposing to not have a loading area, how do you, what is the plan?

Like, what do you think, how people are going to drop off deliveries? Will there be plans to have

loading spaces on the street or like what's that plan yes there's existing parking lanes and we

will work with the rco who is in favor of having um on street loading zones uh dedicated on both

9th street and washington f ready questions from our attorney no questions at this questions or

comments from the virtual audience i see a raised hand okay i will allow to speak sure

Could you please state and spell your name

for the stenographer?

My name is John Black

J-O-H-N

B-L-A-C-K