neighbors and that has been fully signed and executed. So turning here to our exhibit package,
here's a copy of the refusal from April 26, 2021.
here's a copy of the refusal from april 26 2022
copy of our application filed last may
along with project information form
we included uh the lease agreement with the school district of philadelphia this lease
is coterminous with the term of the school's charter. Under Pennsylvania law, a public charter
school is permitted to operate for terms of five years, which is then subject to renewal by its
authorizing school district. And my client's charter has been renewed several times. And it
is the intent of the charter school to remain at this site for as long as its charter remains in
operation. Pursuant to this lease, we were required to obtain the approval of the School
District of Philadelphia to come to this hearing essentially and ask for the relief that we're
asking for. A copy of that letter dated September 22 of 2022 from Nicole Ward from the School
District's Office of Capital Programs is included on page 58 of our exhibit package.
Mastery Charter School Piggott Campus is a non-profit corporation.
Our certificate of tax clearance is in our exhibit package.
We submitted site plans.
And what I will do first is go to our photos of the site and then return to those site
plans.
here is the map view of the site again aerial view of the site
this is a view of the property looking from the corner of Pulaski and Rittenhouse streets
up toward the property as you can see there is a large stone wall
that runs along Rittenhouse Streets and Pulaski Avenue. That was pre-existing prior to my
client's occupation of the property. You can see here, we'll see more of it in a moment,
looking down Pulaski Avenue, there's a large berm that runs part of the length of the property.
There is a fence on top of that berm that runs the length of that berm. Right here by this first
This light fixture is where that community garden area sits.
There is existing fencing on two sides of that garden.
This photo is from Pulaski Avenue, looking down towards Rittenhouse here and back towards
the school.
This is the other side of that berm.
The vegetation is relatively dense in this photo, but that fence runs along the top of
that berm here.
Looking at the property from the Rittenhouse Street side, you can see part of the fence
that's along the community garden.
Property sits up several feet here.
The playing field is in this where you see this open area.
Another view of the property from Wayne and Rittenhouse Streets.
The proposed project would be on the other side of the building from this vantage point.
Finally, getting to the field itself.
So from the parking lot area, this is looking west or southwest toward Pulaski Street.
Here is that berm.
You can see the fence running along the top of the berm.
Another photo of the field, this one looking towards or along the back of the school building.
And this is essentially the surface where the synthetic turf fields will be placed.
This is a view of the garden. Now this photo was taken in the fall, so this is sort of at the
at the very tail end of the growing season. Clearly looks like it was a relatively verdant year.
A little bit further back, with your back towards Rittenhouse, looking east-southeast toward the field,
this is the area we were looking at previously where the proposed field would be placed. Where
my mouse is hovering here now is the bulk of the steep slopes that would be affected by the
the current plans for the project so what is proposed is essentially bringing this grade out
not digging into this slope but bringing this grade out and having a retaining wall
Not digging into this slope, but bringing this grade out and having a retaining wall with a small fence above that wall at the end of the northwesterly end zone of that field.
Going to the other side, this is a shot of the existing eight foot fencing that runs along the parking lot.
Under our revised plans, this fencing is to remain.
There's also a shot here of the end of the fence that runs along the top of the berm.
Another shot from the garden. There is a defunct, no longer used foundation for a light pole here
and here. This is approximately how far the field would come out so that retaining wall would run
along where my mouse is hovering then.
Another view of the field, this is essentially the steep slope.
I'm going to cut back to our plans, just to give you an idea of where those slopes are.
The existing steep slopes are as follows.
So if we're looking at the site with Pulaski Avenue running along the bottom,
You see the berm where there are significant slopes. And then also in that area that was behind that soccer goal in one of those photos, that's the area where there's also grades steeper than 25 percent.
As I mentioned, there were original site plans. The original site plans called for a large field
that could house not only football and soccer, but also lacrosse. That was scaled back. My client
originally had intended to put in a walking track, a bituminous walking track six feet wide
around the entire field around the perimeter of the field that was in response to initial
engagement with the community the initial plans called for 21 or so feet of encroachment into
that community garden space as well as tall fencing around the perimeter of the field
So the original vision, as shown here, would also have completely eliminated down to grade that berm that's along Pulaski Avenue.
So all those trees would have been gone. That berm would have been essentially leveled.
And those plans have changed after going through the RCO process to get us to this point today.
So cutting to the chase in terms of our current plans, we submitted a Proviso plans form,
and I'll detail a couple of these changes in a minute, but what the new plans entail
sort of are as follows. The berm remains intact, and as a result, 8,000 fewer square feet from about
13,600 to 5,500 square feet of steep slope area will now have to be disturbed.
The primary reduction is because we're no longer having to level that berm.
That fence is going to remain on the top of the berm.
The fence is going to remain here along the parking lot.
The field was moved in a couple of different ways.
It was moved six feet to the north and also six feet to the east.
And as a result of that, as a result of removing the walking track, my client is now able to fully preserve that community garden use that was very important to members of the community.
The, because the walking track has also been eliminated, that's about 15,000 square feet
that was taken off the total footprint of the field. And the current square footage of this
actual synthetic turf field is about 72,000. So that's reduced by 15 to 18,000 in comparison with
the earlier plans in connection with our revised grading plan or with the revised plans pursuant
to the proviso plans this is our revised grading plan we still need to bring to add phil here and
bring those steep slopes near the soccer bowl and the end zone up to grade but no longer need
but no longer need to have the full disturbance of that berm along Pulaski Avenue.
to have a full disturbance of that berm along Pulaski Avenue.
There were two formal meetings with the West Central Germantown neighbors.
Our hearing was originally scheduled for back in October.
At that time, we had posted the zoning notice.
Here's a copy of the notice.
here's a copy of or pictures rather of where those notices were posted the first
picture show along Wayne Avenue these on the Rittenhouse Street side of the building
these along Pulaski Avenue
for today's hearing we did the same thing here's a copy of the notice
and in those same locations posted this notice several weeks ago
The original RCO meeting in this case was held July 6.
We sent out a notice to near neighbors on June 14, 2022.
A copy of that is here in the exhibit package.
We also attached a copy of the refusal.
The notice was sent to approximately 94, 95 nearby properties.
and the canceled Certificate of Mailings can be seen here.
A second meeting was held prior to this meeting today.
That RCO meeting was held March 1, 2023.
Prior to that, my client also arranged for a less formal and informal presentation
that it conducted on February 22nd,
we included that in our notice as well.
And that we also attached the refusal
and that mailing went out to those same 94, 95
nearby property owners.
In our exhibit package, we also include,
I also included the applicant's presentation
at that RCO meeting, just to give you an idea
of part of the engagement that my client did with the surrounding community.
And what's important there is that, you know, the, as seen here,
the original vision for the field behind the picket school, you know,
was, was like Lincoln financial field essentially, right?
We had originally planned for seating for over a thousand spectators,
a number of outbuildings, a much larger field, walking track, leveling that berm along Pulaski
Avenue, encroaching on the garden significantly, and even having stands along Pulaski Avenue.
That's been significantly reduced. And essentially, there's three main areas of that reduction.
the proposed project now will preserve the entire community garden use, preserve the Pulaski Avenue
berm and the trees thereon, and there was a reduction in seeding by over 80 percent in order
to alleviate traffic and parking concerns of the community. At the RCO meeting my client also
proposed a number of promises and it said we will make these promises real and we will
enshrine them in a community benefits agreement. The community benefits agreement was signed this
week. So just yesterday, along with the RCO letter of support and explanatory letter,
I provided that to the board. A copy of that can be seen here. This is the executed community
benefits agreement. And just to give you an idea of those promises that were made by my client,
they're essentially bringing the community into the fold regarding all of the logistics regarding
construction. They're going to preserve the use of the garden during construction as much as
possible. They're going to pay for the engagement of a gardening consultant regarding best practices
for not only use of the garden during construction, but restoration of
the complete garden after completion of construction.
My clients agreed to not only restore the garden, but also provide for storage of soil,
for example, during construction. Following construction of the field in response to
Following construction of the field in response to some of the concerns of the community, my client has agreed for the entire year following completion of construction that no football games will begin after 5 p.m.
has agreed not to rent or license the picket sports field for non-mastery high school
interscholastic events. And we'll put up signage to indicate to the community when they're able to
freely use the field. Turning back to our exhibit package,
Following that March 1st, 2023 meeting, we did obtain support from the RCO in conjunction with the CBA. A copy of that is seen here. That was provided yesterday.
And in addition, another item that was presented by my client at the March 1 meeting was Master
Charter Schools has obtained $500,000 in redevelopment assistance capital program funding
that will be able to be used for the project and the completion of the field.
The project enjoys support not only from the RCO, but also from Councilwoman Cindy Bass, State Representative Stephen Kinsey, Dr. Alan Waller, Senior Pastor at Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church.
We included those letters with our exhibit package as well.
We also included a number of letters from student athletes at Mastery Charter School,
their coaches, several parents, and then last but not least,
a letter from an individual in the garden group
who had been participating at several of those public meetings.
In addition to those letters of support, we have in our exhibit package petitions of support for the project from near neighbors that were obtained by my client prior to that March 1st, 2023 meeting.
And those can be seen here.
So I'm endeavoring to go through this as efficiently as possible.
So essentially, in summary, you know, this is a project that is an accessory use for an existing educational facility.
We're simply aiming to bring to our students the opportunities that are afforded to students in the suburbs and students at private schools in Philadelphia regularly.
You know, less than a mile away, the Penn Charter School has several fields of synthetic turf for its students, and this would be an incredibly valuable opportunity for mastery students and their surrounding community.
And that concludes my presentation. I'm happy to answer any questions from members of the board.
Why don't you have a representative of the master school adopt your testimony, but I guess just one real quick suggestion for you. I didn't hear, you might want to stay on the record why four foot high fence would not work for you. Is that one of your refusals?
It is indeed.
You might want to say why you think you need the seven foot fence.
That is great advice.
so the reason that the uh the fence sites and and let me go to the revised site plan so that we can
see so there's several areas where the fencing um oh where the fencing is relevant so let me go
through each of them um there is existing fencing along here along the parking lot that's existing
fencing of eight feet in height, that is to remain. There is new proposed fencing where my
mouse is hovering here. That is bordering the community garden. There is existing fencing here
and the proposal is eight foot chain link fence there. That is to maintain the safety of that
community garden um there is no fence here currently where my where my mouse is hovering
yeah um to the extent that you know the the garden crops are are used uh by the community and in fact
i think in one of the meetings it was quoted that you know over ten thousand dollars in produce is
You know, over $10,000 in produce is essentially given to the neighborhood churches every year.
is essentially given to uh
That's something that we're seeking to protect.
Along the field here, on the top of the retaining wall, is another, it's five-foot high fencing.
And that is to maintain the safety of, you know, the individuals playing on the sports team,
whether that's in gym class whether that's members of the community there will be retractable netting
as well so that you know when field goals are being kicked or soccer balls are being kicked
you know they're not flying into the garden or worse flying onto the street so essentially the
requirement for the fencing whether it's five feet in height or eight feet in height ultimately is
safety. Okay. How about why don't you bring on a representative from Mastery School and adopt
your testimony? Sure. Matt Troha, can you raise your hand? He's been allowed to speak. Hi. Could
you state your name, please, and spell it for the court reporter? Matt Troha, M-A-T-T, last name
t-r-o-h-a right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes i do proceed counsel mr troha did you hear my presentation to the board this morning
yes i did do you believe it to be true and accurate to the best of your knowledge
information and belief uh yes it is and would you adopt that testimony as your own testimony
Yes, I do adopt it.
I have nothing further, Mr. Chair.
Questions from the board?
No, Chair.
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Mr. Chair, I see one hand raised from a number in 9660.
Do I speak?