Thank you. And you have been, have you taken on many projects as with restaurants, interior layout, interior design?
Okay, very good. Well, did you get an opportunity to look at this applicant's plans of the interior layout of the restaurant as it now currently exists and any associated photos?
Yes, I did.
Okay. And you understand that the applicant is here today because they would like to be using takeout service on the side of their building. You do understand that, is that right?
Okay, and based on your expert opinion, as a designer of food service industry and restaurants and architect, could the applicant use the existing interior space to accomplish the very same goal that they have today?
Do you mean to have takeout in a different part of the restaurant?
Could they use the interior part of their restaurant for both sit-down and take-out service without having to use Fulton Street as prohibited by their proviso?
Yes, I believe so.
Okay, very well.
Would they be the only small restaurant in the area that you know of that does both take-out and sit-down from their main dining room?
I KNOW I MEAN MOST RESTAURANTS AREN'T ON CORNERS SO THEY ALL GO THROUGH THE FRONT IF THEY DON'T
HAVE A SIDE IF THEY MOST OF THEM DON'T EVEN HAVE AN OPTION FOR A SIDE EXIT SO MOST OF
THEM ARE USING THE FRONT FOR TAKE OUT UNDERSTOOD THANK YOU VERY MUCH MR. CHAIR I HAVE NOTHING
further. We do very short summations. I just want to see if Mike has any cross. Okay, Mike,
you have cross for that. Just one quick question for Mr. Toner. Sure. Wouldn't it be better as,
well, Mr. Toner, did you hear or see or read the testimony of Jonathan Deutch from the last
hearing, our restaurant industry expert? I read his report. I did not see a recording of his
testimony. And I read the report that he wrote as part of your exhibits from the previous
presentation. Thank you. And wouldn't it be better if you had the takeout restaurant portion right
by the kitchen where you have better storage and food service and food safety and everything else
rather than have to walk it all the way through the restaurant, as Dr. Dewich said in his testimony?
well i don't disagree that it's more convenient to do it that way um but it's not that it's
it's not impossible to do it other ways and most restaurants do no further questions mr chairman
thank you thank you you want to have public comment mr chairman before
summation? I'm going to do public comment, but I thought, well, all right, we can do it.
Questions from the, well, let's do questions. No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience? Mr. Chair, we have a Ms. Jane Merrines with her
hand raised. I have allowed her to speak at this time. Sure. Hello? Hi, could you state your name,
please and spell for the court reporter uh jane mary lee m-e-r-r-y-l-e-e-s like sam
mary lee all right do you swear from tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
Who's she?
The dreaded door
Has always been there
Alright
Just to make that clear
I live at 206 Fulton Street
Directly across the street
The restaurant
It has been used
recently but you know my windows are closed and so forth but what i wanted
you know, my windows are closed and so forth.
But what I wanted to really mention and to stress
is the fact that if the restaurant is granted the takeout,
then if they move, anybody can use it.
It goes with the property.
And that can't happen.
Thank you.
Another thing was, and it's escaped me for a minute, the chaos of the driving.
Last Friday, we couldn't get into the street because of a big white car.
I guess it was an Uber or something.
And that happens often enough to be irritating.
Other than that, I agree pretty much with Greg.
The restaurant is great.
It's the people that hang around are very loud and sometimes boisterous.
Okay, bye.
So Snow Nose, thank you for taking the time, Colin.
We appreciate your input.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, Mr. Chair.
I have Martha Morowitz with her hand raised.
I have a lot of her to speak.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
My name is Martha Morowitz.
That's M-A-R-T-H-A-M-O-R-O-W-I-T-Z.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
I would just like to state that given the prior testimony,
it would appear that all of the neighbors are in opposition to the restaurant's take-out window.
The neighbors can speak for themselves.
She can't speak for them, Mr. Chairman. All right. So would you do, would you just give me your
comments, not other people's thoughts? So tell me. Well, I just wanted to let you know that that is
not a universal opinion. There are many people in close proximity. Mr. Chairman, she can't speak
about the other people. Okay. All right. Okay. I will, I will, I will limit my comments to myself.
Sure. You'll have to forgive me. I'm not a professional testifier. No, no, no. Just tell us what you think.
In any case, I live almost directly across the street from the restaurant in a historic building. And I was sorry when the pandemic hit that everybody had to shut down.
But I was thrilled when they opened up to do takeout because then we could continue to use them as a resource in the neighborhood.
And our fear, my husband and mine, is that if the restaurant is not allowed to use the takeout window,
that they will go back to their late night hours and everything that was happening prior to the pandemic
in order to make ends, not even make ends meet,
but make a profit as they should be able to.
So that is my comment.
I'm hoping that they will be able to continue
with the takeout window
and then operate under more reasonable hours
and continue to service the neighborhood.
Thank you for your call and your input.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, I have a Mr. Daniel Orr with his hand raised.
I have a lot of them to speak at this time.
Hi, could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please?
Sure. My name is Daniel Orr, last name O-R-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Are you a neighbor?
Yes, I live across the street from Royal Sushi. I'm a near neighbor.
All right, proceed.
So I would say it's a great restaurant. My wife and I ate there 36 times last year,
but their takeout window is a noise and traffic nightmare for the neighborhood.
And there's nothing that they've said that entitles them to a variance.
um you know the to obtain a variance the app cannot show unnecessary hardship and the variance
is in public interest and the singer versus philadelphia zoning board case is directly on
point here um it's so i would just urge the board to consider that case it's 29 a3d 144
the commonwealth court decision um i'd also just point out that you know that the near neighbors
the rco and you know council member esquila um have all come out in written opposition to this
So from what I can see, there's really no basis in fact or law to grant this variant.
Thank you for your input, and we appreciate you calling in.
Is there anyone else?
Yes, sir.
A Chutati Psunteranon with their hand raised.
I have allowed them to speak at this time.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Hi, my name is Tutatipsun Taranon. I am the chef owner of Kaliyaki Restaurant.
Hi, my name is Chutati Psunteranon.
I am the chef.
Hold up, hold up, hold up. Could you spell your name for the court reporter, please?
My name is Tutatipsun Taranon. Let me spell it for you.
C for Charlie, H for Hotel, U for Uniform, T for Tango, A for Alpha, T for Tango, I for
India, P for Paul.
Family name, S for Sugar, U for Uniform, N for Nancy, T for Tango, A for Alpha, R for
Roger, A for Alpha, N for Nancy, O for Oscar, N for Nancy.
Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
I am. I live in Queen Village. My address is 743 South 3rd Street.
As a neighbor and a chef owner of a small business that serves the ethnic food, food of our culture,
and I survived the pandemic by the takeout,
and I have to pivot by have the separate takeout window to reduce the congestion of the customers
and prevent the spread of COVID-19, which is still around.
I am here to support the use of takeout window for Royal Isakaya.
As so many families in Queen Village, Royal Isakaya take a big part in our community,
providing high-quality food service since the day they opened.
restaurant is part of the community and should be able to find the way restaurant and neighbor
should be able to find a way to support each other and royal isakaya brought the diversity
to our neighborhood jesse ito is national recognized chef with his talents and the
way he uniquely presents the food of his culture takeout window will help decrease
the congestion in the dining room and create the flow of the service
As a chef and a restauranteur, I would strongly urge the board to be kind of consider approval of the permit.
Small restaurant has been heard deeply from the pandemic, and we should all be supportive to our neighbor and small business.
Thank you very much for taking the time to call in and your input.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair, we have Breit.
What do you have?
Mr. Breit, you can unmute yourself.
Yeah, my name is Brett Feingerts.
Could you spell it, please, for the court reporter?
Yeah, Feingerts is F-E-I-N-G-E-R-T-S.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
Yes, I live at 235 Catherine Street, which backs up to 244 Fulton Street.
Goes block to block.
Are you in favor of the project?
uh i i am in favor of supporting royal izakaya's takeout window okay um i i live on fulton street
um is the street frequently blocked yes it's blocked all the time whether royal izakaya is
open or not um so i i i find it hard to to blame them for that i i think it's a combined contribution
of the majority of the people and businesses around there, Amazon deliveries, the postal
service mail, Uber drivers, construction projects, and sometimes just quick stops.
So you're in favor of the project, am I right?
Thank you for taking the time to call, and we appreciate it.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Chair, we have Eleanor Ingersoll.
Ms. Ingersoll, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Yes, it's Eleanor Ingersoll, E-L-E-A-N-O-R, Ingersoll, I-N-G-E-R-S-O-L-L.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Are you a neighbor?
Yes, I am.
Are you in favor of the project or against it?
In favor.
Where do you live at?
I live at 311 Monroe Street.
We appreciate you calling in.
Thank you very much.
I have been a resident of Queen Village for 24 years.
I ate at the previous restaurant, La Barola.
And when Royal Itzakaya opened, it was actually frustrating because you could not call in a takeout order.
You had to go into the bar, order there, wait for it, and take it away.
Like some of the other comments we've heard today, it was such a relief that they were
open, able to open so quickly after the pandemic started, and do so in order to
able to open so quickly after the pandemic started, and do so in an orderly fashion.
When you go to order, you get a timestamp that tells you exactly when to come and pick it up,
and it takes literally two seconds to arrive, get your order, and leave. Because by that time,
you've already paid, so there's no waiting there to do it. Everything is done online, again,
extremely orderly. And actually, I was late one time, and they were not happy with me.
So there's that. And the idea that the pandemic has forced businesses to create new business
plans to survive, and that includes food delivery and food pickup. And the idea, again,
also to echo what was previously said, that the idea that not allowing this window would stop