intending on doing? We have a lot of variety of food because we're in like a neighborhood where
everybody's different from spanish food to american food to jamaican food just a lot of
different options for our area um and then i know we didn't speak about the basement the basement
as of now will be like our stock area storage yes right now i have a big um i want the pictures is
here i'm so mad they're not being here but it's like a walk-in refrigerator that basement area
has a cold box down there that has been approved it's in a licensed area um and storage area for
from the um board of liquor control um so that is it has always been licensed um and it has always
been part of that first floor bar um and what we're really looking to do is extend this up
to the second floor so she has more seating and we literally don't have nowhere to put the kitchen
at downstairs on the first floor if you see it's really really teeny and upstairs was a kitchen
area but it just wasn't approved so when we when i boarded i didn't have no clue that it wasn't even
a two-floor bar and the liquor license is is for a two-floor bar so i'm just totally confused on
what happened but we don't have a room to put it downstairs we definitely need the upstairs to be
for more seating and to be able to have a full kitchen.
Let me understand. Do we have tax compliance? Do you have a form for tax compliance?
I submitted a form for Ms. Abriel for tax compliance.
Yes. It is in my computer.
You submitted it to who? There it is.
Okay. Yeah.
Yeah, my apologies. And I did, I don't know if it's showing up or not yet.
I could have sworn I did it on Monday. I do have a copy of the letter. So what Ms. Patio is trying
to do is trying to bring back a neighborhood commercial business into an area that has
businesses on the four corners. Just continue the use. You will see that the meeting was noticed.
You will see that the meeting was noticed.
It was done back in early November of 2024, I believe, or late October of 2024.
It was done back in...
And due to a comedy of errors, administrative errors, I was not the one who originally applied
for the zoning appeal.
And so all the documents were going to someone else as opposed to me.
So this had been continued once due to surgery for me and then once because nobody was noticed and it wasn't properly posted.
So we made sure that was done and we're given a short date.
And I can tell you, and I will submit this through the system, the Kensington Independent Civic Association, which is the ROC, did state applicant attend in the required meeting in the community.
It was agreed the applicant's request was approved with the following provisions.
and those are installations of cameras and lightings trash secured uh management will
keep the property free of trash and vagrants to the best of their ability and sunday to thursday
they will close at 12 a.m um and impact services had a representative the meeting is willing to
work with applicant with city programs for the cameras and lights and i will submit that to you
yeah so you know what i i do think though before we vote on it we should at least see what it looks
like inside absolutely so so so so i do have mr nevis on i believe he is available and he can
discuss yeah i mean he can tell us what it looks like but i i do think we need to at least see so
what i would do is all that that's all everything that's inside that this is what is inside miss
Patio had to wind up calling a locksmith
to break in. The locks were just...
It's been two years. I lost the keys.
I couldn't find them. We didn't do no work.
I literally just got a locksmith yesterday
and went in there and took all those pictures.
$25 to print them out.
There's literally no way to get upstairs
unless you walk through the bar.
Here's...
I'm going to let the board have some questions,
but what I'm going to do is
we're not going to vote today.
We'll vote next week.
and i want copies of the inside that everybody could see okay so what you're basically doing
is the first floor and the basement was used for the bar before and now you want to spread
instead of third floor correct okay questions for the board then i guess we just got to see
if the um provisos are enforceable that was the trash could be important and the times
yeah cool what the trash and the times times if they're asking for me yeah yeah they are legally
um permitted to um stay open until 2 a.m um miss patil why she would like to like to be able to do
that um she does understand the concerns of the neighbors during the week um and i think she's
going to be willing to work with them to keep noise down because that's why we need to figure
out that they're forcible because the liquor license come with certain hours um that you can
operate right and but we review that with our attorney and make sure we align that and as i
was going to say um the previous owner um the previous bar it was just a raucous bar that was
you know things were not you know it was not a great place let's let's look questions for the
board. Yes. Question. How many seats do you plan to have on the first floor? How many seats on the
second floor? We could count them as literally 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 seats will be on the
first floor against the wall. And then as you can see, it'll be 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, about nine seats
against the bar and then we have two seats in the back by the bedroom and then upstairs is tables so
people can actually have a seat and have a good dinner we have one two three four five tables and
we have a small bar area and also two bathrooms up there with the kitchen okay and the venting
for the kitchen is through the roof yes in the back where the kitchen is yes it's nowhere near
the bar or the seating area. It's all the way on the other side of the building. All right and the
layout for the kitchen you've discussed with the health department? Yes everything is laid out and
noted. You can see literally what everything is going to be and where what everything is literally
on the pictures. Okay. Our three compartment sinks, our refrigerators, our stool top, everything is
literally listed on that first picture to the but this was a plan that you went through the
health department to make sure that the kitchen is laid out properly um i'm not sure that we can
ask mr richard but he's definitely a licensed architect so he kind of knows how um the health
how um the health department wants things done because this is not his first encounter with a
department wants things done because this is not his first encounter with
bar so he did it to his knowledge of you know everything that he's seen and everything that
he knows but i'm not sure if he if it went to the health department as of yet you got to get a
license from the health department yeah i know that he just was saying that is this like how
the health department will want it and from my knowledge it is because mr navius that this is
not his first bar like he he taught me a lot i'm gonna be honest so right i will believe so i i i
did code enforcement work for the city for a while with the health department yeah so um there are
certain layouts for um uh kitchens and that's what i was really asking about like you know the hand
sinks the three bay sink that's it's all here you can literally see the two compartments sink the
hand wash sink everything is there okay and miss gaston what we will do is she's been stalled
for so long with this zoning that she hasn't proceeded with those portions so once she is
zoning and and permitting and and the construction starts to get done that's one of the steps
is going to be to apply to the health department you know provide the plans to the health department
if any changes need to be made then they would be made at that point with the architect with
miss patel based on what what the health department would require because obviously
okay okay question other questions for the board what is going to be the use that's in the open
lounge area on the basement because it sounds like we're trying to shift primary activities
to the second the first and the second floor instead of the basement in the first floor
so what are you going to do with that space that you're reclaiming in the basement it's just going
to be like for storage okay so just expanded storage yes we have closets down there the
store liquor and supplies we have a mop sink down there so you know when we need to clean we can have
our mop sink somewhere safe and we just have a the storage off slash office and then we also have
a utility area i think what they're concerned about abriel is it says open lounge area that's
not going to be for customers oh no no no no no that's just an open just an open floor i think
he might have just it was like an area but we're definitely not going to be sitting or serving any
liquor in a basement that's just definitely for storage the stillings is way too low we can't even
barely walk and then on the first floor i know you just said that there's 15 seats but that is a
banquette booth seating that's against the wall so that is actually capacity for like 42 persons
on the first floor correct yeah they're they're basically like booths but it just look like seats
but it's basically like a bench and then what you see in front of it is a table all right no no i
can read the plan i just said 15 seats and that's that's 42 seats i think you meant 15 tables 15
tables yes i'm sorry okay and then um for the bathrooms at the rear i see that they have the
five foot turning radius for wheelchairs and i just is the first floor fully accessible yes we
have a ramp outside there's a ramp outside okay just just so you know that the three foot two
in between the chairs once people are sitting in them um that's going to be a tight alleyway
for any person with a wheelchair to get through so it just might be something that you want to
look at are you saying like between the bar and the tables between the seats at the bar and the
seats at the table right now they're depicted and they're not like where they would be if a person
was sitting on them so like that you know depending on how far back a person pulls their seat or if
you allow people to stand at the bar that is a three foot wide walkway so it's it's tight so
it's no seats on this side of the booth so literally it's a bench and it's a table it's
no i understand you i'm just letting you know that there's a three foot clearance thank you
that like with movable furniture which means that if a person move the furniture back too far
it might not be clear so that might be something more if we have to because we have a lot of room
beyond the bar we definitely will push it back more if we have to other questions uh yeah the
takeout question how does that work do they have to go all the way up to the second floor to the
kitchen area or how would you work in case to take out? No, they will order downstairs and
the servers will bring it down and they'll take it out. We have two doors. So one is on G Street
and one is on Tioga. So it will work kind of like that. They wouldn't have to go upstairs to order
and do nothing if they leave it right out. So you're saying one of the doors will be designated
for takeout? I'm not going to say one of the doors will be designated, but definitely takeout
will be done downstairs. They will not have to walk upstairs to the kitchen if they're not
going upstairs, but like the
bar in the OJ area. Thank you.
Welcome. Questions from our
attorney? No,
attorney no chair other than just i agree that we we should hold this uh just the board can
Chair, other than just I agree that we should
hold this.
receive its requested materials yep questions or comments from the virtual audience
i do not see any hands with the jet planning commission do you want to wait for the photos
or no i'm fine to testify thank you um amy war with the planning commission the comprehensive
plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from residential single family rsa
to commercial mixed use cmx2 that would allow a sit-down restaurant buy rate and a takeout
restaurant with a special exception additionally the property has a documented history of restaurant
use since at least 1934 the planning commission recommends the board grant the requested variance
for a takeout restaurant i'm sorry i misspoke um the planning commission recommends the board
grant the requested variance for sit-down restaurant and for takeout restaurant but
with proviso takeout accessory to sit down restaurant okay um we're going to hold this
till next week uh it's going to be closed other than the photos that you send us and maybe if
listen to me listen and maybe at the same time could you send us photos of the outside that
would show the two doors she just talked about so get that down to us as soon as possible i and i
believe the posting photos show that but i will get better photos sure and we're going to vote on
this 6 6 14 at 9 30 a.m it's closed other than the issues we just spoke about 6 14 or 5 4 5 14
and i will ask for you i got june on my mind yeah it's summertime we're about to lose our
funding for this bar okay sure um what i was going to say is i'm going to ask um i can give
you i can scan uh i just had a death in in the immediate family so i'm not going to be in my
office for the next several days it's okay but i'll get them um to you no later than monday okay
okay sure that's fine and we would also like to submit the updated plans that move the stairwell
please do that okay thank you excuse me keisha can help you mr chair i i also want to note that the
the record should still be open for the uh i do have a note from hillary regarding the the tax
compliance form we got it well no she's apparently the the one we received is is is is incorrect the
property is still not so there's right 2024 that's why i asked for before there's an issue back in
in 2024 right okay um apparently there are okay please i i we got so you know where we stand yes
and please get it done get all of that done thank you thank you for your time and we appreciate your
time in person I like in person all right thank you all right number five MI 2024 007372 4722
Wellington Street Vern Anastasio is the attorney there's a letter of non-opposition from Takuni
Civic Association with the proviso
i'll be coming back in as a panel shortly mr chair thank you
morning mr chair good morning council could you please state your name and spell for the son
sure vern anastasio a-n-a-s-t-a-s-i-o you swear or firm to tell the truth
told truth nothing but the truth i do um could you identify your client the relationship to
this property uh yes i represent mr claudio bilas who is the owner of the property sure our
vice chair has a few questions good morning counselor do you agree to wait to read another
refusal or stipulate to his accuracy good morning yes i do have you emailed in all the required
documents and exhibits that's needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing
i have thank you please proceed and share your screen thank you
4722 wellington we're going to start with the taconi civic association letter to
the zoning board uh they we had the meeting on the 25th of march
in person and uh as the taconi organization states the property uh our our proposal was
for a two-family dwelling the property has been a two-family dwelling for some time
uh and sometime uh based on the uh information we received and submitted to the board moving
it into evidence with the history of the property is 1967 was when it looks like this property was
at least identified as a two-family dwelling in the Philadelphia Zoning Archives, it was already
in 1967 an existing two-family dwelling based on the materials. So this two-family dwelling is a lot
This two-family dwelling is a lot older than me, and we're just looking to legalize it again.
older than me.
So with that, here's the zoning map.
I'm going to go to the top of the exhibit packet.
I have a 56-page exhibit packet that I'm going to move into evidence at the end of my presentation.
The property is zoned RSA3.
It generated a refusal.
And here's the existing layout.
Here's the front steps where my cursor is.
I'm sorry.
Here's the front steps where my cursor is.
And there it is right here.
Here's the first unit is the living room, large kitchen, and you've got a bedroom on each side.