the planning commission and mr phillips will have an opportunity to respond after the comments have
been given. Okay. Questions or comments from the virtual audience? We have three hands raised.
Robert Hines has been allowed to speak first. How many hands do you have? Three hands?
Six. All right. Good morning. Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Good morning. Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Sure. My name is Robert Hines. I'm getting feedback.
Do you have two devices on?
No, I don't.
Okay. We hear you pretty loud and clear now. Please state your name.
My name is Robert Hines. It's R-O-B-E-R-T-H-I-N-E-S.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Yes, I do.
Sir, are you a neighbor?
No, I'm not.
All right, Kate, please proceed.
I do have a written statement I'd like to read.
It just lasts a minute.
So I'm here to support the Venture Court of Philadelphia in their effort to secure a special exception to allow more than a single medical provider on site.
I serve as the volunteer donation coordinator for foodrecovery.org.
Since 2018, I've been bringing life-sustaining supplies to people suffering from food and
housing insecurity into the Kensington area, and I continue to organize Deliverance to
Prevention Point in Philadelphia.
As I do, I witness firsthand the effective, compassionate, and critical work performed
by their organization.
I also observe the heroics of their team reaching out, supporting the homeless population throughout
the pandemic while at risk to their own safety prevention point plays a vital role in helping
those struggling within our community and i strongly urge the zoning board to grant
prevention point the special exception necessary to have more than one medical provider in the
building on any given day and this decision would be in my mind the best interest of the community
the city and many of the individuals in need to whom they provide critical services
Thank you, Mr. Hines. Next hand, please.
Hello?
Yes, hi.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, Javier Mercado, J-A-V-I-E-R, last name M-E-R-C-A-D-O.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do
Are you a neighbor?
Yes, I am
Please proceed, sir
I have a question for Mr. Phillip
No, no, no, no, no, not a question for Mr. Phillips
What I want you to do is testify as to where you stand on this project, okay?
Well, where I stand on this project is
I feel as though that
they've been operating
under violations on this building
I don't think this is going to be
a great
something great for the community
as far as
because of
they've been on violations on this building
this building hasn't had an
administrative permit. They haven't
get a fire safety
inspection because
they still have a
they still have
they still doesn't have CO
which is case number 22
that is 09767
and I feel as though this building
is unsafe.
I don't
just ask Mr. Mercado's address.
Just one minute. I'm going to give him that.
Mr. Mercado, do you have anything else to offer?
It's pretty much, you know, this building has been operating under violations, and it's actually zoning for a church, not for a medical clinic.
So, Mr. Mercado, Mr. Phillips has the, he wants to cross-examine your comments. Mr. Phillips.
Mr. Mercado, can you just please state your address for the record?
My address is going to be at 2845 Kensington Avenue.
And, Mr. Mercado, are you aware that the property has a fire alarm certificate certified as of June 17th, 2024?
Well, it's still showing up that you guys have an open case.
And are you aware that the only violation outstanding currently is for the use that we are seeking right now and that all other issues have been cleared up?
Yes, which is a CO.
So, how can you get an administrative permit without a CO?
We would have an NCO.
I don't have any further questions.
Thank you very much.
Mr. Mercado, thanks for your call.
Next hand, please.
Hello?
Could you please state your name and spell for the court's sonographer?
Yes, my name is Jose DeMarco, J-O-S-E-D-E-M-A-R-C-O.
My name is Jose DeMarco, J-O-S-E, D-E-M-A-C-O.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Mr. DeMarco, are you a neighbor?
At this time, no.
Okay, please proceed with your testimony.
Yeah, we have a small office at Prevention Point.
We're called the Black and Latinx Community Control, where we advocate.
for underserved people that are Black and Latino that are living with HIV and AIDS.
I would really like to say in Kensington, especially now with the recent increase in
HIV infections due to the shortage of syringes in the area, that more than one medical provider
is needed. The need there in the area is especially overwhelming, especially for a lot of poor people
that don't have the access, that don't have the money to go outside of their neighborhoods to
seek help. A lot of times people don't have insurance or they're not being treated like
human beings because they may have an addiction issue. And a lot of folks will not come out of
the area to go into Center City or other places to seek this help. So I really would like to,
we're here to support the need for more than just one doctor at Prevention Point to handle
the overwhelming amount of people that need help. And this is not only for people using drugs.
There are many people that come there that also receive just regular medical help outside of HIV.
Thank you, Mr. DeMarco, for taking the time. We appreciate it. Next hand, please.
sloan folks i've been allowed to speak please unmute yourself
good morning mr folks good morning chairman bergman zba board my name is sloan folks i'm
representing the office of councilman mckeche lazada room 44 city hall the folks just for the
record could you spell your name please for the stenographer yes sir my name is i spelled s-l-o-a-n-e
F as in fire, O-L-K-S, old folks, young folks, just plain folks.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, Mr. Folks?
I do, sir. Thank you very much.
Please proceed with your conversation.
Yes, sir.
First, I'd like to say the council member has already signed off with a letter from the Kensington Coalition in opposition of this special request.
But she did have some points that she wants to put on the record for the ZBA.
Okay. Firstly, if she'd like to say the Councilmember understands and is sensitive to people seeking help for addiction and addiction-related issues.
But she'd also like to take a moment to focus on community residents that are impacted and live in this community, which really hasn't been a point of discussion at the last hearing.
Councilmember Lozada has held several meetings in the Kansas City community since her election in 2023 to the 7th District.
And these meetings have focused on the opioid crisis and the service providers, as well as its impact on local residents.
The council member in these meetings has sat down with other members of city council and has heard from parents, school and school age children who traverse the area in and around proposed sites and the issues that they grapple with.
These are parents and children speaking of waiting through people waiting for assistance at the site.
And families have spoken about the level of fear they have walking past, you know, not just people just seeking services because people have a right to seek services,
but those that are waiting to prey on those seeking for services.
those open narcotic sales that were discussed at the last hearing, whereas Prevention Point does
have outside security to address. They have asked the council member, these constituents,
directly, who speaks for us? And the council member does speak for them. A special exception
puts the burden on a community to show that a request negatively impacts the community.
And the council member is opposed to the special exception, as she believes and has been informed by her constituents that it does not provide a positive impact to those who live, to those who go to school, to those who do business, and to those who work in this community.
That's her statement. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Phillips. You have any questions?
um i have no questions thank you next hand please thank you mr folks
I have no questions.
Thank you. Next hand, please.
mary evelyn torres has been allowed to speak please unmute yourself
morning could you please state your name and spell for the sonographer
sure my name is mary m-a-r-y evelyn e-v-e-l-y-n last name torres t-o-r-r-e-s can everybody hear me
Hold on. Yes, we can. Do you swear or affirm? Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Ms. Torres, are you a neighbor?
No, I'm not.
Please proceed.
Let me rectify that. We do have an office at 3401 Kensington Avenue. So in that regards, we are a neighbor where we provide services. So I'm just going to read from a statement I have here.
My name is Mary Evelyn Torres, Evelyn Torres. I am the Executive Director of Action Wellness.
Action Wellness is an organization that began in 1986 in response to the AIDS epidemic,
and we serve over 2,000 clients now with HIV, and we also serve clients with substance use disorder.
I'm writing in support of a special exception approval for the use of 291315 Kensington Avenue
as a group medical, dental, and health practitioner office in an existing structure
with acknowledgment of Prevention Point's group medical office practice
that has been successfully operating and serving the community for several years.
This includes clients of Action Wellness, and these are clients with HIV
who receive their services at 291315 Kensington Avenue from a competent and dedicated staff.
Today, we provide critical services, as I said, to more than 2,000 individuals
with HIV and their families. So again, it's important to note that Prevention Point Philadelphia
does not only serve substance users, but also people with HIV all deserving of quality care.
And so the goal is to engage and return our persons in quality medical care as such as
Prevention Point. As you all know, Prevention Point offers a wide range of medical care and
other services, including testing, treatment, and prevention of HIV and hepatitis C, as well
providing care for wounded infections, reproductive health, and primary medical care, again, for
individuals with HIV. This is a one-stop shop, and this is what clients want. In FY 2024,
2034 individuals were provided medical services, and that is an astounding number to serve.
Let me end with this. I understand, and I'm not a neighbor, but I've heard and I understand
and the concerns of the residents who live in our neighbors of Prevention Point, Philadelphia.
But the answer is not to deny medical care to those who need it most.
There can be solutions found to this problem that do not include stripping medical care of more than 2,000 clients,
and you're going to do that when you provide for only one provider as opposed to three.
So, again, we are a neighbor.
We are in Kensington.
We provide services.
We want to be part of the solution, as I know Prevention Point does.
And I don't think these two things are mutually exclusive.
You can continue to provide medical services and meet the needs of clients in Prevention Point while addressing the concerns of the residents.
Thank you very much.
And Ms. Torres, just for the point, you do not have an office at 2913.
Am I correct?
No, we do not.
Our office is at 3401 I Street.
Thank you very much. Mr. Phelps, you have any questions?
All right. Next hand, please.
Harris Steinberg has been allowed to speak.
How many hands do we see left?
Chair, we have seven hands.
All right. That's good. Thank you.
Sarah, could you please state your name and spell for the sonographer?
Sure. Harris Steinberg, H-A-R-R-I-S.
Another S-T-E-I-N as an A-C-B-E-R-G.
You swear or firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Mr. Steinberg, are you a resident?
Please proceed.
I'm about a half a block from Prevention Point, and I've listened to all the testimony from the other day as well as today.
I think they're saying that this is going to deny or strip people of services and that they mainly handle substance abusers as far as who they are giving services to.
However, they're not really saying that these people can't go somewhere else.
They're just saying that they can simply it's more convenient or the more likely to go to their services.
So they're not denying or stripping people of their services.