of these riders are youth attending
the School of the Future in West Fairmount Park.
Granting this special exception
would cause unnecessary congestion
and put these children at greater risk.
Lastly, as already has been stated,
this is the first time we've seen
any transportation impact assessment.
So I cannot speak to the contents of that report, but what I can say that we've been in communication with the office, the city's Office of Transportation, and I'm happy to enter that communication into the record if that would be appropriate.
But our communication with that office has shown that not only are these driveways not yet approved, but that the streets department would deny them based on the proximity to this busy intersection.
And so with that, I will leave it there. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Yeah, and thank you. And if you could submit that, we'd like to, because I'm going to close this hearing down and allow the board to have some discussion and make a decision next Wednesday's session.
So whatever material you have, Mr. Goodman, if you could submit it to Sharon, that would be helpful.
I will gladly do that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Chairman, I'm concerned about leaving the record open indefinitely. I understand.
I'm sorry, say that again.
I'm concerned about leaving the record open indefinitely. I have no objection to what the board chairman just suggested in terms of Mr. Goodman submitting an additional exhibit, but I just like to clarify that that was the chairman's intention simply to allow Mr. Goodman to submit the exhibit. I think that this could become overwhelming.
um excuse me excuse me chair this is sharon saletta we if something new is going to be
submitted the record can't be closed there would have to be another hearing um i mean if
if mr goodman has this information now he can email it to me now and i can move the vote
perhaps to the end of this session yeah i have it here too that'll be a good suggestion thank you
thank you sharon we'll do that right now thank you so mr labor we will uh take this matter up
at the end of this uh 9 30 session and uh mr goodman you'll share that information with mr
labor correct absolutely well yes thank you i'll copy everybody who was on the original
um refusal notice a referral notice rather in this case we'll hear this uh at the end of this
session. In conclusion, my final statement, Mr. Chairman and members of the board, is there has
been one expert licensed certified traffic planner who has presented testimony and information to the
board. We can see that there are existing issues at this location and we respectfully would suggest
that the proposed recommendations which go above and beyond will not only improve existing
conditions, but make for a safer environment. The issues that have been discussed are really
not specific to this use. They're endemic regarding greater issues in the community.
Thank you.
Thank you. Any questions from the board?
No. No.
We're with public testimony to the Planning Commission.
Good morning, Chair DiCicco. Ian Hegarty, H-E-G-A-R-T-Y, for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
We're infirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Yes, sir, I do.
Please proceed.
Thank you.
City Planning Commission believes that the grant of a special exception at this location will cause detrimental impacts, including congestion on Girard Avenue.
More importantly, inconsistency with the comprehensive plan and the zoning code, which support pedestrian-friendly commercial corridors and areas zoned CMX2.
More importantly, inconsistency with the comprehensive plan and the zoning code.
Because of the property's locations, the impact would go beyond that which might normally be expected from the proposed use.
The two illustrative examples exhibited by council demonstrate the reason that drive-throughs are subject to special exception review in neighborhood commercial zoning districts.
They create an unwelcome and unsafe environment for pedestrians, and that's our primary concern.
We would recommend that the Board deny the special exception.
Thank you very much.
Like I said, we will take this matter up at the end of the 930 session.
With that, we will go to number four on the add-on list, the resumption hearing for MI2020-002, 479, 435 South 56th Street.
mr anastasio i believe is the attorney uh west philadelphia economic development council sent
a letter of uh opposition they claimed there was no proper notification and i believe we were
waiting for feedback from the rco and councilwoman got the a's office good morning mr anastasio
please identify yourself for the record good morning vernon anastasio 1315 walnut street
suite 1006 philadelphia pa 19107 uh representing the uh owners of 435 south 56. we're in the firm
to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do thank you sir please proceed
may i share my screen yes thank you thank you
mr chairman we met with the west philadelphia economic development council
and as a result of that meeting on the 23rd of the month they sent a letter of no objection
as a recommendation we were able to meet with several of the neighbors and the residents who
participated they expressed no opposition in fact it communicated that it's been a long-standing
vacant building and they look forward to my client breathing new life into the project
you're if you can just briefly go through your exhibit that would be helpful oh sure
i want to close this in the interest of time and mr goodman are you still there
yes mr chair yeah good morning uh again good morning again you're still under oath
um mr anasazio is now i don't know if you've seen a letter of support from the rco
a letter of non-opposition yes we've seen non-opposition yeah i'm sorry all right do
you want to get on the record now because i'm not sure if you have any other cases it's up to you
sure i'm happy to now um yeah andrew goodman g-o-o-d m-a-n office of council member jamie
gaudier council member has no opposition to the uh to the revised plans attached to this
variance application so just ask that the provisos be entered accordingly thank you
thank you mr anasazio thank you mr chairman i believe i already went through our packet but
if you'd like me to do it again i could do it really quick you can just maybe just read us
the revised revision to put the revision on the record sure um the revision eliminated the need
for zoning relief as it concerns the pilot houses and everything else still stands the maximum
occupied area exists already it's a pre-existing condition the rear yard issue is a pre-existing
condition the the um the germane issue uh basis of this variance was the multi-family use
and the community supports the four-family dwelling is there any change in the plan
changing the plan because we've removed the need for relief in the pilot houses
okay is it one page is it one page yes i've already sent it over to attorney saletta
Sharon did you want to say something I was just asking how many pages just one page okay thank
you yep I sent that separately I uh to attorney Saleta I sent the revised plans as one pdf and a
second pdf of the proviso sheet uh separate from the binder thank you very much thank you so you
uh separate from the binder thank you very much thank you so you met the requirements the
You met the requirement.
councilwoman's office and the rco weighed in uh there's no opposition uh any questions from the
board no no no you planning commission
thank you chair ian hegarty for the philadelphia city planning commission
we have no opposition to the proposed variance. Thank you MI 2020-002-479-435 South 56th Street
my vote is yes with the proviso revised plan one page approved today. My vote is yes with proviso.
Yes with proviso. Yes with proviso. Yes with proviso. Thank you all. Thank you.
Carol, number two, on the regular list.
Okay, calendar number 3086, 1231 Federal Street.
Mr. Miller is coming in as a panelist now.
Good morning.
Good morning, Mr. Miller.
Where are you?
can you put your name and address on the record please and spell your last name
yes uh is my is my video showing
no uh would you give me just a moment um maybe it'll come up now
yes my name is andrew miller my address is 15 st asaph's road ballack henwood pennsylvania
one nine zero zero four give me just a turn are you an attorney sir yes i am
okay go ahead i'm sorry give me just a moment i'm sorry i'm having camera difficulty it'll take a
I have a second.
I swear I'm in, Carol.
Mr. Miller, can you hear me?
okay there you go almost
did it come up no but you can still hear me right oh yes i can okay you gave me your name
and address you spelled did you spell your last name there you are good morning i apologize
do you swear or firm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do do you also
agreed away the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? Yes. Have you emailed
the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal, referral, photos, and or plans
of the property five days in advance of this hearing? And have you met with the RCO? And do
you have a letter? Yes. Okay, thank you. You may proceed. Thank you very much. By way of introduction,
My name is Andrew Muller. May I please the Board. I represent the owners of 1231 to 33 Federal Street,
1231 Federal LLC, and Peli Partners LLC. This is a non-conforming use. We are not seeking a
variance. We are not seeking any relief from existing code. Instead, we ask the Board to
recognize a long-standing non-residential use in a residential neighborhood sir can you share
your exhibits i'm sorry for interrupting yep i'm absolutely happy to do so and uh i'm sharing screen
now is the sonographer are you able to hear mr miller
yes i can hear okay
well that's a great looking family are you are you able to see my screen
got your family you see the family they all look great well thank you and i apologize for that
mr millard okay that's what i was going to suggest okay thank you very much okay uh
Now, very briefly, this property has historically been a plumbing supply, warehouse, and sales location.
This photo from the City Archives is from 1960, and it shows the property.
Are you able to see my cursor?
yes okay that's the property and it's two addresses on federal street
That's the property, and it's two addresses.
it's these are the earliest photos that we've been able to locate um the
photos of the condition and after uh it was a plumbing supply warehouse it became a shirt
factory uh we believe in approximately 1987. it was a we're not able to see the photos mr miller
i'm going to show those next
these are the photos of the existing conditions you rotate the screen please i'm sorry not at all
thank you very much these are the interior conditions on the property and as you can see
it's remained industrial it's remained commercial there is absolutely no residential use at this
property and i'll i'll scroll quickly through the photos so that the board can get the sense of
the conditions on site mr miller could you go back to the three three photos before that
yes the exterior right there yeah right there so the board look i know this because i live a block
away that's why i'm doing it if you look at this going to your left there at one time where i
believe there was a storefront window when it was acme plumbing uh and there has been a there was a
conversion at some point in time into the light commercial i believe is that correct well uh the
The garage door still exists, but there was always a garage door there, is what I'm getting at.
That's correct.
The only difference I would take with you, Mr. Chairman, is that my understanding of the category in which a shirt factory would fall would be industrial.
Okay, industrial.
I'll accept that.
I think the use, if you consider where industrial falls and commercial falls, I think industrial is a more intense use.
Okay, I'll accept that.
I just, it's not residential, it's what I'm saying.
It has been used for residential.
That's correct, and we can't find any record that it ever was.
My client purchased the property, and let me take you through the photos, and then I'll show you my next exhibit.
it. The property is currently being used for storage of construction equipment and appliances
and you can see that here. If I'm going too fast please slow me down.
And on this photo, we can see where the storefront window was filled in to the left of the door, as the chairman was pointing out.
I apologize that some of these photos are tilted at 90 degrees, but I think the board
gets the sense of what the conditions are on site.
now my client purchased this property in
January of 2018 prior to purchasing the property an L&I certificate was issued
showing the records of L&I indicate plumbing supplies and auto body shop
We're not aware of any auto body shop use, but that was the use that was recorded by L&I.
Unfortunately, I'm not able to locate any documents in the archives concerning this property.
So other than this indication from L&I prior to purchase, and as you can see at the top right, it shows that the zoning classification is RSA5,
but the use is obviously not residential.
The property.phila.gov site also shows, this screenshot was taken in November.
The property.phila.gov site.
It shows the current use as industrial warehouse and masonry.
now we presented
would you like me to stop sharing screen those are my exhibits yeah if you're done with the
unless we need unless the board wants to go back over any of them
no okay so we presented to the rco and um i i think that the rco uh viewed respectfully they
viewed this as a variance application and it is not we don't seek any changes to the property
Instead, we ask the board and the city of Philadelphia to recognize the longstanding, non-conforming use.
It's irrefutable that the use at this site is not residential and is longstanding, non-residential, commercial and industrial, and that use has not been abandoned.
were my client to testify the principal of my client his name is Jay Agnes now Mr. Agnes is
a businessman in South Philadelphia he's a resident of South Philadelphia and since his
purchase of this property he's used the property for storage of his equipment of his supplies
and his daughter who's a recent graduate of the of Drexel University in the fashion design program
And she's used the property as a design studio and as a photo studio for her projects, both while she was a student and since her graduation.
There has been absolutely no residential use.
So all that we see today is for the board to recognize the nonconformity, to recognize the grandfathered use as a wholesale distribution and storage warehouse.
in the neighborhood. Now, we have heard from the RCO that there were rumors of use as an Amazon
warehouse, as an Amazon Depot, or as a GoPuff Depot. We don't know where that came from.
We have not entered into any arrangement with any such user, and the future of this property
remains uncertain. At present, Mr. Agnes is utilizing the property for his own purposes.
He's offered it for a lease. He's offered it for sale. And if there's a future use that requires
zoning relief, the applicant will come forward. At the present, we seek to change nothing.
We only ask for recognition of existing conditions. Thank you very much.
thank you um questions from the board no no no no anyone else like to testify if so please raise
your hand i have a mr andrew mr andrew you can unmute yourself how do you do my name is andrew
albergo and i live directly behind 1231 federal mr albergo play your last name please a l b e r g
o i live at 1226 annon street philadelphia pa 19147 do you swear and affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth i do thank you please proceed i heard mr miller and i agree
with most of what he said uh the reason that um i contest this is that was once appropriate for