but the truth i swear and affirm right carol are you still on carol i'm still on yes right um
right carol are you still on carol i'm still on yes right um could you so the two people you
you spoke about they're the owners uh they they are the proprietors yes okay so carleton area has
a few questions for you okay hi mr bovade you agree to waive 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 you may proceed
and please share your screen awesome pull up my screen
mr chairman what's the address of this case 57 57 north 5th number 12. can we see this
we can we're good oh great great great great let me
visually pleasant okay mr chairman members of the board again my name is darwin beauvais
I'm at Dilworth Paxton and before you today is 5757 North Street we come before the day
we come before the board today with a request for a special exception and a variance to accommodate
an exciting community-based use of the property the board will take note that and as you've done
already take note of two letters of support that you'll find in exhibit 14 we did submit exhibits
one through 15 and exhibit 14 includes two letters of support as well as a letter from councilwoman
parker acknowledging the community meeting that was held um i believe i believe dylan mahoney is
online, and he will most likely be here to answer any questions with regards to that.
So let me just start here with the zoning map on page 30.
As you can see here, the property is zoned CMX 2.5, right?
And if you can see my cursor, that's where the property is located, on the corner of North Grange Avenue and North 5th Street.
Now, there are additional photos on page as part of Exhibit 415.
Let me just go there.
and this is the property it's a commercial property it was once a dentist office and
it actually sits with this entire area it's a mix of commercial and residential there's
actually a parking lot for a retail store directly across the street and that is the front of it
notices and here's the interior you can see there it was a dental office at one point in time
it was a waiting room you have conference space uh additional conference space
Here's the restrooms, other office space, and here's the basement which will be used
mainly for storage.
So, having said that, let me just go back to our refusal, and let me just explain to
you what Hand and Paul Foundation is.
So, again, Handum-Paw Foundation is looking to occupy
Again, Hand and Paw Foundation is looking to occupy this existing property.
Hand and Paw's mission is to provide a safe and supportive work environment for youth
ages 16 to 24 who are experiencing housing insecurity or foster care involvement.
The program involves pairing these youth with homeless animals, predominantly either small
animals or cats who have been obtained through partnerships with area shelters or other animal
non-profits. The participating youth assist with feeding, cleaning, and enriching the lives of
homeless animals through training and limited adoption services. These youth also participate
in field trips and job shadowing. Hand to Paw is a variety of programs, and if you require further
information, we do have the two individuals, Megan Hannah and Penny Ellison, here for any questions.
Now, as you can see with some of their handouts, their goal with this space centers around three points.
One, they want to increase and help foster coping skills for the local youth.
Two, they want to create, as obvious with our application, they want to create meeting space where they have youth and animals interact.
And three, they also, which I find very unique and very worthwhile, they actually want to do community outreach with pet workshops for the surrounding area, which I think is very, very, very novel.
Now, we do have a floor plan that's Exhibit 18, a floor plan, you'll see briefly that the first floor will be used primarily as program and office space.
The second floor will be used for animal rooms, intake facilities, and study rooms.
And the basement, as we mentioned before, will be used mainly for storage.
But we also will have some reptiles, and they like a dark space.
So that's how we plan on creating the uses to effectuate the goal of this project.
Now, with respects to the refusal, this proposal received both a referral and a refusal, which is somewhat untraditional.
And I guess it's because it's untraditional use.
What we're proposing does not neatly fit within the existing zoning classification.
The hardship lies predominantly in the unusual nature of this use, which is in one sense appropriate under CMX 2, but does not fit within the code.
and prior to this application, we received a permit for the office use, which is by right
allowed under CMX 2.5. The permit is part of Exhibit 12, which is, let's see.
As you can see here, we did receive an office, a permit for office of business, but that's
not enough.
Animal services is allowable is allowed under a special exception.
But because we're suggesting that we're keeping animals, therefore boarding animals overnight
just to have our programs, we receive the variance, which is why, and I want to stress,
this is the essence of our argument. We can do what we can do, but we can't keep the animals
there. So we have a special exception to do what we're proposing, but because we can't
keep the animals there we are being told we have to have a variance so with that we believe that
we've been able to suggest to the community that what we're proposing does not have a negative
impact to to the community the community has sat down and met with us and they pretty much
they pretty much have agreed. Now, animal services would be permitted as a special exception
have agreed. Now, animal services would be permitted.
under CMX 2.5, but because it doesn't meet the use of animal services, we're still suggesting
that this variance is something that we should be entitled to get. The animal service uses in
keeping with the impacts normally expected from such a use, and it will not cause congestion and
endanger the public or create overcrowding. This is not a public or retail use, although there
will be some accessory retail goods and services available, particularly at special events. Only a
limited number of animals will be kept at the property at any time, and this is considerably
less impactful than one might expect from a traditional animal service type of use.
In other words, we're not Petco, we're not PetSmart, nor are we a camel.
We further submit that the applicant is entitled to a variance for boarding, which is accessory to our predominant office use and animal use, because the animals will be kept for the accessory use, which is why we believe we're entitled to this variance.
It's a community service organization, and that use is purely being put forth simply to make the community-based goals necessary for the community to receive these services.
We further submit that because we're suggesting this variance, that we're entitled to this variance, that we are getting the least minimum variance.
Again, we're not increasing congestion. The neighbors' properties will not be harmed. We're not impairing light and air. And the fact that we did receive letters of community support from both the T House and the Fifth Street revitalization neighbors, we believe that we have satisfied that requirement.
So having said that, you know, I would like to talk to Ms. Penny Ellison, if she can just adopt my testimony, adopt my statements as her testimony.
Ms. Ellison, could you come online, state your name, and spell it for the court reporter?
Sure. It's Penny Ellison, P-E-N-N-Y-E-L-L-I-S-O-N, and I am the volunteer executive director of Hand to Paw.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Yes. Penny, you've heard the statements I made today?
I have.
And would you adopt it as your testimony?
Yes, I adopt that testimony.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
we have i'm sorry chair we have dylan mahoney okay
hi mr mahoney you've already been sworn just state your name
dylan mahoney okay um dylan mahoney from uh councilwoman parker's office uh we received
We coordinated the meeting for this project, had one neighbor in support, as well as the executive director of the North History Revitalization Project, and our office is also in support of the requests.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Mahoney, for calling in.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
I see no handshare.
Planning Commission.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman.
de defecto f e c t e a u with the city planning commission right do you swear for him to tell the
truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes sir i do proceed thank you sir mr chairman
and members of the board the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the commercial mixed use
zoning at this location the philadelphia code presents us with a tough issue in in this case
animal services are allowed by right or with a special exception in every commercial zoning
district but unfortunately animal boarding which is a specific type of animal services
is not allowed by right in any zoning district in philadelphia and so we would argue that this
is a rare instance where the zoning code itself presents a hardship since a reasonable personal
presents a hardship since a reasonable personal a reasonable person would expect caring for animals
a reasonable person would
Picks.
and providing them with overnight shelter to go hand in hand so since the applicant has shown that
the proposed animal services will have no more of an impact than animal services would be expected
to have and since overnight boarding of animals would tend to be paired with animal services
the city planning commission recommends the board grant the use variants for boarding and other
services and a special exception thank you um drew are you on
yes i'm here chairman so so drew do we need a separate special exception with a timeline
and then the variance approval
i would suggest if it's okay to hold the case and confer and um wait and we'll give a later date
as a thank you so much chair all right so okay i'll go ahead darwin if i may it's one refusal
So I think the board can vote on that refusal.
That refusal does raise the special exception as well as the.
So Darwin, why don't we do this?
I'm going to hold it and we meet next Wednesday, right, Tanya?
Correct, Chair.
And we'll vote then, okay?
You'll have your answer then, Darwin.
No problem.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you.
Cases closed except for that only vote.
Okay, number one, MI 2022, 002-887-2200, Wekiko Avenue.
Michael Mattione is the attorney.
Letter of support from the Whitney Council Incorporated.
letter of non-opposition from councilman council member squilla
hi chair this is tanya if i could i just wanted to state our wonderful counselor miss hillary
will be back on as counselor for the rest of the cases oh that's that's great good thank you chair
that's nothing nothing to say about true right but hillary's back and we thank drew for filling
in. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Mattione, you've been sworn already. Could you identify
your client and the relationship to the property? Yes, it's Nigros 2 LLC. They're the owner of the
property and Dominic Nigro is on as well. Okay. Ishmael, could you take care of the necessary
follow-up questions carol's off
sure thing no problem um good afternoon council good afternoon
um did you agree to read the reading of a refusal to stipulate to his accuracy yes
did you email all the exhibits and documents that are required such as proof of ownership
tax clearance, copy of refusal or referral five days within the advance of his hearing
and did you meet with an RCO and do you have a letter? Yes to everything. Thank you. Please
proceed and share your screen. Thank you. And Mr. Chairman, in addition to Mr. Nigro,
we also have Rustin Ohler, the architect available as well today.
and this application uh and like i said we we included the um tax clearance the refusal the
unanimous support letter from the whitpain council the rco the letter of non-opposition
from council member squilla we have a revised plans form and revised plans
with one page on the revised plans and what we did was we revised i wanted to look at the
changes first we reduced the building coverage slightly by about a thousand square feet
we increased the street trees from three to five we added as a use which is a permitted use vehicle
paint finishing we increased the total gross floor areas the building slightly by about 400 square
feet. There's a slight increase in the height of the building, but there is no height limit here.
We increased the height of the elevator overrun. We have a mechanical tower. We made a change in
the note for the architectural tower. We did make some changes in the parking stall count
We did make some changes in the parking stall count and reduce the curb cuts from three to two.
and reduce the curb cuts from 3 to 2.
And this is the revised site plan.
I want to go back to the refusal, though, Mr. Chairman.
And the uses are all permitted uses.
This is a longstanding auto body auto repair company. They've been in business for more than 40 years, and they're presently at 939 to 41 Washington Avenue, and they are seeking to relocate.
So when you look down at the refusals, it's because a roof deck's not permitted in a non-residential zoning class.
They got a refusal for street trees.
They're supposed to provide seven.
Originally, they had three.
They upped that to five.
They have mechanical parking in the lot, which is prohibited.
The total number of parking spaces is less than our proposed.
And the freestanding sign is 30 feet tall, and the wall sign is above the second floor windowsill.
So none of these uses have anything to do with the actual use of the property, which is a permitted use.
I wanted to show just a couple of photos of where they are now.
This is where the Niagara's Auto Body is located now, 10th and Washington.
Next door to that building, there is a large 24-unit building being erected with a fresh food market on the ground floor behind it.
is League Street, which is a traditional, again, Washington Avenue where they are now,
and then League Street behind it. So an auto body shop in that neighborhood really doesn't
fit well anymore, but they have been there for 40 years. And like I said, the use is permitted
at the new site.
Again, this is the site plan.
They have two curb cuts.
They have five street trees now.
They do have mechanical parking proposed.
And with respect to the parking issue,
they have two floors.
You have the first floor
with parking on the inside.
and the second floor also which is a work which is a shop but also has a lot of parking available
so they really have a whole lot of parking and remember at their 2600 square foot building now
they have no parking it's all interior here they have 10 parking outside and two floors of parking
inside on the third floor you have offices administrative staff etc and you have an outdoor
deck for use by employees. They also will agree to make the deck area available for