successfully run for a couple years, six years. There you go. I believe that there are comments
on the hours that she runs. There are comments on the fact that she does not have a liquor license
so that if somebody wants to serve alcohol, she provides a state certified bartender who is there
to serve. Her father owns a security company. So this comment number 10 speaks to that and says
that one of her employees whether or not they're bartending would be at every event and this is
never a problem because she can tap into her father's company to get a security guard if she
can't be there herself or provide one herself you know that that's sort of the gist of the comments
I did not find them particularly negative I think that the no position was perhaps taken just because
the vote was sort of a split vote. But this is a special exception. So unless you find that
the proposed venue is going to operate in a way that is abnormally hazardous or disruptive to the
community, the law says it should be approved. And this last paragraph here, I just want to point
out, the chairwoman herself was a little upset that Shanice had already been throwing events in
this space. So her landlord nor her understood when she signed this lease that a special exception
was required. It's a hardship to the landlord not to collect rent while we waited for this hearing
for a great many months. As such, the landlord and Shanice decided that they were going to throw
these events with the community you know process going on at the same time um that's what's been
happening and i'm happy to answer any questions about that she has rave reviews of the facility
there's been no sort of bad occurrence that's happened at the property um it's it's been a
smash hit so far been very successful and safe and calm um so as i mentioned um i can walk through
any of that the letters of support we gathered i do have at least two folks who uh live at or
operate businesses nearby who would like to testify why don't we why don't we have your
testimony adopted sure okay so shanice if you're out there could you please raise your hand so the
board can call on you he's been allowed to speak sir okay could you state your name and spell it
please for the court reporter?
Nath Allen, S-H-A-N-E-S-E-A-L-L-E-N.
A-L-L-E-N.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Shanice, were you able to hear my testimony about your case today?
And was it true and accurate?
And would you be willing to adopt it as if it were your own testimony?
Thank you very much.
And Shanice, Mr. Chairman, really is happy to answer any questions.
okay all right so questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman no mr chairman
questions or comments from the virtual audience
so there's a mr david simmons whose hand was raised i have a lot of time to speak
hi sir could you state your name and spell it please for the court reporter
uh yes good afternoon my name is david sims and it's d-a-v-i-d-s-i-m-m-s right do you swear or
affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do proceed sir
so i am the proprietor and artist of eatable delights catering and i reside i don't reside
I own the building right next door at 1540 Wadsworth Avenue.
I'm also the president of the Wadsworth Avenue Business Association.
And I just wanted to testify on behalf of Shanice to say that since she has been there, she has been a wonderful tenant, a wonderful neighbor.
All the businesses on the block are in support of this banquet hall being there.
There's a separate entrance that comes out to the back with a multiple parking space slot in the back of our buildings.
We have a lot that has 129 spaces.
So parking is not an issue.
And she has a dumpster behind her building.
And as far as I know, that she's done everything that she's supposed to do.
And there have been no nuisances or outbreaks.
so we welcome her as a new business into our corridor. Okay thank you Mr. Simms thank you
very much for calling in and thank you for your comments. Is there anyone in the virtual audience?
Anyone else? I do not see any hands at this time Mr. Chair. Planning Commission.
Good afternoon I'm Paula Brumbelow-Burns with the Planning Commission.
I have not been sworn in. Okay could you spell your name for the court reporter please?
b-r-u-m-b-e-l-o-w right and then b-u-r-n-s right do you swear a firm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth i do proceed uh this property is indicated for
commercial use on the city plan given the documented evidence of this site conditions
and surrounding use context we recommend that the requested special exception be granted
Thank you very much. MI-2022-003-391-1538 Wadsworth Avenue, I vote yes.
Harold Sinner, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheen, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Okay. Number seven, MI 2022-002-961-2920-North 21st Street. Letter of support from Upper North
neighbors. Jeffrey Young is the attorney. Mr. Chair, I also wanted to let you know that we
received a letter of support from Swampoodle Neighborhood Parcels Association and affected
rco um requesting um provisos we also were notified that councilwoman cindy bass is in
non-opposition to this application um hillary did we did we receive the information on the tax
clearance yes the the tax issue has been straightened out okay good good mr young
yes uh good afternoon board uh for young i hear representing the owner 2920 north 21st street
mr tyrone stooks um i share my screen hi mr young could you state your name and spell for
the court reporter sorry can everyone hear me we can oh yes jeffrey young uh j-e-f-f-e-r-y
y-o-u-n-g do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes could could you identify your client please yes my client is mr tyrone stooks owner of the
property okay and and our vice chair has just a few questions for you hi mr young do you agree
Hi, Mr. Young. Do you agree to leave the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
away with the reading of the refusal and stipend.
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or 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?
So an exhibit packet was emailed out. However, in the exhibit packet was not the tax clearance. The tax clearance system was down. However, as Emerson indicated, we did have the opportunity to tax clearance and submit that to Ms. Emerson. We did meet for the RCO and we do have a letter.
Okay, you may proceed and begin sharing your screen.
Thank you.
The board, my name is Jeffrey Young.
I'm here today to present a variance request for 2920 North
21st Street.
The owner of the property again is named Mr. Tyrone Stukes.
This property is located in the North Philadelphia neighborhood
of the city. Just want to skip forward. Here is the deed to the property indicating my client
became the owner of the property in 2018. Here, I just want to start off with a petition in support
of our use. We have a total of 48 signatures from folks in and around the neighborhood
where the property lies. Here is just a copy of our letter that we sent out to the neighbors
letting them know that associated with our variance request. And to get to our variance,
we have applied for a multifamily use particular property that is designated as RSC-5.
We are refused because multifamily household living is prohibited in this district.
Specifically, again, we are asking for five units in this current existing structure.
I'm just going to run through real quick.
This is just proof that we mailed the notification letters out.
And I'm going to get to the presentation.
So there currently exists, there currently is a permit for a single family home, single family use rather, on this particular property.
However, my client, Mr. Stukes, obtained this permit because of the when he bought the property.
Um, given the fact that, uh, you know, the property is so large, um, my client, uh, in trying to save, uh, you know, time and money, um, uh, you know, renting this property, um, he realized that a single family home, uh, was just, was not feasible, uh, given the size of the property.
So if I may, the board, endorse the board, this property is approximately, the lot size rather, is 2,550 square feet.
And the structure itself is well over 3,000 square feet.
This property has never been used as a single-family home dating back to the 1930s.
In fact, this property was used as a nightclub since 1936. Again, these are just permits for the board's recollection, you know, to show that it has been used as a social club or a nightclub since, you know, the almost 100 years now.
um here just to give this
at the height of the club um there were a total of 322 persons
a lot gives them a sense of the size
to afford uh you know over 300 people um inside
again this is the property description uh just to show the board again the improvement area itself
is uh 3 476 uh square feet again later
excuse me sir um we're losing you a little bit if you want you could turn off your video and keep
um we're losing you a little bit if you want you could turn off your video
and keep screen sharing and that might help
screen sharing.
Jeffrey did you hear that
Why don't you shut your video off and just try to talk?
Jeffrey?
It seemed like we lost him, Chair.
Yeah, I'm wondering if he's trying to call back in.
I noticed. Yes, can you hear me now? Yeah, we can. Okay, great. Thank you. I'm sorry, I'm going to continue. So can you see my screen? We can, sir.
Okay, thank you. So again, the proposed use is five units. The breakdown is two units on the first floor. The first floor front unit will consist of a studio. The rear unit will be a two bedroom.
You know, the third floor will be three studio units. Again, my client is from this neighborhood and spoke with folks in the neighborhood to see which type of housing was desired.
And to be honest, there were a lot of single folks looking for affordable units in this area.
So, and in keeping with the configuration of the building regarding where the bathrooms are, or where rather it was better to provide these types of units at the property.
To give the board a sense of where we are, again, this is the North Philadelphia neighborhood.
We're close by the 22nd Street Commercial Corridor.
So, again, the added units here will help support the 22nd Street Commercial Corridor.
given the sense of the zoning, the zoning for the entire area is RSA5. And as I'll show on some
pictures, there are no, every use on our side of North 21st Street is a non-conforming use. There
are no single family homes on our side of North 24th Street. Here's a picture of our property,
again uh to the to both sides to the north and south of our property uh our vacant lots
further down the block is a warehouse and an auto shop use again just gives a sense of the block here
directly across the street there is another auto shop along lines with the single family homes
This just gives a view of the looking south. I just want to bring the board's attention to just a couple of uses here that are non-conforming. This is a church that is zoned RSA 5. Across the street from this church is a medical facility that's also zoned RSA 5. This is one block south of my client's property.
In this particular area, there are a lot of RSA 5 zone properties. However, there are a lot of non-conforming uses on this block. Parking isn't an issue. This is a rear driveway where the properties on Cambria have rear parking, and also the properties on 21st Street has rear parking as well.
So here's the picture of our zoning notice.
And again, we did not have the ability to submit the tax clearance at the time.
However, but we do have the tax clearance now for Mr. Tyrone Stooks.
That was acquired yesterday when the tax clearance system was working again.
Here's a meeting summary from the RCO.
there were about 18 folks at the meeting itself. However, you know, no votes were taken.
And again, in their letter of rationale, they just outlined exactly what we presented at the
meeting. And as Ms. Emerson mentioned, Councilwoman Bass has no opposition.
uh councilwoman uh bass um has no opposition uh to our um uh variance request um and with that
you know um i'd like my clients to adopt my testimony and take any questions okay
we're going to bring them on to adopt your testimony yes mr tyrone stooks
I've already been about to speak.
Hi, Mr. Stooks, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Mr. Stooks?
Jason, do we see him?
He's on, but he's on. He's unmuted, but I don't know what's going on.
Mr. Stoops?
Not sure what's going on, sir.
Jeffrey, you're an officer of the court. We will accept your testimony.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
Yes, Mr. Chairman.
Go ahead, Thomas.
Counselor, how many square feet per unit for five units?
how many square feet each unit each unit varies in size so the average studio is about 300 square
feet for the the front floor rear I'm a front floor first for a front excuse me and then on
The third floor where the studios are, each studio, again, is approximately a little bit, they vary in size, but they're about 400 square feet.
That's one bedroom, 400 square feet?
No, they're studios.
Are they all small apartments?
Yes, yes, sir.
So they're like efficiencies?
Yes, ma'am, yes.
So do you use the basement?
there's no the basement use is just for storage and utilities there's no units
in the basement whatsoever how do you handle trash trash right now
will just be that there's no using this city system so the trash is be taking
anything in the house yes thank you any other questions from the board mr.
mr chairman no questions or comments from the virtual audience
mr chair i have a hand raised from a person with the number ending in 3552
i have allowed them to speak sure all right could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
yes my name is adrian fernandez my last name is spelled f-e-r-n-a-n-d-e-z
neighborhood process association rco hi do you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
and nothing but the truth yes proceed okay um we have sent our letter of support in
for mr stuke's project and um i just wanted to um ask for actually now four provisos um
with reference to mr holliman's comment we would like one proviso with no basement living
and also a limit of five units and trash stored indoors and then the fourth one is really
important because he's a block over from the business district 22nd street and trash collection
starts like 6 a.m from the city which is the quietest type of trash collection so we're asking
that the trash collection mr stooks explained that he could manage the trash collection and