in all these
buildings.
How long was your property vacant before
you bought it?
To be honest,
I have no idea. I bought
it from the sheriff.
there are people that come and go through
there during
Is the house
situated in the three apartments now?
Yes, sir.
Did you do that or was it like that?
It was like that.
I cleaned it up and then I
painted and
I spackled and things like that inside
the house.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
Proposed sushi bar right here would be new.
Everything else is existing.
The water station, men's and women's restroom.
We have the existing kitchen area, existing utility area.
We have a dedicated trash enclosed section
right off the kitchen across from the walk-in cooler
and the walk-in freezer.
Let me show you some interior photos for the record.
Here's some interiors, your three basins in a typical restaurant equipment.
There's a Boston Market right next door and as you can see, it's just a standard strip
mall on City Line Avenue, which there are lots of them.
there's the side of the property there's a starbucks next to the boston market
there's the parking lot starbucks actually has a drive-through
uh this property will not uh it's more geared towards sit down
rather than takeout, which even the salad works is sort of more takeout oriented,
but this will not be. There's a posting of the property.
We have the lease. Several other items that I'll move into the exhibits. We do have 78 pages of
exhibits of 60 individual households were mailed. We did in fact meet with the registered community
organization. There's the vote they voted to support and here's a letter of support.
There were some immediate neighbors who had some general concerns about the property owner
and what they have or have not done in the past with respect to litter. So my client has agreed to
in addition to the City Avenue Special Services District has agreed to engage the owner to make sure that the general area in and of itself is kept up as far as litter is concerned.
We believe the sit-down sushi restaurant will result in a vast reduction of litter because it's not takeout oriented per se.
Okay, so with that, I'd like to call my client, Maggie Lee, who is the principal and owner
of the sushi restaurant, to raise her virtual hand.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Ma'am, please unmute yourself.
All right, state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter.
Yes, my name is Yao Ming Li.
First name spelled is Y-S-S-A-E as I call it, O-S open, M for Mary, I for ice cream, N for Nancy, G for George.
Last name spelled is L for Larry, I for ice cream.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Ms. Lee, did you hear my presentation to the board this afternoon?
Yes, sir.
Is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge?
Yes, sir.
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Yes, sir.
Thank you. Mr. Chair, I have no further questions.
Questions from the Board?
Board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, Sarah Bond, Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing residential single-family
and auto-oriented commercial split zoning at this location.
However, the proposed use is consistent with documented prior use of the property.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Zoning Board grant the variance.
Thank you.
MI 2022-006-899-4600 City Line Avenue.
I vote yes, proviso.
Use limited to Unit C.
This is Hillary.
this is hillary i just want to tweak that proviso um briefly because the refusal um states a use
I just want to tweak that proviso briefly because...
that isn't in the zoning code eden restaurant um so the proviso instead could read use limited to
sit down restaurant in unit c that would be make things clearer thank you so proviso use limited
to sit down restaurant in unit c thomas holliman my vote is yes whip proviso
James Snell, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Number two, MI 2021-005-225-120 North 53rd Street.
Bart Levy is the attorney.
Letter of support from the 44th Ward Democratic RCO.
So, Mr. Levy is coming back in at the panel.
Good afternoon, Mr. Levy.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
I'm Bart Levy for Angel Fund Group.
Okay, just for the record, could you spell your name for the court reporter?
B-A-R-T-L-E-V-Y.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do, Mr. Chairman.
our vice chair has just a few questions for you certainly good afternoon counselor do you agree
to weigh the reading of the refusal and stimulate to its accuracy i do sir have you emailed all the
required documents and exhibits proceed with this case in advance of this hearing i believe we have
including the most recent notice thank you please proceed to share your screen thank you um i'll do
best I can. So, this is, uh, hang on one second.
This appeal is as a result of a refusal, which I've got to ask because it doesn't come on my
screen. Is that on your screen now? Yes, it is. The property was purchased by, uh, the applicant
In October 2019, and actually October 2nd, 2019, the proposal is to turn an existing two-family house into a properly zoned two-family house.
The plans for this, let me see if I can do this.
Do they appear on the screen now?
They are.
All right. Essentially, these are the plans that I've submitted to the board.
The entranceway here, which I'll show you with a picture in a moment, was at one time for a single family home and entered into a normal foyer or a vestibule.
And we're now, if I can guide you down to the middle exhibit, we're going to use the front door as essentially a leader to this hallway.
where you gain access to a stairwell that right now that goes up.
Essentially, it's not going to involve any major alteration of the property.
Like I said, more just granting a permission to officially use the property
the way I believe it was intended or has been intended to be used.
if Mr. Dunn is on the line with us
Mr. Levy, why don't you show some photos
certainly
this is the front door
that I spoke of at 120, that's the one on the left.
And show you a wider shot.
Could you show us that, please?
Certainly.
I can show you on the plans if that's sufficient.
No, I'd like to see photos, if you would.
Of the inside of the house?
I'd like to see what it looks like as a duplex, yeah.
i'm afraid i unless mr dunn has uh other photographs these are the only ones i have of
it yeah they have side of the house are there separate utilities yes
two meters and you don't have photos of the separate utilities right
i apologize no i don't no no okay and how many houses on the block are multiple families
Most of them are two-family dwellings.
Why don't you have your client come on and adopt your testimony?
Certainly.
Mr. Dunn, can you?
Mr. Dunn, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Hello?
Could you state your name and spell it, please, for the court reporter?
uh stevenson dunn s-t-e-v-e-n-s-o-n-d-u-n-n
do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes i do proceed mr levy mr dunn um can you tell the board uh how the property is being used right
now? The property is being used right now as a single family. All right. And the structure that's
in place for the entrance, do you have any photographs of that or can you describe that
to the board? The entrance is a single door, a protective gate with a entrance door behind it
leading into a secondary door that leads you into the unit.
Is that the one at the end of this hallway here
that I'm showing the center of the first floor?
Yeah, those are the projected plans once we get approval.
What's there? I'm sorry, I apologize.
What is there now? Is the entrance there now?
What is there now? It's a single family with two doors before you access the space.
The third door is a security door. That's the first door.
The second door is the entrance.
And then there's a Vesabue door that leads into the structure.
So, Mr. Levy, right now he's using this as a single property.
OK, I apologize. I thought it's OK. Could could you could you have him adopt your testimony?
Mr. Dine, if if there's any errors I made in my testimony, could you either put them out or basically adopt the testimony I've given the board side for the correction on the occupancy?
Do you agree?
and aside from the entrance of the occupancy everything i've said so far has been correct
yes questions from the board
no chair no chair no mr chairman
go ahead questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands chair planning commission
Thank you, Chair. Sarah Bond, Philadelphia City Planning Commission. The comprehensive plan
recommends no change to the existing residential single-family zoning at this location. The
appellant has not supported their hardship claim with evidence of unique physical circumstances
or conditions of the property. The City Planning Commission recommends that the zoning board deny
the variance. MI 2021-005-225-120 North 53rd Street, I vote no. Thomas Holliman, my vote is no.
James Snell, my vote is no. Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is no. Thank you. Thank you. Number three,
MI-2022-007-246-4435 Sampson Street.
Justin Crick is the attorney for the owner.
Letter of non-opposition from the Spruce Hill Community Association.
Mr. Crick is coming back in as a panelist.
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon.
Name and spell for the court reporter, please.
Yes, Justin Crick, J-U-S-T-I-N-K-R-I-K.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client and the relationship to the property?
Yes, the applicants are Brian and Stephanie Clark.
They are the record owners of the premises.
All right. And our vice chair has just a few questions for you, sir.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
Have you emailed in all the required documents needed, documents and exhibits needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
All right. Thank you very much.
Thank you, members of the board.