ZBA Hearing - May 28, 2025

no negative impact and instead a really really positive impact on this community

okay one do you want to bring your client on to adopt your testimony

i'll have mayor sure why don't you why don't you come up who's the owner sure

sir could you um turn to michael and make sure it's on the light should be the green light and

sir could you um turn to michael and make sure it's on

then pull yeah it's on could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer

mayor jacobowitz mayor m-a-y-e-r jacobowitz j-a-c-o-b-o-w-i-t-z right do you swear or

affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i affirm okay um counsel please

for your testimony to be adopted so um mayor you are a representative of the owner of this

property is that correct correct and you heard my explanation of what went on and the use that we

are here seeking approval of is that correct correct and was everything that i explained

accurate yes and if you had provided testimony explaining what happened and the scope of this

application, would it have been substantially similar to what I just explained? Yes. And will

you adopt my testimony as if it's your own? Yes. Okay. So I'm going to have questions from the

board. And then if there's someone else in the audience to testify when I call for comments from

the audience. Okay. All right. Questions from the board. Go ahead. Okay. Well, is there any time

through the season that there's

coverings over the equipment?

So when I went

out and looked after the kind of notice

of violation was issued, they shut down the gym

outside. And so there's

like, you can see in the photograph, there's like

a little barricade, so they're not letting people out there.

And a lot of the equipment is

covered. So there's

like, there were kind of tarps over some of it.

I mean, like for like tents or

something like that. No, no, no.

No, this is outdoor.

Thank you.

who what's what's what's adjacent who owns or what's the grass area to the rear and to the right

of that uh that space who who owns it or who controls it are you talking if you go back to

your if you go back to the the image that image so who who controls these areas and if is that

part of this who controls that so um that is part of mayor's property the empire grant property and

they are the owners um i could defer to you my assumption is that fusion gyms would be responsible

for maintenance of this outdoor space is that correct correct and and the green space around

it or just or just the space where they have their equipment so um let's see if i can

including the green space around it including the green space around right okay so you want

all the whole partial correct until the railroad in the back and the airport in the side right

gotcha so and you can kind of see there's like in the land there's like a lot of kind of shrubbery

as you kind of get further past the green that you can see right around the equipment yeah so

it's just interesting that there there was opposition um and um for the for the project

if you don't really have neighbors it seems you know um so i'm just just that's just interesting

that there was such opposition that anything else sorry um again it was i mean there were really

it was a very small kind of group there.

And my sense is that kind of,

there was something about the changes in use

and, you know, and that this was done first.

And since they were so unfamiliar with it,

that, you know, there maybe was a sense

of we don't like asking for forgiveness

after this was done.

Gotcha. Thank you.

Other questions from the board?

So I have a question.

Oh, go ahead, Cheryl.

Yes, a question.

so the actual gym as it is now holds about how many people so tony chowdery is also with me

and he's the owner of fusion gyms he might be able to better answer that question if you want

me to call him up uh yeah oh sure i guess i'm just trying to get an idea of how many more

people will be talking about in terms of the capacity.

Sir, could you please state your name and get closer to the mic?

Yes, sir.

Please state your name and spell for the stenographer.

Yeah, my name is Tony Chowdhury, T-O-N-Y, last name Chowdhury, C-H-O-W-D-H-U-R-Y.

Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?

Yes, sir.

Please proceed counsel.

So that's my question.

that's my question the question is what's the capacity without the outdoor space and then what

The question is, what's the capacity without the outdoor?

is it with the um outdoor space typical capacity for a 40 000 square foot gym is generally about

eight to ten thousand we have about half of that we have about four thousand members and then

outside it would double our capacity but we're nowhere near capacity and we've been open for

close to 10 years. Okay. So, and then what, uh, well, okay. So I'll, I'll freely admit I'm pretty

much a couch potato. I have belonged to gyms. I didn't necessarily go that often, but a lot of

the equipment was, uh, like they use like electricity. So these don't do that. These are

no ma'am. Yeah. It's all free weights. Uh, so a big portion of the outside weights and like

like the stationary bikes and yeah so it's all strength equipment it's all plate loaded and

pin loaded equipment so no electronics okay and then what happens when it's raining outside does

the equipment stay out there and you just people can't use the space or yes ma'am it's only open

weather permitting okay and that means like rain snow no it's too cold yeah it's close okay all

it and then uh the surface for this how what what is that and is it something that kind of

cushions folks in case they fall or something it's one in stick rubber ah okay like you would

have in some of the playgrounds like for kids exactly have that soft cushioning thing oh

Interesting. So I'll just say that I don't think this is a case for natural expansion because I don't think it's non-conforming in that sense.

But one of the things that it, well, a couple of things that it talks about is that it's not an excessive expansion or that it's a new or different use that you're introducing.

So this isn't new or different. This is just an expansion of what's already there. And if what you're saying is that you're basically just maybe doubling the amount, I'm not sure if that's excessive in that sense.

um like this is um and and i guess my other thing is and i don't think you can answer this

i'm not sure why it is you need permission to use part of your property that just

happens to be outdoors i'm not sure if i'm understanding the so i i think that's you

what you're getting at is what i think tony's feelings were about this so typically i think

the position of philadelphia and why a notice was issued and why we're here is that when we come and

ask for this type of relief typically it's subject to us complying with the testimony and exhibits

that we previously provided so when this was initially presented there wasn't a kind of a

conversation about outdoor exercise it was only indoor exercise and so i i you know i have a level

of agreeing with you that this is you know a continuation of an existing use that's really

nice in the area it's just expanded in size um and so i i am really you know hopeful that you

guys will find this to be you know reasonable and appropriate for the space as it's just really

great for the community um but i think that is why we believe we're here i think i have a number

of one question um so um for the expansion was any of the additional parking cut out

no there was actually um parking added the 38 38 spaces are new okay all right

all right so one how many square feet is the outdoor area that's fenced in

for use? I would say give or take 30,000 square feet. Okay. And then were the basketball courts

already there or you had the basketball courts? So we started with the basketball courts.

So I want to give an explanation why we did it. So initially- Without permits. I want to know why

you did it without permits. So initially we went through the process and we got a zoning approval

for a fast casual restaurant just because I wanted to provide healthy meals to our members.

And all of our members were opposed to it. They said, hey, Tony, listen, if you're going to spend any money, please build us an outdoor space that gives us more of a use because our indoor space, we don't really have much space to build a basketball court.

So we initially just started with the basketball courts outside and then slowly over time, it just.

So we initially just started with the basketball courts outside, and then slowly over time, it just grew.

I feel like a business that only makes money is a very poor business.

I've always looked to make an impact on the communities that we served.

I've been in the industry for about 18 years, and we're competing against, you know, big box, you know, multibillion-dollar corporations.

And how we've been able to compete with them is just listening to our customers.

And I do apologize, you know.

I do get a little overzealous as an entrepreneur, and, you know, you don't know what you don't know.

i thought it wasn't a big deal to use our backyard and then as we went through the process

ellen and i came by they gave us a bunch of violations and then i hired an architect i

hired a site engineer to kind of work through the process and then make make all the according

plans and then it was a long drawn out process initially and then it was declined and then they

told us to close the outdoor gym because it didn't have the zoning approval so it's been closed since

last year. And now we're here, you know, seeking relief to do things the right way. I know what I

did was wrong, but I didn't think it was a big deal because we weren't hurting anyone. We weren't

bothering anyone. We're in the middle of an industrial park. We had full support from our

neighbors, like the Center for Autism, Spikes Trophy, the self-storage place. And then, you know,

you know, I feel like we're doing a great thing for the community. You know, in Philadelphia,

you know it's not the safest place and we have hundreds of kids that come every day after school

and use the outdoor facility or used to use the outdoor facility and use the gym and they stay

off the streets and notably so like we've gotten a lot of attention from big developers in

Philadelphia like Bart Blasti you know we're doing a project similar to this you know throughout the

city and then in Atlantic City as well just because you know he builds communities and we're

building a community within a community to give people a safe place to go and enjoy like if you

really come to our facility it literally feels like it's an escape from philly it's it's a

paradise i think that's great i think i'm more concerned that you did a 30 000 square foot

expansion without permits this has nothing to do with zoning for me the use i mean i'm i'll you

know align with cheryl there but like you built two basketball courts that required drainage they

require excavation right they require foundational support you have to make sure the soil is a

certain resistance to be able to support that use without permits so i guess my question is

at one point where the architect and the engineer brought in during the construction process how

much of the basketball courts were already constructed and would you guys um would you

have take issue with a co being required as a proviso yeah so um it was uh as soon as we got

But the violations, we hired an architectural firm to draw it out.

It's just been a long, drawn-out process.

Again, I'm a young entrepreneur.

I don't...

Understood.

So architect came in as an as-built?

Yes.

After it was built.

So not for construction.

Correct.

So what were the contractors using as their base plans to do the construction itself?

So we hired a concrete company.

This is what they do each and every single day.

They put the proper drainage in.

They put modified stone in.

They put the drains in.

i mean and we we documented everything so it was as built we hired professionals to do it we spent

hundreds of thousands of dollars on it um and you know we are doing everything we can to legalize it

and you know get the approval from the city and get the proper permits my second question is about

any electrical outside like i know you said the equipment doesn't but are there any outlets for

either light or like speakers things of that nature that are operating out there no ma'am so

we have uh perimeter lights along the entire building so that's enough light for the outdoor

space okay and then um my other question is about the fencing how tall is the fence let's say about

eight feet so fences that high typically also require zoning is that hillary does that need

to be on the permit so it's above six feet if it's well if it's behind the setback i don't

I don't think that it necessarily matters.

So, yeah.

And then my last question is about egress.

So right now, is the only way to get to the outdoor area

if you come through the gym itself?

No, ma'am.

There's two points of egress, one on the left side,

one on the right side.

Does one exit directly onto that parking lot or onto a walkway?

Yes.

Okay.

Other questions from the board?

Questions or comments from our attorney?

So, I just wanted to clarify because I know there was some confusion with the use. So, the two other uses, the retail sales and the other food services use, those have expired. Those are going away. And so, this use is essentially expanding into where those uses were going to be as well.

So this use is essentially expanding into where those uses were going to be as well.

is that

Is that correct?

No.

So I think part of, Tony can correct me, but my understanding, I wasn't involved with the

prior restaurant application, but there's kind of, there are, you kind of like walk in

through this room.

And as I mentioned, they're selling kind of, I would say it's accessory to a gym, but they

do have protein powder and sports beverages, things of that nature.

So that is being sold in front, but you'd walk into the kind of main gym space and walk through that and there's an additional, there's additional rooms, there's separated rooms. And I think, I believe that it was in there that they were going to build out sort of a restaurant. Is that correct?

Correct. So our front desk area, it's roughly 1500 square feet. We were going to use that for the restaurant. We opted not to use it. So it's just remaining as like the front desk area.

okay okay um all right so so the any sales accessory it's not a that's not another primary

use to the the property no i just want to be i just wanted to be clear that you know if you

walked in you could buy a power bar or protein powder like and that's typical of other gyms

but i didn't want to pretend that that wasn't happening right that created a problem i no no

that's fine no i know some at some point i think when there starts being like juice bars and things

like that then l and i starts considering it another like a prepared food shop sort of sort

of use but that's not the case here so and then those those other spaces are just not being not