the permit for that as well other garages down the street
permit for that as well
Which leads us to me giving the board's attention, wanting the board's attention to our plan.
So here's 22nd. If the board remembers the face of our construction and Manton Street, which is where all the action takes place, we're proposing to have a garage where our open space used to be.
We believe that our refusals were generated because we don't have a shared driveway or an alley where everyone can access.
However, we do have an alleyway.
It's only three feet, so we're not disrupting anyone's rear access.
No one could come through our open space anyway.
and the fact that we're looking to have a roof deck on top of this garage,
we do believe that we're not taking away any open space on behalf of the residents.
So the other refusal focused on the fact that we have a 16-foot garage and not 18 feet.
18 feet is a standard parking stall and what we're proposing and what we're suggesting that you only have enough room for compact for a compact car, which is the clearances 16.
We did meet with the community on January 24th, that's their letter of support.
And I will have to say the most supportive piece of evidence showing that we don't have any negative impact are the 45 signatures supporting this request.
supporting this request. And you can see here. And none of them are, and they're all nearby neighbors.
You can see here.
So, as evidence of our notice, proof of mailing, and with that said, I would like to identify
my client and have him speak before the board
pardon me what is your client's name
Calique Reese
okay he's been allowed to speak
sir could you please state your name and spell for the court's stenographer
Calique Reese
K-A-L-I-K last name Reese R-E-E-C-E
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Mr. Reese, have you heard everything I've said before the board today?
And would you adopt it as your own testimony?
Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
I rest my case if the board has any questions.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
not at this time mr planning commission thank you chair bergerman good afternoon david effecto
with the city planning commission chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends
no change to the residential single family zoning at this location there is no unique physical
condition or circumstance of this property that would be prevented from being used in conformance
with the zoning code a vehicle parked in the proposed off street space would likely block
the sidewalk creating a safety hazard for pedestrians there is no way that the city can
guarantee that this or future owners will only own a compact vehicles the city planning commission
recommends the board deny the proposed variances for off street parking and for maximum occupied
area and again mr chairman i i would say the the nature and the uniqueness of the building
does create the 16-foot stall, which if the reasonableness of a new owner were to come in,
I don't think they would try to fit their 18, 20-foot pickup truck inside that parking garage.
So I appreciate Mr. Fecto's position.
Second, when it comes to the open space, as you can see from our already approved permit, we're providing a roof deck.
The rear yard roof deck, there's no impact on light and air as a result of creating this garage.
And also that I would have to say in furtherance that the fact that we do or we're providing this garage, I think it will be a deterrent for illegal parking.
I appreciate Mr. Fecto suggesting that our use will create pedestrian conflicts, but the use that you can tell, and I believe that was along here, you can see people, individuals, residents, visitors will park in their pedestrian conflicts.
I submit to the board that if there's a clear parking space here, already we're not impacting or taking away a parking space because parking is not allowed.
But creating this parking space will prevent pedestrian conflicts because it's only one car.
It's only one car that all the residents and therefore the visitors will also know.
And besides, even if you look at this clear example that was taken randomly by Google shows that it's nowhere near where we will have our parking.
Our parking garage will be here near the rear yard.
But double that with the parking that you see along here, you know, I again, I appreciate the comment, but I don't think this will this will encourage pedestrian conflict.
With that said, we we ask that the board hold our oldest decision and why we get our tax clearance and.
and why we get our tax clearance and look forward to.
We will hold the decision on this until the tax issue straightened out,
and then we will come back and vote, okay?
All right, thank you.
Thank you.
Excuse me, Mr. Chair.
I'm sorry to interrupt you, but there was a call-in user who had their hand raised.
Do you wish to hear them speak?
Understood.
call on user four please unmute your phone
hi tiffany green concerns to the point breeze hi we're having a hard time hearing you could
you raise your voice yeah tiffany green concerns to the point breeze all right could spell your
name for the court stenographer please t-i-f-f-a-n-y-g-r-e-e-n do you swear or firm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes sir please proceed there was a real concern
regarding the garage issue um and and so that's why um we're i'm calling up we're calling up to
talk about the garage um mainly at this point in terms of uh wanting to create another garage
as i stated before uh the community came together and had a garage um ordinance put together in
place because of the lack of parking, the issues regarding many people using their garages
and leave the car in the middle of the walkway.
A lot of times children have to walk out in the street on their way to school or elderly
have to walk out in the way out in the middle of the street to get around the cars.
A lot of times they may park in the garage and then have another car parked outside in
the walkway.
And, you know, it's no one there monitoring that, but it becomes an issue.
And also regarding the parking, the lack of parking, South Philadelphia is a residential area,
but most people do do off-street parking, and there is no real hardship for this.
This hardship seems to be self-imposed.
It seems to be purely for financial gain, and there is no hardship at all.
And so I asked the board to not approve this garage, because if we're going to go,
if the community is going to speak in terms of not having garages and do an ordinance,
then I think that the community wishes should be at least upheld to that extent,
since we have no control regarding the additional three-story addition or the rooftop deck.
So we do have a say in garages.
So that's my testimony for the day.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, again, nothing's stopping cars from parking, and I think that will serve as a deterrent.
Two, we have 45 neighbors that signed a petition, and at the RCO hearing, we got a majority of the votes.
We have that.
All right. Thank you.
Thank you, sir.
We're going to move on to, I want to hear number six and seven together.
So MI 2024, 00272, 3401 Grace Ferry Avenue, number TB595367.
Joseph Catuzzi is the attorney.
And case number seven is MI 2023-007-099-3401 of Grace Ferry Avenue, TB 595367, same attorney.
And there's a letter of support for both of the cases from Residents Organized for Advocacy and Direction.
Mr. Cattuzzi should be rejoining as a panel shortly, Mr. Cattuzzi.
Sure, thank you.
Good afternoon, Mr. Cattuzzi.
Could you stay with me, please, and spell for the court's stenographer?
Absolutely.
Joseph Cattuzzi, C-A-T-U-Z-Z-I of the law firm of Stradley-Ronin, represent the applicant in this case.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do, Chairman.
Could you identify your client, the relationship to the property?
Philadelphia Pennovation LLC is the applicant, colloquially known as Longfellow, and they have an agreement to develop this site with the property owner, which is technically the trustees of the University of Pennsylvania.
All right. And our vice chair has a few questions for you, sir.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Yep, we'll stipulate.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibit that is needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, sir.
Yes, sir.
Thank you. Please proceed to share your screen.
Thank you. Please proceed to share your screen.
Great.
Great.
Okay, can you see on the screen it says Longfellow Real Estate Partner?
It should come up. It's up now. Yes, proceed.
Great. All right, so first of all, thank you for your time in hearing our appeals.
We're here today on two consolidated zoning appeals for a project down at 3401 Grace Ferry Avenue.
What I'd like to do for you today is to provide a brief overview of the project and tee up
our two-dimensional variance requests.
The project involves the construction of a new R&D building for life sciences in two
phases, hence the two appeals.
The developer, which you'll meet shortly, is Longfellow, and they're a national leader
in the development and operation of life science R&D projects.
They both develop and operate these R&D facilities.
So that means they're not going to just come and build and leave.
They'll be in Philadelphia for a long-term commitment.
They have a proven track record of success in cities across the United States, and they
have a history of bringing jobs, community engagement, and attracting investment into
the cities they operate in.
The use that we're talking about for life science and R&D, it's not a heavy manufacturing,
so we're not going to have like a Merck plan, a high-volume facility like you would have
out in West Point in the suburbs.
Rather, the use is targeted and it's limited and focused on research and development type
Longfellow recognizes that the city of Philadelphia is well-suited for this type of R&D use.
We have leading educational institutions that are renowned in science, technology, medicine,
and Philadelphia is really a natural place where the brightest minds in science technology
should stay.
People who study in our universities, people who want to develop and incubate new ideas.
Philadelphia has a rich history and tradition in technology, in science.
And this, hopefully, this project will operate as a catalyst to continue that development and to continue that tradition.
To orient the board, we're down at the Pennovation site, the property itself, and we're at the corner of 34th Street and Grace Ferry Avenue.
The property itself is zoned I-3 industrial.
The R&D use is expressly permitted.
So the actual use that we're talking about, the life science R&D, that's permitted by
Wright.
The project that we're talking about, and again, here's just another view of the plot
of land within the Pennovation campus and where it's situated.
The project itself has been discussed for the better part of the last two years. We started with discussions with the Planning Commission representatives. We also had robust community meetings and meetings with the leadership of the RCOs outside of the zoning process.
We have a robust community development benefits agreement, which we'll share with the board.
We've also had a collaborative and productive relationship with L&I.
We've satisfied all of their conditions, and we, well, with the exception of these two
variance requests, which we're here today to discuss.
The first request that's before you is a dimensional variance.
It's a slight reduction in the size, specifically the length of loading spaces.
The code contemplates 60 feet, and those spaces are not needed because there will not be vehicles and there will be a representation to this effect that will be 60 feet or longer.
The project is not going to incorporate these types of excessively long tractor trailers.
Rather, as you can see on the exhibit here, the project will mainly incorporate the delivery of box trucks and some standard tractor trailers.
And the site, the 40 to 50 feet that we are providing is more than ample space.
And you'll also hear testimony today that the proposed sizes are consistent both with the developer's extensive experience within the industry.
It's also consistent with approvals previously granted by this board for other R&D uses,
and it's also consistent with general industry standards.
The second variance component that we're talking about are two rather de minimis, we'll call
them terraces, they're characterized as roof decks, but essentially what we have here is
small fraction of the six floors floor area will have access and it'll be a view out to the city
of philadelphia so you see on the screen here it'll be facing the skyline as i mentioned at
the outset what longfellow is seeking to do here is to design and ultimately develop and operate
a r d facility that attracts and retains the best thought leaders the the greatest minds
in science and technology, and we want to entice companies and investment into this site
companies and investment into this site to incubate and research and develop their ideas.
to incubate and research and develop their ideas.
Having these terraces on the sixth floor for the board's reference will also be like meeting rooms,
presentation rooms. These types of outdoor spaces and amenities are signature amenities for the
developer, and they're critical to developing and actually bringing the investment and the users
into the site. Notably, I'll note just as a legal issue with the zoning code,
roof decks are compatible with R&D uses. And what I mean by that is that the zoning code
does recognize that R&D buildings can have roof decks if it were in another zoning classification.
There's a variety of different commercial zoning classifications, and actually the IRMX
would also permit roof decks for R&D uses.
So R&D and roof decks, this type of feature is compatible.
It's just the I3 zoning district.
And that's why we're seeking just a reasonable adjustment to the code.
So with that being said, and I will be brief, Chairman,
I would like to call just two representatives of the developer