until we get approval. So we have our RCO notice, which was sent on 412,
advertising our meeting on April 25th. It included a copy of the refusal.
It also included a copy of the zoning notice poster. And then the addresses
some five pages went out to 215 215 addresses i pointed out because that's important
uh you know regarding this property and they were and this was the second scheduled meeting
uh there was a mix-up with the rco with their zoom scheduling uh where we could not log in
uh so we we agreed to an additional meeting uh simply because it was before the scheduled hearing
date. So we absorbed the cost of that additional mill. So we did send that out. And then I have
copies of all of the various zoning histories with regard to the property. As you can see,
the red dot indicates the location of the property. It is one block up from a CMX district.
The aerial photograph, that would be Lehigh Avenue, is the area down here towards the bottom with the CMX1.
And we submit respectfully to this board that, we'll get back to my summary.
Um, again, uh, this property has a long standing, uh, history of continuous commercial use
since pre 1959, predominantly as a check cashing agency. Um, and then, uh, most recently as the
daycare, uh, I spoke with my client, the, the daycare vacated shortly after the COVID shutdown
in March of 2020. I believe it was May. He has continuously, you know, marketed this property
or this first floor space for rent for commercial purposes since that time. And quite frankly,
the only interested party was the grocery store operator. And obviously we need zoning approval,
zoning board approval to institute this use. If I may pull up the, I thought I had it up there,
but hang on a second. I want to go to the RCO letter, which I will have in a second.
okay is everybody saying my rco letter strawberry mansion yes okay uh mr chairman uh in their
summary as you can see let me get my uh hand okay but we did we did have the meeting it was a
I would say almost virtually unattended meeting but for two nearest neighbors and again if we go
back to the exhibit packet which included the certificate of mailing
again we sent it out to 215 neighbors yet two nearest neighbors showed up and they voted in
opposition to this application. And in the letter of explanation, you know, they claim, which is a
legal conclusion, no demonstrated hardship. They say it's an excessive same use business in a one
block radius, no demonstration to the community and near neighbors as, you know, a need for the
same type of merchandise sales. All these, all these arguments were suggestions by the RCO.
are, you know, they're not land use or zoning variance related. And again, you know, number
six, no hardship to use as a living space apartment. It's a commercial storefront corner
property that has been used that since 19, you know, pre-1959. You know, they also provided
pictures of properties at 1701 Cecil B and then another one called High Times at 1702 Cecil B.
Two properties fully unrelated to this application. Given the history of the property
and the fact that it is a commercial corner property used that way for decades, we would ask
that this board grant this application and the variance for this use Keith Yantes is on the call
I would ask Keith at the bottom middle of your screen there is a raise your hand icon if you
could click on that so the administrator can find you and you can verify and adopt my testimony
There he is.
I'll have to talk.
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please, Mr. Yantes?
Yantes.
That's K-E-I-T-H and Y-A-N-T-E-S.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed.
Keith, you heard my representations to the board today?
I did, yes.
Are they true and correct at the best of your knowledge, information, and belief?
would you adopt them as your own testimony yes uh mr chairman uh we are free to answer any
questions that the board may have questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman
um mr ward is there several properties like that in the area i mean grocery stores
well there's you know there's uh you know there's quarter properties that have historically been used
yeah that's the way these that's the way these places were built uh it was a corner store with
an apartment above that usually the operator of the store lived in back then but um you know and
and quite frankly uh keith has marketed this property since it vacated by the daycare in
what was that keith may of 2022 or 2020 approximately and yeah and and the only
the only one interested prospect has been Mo for this small grocery store use.
Correct.
Okay, thank you.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Mr. The Strawberry Mansion community, I'll reach Mr. Hendricks.
I'll allow them to speak.
Hello?
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Yes, my name is Bonita Cummings, B-O-N-I-T-A, C-U-M-M-I-N-G-S.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
Of course, we are the survey management community concerned was the coordinating RCO.
The nearest neighbors that did attend the meeting are living directly next door, one, to this property.
living directly next door, one, to this property. And it's feeling opposed to that use. That's not
Thank you.
the best use. They've named seven additional type of stores within that one block radius.
At the top of that block at 2501 Sterner Street is the same type of store. It sells
of beverage drinks, food, groceries, is right at the top of the block at 2501 Stoner Street.
Also, the residents feel they would not want to be trapped in between two same type businesses
that brings a lot of loitering to the 2501 corner, transposed to the 2557th Street corner.
The reason that the information is in there regarding other locations is because the LEC is the owner of at least seven of the same type businesses in Philadelphia, and at least three of them are now presently under cease operations for drug paraphernalia from the city of Philadelphia.
here. So we have health, welfare, and safety considerations. We don't feel that they did not
feel that that's the best use of the property. There's no demonstrated hardship that it could
not be used as an apartment. The size of that space is very small, and there was no demonstration
from the applicant of what it would potentially even could look like if this was granted.
The nuisance that the community feels would be created by having this business on that end corner is the consideration also that they would not want to have to endure.
So they would not want to be trapped in between two businesses, one already that causes a great deal of nuisance at the top end of their block.
If I may, Mr. Chair.
First, I'm going to thank her. I'm going to get to you in a minute. Thank you for calling in. Do you want to ask her a question? Or do you just have a comment?
No, I was just going to make comment.
I'll let you respond a minute. Thank you very much for calling in. Mr. Ward, do you want to respond?
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm going to object to Ms. Cummings' testimony in the fact that, number one, it's inflammatory. Number two, she's attempting to introduce evidence into the record, which is not even present.
She cites, you know, an allegation that three other sites are under code enforcement cease operations.
There's no evidence of that in the record.
And the fact that there's other similar businesses in the area competition is certainly not a reason for the board to deny a variance for a proposed use,
especially when the property has been used consistently for commercial purposes since 1959.
So for those reasons, I object to her testimony.
And given the fact that only two neighbors out of 215 that were notified by mail showed up at this meeting and voiced concerns or opposition.
So I would ask that the that the board give it the weight and authority that it deserves, which is slim to nil.
So any any other comments or statements for the virtual audience?
we have a hand raised from a phone number ending in three five five two sure to speak yeah
they've been allowed to speak sir hi state your name unmute please
could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
yes this is adrian fernandez of swamp little neighborhood carsers association rco
Could you do me a favor? Spell your name for the court reporter.
Yes, my first name is spelled A-D-R-I-E-N-N-E. My last name is spelled F-E-R-N-A-N-D-E-Z.
Right. Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
Okay. Swampo to RCO is opposed to this variance. Number one reason is because the neighbors do not want to live around it, the next door neighbors especially, and also that the variance requests, it will be an overuse in this area, especially with them having another grocery store at the other end of the block.
We are an infected RCO with Strawberry Mansion
on this address and possibly another RCO.
However, the owner that was mentioned, he has an interest
in placing by variance or later variance by conversion,
placing by variants or later variants by conversion grocery stores in our area that get converted
Grocery.
to 24-hour convenience stores to sell drug paraphernalia. We just had a withdrawal last
week. I'm going to object, Mr. Chairman. She's referring to other properties. Mr. Ward,
Mr. Ward, give me a minute. Ma'am, I heard this testimony before. I guess the simplest thing
I'm not talking about the same thing. They're talking about other addresses that are open.
Also, Strawberry Mansion talked about other addresses where they were violating.
Listen to me a minute. Are you against this variance?
Yes, because we do not want children shopping with owners who do not care that children are around drug paraphernalia.
All right. Thank you.
Okay. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
Sir, I have Ms. Shawna with her hand raised.
I will allow her to speak at this time.
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Hi, my name is Shawna Richardson.
It's S-H-A-W-N-A Richardson, R-I-C-H-A-R-D-S-O-N.
and I am the current owner of property 2555 West Stone Street.
Okay, all right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Correct, yes.
Could you proceed?
Okay, I am opposition because where we live is 90% senior citizens that own their properties.
Number two, traffic is very bad here. It's problematic. Number three, this is a highly crime area. There has been police, I mean, shootings. There has been drugs in the area. And I am not comfortable with this at all. And I see it and I see it every day.
okay you're against it i would say yes sir thank you thank you very much for calling in and taking
the time is sean i'm going to get to you in a minute you get you can so is there anyone else
in the virtual audience
miss valerie anthony okay okay miss valerie anthony has her hand raised
hi could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
Valerie Anthony, V-A-L-E-R-I-E-A-N-T-H-O-N-Y.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Could you give me your comments?
And if you would, try to give me something that we haven't heard already.
Is that possible?
I'll try.
Right.
Well, first, I do want to say that the daycare closed a couple of years prior to COVID.
So it wasn't just like it shut down due to COVID.
It's been closed.
But we have on that block, that's the way we enter our street from right there at that corner driving.
The street goes east.
With that proposed store, we will have people hanging out on the corners.
And I, for one, definitely after getting off of work, if I see that, I don't want to turn into the block.
That's where I live.
I can't even get to my home.
So I will have to go around another way.
and park around the corner um that's basically it that and the drugs and in five and a half blocks
we have eight stores that's a hot food cold food seafood hookah um cigarettes malt liquor liquor
uh grocery items anything you could think of we already have those stores there
all right thank you for calling in and taking the time is there anyone else
there is no other hands mr chair thank you mr ward would you want to summarize before i go to
the planning commission yes thank you mr chair uh number one with regard to swamp poodle um
rco uh they did not participate in this rco meeting um and we did share with them our rco
exhibit packet uh so they're taking a position that they oppose this simply because two neighbors in
the uh you know in the area uh oppose it uh i think is disingenuous and has no weight or authority
uh with regard to shauna's uh comments uh elderly people reside in many areas of the city uh it's
Elderly people reside in many areas of the city. It's not a zoning related issue.
It's not a zoning.
Traffic is also a citywide issue not related to this proposed use and crime.
There's no evidence that this proposed use will increase the likelihood of crime simply because they want to open a grocery store on this corner.
again it relates back to the fact that uh competition is not a reason to deny a variance
uh and then the uh the third uh uh commenter uh i'm sorry i forgot her name but uh
yeah it's a one-way street and you enter block you enter the block there that that's just a
physical fact uh on how you know philadelphia streets are you know laid out they're you know
mostly one way you know one block goes south one block goes north or one block goes east one block
goes west and uh as far as hanging out you know people have been hanging on street corners uh
since the invention of street corners and uh but our client will do their best uh to monitor and
patrol their business as you know as a good neighbor uh to make sure that loitering is not a
a factor during the sale of groceries. Our hours are limited from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
And it's not going to be a nighttime hangout where people are coming in buying drinks,
soft drinks, and there's no suggestion that we're going to be selling takeout beer. So the
Colt 45s and the things like that are not present in this application, nor will they be present
in the operation of the business thank you excuse me mr chairman mr hallman you have a comment yes
um could we have a reviso for the time that the operations of the business we have no objection
another question what is the script what is the square footage of the first floor
Tom, I don't know the exact square footage. If I go to Opa real quick, I might be able
to get an idea. Hang on one second. Yeah, and that was another thing they mentioned
that we didn't prepare floor plans, but there's no requirement for floor plans for a use application,
but let me just check real quick two five five seven yes
do you have a rear yard
um hold on let me let me get this uh bear with me tom