Our vice chair has just a few questions.
Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to
his accuracy? I do.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed and required
to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
I have.
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you, Mr. Shahid.
is the cover sheet visible mr chairman yeah we see mr clinton okay uh again good morning mr
chairman members of the board uh henry clinton on behalf of the applicant william zoo zhu
This concerns 210 East Gerard Avenue.
This is my table of contents containing exhibits A1 through A10, which I ask to be admitted into evidence.
This is the refusal.
This is a request for a special exception because we're in the North Delaware Avenue overlay district.
This request is for a prepared food shop, seating no more than 20, no commercial cooking.
uh seating no more than 20 no commercial cooking uh and it's going to be a franchise called mr
wish and i'll explain to you what that is we are in the cmx zoning district uh this property was
formerly used as a law office as the photographs will will depict and there is one apartment above
which will stay in place uh we do have overwhelming support from the fish town neighborhood association
42 supporters, two oppositions.
And we also have, as Chairman mentioned, a letter of support from the Fishtown, Kensington
Area Business Improvement District.
They welcome another business on the commercial corridor.
So this is the existing building right here in the middle.
It was a law office.
Teresa Brady was there for a number of years.
She sold the property to my client.
And the idea is the first floor will be the Mr. Wish franchise.
The door to the left, first door to the left, will lead to the apartment upstairs.
And then the other door to the left is a Baker's Alley, which leads to the rear yard, which will store trash in the rear yard and bring it out front for commercial trash pickup.
You can see there's commercial establishments on both sides of this commercial property.
An aerial view, again, just depicting the former law office here, one in off the corner, and then to the right, additional commercial corridors, excuse me, additional commercial buildings.
Close-up view, depicting our zoning notices, and these are the plans.
So this is the front elevation. It'll be Mr. Wish with his small awning and the entrance.
I mistakenly said the entrance was on the right. The entrance is here on the left in between the two doors.
This is the floor plan.
Enter through the front door is the point of service counter.
There's a handicapped restroom.
The seating will be for less than 20 in the open area in front of the point of service counter.
In the rear, five or six sinks, prep stations, ice machine, tea cooker.
And there is a rear door leading out from the storage room into the rear yard, but it's not depicted on this floor plan.
But there is a rear door in the building.
this is just another cutaway to show the layout customer area in the front counter area point of
service work area handicap restroom the sinks will be in this area and storage in the rear
just an overhead view of the layout and then these are some of the offerings that Mr. Wish
will be providing smoothies, teas, special drinks, and there are already 14 locations
of Mr. Wish in the city of Philadelphia.
They're in South Philadelphia, Northeast Philly, Fishtown, Mattyonk, North Philly, really
all over the city, and they'll still be in this neighborhood.
This is the interior layout of the building, the front counter, have a drink, make a wish
is the theme. Television's mounted on the wall for menus, seating, and this is what the front
counter will look like. Again, it's a franchise, so everything is really regimented by the
franchisor. This is a typical front of what a Mr. Wish would look like. Obviously, our facade is
not this. I only show this to the board for demonstration purposes only. This is a tax
certification, zoning map indicating the CMX2 zoning district, the deed indicating ownership,
and Mr. Zhu will be the witness. And this is our letter of notice. Just a few other things,
Mr. Chairman. The hours of operation will be from 10 to 10. It's approximately 1,000 square feet.
We're going to store trash in the rear yard, bring it out toward the front for commercial
trash pickup. Another thing we're working on, as suggested by the community groups, is we're
working on a loading zone in the front, so that if people do happen to come to the restaurant,
there's a little bit of an area that they can come in, grab a drink. It's not really a takeout
because we have so many seats, about 18 seats or so, but just in case the community group was
concerned that people on their way to work are coming home, might want to stop and grab something,
We're working on the loading zone in the front of the building.
We're also working with the City of Philadelphia.
There's a grant program available for businesses in Fishtown to upgrade their front elevation on the first floor.
So we've begun that process also.
So we've begun that process also.
So in conclusion, we're looking.
So in conclusion, we're looking for a special exception, not necessarily a variance for the refusal.
We're not altering the essential character of the neighborhood.
This commercial use is in line with what is already on the block and with what is already on the commercial corridor known as Drouard Avenue.
We're not overcrowding the space.
There's no congestion.
We're not impacting the light and air of any adjacent properties.
We're not overtaxing the public facilities or public transportation.
And we're in compliance, I believe, with the overlay plan and the comprehensive plan.
And with that, I would like to rest and ask my client to unmute himself.
And I'll ask him to adopt my testimony, Mr. Chairman.
Sure, please.
Mr. Zhu, can you unmute yourself, please?
He's allowed to speak.
Hi, sir.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Hello, can you hear me?
Yes, first name William, W-I-L-L-I-A-M, last name Zhu, Z-H-H-E.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Please proceed, counsel.
Hello, Mr. Zhu.
Were you on the call when I presented your project for your Mr. Wish franchise?
And if you had the opportunity to testify, would you adopt my testimony as your own and as true and correct?
Thank you, Mr. Zou.
Hi, questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair, I have Robert Everett with his hand up. I will give him permission to speak.
Sir, could you state your name, please, and spell it for the court stenographer?
yes good morning uh first name robert last name everett e-v-e-r-e-t-t you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do are you a neighbor sir i'm a resident
of fishtown but i'm also on the zoning committee um the rco fishtown neighbors association please
please proceed i just want to confirm uh mr clinton's statements and our community support
was in fact 42 in support to oppose thank we like that's opening up the avenue to businesses
great mr ever thank you very much for taking the time to call us we appreciate it is there
anyone else in the virtual audience i see no hands chair planning commission
Thank you, Chair Bergman. Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. Board members, this is a special exception. The proposed use is not likely to have impacts beyond what would reasonably be expected from the use of this location, so the City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant this special exception.
Thank you. MI 2023-001-373-210 East Rod Avenue, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
ishmael shaheed my vote is yes thank you thank you have a great day right number 14 mi 2023
zero zero one three one four 1809 west thompson street joseph consul is the attorney
letter of strong support from the united neighbors alliance civic association
good morning again hi mr consul just for the record could you state your name
yes joseph consul right you've already been sworn could you identify your client
the relationship to this property yeah my client is mr duane gantt and he's the owner
okay and our our vice chair has just a few questions
so do you agree to be the reading of the refusal or stipulate to his accuracy
i do i've emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed and required to
proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing yes um if you have a support letter
from united neighbors do you share your screen okay
okay sharing my screen now okay so i'm here on 1809 west thompson street uh if you're looking
at the properties here we're the one on the right the one in the middle uh was um rehabbed and
approved using the same architect and the same floor plan of of the property on the right which
is our property here uh that property was approved in the middle as a two unit um two years ago and
um is fully rehabbed now just to say that um this what we're asking for is not out of context
the same footprint and we use the same architect for a similar sort of design so
And we use the same architect for a similar sort of design.
So it's 1809 West Thompson Street.
We have a refusal because it's RSA 5.
My client is seeking to use the property as a two unit.
Additionally, there are several other multifamilies on the block, including 1813, which is to the left of the rehab property in the middle there.
We have, as mentioned, a strong letter of support.
They, being the RCO, are looking for properties to be rehabilitated on this block.
And so they were in support of this presentation.
We had a nicely attended meeting, and they sent the letter in a couple of days ago.
Proof of mailing.
Postage outside.
and included in the packet are all of the drawings completed and submitted as part of the building
plan. And then all the other required documents are submitted at the end there. It's going to be
two bedroom units as indicated on the plan. And it's not going to be any taller than the property
next door um although it won't have kind of that funky um funky layout with the with the bump out
there and just to show you guys um this was approved in 2021 as a two-unit uh property
and we're seeking um a similar variance i will call my client to adopt my testimony
Dwayne, could you raise your virtual hand, please?
Dwayne Grant has been allowed to speak.
Grant, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, my name is Dwayne Grant. The spelling is D-W-A-Y-N-E-G-H-A-N-T.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
proceed counsel good morning mr gant did you hear my testimony just now about 1809 west thompson
street yes i did do you adopt it as your own yes i do okay nothing further questions from the board
no mr chairman no chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
there are no hands here planning commission thank you chair bergman board members ian hegerty for
the philadelphia city planning commission in 2017 the zoning map was amended on this block
from rm1 multifamily to rsa5 single family however this proposed two-family use is consistent
with the existing multifamily use contained in many buildings on this block as the council has
pointed out, including 1811, 1813, and 1819 West Thompson Street. City Planning Commission
recommends that the board grant the variance. Thank you. MI 2023-001-314-1809 West Thompson
Street. I vote yes. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes. Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes. Thank you.
Thank you, Council. Is there anyone in the virtual audience whose 930 a.m. case has not been called?
There are no hands here. Thank you everyone. See everyone at 2 p.m.
Thank you. Thank you, Chair.
Good afternoon. My name is Bill Bergman and I will be chairing this afternoon's EBA
hearings. With me is our Vice Chair Ismail Shahid.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member Thomas Holloman.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Okay, and our board member, James Snell.
Present, Chair.
Thank you.
Also here is Hillary Emerson, our attorney, and our executive director, Tanya Sunkett.
Here's a virtual format.
The advised proceedings are being recorded.
The video will be available by contacting tanyasunkett at phila.gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you are participating by phone, if you wish to testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
Press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548.
Leave your email and the address of the property in question.
And finally, the question and answer box on the screen is not for comment or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sullivan.
Let's look at our schedule for this afternoon.
Number 5, MI-2023-001-265-2203, North Natrona Street.
This case is continued.
Mark must be tried.
Is there anyone else requesting a continuance for the 2 o'clock schedule?
good afternoon chair i see no hands thank you we're going to go to our add-on
mr shaheed will not testify on this he's recused himself
MI-2022-006-210-4619-21 Lancaster Avenue.
I vote yes with proviso.
Temporary variance to expire on December 31, 2027, an interior storage of tires.
James Snell, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Thank you.
My vote is Thomas Holloman.
My vote is yes with Proviso.