They're kind of slanted.
Is that fair to say?
You want to describe how they're located?
Yes, they are slanted.
They are designed to provide visibility from Market Street and to provide visibility from JFK Boulevard.
So, perfect. So, naturally, we want to have a sign that has frontage on Market and on JFK. That's fair to say, correct?
That's correct.
Sign M01, this one here, is predominantly to face Market Street, invisible.
Yes, that's correct.
traveling west on Market. And this sign M0.02 is predominantly the visibility on Market Street
traveling east as well as JFK. Is that fair to say? That's correct. And these signs are being
used for what purposes? To signify the entrance to the Schuylkill Yard development overall and
specifically 3151 Market Street. And would it be fair to say they're also being used to promote
traffic safety so that the building can be easily identified? That's absolutely correct.
And with this, would it create a hardship if you were unable to appropriately identify and sign the
building? Is that fair to say? Yes, it would. We're fearful that pedestrians, bikers, and
vehicular traffic alike would find themselves circling the building
without the additional identification that we're requesting here because of
the three-sided frontage of the building that you mentioned earlier.
And by the way, you heard my presentation. Would you agree
it's true and accurate? Yes. Adopt it as if it were your own?
Yes. And lastly, although I did state that the signs
would otherwise comply with the allowable sign area
and locations. Is that fair to say? Yes. Okay. And additionally, with the state of the signs
were granted, these signs wouldn't would create no adverse impacts, but in fact,
but in fact would actually have a beneficial impact. Mr. Chairman, I also have our architects
would actually have a beneficial impact. Mr. Chairman, I also have
Thank you.
from Gensler who designed the signs. If you want to hear more about the signs. I don't know if
there's questions about the signs, we'll bring him along. And as you mentioned, there's a,
I'll go back to that, a letter from the Paladin Village Civic Association.
and supporting also the council the council council sorry yes council got the a and that
as well yes all right that's all right all right questions from the board
from our attorney should no chair i'm recusing from this uh vote okay thank you not at this
time, Mr. Chair. Questions or comments from the virtual audience? I do not see any further
answer, Mr. Chair. Planning Commission. This is Ron Bednar, City Planning. The City Plan recommends
no change to exist the current commercial zoning at this location. City Planning Commission has
no objection to granting the proposed variance. Thank you. MI 2024-005-235-3151 Market Street,
i vote yes it's another graham my vote is yes
i win my vote is yes
ishmael shaheed my vote is yes thank you counsel great thank you number five
MI 2024-002-410-2913-15 Kensington Avenue.
Michael Phillips is the attorney.
I'll be rejoining as a panelist.
Thank you.
There's a letter of opposition from the Somerset Neighbors for Better Living.
There's also a letter of opposition from Council Member Squal.
The letter is also signed by Council Member Lozada, Driscoll, and Harrity.
And the applicant has also provided, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 letters of support.
Mr. Phillips, could you please state your name and spell it for the court stenographer?
Michael Phillips, M-I-C-H-A-E-L, P-H-I-L-L-I-P-S, 1500, I'm sorry, 1835 Market Street, Suite 1400, Philadelphia PA, 19103.
I'm here with Claire Harrison, Harvey Bransberg.
Where are a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
Sure. I'm here on behalf of Prevention Point Philadelphia, Inc., which is the tenant at 2913 to 15 Kensington Street, where it has been a tenant since 2015.
So coming up on 10 years, I have with me Silvana Mazzella, who is the interim executive director with Prevention Point Philadelphia.
Also have additional witnesses, including Janice Woodcock, who is our land planning expert.
Dr. Jessica Meisner, Dr. Monica Van Zandt, and we also have James Sherman, Callie Lamb,
and Donnell Colbert, who are all prepared to speak on behalf of the application.
So, Mr. Phillips, our vice chair has a few questions, but what we want to try to do,
how long do you think your presentation will take?
My presentation should probably take maybe 20 to 30 minutes.
All those witnesses?
Including the witnesses, probably closer to 30, 45.
So what we'll do is we'll see where we stand when we're done with your presentation, okay?
With your witnesses, your first part of the case.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Sir, do you stipulate to the reading of the refusal and do you agree with its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
But I want you to share your screen and start your presentation.
Certainly.
Can everyone see my screen?
It should be coming up any minute.
Is it there?
Yeah, we're good.
Okay. So good afternoon. Again, Michael Phillips on behalf of Prevention Point Philadelphia.
Point Philadelphia. We are here seeking special exception approval to legalize group medical
We are here seeking special exception approval to leave.
services at 2913 Kensington. Client has been utilizing the property for group medical services
since around 2019. When they moved into the property in 2015, they obtained a permit for
personal services and sole medical practitioner offices, which is a permitted use in the CMX
two-and-a-half zoning district.
They were unaware that upon increasing from one medical provider to they have a maximum
of three, that that would require additional approval.
Upon becoming aware of that, we filed the application and are just seeking to increase
increase the use from that sole practitioner to the group medical with all other existing uses, including the personal services, to remain.
So I did hear Mr. Chairman note the letter of opposition from Somerset Neighbors for Better Living as well as Kensington Caucus.
I will point out there are many more than three neighbor letters of support.
There are 22 individualized letters of support, and there are petitions, letters and petitions of support that are we have signed by over 150 members of the community.
I never said three. I didn't say three.
I said nine letters.
Oh, I said nine letters. My apology.
And these letters come from Gaudenzi, a project home, Pennsylvania Alliance of Recovery Residences and many medical providers who can all attest that the increase in use from one medical provider to two to three not only would not cause any detrimental effects to the community,
but is a major positive to the community in that it provides valuable resources and access to health care to a portion of the public who often is not thought of and who, you know, is in desperate need of this use.
So that, again, is the scope here.
This is a special exception.
This is not a variance.
So our duty is to show that we do not cause any of the detrimental impacts as set forth in the code.
And upon establishing that proof, the burden then shifts to the community to show that there would be detrimental impacts more so than what would be expected from any other medical service, medical office use.
and hear the testimony and facts that you will hear is clearly this does not.
And if anything, the increase from solo practitioner to group alleviates many of these issues that we'll be speaking to.
I also want to make a note that the medical services that we're speaking about are not just for the unhoused or those suffering from addiction,
but are available, utilized and make a positive impact on many members of the community.
not just the unhoused and people struggling with addiction.
And the goal should be making it easier for communities to access quality, caring, health and medical care, not the other way around.
So I will first want to start with calling Sylvana Mazzella to testify,
and she will speak to what exactly these services are that are being provided at the property,
how long they've been provided in the history of the use at the property.
Do we see her hand?
Yes, they've been allowed to speak.
Hello, can you hear me?
Hi. Yes, I can. Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
My name is Silvana Mazzella, S-I-L-V-A-N-A-M-A-Z-Z-E-L-L-A.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Silvana, can you please tell the board your position with Prevention Point Philadelphia?
Yes, I'm the lead executive officer of Prevention Point Philadelphia.
And can you explain who is Prevention Point and what are the services that Prevention Point provides?
Prevention Point Philadelphia is a public health organization.
We are a multi-service organization.
We provide much more than medical care and some of the prevention services.
We provide much more than medical care and some of the prevention services that we are known for.
We have a drop-in center that serves as an entry point for people to come in and not only get medical care, get a mailing address, get public benefits, get health insurance, help with SSI, help with treatment, not only on site, but substance use treatment across the city.
People get help with mental health care, vocational supports, including volunteerism and employment, legal supports, and identification.
We have public restrooms for people.
We have food services, meal services.
We support, as Michael Phillips stated, all members of the community.
You do not have to be there for one service to get help.
We have housing services at another location. We have homeless outreach services. We have medical care, as you know, and a range of case management and other supports to link people to benefits and other services. There's an art program two days a week. There are different types of workshops. We have other providers, lawyers, et cetera, come in and do services for people.
um the property that you see on the screen here is that uh the property that we're here to discuss
today yes it is all right it's 29 13 to 15 kensington ave and just to orient uh the board
it is at the corner of uh kensington ave and uh monmouth and also fronts uh ruth and this is
zoned CMX5. Here is the front of the building on Kensington. And then this is the Monmouth Ave
location. And I'll just walk through. Sylvana, can you explain for the board what the interior
photos that they're seeing are right now? Yes. So you're looking at what you would enter if you
came in from the Kensington door, you would go into what we call newsroom two, a small staff
area, and then you'd be entering the front of the clinics. This wall houses four offices that are
used largely for HIV and hepatitis C testing, but also any other types of research projects
and counseling. To the left of the wall that you're looking at, that small purple square,
yes, you're going to see another set of rooms that look primarily like this. Those are used
for medical care, including hepatitis C treatment, medication for opioid use disorder. So we have a
substance use support services on site. We have PrEP, and we have HIV primary care.
We have wound care several days a week, and we have STI testing and treatment. Some of the rooms
on that side of the wall, as well as the opposite, are also used for case management. So someone
needs help getting mental health services, wants substance use treatment in another program,
including inpatient at somewhere else in the city. Somebody wants help with case management,
with benefits, with legal support. So depending on the day, some of the rooms are always medical
care. Other days, the rooms are used by different staff and case managers and services.
When you first, and I'm just running through some more pictures, when you first began leasing
the property. How many medical providers were there? When we started, we had one medical
provider. And when we moved into the building, the medical service that we had was medication
for opioid use disorder. We had what we call the STEP program, Supportive Treatment Engagement
Program. We've had that program since 2008. When we moved in, we had a bit over 50 patients.
we then became part of a center of excellence for opioid use disorder treatment with two other
program partners at other locations and for our COE we expanded services in 2016 and 2017 we got
a grant from the health department to do warm handoff we were you know quite frankly one of
the first warm handoff programs in the city, accepting individuals from hospitals, from
residential housing, and from CFCF to provide them with substance use medication treatment.
When we became part of the COE, we started expanding, and then we added
When we became part of the COE, we started expanding, and then we added prep navigation
before medical care, and then hepatitis C treatment.
In 2019, we got asked by the city to take over an HIV clinic that another partner had
been operating.
I also want to point out that during COVID in particular, we started to really expand
some of the medical services and patients.
we were one of the few programs that was consistently open Monday through Friday plus
Sunday for treatment for people. So we added services as there was a need in the community.
We did not want lines for care at the building. And we also wanted to, you know, part of the
expansion of providers was adding on specialties so that we didn't have generic but
wonderful providers, but people that had a specialty in HIV treatment or PrEP or treatment.
And who are the medical providers who provide services at the property?
So some of the specialties include Dr. Meisner, who does HIV primary care and some PrEP,
Dr. Van Zandt, who does a range of care in a range of services in the city, including Prevention
point, Dr. Simpson, who is an emergency medical provider and toxicologist, and a nurse practitioner,
Christy Petrillo. And the document I'm showing right now is this is a prevention point
document that was prepared by the organization. Is that correct? Yes. This is what we call our
PPP by the numbers. It outlines the different programs that we provide. And on the back,
we have the numbers of people that we serve and the services themselves. And the area that I've
just highlighted here, these medical services, it's, you know, the case management, HIV and
hep C, primary care, wound care, reproductive health care services. Those are the medical
services that are provided at 2913 Kensington. Is that correct? Yes. Now, these other services,
community engagement, prevention, social services, drop-in services are also all provided at 2913.
Is that correct? Yes. Okay. I mean, those are not the subject of this application,
what we're here today. We're here just for the medical services. I will have Dr. Meisner come
on and Van Zandt just to speak about, you know, the services. I just want to wrap up with.
And one minute, Mr. Phillips, just to be clarified, what you're asking for, you're already providing.
Correct. Right. So in other words, the services are already there. That's what you're asking for.
Correct. OK. And the services, again, to reiterate, the services are here.
We have a permit for sole practitioner. It is a by right use. That's right.
Just seeking to go up to group. So the group, you want to go up to group, but you've already went to group.
Yeah. Yeah. They went to group in 2019, not knowing that it required this addition permit. So again, we have wound care. And before we moved to one of the medical providers, can you just speak quickly to what is the wound care program? What services do they provide?
um the wound program uh started as a street based program through street side health um
well over 25 years ago um currently the program does a combination of wound care supply kits
for people with education on how to uh clean wounds but the providers that do wound care
do actual cleaning and treatment of wounds. They do that on site. And I also want to point out that