sits directly adjacent to a vacant city owned parcel and in the rear are some
single-family homes zoned RSA 5 here's just some visual images of the
warehouse so you can get an idea of the existing conditions and again the plan
is to rehab this structure for multifamily use and add on just a little bit of an addition to
this property and then workforce housing deflexes in the rear of the property. We are providing
landscaping, just not where the Planning Commission requires it for the buffer, but we are providing
it other places. The site makes it a little bit difficult because most of it's existing,
so we're trying to keep in character with the existing site and not rip up too much of the
existing asphalt and parking area we met with Harrogate Civic Association where
we have 11 in support and three opposed so we have a letter of support from
Harrogate which I have in the packet find it Ryan sent me his letter we just
pull up their letter of support. While I'm doing this, Tanya, are you able to have Scott Woodruff
promoted so that he can share a screen just to go through the plans for the board?
Here's our letter.
showing that they are in support. We also are going to be helping the community out
with some of the safety considerations in the neighborhood. They wanted a four-way stop sign
in the intersection of Jani and Tioga, along with some new sidewalks, lighting, filing for
permit parking, and helping get an additional handicap parking space. So we're working with
that separate from this but uh this is really a very nice uh collaboration that we had uh with
the neighborhood and with the owner so with that said i will stop uh sharing my screen and scott
if you can just go through the plans um for the board sure uh don't you be sworn in first yes
Do you swear for him to tell the whole truth and nothing about the truth?
Scott Woodruff, 4001 Main Street, Philadelphia, PA.
So what you're looking at is the zoning site plan.
I just wanted to call attention to the existing two-story warehouse, which is in the corner of Tioga and Woody Street.
uh we are proposing like rachel said a two-story addition at the corner of tioga and jane as well
as a small little one-story portion that kind of fronts back uh next the existing warehouse
and adjacent to those additions we have a large landscape area that will be used for tenant
outdoor space um dogs and kind of just overall gardens we're proposing a bunch of street trees
and kind of landscaping that will go in there we kind of maximize the parking as much as we really
could we're moving the existing curb cut slightly to kind of enhance the accessibility as well as
the amount of parking that we're able to get currently we have 17 proposed parking spaces
for the complex with a two-way curb cut off of woody street towards the rear of the property
um we have six duplexes that are proposed three that front janae street and three that front
uh woody street uh again this will be two units we can walk through those plans shortly but they
will have rear yards as well as an access alley uh to those uh shared parking spaces and this
will all be kind of within the same lot and premises so let me go to
This is a rendering of the proposed front along Tioga Street, again looking at the two-story
addition at the corner, as well as the new access ramp.
There is an existing access ramp on this side, but it is not accessible-compliant, so we're
going to demolish that and make a fully accessible-compliant ramp to the building.
uh against the site plan um the overall plans uh of the project we are proposing mostly one bedrooms
uh of the project we are proposing mostly one bedrooms in the project uh but are kind of keeping
in the project
substantially the existing character of the actual uh building it's a really well kept at the end of
the day warehouse it's just been vacant um and this addition is really served for a new stair
tower as well as just a lobby uh currently uh building doesn't really comply with aggressive
standards this was something that we we had to add bike storage and a small gym
is also proposed on that level
again just units up on the second floor
i'm just kind of looking at the overall massing uh the new additions are shorter than the previous
building um so the existing building is just over 30 feet in height um and we're proposing the new
addition to be to be shorter than that in itself um to try and keep note the existing character
buildings uh these are the duplex units uh workforce units that are at the rear of the
property um that look again more towards the the single family to kind of blend in the uses
between the warehouse multifamily
and the single families that they abut.
And then these are the overall plans for the duplexes.
The first floor is a three-bedroom, two-bath,
and the top floor is a two-bedroom, two-bath.
Again, the goal was for workforce housing in these.
It's also worth just pointing out
that there is probably 23 feet on the Whitty Street side
between our rear property line
and the nearest abutting home
and about 14 feet on the Janney side
from our property line to the nearest abutting home.
So we don't interfere with anybody's light or air
or encroach into any of their lighter air space as well.
yeah and this is the the civil plan that shows that so this this parcel here is not a part of
the proposed project rachel is there anything else you wanted to me to kind of talk about
no um as far as uh like just worth mentioning as far as the planning commission's 2035
comprehensive plan. It specifically mentions the large supply of vacant industrial sites and
recommend zoning relief to encourage adaptive reuse especially around the market Frankfurt
line. We're about a half a mile from that so we do believe that this should blend in nicely with
the city's comprehensive plan and the adaptive reuse of this existing structure and then just
some modifications in order to bring it more to modern standards in addition to providing
workforce housing on the lot. So happy to answer any questions. I'd like to have
the owner of the property, Phil Balderson, just sworn in and adopt my testimony.
Can they raise their hand? Phil, can you raise your hand?
Or if he's not on, Justin Kaplan, the owner's rep.
you say philip yes
okay he can unmute himself hi yes thank you sir good afternoon please identify yourself
spell your name for the record please philip balderston uh philip balderston b-a-l-d-e-r-s-t-o-n
i'm the managing member of the owner thank you you swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth and nothing but the truth i do please proceed phil have you heard my testimony presented
in front of the board today i have and do you adopt it as your own i do happy to answer any
questions that the board may have thank you any questions from the board no
no commission anyone else wish to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
have william bennett william you can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in
good afternoon mr bennett please spell you please identify yourself give us your first
and last name. Spell your last name.
William Bennett
B-E-N-N-E-T-T
Your address?
W-I-T-T-E Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
philadelphia pennsylvania 19134 and you swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
You swear and affirm to tell the truth.
nothing but the truth yes i do thank you please proceed okay um i met with the owner about the
project here because i'm right next well next to the uh they get mine anyway um my biggest question
state promised to adjust it was the parking situation and they said they
will work along with us. Are you asking the question as to what the final are
you asking a question or just tell you what okay all right so it's part of the
record thank you yeah anyone else wish to testify just to respond to mr bennett because he's been
very helpful with this um we we have the 17 parking spaces but we're also working with him
and the neighbors to secure some um ppa designated parking in addition to um you know being considerate
of you know the handicapped spot in some of his uh home and making sure to put another one in just
so that there's additional parking.
Okay, thank you.
Anyone else?
Thank you, Planning Commission.
This is Dave Munson with the Planning Commission.
This property is listed as industrial commercial mixed use
on the comprehensive plan.
This is a part of the Port Richmond
industrial preservation area
and the opposing residential conversions in this area.
Accordingly, we object to the granting of the variance at this location.
Thank you.
He said he had the object?
MI-2020-001185-2215 East Tioga.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
my vote is yes thank you good luck calendar number mi 2020 001184 2426 frankfurt avenue
and that's still you yeah name and address i'm sorry why you were there smiling
name and address for the record yep rachel r-a-c-h-a-e-l-p-r-i-t-z-k-e-r pritzker
1635 Market Street Suite 1600 Philadelphia PA 19103. Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole
truth and nothing but the truth? Yes. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate
to its accuracy? Yes. And have you emailed the exhibit packet with the required documents which
are proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal, referral, photos, plans five days in advance of
this hearing, and have you met with the RCO? And do you have a letter? Yes. Thank you. You may
proceed. Okay. Share my screen again. This is for 2426 Frankfurt Avenue. We are proposing a tattoo
parlor on the first floor of an existing structure with all other uses previously approved. The
property is zoned CMX2. We were refused for body art services, tattoo, and the
location of it within 500 feet of protected uses and 500 feet of
residential district. What are the days and hours of operation? Can I
bring on my client? He'll be able to answer all those. Sure. Or his mom who's
also uh part of the project uh tanya do you see either giacomo giovanetti or sarah giovanetti
yes he can unmute himself and wait to be sworn in thank you hello yes can you put your name and
address on the record uh yes it's uh giacomo giovanetti um did you want me to write that
down in uh the chat i think you should spell it oh absolutely okay it's do you want me to say it
or do you want me to write it down in the chat spell it it's g-i-a-c-o-m-o and then my last
name is giovanetti g-i-o-v like victor i-n-s is nancy e-t-t-i uh mr chair i think this is the
most Italian name we've ever had. Yeah, my full name is Giacomo Lorenzo Antonio
Giudanetti, so it's...
Okay, he is her witness, but he is also the person trying to get a tattoo parlor on the first floor.
He is her witness, but he is also the...
Can we just hear him real quick?
Do you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Okay, thank you.
Giacomo, can you please state what the hours of operation will be for this business?
it would be from 12 to 9 p.m. seven days a week um probably I would say like about five
five days out of the week so I have some rest days to work on the business okay what do you
do with all the sharps and the oh so we have a we have a sharps container and then we reach out
to a company that disposes them for us how frequently um about twice a year
twice a year that's standard for the industry i believe okay
the space i'll show you is very small so it's not going to be a high volume um shop it's not
as like one of the larger ones. It's by appointment only?
Jack, is it by appointment only I would assume? It's only by appointment. So as you can see the
storefront, it's a really small studio space. It just has a studio space for the tattooing
and the bathroom. So there's not a lot of room for a ton of people. And again, it will be
appointment only. Okay, Rachel, have you met with the RCO? Yep, we met with the RCO, which was the
East Kensington Neighbors Association. We also met with the Fishtown Business District. They
reached out and asked for us to meet with them as well, so we did. We have letters of support from
both organizations that I'm going to bring up on the screen. There also are a number of properties
nearby that have obtained variances. So this is the space just so you can get some context of
the actual site and how small the space is. Okay, what is it, what is it near? Because I know there's
at 500 foot there is a church i believe um like further down and there is an elementary school
that's like two blocks over a block and a half over um but there's no intention to tattoo
children or let any children in this shop and the neighbors felt given the kind of the context in
the area that there were other similar businesses and they'd had no issues with them especially
given the small size of this site as well. So you had okays from East Kensington and Fishtown
Business District? Yep so right here you can see they approved to support the application without
provisos. This is from the Fishtown District and then here is from ECNA, the East Kensington
Neighbor Association, where there was 16 in support, six opposed and five abstained. So we have a letter
of support. We also, Giacomo, walked around to all the neighboring businesses and got a petition of
support from the businesses that are located as well okay um do you want to ask your client to
adopt your testimony yes jack have you heard my testimony presented in front of the board today
yes and do you adopt it as your own yes any questions for either of us a question from the
board no no anyone else wish to testify on this
matter please raise your hand
no hands thank you planning commission sorry
I guess this is a relative you're raising your hand
that's his mom I believe no disrespect we are running late
um that's fine if it's really that important
uh planning commission this is dave munson with the planning commission this property is listed
as commercial mixed use on the comprehensive we feel that this use does not pose any negative
impacts to the surrounding area accordingly we have no objection to the granting of the
variants at this location. Thank you. MI-2020-001184-2426
Frankfurt Avenue. My vote is yes. My vote is yes. My vote is yes. My vote is yes.