in order to be able to provide signage identifying their tenant spaces within the building.
There isn't a lobby or a doorman, so visitors and employees of the space rely on the signage to
direct them to these tenant spaces. Compass in particular will have over 200 agents who work out
of this office as their Philadelphia hub, as well as serve as an office location for
buyers and sellers who are coming in for in-person closings, which is still required in Philadelphia.
which is still required in Philadelphia. So Compass is seeking to replace the previously
So Compass is seeking to replace.
approved WeWork sign at this location in order to be able to identify their tenant space within the
building. As I said, this sign will function as a change of copy. The Zoning Board approved a
WeWork sign here, which I think was in a previous picture. Back in 2017, you can see it in this
picture. And this sign will function as a change of copy. We are seeking variance relief to allow
a sign at above, at the third floor, above the second floor windowsill of the building. But
otherwise, the sign is dimensionally compliant with the requirements of the CMX5 zoning district
in which it's located. And as I mentioned, we do have a letter of non-opposition from the Center
City Residents Association, as well as the approval letter from the Art Commission that's in our
packet. The overall intention of this sign is to be in keeping with the aesthetic of the neighborhood
generally, but also more importantly with the signage design that's at this building to replace
the sign that was previously approved and also will be consistent with the Cheesecake Factory
sign that's located at the second floor and the other signage that's previously been approved
at this building. So we don't anticipate any change to the overall character of the building
or the neighborhood or any other detrimental impacts in connection with the sign.
With that, I will ask, I do have Rocco Gaskins from Abco Signs available here today,
as well as Amy Bang from Compass.
I'll ask Rocco to raise his hand and adopt my testimony,
and he can also answer any questions anybody has.
Thank you.
Mr. Gaskins has been allowed to speak.
Is Mr. Gaskins from the sign group?
Yes, he's from Abco Signs.
How about your rep for the building?
is he there yes amy bang from compass is here as well why don't you put your rep from the
building on sure amy would you mind raising your hand and identifying yourself
hi this is amy bang all right could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
yes amy bang a-m-y b-a-n-g you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth yes i do thank you thank you amy have you heard my testimony this afternoon
yes you believe this to be true and correct based on your knowledge and understanding
yes do you adopt it as your own yes thank you questions from the board no mr chairman
questions or comments from the virtual audience
mr chair with your comments from the virtual audience
um yes you wish to hear from mr gaskins rocco gaskins sir
Yes, can you hear me?
Is that the sign person?
Yes, Rocco is here on behalf of Rocco.
Rocco, we're fine.
Rocco, we're okay, Rocco.
Thank you.
Any other comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Mr. David, Mr. Bayesdow with his hand raised.
Is that going to allow him to speak at this time, sir?
Mr. Bayesdow
Mr. Bayesdow could you state your name
and spell it for the court reporter
can you hear me
could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter
yes David Basedow
B-A-S-E-D-O-W
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth
I do thank you
thank you Mr. Chairman
Yes, it's a little bit confusing in the zoning meeting notice that we got from Stephanie Boggs-Magnana Esquire about the nature of this and the size of this sign.
I don't understand what back illuminated means. I don't know why something that's twice the height of what is approved by allowed by the zoning code should be allowed.
a 60 foot back illuminated sign should be approved in the neighbourhood. I think it would
be totally out of keeping with the nature of the street. I think the illumination is a form
of light pollution. We're already in our building disturbed by the banks of lights
that are above the pizza place, ampersand. We have to close our blinds at night to watch TV
because the light is so bright.
And I think if there are not going to be any rules about maximum heights,
I don't know why 60 feet, which is twice what is usually allowed,
should be considered appropriate.
I don't think we live in Las Vegas.
I don't think we live in Las Vegas. I don't think we live in Times Square, and I don't think any of us want to live in those areas.
I don't think we live in Times Square.
And I don't think any...
This is an elegant neighborhood, and I don't think its purpose is appropriate for the nature of our neighborhood at all.
And I think it will spoil the characteristics of our elegant building.
Thank you for your comments, and I will try to have them answered. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
counselor you want to just sure so i just want to clarify what the nature of this application
is for you david um if it was confusing in my letter i do apologize um but as presented to
the center city residents association are at our meeting on january 25th we are seeking relief to
be able to replace what was a we work sign when they were the tenant of the building at the third
floor and now put in a compass sign the dimensions of the sign are slightly different which is why
we are here, we are still compliant as a sign area, which is the only difference we have
between our sign and the WeWork sign with the CMX5 zoning. We are simply asking for relief to be
able to put the sign on the third floor of the building. The sign will be placed at the same
exact location as the WeWork sign that was approved for this tenant space at this location by the
zoning board in 2017. It's also asking for the same relief that was given to the Cheesecake
factory sign, which is located at the second floor of this building, to identify their tenant space
within the building. While the signage requirements and the height limitations of the sign are
appropriate generally in the neighborhood, we are asking for variance specifically for this property
because of its unique design and layout and the history of signage here. As I said, it's a
multi-tenant, multi-floor building with signage that's provided to be able to identify the tenant
spaces to visitors and to employees within the building and to encourage wayfinding we are simply
seeking to be able to replace what was previously approved to now identify the current tenant of
the building thank you is there anyone else in the virtual audience has a comment
no other hands mr chair planning commission
good afternoon chairman members of the board ian litwin planning commission staff
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing CMX 5 zoning for this parcel.
The proposed sign is located above the ground floor, but is too low to be considered a building identification sign as allowed in CMX 5.
The proposed sign is in keeping with the design of the building as a replacement for an existing sign for a previous tenant.
Being located on Walnut Street, this property is subject to ARC Commission approval for all signage.
The ARC Commission approved the proposed sign on September 1, 2021.
Therefore, the Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the variance.
Thank you.
MI 2021-005-026-1430 Walnut Street, I vote yes.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
Amy Snail, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Okay. MI 2021, 005234, 1636 North 26th Street, Brewery Town, Shardswood Community Civic Association, Letter of Support. Alan Nockamson.
uh good afternoon again alan knockamson a-l-a-n last name knockamson n-o-c-h-u-m-s-o-n
one two three south broad street suite 1600 philadelphia pa 1910
knockamson you you've already been sworn in could you identify who your client is in the
relationship to the property? Yes, Mr. Chair. I have the corporate representative, Jock Singer,
of Cilantro DG LLC, which is the owner of the property. Thank you very much. Our Vice Chair has
a few questions. Hi, Mr. Nachamson. Do you agree to wave the reading of the refusal and stipulate
to its accuracy? I do. It appears that you have submitted all the required documents. Is that
correct? That's correct, including a letter of support from the coordinating RCO. Okay,
you may proceed and share your screen. Thank you very much.
All right, so I'm here to present 1636 North 26th Street. It's in the Burry Town section
of Philadelphia. We'll go through the documents we typically do for a project at this time.
we'll have a note we'll go through the noise refusal the letter of support from the brewery
town charge with community civic association nearby rsa multifamily variances recently granted
Nearby RSA multifamily variances recently granted. I was in front of the board for many of these, including one that was granted by the board a few months ago.
um i was
Maps of the area, photographs of the properties around the area, our plans and drawing, our RCO meeting notice, along with proof of mailing of that notice, our deed to the property showing that cilantro, DG LLC is the owner of the property.
our application for appeal to the zba which also includes our notice of refusal as well as project
information form and our certificate of tax claim at the conclusion of my presentation i will ask
that mr singer virtually raise his hand so to adopt my testimony and afterwards we'll be more
than happy to take any questions from the board so first things first is our refusal this is an
RSA-5 property, but you'll see through our next set of exhibits, it's non-common for a property
of this sort to be multifamily. This is a heavily multifamily section of Philadelphia.
Our only refusal is the use of the property. We're not asking for any dimensional variances
of particular importance for trash, storage, or removal. Every resident has access to the rear
of the properties and we will remove trash accordingly from from rear to front of the
property. Additionally, my client would agree to a proviso and they mentioned that in the RCO
to the RCO, but it's not referenced in a letter, but we would like a proviso commercial pickup
once a week. Letter of support from the Brewery Town Charlotte community organization. As you can
see there was a this is a very well attended meeting uh and there was overwhelming support
including by the zoning committee which had unanimous support of this project
and then recently granted variances again as you can see uh there's more than a dozen
instances where this board has granted uh multi-family use under similar circumstances
the latest of which is 1612 North 26th Street, which is actually Virgo Long on this block.
Maps of the area, again, while this is an RSA by property, as you saw from the
recently granted variances, it's not uncommon to allow for such multi-family use.
And then again, from a Google map perspective as well, where we are in the neighborhood.
Photographs of the property where we're vacant lots, you know, here's north 26th to the right of the property, north 26th to the left of the property, and then in addition to the one, there are variances recently granted, there are other instances on this block and nearby where there's multifamily use.
1638 North 26th Street is an RSA 5 property that's multifamily.
1644 North 26th Street is a nearby RSA 5 multifamily.
1635 North 26th is a nearby RSA 5 multifamily.
So in addition to the variances that were recently granted, there are other examples as well of multifamily use.
Here are examples of interior photographs of what my client's work product is.
And by the way, my client actually lives blocks away in Brewery Town,
and he specializes in developing properties nearby his house.
So just sample interiors to show the quality of work with Chip.
These are marketing materials for a recently sold album.
And then just, you know, our plans and drawings. As you can see the rendering, we try to keep the traditional brick facade. As you can see here, there's there's a walkway from front to back where each of the residents will be able to access the rear yards for trash storage.
And then just, you know, again, elevations to the rear of the property and the front of the property.
more elevations and no dimensional variances here.
Here's our site plan uh as you can see you know our building structure does not go any further
to the left of the building to the building structure to the left of us.
And then just our floor plans and and uh for this for this project each of the units are two bedrooms
to that. And then here's our meeting notice. We met on February 17, 2022 at 6.30 p.m. 168
addresses were notified of this community meeting, the list of the addresses, proof
the list of the addresses, proof of mailing to those addresses,
of mailing to those.
deed to the property showing that Cilantro DG LLC is the owner of the property,
our application appeal to the ZBA along with our notice of refusal and our project information form
and her certificate of tax clients.
With that being said, I would ask that Mr. Singer virtually raise his hand
so he can adopt the testimony.
Singer has been allowed to speak.
Hi, this is Jack Singer.
J-A-C-Q-U-E-S-S-I-N-G-E-R.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed.
Oh, yes, Mr. Singer, you heard everything I stated today.
Yes, I did.
And is it true and correct?
Yep, that was correct.
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
no hands mr chair planning commission good afternoon chair members of the board
ian litwin planning commission staff the comprehensive plan recommends no change to
the residential single-family zoning at this location there is no unique physical condition
of this 1591 square foot lot that will prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning
code in addition 1621 and 1623 north 26th street are single-family homes built in 2019 proving that