So when you acquired this property, did you acquire it with daycare in mind?
I purchased the property not knowing exactly what I was going to do with it.
But the fact that I know my daycare will be different than the ones in the neighborhood, I decided to do that with that property.
So have you investigated costs with a realtor about either selling it to somebody to use as a single family home, renovating it, renting it, reselling it yourself?
No, I have not because I own the property and I'm going to do.
That's fine.
Thank you.
I don't have any other questions.
questions or comments from the virtual audience
see no answer oh yeah i see a hand from us diane settles sorry i'm allowed to speak
miss settles is my witness um i think i'll call her um as my first witness once
I think I'll call her as my first witness once Ms. Lewis's case is done, but we can probably hold off on.
miss lewis's case is done but
Her case is done.
She's done.
Excuse me.
Can I make a comment regarding Ms. Diane Settles?
Ms. Diane Settles is not located within the RCO boundaries.
Ms. Settles, please, I have a...
Call your witness.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I'd like to call Diane Settles.
Ms. Settles, if you could unmute yourself.
good morning um wait a minute could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
yes my name is diane d-i-a-n-e last name is spelled s as in sam e-t-t-l-e-s
do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes i do proceed counsel miss settles i'm just going to ask you some questions and you can
answered. We spoke about, you know better than I do about this property. So can you tell me
briefly where you live? I live at 1313 South 49th Street. So my understanding is that's about two
blocks away. A block and a half. Maybe this would be easier. I have my associate, Rachel Rempell,
we could promote her. We have like a satellite imagery from the atlas of the program in the
city Philadelphia website so we can see an overview but I'll continue while we do that
um so Ms. Settles um in addition to living there are you involved in any local civic organizations
yes I am um King Cesson Area Civic Association which is the RCO and the third councilmatic
district I'm also a committee person um in the 27th ward 17th division which falls in this area
where Ms. Lewis' proposed daycare will be.
And so have, now, do you have an opinion about this proposed daycare?
If you could explain why?
Yes, I do.
I would first like to say that Ms. Lewis did not post the first zoning notice
until after I had contacted Andrew Goodman and the other RCOs that are on this.
Understood, but let's talk about the properties and the use that's going to be here.
So she's going to have a daycare there.
What about the use might you be concerned about?
Well, because this is a residential area and the homeowners want to retain that
since those homes have been residential since 1940.
That is what the opposition was about,
as well as about the safety of this establishment.
You actually, you submitted a letter
on behalf of your organization,
Concessory Area Civic Association, that's correct?
That is correct.
And can you tell me, we also submitted a bus schedule.
Can you tell me about that and what you're saying?
And if there's any, if you personally know if SEPTA buses are going by and the impact that this might have on that?
There is a, historically, there's been about 12 buses there that goes at the very corner of where this establishment will be at.
There are three stop signs there. There is no light there whatsoever.
There are other things that will prohibit parking there at that establishment as well.
So if that bus was to turn, would not if, when that bus turns, it needs to have clear passage to continue on to its route.
And so, yeah, I'm going to share my screen because I don't see my associate.
There we go.
Doing that.
And so, in addition to the SEPTA buses, are there any other interferences that might happen here?
larger vehicles or other things?
There are tractor trailers that come there.
That's a gateway from the sanitation department,
which is sanitation number one.
That block is also a feeder off of Grace Ferry Bridge.
There's many obstacles that would prohibit a safe passageway
at that establishment.
So I put up a satellite photo on the screen. If you can see here,
does this look like where the blue dot here? This is page 39 of my of my exhibit package.
Does that look where the property is?
yes i would say that is right so this is a 50th and pascal right here um and um to give everybody
Yes, I would say that it is.
an idea there's trucks they come down woodland um and then they sometimes come down 50th here
to then cut across and go right by this daycare is that correct that is correct and we're talking
like big rigs right six 18 wheelers yeah and how about out um here out of this factory here on
pascal that comes out of pascal avenue are there any trucks that come out of there yes it is trucks
that come in and out that um lots of them or just a couple well that is a major national company so
So I would say yes.
All right. Is there any other reasons why you want to mention that you took time out of your schedule here to be here to oppose us today?
Because the community feels as though that it would jeopardize the health and wealth and well-being of this tight-knit community, which they have been, as I stated before, since 1940.
um you didn't mention i would like to retain it it's a well-kept block is there anything about
the hours of the daycare or the number of kids that you might be concerned with
oh according to miss lewis she said that she would start off um with five to six days a week
and that she would go to be put in the act for 24 hours um as an establishment whereas there are
other 24-hour establishments already in this area. In our exhibit package, we mentioned
or we actually put a list of other daycares. You're familiar with a number of other daycares
in the neighborhood as well? Yes, I am. And are you familiar at all if there's vacancies in there
if they're all full and well um most of them are full is two that are pending opening and um one is
a 24 hour um then the other ones are from 7 30 to 5 38 um p.m and then um you know the 24 i stand
corrected there's two that's going to be 24 hours yes one which is right around the corner on 49th
woodland and one that is on the corner of 51st woodland that the one on 49th and woodland that's
in like a commercial corridor or shopping center yes it is and there there might be other that's
a block away there there are probably other commercial spots that would be open for a daycare
like this right they may be yeah on woodland avenue yes great thank you no further questions
um i i have uh another neighbor i'm going to try to do things different so that we don't you don't
hear the same thing from different people and uh my the next neighbor is estelle alley
and um miss alley submitted a letter as well so we'll just summarize what her letter was
miss holly could you raise your hand curry alley
i believe it is i don't know how to speak right now if i could ask you mr chairman my my associate
Rachel Rempel has her hand raised.
If we could promote her, she could just help me.
Wow, you just told me Kerry Alley.
Do you want her?
No, she's my witness.
I've been trying to get my associate to be promoted as a panelist
just to do the electronics for the screen.
Okay, go ahead. Sure, sure.
I'll proceed meanwhile.
Ms. Alley, if you could.
Ms. Alley, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Good morning.
My name is Rachel Rempel, R-A-C-H-E-L-R-E-M-P-E-L
of Feynman, Crexstein, and Harris on behalf of the
Protestants. Do you swear or
affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Ms. Ali, could you
I'm trying to get
your client, Curry Alley on it.
Could you state your name and spell for the
court reporter, please?
Good morning. My name is, can you hear me?
Yes, we can.
Good morning. My name is
Estelle Alley.
E-S-T-E-L-L-E
A-L-L-I-E
all right thank you do you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the
truth yes i do thank you proceed counsel miss alley we spoke yesterday you told me um that you
had a lot of feelings about this project that meant a lot um that you to take out a time out
of your schedule to be here today please tell us um what you what you feel about it where you live
start with where you live and then what you feel about the project okay i am a near neighbor i live
in the 1400 block of South 50th Street within 250 feet of the
South 50th Street within 250 feet of the proposed daycare.
Okay, thank you. And are there any reasons of the neighborhood, the streets here,
why are you concerned about the location of a daycare in this location?
Well, I'm concerned for the children, the safety of the children, as well as for the safety of the
neighbors. Within my letter that goes into depth, I believe that the panel has some pictures that
were taken and sent that also tell the story of how many trucks come down our street and turn
where the proposed daycare is.
Okay, that's the 1400 block that you're showing now
of 50th Street with, and at the very right,
which looks like it's a tan or yellowish house.
That's where the daycare is proposed.
I've summarized my letter, if I may read it,
because I'm not very good at ad-libbing if I'm allowed,
it won't take long if I'm allowed to. It'll probably be easier for you to just summarize I
think you know it's a very nice letter which is in the record but let's go through some of these
incidents that you referenced in your letter so it looks like there was a number of pictures of
car accidents on this block correct um uh there have been at least within the uh the last year
no two uh accidents directly across the street uh well i'll talk about the one that you're showing
now this was it uh within 80 okay so uh the car a car accident where where um a car sped down
Paschal Avenue, turned at 50th and Paschal which is turning right where the proposed daycare is,
sped down 50th Street going the direction of Woodland Avenue, lost control, ended up going up
on the sidewalk and would have gone on the neighbor's porches if not for
of the hand railing that was between the houses you're seeing some of the debris where the car
actually sideswiped the number of vehicles um the uh mr harvitz i mr harvitz i i think i understand
so this is down the street from where it is right so this is a i understand there could be accidents
things so could we move on please yeah of course thank you um so um miss ali there a lot so you
you had given me a bus schedule which we enclosed is there a lot of buses that go past here or
um um yes uh kitty corner to the home is a september route 12 bus stop on 50th street
it turns east and travels down pascal avenue um the bus schedule that i reviewed reveals that on
weekdays between the hours of 7 a.m and 6 p.m it passes by the home uh approximately 38 times
on Saturdays. Okay, that's fine. Thank you so much. So I have, and you also said that you see
lots. All right. So you did, you know, we didn't see a traffic study from the applicant, but you
tried to figure out about the traffic here. Is that correct? Yes. Yes. By just getting a
up to schedule, yes. And the trucks and stuff too, right? It ties into what Ms. Suttles had
mentioned, that when a bus turns, if there is a car parked, and at times with daycares, it happens
it shouldn't, but it happens, or double parked, it can adversely impede. A bus will not be able
to operate. Thank you. We understand. All right. Thank you. So no more questions. And
if Ms. Lewis doesn't have any questions, I have one more witness, which is Jamie Kushner of
Paschal Partners. She, in addition to owning properties right next two doors down, her company
also owns the big factory right across the street. Okay. Hi, my name is Jamie Kushner,
J-A-M-I-E-K-U-S-H-N-E-R. I'm an owner of the factory across the street at 5,000 Pascal Avenue.
Right. Wait a minute. Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth? I do. Proceed, counsel. Thank you. Rachel, if you could go down to the satellite
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Rachel, if you could go down to the satellite photos, like the middle.
like photos.
So, Jamie, please tell me, do you operate the factory across the street from this property?
Yes, we do.
Yes, I do.
And as a part of that operations, are there trucks that come in and out of your property?
There are constant trucks, flatbeds, 18-wheelers coming in for pickups and deliveries all day, six days a week, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
And we're talking about a driveway located directly across the street from the proposed daycare. Is that correct?
Correct.
And are your trucks the only trucks that go on these residential streets in this neighborhood?
No. In addition to our factory here on the other side, we're actually 50th Street and Paschal is a feeder streets into Grays Ferry Avenue and the bridge leading into Interstate 76.
So there are constant, I-95, so there are constant buses, trucks, trailers coming down our street.