And is that testimony true and correct to the best of your knowledge?
And would you accept that testimony as your own?
Thank you. Do you have anything else you'd like to share with the board?
None at this moment.
So I would like to just finalize with the board that the variance from what we are seeking is the minimum variance essentially from a commercial establishment that is currently serving alcohol in a certain capacity in accordance with the license it has from the PALCB to a different type of business establishment that would also be allowed to sell alcohol.
to a different type of business establishment that would also be allowed to sell alcohol
pursuant to a license from the palcb on a property that is designated residential
so that therefore any use that was not residential would have found itself before this um this board
when in actuality the property has been and should continues continue to be used for commercial
purposes um questions from the board yeah i have a question does uh does the license from the uh lcb
or the stop and go portion remain even if this um this other use is um is uh granted and has a
liquor license. So essentially this owner is basically swapping this, the license for the
one store in order to get the license for the other store. It's changing from an E license to
a D license, a distributor license. So the intent is not to maintain the alcohol license at the
grab and go store with the approval of the wholesale distributor from the distributor
business. Are there are there other alcohol or beer distributors in the neighborhood?
So I have done a Google map search. There are some along Broad Street, not too far. But as
Philadelphia is concerned, anything more than a few blocks is pretty far. There is a brewery right
on the other side of the train tracks. I can show you that. Basically, the brewery is located
right about where my cursor is now on this map and our properties right here.
And they are allowed to sell takeouts of what they brew.
And then there are several bars that allow for six pack takeouts around.
But given that this property sits and is right along this,
the train corridor, the SEPTA, the Amtrak corridor,
to get any distributor in the area, no, there was not a local distributor
other than basically a couple of tenths of a mile away, which again, you're already out of
neighborhood at that point. What about takeout sales? I'm sorry? What about takeout stop and
goes? So there are other bars in the area and other stop and goes. I don't have them mapped
out on every corner, but that was another one of the concerns of my client is that there's a bar
not too far down that uh the police oftentimes do sit out outside of uh but that my client
believes you know is is also a cause or or one of the causes of some of the neighborhood's concerns
um that also may but as a bar selling alcohol is not not so much as the stop and go
mr crick let me ask you this but he's already he's already using that
portion of the building to supplement him with his proper property right in other words he's
storing the his inventory in that building already right he has that he didn't buy all
this beer in case he gets the license that that that's his inventory for the store right
that's correct that's inventory all right as he needs to use it uh but um you know again he's if
if allowed to sell it in bulk and no longer in the smaller package or form factor, then, you know,
maybe some of the inventory transfers. But the idea being is that because he's selling alcohol
currently, that's just where he puts it. Okay. I have a question. So his PA LCB license,
does it allow him to sell shots right now? Because that's a different type of liquor
that he would sell from a bear distributor. So is he selling a liquor shots, shots of liquor right
now? He can answer
that question. I know the distributor license
does not allow him to do that.
Mr. Chow, if you're still on the phone.
The license that he has now.
Mr. Chow, are you still on the
line if you are? Yes.
If you want to answer the question.
We do not currently sell
shots and as a distributor, we
are not allowed to sell shots. So it would
just be beer. We are currently just
selling beer only.
Any other questions from the board?
And the beer that you would be selling as a distributor is in cases? Is that correct?
Correct. It would be in the packaging that the importers would sell us. That would be the 12 packs or 18 packs or the whole cases or even some six packs, the variety packs of the six packs.
Do you sell six packs now?
We do.
We have the ability to sell six packs.
We have the ability to sell up to a 12-pack, as a matter of fact.
Did you say you hold a restaurant license as well?
Did you say you hold a restaurant license as well?
It's an e-license.
It's an eating place license.
Sorry?
So eating place license.
Go ahead, Michael.
No, no, I was just saying that I was repeating what he said.
It was an eating license, right?
The e-license, we are able to sell food and sell groceries.
So it's still a little different than the restaurant license.
Yeah, but you can right now sell a 12 pack.
You can sell a half a case of beer now.
Correct. We can sell up to half a case of beer.
Correct.
All right. Thank you.
I do have one more question. I'm sorry.
So if you don't get this requested variance, what are you going to do?
You would continue to run the business as is currently.
and then there's a i mean potentially all find a different tenant but this was the owner trying
to use the property for himself in in a similar style business but yeah he would continue to
operate the deli as is and then as needed try to find an alternative tenant for the remainder of
the property okay so could continue to operate the deli as a deli and still selling beer out of
deli is that what you're saying yes the intent would not be to let go of the license at this
location unless the alternative use is approved and a license obtained for that use okay
questions or comments from our attorney earlier emerson
not at this time mr chair what's your comments from the virtual audience
yes chair i have a hand up by the name of charles richardson they have been allowed to speak
all right mr richardson just state your name please good morning good afternoon mr chair
charles richardson office of councilwoman bathroom 508 city hall richardson is r-i-c-h-a-r-d-s-o-n
i can speak i can speak from experience uh with regard to this establishment because of the fact
that our district office on Germantown Avenue is less than 250 feet away from there. And
I've spent, you know, I've spent close to eight years in that office. So I'm very familiar with
their practices and everything. The place is a plague to the community as it stands right now.
They open early in the morning. They close late at night. They don't really, they're not really
a deli per se because of the fact they don't really have food in there other than like cups
and noodles and things along those lines uh the guys that come that guys and young ladies that
come there they do loiter around the area and they do go around on to 20 uh on to wing the
hawking which is right around the corner what they didn't show you with regard to the um you know
showing that the backs of the houses and things along the back of their property versus the houses
is right around on that other corner right there is a seating area where the people that that go to
and pick up the stuff from their location go there and drink and drink and drink all day long
uh the police are out there because of the fact that sometimes it's folks that come from that
location that uh you know cause problems down along winger hocking avenue so it's like it's
not like they like like you know this has been going on forever and uh you know at this point
in time, the councilwoman is definitely not going to support granting any kind of variance
for this. It's just one of those types of things where, you know, they've taken advantage
of the community and have hurt the community, and they're continuing to try to hurt the
community. So, therefore, the councilwoman is not in favor of granting variance for this
property.
Thank you, Mr. Richardson. Is there anyone else in the first audience?
I see no more hands at this time, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good evening. David Fecta with the City Planning Commission.
Chairman and Board members, the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning from RM1, residential multifamily, to CMX2, commercial mixed use at this location.
This property has a documented history as a deli, takeout, fry cleaner, and grocery store.
There is no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property that would prevent it from continuing to be used in a manner consistent with the current CMX2-compliant uses.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Board deny the proposed use variants for wholesale sales and distribution, which would not be allowed in CMX2.
Thank you. MI 2024-002-711-4500 North 20th Street, I vote no.
Michael Johns, my vote is no.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is no.
Tana Graham, my vote is no.
Taya Nguyen, my vote is no.
Ty Owen, my vote is no.
Jane Snell, my vote is no.
Jane Snell, my vote is no.
Shishmael Shahid, my vote is no.
Thank you, counsel.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience whose 2 p.m. case has not been called?
I see no hands at this time.
We're going to take a five-minute break, and we're going to come back and finish up.
Thank you, everyone.
Good afternoon, everyone.
My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing the 330 list for the zoning board.
With me is our vice chair, Ismail Shahid.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board member, James Snell.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board member, Cheryl L. Gaston.
i know she's going to be here so she'll be on shortly our board member tanetta graham uh present
chair our board member michael johns chair our board member taya wynn present mr chair
also present is our attorney hillary emerson and also our deputy director for planning and zoning
Kathleen Grady. Here's our virtual format.
Please be advised
when proceedings are being recorded
with your participation agree to be recorded
the video will be available by contacting
Kathleen.Grady at phila.gov
For our court sonographer and attorneys
for our court sonographer we ask attorneys and witnesses
to identify themselves before testifying.
If you're participating by phone press star 9
to raise your hand and star six to unmute. To an inter-appearance statement, call 267-270-5548.
Leave your email address and address of the property in question.
And finally, the question box on the screen is not for comments or testimony. All comments
should be directed to our Deputy Director Kathleen Grady. Let's look at our schedule
for this afternoon. Number three, MI 2023-007-209-1625 Marshall Street, Cases Continued,
Attorney Moving Party. Number five, MI 2024-001-675-616 North 2nd Street, Cases Continued.
And number six, MI 2024-001-676-1918 East Washington Lane.
That case is continued.
Are there any other requests for continuances?
I see no hands at this time, Chair.
And number seven, MI2024-00689-7505-07 Brookhaven Road, no exhibits, first listing.
Vinay Israel is the listed owner applicant, so pro se, Mr. Yisrael, Yisrael.
I see no one in the audience with that name, Chair.
Okay, so that's the first listing.
MI 2024-001-689-7505-07 Brookhaven Road.
Cases continued.
Mark must be heard.
Well, now we're going to go to number one.
MI 2023-002-857-1720 West Ontario Street.
Darlene Treat is the attorney.
There's a letter of support from Allegheny West Civic Association.
uh excuse me mr chair um uh bill from it can you please resend a link to miss gaston she's having
a hard time getting back into the hearing okay thank you darling three has been promoted to
panelists good morning commissioners darling three on behalf of the applicants good afternoon
Council. Could you spell your name, please, spelled for the court's sonographer? T as in
Thomas, H-R-E-A-T-T. I'm trying to get this video on. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth? I do. Could you identify your client,
a relationship to the property? Yes. My client is Mr. William Perakaya of Flores Rentals and
management he should be on the line and our vice chair has just a few questions
good afternoon counsel do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy
yes i do have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to proceed
with this case out of days in advance of this hearing yes i have thank you council please
Thank you, counsel. Please proceed and share your screen.
proceed to share your screen.
You're coming up.
I'm sorry to interject again. I just noticed Ms. Gaston somehow got put in the attendees list, so if we could just promote her back to panelists, I think that would solve the issue.
Thank you.
Change your hand back to an attendee, bring her back in as a panelist.
Counsel, are you still on?
There she is.
You're muted.
Yeah, it switched me.
I don't know where it is.
You're back.