Okay. So this property is zoned RSA5, which is residential.
There are commercial properties across the street.
there's a shopping center across the street um there's a lot of traffic in the area
uh we feel concerns with the traffic going on with the elderly crossing the street just trying
to minimize as much traffic because they'd be flying through their left and right and we just
fear for our neighborhood also we are concerned with the integrity of the community itself uh
being a residential area and not changing that particular block or structure to a commercial unit in any fashion.
That's basically what I wanted to say.
I mean, again, you know, we make the suggestion of converting the property to a studio or a single apartment building instead of a smoothie shop
or any other food or services thank you thank you for calling in mr butler is there anyone else who
has a different viewpoint or wants to offer a different uh comments would you like to um
comments. Would you like to, Mr. Chair, would you like any response from us? Well, I thought maybe
let me see if there's anybody else and then I'll give you a chance to respond. Okay. Thank you.
Anybody else? Council respond. Nope. No more hands, Chair. I'm sorry.
counsel uh thank you mr chair um this property as was stated has been used commercially
for many many years the owner of this property first of all i don't think it is um appropriate
to to penalize the owner of this property for past illegal use of the of the space um by way of the
barbecue, I think was mentioned, a barbecue operation. The owner plans to not have this
in operation any more or any less than the adjacent strip mall, which is really basically
right across the street from that, as close or maybe even closer than the church.
Because of the nature of the business, a smoothie operation, the anticipation would be
that there will be a lot of walk-in traffic, not parking. So I think that the parking issue is
not really dispositive in this nature. As the community has also talked in their letter,
mentioned something about trash. The nature of a smoothie operations is very minimal trash.
There's a cup and there's a straw. This is a takeout business with no seating and no indoor
um indoor operation and uh there apparently there has been no problem with this there's a strip mall
that has a wine and spirit store there i don't think that there's been an issue of loitering
and that kind of and and that kind of behavior at all and we think and believe and the other thing
is that the city has an open maps app i believe i have it someplace i don't think of course we
can't share that, which really shows that this property is wrapped around into that commercial
corridor. It is very much consistent with the area. And physically, it would be a hardship
to make this into a residential unit in that it has never really been a residential unit. It has
always been a commercial property. And let me just see if there was anything else.
And for those reasons, we would very much ask for this variance to be granted.
Thank you for your comments.
Planning Commission?
Thank you, Chair Bergman.
Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
Members of the Board, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing RSA 5 single-family zoning on this property.
we do think that the existing structure presents a hardship for single family use given its
configuration to include a ground floor commercial space however we agree with the council member
that the proposed use represents a greater overall impact than the documented previous uses on this
space if we're using that as a baseline and so the city planning commission would recommend that the
or deny the variance for this use thank you and mi 2021-001-115-7037 ogons avenue i vote no
thomas holliman my vote is no ishmael shaheed my vote is no thank you
mi 2021 00027 9201 busselton avenue leo mulvihill no rco letter if yes would
provide those as per amended refusal dated 8 18 21. mr mulvihill
good morning chairman members of the board
leo mobile on behalf of the applicant and just to correct the record we received a rco letter
of support very early this morning from the sorry mr mobile could you please spell your name on the
record please of course m as in michael u l v as in victor i h i l l do you swear a firm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do answer a few questions for mr holliman
please yes do you agree to the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy as amended
yes some some documents are missing but you can proceed yes the one document that we did
Yes, the one document that we did have missing was the RCO letter. Members of the board, I received a copy from Jack O'Hara this morning. I believe it was copied to the zoning board itself. It is a letter of support from the client's proposed use.
had missing was the RCO letter, members of the board.
Mr. Mulvihill, this is Sharon Saleta. Can I just ask that you forward a copy of that letter to me after the hearing so that I have it for my records? Also, one more question.
to the RCO box. Thank you. Yes. Also, can you confirm that you submitted revised plans, but I believe those plans were the same plans that were reviewed by L&I in the amended application. Is that correct? That's correct. Okay, so they do not need to be stamped by the board. Thank you. Excellent. So members of the board, I have submitted my packet for purposes of the record. I just will review that as a refusal appeal project information form on page one.
Area zoning maps at 6, my client's lease at 8, commercial activities license at 11, tax clearance
certificate at 12, zoning notification letter and proof mailing at 13. The RCO letter is now
attached to Exhibit 7. I have photos of the property page 16 and plans beginning at 32.
So members of the board, this is relatively straightforward. The existing structure at this
location is a temple. There is space inside that had previously been used for a daycare.
my clients sought to get a zoning permit for use as a daycare, including a freestanding
accessory sign, which is along Boston Avenue. The daycare itself is meant for younger children
that's not going to be open for 24 hours or anything along those lines. However, this is
zoned a residential district despite being a house of worship with this attendant daycare.
And as a result, this daycare is not allowed in this zoning district. Same thing with our proposed sign. It's not allowed in this zoning district, even though there's already a sign for the temple there as well, right across from where our proposed sign is located.
So this is located in the middle of an RSA 2 district, members of the board.
What I'll do is, since I've incorporated my packet already, with the exception of this letter, I'll just read part of the RCO meeting summary letter that I received today into the record.
Greater Baselton Civic League sent a letter dated December 15, earlier this morning.
There is an RCO position of support.
22 meeting attendees supported the project.
none opposed, and there were none who abstained or otherwise in non-opposition. The rationale for
their position was that the community supported the variance request for the use change to the
daycare center from RSA 2 Residential Zoning District and for that freestanding sign. That
was signed by Jack O'Hara, the president of the Greater Busselton Civic League. My client,
Ms. Benita McFadden, may be on the line right now. If that's the case, I would just ask for
to unmute and to adopt by testimony as her own. The hardship in this case is essentially members
of the board. If this daycare were affiliated with the temple, then my understanding is we
wouldn't even need a variance, but because it's a separate entity, it's a separate business
structure, we are asking for the variance, and there's plenty of space inside the building for
use of this and has been used previously, to the best of my understanding, as a daycare center as
well. So, Ms. McFadden, if you are able to unmute yourself, would you please do that at this time?
Yes, I am here.
Great. Ms. McFadden, could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please?
Yes, my name is Benita McFadden. That's B like boy, E-N-I-T-T-A, McFadden, M-C-F as in Frank,
A-E-D-D-E-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Good morning, Ms. McFadden.
I know you can't see the documents that I prepared and sent it to the board, but I know you've seen them previously as part of our presentation to the community group.
Do you agree that all those documents are true and accurate?
And you've heard my testimony with respect to the community meeting, and although you did not receive a copy of that letter, was my testimony true and accurate with respect to that meeting?
Is there anything else you'd like to add at this time?
Okay. Ms. McFadden, you otherwise adopt all of my testimony today as your own.
Thank you, Ms. McFadden. I don't have any other questions for you.
Questions from the board, please.
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Any testimony from the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair, we have Bernard.
Bernard you can unmute yourself yeah can you hear me yes could you state your name
and spell it for the court reporter please Bernard Jadach J-A-D-A-C-H okay do you swear
Okay. Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes
Yes. I'm the zoning chair for GBCL, and I just wanted to confirm the letter that he stated that we did send a letter.
Unfortunately, it was only sent this morning, and everybody wasn't sent it in advance.
I have to apologize for that, but I just wanted to confirm that it was a letter we sent.
Thank you for calling in, sir.
any other comments from the virtual audience
yes chair we have temple best
okay could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter
i think it's me um kenneth harrison i am the chairman of the board of do me a favor could
Would you stop a minute and spell your name for the court reporter?
Kenneth, K-E-N-N-E-T-H, Harrison, H-A-R-R-I-S-O-N.
All right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Thank you, sir.
Counsel?
I am counsel.
I am the chair of the board and counsel to Temple Bethlehem Synagogue.
I am, you know, I'm here to say we support this petition.
we are the owners of it anything i want to correct is you keep calling it bustleton avenue is
actually old bustleton avenue thank you um and if anyone has any questions about the site i'm here
for it we have had a daycare there since mid-1980s i was on my way so thank you for calling in sir
we appreciate it very much planning commission
Thank you, Chair Bergman. Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the RSA 2 zoning at this location. The structure
has a legal religious institution use that's well established. With regard to the refusal for use
as a daycare center, this proposed use is regularly associated with religious assembly
and could be considered a logical extension of community service associated with the existing
use. With regard to the refusal for a freestanding sign, we would oppose that particular variance,
but support the variance for use of the structure. MI 2021-00027-921-Ole-Bustinton Avenue.
I vote yes, but no sign. Excuse me, Chair, if you could also add the proviso as per
thank you members of the board if i just may if i may retort to mr hegarty's position
uh the sign itself is relatively small it's freestanding in the opening driveway of the
temple itself the temple and the synagogue itself does have its own significantly larger sign it
this is merely to denote the difference between the fact that there is a religious institution
there and also a daycare services center now if we were able to screen share today i'd be able to
show you the dimensions and the size of the sign. It's not particularly onerous or large,
and it's actually located in some landscaping, some hedges around it. So it's not directly on
the street. It's located quite off the street itself. Mr. Haggerty, you still have the same
position. Yes, we do. We don't believe that the applicant has demonstrated there's a hardship
that's preventing them from not having the sign. We don't think that the sign is necessary for the
um to for economically necessary for having this use in this location okay so i i vote yes
and and uh to put the proviso no sign thomas holliman my vote is yes with no sign and provisos
dismal shaheed i vote yes no sign proviso thank you very much mr mokal thank you members of the
board. Have a good afternoon. And Ms. Saleta, I did send that letter to you moments ago.
Tanya, I think that's it. We want to check with the audience if there's anybody left in the
virtual audience that wasn't heard today. Yes, Chair. Thank you. Anyone who hasn't been heard,
please raise your hand. If not, we will conclude this hearing.
Thank you, everybody. It was a complex morning, and I appreciate it.
It really was.
Thanks for everybody's support.
I apologize for the fire, Laura.
I apologize for Zoom.
I think you all are great.
No apologies necessary.
We'll see everybody at two.
See you then, Tanya.
All right.
All right.
Let me know what people are in.
let me know what people are in we're all here and ready sir the audience do
yes they're still there from this morning oh great my name is bill bergman and i will be
chairing this afternoon zba hearings the board members with me thomas holliman board member
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Ismail Shahid, Board Secretary.
Present here.
We also have our zoning board administrator, Tanya Sunkit.
Our board attorney, Sharon Saleta.
Before we begin, here's our virtual format.
First, be advised the proceeding is being recorded.
By participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded.
The video will be available by contacting the Board Administrator, Tanya Sunkett, at tanyasunkett.phila.gov.
Second, for the benefit of our court sonographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves prior to speaking or testifying.
Third, if you are participating by phone and you wish to testify, raise your hand by pressing star 9 and star 6 to unmute.
To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548. Leave your email address and the
address of the property in question. The phone number again is 267-270-5548. And last, please
note the question answer box is not for testimony or comments. Any comments will be directed to
Tanya Sunkit our board administrator. So let's start with continuances and I'm going to read
four continuances out. Number two MI 2021 003885 138 Tasker Street. Number five MI 2021 003882
2021 Germantown Avenue. Number 9, MI 2021 003851 5328 Wakefield Street. And number 11, MI 2021
003880 610 to 40 High Street. Anyone have any issues or comments about those
contingencies. Please raise their hand.
Yes, Chair, we have
David Orphanides.