Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do. Could you identify your client, the relationship to the property?
the property owner Ray Kondam Incorporated okay our vice chair has a few questions for you
hi Mr Feldman do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
I do have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance
a copy of the refusal or referral photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of this
hearing, and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
Yes, to all, and as the Mr. Chairman said, we have a letter, I believe, of almost unanimous
support from the RCO on this application that's in our exhibit package.
Okay, great.
You may proceed and begin to share your screen.
Great.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Second here.
Try this again.
Can everyone see my screen now?
Great.
Great.
So I will get right to this. I know it's been a long morning. This is an application for a new Starbucks coffee shop at the, I guess it used to be called Franklin Mills Mall up in the Northeast. And let me just get right to the pictures here.
We also have with me our property owner, member Alexander Spivak, as well as our project engineer, John Anderson from Cornerstone Consulting.
as well as our project engineer, John Anderson from Cornerstone Consulting.
So let me just get right to this.
So let me just get right.
We have exhibits one through 11, which I'd ask to be incorporated into the record.
And this is a special exception case.
The property is owned commercial, but we need a special exception for the takeout at this location.
So here is the location.
This is the building.
It was for many years, it was an Exxon gas station, and it's been now vacant for a number of years.
The tanks have been removed.
It's been cleaned up, and it is now in a great position to be redeveloped as a Starbucks.
Just to further orient you if you've been up there, this is Franklin Mills Boulevard.
This is Franklin Mills Circle Road, and then this is the actual mall itself here.
So these are the out pad sites.
There's a Wendy's, there's a McDonald's, there's, I think, a Burger King, a number of fast casual, including also, I think, a beverage distributor and a state store that are out in this area here.
That's the aerial.
Here's what it looks like on the ground.
There's still the building for the Exxon that's there, as you can see, and then these are the posting photos.
but again the tanks have been removed and you can see it's really really become a blight on
the neighborhood here is the referral we are fully code complying every manner as far as use
other than the the exception parking landscaping dimensional so again this is solidly as a special
exception case under 143037, as I'll get to. And here is the site plan. It is a, I think even
the neighbors were clear, they agree, a very attractive Starbucks with a drive-thru with
access points off of the Franklin Mills Boulevard, as well as Franklin Mills Circle,
two drive point entries here, especially designed to make sure that there's no challenges as far
as queuing. There's plenty of area to queuing. We meet the parking requirements. We meet the queuing
requirements for the streets department and for L&I. The building is approximately 2,200 square
feet. We're adding in additional landscaping, new stormwater management, really just an upgrade in
every possible respect here at this location. Here are the renderings are really attractive.
um just just a complete transformation of this location uh in terms of the uh what was what's
there now what was there and what will be there um it'll be a great amenity for this area another
place to um uh you know to attract uh to attract business to to the mall area and to have the type
of support services that are helpful for customers and also just helpful for employees of the mall
this whole neighborhood um here are the um corresponding elevations probably best seen
again on the renderings that i showed you um floor plans uh there's an indoor section uh there's the
drive-through uh so again a place for for people to uh to meet uh and to congregate in this area
uh we we met with the rco uh here is the letter with the rco um that was uh everyone either
supported this or non-opposition this really was uh just folks are so happy to see uh the blight
in that condition uh removed with the attendant that uh really everyone wants uh in that in that
part of the in part of the city um here's the notice the community meeting um as required and
And all of our group in that, we have our streets department approval.
We work closely with the streets department to make sure that there's safe ingress and egress.
And as far as queuing, we work with planning as far as on the landscaping.
And again, this is a special exception case.
I think as I've shown, we fit within the special exception criteria as far as it's fully compliant other than the specific use.
And then as far as under 14303, E.2, specific detrimental impacts.
We don't believe there's anything here more than you would expect for this type of use, the congestion in the public streets or transportation.
Again, this is a very well-serviced location with very strong means of egress.
And again, our queuing for the drive-thru is very, very robust.
There's no overcrowding in the land. We aren't even close to any of the occupied area.
You'll see there's significant way over way under what you could put on this property as far as density.
uh there's no impact on the adequate supply of light and air we're not close to any any height
There's no impact on the adequate supply of light and air. We're not close to any.
requirements nor any any negative impacts uh as far as any negative impacts on burning water
we're actually as i said i will be having storm water management so this again is a big upgrade
um as far as impacting or impairing permanently conforming properties this only actually this is
the example of a very positive impact to adjacent properties. And we believe that this is absolutely
consistent with the comprehensive plan for commercial CA1 to keep that Franklin Mills
Mall and commercial area strong and robust. Mr. Feldman, do you have someone to adopt your
testimony? I do. I'll just ask, I'll ask the owner, if you could promote Alexander Spivak.
He is on behalf of the Anderson.
Alexander?
Could you state your name and spell it, please, for the court reporter?
Mr. Spivak, can you unmute yourself, please?
My name is Alexander Spivak.
Good afternoon, Chairman and the Board of Trustees.
Could you, Mr. Spivak, could you please spell your name for the court reporter?
It's S-P-I-V-A-K, Spivak.
First name is Alexander, A-L-E-X-A-N-D-E-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do, sir.
Proceed, counsel.
Great.
Mr. Spivak, you're here on behalf of the property owner, correct?
Yes, sir.
Okay. And were you, have you been, were you on the call and heard my explanation of the application and how this property, this project will be upgrading the neighborhood in the area?
Yes, sir.
And do you adopt it? Was it true and accurate?
It was very true and very accurate, sir.
And do you adopt it as your own?
Correct, sir.
Great. Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
And Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Planning Commission.
I see no hands.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman and Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
Board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the CA1 zoning at this location.
This proposed use will have no more of an impact than would be reasonably expected at this location.
And so the Planning Commission recommends that the board grant the special exception.
Thank you.
MI 2022-003-483-335, Franklin Mills Circle, I vote yes.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
Jane Snell, my vote is yes.
Thank you, Mr. Feldman.
Great. Thank you for your time and consideration. Be well.
Okay, so we're going into our last case.
um we're going to go over a little later than 12 30 is everybody okay
no problem mr chairman okay no problem chair hi this is tanya may i respectfully request that we
take five minute break and then come back that's fine yep thank you so kindly that's for you john
five minutes guys thank you thank you very much i appreciate it
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
hi mr kelly are you back yes i am thank you okay chair we are ready to begin again as you wish
Okay, Tanya, is everybody back?
Yes, Chair, we're ready for you.
um so carol you're okay with time right yes you're okay with time
what is time though is it 2 30 3 no no we're talking 1 30. oh yeah cool okay
and jim you may have to leave right
correct i'm gonna try and hang in there to 1 30 though okay perfect thank you okay
Okay, perfect. Thank you. Okay. MI 2022-001-570-500-08-North 2nd Street. This is a resumptive hearing. Stephen Pollack is the attorney. Leonard Reuter is for the city. Mr. Pollack.
MI 2022
mr pollack is coming back in as a panelist here great
okay hi hi mr pollack how are you i guess we have to say good afternoon now i was going to
say good morning but it's if you state your name and spell for please for the court reporter sure
Mr. Steve Pollack, Steve S-D-E-V-E, Pollack, like the street in South Philly, P-O-L-L-O-C-K.
And I am the attorney for the applicant, Transport Workers Union Local 234.
You swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I do, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Reuter, are you there?
Yes, I'm here.
Thank you, Leonard Reuter, R-E-U-T-E-R.
First name is L-E-O-N-A-R-D for Senior Attorney for the City of Philadelphia.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Who is he?
So I think the last one we left off, we left off with your TWO rep testifying.
Am I right?
That is correct, Mr. Chairman.
I was in the middle of questioning Joseph Cochia.
Okay, let's bring him back.
Mr. Chairman, let me ask you this question because I knew it came out that you can't have both of us on the screen at one time.
I was wondering, since you all know what my ugly little face looks like, is there any way that we could have Mr. Cochia be on the screen?
Because, you know, Mr. Reuter can tell you, and I know I can tell you that when you go to, when you go and you look at court opinions, it always says the zoning board is the arbiter and determiner of credibility.
And I always thought one of the ways you determine credibility is not just from hearing a person, but you get to see them and see how they testify.
If you can't accommodate that.
Can we arrange that, Tanya?
Sure, Chair, as you wish.
We'll do it.
Okay, that'd be great.
Mr. Reuter, are you okay with that too?
oh i i have no objection i think probably you just elevate them to panelists
right can he be just become a oh the last time there was a i think there was a technical
issue the other one housekeeping thing mr chair members of the board is that i believe member
snell was not here at the first hearing so i have no objection to mr uh snell participating
in this and agree
to allow him to read the notes of
testimony. Yeah, we'll take
care of that. Yep. Okay. I have no objection
to that.
I'm sorry, Mr. Pollack.
This is Tanya. May I ask who we would
be promoting? Joseph
Cochio. Joe Cochio.
C-O-C. Has he
already raised his hand?
I don't know. Joe, you have to raise your hand.
Is he under a different name?