Hold on.
Let me just get through that.
Through the tax clearance certificate.
Trying to get there.
All right.
There we go.
Let me reshare my screen.
that shows technically a balance of $11,534.36, but that's all due for 2026 taxes, which are
not due. With that being said, I would ask that Barbara be sworn in, and I have a couple
questions for her. Could you please state your name? Get a little closer to the mic for
me. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer? My name is Barbara Berman.
could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer my name is barbara berman b-e-r-m-a-n
right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes
counsel all right barbara you heard everything i had to state today uh you have to yes is it
true and correct yes yes and do you adopt this your own testimony yes all right well why don't
you give the board a little bit of background on who you are and how you got into this business
Sure. Thank you very much. I have actually been in business for about 13 years. I decided to leave my corporate world to hang out with my dog more often.
So we've been in the new space for about six years. It works out really well. It's all cement blocks, so you don't really hear anything on the outside. The dogs are separated by playrooms.
We have many, many clients that live in the neighborhood that walk there. All of my staff live within the neighborhood as well.
Are you okay? Yeah, yeah. I think what else we have trash pick up 3 times a week in a covered trash can.
The dogs are out for a couple of hours during the day between probably about 11 and 12 or 11 and 1 the cycle out, depending on the groups, and they may be outside for about 15, 20 minutes around 7 o'clock.
if they're staying over to go to the bathroom all right so they're not out much so and we discussed
this at previous hearings but i just want to make sure for record keeping purposes we have that here
um how much money have you invested or how much money did you initially invest into the lease
premises uh this premises we've um at least about 85 to 90 000 to get the uh the property ready for
the dogs there needs to be rubber on the floors everything needs to be sealed it needs to be
inspected by um the uh the dog warden which comes every six months so everything has to be ship
shaped right so the dog warden so this is also regulated by what type of entities uh the state
the state um has an india the philadelphia county has a dog warden that comes out and inspects the
property uh and our records uh twice a week twice a year all right how long what are the hours of
operation of the doggy daycare sure so we're open uh seven to seven monday through friday
uh 8 30 to 5 30 for daycare on saturdays and we are closed on sundays sundays are for cleaning and
for if we have a couple of borders so obviously somebody is there to be with the dogs all right
and then overnight care do you have that we do um it's not very popular we have you know a couple
dogs maybe a week i mean during holidays we might have five or six but it's usually very few
and they have rooms at the back of the building where they can sleep and they have little suites
so they have they're comfortable and nobody can hear them all right and then how many employees
do you have generally uh between nine and ten and was it true and accurate what i stated that
you do have some employees that live within the neighborhood yes i do have somebody within the
neighborhood they can they are walking distance okay and and during any one shift how many uh
employees do you have working there the most would be four at a time okay and then generally
how many dogs do you have at the daycare at any time between probably 30 to 40 45 okay 45 is
usually once or twice a week okay um and you also have an office there right so that's one of our
requests yeah i have a small office that is actually kind of not helpful because it's very loud
dogs yes but from the outside you cannot hear no no no but yeah the dogs are literally right
next to my office okay all right um and trying to and you have a retail component can you explain
to the board what your retail component is a very small retail shelf that just has some treats or
like things that they can grab on their way out um if they want to grab something for their dog
no food nothing crazy just treats and what's the inspiration behind the name little white dog
i uh used to be in online marketing and would bring my little dog with me to work
um he even got a conference room named after him and after a while i just realized that that's what
i would rather be with my dog and help other dogs and other people instead of being uh being the
corporate world so that's i broke away and opened up little white dog all right and do you live in
close proximity to the uh operations yes i live two miles away in east falls okay
many of uh many of uh people in east halls actually come to daycare as well i see them all
the time okay and then in terms of the outdoor area um how do you like protect in terms of privacy
um and such all right so the front area is completely fenced in with uh double privacy
screen so the dogs cannot see out and people cannot see in okay and i think you in
screens so the dogs cannot see out and people cannot see in okay and i think you indicated
this but you know in terms of dealing with the waste can you restate that oh sure absolutely
um so we have just a trash can with a lid um it gets picked up three times a week by republic trash
and we haven't had an issue okay and what was the condition in the premises prior to you
occupying it uh it was it was pretty empty it looked they they did some renovations it looked
like there had been a lot of a lot of computer work and stuff done in there um so it was just
sort of an empty shell from an office all right um i have no further questions at this point i
will state this that under the doctrines of vested rights and variance by estoppel given
the amount of time and money she's invested in this in this space i believe that in addition
to proving our hardship because of the history of the property and the way it is you know the
configuration of it and given that the 2035 plan calls for it to be ICMX I believe that we met
our burden for undue hardship but even if we didn't I believe that based on the doctrines
of vested rights and variance by estoppel we would also be allowed to have this variance request
approved thank you thank you questions from the board excuse me mr chair um i believe you can
give mr see if mr snyder has any questions for um mr knockamson's witness you have any questions
sir he's not an attorney was he hillary no but he could he could still ask questions because
he's a party yeah i'll excuse myself from this chair so he can at least um i don't know if he
was sworn in and has you know a mic yeah go ahead sit there and we'll need to swear you in sir
good afternoon my name is andrew snyder a-n-d-r-e-w right do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do um please proceed do you have questions
i do how did the dogs behave during the recent street resurfacing along ridge avenue
how did they behave there was some barking at the um at the trucks but i mean it was all day
long so they got used to it kind of like the train that constantly goes by and shakes the building
was the barking not also all day long no i don't believe so okay we have a different
recollection of that sure you do okay you have any other questions uh that's the only question
to have at this time all right thank you sir questions from the board yeah my question was
um at any given time how many dogs are are staying over or boarding at the most we've had is that
what you're asking or yes um i think the most we've had are about 10 and dogs at a time okay
all the questions you have a question about and on average on on average how many do you
yeah how many during the day and do they and they stay overnight they stay overnight
um you have overnight stays overnight stays on average um maybe a couple a week we don't it's
not necessarily you know consistent i mean it's a little more when people are going on vacation
but it's it's not like it's we're not a kennel so it's there's not dogs there every day gotcha
Okay. I have a question about drop-off. The majority of your patrons, are they dropping the dogs off on foot, or are they driving them to your facility?
Seems to be a little 50-50, but they do drive to the facility. They'll pull into the parking lot or park right in front of the building and drop off.
And do you know approximately how long from the time a person parks the car and drops the dog off?
A few minutes. It shouldn't be more than five if they have to wait for another dog to come out.
and then i know i mean i know take care is different for dogs but like is it is there
like a definite time that everyone has to pick up their dog or does everybody have different sort of
pickup times they have to pick them up by 7 p.m or they get charged a dollar a minute late fee okay
yeah well uh no i would i would well except on wednesdays maybe
by the way i also would move to incorporate the into the record both transcripts of the previous
hearings um you know which has a lot of those the same testimony but in case we missed anything
especially about the history of the property i'm trying to streamline this process but you
can see that this building has is not in ours okay other questions
questions or comments from our attorney not at this time mr chair questions or comments
in the audience hi chair we have a hand up from sarah fluke okay
You have a couple devices on at one time.
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
next three uh please do we have anyone sarah did you uh shut the one of the devices off
okay okay all right um is there anyone else besides sarah with their hand up
not at this time chair okay um yes sir you want to come on and say something all right come on
well last week sure do me a favor just state your name again so that my name is Andrew Snyder yep
we're good uh last week Mr. Toner uh submitted all the documents related to our appeal which
is currently pending yep um and I have this uh letter to read sure okay okay uh as the board
is aware little white dog has submitted multiple applications to operate a dog kennel adjacent to
for a single family home.
Board granted a temporary variance on July 26, 2019,
and a second temporary variance on May 24, 2023.
During those last two applications,
we strongly opposed for both,
we strongly opposed both for the same reasons
we are opposing to the current application
before the board today.
The operation of a dog kennel with frequent barking
and general intense disturbances
imposes a very significant hardship on us. After the board issued this last decision,
my wife and I exercised our rights and filed an appeal. Our case is currently pending before
the Commonwealth Court. Last week, we submitted to the board a copy of our appellant brief and
reproduced records, which are currently both before the Commonwealth Court. As we continue
to rely on the legal arguments raised in our appellate brief as to why the little white dog
care is not a legal or appropriate use of 90 rochelle and ask the board to adopt these arguments
as their opposition to the little white dog's current application okay as a minimum we believe
the board should not issue any decision regarding the current application unless or until the
commonwealth court is able to address the legal issues currently on appeal
we understand that some of our neighbors and employees of little white dog care support this
application those individuals and their dogs do not live immediately adjacent to this very
significant operation we do when we purchased our home this building was used as an office
if we had known that a dog kennel could be opened up next door we would have not chosen to purchase
our current home is that the end of the letter sir yeah you have anything else for us uh yeah
the property is currently zoned i believe rsa3 yes i believe not not industrial as indicated by uh
that's why they need a variance right that's why they need a variance yeah um white fence
and one of those uh pictures that were uh shown by uh ellen right doesn't exist it's a uh a
rendering of a proposed, um, use for the backlog. Uh, we won, I think the first appeal at the
Commonwealth court for the first variance. And then it was sent back to the zoning board and
that, uh, hearing was never held before the second variance was approved. And, um, we
that one too of course okay uh and the sound ordinance uh
it's illegal to have uh five or more dog sounds within a five minute period
um at the last public hearing uh the appellant was boasting that the
The organization in charge of enforcing the sound ordinance had not imposed any fines.
The organization in charge of enforcing the sound ordinance had not imposed any fines.
I don't remember that. I'm sorry about that.
That wasn't in front of the zoning board. That was at the RCO meeting, which I thought was a weird thing to admit in public.
Thank you for your testimony. Thank you. You spent a lot of time down here today. I saw you out there, so we appreciate your time.
Right.
May I just respond?
Sure. As cleanup, what I showed was the 2035 plan, which proposes to have this property as ICMX. I didn't state it was ICMX. I have to say that was a proposal by the Planning Commission. I will also want to highlight the fact that each property is behind train tracks, which rather loud in nature.
And then finally, while, you know, you couldn't hear from the testimony of that individual because of the sound issues, they live immediately to the left of the protestant.
And as an officer of the court, I will state, you know, given my client stated to me that that person would have testified positively towards this variance request.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Planning Commission.
Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission.
At the time the district plan was written, the property was zoned I-1 light industrial.
In 2014, the plan recommended a change to ICMX industrial commercial mixed use.
In 2016, the property is remapped to RSA-3 residential single family.
The proposed other animal services, retail sales of pet supplies, and business and professional office would be allowed by right under the district plan recommended zoning of ICMX.
There is a documented history of the proposed uses.
the planning commission recommends that the board grant their requested variances for animal services
and boarding retail sales of pet supplies and business and professional office thank you
mi 2025 006265 i vote yes michael johns my vote is yes
charlie gaston my vote is yes tenetta graham my vote is yes ryan mcadams my vote is yes
i am when my vote is yes thank you council thank you mayor thank you sir
six uh alan wait i think i i have um you know what
my computer's about to die so i want to plug it in or sure i'll i'll go to the
well you have two in a row i'll go to the next one i'm fine
Andrea Solomon please MI 2025 006 392 7300 Frankfort Avenue
their band promoted to panelists thank you she's here
could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
good afternoon andrea solomon a-n-d-r-e-a s-a-l-o-m-o-n from claire harrison on behalf of
spectrum health services inc the tenant of the property do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do right um i haven't gotten it before we start
before i give it to you hillary this is going to be a whole well so i had i had a question as i was
reviewing the documents because it says that the the fencing is accessory to financial services
use but your client appears to be a group medical practice that's correct there are multiple tenants
and multiple uses on the property i'm not sure why on the refusal they have there's also another
slight typo it says the fence is along tie-in avenue but it's ryan avenue right and this is
accessory to the group medical offices there's a fulton bank adjacent to the property but it this
is the the suite next to that so is the tenant the tenants the one that applied for the fence
yes okay so we may just need if so and there's there are multiple suites at this address
that's correct the fence is only for one of the units that's correct okay so i think we may want
to have the refusal corrected um so we we can hear this but we just hold it to correct the
refusal and i can reach out to ellen i about that okay um because it was a little confusing based
on who your client was and what and what the refusal said yep great counsel before i give it
to our vice chair there is a letter of unanimous non-opposition from mayfair civic applicant also
provided a petition of support with 55 signatures letter of support from mayfair business improvement
A letter of support from Mayfair Business Improvement, and a letter of support from JVS Human Services.