existing garage. This application is just to install the sign. The refusal we received was
for height. It has to be below the second floor sill, according to the zoning code. We raised it
to improve the visibility for cars actually on Sansom Street
and to try and make it more in line with the Chris's Jazz Cafe sign,
which you can see just down the block.
We met with the Center City Residents Association
and their letter of non-opposition was uploaded to the board.
And if I can bring it up on my screen, I will do so.
As I'm pulling this up, I'll ask if the board can unmute Mr. Scott Lute.
Scott, if you're there, you can hit the raise your hand button.
Can you hear me, Jared?
Yes, I can.
Can you state and spell your name for the record?
Thank you.
Scott is my first name, S-C-O-T.
Lutte, L-U-T-T-E, is my last name.
Mr. Chair, do you need to swear him in?
Do you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
You may proceed.
Thank you.
Scott, did you have an opportunity to hear the presentation I just made?
Yes, I did.
Do you adopt it as true correct in your own testimony?
Yes, I do.
Thank you very much.
i have nothing further mr chair thank you any questions from the board
no anybody else no anyone else wish to testify in this matter please raise your hand
no hands at this time thank you planning commission i'll have to swear you in
okay good morning
good morning
is that ron yes ron please identify yourself for the record okay i'm ronald bednar b-e-d-n-a-r
um city planning commission we're in a firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but
the truth i do thank you ron please proceed thank you so this property is indicated for commercial
mixed use on the city plan we have no objection to the granting the variance thank you
mi-2020-000456 1416 chestnut street my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Calendar number 39612, 1627 Ritner Street, northeast corner of South Chadwick Street.
The attorney is Leo Mulvihill.
Mr. Mulvihill, you've been promoted to a panelist. You can share your screen
and open your mic and wait to be sworn in. Mr. Mulvihill, can you state your name and
address for the record, please? Certainly. Leo Mulvihill, M-U-L-V-I-H-I-L-L. Address is 2424
East York Street, Suite 111, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19125. Do you swear or affirm
to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
I do. And you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy.
And you also agree to waive the reading of The Refusal
and stipulate to its act.
I do. You may proceed. Thank you. Good morning, members of the board. I'm here today on behalf
of Kelly Peterson. That's K-E-L-L-Y-P-E-T-E-R-S-E-N. Kelly's been a client of mine for a number of
years. She's been involved in dog care and dog walking for quite some time. In 2018, she purchased
the property at 1627 West Rittner Street, which had previously been used as a takeout restaurant
on the ground story with a single dwelling unit above. Kelly lives there now, and on the ground
story, she has her daycare for dogs, Southpaw Pets. Unfortunately, this property was remapped
to RSA5. It was previously CMX1, so we require variants for the use of this property as a dog
daycare. What I have up on the screen right now, members of the board, is my zoning material
packet. We have the refusal appeal and project information form at page one. Kelly only realized
that she was operating in violation of the zoning code when she received notice of an LNI zoning
violation last year. So I have a copy of that violation at page six. The area of the zoning
maps at page nine. The deed for the property at page 10. Commercial activity license for the
property, page 18. Tax clearance is at 19. The zoning notification letter for this property is
at page 20. I will note, members of the board, that I will ask you to hold your vote in this
matter, as the RCO was only able to schedule a meeting with us for this evening, which we'll
be holding around 7 o'clock tonight. I have a copy of the prior zoning permit for the commercial use
of the space at page 24. Understandably, I do not yet have an RCO letter. I have photos of the
property at page 29. Plans showing photographs of the exterior and interior of the property,
as well as floor plans, are attached to the appendix. Additionally, previously submitted,
I have letters of support from many members of the community, both Kelly's clients and neighbors,
which I'm happy to put up on the screen after the fact. So members of the board, I'll go first to
refusal. So what I'm showing now on the screen at page three is a refusal in this case. We submitted
an application for the erection of a flat wall sign at the front of the building which triggered
a refusal because it's slightly over the maximum allowable square footage. We're seeking 18.3
square feet. We're only allowed that 15 square feet. I would argue that that's a de minimis
request. The other use, animal services with boarding and other services, is not permitted
in this zoning district. Just for some background on the business, Kelly's currently open for
business from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. At this point, she takes a max of 10 dogs at any time. For
overnight boarding, there's a maximum of five. Maybe one or two dogs get board of the week.
While she was open more regularly before COVID, since more people are working at home,
she has reduced her hours from Tuesday through Thursday and is doing her best to continue to
operate her business as a small business owner while continuing to live upstairs in the property.
She does have a couple of employees that help her out from time to time with dog walking,
cat sitting, things like that as well. What I'm going to do now, members of the board,
is just simply go to the plans here, which are going to be at the end of the presentation.
I'll strike down members of the board. First, I'm going to show you just the pictures of the
property. Page 29 of the packet, we see the actual front of the building along with
the orange zoning signs been posted. The upper left, we see the front of the sign along Rittner
Street, the side of the property, and then all the adjacent corners. You can see there are
numerous commercial sites in the area as well, along with other residential uses.
At page 32, members of the board, I'm now showing the interior of the property.
The only thing that's different today from when this picture was taken a little bit ago
is that Kelly repainted.
Otherwise, it looks basically like this.
Paging through to page 34.
Now I'm showing the appendix members of the board.
This is the elevation of the property showing the proposed flat wall sign.
You can see we have the proposed southpaw that we look to put on the front of the building
with your support.
existing door. No changes to the exterior are done whatsoever. What I'm showing now is that
Appendix 2 shows its location in the city itself right off of Broad Street on this block of
Rittner, and an overhead view that was taken from Google Maps showing the site map of the area.
I have other additional photos of the surrounding properties.
I have other additional photos of the surrounding properties.
And what we have here now, members of the board, is a copy of the interior first floor plan.
There we go. I'm just going to try to zoom in on that, everyone.
So here's Rittner Street to the front, Chadwick Street to the side.
As you go in, there's a front gate and reception counter. These are all the different stalls for the animals.
back room area dogs do some playing here have a good time and kelly generally keeps them
entertained gives them the walks we have the restroom here and then some storage area to the
back the upstairs apartment which is accessible by chadwick street is where kelly lives so like
i said she's there all the time she's doing her best to make a good business and make a good
living here as a small business owner been working with animals for a long time and we're happy to
take any questions that you might have at this time. Kelly, are you on the line? If you are,
please raise your hand so you can be promoted, so you can be unmuted.
Kelly, you can't wait to be sworn in.
Would you please spell your name, first name, last name?
kelly peterson which is k-e-l-l-y p-e-t-e-r-s-e-n
we're infirmed to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do thank you please proceed and kelly you've heard my presentation today
correct do you have anything you'd like to add at this time
um i just would like to add that uh you know i consider myself a resident of this area
obviously purchasing my home uh in 2018 which was a dream for me so you know i'm invested in
in this neighborhood myself um you know i do believe that many of my neighbors which are my
clients appreciate uh what i've done here and taken a property that sat empty for a long time
um and keep it safe and well lit um and just provide something that i think people like
Like, you know, even the kids like to walk by and look at the dogs.
I think people like it.
You know, it's not loud.
I live right above the dogs, you know, when they're here overnight.
So I definitely don't try to cause any nuisance or anything like that and just be a good neighbor myself.
And members of the board, just to add one more thing, before I ask Kelly to incorporate my testimony,
I should be showing on the screen right now a number of letters of support,
which I've previously submitted to the board.
I have currently 18 here.
We do have some additional ones.
There are just some technical issues
getting them uploaded to the board this morning.
But generally, everybody who has signed one of these letters,
which you're happy to review at your leisure,
states that Kelly's an asset to the community.
She's improved the property.
They appreciate having the business there
rather than a vacant storefront.
And that they're happy to welcome her to the neighborhood.
So Kelly, otherwise, you've heard my presentation today?
Is there anything else you'd like to add at this time?
I think that covers it.
All right.
Do you adopt my testimony otherwise as your own?
Thank you.
We're happy to take any other questions at this time, members of the board.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
Anyone else wish to testify in this matter?
If so, please raise your hand.
no hands chair thank you planning commission so while this property is currently indicated for
residential use on the city plan we have no objection to the granting of the variance provided
that the signage was fully compliant with the code thank you uh calendar number three nine six one two
one six two seven rittner street is being held pending a letter from the rco
thank you members of the board thank you
calendar number 39634 excuse me i'm sorry um to interrupt just to go back one minute that we are
leaving the record open and leo will come back and report on the outcome of the rco meeting
the rco will have an opportunity to testify should they choose to do so thank you for clearing that
up. Thank you. Thank you. Calendar number 39634, 2636 East York Street. This is an
amended refusal. The attorney is Adam Laver. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Mrs.
Tenere, and members of the board. Good morning, Adam. Can you please put your
name and address on the record and spell your last name? Adam Laver, L-A-P as in
Adam Laver, L-A-B as in Victor, E-R, Blank Rome, 1 Logan Square, 19103.
Victor, E-R, blank Rome.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth and nothing but the truth?
Do you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I do, Mrs. Tenera.
The backdrop at Blank Rome looks like you're reporting from ABC, NBC, or ABC.
see. Someone yesterday said it looked like I was in outer space. Well, you may proceed. Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, members of the board, Adam Laver of Blank Rome, on behalf of River Wards Group,
Mo Rushdie and Larry McKnight. Members of the board, on March 11th, in the final day of Zoning
Board of Adjustment in-person hearings prior to the local outbreak of the pandemic, my
now-retired colleague Tom Chapman appeared before the board in his last Zoning Board
of Adjustment case regarding this matter.
And at that time, a full hearing was put into the record.
Mr. Chapman presented that hearing, and I was in the room and I heard it.
The property itself, and I'll do a quick screen share. I don't have too much to share since
this was previously heard, but can you see the zoning map and the aerial photographs?
Good. Okay. So just to refresh your memory, the property is 2636 East York Street,
which is situated on the York Street Commercial Corridor, which overlooks Interstate 95,
the Port Richmond Shopping Center, and a gas station across the street. At the time of the
full hearing before the board, Mr. Chairman, I believe that the board recognized an opportunity
to meet further with the community, Fishtown Neighborhood Association, Fishtown Neighbors
Association rather in response to concerns largely focused upon a desire
for more parking at this mixed-use site of course parking is not required but we