ZBA Hearing - November 2, 2021

however we have an ongoing problem with this we're not here to attempt to try this at this

point in time but we've communicated with the owner through council that there are certain

things that we do not support him doing. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. There should be no testimony

at all regarding this case. It's been continued. Yep. Thank you, Mr. Melodozian.

Chair, we have Craig Trachtenberg. Please unmute yourself and please wait for the chair.

Thank you. Mr. Trachtenberg, please identify yourself for the records by your first and last

name yes my name is craig c-r-a-i-g last name tractenberg t-r-a-c-t-e-n-b-e-r-g uh i'm with

the law firm of fox rothschild i uh represent someone who's protesting the uh 5000 warrington

avenue sir you swear affirm itself the truth the whole truth for nothing but the truth

yes i do okay and this is in regards to the continuance for number 11

Yeah, I just want to I didn't hear the beginning. Is this continued? Yes, it is.

Okay, thank you very much. Sorry.

Chair, we have Steve Masters. Okay.

Good afternoon, Mr. Masters. Please identify yourself for the record.

Good afternoon, Mr. Acting Chair and members of the board.

Steve Masters, the law firm of JustLaws. We raised our hand because Mr. Melodosian was

beginning to testify. I'm sorry, Mr. Masters, you already identify yourself, spell your first and

last name? Yes, Steve, S-T-E-V-E, Masters, M-A-S-T-E-R-S, the law firm of JustLaws. I have two cases today.

You sort of want to tell the truth, the whole truth, for nothing but the truth?

I do.

I just raised my hand because there was some testimony that was beginning to be offered on 7234 Woodland Avenue.

We requested the continuance.

You granted it.

And now that that's happened and there's no testimony, I do not need to be recognized at this time.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

i see no other hands chair thank you with that being said calendar number mi 2021 that's zero

zero three one eight four uh one two zero zero zero east roosevelt boulevard

mr feldman

mr feldman is coming back as a panelist

yes good afternoon good afternoon Mr Feldman I don't know was you here this morning

I wasn't I wasn't okay please identify yourself for the record

sure Brett Feldman 1835 Market Street Philadelphia Pennsylvania 19103 I represent the applicant

and property owner, Provco, Good, MCB, Bybury, and its principal, Michael Cooley. Along with us

today is also George Hartman from Bowler Engineering. Thank you. You saw our firm

to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? I do. And do you agree to waive

the reading of its refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? I do. And have you emailed an exhibit

packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the

refusal or referral photos and plans five days prior to this hearing? Yes. And have you met with

the RCO and have a letter? We do. Thank you. Please proceed. Rebecca Cole here. May I interrupt?

Counselor, can you clarify? We received in your packet a refusal for both 12,000 and 12,002

East Roosevelt Boulevard, but that is not on today's hearing list. Can you speak to that?

Sure, sure. Do you have my screen now? Yes, we see it.

We are here tonight for 12,000 East Roosevelt Boulevard.

We are here tonight for 12,000 East Roosevelt Boulevard.

We will be back in November 16th for 12,002,

which is the next door property,

which is part of the same development.

Thank you.

So long as that's on the record.

Thank you.

Yeah, sure, sure.

So let me get right to it here.

Pass up exhibits one through 10,

which I'd ask to be incorporated into the record.

This is the site right here.

This is what the project, we've been in front of the board probably three or four times on this.

This is up in the far northeast, Roosevelt Boulevard, to the bottom here, Byberry Road, Bennett to the left over here.

This was the Nabisco factory bakery site for many, many years.

It was when Nabisco left, it was demolished.

And back in 2017, the board approved an existing Wawa that's now been built there at the corner of Roosevelt Boulevard and Bybury.

And then we came back in 2019 with the support of the community.

We went to Civic Design Review and went through, I think, every city agency just about.

For this project back here, this is Topgolf, a golfing entertainment facility, which I think this would be the first one in the city.

and then some strip shopping center down here.

And then this is 12,000 here.

This is 12,000 East Roosevelt.

This is 12,002, which will be in front of the board,

as I said, on November 16th.

We're here today on the already approved Chick-fil-A

here at 12,002.

And what we're asking for is to increase the size

of this already approved Chick-fil-A

by about 250 square feet.

Let me just show you what it looks like right now at the site.

So that's what it looks like now at the site here.

You can see the top golf in the Wawa here, the top golf, and then these are preparing

for construction on the shopping center.

And then here's the Chick-fil-A.

Again, the only change we're seeking here is going from the 4,900 square foot previously

approved Chick-fil-A to a 5,200-square-foot, 300-square-feet increase in the size of the

Chick-fil-A. Primarily, this is because of post-COVID, Chick-fil-A has slightly redesigned

some of their prototype stores, a slightly bigger kitchen, and we're also adding, if you can

probably make sense, an outdoor dining area to the Chick-fil-A, this site here. So I'll just

show you a little more of the pictures. Again, this is where the Chick-fil-A would go. And then

let me go right to the plans for the Chick-fil-A right here. Here's the Chick-fil-A. This is the

way it is proposed. It was, as I said, it was approved for 4,857 square feet. It's now about

300 square feet at 5,200 square feet. And then right here, you can, you can see this here. This

is the outdoor dining area. That is really what this application is for. We, again, we've met

with the community groups many times. We again met in September, Mr. Cooley on behalf of the

developer, Provco, met with the Somerton Civic Association again in September. And we submitted

a letter of, I think it was unanimous support from Somerton Civic. I can, let me just, I can

pull that up here. Here is their letter of unanimous support. This went through a lengthy recitation

of 12,000, 12,002, 2017, Wawa, 2019, Chick-fil-A, Topgolf, Strip Shopping Center, and then the

2021, the 7% increase from 4857 to 5,200 square feet that we're asking for today.

The hardship here is this property is still zoned industrial. Clearly, the board has recognized

that industrial is no longer relevant for that site with the approvals back in 17 and in 19

for the Wawa, the Chick-fil-A, and the Topgolf, and then this small de minimis change recognizes

some of the changes kind of in the quick, fast, casual restaurants in light of COVID.

So with that, I can just add Mr. Cooley, whether he will

confirm my presentation, unless there's any questions.

confirm my my presentation unless there's any questions that the board might have before I go

to Mr. Cooley. Please go ahead with your client. Sure. I would ask that Michael Cooley from Profco

be added as a panelist. Good afternoon, board. Michael Cooley. Mr. Cooley, please identify

for yourself for the record? Yes, Michael Cooley of the Profco Group, 795 East Lancaster Avenue,

Villanova, Pennsylvania, 19085. You sure are firm to tell the truth, the whole truth,

nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. Thank you. Please proceed. Mr. Cooley, you've heard my

testimony concerning the evolution of this property from the industrial use of Nabisco to

the Wawa and then the approvals in 2019 for the Topgolf or the Strip Shopping Center as well as

the Chick-fil-A, correct? Yes, I did. And do you adopt that as your own testimony and truthful?

Yes, I do. And is there anything further you want to tell the board as far as why the additional

300 square feet are absolutely necessary for Chick-fil-A to commence development of this

site? Sure. First and foremost, thank you to the board for your time and consideration.

If you noticed in the aerial photos provided by Mr. Feldman, all of the site infrastructure

improvements have been made. All the stormwater management, the curbing, partial paving,

and all of the buildings are set to commence vertical construction.

So this shopping center has been in the works for several years,

and we are finally getting a chance to build vertically after long COVID delays.

As Mr. Feldman said, Chick-fil-A has changed their prototypical building size and dimensions

due primarily to some changes made through the COVID pandemic

and the way they operate their business, more outdoor seating,

more drive-through stacking ability, and slightly larger building size.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Cooley.

Thank you.

With that, I would...

No, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you.

No.

Any more witnesses, Mr. Feldman?

uh i have our project engineer um i think he would uh affirm the same as mr cooley uh he's

available if there's any further questions but uh this is probably a case it should have been

the administrative approval um because it was slightly smaller slightly slightly larger we

couldn't get administrative approval and we're back in front of the board but uh it's it's this

it's the same project and i know the community is excited for us to move forward with this next

phase thank you for your time and consideration thank you uh is there anyone else that would

like to speak in this matter i see no hands chair thank you planning commission

uh good afternoon um chair plaza and members of the board my name is greg waldman for planning

commission staff can you spell out your name please uh yes it's greg or gregory g-r-e-g-o-r-y

last name waldman w-a-l-d-m-a-n thank you you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth

for nothing but the truth i do thank you please for seeing comprehensive plan recommends no change

to the existing light industrial zoning at this location as you've seen in the applicant's

presentation this case is for the expansion of a restaurant this case for the expansion of a

restaurant is part of a larger redevelopment of the former Nabisco site into a Topgolf

entertainment facility shopping center and associated pad sites including restaurants

the redevelopment project was heard at Civic Designer View on in May of 2017 planning commission

staff subsequently recommended that the variance is not be approved at the zoning board on March

1st 2017 and may 22nd 2019 for two different phases of the project for this particular case

we do not believe the applicant has demonstrated a hardship that would require the expansion of a

non-conforming use accordingly we recommended the board deny the requested variance thank you

all right board has any questions no mr chairman thank you all right now

now mi 2021-003184 12 000 east roosevelt boulevard my vote is yes thomas halliman my favorite

My vote is yes.

Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.

James Snell, my vote is yes.

Thank you.

Be well, everyone.

Counting the number MI2020-003416, 1345 East Susquehanna Avenue.

mr knackleson good afternoon please identify yourself for the record

uh yes good afternoon mr chair members of the board alan knacklemson of knacklemson pc

123 south broad street suite 1600 philadelphia pa 19109

so knacklemson you saw a firm to tell the truth the whole truth for nothing but the truth

I do.

Thank you.

And do you agree to waive the reading of its refusal and stipulate to attackers?

I do.

And have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal, or referral of photos and plans five days prior to this hearing?

Yes.

And have you met with the RCO and have a letter?

Yes, we have a letter of support from the Fishtown Neighbors Association to coordinate the RCO.

Thank you.

Please proceed.

May I share my screen?

Yes, you may.

All right.

So we're here for 1345 East Susquehanna Avenue.

It's a converted church that has three units in it.

One in the main sanctuary, two in the adjoining building.

This board actually heard this project in 2006.

Unfortunately, not all the steps were followed to conclude the matter.

So it was never formally legalized, this use, but it was approved by both the coordinating RCO at the time, Fish Town Neighbors Association, and this board.

And we're here to just, you know, do it right this time.

So you'll see in my packet of materials our notice of refusal, which was dated December 7th of 2020.

Accidentally, the proposed off-street parking spot, which is also something that the board approved of pre-existing use, was not included.

So we asked the board for authorization, which we received, so we have an updated notice of refusal dated August 9th of 2021.

You'll see in exhibit number two, our letter of support from the Fishtown Neighbors Association, the notice of refusal in 2006 for exactly the same thing we're proposing.

My client then did what he needed to do in terms of using the property over the course of 15 years, but then discovered that all steps were not followed subsequent to that hearing.

That's why we're here today.

You'll see the letter of support from the Fishtown Neighbors Association in September 2006, as well as the letter of support from the Fishtown Neighbors Association today.

You'll see maps of the area, photographs of the properties around the area, plans and drawings or application for appeal, our RCO meeting notice with proof of mailing, our deed to the property, and our certificate of tax clearance.

This property is owned by Dominic Episcopo, who runs and operates Episcopo Studios.

What we're looking to do is, you know, again, put three units in the structure, one in the main sanctuary, along with two in the adjoining structure.

And in the main sanctuary, he has his photography studio, and that's noted in the notice of refusal for business support within one of the dwelling units.

Dominic and his studio is well known nationally.

They're a full-service studio specializing in commercial photography, cinematography, and compelling digital content.

His studio has been featured in Vanity Fair, Bon Appetit, National Geographic, Traveler, Rolling Stones,

the Food Network magazine as well as some of his work has been featured in with museums across the

country including our own Philadelphia Museum of Art. So you'll see in 2021 we met with the

Fishtown Neighbors Association and they fully support this project. They've referenced the