Thank you.
Mr. Chair, we're here for 2425-33 Welch Road.
The application is for Eating and Drinking Establishment-Smoking Lounge, which is, in fact, a hookah lounge located at this address.
I want to get through the initial exhibits, and then I'll get into some additional detail.
This is the interior layout drawn to scale of the property in question.
this is unit uh for the sake of the record unit three so this is um the interior layout that's
drawn to scale it's all pre-existing and here's some here are some exterior photos
Here are some exterior photos, both the front and the rear.
This is a very, if we're going to have a hookah lounge anywhere, this is the place to have
It's practically nowhere near a residential community.
It's in a strip mall. It's been there for many years, as a matter of fact, and it's been there without incident.
The record will reflect and the history of the property will reflect compliant permits for just this use prior to the city's changes and how they are regulated.
So for a very long time, this property has operated without incident.
And my client had, of course, the proper use permit at the time and a tobacco license.
And that carried him until there was the change in city policy that would require us to be here.
And that's why we're here.
Here is the mailing that went out to very few residents.
18 individual properties, not even 18 individual households, were mailed.
As a result, there weren't many people in attendance.
However, it was a positive meeting.
I walked away from that meeting, and I think my client did as well, with the notion that the RCO would offer no opposition, given the long history of the property with the consistent use.
As you can see here in the history, it was even for nightclubs and a private club.
Again, with no incident whatsoever, no 911 calls, no 311 calls.
And I'm going to stop sharing this screen for a moment and share another.
And here's a permit for the use issued in 2021 that my client was operating under.
And again, with no incident.
Because this property is completely removed from any residential neighborhood, because the RCO meeting went well,
and we believe it will be on the record at some point being non-oppositioned,
And because of the long history of use without incident, I respectfully request the granting of this variance.
And with that, I'm going to ask my client to raise his virtual hand.
Your client has been allowed to speak.
Thank you.
Sir, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, sir.
My name is Sandhu Chirita, S-A-N-D-U, and the last name Chirita, C-H-I-R-I-T-A.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir, I do.
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Chirita, did you hear my presentation to the board this morning?
Yes, sir.
Is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge?
Yes, sir.
Do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Thank you.
Mr. Chair, I have nothing else.
questions from the board no mr chairman questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair hillary do we have to hold for a letter to try to get the letter
do you think we're okay to vote this um it is it is up to you mr chair i believe the meeting
was about two weeks ago is that correct yes yeah it was a while ago all right all right
thank you questions or comments from the virtual audience
there are no hands chair planning commission
thank you chair bergman sarah bond with the philadelphia city planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing auto-oriented commercial zoning
the proposed use is consistent with documented prior use of this property and will not cause
detrimental impacts to the neighborhood beyond what might normally be expected the city planning
Commission recommends that the Zoning Board grant the variance. Thank you. MI 2023-005-033-2425-33,
Welsh Road. I vote yes. Proviso, use limited to number three. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you. You have your votes, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
All right. Number 15, MI 2023-005-035-1600 South 20, 2nd Street, Ahmad Sadi.
I'm looking for him here.
I see him.
I'm going to promote him.
It appears that his attorney is here as well, Jonathan King.
You can promote him as well.
Why don't we bring Mr. King on?
It's not allowing me to promote him.
Mr. King?
Hello, Mr. Chairman, Jonathan King.
Hi, Mr. King, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
My name is Jonathan King, J-O-N-A-T-H-A-N-K-I-N-G, and I am attorney registration number 201-675.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
We've already spoken with your client. We know who your client is.
Mr. Holloman has just a few questions for you.
Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
Did you email all the exhibits and documents as required five days in advance to this hearing?
I have not emailed anything, so I will only present what was emailed by my client.
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Mr. King, so you know, we do have a letter of support from the Port Breeze Community Development Coalition.
uh i appreciate that um yes um you know mr saidi um notified the registered community organization
and met with them including me which is how i got involved um response was mostly positive from
near neighbors um he so mr keen why don't you share what why don't you share your file yeah
Let me do that real fast. Sorry. You'll have to forgive my ignorance. I am normally a patent
attorney and I am doing this matter pro bono because I live right across the street and I
have been waiting for something just like this. Okay. That's, that's great. Okay. So we, we,
we see um we see the location yes um so um yes sir saidi uh is leasing the property from his
father um he would like to open a cafe uh there are no changes to the structure which meets all
oh he was referred to the zba um because prepared food requires a special exception
There are no changes to the structure, which meets all dimensional standards.
This property meets all the conditions required to operate a cafe.
And as far as I can tell, there are no use specific standards for prepared food.
To get into the, before we get into the specific duty required of the applicant,
I would just like to mention that this isn't a typical CMX1 property. This is actually on Point Breeze Avenue, which is the main commercial corridor for Point Breeze.
In fact, prepared food is allowed by right from Federal Street all the way down to just above where this map is. This is Southside Pizza. And prepared food is allowed by right on the same block at the Wow Food Market.
Also, in nearby CMX1 properties, prepared food has been allowed in Nassim's Mini Market, at this Chinese store, and at the Lids Cafe, which is a sit-down restaurant.
Mr. Saidi got a positive response from the Registered Community Organization.
He also got signatures from, I believe, 20 near neighbors, including me.
To get into the specific standards, there is no congestion in the public streets beyond which would normally be expected from a cafe.
In particular, this property has enough street frontage to have not one but two loading zone spots, one facing south on Point Breeze Avenue and one facing north on 22nd Street.
There's no changes to the property, so there's no overcrowding of the land.
There's no changes to the property, so there's no.
There's no impairing adequate light and air to adjacent properties, no impairment or injuring the use of adjacent conforming properties.
The water, sewer, park, and other public facilities will not be burdened.
Say what you want about our public facilities in Philadelphia.
They can handle another cafe.
And this use would not endanger the public health or safety by fire or other means.
In fact, this property is not even attached to the property.
So if there were a fire, it would be more, the community would be more protected than in other CMX1 or even CMX2 properties.
This use is consistent with the comprehensive plan of the city.
The City Planning Commission South District Plan for Point Breeze Avenue says that they want to promote commercial activity at the ground floor on Point Breeze Avenue from Tasker Street to Federal Street, literally right there in the City Commission's plan, which also says to restore the avenue to a consistent neighborhood commercial corridor, rehabilitate existing storefronts.
This is an existing storefront. It's been rehabilitated beautifully, which is really why I'm here.
And rehabilitated existing storefronts and reclaimed those converted to residential uses.
This property, the property immediately across the street is CMX1 and was converted to residential use.
So allowing this special exception would prevent something like that.
The Point Breeze Avenue Corridor Revitalization Plan is to encourage diverse retail, expand financing for infill development, reuse buildings with architectural value and architectural detail, just like this one.
And then let me show you the interior.
He's done a wonderful job.
Oh, you know what?
I should do this instead.
Mr. King, why don't you bring your client on and adopt your testimony?
Mr. Saidi, will you join us?
Mr. Saidi has been allowed to speak.
Good morning, sir.
I believe I swore you in earlier this morning.
Please proceed.
Just state your name for the record.
Mr. Saidi, you're muted. Can you please unmute yourself?
Hello, Ahmed Saidi.
Sir, just state your name for the record.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ahmed Saidi, S-A-I-D-I.
Okay, please proceed, counsel.
Mr. Saidi, did you hear my testimony and do you adopt it as your own?
Mr. Chairman, it sounds like there's nothing further that you would like to do.
Mr. Cain, just one question.
The use is limited to the first floor and basement.
Am I correct?
I believe that's correct.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
questions from our attorney hillary emerson um just following up on your question mr chair
um can come uh mr king can you just verify with your client the use of the second floor is that
to remain a single family dwelling unit above i believe i believe he's going to live there
mr saidi yes uh i also plan on living there once i open or before i open the business uh
So that was always the plan. It's apartment, one bedroom on the top.
Thank you. I just wanted to verify that the existing use was remaining.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair, I have a call from calling user two. I will allow to speak.
Sure. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Tiffany Green.
Tiffany, spell your name for the court stenographer.
I-F-F-A-N-Y-G-R-E-E-N.
Right.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Please proceed.
Regarding this property, first, we did not receive, our RC did not receive the proper public notice,
nor did we receive proof of mailing.
and which we inquired about because there was a concern that our concern was is that five years ago,
in which we inquired about, because there was a...
five, six years ago, the neighbors on the same side of this block, on 22nd Street, the 1600 block,
mainly long-term residents, been here more than 15 years, most of the homeowners,
had opposed a food establishment at this particular property because they said they did not want to be sandwiched in.
There's a large bodega on the 2200 block of Mars Street, very large.
It used to be an old gasoline station, and they bought it and they turned it in.
And they stated that at that point that, you know,
they had a roading problem running up and down the street, and they fought against it.
That's why the property sat like it did for so long.
And they wanted something else other than that.
They weren't against commercial, but they wanted something more diverse,
cleaners or shoemaker or whatever.
We find it very unbelievable that no one on this block showed up at this RCO meeting, long-term residents, and that we have real concerns.
And when we asked about the notices being mailed out to the residents, there was a discussion about whether or not he had to do it for his special exemption.
And so I had been reaching out to LNI to try and get a clear understanding on that.
I wasn't quite sure, but at this particular point, the fact that those residents did not show up,
and then if you look at the sample vote sheet that was sent out by the RCO,
only two people within the two-block radius voted, and one did not show up at the meeting.
So that one person that did vote yes within the two-block radius,
because everyone else did not live within that two-block radius,
were RCO members or people who live far away from there.
The next point I want to make is there are four other food establishments
on this block of 1,500 blocks where they're facing on to.
You have a Chinese store, you have two bodegos,
and then you have the restaurant that's been,