we have we don't hear from you so thank you well sorry anyone else in the virtual audience
there are no further hands mr chair any commission
thank you chairman and good afternoon david effecto with the city planning commission
chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommended rm1 residential multi-family zoning
at this location. However, in a subsequent map change in 2015, the community and council supported
a change to CMX3, commercial mixed use, for properties on Front Street. The appellant has
shown that the proposed assembly and entertainment will have no detrimental impacts beyond what might
be expected. The City Planning Commission recommends the board grant a proposed special
exception for assembly and entertainment. Thank you. MI 2025, 001-506, 14 Jefferson Street,
I vote yes with proviso.
Studio rental permitted from 10.30 a.m. to 9.30 p.m. daily.
Events permitted from 6 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. Sunday to Thursday
and from 7 p.m. to 10.30 on Friday and Saturday.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with provisos.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with provisos.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with provisos.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with provisos.
I win. My vote is yes with provisos. Thank you, counsel. Thank you. Number 10, MI 2025, 001-552-4129-35 Main Street. William O'Brien is the attorney. There's a letter of support from Manioc Neighborhood Council. 20 votes in favor, one abstained.
they'll be coming back in as a panel sure thank you
good afternoon mr chairman members of the board william o'brien
mr o'brien just for the record do you spell your name for the stenographer
w-i-l-l-i-a-m-o-b-r-i-e-n do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth i do do you um waive the reading of the refusal do you agree with its
accuracy. I do. Okay, why don't you
start your presentation, sir? Thank you. I'll share my screen, if I may.
It's coming up.
I think, let me unshare for a second. I think I'm
backwards here.
Thank you for your patience.
So I submitted, I'm here on behalf of Main Street Properties LP, the record owner of 4129 to 35 Main Street. I submitted a package of exhibits. This is the index to those exhibits. There are 10 exhibits.
I'm going to focus my presentation on the first five items, and I would request that all the documents be admitted into evidence.
This is an application to use application to use the property for a fitness center.
And there is one use refusal.
The property is in a RM1 zoning district, and the only permitted use is household living, dwellings.
This is the letter from the Manneac Neighborhood Council.
We met with the council on June 4th.
It was a well-attended meeting.
There were over 30 people in attendance, and the votes cast were in unanimous support for a variance to allow the fitness center.
This is an image of the building.
The property is in the Main Street Manioc National Historic District.
You can note the two buildings, well, the two portions of the buildings, the wings on either side of the center.
Those were considered contributing facades.
so when this building was reconfigured and rebuilt those facades were incorporated into
this structure i'll get to the development of the structure in a second um here's some interior
photographs this is from inside the first floor looking out on the main street
this is with the main street entrance at my back
looking to the first and second levels
of the retail space
the staircase to the third floor
and on the second I'm sorry the staircase to the second floor
and then on the second floor looking down towards the entrance on the first floor
this is a zoning map
Main Street and surrounding area.
You'll note that...
Bill, we don't see the main...
You still have...
Mine must be locked. I'm sorry.
Do you have a map?
I'll see that right next to me.
Go ahead.
Please proceed.
So this is the zoning map from Atlas.
And you'll notice that here's Main Street, this first white street along, and it's CMX 2.5 is almost every property on Main Street.
And so this property zoned RM1 is quite an anomaly.
There's no other RM1 on Main Street.
It's all CMX with the exception of a ICMX up towards Rector Street.
But this would be a permitted use on almost every other building on Main Street.
When this property was assembled in, I think it was 2000, it was actually, it was four, it was a consolidation of four properties into one.
it was four, it was a consolidation of four properties into one. The four properties were
single family homes. They were zoned, was then R-10A, the equivalent of RSA-5 today.
And the application I've highlighted was for apartments on the upper floors and commercial
commercial use on the first and second floors, that mezzanine, if you will. That was how the
application was filed. All the floors, all the plans refer to the first floor retail store.
Again, second floor commercial, first floor commercial.
uh and it was granted uh with no uh exceptions um and it has been used for retail use uh since then
uh the most recent use you saw kismet in the photographs that was the most recent use which
was not uh retail but for many years the um uh the use was a retail furniture store
um the property is uh the equitable owner of the property is also uh in the audience together with
his attorney mr glenn hing um that's about the end of my presentation uh questions regarding
the specific use of the fitness center are probably better uh for mr hing or his client
But I'd be happy to answer any questions about the use and the history of the property.
We want to bring it the other.
Yeah, Mr. Hing or if your client, who's going to answer questions about the operation of the proposed fitness center?
Mr. O'Brien, what's your client's last name?
Glenn Hing.
Mr. Heng, please raise your virtual hand.
He's coming back in as a panelist now, Chair.
Thank you.
Mr. Heng?
Mr. Heng?
or is andrew andrew ruba in the audience
it's mr ruba who will be the operator of the fitness center
mr ruba's coming back in as a panelist now thank you thank you
yes hello everyone hi mr ruby could you please state your name as spelled for the sonogram
yes my name is andrew ruba a-n-d-r-e-w-r-u-b-a do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth nothing but the truth yes council money proceeded uh mr ruby you've heard my
presentation so far. Would you describe your experience with fitness centers in Philadelphia
and how this proposed fitness center would operate? Yes. So currently, we operate two
locations for a fitness center in the city. So one in the Callow Hill neighborhood and one in
the Fishtown neighborhood. And it is basically just a membership dues-paying gym with a 24-hour
access component. So all members get a key fob or an app that they can just scan and our door
control system lets them in during staffed hours, which are usually during the day and then after
staffed hours as well if they're obviously only if they're a member. And as far as the business
itself, it's pretty standard gym experience. So you have machines, you'll have cardio equipment
and free weights that members can use at their own disposal.
So that's kind of the high-level overview of what the gym is.
Thank you.
I'll also note, and I'm sure Mr. Rube has done his homework,
There was a fitness center on Main Street that did not survive COVID, so this would be a very welcome addition to the Main Street corridor.
there was a fitness center on Main Street that did not survive COVID.
Questions from the board?
Was there an interior plan of some sort?
Sorry.
Did I miss that?
I didn't hear the question. Is there a question for me?
Yeah, what's inside? Or how is this going to be set up when you do have it? Do you have a floor plan of some sort?
So, should I take that question?
Yeah. Yeah, so currently right now we don't have a floor plan because we don't plan on changing the layout of the space.
it works pretty well as a fitness space as is right now so it has kismet was a co-working space
and so it's already outfitted with ada bathrooms and a front desk area and if you'll notice the
floors are all concrete which are helpful for a gym because you know you don't want to be damaging
the floor so basically we won't be changing the structure at all we'll just be putting our the
rubber mats on the floor and then putting our fitness equipment in the space so this is how
this is the interior as it is now that's right okay and you're going to have machinery you're
going to have weights that's right you're going to have different yeah like cardio cardio machines
so like treadmills ellipticals uh exercise bikes and then fitness machines so those machines that
have the stacks on them that you can do exercises on and then also free weights. So think like
squat racks and barbells and dumbbells. Okay. Thank you for the questions.
Yeah. I have a question about sort of personal facilities for your gym members. Like most gyms
have showers or lockers and other places for people to kind of temporary store things.
since this was already a space that had just regular bathrooms what's the plan for like
personal care so the bathrooms they do have a sink they're i think two of them two out of the
four are ada accessible um right now we're not planning on adding showers at the moment so
our concept is basically a neighborhood gym that's very embedded in the neighborhood
um so oftentimes people just come from their house and we'll just stop back at their house
afterwards so um yeah that's that's that's what we plan for that and then regarding lockers
those aren't generally a fixture um they're just kind of something that you just set along the
wall and people use them to to store their stuff okay any other questions
Mr. Chairman, if I could ask the owner, the applicant, is Main Street Properties.
Mr. Daniel Netison is in the audience.
If he could raise his hand so he can adopt my testimony.
Daniel Netison has been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Hi, Mr. Netison.
Could you please state your name as Bell for a stenographer?
My name is Daniel Robert
Netison, N-E-D-U-C-S-I-N.
Do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Would you turn your video on, Mr. Netison?
He's coming back in
as a panelist now, Chair.
Okay, please proceed,
Counsel. Thank you.
Let me see where he is. I didn't see him yet.
i thought he just came on can you see me i can uh no no i can't see me either so
okay all right all right well why don't why don't we do this mr o'brien why don't you proceed
i can represent that there you go there he is he's there okay hello mr netizen how are you i'm
I'm good. Thank you.
Were you with mixed emotions, Bill, as you know, that I'm presenting a gym because my son was there for probably close to 20 years.
And unfortunately, COVID came and they went out of business.
They just couldn't survive COVID.
So I'm happy to have a new gym, but I'm sorry to see my son not be part of it.
Sorry to see my son not be part of it, but it is what it is.
But it is what it is.
It is. Well, the neighborhood at least will be served.
Yes. Yeah. The good news for the new gym owner, they had approximately 1,200 members at the time, maybe even over that.
So I think that they'll do really well there.
So, Mr. Netison, were you in the virtual audience during my presentation?
And you heard my testimony?
I did.
Were my statements true and correct?
Yes, true and correct.
And do you adopt them as your own?
Thank you.
Questions or comments?
Did I do the virtual answer?
Questions or comments from our attorney?
Not at this time.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chairman.
And good afternoon.
David Fecta with the City Planning Commission.
chairmen and board members the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning in this location
from rm1 residential multifamily to cmx 2.5 commercial mixed use the city rezoned this
property in 1979 at that point at that time this property was zoned commercial mixed use
cmx 2.5 would allow the proposed personal services the city planning commission recommends that the
board grant a proposed use variance for personal services. Thank you. MI-2025-001-552-4129-35
Main Street, I vote yes. Bill Johns, my vote is yes. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes. Tanetta Graham,