he was going to put a plant store at the garage at the first floor level no no i apologize so
at the garage at the first floor level no no i apologize so the plant shop was the initial
the plant shop was the initial
application right so they met with the neighbors the neighbor said we don't want to see a plant
shop in there so instead he's going to take what would have been the plant shop and he's putting
two parking spots plus an affordable unit in the back right and then then he's he has all these
garages here that he wants to have parking for the places across the street correct okay questions
from the board um do we know how many parking spaces the garage is going to provide 13. yep
that's correct yeah and then there's two more um they're going to go where the plan shop would
have gone so there's going to be a total of 15 parking spots um and there's one ada uh i believe
there's one ada and everything else is regular size there might be one compact parking spot
Is this one of the projects
I'm supposed to recuse myself?
I can't remember.
Did this come to CDR?
18, 18 North 53rd
did go to CDR.
Do you need the date
that it would have...
I probably need to recuse myself.
Thank you, Michael.
Was this,
this portion of the project
excuse me project
the portion that was across the street so i guess you know the sister kind of application but um
the same owners have both properties okay any other questions from the board
questions or comments from our attorney
um not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
there are no hands here we're not going to vote on this am i correct hillary and they're going
to come back with that is correct mr chair um we need an amended refusal and
updated streets approval does planning want to take a position or they want to wait
oh we can give our testimony now please proceed
well i'm sorry is planning going to get testimony based on the original application or the amended
uh the amended okay all right just wanted to clarify sorry
good afternoon keith davis with philadelphia city planning commission
uh the comprehensive plan recommends that the two properties being consolidated through this
proposal remain residential single family five because of the irregular dimensions of the
building that whether it's consolidated or not the continued non-conformity of multifamily and
the multiple buildings on this single rsa lot is not expected to have any negative impacts on the
neighbors planning commission recommends that the board grant the proposed variances per the
amended refusal thank you so much um we'll we'll have this come back right hillary but it's closed
am i right yeah it's closed other than an amended refusal yes okay i just wanted to ask um if
there's any way that um i could just enlist the the board's help to get me the amended refusal
soon as possible just because we are in a rush to get this um through again it's providing
affordable, an affordable unit. We just want to get this relief. We'll see what we can do with
the office. Wonderful. I appreciate it so much. Send us a letter at your earliest convenience
to request the amendment. Wonderful. I appreciate it. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Number five, MI 2024-002-490-5355 Lena Street. Joseph Consul is the attorney.
there's a letter of unanimous opposition from faith cdc
it's the council
also dose of console has been promoted to a finalist
good afternoon i counsel could you please state your name and spell for the court sonographer
Joseph Consul, that's J-O-S-E-P-H, last name Consul, C-O-N-S-O-L-E.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client, the relationship to the property?
Yes, my client is the owner of the property, and his name is, pardon me, Mr. Juan Chong.
Okay, and our vice chair has a few questions.
good afternoon council do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to
its accuracy yes have you emailed in all the required documents that is needed to
proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing yes thank you council please
proceed share your screen okay that should be my exhibits this property is five
exhibits this property is 5355 lena street um going back to 1959 it was approved for a food
store and a one-family home i'll briefly go through the uh other entries in the zoning
code history on that in in a second but the reason we're here is because
please proceed mr council sorry um it is because this property is a corner property
that was zoned commercial residential mixed use and has been used in accordance to that uh that
That zoning designation, since as far back as the 50s, it was rezoned as an RSA 5 property, but it has been a continuously occupied store, grocery store, since that time on the first floor.
My clients are seeking to get a use approval to use this property as a commercial store on the first floor again.
um so in the 50s it was approved as a food store in one family there's a second application from
that time for the same use uh retail food produce in one family from 1982
and then there's one more from 1985 and it's been a retail fruit and produce in one family
dwelling since since that time and there doesn't appear to be any uh claim from the neighbors that
it was ever not a grocery store they uh what through what appeared to me to be some personal
issues between my clients and and the neighbors they voted to oppose this project
um there's no the the violations on on the property are related to to fire alarm things
that my client is in the process of fixing however he needs this this use permit to continue to
operate here um legally so i'm just showing you some pictures from the outside of the property
place to stop use order on there
and then there's some interior photos showing the grocery store itself
and we included photos showing several meters then we showed the deed
and the tax clearance certificate wasn't available we have a zero dollar tax balance
and we'll submit the tax clearance certificate as as soon as it's available but there's
no outstanding tax balance on this property.
So we're seeking to approve a use that's been approved several times in the past.
And the property has always been a grocery store for as far back as my clients will testify.
We believe at least 40 years continues the operating as this particular grocery store.
With that, I'll ask my client to...
Mr. Counsel, could you tell us what happened when you went to the CDC?
At the RCO, some near neighbors showed up.
It was a situation where folks were kind of yelling over each other.
We believe that there was a personal issue between some of the neighbors and my clients.
My clients are Asian Americans, and we just think that there's some animosity there, and that led to basically what, as I perceived it again, this is just from my outside perspective, it seemed like one neighbor in particular brought other neighbors into the meeting to oppose my client, and we weren't able to come to any kind of meeting of the minds.
I think functionally, the unnecessary hardship is clear. The property has always been
a legal grocery store up until the point that it was rezoned. And to deny my clients the
continued use of this would deny them any kind of economically viable use of the property.
It's not a residential property. There's a single family above. There's no permitted alternative uses besides a single family home on this corner property that's never had that. It would be unfeasible and economically impossible for my clients to change this lower level into a single family home.
to change this lower level into a single family home concurrent with the upper level it's it's
currently closed uh i am i both i mean it looks like they posted a stop work order um my clients
can test license license and inspection closed it they the the no they didn't actually there
There's several violations on the property, but they are related to fire protection systems.
But I don't believe that there was any kind of stop order on there.
They said in one of their violations here, which I have on the screen, they have to get a license for the sales, food sales.
which is what we're here for and then something called a sales and scanners license which i don't
believe is is through um this the zoning variance folks i think that'll that'll be a separate license
we'll have to we'll have to contain why don't you bring your client on hi um could you raise your
hand mr chung mr chung is allowed to speak hi sir could you please state your name and
spell for the court stenographer. My name is Won Suchong, W-O-N-S-U-C-H-O-N-G. Do you swear or
affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Yes. Please proceed,
counsel. Mr. Chong, did you hear my testimony just now regarding your property at 5355 Lena
street yes uh do you adopt it as your own yes uh can you um testify to the board
how for how long you've been running a grocery store at this property
i think about uh 35 years 35 years okay yeah that would match with the the permits you pulled
in the 80s is that accurate yes okay i have nothing further from my client mr console how
long has it been closed? Sir, can you testify? Has license and inspection, Mr. Chong, has license
and inspections closed your property? No. We don't believe that they posted a stop operations
order, I believe, where they are aware that we're in the process of negotiating this variance.
Okay. All right. All right. Questions from the board.
I have, well, I would like to hear from if any of the RCO, the contention that the attorney just described, but just curious as to if you've been operating for 35 years for your client, like what is the issue with the community?
Like, 35 years, it seems like it's a long time to be in business.
What are the major issues in terms of the community that your clients foresee them to be?
As we understood it at the meeting, there was some claims that they didn't like how the grocery store was being operated.
I really, it got out of hand pretty quickly in terms of folks.
Do you know if it's been reported as a nuisance business in the past?
I've seen no evidence of that, that none was provided to me.
There's nothing on Atlas that lists it as being reported as a nuisance.
You know, I put all the violations like I had put up previously to this.
And nothing here is regarding any kind of nuisance or anything like that.
It's regarding fire extinguishers and licensure.
So they're actually, to your point, Chair, they have until August 26, 2024, according to License and Inspections Violations Notice, to correct the violations.
And that includes what we're seeking to make.
Other questions from the board?
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our Attorney Hillary Emerson?
just briefly um mr consul i don't believe the notice of violation was included in your original
packet so if you would like that included in the record for this case um please uh submit that as
soon as possible i would it didn't cross my mind today when i was searching for any kind of police
reports or anything that might verify what the what the rco had said but um i found this
Um, I found this. I'll send it in questions or comments from the virtual audience.
I'll send it in
Yes, Charles Richardson will be allowed to speak.
Mr. Richardson, just state your name. You've already been sworn.
Yes, Mr. Chair, Charles Richardson, R-I-C-H-A-R-D-S-O-N, Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass, Room 508 City Hall.
This business has been closed prior to the beginning of the pandemic.
They've had all kinds of issues with the neighbors in that area, specifically on the side facing because of the fact that we've gotten calls here
and had L and I go out and investigate.
The upper floors have been closed for quite some time.
They've had wooden boards over the windows.
The last time that I had any contact with L and I with regard to that,
they had the windows on the second floor, which is technically the third floor,
were hanging off, and the neighbors were afraid that they were going to fall.
You know, this has been an ongoing thing, and it's not anything that's new with regard to that.
I don't think they're being truthful with regard to the situation, and we do know that they're trying to sell the property.
So that's why they're trying to get the zoning taken care of so they can, you know, it will be more lucrative for them to be able to sell the property.
So the Councilwoman is joining with the RCO and the community in opposing the variance.
Thank you, Mr. Richardson. Any other questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair, I have Zamberlay Shepard will be allowed to speak.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Mr. Chair, that individual is for a case on the 330 list.
Okay, thank you.
Just for everyone's information, we are still on the 2 p.m. list.
We will start the 3.30 list after we have completed the 2 p.m. cases.
Thank you.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience for this case?
There are no other hands.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair.
This is Keith Davis, Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
Planning Commission recommends no change to the property's RSA 5 zoning.
This corner lot has served as a neighborhood market in the past.
With no rear yard access, the unsecured dumpster and delivery trays can be observed scattered on the sidewalk.
this represents a potential hazard for pedestrians or neighbors planning commission
recommends approving the variance request with the provisor that the applicant provide a permanent
semi-enclosure to house the dumpster mi 2024 002 490 5355 lena street i vote no michael johns my
vote is no vote is no show guest and my vote is no thank you my vote is no james snell my vote is
no ishmael shahi my vote is no thank you council number six mi 2024 zero zero two eight nine four
or 1500 to 42 Market Street.
William Kerr is the attorney.
There's a letter of non-opposition
from Center City Residence
and a letter of non-opposition
from Council Member Young.
Mr. Kerr.
William Kerr is promoted.
Good afternoon, Mr. Kerr.
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon, Mr.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman.
William Kerr, K-E-R-R, on behalf of the applicant, 6th Renacar.
Do you swear or affirm that tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I would like to indicate to the board, my colleague, Sean Livdy, L-I-V-S-E-Y, is going to present the case.