the neighborhood i appreciate your call but that case will be coming up in the future and you will
have an opportunity to testify at that okay thank you so much for taking the time to close
are there any other requests for continuance
yeah i have uh we're on anastasia with the hand raise again i'll let him speak again at this time
go ahead mr anastasio hi mr chair uh 2242 north 9th street
should be on today's listing
it's hold on a minute
mr anastasio did you say 2242 north 9th street that's correct that is not on our list for today
Yeah, then we're good.
Yeah, that's cool.
Thank you.
My apologies.
Any other requests for continuance?
I do not see any further hands, Mr. Chair.
We're going to go to our add-on list.
number one on our add-on list mi2022 007 291 430 west berg street that case has been moved
to november 29th and it will be voted on at 2 p.m
number two on our list mi 2023 003 246 29 90 southampton road
the vote on this matter has been rescheduled to wednesday november 1st at 2 p.m
Number three, MI 2023, 002-336-251 Granada Street.
I vote yes with proviso.
Her amended refusal dated 10-23.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Sorry.
And number four, MI 2022-001-058, 332 Delancey Street.
The vote in this matter is being rescheduled to Wednesday,
November 1st at 2 p.m.
We're going to go to our regular list.
Number one, MI 2023-003-555-427 Easterrod Avenue.
Steve Masters is the attorney.
There's a letter of support, Fishtown Neighbors Association,
letter of support from the Fishtown Kensington Area Business Improvement District,
and the applicant also provided a petition in support signed by approximately 22 neighbors.
And the applicant also also provided a petition in support signed by approximately 22 neighbors.
Mr. Masters.
Good morning, Mr. Chair, members of the board.
I'm going to share my screen.
Hold on one minute, Mr. Masters, you've already been sworn.
Just for the record, please state your name.
Steve Masters, S-T-E-V-M-A-S-T-E-R-S.
Our vice chair has just a few questions, sir.
Good afternoon, Captain. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I do. It's a referral, not a refusal in this case. It's for a special exception.
Understood. Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to proceed with this case?
Yes, we have.
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Good afternoon again members of the board. We are here for a special exception for a tattoo studio
at 427 East Girard Avenue. With me today is my client Doug Hand who is the owner of the property
and also the tattoo artist who is going to be going to be creating tattoos at this location.
As I mentioned, this is a special exception.
That's the only relief that we're looking for from the board today.
There are no variances.
This is a mixed commercial and residential zoning.
So it is permitted with a special exception.
As the chair noted, we have 27 near neighbors that signed petitions in support of this business.
and um here we have um a few of the uh the drawings of of the the the um the the floor plan
so uh this is the first floor and as um we come into the first floor there'll be a waiting area
uh then there will be four different stations that can be used for tattooing
There's going to be a step up here, there's a final station here, a restroom, and a small backyard that's accessible from the rear of the building.
In the basement, which is accessible from Bilko doors by the front door, that's where the trash will be stored.
and there will be an industrial sink and a sterile room if that's needed.
And then this is all, there is no public access down here,
but this is for the various infrastructure to support the tattooing.
There is no sign on this application,
but there will be a design that is going to be painted on the front window
for the establishment that will look like this. The name of the tattoo studio is going to be
Redeemer Tattoo. So here we have the front facade of our building. This is where the
sign will be painted on the window. Upstairs is a residential area, which is not part of
this application because it's already by right.
So we're now looking, um, this perspective is we're looking, um, towards the rear of the
building, uh, and this is the, the, the doorway that goes out to that backyard, um, that I
spoke about.
Now we are turning around and facing the front of the building.
And so this, these, all these areas here is where the tattoo stations will be.
This is a view close to the front door looking towards the back of the building, and here's
the restroom that we spoke about that's in the rear of the first floor.
This is our zoning posters that were posted on the property.
And we prepared some questions and answers for the neighbors at the RCO meeting.
It describes, you know, what types of activities are going to be happening here. It's really just
tattooing for for the body arts we expect most of the clientele will be from the neighborhood
there's going to be relatively short hours between nine at the earliest
There's going to be relatively short hours between nine at the earliest to six at the latest,
Tuesdays through Saturdays, a very minimal impact on traffic and parking. The trash as we noted is
going to be stored in the basement and will be accessible through the Bilko doors on trash day
and there will be special biohazard procedures for the sharps that will be part of the tattooing.
So Fishtown Neighbors issued a strong letter of support, and they reported that at their meeting, 28 meeting attendees voted in support, and of the committee, all eight voted in support, and one neighbor voted in support.
So it's quite a large mandate with only one vote against.
The Business Improvement District also issued a letter of support, strongly supporting the creation of this business and noting that it was going to activate this block and create a lot of positive impact on the surrounding community.
We have our tax clearance, our deed, the project information form,
and our RCO notice, which was sent to the surrounding neighbors. A total of 140 envelopes
were sent out. So at this time, members of the board, I would like to call my client Doug Hand
to adopt my testimony. Okay. Mr. Hand? Dave's been about to speak. Mr. Hand, could you state your
name and spell, please, for the court stenographer? Sure. My name is Doug Hand, first name D-O-U-G,
last name h-a-n-d you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do to see counsel sure um doug welcome uh you've heard my testimony today do you
agree that it's true and accurate and do you adopt it as your own i do 100 percent uh is there
anything else that you wanted to add uh for the board uh to tell them about this about this project
um not really i feel like the the past two times that we've done this you uh you've learned
everything that there is to know about it the only thing that i can add is that um me and my
wife live here in the neighborhood so we're already part of the neighborhood and we're just
you know i'm looking to uh open up here in the neighborhood to help build the you know the area
that we already live in so all right thank you i have no further questions questions from the board
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Mr. Chair, I have Robert Everett with their hand raised.
I will allow them to speak at this time.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Yeah, good afternoon, everyone.
My first name is Robert, last name Everett, E-V-E-R-E-T-T.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Absolutely, I do.
Please proceed.
I just wanted to clarify on the letter from Fishtown Neighbors Association.
I did the draft that the chairperson wrote in and messed up the numbers.
It's actually 36-1, not 28.
We forgot that in the eight votes from the zoning committee that weren't counted.
And yes, overwhelming support from the community. They're very active with our association.
All right. Thank you very much for taking the time to call us. We appreciate it. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
I do not see any further answer, Mr. Chair.
Training Commission.
Good afternoon, Chair and members of the board. My name is Greg Waldman from Planning Commission staff.
My name is spelled G-R-E-G-O-R-Y, last name Waldman, W-A-L-D-M-A-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing commercial mixed-use zoning.
The proposed use will not cause detrimental impacts to the neighborhood beyond what normally might be expected.
beyond what normally might be expected the city planning commission recommends that the
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Zoning Board
zoning board grant the special exception thank you my 2023-003-555-427 east rod avenue i vote yes
thomas holliman my vote is yes ishmael shaheed my vote is yes
thank you thank you counsel thank you so much may i be excused you most certainly can sir
all right number two mi 2023 003 507 611 nara street pasquale kalavati
is the attorney um letter of support from apm
they'll be rejoining as a panelist sir okay
good afternoon counsel could you say your name could you say your name please and spell for
the court sonographer sure pasquale colavita p-a-s-q-u-a-l-e-c-o-l-a-v-i-t-a right
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client in relationship to this property?
My client is J&K Hotpads, LLC.
They're the owner.
Their principal and sole member is Ernest Peterkin.
He should be present.
From what I understand, he called me and indicated that he was on.
And your vice chair, our vice chair has a few questions for you.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
We do.
Have you emailed in all the required documents that are needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
We have.
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
bear with me one moment okay and here we go um attached a table of contents for the 611
west norris street property attached are the deed certificate of tax clearance notice of refusal
the application for the appeal. Photographs is a zoning poster, zoning plans and drawings at
Exhibit F. The notice to the neighbors was sent timely, received a letter of support from the APM
Community Development. After their meeting, there was only five members of the community were there.
They all voted in favor of it, plus the board members have also added to the letter of support
that's attached at Exhibit H.
There's an Exhibit I
is an MLS history
reflecting that the property
at the time of the purchase
was four units
and my client purchased it
with the understanding
that there were four units.
As such, this is a variant,
requesting a variance of a
pre-existing non-conforming use
in an RM1 zone, which allows two family dwellings as of right.
There are, at Exhibit K, we attached the zoning archives or permits
indicating other similarly situated properties within a block or two of the subject property.
I can start by also adding that this is a three-story property on the first floor, and I'll show it on the plans, but I'll explain it first, and then if anyone wants further clarifications, I'll be more than happy to assist.
So the first floor is a single unit.
Second floor are two studios, and the third floor has a single unit for a total of four units on here.
My client has applied for and is approved for PHA housing at the premises for all four properties, which the community was very happy with.
And as we stated, the deed, my client just recently purchased it as soon as he found out there was an issue, made the application.
and has his tax clearance certificate file the so we can get some photographs of the zoning posters
that were timely posted and here is a the first floor unit so it it's
uh two bedrooms and one and a half bath here with a kitchen area there is a single entrance for all
two bedrooms and one and a half bath here
four units so then we'll get to the second floor which has two efficiency units as you can see the
two separate entrances for each one hallway and bathroom for each of them and on the third floor
It's a two-bedroom with a kitchen, a bathroom, and living area.
And here are some photographs of what the actual apartments look like at purchase.
It's in excellent condition.
And Mr. Peterkin, my understanding, as you can see, one of the arguments on the hardship would be to retrofit this property.