Did you email all the exhibits and documents as required five days in advance to this hearing?
I have.
Thank you.
Please proceed.
Thank you, sir.
Mr. Chair, we're here for 800 South 9th Street, basically a takeout bakery on the South 9th Street Italian Market Corridor.
And that specifically will be a bun shop, a place where you can get cinnamon buns and all sorts of breakfast buns.
It is literally 50 feet away from another takeout bakery that you might.
50 feet away from another takeout bakery that you might know of.
It's called Sarkone's.
They've been there for about 120 years.
And it's even fewer steps away from Ralph's restaurant, also a client of mine, oldest
Italian restaurant, also takeout.
And right down the block from Angelo's Pizza, also takeout.
In fact, this property is surrounded and on a corridor of 250 other additional retail shops, all take out.
So this just continues in the custom of commercial activity on the South 9th Street Italian market
that runs from Fitzwater to Federal along South 9th and has done so for generations.
Before this particular property was occupied, actually, it's not occupied yet, but it's in the process by my client,
that window for takeout was used by the prior tenant for samosas, Indian samosas, and before that for pretzels and lottery tickets.
It's a very small space, 340 square feet in total, and that includes the bathroom and the utility closet.
So we're talking about a very tiny place where no real restaurant activity can take place, which is why my client is desperately needing that window to sell his baked goods.
And that's why we're here. This is not, of course, a variance. We did not get refused.
This is, in fact, a referral because the property, like all the properties on the commercial corridor, are already zoned CMX2.
But, of course, we do need the special exception for the takeout window, which has been in existence, again, for a very long time.
Let me show you some photos of the property in question.
this is what we are thinking of doing and here's the interior extremely small
it's actually one-third the size of uh the other takeout bakery sart cones which is again 55 feet
away with no big there's no major ovens or anything like that the way they do at sarcones
anyway the community meeting was held february 6th we got a letter of non-opposition 156
individual households were mailed here's the proof of posting
and we have our lease. I'm also moving into evidence page 37, which is a letter
from Alex Goldberg, who's a zoning attorney that this board knows well, and he attended,
I'm sorry, submitted a letter of non-opposition with zero restrictions. The RCO is asking for
a three-year temporary. Typically, I'm a big fan of those types of provisos, but in this particular
case, I think it's a little overkill. Again, you've got a bakery, a takeout bakery 50 feet away,
been there for 120 years. You've got a takeout restaurant 40 feet away, several takeout
food places right there, none of which, by the way, none of them have ever had a sunset proviso
attached to their zoning permits. So to ask this particular tenant or person to operate
under the auspices of having to come back in three years, I think is a little just overkill
in this particular case. And as such, the majority of the immediate neighbors agree with that
position. As I said, page 37 had the letter from Mr. Goldberg. Ms. Michelle Gambino, another
immediate neighbor, also sent a letter separate to the zoning board. And then just this morning,
we've got emails sent to the zoning board from residents of 901 South 9th, which is less than
100 feet away, and 903 South 9th, which is less than 100 feet away from 800 South 9th.
You know, it's right there on the block.
It's also, and all of them, support granting of the special exception with no restrictions,
so it's consistent with everybody else on the block.
And additionally, there is a Rite Aid across the street, which is open till 10 p.m., which is lots of heavy traffic.
And additionally, there is a Rite Aid across the street, which is open until 10 p.m.
This operation will be very light in traffic, only open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Only have two employees, commercial trash pickup, exterior lighting and a marked improvement on the facade of the property.
As an immediate neighbor myself, I have to say that it's a welcome addition to the neighborhood, and it should not be shackled with what I consider to be an unreasonable three-year proviso, given the other 250 to-go operations that have no such provision.
and for those reasons i ask that the board grant this special exception
and i'm going to have mr john blizzard come on and raise his virtual hand thank you
good morning sir
he has been allowed to speak good morning mr blizzard could you state your name is spelled
please for the court stenographer john j-o-h-n blizzard b as in boy l-i-s-a-r-d do you swear
or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth is nothing but the truth i do please proceed counsel
thank you john did you hear my presentation to the board this morning yes the true and accurate
to the best of your knowledge yes do you adopt it as your own testimony yes your hours of operation
will be 7 a.m. to 2. Is that correct? Correct. Okay. Thank you very much. Mr. Chair, given my
client's testimony and adoption, given that the majority of the immediate neighbors who live on
9th Street support this special exception with no restrictions on time, I ask that this board
respectfully grant the special exception. Questions from the board? No, Mr. Chairman.
no chair questions or comments from our attorney hillary emberson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
there are no hands here planning commission thank you chair this is keith davis city planning
commission staff uh this slide is indicated for commercial mixed use cmx2 but the uses
of takeout requires a special exception uh this is a corner lot facing south 9th street in the
south philadelphia italian market i was previously used um as a uh um for for um i believe it's a
bakery the planning commission recommends that the variance be granted thank you mi2023
006 214 800 south ninth street i vote yes thomas holloman my vote is yes james snell my vote is yes
thank you counsel thank you have a good day okay all right number 14 mi 2023 006 084
2214 to 22 north 4th street adam laver is the attorney letter of support from nars square
community alliance and letter of support letter of non-opposition from council member lazaba
Adam Laver has been promoted
Good morning counsel
can you just state your name please
and spell for the court sonographer
Good morning Mr. Chairman
and members of the board
Adam Laver
L-A-B as in Victor E-R
Blank Rome
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Yes Mr. Chairman I do
Could you identify your client
the relationship to this property
Certainly
Blank Rome represents JBA Group and Alan Nadav, owner of the subject property.
Mr. Holloman has just a few questions, sir.
Thank you.
Good morning, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
Good morning, Mr. Holloman.
Yes, I do.
Did you email all the exhibits and documents as required five days in advance to this hearing?
Yes, sir, I did.
Thank you.
please proceed and share your screen. Thank you very much. Mr. Chairman and members of the board,
as I mentioned Alan Nadav is the principal of the ownership entity. Mr. Nadav is with us today.
We have previously appeared before the board actually regarding this very property,
but I'd like to mention by way of background that at the studio house at 1613 Germantown
Avenue, Alan was proud to provide high-quality rental housing, had a more affordable price
had a more affordable price point, under $1,000 per month.
point, under $1,000 per month.
He was a trendsetter, I would say.
With the proposal before the board, Alan is trying to achieve a similar goal,
which has been recognized, Mr. Chairman, as you noted,
in both community and councilmanic support garnered for this proposal that's before the board.
You see on the screen before you an Ariel showing the subject property,
And I'm using my mouse to show you the area, which is a vacant lot right now.
It's very relevant to note that on March 10th of 2021, this board granted variance relief for the redevelopment of this property at MI 2020-002476.
That approval remains in full force and effect.
However, that development has not moved forward.
The approvals were in place, the community has requested a different approach, and the different approach is what we're bringing to you today.
Alan and his team have worked closely with neighbors to bring this proposal to you.
I would respectfully request, however, that the findings and the record below be incorporated into the current record herein, and that the board previously found hardship at this very property.
Bar Levy of Sandbar Design Architects is also online with us today.
You can see in this preliminary photograph that the property is large in size, 7,200
square feet, unimproved, wide frontages on both 4th Street and Leithgall Street.
It runs through to both.
Here is a zoning map, and the subject property is outlined in blue or purple.
The property is zoned RSA-5 single family, notedly with RM-1 across the street, DMX-2
at the corner.
Here you can see some photographs of the lot that I mentioned.
I'd like to point out, as some board members may recall from the earlier case, there is
an auto repair shop immediately next door. In fact, the subject property itself often has cars
parked there in various states of repair, and this is long-standing practice based on the repair shop
being there. Alan is in communication with his next-door neighbor who is aware of Alan's plans.
He does not object to the proposed relief. It's important to note that both Alan and the community
look at the auto repair as an important part of the community. People have their car serviced
there. There's coexistence, if you will, with the auto repair shop, a business that has been
important to the neighborhood. You see that in the right. Just showing you some additional photographs
of the surrounding area. The proposal itself, and here you see some conceptual renderings.
This is really luxury affordable housing.
36 dwellings are proposed, 100% PHA voucher friendly, 15 off-street parking spaces.
The zoning site plan is before you.
Calling for five stories, generous balconies are proposed for each of these dwellings, allowing indoor-outdoor living interplay with the pedestrian streetscape.
There are single-family scaled curb cuts, one here on 4th Street, one on Leithgal, to access the garage and to respect the flow of traffic and traffic patterns in the neighborhood.
Very briefly, you can see cross-sections.
And I'll take you to the proposed floor plans in a moment.
Each unit is generously sized.
This is something that is important to the community as well.
Once again, we're going for that ideal of luxury affordability. High-end finishes. In the basement, fully mechanicals. Ground floor. You have your lobby off of 4th Street. You have interior parking hidden from the public right-of-way. You have trash room for commercial trash pickup with trash picked up out of the site of the public.
The second floor shows a mix of large one bedrooms and large studios, with a common fitness center, which everyone deserves.
Third through fifth floor is typical.
Once again, you see those large balconies for the indoor-outdoor feel for every unit, which is really just something that admittedly improves upon the prior granting of variances at this site.
The refusals themselves, multifamily living.
The refusals themselves, multifamily living is not permitted in the district.
We have here efforts to create more affordable options, a need in the community for elevator
service departments for accessibility, for aging in place with dignity, to meet the needs
of the community.
This fits in well with the mixed zoning designations in the surrounding area, which I showed you
on the zoning map. And as you saw in the aerial photograph, this is a neighborhood that has
amazing long-term housing stock, but also some areas that need improvement, such as these vacant
parcels. Additionally, the off-street parking requires variance relief. This is the minimum
variance to afford relief, providing parking at a very high ratio to meet actual needs.
The balance of the refusals relate to modest dimensional variances that fit the surrounding non-conformities and mix of nearby zoning classifications.
What we have here, Mr. Chairman and members of the board, are livable dwellings for everyone versus mansion-sized properties that don't serve the community.
It is through the combined efforts with the organization formerly known, but officially still known for RCO purposes as NARA Square Community Alliance, now known as Ciente, that you see that the community deemed the project well-liked and is supporting it.
Street trees are proposed along both frontages, American hornbeam trees, which is a tree with shallow roots.
We delved into these little details with the community because it's important.
The community has problems with invasive species.
This is non-invasive directly in response to the community.
The subject property has been significantly underutilized.
What is practicable at this location?
What is possible?
The years of open lots on this block show that combined investment by a developer and
community together is the best option. We're really proud of the partnership with Ciente.
We hope that this venture becomes a model as well for private development partnership with PHA's
housing voucher program. The RCO letter of support is on the screen before you, as is Councilmember
Lozada's position of non-opposition. Given the practical realities of repurposing this site
and the sensitive treatment to design, we believe that the proposed development better meets the
ideals of the community and respects the surrounding land uses. Although this board
previously recognized hardship at this site, and that approval is in full force and effect,
we are happy to proceed with a proposal that better meets current needs of the community.
The authorization of variance relief will not alter the character of the neighborhood or district or
be detrimental to the public welfare. The proposal fits into the surrounding neighborhood.
The granting of relief would benefit the public and is within the spirit of the code.
The proposed variance would represent the minimum variance that will afford relief
and will represent the least modification possible of the regulations at issue.
In the prior case before the board, 24 use refusals and 42 zoning refusals were granted,
a high number. This is significantly less, speaking to minimum variance necessary.
The grant of variance relief will not substantially increase congestion in the public streets,
increase the danger of fire or otherwise endanger public health, safety, or general welfare.
This will not adversely affect transportation or unduly burdened water, sewer school park,
or other public facilities. There are no environmental issues with this proposal.
Thank you for the board's indulgence.
Counsel, would you bring your owner on, please, or your client?
Yes. Mr. Nadav, Alan Nadav, would you kindly raise your virtual hand to be recognized by Chairman Bergman?
There's Mr. Nadav.
Sorry, Alan Nadav has been allowed to speak.
Good morning, sir. Could you please state your name and spell for the court's stenographer?
Mr. Nadav
we cannot hear you
do we see him?
yes he's unmuted