they have been promoted
good morning ben are you there
Ben with the last initial S.
Yes, hello, this is Ben Saboff.
Can you hear me?
Yes, we can hear you.
Could you state your name and spell it for the record, please?
Yes, this is Ben Sabaugh, B-E-N, and last name is S-A-B-A-G-H.
Yes, this is Ben Saboff, B-E-N, and last initial S.
Okay. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Okay. All right, counsel.
Good morning, Ben. Are you the owner of the property?
I'm the managing member, yes.
Okay. And did you hear my testimony this morning?
I did.
okay do you wish to adopt it as your own i do okay um and if you have that do you have anything
further to um to add to the board i don't okay that's my uh thank you okay um questions from
the board yes a question can you go back to the uh proposed plan i just you went by a little quick
sure um hopefully let me know if you need me to zoom in at all the formatting's a little off
this should this is the floor yeah if you could zoom in just a little bit so we can see sure
and here's the trash area i mentioned in the back right can you scroll it up so we can see the whole
plan sure yeah yeah okay there you go so so you you you said that you sort of had a community
benefits agreement i don't just i don't know what that means do you have one is it what
I would consider it a pseudo one. They agreed to support our project with all of those provisos. And they recommended that we alter our plans in order to gain their support. So we don't have a signed agreement. So it's everything but a signed agreement.
But we did at the presentation, they actually insisted that we add the basement living.
We put in more bedrooms because they really want to build up the – to offer more units in that area at that price point.
And what's the depth of the basement slab below grade?
I believe it's about five foot.
additional five foot addition going down or five you're down so you're down five feet
uh no actually it says on the planet four foot eight above ground so i'm assuming you uh doing
like three three and a half four feet okay where is it where is that on your section on your on
on your can you pull up the drawing that shows that
it's on the main maybe somewhere from the ra i'm not sure
yeah it should be on the elevation go to the elevation
here's the elevation right there okay can you zoom can you can you zoom into where that says
that i can't i can yeah four foot eight yeah right there in the center yeah four four eight
both rounds yes okay and also uh i'm sorry uh the council mentioned that we have a six foot
backyard we don't have a six foot backyard we have an eight foot backyard six uh eight foot
a six foot privacy fence i mentioned yes okay okay and then everybody stores their trash in the rear
yes yes correct and okay thank you other questions from the board so what is the breakdown in terms
of the units how many one-bedroom how many two how many three here we go I'll put it right here
so this is the breakdown right right here so hopefully you can let me know if you have any
trouble seeing that there's the breakdown yeah yeah okay two ones two twos and two threes okay
all right thank you yep okay questions from our attorney no questions at this time uh questions
from our virtual audience there are no hands okay planning commission good morning liz fuselay from
the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the cmx2 commercial
mixed use zoning at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 2006 in a council
requested map change commercial zoning is a legacy of commercial buildings that existed on this block
base until approximately 2017. there appears to be an active retailer across the street at 1522
west ontario street so we would argue that commercial use is still viable on this corner
this lot is neither unusually small nor narrow and the 1820 square feet would not preclude commercial
of use the appellant is requesting six dwelling units while three are allowed the appellant has
not shown that they cannot derive value from building a three-unit building with ground
floor commercial the city planning commission recommends that the board deny the use in
dimensional um variants thank you um council you want to
Very. Thank you. Council, do you want to respond or?
Yes, I would briefly on this side of the on this on this side of the sitting ham street. It is. While it is on CMX 2, there is all residential use. There's a vacant lot next door that is just picking up trash violations. There are 3 single family homes, which I showed. They're not CMX 2. They are pure single family. And then there's a sitting him apartments, which this board.
did grant in 2009 after the 2006 rezoning which is purely purely residential and and and frankly
if we a forced retailer commercial bay there's a good chance it could remain vacant it would
produce an inactive frontage and undermine the very neighborhood vitality that the cms
classification seeks to promote and the dimensional variances are minor and they represent the least
modification necessary um and it is that it advances an established community housing objective
which we went over with the and we in fact we added more bedrooms because that's what nicetown
tayoga wanted thank you thank you yep thank you um so council we know the um the rco was very
proficient and they have a lot of provisos um most of which we are um not able to enforce here but
uh the rear trash storage is one that we can so we're going to proviso that is that good yes okay
all right mi2025-005840 3400 north sitting ham street my vote is yes with proviso uh trash stored
in the rear michael johns my vote is yes with proviso cheryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso
layla bb my vote is yes with proviso
a quick everyone you have your votes right
thank you thank you have a great day um number eight mi 2025 006 398 518 south fish street um
Alex Goldberg is the attorney.
Good morning, counsel.
Good morning.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Alex Goldberg, A-L-E-X-G-O-L-D-B-E-R-G.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client and the relationship to this property?
My client is Pupptopia, Philly, LLC.
That is a tenant of this property, and the representative of the LLC sitting to my left
is Jim Cauterman.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good morning.
Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
I have.
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
All right.
Thank you.
You can share your screen and proceed with your case.
Give me one moment.
I got booted out of the Zoom here.
Thank you.
okay yeah I was just I'm just sure I promoted right now
okay so I'm here seeking a variance for a doggy daycare at this location 518 South Fifth Street
just off of the south street commercial corridor interestingly this property in this portion of the
block is owned rm1 all of these properties have commercial uses a mix of restaurants retail
laundromats so i looked at the 2035 plan there's no indication that the planning commission intends
to change the zoning here but what i'll say is the character of the block is commercial activity
on the ground floor and residential above that's what we're seeking to do there is one unit above
that the that the property owner and my client's landlord lives in he's okay with the doggy daycare
moving in below him um and uh you know at the conclusion of my presentation i'll have jim
adopt my testimony and if the board has any questions for him uh he will be able to answer
those this is the notice of refusal the zoning classification or the use classification is
called animal services that does not include boarding it's just a doggy daycare the proposed
that does not include boarding it's just a doggy daycare the proposed hours
are seven to seven monday to friday not out of character there are a number of other doggy
daycares in close proximity on dickinson bainbridge christian and south third street
within a short walk of this property but um you know importantly and probably the reason why they
identified this property is there isn't one immediately close by and there's obviously a
of residential density a lot of people have dogs so um you know we think that this is uh has the
opportunity to be a really successful location my client presented in front of the south street
head house district um earlier this month which is the rco and also the business improvement
district for this part of the city um unanimous support there's reference in the letter that
you know my client presented an evacuation plan has consulted with veterinarians
is limiting the number of dogs to 25 and that neighbors and residential and commercial neighbors
were supportive uh you know and happy to put their support behind this application not sure
if the council members submitted anything sometimes they do without notifying us this
property has a long commercial history on the ground floor. In 1991, it was retail with two
apartments above. You can see on the screen there was retail. This is a 1991 permit. Most recently,
it was a business called Crown of Creation. It was some sort of hair salon and art gallery.
A lot of that stuff is kind of left behind that Jim was able to make use of some of the storage.
um but uh this this has for a long time had commercial use um here's a zoning map again
this entire block of rm1 has commercial uses on the ground floor this portion of south street
that we're closest to is cmx3 which allows this type of use as of right we have street frontage
in the rear south wreath street we're not using that uh it's sort of you'll see a photo it's it's
open space it's not proposed to be fenced in for the dogs to be in but as another form of egress
there is there is a door back there this is the front of the property here's that image to the
rear notice posting on both frontages here's to the left and this is what reese street looks like
obviously a very narrow street. My client doesn't utilize this for anything really related to the
business. Interior photos, you can see a lot of the sort of design of the salon was left behind.
They put in new floors. They have installed several air purifiers. They have a specialty
trash can that holds the dog waste. Again, there's no overnight boarding here. My client has extensive
of experience running doggy daycares. He worked at one in management for many years at Tenth and
Pine, which is pretty close to here, and, you know, wanted to go into business and work for
himself. He currently has two staff, will hire more as needed. There is no grooming training,
formal training, or retail sales as a part of this application. Those uses would require variances
if at a later date, you know, he wanted to pursue them, especially for retail sales.
In terms of soundproofing, they're installing line cell panels along the walls
and hanging sound dampening panels from the ceilings.
And there are more interior photos here.
He's making use of a lot of the storage left behind.
There's an old barber chair that was there.
There's access to the basement right here.
it's sort of a hidden door the basement is unfinished it's not used as a part of
the business it's just existing down there but it's access from his unit very
basic plans minimal work to be done really just cosmetic there's a front
area there's a back area they'll have a retractable gate in the middle there's a
bathroom in the middle and you can see that staircase down to the basement
where it's just unfinished in utilities separate door for the residential entry
point there's the rco meeting notice they met july 9th all the neighbors were notified
the application the lease for the property uptopia philly llc is his corporate entity and then tax
clearance the property owner his llc is fully compliant this is something i ran by um hillary
wherever she is uh that the property you were there then you moved uh that the property owner
is currently under a payment plan with the city of philadelphia um for a lot of taxes so with that
so with that i would ask my client to be sure could you please state your name and spell for
i would ask my client to be sir could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
the stenographer hi good morning my name is uh jim quarterman uh that's spelled j-i-m-k-a-u-t-e-r-m-a-n
right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do counsel
jim did you hear my testimony today i did was it true and correct yes and you adopted as your own
i do thank you questions from the board but what did you say the hours of operations were and how
many dogs do you plan to seven seven seven to seven monday to friday the license that we're
applying for has a mat is permits a maximum of 25 dogs i don't know if that if you think that that
is is feasible or uh you know it's a small space for 25 dogs that's that's what the license allows
i i think how many would you say is more realistic 15 15 maybe yeah what about outdoor space
how are you going to tell you so we're not going to fence the rear end so the plan would be to
to sort of rotate staffing taking the dogs on walks as necessary okay thank you so you're not
going to use the rear yard for not as a part of the doggy daycare oh okay i love the name by the
where'd that name come from all right i have a couple of questions okay first i'm a little
concerned here about the fact that this is in the middle of the block okay so have the neighbors on
either side been consulted do they know about this and are they in agreement with this
Well, the neighbors, sorry, the neighbors to the, if you're facing out the front door, it'd be to the right. The first floor is, I guess, an empty commercial space. But above them, I mean, I don't know the official state, but I've met them multiple times. They seem to be eager to meet the dogs and haven't had any, I guess, anything negative to say.
and the other side is the the sushi restaurant and i'm friendly with them i talk to them all the time
and and his landlord lives above the commercial space yeah and so it was important i think it
was important to him well he obviously knows what a doggy daycare is but you're installing
sound damp dampening on the walls and the ceilings oh right yes so that's the next thing
So, this sound dampening is part of this whole plan.
Correct.
All right.
And then, what are we doing about, okay, so, again, I'm a little concerned that there's no play or exercise area for the dogs in this space.
So, there's no outdoor space.
but i'm asking is there play or exercise area for the dogs part of this yeah so the the entirety of
the space is open so the idea is with the ability to segment segmented on the bottom or in the
middle i'm sorry with a retractable gate that both the front and the back will be completely open as
play areas okay and then what are we doing about the um dog waste great question so yeah so
jim you what's the name of the specialty waste container that you that you purchased it's called
a pet genie um it's like this i don't know describe it it's like a nuclear waste disposal
unit it's like double it's got like a double plastic container with a locking lid that like
completely makes the smell comes out and it's also inside um and then i would take the um
we're going to get a contract with a yeah we're open to commercial trash pickup i mean it's not
a lot of waste uh sort of by volume i would think but if the board is inclined to grant
a proviso for commercial trash pickup we're okay with that okay all right thank you you're welcome
any other questions questions from our attorney um yes there's a quick question the uh tax