to the Civic Association to express her approval of the original plan without the proviso.
So she was okay with that, however, with the proviso, it's less than what we had originally
requested and she is also an approval of that plan.
The Civic Association did submit their letter asking or advising that it was voted in the
affirmative for us to be allowed based on the proviso plan.
And this, we're having trouble with the.
Yeah, the menu on the top is a problem.
You wanted to show the documentation on the RCO.
I think we have that in our file.
It should be.
Yeah, we're okay.
I can also say, and it is explained in the letter, that I am a member of the board of the Civic Association.
And I was still voted down.
It voted no on the original plan, and that's why we submitted a proviso plan, because the
main gist was we wanted the driveway widened, and we'll make do with that, as hopefully
the board will vote in the affirmative for us.
That's about it.
Very good.
Thank you.
Any questions from the board?
Any questions from the board?
Anyone else would like to testify in this case?
If so, please raise your hand.
No hands at this time, Chair.
Thank you, Planning Commission.
Ian Hegarty on behalf of the Philadelphia
City Planning Commission.
The proposed variance doesn't,
it appears to be minimal in nature
and we have no objection to the variance.
Thank you.
M.I. 2020-002-184-3716 Avalon Street. My vote is yes.
Excuse me, Chair. It's yes with proviso. Revised plans, one page, please.
Oh, sorry about that. Yes with proviso. One page. Approved today.
My vote is yes with proviso.
Yes with proviso.
Yes with proviso.
calendar number 21895423 grays avenue
mr masters you can unmute yourself
hi good morning steve can you put your name and address on the record and spell your last name
please? Sure. My name is Steve Masters, M-A-S-T-E-R-S, from the law firm of JustLaws,
621 West Mount Airy Avenue in Philadelphia. I represent the applicant. Thank you. Do you
swear our firm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth? I do. And do you also
agree to waive and stip? We agree to waive the reading, but we do not stipulate to the accuracy.
we will explain that in as part of our presentation okay have you emailed the exhibit packet five days
in advance of this hearing consisting of proof of ownership tax compliance refusal referral
photos and plans and have you met with the rco and do you have a letter yes to all of your
questions it's all been on time and we have a support letter from the rco thank you you may
proceed great let me share this all right um good morning again um chair to chico members of the
board um steve masters here for um the applicant um kasim nadjo um we're here on a um somewhat of
an unusual use application. This is for a live poultry butcher shop that will be operated
according to Islamic law. We're in an I-2 zoning district. This is how
We're in an I2 zoning district. This is how the operation will work. Customers, there will be
live birds that will be stored at the location. Customers will come in, purchase a single live
bird. The butcher will then kill that bird by hand, prepare it, and deliver the processed meat
to the customer at the same location. The methods used to kill the animals in a live poultry
butcher shop are not in any way intensive. They're killed by hand without any mechanized
system at all. And at most, a few dozen birds and other small animals will be killed throughout a
single day. All of the birds that are killed are going to be sold on the premises to retail
customers. So none of them are transferred to other retail outlets. There's no shipping. There's
no intensive transport. So the refusal, let's look at that. The refusal is for two use refusals.
The first one is that the L&I classified this as an intensive industrial use. And you've just heard
that this is a hand, a hand use. There's nothing intensive at all. And in fact, it may not even be,
may not even rise to the level of general industrial, but we're in an I-2 district and
general industrial is as of right. So that, that, that part of the refusal is an error. And we
submit that the slaughter operation is actually permitted under an I-2. The second refusal is
for the retail sale. And the retail sale of these slaughtered animals, we contend should be permitted
as a religious accommodation, because as I said at the beginning, this is a religiously
operated and mandated type of an operation. And under the federal statute called the Protection
of Land Use as Religious Exercise 42 U.S.C. Section 2000 CC, the city and the zoning code
must accommodate religious uses. But even if the board were to say, well, we don't know about this
religious use thing, we're going to look at this as a variance. The variance is the least
modification possible because the live animal storage, the slaughtering is permitted and the
sale of it on site is the least variance possible to allow this use to occur. Now, we received very
extremely strong support from the community on this um and here's the um the letter from
coordinating rco southwest district services um and you'll see their their summary here uh everyone
in attendance um supported the the um the proposal um we do have also an agreement that was entered
into between the near neighbors and they're not exactly right next door to this property members
of the board, because this is an industrial area, and you'll see in a second the photos that show
that there is no one who would, who is living in this immediate area, but the neighbors nevertheless
asked our client, and he agreed to do a whole series of steps to improve the quality of life
and the security for the area, so there's going to be security cameras, there's going to be support
for a children's playground and a tennis court he will do some local hiring he will give discounts
to senior citizens and he's going to clean up the area surrounding his his shop and i'll show you in
a second that it's it's um profoundly blighted and the community is very very excited to have
um the possibility and and more than the possibility but the certainty that this blighted area will be
abated because of this new business um so let's look at um some of these photos here so let's make
this a little smaller so this is the is the space um where the business will happen um farther back
there is a abandoned trailer truck tractor trailer that is um in dumped in we're not
steve we're not seeing that you don't see that huh oh you're not seeing what we have at a provisor
Huh. Oh, you're not seeing me?
All we have are provisors.
Oh, all right.
Yeah, let's see here.
You're not seeing any photos?
All right, let me stop sharing and share again.
How about now?
All right, so you see this...
Is this trailer?
This is the area here.
No, we don't see anything.
Do you see this letter from the RCO?
Mr. Chair, can you see the agreement that I'm sharing now?
You had that up before.
That's gone.
All we see is Steve Messer has started screen sharing.
So I keep starting and stopping.
That's not good.
You know, maybe you can verbally, orally summarize.
Yeah, sure.
So sorry you can't see these photos though,
because they're quite,
I was pretty stunned going into this block.
I'd never seen a part of the city
that was blighted in this manner.
So the structure requires a significant amount
of repair and renovation that Mr. Ngo is prepared to do
and to bring life and a semblance of normality
to this block that has just a tremendous amount
of abandoned cars and tires
and a profound amount of blight.
Is your client with us today?
He is.
Mr. Nujo, can you raise your hand
so that you can be added to the presentation?
There you go.
We've got pictures now.
Oh, you do?
Okay, great.
wow all right so all right here we go so this is the spot uh behind this truck is where he's going
to uh have his store um we're gonna go past there now now this is the building that he's going to
operate in obviously it needs some uh significant repair work that he's prepared to do um this is
the interior of it uh but it's in terms of the shell of it it's quite it's quite a good size
and and very appropriate to what he intends to use it for. These are our plans. His space
is this area on the on the far left. These existing parts, it's one, the parcel is one
address but it's many different spaces and so his face is on the far left here. And here
Here we have the photos of the zoning poster for today's hearing, and this was his presentation
to the RCOs, our tax clearance, and our lease, and we have an amended application for appeal,
and our project information form
and our RCO notice
and proof of mailing.
Mr. Ngo, has he
been made part of the proceedings yet?
Ah, great.
Good morning, sir.
Have him spell his first and last name, please.
do you want me to spell my name yes first name is kassim t-a-s-i-m last name is najo n-a-j-o-h
do you swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
thank you mr masters yes mr joe you've heard my testimony um and seen the exhibits
that we have submitted to the zoning board today do you agree with that testimony and do you adopt
it as your own yes uh we we rest mr chair of the board unless you have any questions you
would like thank you any questions from the board no no
no no anyone else like to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
chair I have Andrew Goodman Mr. Goodman you can unmute yourself
good morning good morning Mr. Goodman please identify yourself for the record
Andrew Goodman, G-O-O-D-M-A-N, here representing Office of Third District Councilmember Jamie Gaudier.
We're in the firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Yes, I do.
Thank you, sir. Please proceed.
Thank you very much.
Members of the board, the council member has no opposition, so the variance is being requested at this address this morning.
Thank you very much.
Planning Commission. I'm sorry, anyone else would like to testify?
No more hands, Chair.
Thank you.
Planning Commission?
Thank you, Chair.
Ian Hegarty on behalf of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing industrial zoning at this
location and we would agree that the proposed variance is the minimum necessary and that
the retail sales use is compatible with adjacent uses and the Lower Schuylkill-Vaster Plan.
so we would therefore recommend that the board approve the variance.
Thank you.
Sharon, were there provisos, and if so, are any of them enforceable?
Mr. Masters, would you be able to pull up the letter, the RCO letter?
Yes, I thought you might want me to do that.
Let's go back to that.
sorry i saw a bunch of stuff about community involvement and all those as you know mr
ministers are not enforceable but i don't want to leave anything out that is enforceable yes
this is the uh agreement is it is it popped up on your screens also uh at this point yes okay
This is the agreement between the near neighbors and our clients.
The letter from Southwest District Services didn't have any provisos in their letter,
but they basically asked our client to meet with the local neighbors and to make an agreement.
So we have a total of eight provisos, the cameras, financial assistance for a playground,
local hiring, the senior discounts, relocating cars that occupy the pedestrian way,
active engagement in block parties. These are all basically, not to interrupt you, but
community benefits agreements, they're not really considered provisos for us.
Is that correct, Sharon? None of that. That is. They're appropriate for a private agreement not
to be added as provisos okay all right so let's move on uh calendar number 2020-002189
5423 grays avenue my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes