My client is the tenant.
It's under the name Mercado, M-E-R-C-A-D-O, Philly Fresh LLC, the principal being William
Alvarado.
a l v a r a d o manipulate to the reading of the uh refusal and agree with its accuracy
correct i do why don't you share your screen and begin your presentation
okay we can see the screen we can great thank you so this regards the address is 21 wall street but
It actually fronts on Swanson Street, as you're seeing in this photograph.
It's located on Swanson Street between Snyder Avenue, which is to the right here, and Oregon Avenue, which is further down here to the left.
It's in between an array of uses.
To the left here, you see the Fertile Donuts.
And within that building is the 2300 Club.
Further down is the IATSE, the Union Hall, Banquet Hall facility, and South Bowling.
To the right, there's a full block where the NLX facility is located.
It's going to be demolished and turned into a shopping center.
And, of course, once you reach down here at Snyder Avenue, there's all the Snyder plazas, Target, and then eventually the IKEA shopping center.
So this is an old building.
It's occupied on the second floor currently with an upholstery.
use there is another use proposed here that's going it would be a fresh bakery
and so what we're proposing here is a latin themed supermarket the property or the space
is approximately 1200 square feet i'll show you some additional photographs here this is wolf
street this is swanson street this is the side this is swanson this is a side alley here
As I mentioned, an entrance would be placed here on Swanson Street.
Deliveries through the side alley.
This is Wolf Street.
It's a view across the street.
Let me find this photograph here.
here's some photographs of the interior space which would occupy in a simple floor plan
not with any any racks or anything shown yet but uh here or every year 11 500 square feet
so again a proposed supermarket with fresh produce groceries meats and baked goods the
property is located in an I-2 industrial zoning district, and therefore we receive the refusal
for this commercial retail use. Days in operation would be between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.
The area, as I mentioned, is in transformation away from the I-2 industrial uses with CMX3
creeping up both sides. We believe it's been difficult to find permitted uses
in this building, having mixed uses in the building and mixed uses surrounding the building
with the trend being away from the I2 uses. Yet, we find that there would be no adverse impact
here on the public health, safety, welfare, or traffic by having a supermarket use here,
which is evidenced by the fact that Whitman Council thoroughly reviewed this use and does
support the use. So with that said, I have one witness, which is Mr. Alvarado, A-L-V-A-R-A-R-D-O.
If you could promote him, please.
Mr. Patterson, I see a note here that says the second floor is to remain vacant.
Um, correct.
Correct.
Is William?
Alvarado is allowed to speak.
Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Mr. Alvarado, can you please unmute yourself?
Can you hear me now?
Yes, we can. Could you please state your name and spell for the court's sonographer?
William Alvarado, A-L-V-A-R-A-D-O.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you. Hi, Mr. Alvarado.
Hello.
So you are the proposed tenant for this location?
And you have other supermarkets in Philadelphia, so you understand and you know what you're doing?
You've heard my testimony and presentation.
Would you agree it's true and accurate?
It's pretty much yes.
Would you adopt it as if it were your own?
I'm sorry?
You would say it's similar to what you would say?
Is there anything else you'd like to add about how you would operate the supermarket?
well you could basically cover everything okay mr chairman questions from the board
um i have a question just about anticipated parking where would folks park uh that are
using the supermarket the parking should be um uh in the front near swanson's in front
of Swanson, and some parking Swanson and the entrance to the warehouse in the back.
In the rear, is there a lot or is it just another street?
It's like a lot.
And what kind of groceries are we talking about?
we're talking it's just a regular supermarket you know um foods meats vegetables dry goods
okay thank you it is it well nevermind
the questions from the board
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson um just briefly mr chair um
where did he go mr patterson um who did who did you say your client was in this case you
said it was the tenant what was the tenant's name
hello mr patterson oh goodness okay
i think you said mr alvarez is the tenant oh i'm sorry i was on somebody i was muted sorry
it's a mercado m-e-r-c-a-d-o philly fresh llc which is being formed actually and mr alvarado
is the principal okay is there a signed lease for this property uh yes there is okay yeah we
provide that to you yeah we will need a copy of that just because you're representing the tenant
so um we'll need a copy of that before um we can vote on it um but yep that we could
get it to me today we can vote on it next week so i will i'll have it too today all right thank you
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands chair planning commission this is ron bednar city planning the property was
initially indicated for medium industrial use city plan 2014 it was rezoned to industrial commercial
mixed use the applicant's hardship is not supported with evidence of unique physical
circumstances or condition of the property they prevented from being used performance with the
code the proposed use is inappropriate for this location therefore we recommend the request for
We're going to hold the vote on this, Mr. Patterson, and we'll vote on this next Wednesday at 2 p.m.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Number nine.
MI 2024-004-293-438 West Wing, Hawkins Street.
Joseph Consul is the attorney.
Letter of non-opposition from Esperanza
Also 11 form letters of support
Also, 11 form letters of support, eight of the people live on the block.
Eight of the people live on the block
Joseph Consol is coming back in as a panelist.
Good afternoon.
Afternoon, Mr. Consol. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court sonographer?
Joseph Consol, J-O-S-E-P-H-C-O-N-S-O-L-E.
Do you require a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client, a relationship to the property?
Yeah, my client is the owner of the property, Mr. Kenyatta Anderson.
Do you play to the reading of the refusal and agree with its accuracy?
Please proceed and share your screen.
Good afternoon, board.
Joseph Consul here on 438 West Wingo Hocking Street.
My client purchased this property in May of 2022, and since that time, he's been renovating it to create his dream of having a short-term rental property here.
This property is very close to the Esperanza Health Center Hospital, and he believes, based on his research, that he'll have a lot of folks that are working there that would like to stay there for short periods of time.
and also other guests and it would appear based on our meeting at the RCO their letter and the
support he got from the block that that the the neighbors are in support of of this use as he
presented it so we have one refusal because the property is zoned RSA 5 and visitor accommodations
Permits require a variance. We met with Esperanza, as you mentioned, there was a letter of non-opposition to that to that variance request.
here's some photos of the work that he did of the photos of the posters in a second but
he wanted to show everyone the rehab work that he did all with permits those permits
are all open closed and inspected and he just made it into a really unique property it's
three bedrooms two baths
It was the exterior of the block itself.
Let's see.
Also included photos of the posters from the date, August 15th.
Tax clearance certificate and the other forms that are required.
And then we followed it up, as you mentioned, with the 11 petitions,
nine of which are block near neighbors and we're hopeful that the board will see fit to grant the
variance based on the local approval and the RCO approval and my client's testimony if he can raise
his hand to adopt it. Your client's name Mr. Counsel? It's Mr. Kenyatta Anderson. Okay. Kenyatta
Anderson has been allowed to speak.
Could you please state your name?
It's spelled for the court stenographer.
Kenyatta Anderson, K-B-N-Y-A-T-T-A, last name Anderson, A-N-D-E-R-S-O-N.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Please proceed, counsel.
Good afternoon, Mr. Anderson.
Did you hear my testimony just now regarding your property at 438 West Wingahocking?
Yes. Do you adopt it as your own? Yes. Is there anything you'd like to add to the board about
your intended use of the property? No. Okay. Questions from the board.
I have a question. Is there a particular reason that you chose to turn this into a temporary
rental instead of getting a rental license and renting it as a single family property?
Mr. Anderson, Mr. Anderson, Mr. Anderson, can you unmute yourself, please?
I'm sorry about that. I thought I still was unmuted.
I apologize.
I have my rental license as well.
But I thought the way I designed this, I have a few properties.
so this was getting better.
So I felt like it would be a better idea
in this particular neighborhood.
It's not a bad neighborhood.
It's surrounded by hospitals.
I know doctors and nurses, and it's by the highway, so I think it just was better for me to try to go for a variance for Airbnb for short-term rentals.
I know doctors and nurses.
And it's by the highway.
Are there any other short-term rentals that you're aware of on that block?
Mm-mm.
The questions on the board.
Actually, one more question. How close do you live to the property in terms of like maintenance? I just know, as a single family homeowner, the upkeep on a single family home is not always the easiest. And so just like, if there if this is going to be an isolated vacation rental in this community, how are you managing this property?
I actually live like 10 minutes away
and I actually just had
a order permit for
it was an outside water
issue that was clogging up
so I'm very responsive
so that guy took me care of the next day
questions or comments from our
attorney Hillary Emerson
not at this time Mr. Chair
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands chair planning commission it's uh ron bednar city planning the property is
indicated for residential use on the city plan adopted district plan recommends no change existing
zoning at this location there's no unique physical conditions nor circumstances of the property that
would prevent it from being used in conformity with the zoning code city planning commission
recommends that the board deny the proposed use variants for visitor accommodation.
MI 2024-004-293-4038-Weslinga, Hawkins Street, I vote yes, but a temporary variance that would
expire 9-19-27. Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with
proviso. Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso. Taya Nguyen, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you, counsel. Thank you.
MI 2024-004-295-6127 North Fish Street. Kevin Greenberg and Jennifer Landoffi are the attorneys.
There's a letter of support from Upper North Coalition of Community Councils.
Kevin Greenberg has been promoted to panelists.
Good afternoon, Council.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members of the board.
My name is Kevin Greenberg.
I'm joined by my colleague, Jennifer Landolfi, who has helped us with this application.