looking at the square footage of a first floor building down in south philippe i think we all
know um mr chairman yes um so we were told by like at first we submitted the building plan
and they sent us some like remarks for revision because they let us know that
we have to have the zoning permit first before the building permit can
We have to have the zoning permit first before the building permit can be resubmitted.
That's why.
So we do that.
We did submitted it a couple of months ago.
And I just send the information over to the attorney.
Yeah, I forwarded it to RCOCBA and to Hillary directly, the plans.
All right.
So this is what we're going to do.
We'll continue on council, but we're going to hold on.
miss um excuse me mr shaheed um so there's someone who has their hand raised and said in the chat
that they're the contractor and they have the they have the drawings so i don't know if you would like
them to to bring them on or if you would like to review them yeah sure let's promote them let's
promote them and see if they can pull the drawings up i have the drawings up now i can check or mr
consul has the drawings now but it may it may be helpful to speak to the her partner and the
contractor to the extent that anyone's interested is this with that name be anthony m yes i will
allow him to speak good morning mr anthony good morning everyone so state your name and spell
for the court reporter please m-o-t-t-o motto do you need to tell the truth the whole truth
for nothing but the truth all right yes excuse me this is the reporter i i must ask the witness to
to spell his name again m-o-c-t-o
yes thank you okay thank you so pertaining pertaining to this job she submitted without
knowing about zoning because it was a bar for so long they put it in for a building permit first
They didn't know they had to go get zoning first.
Then she called us up and we told her the procedure is change of use back to the bar because it sat vacant because no one kept a vacant license on it to prior owners.
So that's where that came in effect.
Then when we put the zoning in, she had modifications.
It's the same bar, same fit out that was there for 25 years as Fatso Fogarty's.
there's a floor drawing with 10 tables as you could see they didn't do the rest because the
hood is going to be moved the venting is going to the roof out the back because she owns the back
the venting to the roof is that question they're going to vent to the roof gotcha and then this is
this is 10 30 34 person occupancy according to the architect's calculation which is okay
all right that makes more sense okay yeah so just so you know too she's been held up because she
didn't have knowledge from the beginning on the procedures and there was a catastrophe with her
husband okay it's fine yeah i'm just saying that's why there's urgency to open any other questions
from the board uh questions from our attorney hillary emerson not at this time mr richard
Can we see if we have any questions from the virtual audience?
There are no hands.
Planning Commission.
Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning at this location from the existing commercial mixed use CMX1.
Proposed use is consistent with documented prior use and there are unique physical circumstances or conditions that would prevent the property from being used in conformance with the zoning code.
The Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the requested variance for sit-down restaurant.
MI-2024-002541, 2655 South 18th Street, my vote is yes.
Mr. Chair, can I request proviso that the venting go out the back and up the roof as mentioned?
uh sure is that enforceable hillary um yes so mr johns you were saying out so out the rear
and then above the roof exactly okay something yes we oh yeah we can we'll we will include that
as the proviso mr mr vice chair if you want to just restate sure so uh 20 26 55 south 18th street
my vote is yes with proviso for the venting to be up out the window and up to on throughout the
roof i mean on the side of the roof out the back and up out the back and up the room my my motion
my uh i vote yes with proviso cheryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso sonata graham my vote
is yes with proviso iowen my vote is yes with proviso thanks council thank you
Uh, number 14, MI-2024-002705-6901, Woodland Avenue. Meredith Flaggender is the attorney.
Number 14, MI-2024.
Meredith? I think that's still it.
Meredith has been promoted to panelists.
this is for a use for a child care center on the first floor of building a with all other uses in
the same structure previously approved to remain good morning council
Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Can you please state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please?
Sure. Meredith Ferliger, M-E-R-E-D-I-T-H, last name Ferliger, F-E-R-L-E-G-E-R.
do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i sure do all right
uh you agree to to the i gotta i gotta use all of these different ones together today hold on
you agree to wait to read another refuse or stipulate to its accuracy i do yes and have
you emailed in all the required documents that's needed to proceed with this case five days in
advance of this hearing. I sure did. Thank you, counsel. Please proceed and share your screen.
Will do. All right, Mr. Chairman, members of the board, as mentioned, my name is Meredith
Ferliger with Dilworth Paxson. I'm here today on behalf of the Tenant Early Years Development
Center, represented today by Joy Jenkins, who should be in the audience. Before the board today
is a proposal to once again, and hopefully for the final time, document the long-standing
existing use of a portion of the property at 6901 Woodland Avenue as a daycare center for 125
children. This daycare is known as Early Years Development Center and has been in its current
location in its current form since 1999. The facility continues to have the support of the
local community, as evidenced by the letter of support that's in your packet at Exhibit 13,
and I do believe Mr. Melodosian is on the line in case the board has any questions.
That support letter even acknowledges the length of time this daycare has been in this particular
location. The exhibit packet submitted to the board contains 12 exhibits, 13 exhibits, correction,
section, including tax clearance at Exhibit 2, as well as the lease at Exhibit 3.
We do request that our exhibits be moved into evidence following conclusion of our presentation
today.
Let me first give you some property context, and then I'll explain what has happened here.
At this point, you may be slightly confused.
On the zoning map at Exhibit 5, up on your screen, you can see that this is a quite large
irregularly shaped parcel that has frontage on Woodland Avenue as well as on Larry Street.
The parcel, as you can see, is zoned RM1. At Exhibit 7, we've also included aerials
showing that this parcel is comprised of several detached buildings that roughly form an L shape
and are surrounded by two separate surface parking areas.
looking west you'll see that the early years daycare occupies the ground floor of the front
most building here on this lot which you can see overhead with the colorful path leading from the
sidewalk up to the front door we did also include some street level views at exhibit eight first
view here is from woodland avenue showing the existing playground and the front access to the
daycare facility. A closer view is shown here on this next photograph, and again, you can see the
front door as well as the fenced-in playground area. In the rear building here, which you can
see in this image, this portion of the building on the lot is operated by Self Inc., which provides
emergency and permanent supportive housing. It is important to note that Self's facility is
contained in an entirely separate building from the one that is before the board today.
You can see in this next photograph here that the property has significant on-site parking.
This is actually only one of the two surface parking areas that serve this entire property.
And again, you can see that here. This really is predominantly for the self-building in the back here, which is really not connected to our site today.
And again, you can see that here. This really is predominantly for
We did also include photographs of the applicants timely posting in Exhibit 8 as well.
If I scroll down just a little bit, you'll notice signage for the Southwest Leadership Academy Charter School, which occupies the second floor of this building.
So on the second floor, you have a charter school. On the first floor, you have the daycare center.
It's my understanding from Atlas that this charter school will actually be in front of this board next month for the identical reason that we are here today.
Exhibit 9 also has some interior photographs. You can see here the first photo is the entrance,
which fortunately has a dual access design, which provides maximum security into the center.
Early Years Development Center operates Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.,
and the space occupies approximately 9,400 square feet, so it's really quite a significant daycare
Center. I'll continue to scroll through some interior photographs, the next one showing the
main Bright Hallway. This facility is licensed through the Commonwealth currently for 121
children. At any given time, there are approximately eight infant children aged six weeks to one year.
And you can see here, nice diaper station for those infants. There's roughly 20 young toddlers
age 1 to 2 years, and there are also 18 older toddlers age 2 to 3 years. There's also 40
preschool children ages 3 through 6, and there's approximately 35 children age 6 through 12 who
participate in their before and after school program. And again, you can just see some
photographs of the existing conditions of this daycare center. The before school program that
I mentioned operates from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. The children are dropped off to early years and are
then transported to their schools by early years staff. The after-school program is from 3 to 6
p.m., and again, the staff picks up the children from school and assists with homework back at the
facility. Of course, these numbers and the ages of children vary depending on the year and any
given time. So those are just approximate ages and the breakdown. For both pickup and drop-off,
guardians and parents must sign their children in and out of the center and must be personally
escorted. All doors at early years are locked and visitors must be buzzed in for entry.
They have ample security cameras in and outside of the building. They have approximately 19 staff
members, of course, based on the ratios that the state requires, and must have criminal background
checks, fingerprinting, and child abuse screenings. All staff is pediatric CPR certified. And as I
mentioned, they do comply with all staff to child ratios set by the Commonwealth. Early Years also
serves breakfast, lunch, and an afternoon snack. Food is prepared off-site, delivered, and is warmed
on-site. They're certified through the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services,
which I'll bring up right now, and they also have a Keystone STARS license for additional quality.
You'll find full record of the licensing also available at Exhibit 6.
I have also included a key plan and floor plan of the daycare center also at Exhibit 6.
I know that's a little difficult to read. I can zoom in if you have any particular questions, but you can see here that there's many open play areas, classrooms, as well as two large bathrooms.
I will also note that the facility, as shown in this particular plan, is fully building code compliant, which is evidenced by repeated certificates of occupancy that have been issued for this particular facility.
Here's the unfortunate issue board.
At Exhibit 6, a little bit earlier on here, you'll see that early years had a full Certificate of Occupancy, a daycare facility, Building 4, first floor for 125 children of all ages, back in 1999.
Quite frankly, this CO should probably have been conclusive in final evidence that no further permitting would ever be necessary, assuming continuous use, which is the case here.
However, at some point back in the early 2000s, when somebody was working on permitting.
At some point back in the early 2000s, when somebody was working on permitting for other portions of the property, they incorrectly referred to early years as a charter school.
The daycare operators were wholly unaware of this issue until a pipe burst in the second floor tenant space over five years ago, leading to nearly a virtual total loss of the entire daycare center possessions.
While going through that renovation process over five years ago, they discovered that the zoning was incorrect.
We came before this board in February of 2018 looking to correct the use classification discrepancy and return it back to a child care facility based on the then classifications of the zoning code.
confusingly the board at the time felt it prudent to assign a five-year temporary approval
despite the fact that this center has been continuously operated on the property since
the late 1990s we were so confused by this proviso that we even requested the board to
reconsider its decision but no change was made however following the 2018 zoning approval early
years secured another certificate of occupancy, again documenting that the physical characteristics
of this space are compliant with the zoning code. And you can see here the certificate of occupancy
that was issued in June of 2018. This CO was issued based directly on that floor plan that
I showed you a little bit earlier on. And no changes have been made since that time.
Furthermore, early year's last unannounced state inspection was in May, and the documentation included in the packet shows that they remain compliant with state standards.
Now, we are back before this board again, imploring this board to allow early years to finally move forward with a final zoning approval that will not require it to return any further for constant re-approvals.
I would like to ensure the record does clearly reflect the long-standing existence of the center's playground as well.
And I'll just bring up the aerial so you can see that.
Quite bafflingly, early years has a current violation for this playground, despite the fact that it has been in its current location since at least 2012.
The only thing that has changed is the playground's surface material, which you can see in an older photograph here.
The surface around the playground equipment has changed.
That may be where there is some confusion.
As you can see at Exhibit 1, the refusal was issued because a daycare center use is prohibited in the RM1 zoning district.
The property was previously zoned RSA 3 single family.
However, this property has been exclusively used for a mix of commercial and residential uses for well over 20 years.
In 2018, Early Years shared this building with the offices of the state police.
Shortly after the state police vacated, the board approved a charter school to move into that second floor space.
In the late 1800s through the mid-1900s, the property was used for St. Vincent Home for Children.
Quite simply, this property is subject to extreme hardship given its over 100-year history of uses that are not consistent with the current RM1 zoning classification.
Furthermore, this applicant continues to maintain that it's had a long-standing vested right to occupy this space without interruption, given the tenant's reliance on the rights granted decades ago under the 1999 Certificate of Occupancy.
During the 2018 proceedings before the Zoning Board, and in light of the evidence presented today, the undisputed evidence shows that the applicant's use has existed at this property for almost two decades, without any detriment to the community, and in fact has greatly benefited the community.
Given that the property has not hosted a traditional single-family nor apartment-style use since the advent of the zoning code, and given that there are very few uses permitted by right in the RM1-based zoning district, the evidence also shows that strict interpretation of the zoning code's prohibition against a child care center would create an unnecessary hardship, particularly for this long-standing tenant.
This request clearly represents the least minimum variance as it seeks solely to maintain the longstanding status quo and give this business owner the right to operate without incurring the consistent expense of continuous renewals without justification.
of continuous renewals without justification. This application has no documented history of
creating congestion, nor has it ever impaired or harmed neighbors' use of their properties.
We have included a full analysis in the Memo of Law submitted to the Board at Exhibit 11,
and I should also note that there is no documented history of any issues or harmful conditions that
have resulted from the mix of uses that have existed on this property. At this time I would
call for Joy Jenkins if she's in the audience. Can we promote Ms. Jenkins please? Joy Jenkins is
allowed to speak. Hello Meredith how are you? Thank you Mr. Chair do you need to speak? Yes yeah
And Ms. Jenkins, can you please state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please?
Yes. Joy Jenkins, J-O-I. Last name is J-E-N-K-I-N-S.
Thank you. You swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you. Joy, could you just identify your relationship to Early Years Development Center?
The executive director.
Thank you. And Joy, can you confirm that the testimony that I gave today has been true and accurate, particularly the testimony that early years has existed in this location since 1999?
And would you agree that all of the testimony given today was true and accurate, and would you adopt it as if it were your own?
Yes, I would.
Thank you, Board. We're happy to answer any questions that you have.
Any questions from the Board?
okay no questions from the board are questions from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair any questions from the virtual audience
yes craig meladosian has a hand up and will be allowed to speak
good morning Mr. Melodosian
may you please state your name as fellow for the court reporter
Craig Melodosian
C-R-A-I-G
last name M-E-L-I-D-O-S-I-A-N