Hello Hog Island!

Well, I like David Auspitz and I admire David Ausptiz, but on this matter he is wrong. And I will be directing him to this thread so he can hear for himself what the neighbors think.

But first, its not David's fault. He was not properly advised. Now just to make certain, I traveled down there myself to make sure that I am not propagating misinformation.


This came out at the ZBA (Zoning Board of Adjustments).

1- Their decisions do not set precedent, and the decisions are not intended to establish case law for any individual whose appeal is not currently before them.

2- The tables need to be on one side only, not on both sides as they at Rouge at 18th and Rittenhouse Square. The reason being it impedes traffic and causes what David Auspitz calls, "The Gauntlet."

3- The tables need to be near the building's edge fo the sidewalk and AWAY fro mthe street edge of the sidewalk. The reason being how can parkers manoevre their cars out of parking spots with diners so close?

What David and his board did not see were how harmonious the new restaurant's tables are with neighbors on both sides. In fact, I imagine if the new restaurant gets one of their tables dinged, they could go at night after 12:00a and switch tables with one of La Lupe, and after a quick spray paint job, no one would be the wiser.

David did not see how the sidewalk has been ramped up so that there is whellchair access. The tables will need a six inch sprace from the building line on account of the ramp. This places the tables directly in the middle of the sidewalk.

There are two sets of French double doors. When those doors are open the tables will clearly be in the middle of the sidewalk!

I hope to bring my camera back down there to snap a few photos or if someone has the desire, please do so so that David and his board can see what is going on.

More later ......


Joely

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Does anyone know what time Geno's closes?
I know La Lupe closes at 12am and I was
wondering how they take in their chairs and
tables (they look so huge).


Joely

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Geno's never closes.

The owner of the o-sandwich building bought the tables that La Lupe now uses when he had a restaurant there. They were a terrible idea and they remain to be a terrible idea.

In fact, Gabriel (owner of La Lupe) has a lot of trouble with the tables... he is always chasing off people, etc.

It is really in o-sandwich's best interest to take in their tables.

By the way, don't you live at 7th and Pine? All of the restaurants in that CC neighborhood that I can think of take their tables in... Valanni, Washington Square, La Cigale, Jones, etc, etc.


La Lupe really shouldn't have those tables, either, but that is another issue.

Hi Geoff!


Good to see you weigh in here. This way we can clarify issues for others as well. By others I m,ean people who are interested in converting an empty eyesore into a beautiful new restaurant in their own neighborhoods.

Let's say that La Lupe has a future need to go before the Zoning Board of Review on another matter. Let's imagine they need to install a new exhaust fan or something. Would it be appropriate for the ZBA to grant the variance only if La Lupe throws away their tables and brings in the removable kind?

What I am saying is that when two restaurants (the bookends) have the same table arrangement, how come the middle restaurant has to tow a differnent line?

I think the three similar-looking table arrangfements, as iti s right now, is more estethically pleasing. I am wondering what some others think.

For those who do not know where it is, we are talking 9th and Passyunk, right directly north of Geno's on the same side.

Joel

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Good point!

All the restaurants you mentioned have sit down service. Many of the patrons are couples. A nice small table is appropriate.

All the restaurants I mentioned, La Lupe, The O, and Geno's, all have counter service, except for La Lupe that has table service. Many people coming down to 9th street are groups of fives or sixes. They slide right into those bench style picnic tables.

Different strokes / different folks ....... as David Auspitz says, "When you move to 9th and Passyunk, you already know its not Elkins Park."


Joel

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The cool thing about the city is that there can be "different strokes" in close proximately to each other.

For instance, the other new restaurant that just opened in between Pat's and Geno's on 9th & Passyunk is Anastasi's.

Take a look at their renovation. Exposed brick, etc. AND they have table service. A lot of people are going there from the neighborhood and really enjoying having something that respects the traditions of the past and the aspirations of the future of the neighborhood.

SO, there is certainly no need to copy bad models that have caused lots of problems for the neighborhood. You can invent new ones. The o-sandwich people can creatively create a solution that serves their needs and respects the neighborhood and the city.

Please give them more credit.

REPLY

The O-restaurant is occupying a very small space and its suggestive of a sandwich (or baguette) operation. Anastasi's is certainly a great addition however it requires a huge space for a sports bar, a liquor license, and lots of cash.

Now we could trace back the ownership and determine how the cash was obtained, but that is more detail that we want to know. How could the O-people establish such a sports bar inside their limited space?

More importantly, how does the Passyunk Square Town Watch have the right to tell them what kind of business operation would work?


Joel

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I think you are forgetting, everyone is really excited about having o-sandwich come to the neighborhood. It sounds like a cool place.

I was simply saying you don't need to base everything on what exists, you can think creatively (as the business owner.)

We don't tell people what business operation will work. We try to serve as a service to the community by providing a format for people to openly discuss and balance issues.

Believe it or not, we are actually helping o-sandwich. We wrote them a letter of "non-opposition." In effect, getting a take-out license can be really hard because most people are not in favor of take-out.... including the ZBA in most cases.

So, we actually helped them and look forward to them opening.

REPLY

Geoff,

You are misrepresenting yourself. If you gave David Auspitz a letter of non-opposition, then O-Sandwich would have been awarded a certificate of variance yesterday. They were not awarded it. It was held up due to NOISE in the easement, not exiting through the easement.

If "getting a takeout license" is hard, then I guess that seals the fate of future business in the area. May I quote you on this? There are more potential businesses who are interested in knowing this IN ADVANCE of making an investment.

As for telling people how to operate, I heard all kinds of TRASH TALK about a sit-down restaurant, napery, Rosenthal china and Waterford crystal. That is telling people what to do. I am not making that up either. You were there at the meeting.


Joel

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You are in fact making that up. No one ever mentioned the word "Waterford" or "Rosenthal." We did mention reuseable ware to reduce trash and to reduce the impact on storm drains getting clogged, and to reduce the impact on the environment.

And truth be told, I hate Waterford, don't know what Rosenthal is, and use my shirt to wipe my mouth.

Also, the ZBA makes their own decisions. We wrote them a letter of non-opposition which helped them and we are continuing to work with them and help them.