find out what user the php process is using. I suspect it will be using the "apache" user. Once you have established this, there are a few main ways you can go:
1) chgrp and chown the dir to the username that is using the dir.
2) Add the username to the group that owns the directory (becareful not which permissions you give here, because it will effect all dirs that have that group owner)
3) Create a new group especially for this task. Add all users that you want to access the dir to this group.
Permissions will depend on on which option you chose, but make sure the third digit only allows a small number of rights.
