Mr. Chair, what number is this?
Eight.
Sir, you have to press star six on your phone to unmute yourself.
Do we know that the phone is definitely the person we need?
Mr. Hodge?
Mr. Hodge?
Chair, Mr. McColpin has his hand up again.
Do you want me to allow him to speak?
Please, please.
mr mccall
Mr. McCall
Walt's saying that he's
can you say that one more time for me Walt please
oh you're on your PC
okay he's in there with his name
he's not on his phone
he's on
with the PC
does anybody see him
No, Chair, I don't.
Pauline?
I do not see him either.
Is he under his own name or is he under someone else's name?
He's under his name.
And could you repeat his name for me, please?
Sir, Walter Hunt.
HODGE?
Yes, sir.
I do not see him.
you're not being seen
wait one more time Walt please
do you see
two friends
is there a way
that I can if I
you know
you can reach out to the
Ms. Sunkett
via email
so here's what we're
going to have to do so you know
The case is still continued.
He's going to have to call the office, and we'll make arrangements in the office to try to figure out how to get him on the line the next time.
Is it okay?
This is not complicated.
Well, he's going to have to call the zoning office.
Ms. Sunken will be in next week, and we'll find a way to get him back on the line the right way.
Thank you very much.
That case is still continued.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience whose case has not been heard?
I see no other hands, Chair.
All right. Thank you, everyone. Short morning. See everyone at 2 o'clock.
Mr. Chairman and members of the board, this is John Kelly, the court reporter. Just to inform you, I will not be on the 2 o'clock in 3.30 sessions. There will be another reporter from Strayla who will be in charge.
Thank you, Mr. Kelly.
Thank you, sir.
mr chair there was a hand up on that 267 number
uh they just put it down again um okay maybe they're okay now oh no it's up again
on that 267 number let's see let's see who it is
i allowed them to speak but it was still no dead air and all the attendees left hello
hi hello hi could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
yes this is adrian fernandez from swamp brutal rco right so that's not no i have a question
wait do you swear wait a minute do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but
the truth hello you just need to read and mute yourself man
yes hello hi do you do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but
the truth yes i do and what what what's your case your question i have a question about 2452
west toronto street uh okay one minute here let me get that up
2452 was toronto that case was continued it was the first listing
thank you okay anyone else have a question about
no it's here all the other tenis left okay thank you everyone see everyone at two
Thank you.
Good afternoon.
My name is Bill Bergman and I will be chairing this afternoon's EDA hearing.
With me is Carol Tenere, our vice chair.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Ismail Shahid, our board secretary.
Present, Mr. Chair.
And Thomas Hollman, our board member.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also, here is our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
Before we begin, here's our virtual format.
Be advised these proceedings are being recorded.
By participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded.
The video will be available by contact, tonyasunkett at phil.gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
if you're participating by phone if you wish to testify press star nine to raise your hand
and star six to unmute to enter an appearance call
and star six to unmute. To enter an appearance, call 267-270-5548. Leave your email and the
address of the property in question. And last, the question and answer box on the screen is not for
testimony or comments. Any comments have to be directed to Tanya Sunkett, our executive director.
So let's look at continuances onto this afternoon's list.
Or is there any request for continuances on the 2 p.m. list?
I see no hands, Chair.
Okay, thank you.
number eight mi 2022 003 161 400 block of wall street this case is withdrawn
any other withdrawals
i see no handshare going to go to case number one mi 2022 001 583
1620 Oregon Avenue
Henry Clinton is the attorney
letter of non-opposition
from the Broad Street West RCO
good afternoon Mr. Chairman
members of the board
Mr. Clinton you've already been sworn
could you identify
your client and the relationship
to this property? Certainly. My client, the owner is JRG Properties, LLC, and the owner who's on the
call is Jerry Gialoreto. That's G-I-A-L-L-O-R-E-T-O. All right. Our vice chair, Carol Tenere, has a few
questions. Hi, Mr. Clinton. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its
accuracy? I do. Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership's tax compliance
a copy of the refusal or referral photos and or plans of the property five days in advance
of this hearing and have you met with the rco and do you have a letter yes to all the above
okay you may proceed and please share your screen thank you thank you
good afternoon mr chairman members of the board again henry clinton clint on behalf of the
applicant jrg properties llc the principal jerry g loretto is on the call with me this is my
presentation binder including table of contents aa through a11 which i asked to be admitted into
evidence by appearance statement. The refusal, obviously the key document in any zoning matter.
This is a CMX1 property. It's on the corner near 16th and Oregon. It's just north of Smedley
Street. Smedley Street, the board may be aware, is the street that you see in the newspaper
every year for the fancy and bright Christmas lights and Christmas decorations that
many of us visit during that Christmas season. So this is at the end of that block and the people
and neighbors on that block are very particular. And you can see when I moved through this
presentation that my client was able to get upwards of 20 signatures of individuals on the
block who support this application along with the RCO. Anyway, it's a CMX1 zoning district and
we are requesting to keep the first floor commercial. We don't know what that commercial
space will become. It was occupied by a doctor for decades who has since retired, and that's
when Mr. Gia Loretta stepped forward to purchase the property. And what we're asking for is to put
a third floor on the property. We're not exceeding 38 feet, but when we put the third floor on,
the property then becomes a two-family household living on the second and third floor
with the vacant commercial space on the first floor.
We do have an RCO letter of support,
excuse me, non-opposition,
and it's outlined here from Broad Street West RCO.
These are the signatures of no opposition
to the project, all on Smedley Street.
These are photographs that I'll show you
of the location. So the location is right here, 16th and Oregon. It's a 16th street. This is
Oregon, which goes east and west. And this is Smedley Street with the trees and plantings in
trees and plantings in the middle. This is a view of the property. Again, the doctor's office was on
the middle. This is a view of the
the first floor. And this was a two-bedroom unit and rather cramped. And that's why when my client
was thinking of acquiring it and he gauged the sensitivity of the neighbors, he decided to go
up a floor and make it just to one bedroom. So instead of having one unit on the second floor
with two cramped bedrooms, he decided to seek an expansion of the building. Now we're looking
north from Smedley Street. This is the rear of the property. What Jerry is going to do is remove
this bulky and frankly ugly AC unit on the back of the building and put the units out of the
sight of the neighbors. And if you look at the rear yard, one of our refusals has to do with
the depth of the rear yard. We are not changing the depth of the rear yard. We're not changing
the footprint of the building, and the refusal, I think, comes about because of an oddity in the
code and where the measurement is taken. It's actually about nine feet here on the east side
and maybe four and a half feet here on the west side, and I believe, although I don't want to
speak for the examiner, I think that's why the refusal, we got a refusal with regard to the
rear yard, but again, no refusals on open space, height, or setbacks.
We do have revised plans because the original version that we showed had bays protruding.
I'll go back to the, it had bays similar to what was here.
And we decided in talking with the neighbors and just looking at the overall plan to eliminate those bays.
And the project was more well received after we did that.
So this is our proviso letter if the board looks kindly upon this application.
And this is what the building will look like after the work is done. A nice addition,
a nice upgrade to the block and to Argon Avenue.
Again, some more perspective photographs for the board.
And this is what I was talking about with the rear yard. It's on a curvature.
We're not addressing or expanding that in any way. The footprint remains the same.
this is the floor plan
basement will be storage
maintain storage
which is what it is now
first floor
just about 650 square feet
a vacant commercial space
will be that way
we don't know how we fit it out
and what type of use we will have
but that's going to be flexible
as we talk to some realtors in the neighborhood
who can help us rent it out
this is the second floor
Again, one bedroom in the rear, kitchen, a living area, and the floor plan is basically
duplicated on the second floor.
There's also a rooftop deck.
Trash for the commercial unit is either stored in the basement or the rear yard.
The second floor unit also will have access to bring the trash to the rear yard, as will
the third floor occupant, but also the third floor may be able to keep a trash can if need
out on the roof deck. My remaining documents are the tax certification, all the typical
documents the board would see in an application of this type, our notification to the neighbors,
and the zoning plan. So basically, in conclusion, we're asking the board to take a look at the
circumstances of this property. It was empty, not for a long period of time, but it was empty.
Mr. Gio Loretta stepped forward, said he would purchase and did acquire the building.
But again, the bedrooms on the second floor just were not compatible with the neighborhood
and compatible with being viable to offer to some residents in the neighborhood.
We have the support of the community group.
We're not blocking any light or air.
We've been in contact with the next door neighbor at 1618.
They've looked at the plans.
one of their relatives is a contractor and they have weighed in on it. We're not really
increasing congestion. It's still two bedroom. It's in harmony really with what the code is
looking for, keeping the first floor commercial with residential use above. And it's in harmony
with the wants and desires of the neighbors on Smedley Street and on Oregon Avenue.