not a lot of value add other than
building mass and
that's sort of my main comment okay i guess so to address your first point with the storage
i mean there is enough room that it can be like single storage or stuff like that if we want if
need to be also a few apartment buildings do do like mail rooms if you want to drop off packages
packages and like basement units that um i've represented so that's possible the storage unit
would be big enough to do that um and i guess regarding the i mean i guess the the amount
apartments and stuff like that in the presentation i kind of showed that within a few blocks or
within a block radius there also are other units that um have this amount amount of apartment
buildings it was less the number of units it's more the way this is laid out this is not laid
out as like a truly well-functioning apartment building. So I guess it was less that I had an
issue with the number of units and more that the way the units are set up. I think for you to have
reduced units and still have such a deep backyard and have not necessarily considered things like
an elevator or a more formalized entrance where you had the space to do so, it's just, it's an
interesting decision. That's all. I would agree definitely for sure on the entrance. There's a
not missed opportunity there to create something that really could enhance the facade and maybe
even the streetscape.
So, all right.
Questions from our attorney?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions from the audience?
Come on up.
We do have people in the audience here.
And Devin, while I'm doing that, could you bring your client on and have your testimony
adopted?
One second.
Rafi, are you in the audience?
I know you're in the audience.
Rafi, can you raise your hand so they can bring you up?
We have two hands raised, Tracy L.
And a hand by the phone number ending in 7812.
Would that person be who you're looking for?
What's your client's name?
Rafi Volk.
He's on his phone.
He's asking, how does he unmute?
I think.
Would he be the person
whose phone number ending
is ending in 7012?
Wait one second.
I'm sorry.
Hey, Rafi.
so if you're on your phone you need to it's like star six um give me give me one second
so if you're on your phone you need to it's like
give me one second let me try to help you out one second
uh he's trying to figure out how to unmute from his cell phone okay so i so so we'll get to him
sir could you please turn on the microphone and state your name
okay my name is victor floyd b-i-c-t-a f-l-o-y-d right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth yes mr floyd are you a neighbor yes please proceed with
your testimony i live 31 11 north 16th street you got to get closer to pull the mic to you it'll
come right to you yep i live 31 11 north 16th street okay and one question that i had asked
at one of the RCO meetings was on the south side of the building
that they want to construct, I asked them how many windows
is on the side of that property, and they could not tell me
because my concern was I have nine windows on the side of my house,
which is the brick house that is next to that,
but that's an old picture of my house.
That's not even what my house looked like.
Right. And I made spent a whole lot of money doing renovations for my property. And I have a front porch and I have a back deck. Now, when they use the term storage space, I'm not sure what that means, because my main concern was basically, when I sit out back on my deck, and they're talking about putting, I don't know, the disposal of their trash, or I say, well, how can I comfortably
sit out back smelling garbage blowing from that back, if that's what that storage means.
Also, in the front of my house, which is that red brick house, I have a porch.
And not only is that building overshadowing my property, it's definitely compromising
my quality of life.
And my concern is the trash, the parking, and possibly the tenants that they might have
that could possibly be evasive to the quality of my life again.
So also, I spoke with my homeowner's insurance policy.
And because of that type of structure,
it brings liability risk to my property.
And I find that very unfair to me.
And that way, I totally oppose that project,
the way they're trying to present it
and the way they're trying to construct it.
So I'm going to be harmed financially because, number one, I'm going to have an increase in my homeowner's insurance policy.
I already spoke with my insurance company about the matter, and the property is really a liability to me.
Not only that, it'll have massive foot traffic, which could possibly create a third-party lawsuit against me and some of my neighbors.
and we've been living I've been living there 38 years and I find that to be invasive okay to my
quality of life all right all right hold on wait Devin do you have any questions uh just a few just
statements of clarity um this you have questions or you're going to make statements um I don't
have any questions no okay I'll start thank you for your testimony thank you hold on let him
comment and then i'll bring you up okay okay all right devon you want devon why don't you do this
there's other people want to testify so why don't you wait till the testimony's over then you can
make your statement come on up okay sir yeah you can you can go back and he'll come up okay okay
good morning sir
good morning
could you get closer to the mic
and you can pull the mic right next to you
that's it
could you please state your name
and spell it for the stenographer
can you hear me now
we can
my name is Ronald Grimes
I live down the street from the proposed
could you spell your name for the stenographer
Ronald, R-O-N-A-L-D.
Right.
Grimes, G-R-I-M-E-S.
You swear or affirm that tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
And you are a neighbor, am I correct?
Yes, sir.
Let's start your testimony.
Well, first of all...
Stay close to the mic.
First of all, I live where I can see down the street.
That property is between Clearfield, or the proposed property is between Clearfield and Lippincott.
Some of the juxtaposition of the photographs that we saw don't, I don't believe they adequately describe the other units in there.
The other units in there, there are several apartment buildings already in the property, already in that location area, on both sides of the street, on both the east side and the west side of the street.
There are several apartments.
And you have Bancroft Courts right beside that.
The neighborhood is already very property dense.
And what we're proposing, a roof deck, there are no properties in that area that have a roof deck on it.
The conformity of the property that's been proposed to what's already there is, I think, totally out of line.
So I would definitely be opposed to it.
Parking is already an issue in that area right now.
The commercial property that he showed on the photograph is at 17th and Allegheny.
That's a block and a half away from here.
So, when we're talking about density, already two, three apartment complexes in that area already.
Most of those folks own one or even two cars.
And I know that from my own personal experience, trying to park is a nightmare.
We want to add more units to an area where there are already multiple apartment units.
They are complexes, in fact, not just not just properties that maybe have two or three units.
And we're talking about apartment complexes, Bancroft Courts.
I forget the name of the other two that are here, but they've been there for years.
And as as we've already I've already said, the area is already densely populated.
OK, thank you very much. Devin, do you have any direct questions to this witness?
No. All right. Are there anyone else in the audience?
We have someone else coming up, too.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Could you get close to the mic for us?
Hold the mic right to you.
I'm here.
All right.
Could you please state your name and spell for this stenographer?
Deborah Taylor, D-E-B-O-R-A-H-T-A-Y-L-O-R.
All right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
And you're a neighbor.
Am I correct?
Yes, I am.
Please proceed.
So I'm having the same issue that they're having, which is with the park, the parking specifically with their parking.
A lot of trash is thrown.
There's a lot of dumping in that area.
And now you want to come in and just change a whole area by putting a four story building in with a rooftop deck.
Isn't that wonderful?
No one ever notified us.
We're literally right behind the street, right?
Block away.
Never been notified.
just happened to be working with his sister on a project and that's how i found out okay so there's
no honesty or integrity when they come into our community that we've been there for years okay
just walk in buy a lot and say i'm just going to construct what i want okay yeah that's it for me
thank you very much for coming in we appreciate you know we appreciate all three of you sitting
here waiting. I definitely
1,000% oppose this
and will be talking to everyone
around there so everyone understands
what's going on.
Not just this, oh, we're going to stick some up here
and then you find out haphazardly.
Okay. Thank you very much.
Is there anyone else in the audience
or the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair. We have
four hands raised, five hand raised
in the virtual audience. The first
person to speak will be Tracy
L. Tracy
L, please promote the
promotion to panelists.
Tracy?
Hello, good morning. Good morning, Tracy.
Could you please state your name and spell for the
sonographer hi my name is tracy eel t-r-a-c-y last name e-o-e-l you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes tracy are you a neighbor yes i have a property
at 31 19 or 16th street like on the same block is this uh tracy are you in favor of this project
or against i am against this project is there any we've had three people testify with numerous
issues they raised is there anything else that you can tell us that yes and said yes i like to
say that initially when the hearing began for this case he said that he's had support from the roc
and i like to state that i attended that meeting and the support that they received from the roc
was done in a very underhanded way.
They paid people to come in and vote for them.
They paid people to come in and vote for them.
They were given $100 each person who came to that meeting and voted in favor of this project.
People that don't live in the neighborhood.
They lived as far as, I mean, I live in a neighborhood.
They discussed it openly, the $100 that they received.
Each person that voted, yeah.
I spoke to Regina about it