like we're not aware of like any of these issues again the individuals who live next door to this
property actually signed a letter of support so again when you have you know a community meeting
you have people who attend the community meeting who just attend and they vote in support um there
were some nearby neighbors who voted in opposition as well. And we'll show you the vote counts. But
the people who are most directly impacted, the people who are next door, who would feel the
burn or the pain of drinking intoxication, loud talking, verbal intimidation, drug use,
they're the ones who actually are supportive of this project. So again, if you have individuals
who are just generally non-supportive, I can't speak to that.
And I can't speak to these allegations when the
individuals who are next door have not made those claims.
But everyone has
a right to state their opinion.
All right. So if you look at this, it wasn't like the entire community was
against this project, right? So you had four people in support
Right. So you had four people in support of it. You know, you had affected addresses.
of it um you know
Well, I don't know if so. If looking at this, it looks like the people who are in support of this project who are next door to us.
I didn't go to the community meeting. My colleague Alex Goldberg did.
But the person who's next door who I have a letter of support from, I don't know if they attended the meeting or not, but they're not reflected in the vote.
So it's not like the entire community was against this project.
And then here are the letters to support.
And again, here we have Carol Horan from 710 South Shell Street, who's in support of this.
We have Maddie, I think it says, I can't read the handwriting, Lorang or Wang, is 707 South Shell Street.
And then we have Suzanne Stone, who also lives at 710 South Shell Street.
so the nearby neighbors that we know of are in support of this project and then just a little
the vote overall was 20 to four uh let's see um or no i'm not oh yeah i don't know so let's see four
uh and opposed is that an eight or six eleven this is a six here from the that's but that's
the rco that's not the community so if you look at the community it was four to twelve and then
the rco was six in opposition and one in non-opposition so i treat non-opposition as
support like it's support i mean but obviously people were not people weren't you know i'm
going to admit people were not in favor of this but like generally but there were people who were
and then you know again it's a single family home he treats it very well you look at the pictures
this is a major investment for him he paid 455 000 i think the most important thing is
the rules changed on him he spent a lot of money on this it would and it's not like we're in the
market where oh you could just sell this property it's a tough market out there um and again this
is this is you know again um a little bit about them but they live in the neighborhood here's
When people were saying, oh, you allow people to park on our sidewalk, I said, well, do we?
He's like, if people do, they're doing it against our will because we actually tell them exterior and interior, don't park on the sidewalk.
And he lives around the corner and people know him.
So and then he has over a thousand reviews, a 4.92 rating across all of his Airbnb establishments.
This is how he earned some of his income. And it's not uncommon to have Airbnbs in the neighborhood.
This is his and it's it's surrounded. Again, people don't want to be in center city.
Sometimes people want to be with like near their families that they're visiting.
this is one of those places
and then this is just a zoning
we're RSA 5
there's not one zoning classification here
which will allow our use as a right
and then this is photographs of the property
from the front of the property
our hearing notice
you know shell to the right
shell to the left
we have an exterior patio
that's actually where we store our garbage
we would agree to provide
garbage stored in there
but even when he stores the garbage
It's only temporary. When the tenant leaves, he takes it to his house,
which is around the corner from this property. And then here's
more interior photographs.
This is a very handsome house
inside and out. And that's why collectively
he has a 4.92 rating
from occupants. And then, again,
nothing about the use that's extravagant whether it's short-term or long-term the actual use is
not changing um and you know again it's just you know open floor plan on the first floor
you have two bedrooms on the second and you have a master on the third and then you have
some living down in the basement level it's like a little family room tv room
and then oops
yeah and then we we met with the community on july 11th at 7 p.m not only do we mail notice of
the community meeting to the affected properties we email the community notice to the rcos
as well as as council members only eight 148 addresses were mailed a notice proof these are
the addresses, proof of mailing to those addresses, their application for appeal value, follow them.
Proof of mailing to those addresses, their application for appeal value filed on Mr. Oteri's behalf, and then our deed showing that Mr. Oteri owns a property with his wife, Tony, and then Certificate of Tax Clarence.
Again, just to reiterate, he purchased this property when there were different rules in play.
Mr. Oteri would, you know, if this board is hesitant to grant a temporary variance where the board typically grants a temporary variance of anywhere from three to five years, I would ask that they grant one for two years.
You know, one year would be too little because I would almost have to apply now to get back in front of the board within that year period.
So I would ask that the board hold Mr. Artari on a short leash and give him a two-year temporary variance.
I would ask Mr. Artari to virtually raise his hand now.
Mr. Artari is allowed to speak.
Sir, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Richard Autieri, R-I-C-H-A-R-D-A-U-T-I-E-R-I.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Receive counsel.
Rich, you heard everything I had to state today about your zoning map.
I did.
And is it what I stated? Is that true and correct?
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
I'm sorry, do I what?
Do you adopt what I stated as your own testimony?
And specifically, you purchased this property with the sole intention of using this as short-term accommodations?
And it would be financially devastating if you had to use it for long-term accommodations?
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Chair.
no chair no mr chairman no mr chairman uh questions for our attorney hillary emerson
emerson no mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
yeah we got a week before before the uh what's the name is do the uh
we're hearing your conversation
yes chair i have robert
mine shine with the hand up okay we're allowed to speak
thank you um please state your name and spell
for the court stenographer hi robert manchine
r-o-b-e-r-t manchine is m-a-i-e-n
s-h-e-i-n right do you swear firm to tell the truth to hold truth nothing but the truth
absolutely i do are you a neighbor i am right across the street from this house proceed sir
okay so a couple comments one just i'll try to be as quick as i can but i have a few points
um one the city may have changed the rules for multi-tenant hotel housing but the zoning has
not changed before, you know, or after this house was purchased. It's always been lived in by single
families in the past. I would say I'd also contradict some of the comments about the
accessibility and parking issues. I'm literally looking at the house as we speak. There is not
any no parking signs in the front of the house or next to it. There may be no parking signs
further at the corner away from the house, but not on the house itself. So that's not true.
um it is an alley even though it's called a street um people actually go out and eat at night
on a regular basis neighbors who know each other access is a problem or for already existing with
even just single family homes in the area um I would also comment that I I believe that the
attorney on the call was not at the zoning uh at the community meeting and that is reflective in
his comments. There was a lot of opposition to this, passionate opposition, especially the
immediate neighbors. Some of the immediate neighbors who supported it have already left
and retired, namely Carol in specific. And some of the other neighbors are just sort of new people
who I'm sure they've just acclimated themselves to the neighborhood. So everybody that I speak
to that lives directly next to or across from this house currently is opposed to this. It would
have a real impact on the type of zoning. And the neighborhood has always been a family
neighborhood. There's literally kids that run around the block in a big circle on a regular
basis during the summertime. This is not an easily accessible street for a hoteling type situation.
So I disagree with a lot of those comments that I heard from the attorney.
So I disagree with a lot of those comments that I heard from the attorney.
All right. So thank you for taking the time to call in. We appreciate it.
Yes, thank you.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair. There are three hands up. The first one is Paul Kramer, and I will allow him to speak.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Hello. Thank you, Mr. Chair. My name is Paul Kramer, K-R-A-M-E-R.
Right.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Mr. Kramer, do you live nearby?
I am the co-owner of 717 South Shell.
I live diagonally across from the street.
Are you in favor of this or against it?
I'm against it.
I believe that we all assume risks when we purchase property, and that property has had
a negative impact on the quality of living for all residents on this street.
and um the parking is not enforced in any way i just pushed past a large group of british um
rentals uh renters yesterday who parked right on the sidewalk they opened their doors i couldn't
get past that is a regular occurrence there's it's obvious that there are thousands of reviews
because there are people coming in and out of that place every week it's new people um there's
a party house. People party there. They rent it for sporting events. It's a very uncomfortable
environment, especially for some of the queer people on that street. And I truly have never
met this man or seen him before on this street. It is not true that he has close relationships
with anybody on our street. So thank you very much for taking the time to call, and we appreciate
your comments. Thank you very much. Anyone else with their hand up? Yes, Chair, Joel Palmer.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, my name is Joel Palmer, J-O-E-L, excuse me, P-A-L-M-E-R.
All right, do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Are you a neighbor, sir?
Yes, I am. I'm in the flyer.
Are you in favor of the project or against?
I am adamantly opposed.
Is there anything else you can add that that was not already said?
Yes, sir.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
The first, I want to correct a few things that Mr.
Nackamson said in his presentation.
The first is there is no hardship attached to this variance, and that is a requirement
for a variance.
Economic hardship is not allowed.
Self-inflicted hardship is not allowed.
second the city did not change the rules on this neighborhood this is a residential neighborhood
it has never been for businesses or hotels and and make no mistake this is a hotel and it's uh
it's one that they churn people in and out of there all the time third you're not allowed to
put in a variance unless your your tax is cleared now mr knockamson put up a tax clearance notice
I will inform the board that after conversations with Councilman Mark Squilla, Mark Squilla has asked his staff to ask the Revenue Department to conduct an inquiry, because Mr. Terry, since the day he bought this property in 2018, has claimed a homeowner's exemption.
And I will add that he has never lived in it.
And Mr. Nockamson said he lived next door.
I think he misspoke, but he's never lived next door.
Then he said, there's somebody next door that signed a letter in support, and that's Suzanne Stone. Miss Stone owns the property on 9th Street. She's not next door. Her garage is next door, and it has a Shell Street address, but she does not live on Shell Street. And so that's another misrepresentation. Let's see.
So I think that it's safe to say you're vehemently opposed, you're saying.
Yeah, and there's a couple more things here. The city has missed out on business revenue from a hotel that's generating about $75,000 a year in revenue. There is no business license taken out by Mr. Artieri or his wife. They haven't paid taxes on this property, not property taxes.
I'm not concerned about the taxes. What I'm concerned about is that you do not think it's appropriate to have this. That's where we are. Am I right?
Thank you, Chairman, and I appreciate the opportunity to speak.
Thank you very much.
We appreciate your time.
Is there anyone else?
Yes, Liam Canary.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Hello, my name is Liam Canary.
That's spelled L-I-A-M-K-I-N-I-R-Y.
I-R-Y.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?