all right thank you you can show your screen and proceed with the case um can i just be promoted
to a panelist thank you
so this is one of these typical cases where you have a homeowner who trusts a contractor
expecting the contractor to get permits no ill intent on my client's part
uh bobby's lived there for 50 years you said at the house and he just
bobby's lived there for 50 years you said at the house and he just wanted to expand his porch
uh area to get more livable square feet um he feels bad that he's in this situation and it's
a bad situation um not cheap either uh so and he's just struggled through this process he actually
even hired another council who struggled to get through this process and then we took over so um
and it's not out of character you'll see but this is a picture of the enclosed the beginnings of an
enclosed front porch and um as soon as he found out that there was an issue he uh he stopped the
work so we have 12 exhibits here we'll review those exhibits um he knows he has to this is just
the first step of the process where he hopefully gets his own e-permit has to then get the building
permit whatever was done he's going to make sure that was done right he's hiring a licensed
contractor um who will follow the law um but that's the only refusal i mean it's just dealing
with the the front setback it doesn't match because we're trying to enclose the porch
um so that's the only refusal we have unanimous support uh we we appear many times in front of
the 13th ward rco typically they don't like illegal use and i hate to use the word illegal
i don't think it was intentional um but here they saw that there's no intel ill intent here
um so it was unanimous support both by the board and the member in attendance community member
intendants um so it and again not out of character we have a nearby property on that block that has
an enclosed porch a couple nearby it's on blavis street as well and again they're not trying to
increase the density of the property and they feel bad about this but here's a notice posting
this is to the right of the property on north 15th to the left photographs again as soon as
they discovered from lni that this was not proper they stopped the work so and they just wanted more
some more square footage it's it's only six feet deep the space it's not huge um but it's something
they want and so there's the site plan which shows that it's 16 feet deep and the the width
of the last 15 feet 9 inches so we met with the community again as i stated uh you know the 13th
ward democratic ward on july 23rd we emailed that notice a few days beforehand we sent it to the
the affected properties this is proof of mailing to those affected properties this is all right oh
actually we didn't we didn't get the application for zoning variants um bobby didn't have it
we asked the zoning zoning board administrator not a big deal but we usually included it within
our packet but it wasn't here but you can see that bobby and eva have been owning this property for
some time and this is their certificate of tax clearance i would just ask that um bobby beats
warning sure bobby could you step forward a little bit and try to get that mic right up against you
sir could you please state you by the way good morning good morning sir would you please state
your name and spell for the stenographer my name is bobby l james b-o-b-b-y l-g-a-m-e-s
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Counsel.
Yeah, Bobby, you heard everything I had to state today about your zoning matter.
And is it true and correct?
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Do you adopt it as your own testimony?
And then specifically, I made representations to the board.
You had no idea that the previous contractor didn't get permits, right?
No, I didn't.
And as soon as you were alerted by L and I, that, that, that you needed to get permits, you, you have stopped the work. That is correct. All right. Thank you. Questions from the board.
Yeah. Um, do you have the support of your neighbors that are on both sides of you for closing out the porch? Yes.
other questions and what are you going to use this space for is it going to be like a little
vestibule or is living space or how are you going to just use it or an extension of your living room
no it's just a you know for to sit out on the porch with it being enclosed so
you know keep the mosquitoes and stuff
that okay and you can use it your room yes oh all right okay thank you questions from our attorney
no questions at this time the comments from the virtual audience
no hands at this time planning commission amy boy with the planning commission the comprehensive
no hands at this time planning commission amy boy with the planning commission
plan recommends no change the rsa 5 residential single family zoning at this location the city
rezoned this neighborhood in 1968 and council supported map change the appellant appears to
have built the enclosed porch without the benefit of permits triggering triggering the denial for
not including the required front yard the planning commission recommends that the board deny their
proposed dimensional variance. So MI2025, 006251, 4420 North 15th Street, I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes. Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Taya Nguyen, my vote is yes. You have your vote, sir. Thank you. Thank you. See you this afternoon.
thanks everybody thank you thank you sir number seven mi 2026 001 633 918 north 43rd street
henry clinton is the attorney they're being promoted to panelists here
morning mr chairman members of the board sir uh could you please state your name and spell
for this stenographer sure my name is henry clinton h-e-n-r-y clinton c-l-i-n-t-o-n right
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do
Did you identify your client in relationship to the property?
My client is OSE Investments, LLC, the principal of which is Edon, Slomo, E-D-O-N, Slomo, S-H-L-O-M-O.
And he is on the call.
Yes, sir.
I see a letter of support here from West Belmont Civic Association.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good morning.
Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, Ms. Graham.
and do you weigh the reading of your refusals and stipulate to their accuracy
i do i think you can share your screen and see with the case thank you
is that visible actually we see your uh itself now henry it's good all right thank you mr chairman
Again, good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Henry Clinton on behalf of the owner of the property.
This is a request for a two-family dwelling on a corner property, long vacant, at least 20 years and perhaps longer, which previously was used as a three-family dwelling.
And then back in the 50s, a two-family dwelling in the store, and prior to that, a two-family dwelling and a business.
It's on a block on the west side of the street that only has five parcels, and there's only
homes on two of those five parcels, and I'll show you that as we walk through.
My table of contents, A1 through A10, including zoning records of existing triplexes, three
family dwellings on the block, and here's that brief history supported by zoning documents
that I do have at the end of the presentation of the prior uses.
Refusal. This is an RSA 5 zoning district. Refusals are two. One is the use. RSA 5, as the board knows, is single family. We're requesting a two-family dwelling, and there's an issue with regard to the front setback. It's allowed to have 11 foot, and we don't have any setback, and I can explain why we do not when we get to that portion of the presentation.
As the chairman mentioned, we do have strong support from West Belmont Civic Association, where we presented the project.
And here are the photographs. So this is 43rd Street. The property is a corner property.
There's only two homes on facing with frontages on 43rd Street on the west side of the street,
because on Westminster, the rear yards and the side of the building face 43rd Street.
There are two properties across the street that are triplexes.
They're three-story.
We tried to maintain a two-story look for this particular block.
Another close-up of the vacant lot.
Vacant lot is to the right.
Here are the two existing homes on the block.
The other two vacant parcels are to the left side of these structures on the left.
Property on the corner.
these are the two adjacent properties now you'll notice i mean there's porches on both homes we
did not we do not have a porch um and i can explain that as i walk through the presentation
and i can explain that as i walk through the presentation
more views of the of the site the site is right here to the left there's a
store across the street this building comes all the way out
to the maximum allowed and that's what we try to do on this side is max
the depth of and the frontage towards the sidewalk as across the street
Again, this is the five parcels on that side of the block, and we are at the corner property.
I just took a photograph from 2004 from the archives indicating that the property has been vacant since at least then and may even further back, but I was not able to find any information on that.
So these are the two properties across the street that were recently, one in 2022 and one in 2023, recently approved for a triplex, and there's a home with a porch in between.
Postings of the placards with a close-up indicating the date of the hearing is today.
so we did some revisions of the plan after meeting with the community group and frankly
i don't really think that these affect the site plan whatsoever but we provided proviso sheet
anyway we added trash storage uh we depicted the nearest neighbor on on 43rd street even though
the property next to us is also vacant uh we have a ground floor corridor to the rear yard
security cameras, furniture we added, and a fence to the rear yard. Again, I don't believe that
these are zoning issues, but I just thought I'd bring them to the attention of the board.
These are the floor plans. Pretty straightforward. There is no basement. It is two-story. Again,
we try to keep the height of the building in context with the two existing homes on the block.
Pretty straightforward floor plan. The entrance to the first floor is on the side of the building.
You enter into the living room, kitchen area, and then a bedroom in the front with a full bath.
And then to the rear yard, exit is in the back, one bedroom in the rear, full bath with the double vanity, washer and dryer, mechanicals there.
And then there's meters, and I'll show you a side photograph, the elevation.
The meters are hidden behind a door on the side of the property.
To get to the second floor, you would just enter through the front, go up to the second story,
enter into the kitchen area, the bedroom in the front with a bath, a living area, a trash closet,
then a bedroom in the rear.
This is the site plan.
Again, it's a vacant lot.
We don't have any issues with height or open space, and it is on a corner.
Side elevation, this is depicting the house two doors away, 914.
Just to show you the context of where our house is, we put a, and the architect, Michael Cole, was on the call.
If there's any questions about the layout or the elevations,
But you try to mimic the porches in somewhat of a style on the top of the first floor.
Again, we don't have a porch because to get two units without a third floor, we push the house out to the front closest to the sidewalk as possible as a corner property directly across the street.
We have no third floor.
It's all brick front.
And we continue with the brick around the side.
all the way to the end. We have two protruding bays, which conform. And then here's the door
to enter the apartment on the first floor. And this is the door for the meters. And then the
other elevation, because again, it's a vacant lot on the other side, is to the far right. Excuse me,
this is the rear elevation on the far right of this plan. These were the plans that we showed
to the community but basically the same although we added the items that i listed on the on the
revised proviso form the rest of the documents are the pro forma documents you would see
chief of which is the tax clearance the zoning map again corner there's the five parcels uh our
parcel vacant lot to two two-story homes and then two vacant lots indeed indicating ownership since
2024 notice to all members of the community within 250 feet 157 pieces of mail were mailed out
and here are the zoning records again in the late 50s two family in the business
61, two family vacant store
61, two-family vacant store.
62, three family
62, three-family.
and these are the two
And these are the two properties across the street that reflect a three-family dwelling.
And these are the backup support.
Two-family vacant store.
Two-family business.
58, 61.
62, three-family dwelling.
I could not find any records from 62 to the present.
I'm not suggesting that the property was knocked down in the 60s.
I just don't know.
But I do know it's been vacant a minimum of 20 years.
Again, some supporting documents indicating 1962, three-family dwelling.
This is the zoning permit for the two triplexes across the street, 913.
This was granted in July of 2023.
Ironically, the zoning district, it must have changed and maybe planning can add to that,
but it's listed as an RM1 zoning district.
So this was a by-right project, as there was no ZBA decision required.
It's new construction, three stories with three-family dwelling.
And then 917, one door away.
Again, this was a by-right because at the time it's an RM1 zoning district, December of 2022, multifamily with three-family dwelling.
So that is the presentation. We're not impacting any light or air of an adjacent property. It's in harmony with the code because it is residential. It's in harmony with the block as there are other multifamily on the block. We have the full support of the community. And with that, I would ask my client to unmute himself to adopt my testimony. And again, the architect is here for any questions that the board may have. And I'll go back to the floor plans.
what's the name of your client uh mr shlomo adan can you unmute yourself
he's being promoted to panelists thank you very much
i'm here hello good morning sir could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
Edan, E-D-O-N, Shlomo, S-H-L-O-M-O.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Counsel.
Edan, were you on the call when I presented your project to the board just moments ago?
I was.
And if you had the opportunity to testify, would you adopt my testimony as your own and as true and correct?
Yes, I do.
Thank you very much.
Questions from the board.
uh yes i think less of a question more of a statement i think um the three examples you
showed of the multi-family are the only three properties in like a five block radius that
don't match the context of this neighborhood and i am disappointed to see that um this is
sort of not fitting in with the existing context despite there being a lot of vacancy on the
existing block the building across the street that starts at the property line has a eight foot set
back at the second floor so it mimics the porch uh modular uh as everything else in the neighborhood
and it is also cmx1 and has a store on the first floor so i think to characterize these