please do not speak over each other.
What's your objection, Rachel?
Just the mischaracterization of the
letter. I have
a letter here from Sazna
saying that you would
Mute him. That's it. Okay.
okay all right rachel continue yeah thank you i just and i don't mind using first names so
please excuse me yeah uh chairman i have never been reached out to by this individual i'm not
sure if he represents himself or anyone else as i showed the posters were posted um there's as the
board is well aware we no longer use the orange zoning posters since the pandemic um and uh clearly
plenty of people were aware of this meeting in addition to Mr. Lionel Ginsburg. So he was not
at any of the meetings that we had. So and just so you're aware, this letter that was sent around
basically said, and I had a conversation with Nicole, she can testify to this. And I sent her
the letter. It basically just said that the SASDA was encouraged that our committee encouraged was
encouraging and supportive of the revisions we made it did not say that sasna supported the
project and again we asked for a hearing hold so that we can accommodate another meeting with the
community i don't know what else to say on that point chairman i agree uh we're not going to be
labor this this hearing so um any questions from the board no no no all right planning commission
good afternoon mr chairman members of the board david effecto city planning commission the
comprehensive plan recommends no change to the single family zoning for this property
the proposed buildings are consistent with what with what the code permits and with adjacent
development in terms of use in bulk. The City Planning Commission recommends that the Board
grant the requested variances. MI 2021-001-569-760-South 18th Street. We're going to,
when will we resume this Rachel? You have the meeting with Sasna Nguyen? I am not sure. I believe
whatever Tanya can get us in if she has room this month or in August. I believe that
the other matter was given an August resumption. And it'll only be limited to
the letter from SASNA. Is that correct? Yes, Chairman. That's correct.
Anya, do you have a date for us?
August 25th.
Two o'clock? August 25th.
What time? 2 p.m.
Thank you. So MI 2021-001569
760 south 18th street this hearing will be resumed this hearing will
This hearing will be resumed on August the 25th at 2 p.m. and limited to the letter from SOSNA.
Thank you, Chairman.
Thank you.
I think this does complete the 2 o'clock list.
It is now 4.30.
We'll take a 10-minute break.
and we'll be back at uh 4 40. okay okay um chair if i could yes um just put on a record um i i'm
not sure if it's very clear um we you stated it would only be for the letter to be read
at the resumption however there are multiple hands up now so either they would testify here today
or testify at the reception hearing.
Why don't we do this then?
Thank you.
I apologize for the mix up.
So we will have a full hearing
because if we have testimony today,
it may not be germane to what the changes are.
So I think in fairness to everyone,
let's see what the changes are,
how Sassana decides to act on that with the letter,
but also give folks an opportunity
to speak at that hearing as well.
We're absolutely fine with that, Mr. Cameron.
Thank you. Thank you, Tonya. Okay. So, Chair, just for clarification, there will be a resumption hearing August 25th at 2 p.m., where testimony will be allowed from all those who have their hand raised today.
And there will be no notification going out. Hearing is scheduled for August 25th. There will be no posting requirements. Thank you very kindly, Chair.
Thank you. Thank you for clearing that up. All right. See everyone back at 440.
Thank you.
You've begun.
And Tanya and
Fatina, you'll let us know if you're ready.
We're ready to go, Chair.
I'll get started and Carol will catch up.
Good afternoon, everyone.
My name is Frankie Chico.
I'm the Chair of the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
I'll be participating in today's hearing along
hearing along with our Vice Chair, Ms. Carol Tenere, Board Secretary, Confessor Plaza,
and Board Members, Mr. Thomas Holloman and Mr. James Snell.
Board Administrator, Fatina L., and our Board Attorney, Ms. Rebecca Cole, are also in attendance.
For those of you who haven't yet participated in one of our virtual hearings,
I'll go through some of the basics of what you can expect.
First, we will be administering oaths to individual participants prior to their testimony.
Second, we'd like to advise everyone that this proceeding is being recorded, and that by participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded, and that the recording will be made available to the public on the web or otherwise.
Third, for anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself.
I'll repeat. For anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself.
Finally, to make an appearance statement, call Google 267-270-5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue.
I'll repeat.
To enter an appearance statement, call Google 267-270-5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue.
And I'd like to remind everyone, please do not attempt to testify in the chat.
Any comments or concerns should be addressed to our board administrator, Ms. Fatina L.
Ms. Fatina L.
Having said that, we will now go to the 3.30 list.
And is anyone requesting a continuance or withdrawal on the 3.30 list?
If so, please raise your hand.
Chair, we have Hallie. Please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Hi, good afternoon. Please identify yourself for the record, spell your first and last
name and then I'll swear you in. Do you need to unmute yourself?
chair we also have nicole um whoever okay so um i'm sorry but
um whoever okay so um i'm sorry but are these hands raised for what we're discussing at the
3 30 session yeah because nicole was on the sasner list at 2 30 2 o'clock rather and 7 22 hicks
for three um but i'm i'm i'm uh coming off mute at this point to carry over some conversation
because we were cut off at the last section we can't we cannot uh we cannot adhere to this august
25th i'm sorry nicole we are discussing 330 sessions if you have any questions you can put
them in a chat or you can contact me directly okay nicole okay the only new hand that i know
of is mr france pierre i'll unmute him chair okay mr pierre you're still under oath please
identify yourself for the record. Hello. Yes, please identify yourself. Yes, that's France
Pierre, Councilmember Johnson's office. That's F-R-A-N-T-Z, last name Pierre, P-I-E-R-R-E.
You're still under oath. Please proceed.
I appreciate that. First, let me just say I appreciate you, Mr. Chairman and fellow board
members. I understand that you, as well as the ZBA staff, work extremely hard at the appeals that
you hear and take in each and every week, whether it be Tuesday or Wednesday. So first of all,
I just want to applaud you for that, because I know it's not an easy job. But I do want to,
if I may, have just your ear in regards to, I believe it was the last appeal, I'm sorry,
i just moved my screen um in regards to seven
break it you're breaking up french hello
hello hello yeah we can hear you now you're breaking up oh wonderful um i i was saying if
i could mr chairman if i could have your ear in regards to the appeal for the two o'clock calendar
760 South 18th street. I appreciate that. Um, what I was hearing from the RCO, uh, in this matter,
Sazna, um, what they were saying, um, is in regards to the continued schedule, because
essentially, uh, this appeal was, uh, continued, but it's being expedited, uh, to, uh, an August
state um what she was saying was that she uh the zoning committee is going to have a difficult time
in regards to making sure that they can add them onto their calendar because it is already
filled for the month of august um and as you know mr chairman uh the these rcos also work
extremely hard they are volunteers they are community members that care about their community
and that's why they are involved in the ZBA process so what I would just ask is that the board
extend this continuance until possibly September or to a later date that works best with SOSNA
as they can try to adhere to the new hearing for this. Thank you and I apologize for if I
rushed that but I figured since there's going to be another meeting and changes may be offered at
that meeting by the applicant no sense going through the current application um but having
said that as miss sunkett just reminded uh the lady from sasna you can speak with miss sunkett
offline on that and we'll work something out um if i could mention also chair that it's inappropriate
to have a discussion about a case when the attorney is not present and that was why i cut
people off unfortunately the attorney who represents the applicant should be weighing
in regarding this so if it could be discussed offline that would be appreciated it is a
resumption hearing so it does not need to be posted okay friends
understood i actually think rachel might be on this 330 calendar i'm not too sure i could be
wrong in regards to that but i believe she might actually be on this calendar but yes i do
understand um i i we they weren't allowed uh and and again you don't have to apologize mr chairman
i understand um that it is difficult um you know the days get long and the hearings especially get
um you know the days get long and the hearings especially get long and very contentious
long and very contentious
uh but i just wanted to put that on record because if it's not said um then uh you know um
you know our job is to represent the community and the constituents so we want to make sure
they're being well point well taken thank you thank you all right uh having said all that
we will now go to the first case. I'm sorry, anyone asking for a continuance or withdrawal
on the 330 list? I see no hands, Chair. Thank you. MI 2021, that's 000031, 101 Emily Street.
This is a pro se, and I believe Mr. Smith will be representing himself. There's a letter of
non-opposition from Pennsport Civic Association and also a letter of non-opposition from Council
Member Squilla. So Mr. Smith if you're out there please raise your hand.
He's coming in as a panelist. Thank you Mr. Smith please spell your first and last name and I'll
swear you in. Francis Smith F-R-A-N-C-I-S-S-M-I-T-H. You swear affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth, nothing but the truth? I do. Thank you. Please proceed.
Uh, I, I know I had a hearing, you know.
Third, real quick, have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents? Yes. Proof
of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the referral, refusal, photos and plans five days
prior to this hearing? Yes. And have you met with the RCO and have a letter? Yes. Please proceed.
all right this is for a single family dwelling in 101 emily street and
um mr councilman i have my son with me because i'm really not no good with the computer so he's
going to be helping me out with this a little bit sure all right so for the you wanted the
pictures of the refusal because i have the document that was sent to the email yeah whatever
exhibits you can share with us it would be helpful and your name sir uh my name is edwin
E-D-W-I-N-E-I-D-E-L-L
And do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
So I'm going to begin sharing my screen now.
Hold on a second, I'm trying to figure out how to do this.
Okay, so I'm going to pull out the packets that we shared to the email that was given to us before.
where it's when i went to when i went to and i got a letter from frederick marshall
who said i had to go to the streets department and the city planner and i did that on 10th march
10th 2020 where you can see the places go back to relations let's go back eddie
so i have two separate documents so uh this one that's uh
If you go back to that document, the floor plan, if you can make that a little bit larger, that would be helpful.
There's another one on the floor plan.
Give him this one.
So I have this one image right here, and this is just one of those, and I can scroll down to other ones if need be.
Tell us what it is you're planning on doing.
It's a single-family dwelling house, a four-story house with a roof deck.
garage and what is what is currently there nothing it's an empty lot oh it's a vacant lot and you're
putting up a new uh a lot in the houses so uh i have two separate documents oh here's another uh
blueprint but i have two separate documents so if i look it's so here's uh the views from the sides
it a lot and then here goes the actual lot so you're right on this image with the fences so
you're right on the corner right right on the corner yeah if uh emily and uh it's front and
correct okay i own the house to the right of it and the lot is where i'm going to build the
other one and i just finished that house right beside it okay and did that house there very
but okay um just looking and board have any questions no no is there anyone else to testify
in this case if so please raise your hand chair we have lisa
chair we have lisa please unmute yourself and please wait for the chair
good afternoon ma'am please spell your full name and i'll swear you in
lisa galslow g l-i-s-a g-a-u-s-l-o-w you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
about the truth yes please proceed um i live on emily street um i didn't realize this was a four
story um structure um that is very high um higher than any surrounding building any surrounding
residents. I oppose that. I primarily oppose the parking, the garage, which, you know, as you can
see on Front Street has two parking spaces at the corner of Front and Emily. There's two spaces
is also to the right of the house on McKean Street. So there's four parking spaces on that
block. The owner of, you know, whoever lives in that red garage often parks in front of
garage um that doesn't bother me um but this new proposal for another garage on front street
um that would further further reduce the parking on front street um you know creating
um parking for only that house um access into that house and eliminating
um you know street parking so i strongly oppose that um three stories seems to be standard
most houses on emily street have two stories um the one that he just finished at 103 emily
um it it does um um coordinate with the other houses on you know in the area
but they are getting taller four stories um that's that's kind of pushing it in my opinion
um so i definitely oppose the garage to that um house mr smith
we're looking at the photograph of the house on emily that you recently completed what is the
height of that building same it's the same height as the house right beside mine it's