Yes, we have.
Thank you, counsel. Please proceed and share your screen.
We're looking for our client on here.
what is your client's name Mr. Thompson Igor Andruska is the person
well but do you have the documents Mr. Thompson yes I do I have them all I can share my screen
with well that's what I'm looking for is that what you want yeah we want you have to make a
presentation off your documents. Okay. I'll do that. Okay. There you go. Okay. So we're sharing
our screen with the documents that we have. Okay. So that's your posting, right? Yes. I'll walk
through them if that's okay. Sure. Okay. So we have a posting and copy the posting on the property.
Aerial shot, that's the front of 6151 Avenue, side, rear, backyard, also another picture of the rear.
This is a building that's about 500 feet from the property, which is Overbrook Tower front, which is a huge multi-unit building, about 94 units.
Another picture of that.
You can see in the background, that's the building, and the foreground is the property in question, 6151 and Avenue.
These are pictures that were requested of my client of the unit itself as it exists.
As it exists, this is the basement unit.
This is the basement unit.
All pictures of the basement unit.
Next documents we have are, which we'll share.
Absolutely.
so mr thompson there was three units right that's correct it's there's a variance approved
in 1961 for three units now you want four units that is correct sir and you put the fourth unit
in the basement actually the unit existed in the basement when he bought the property
when did he buy the property in 2018 okay
so he's trying to legalize the apartment in the basement excuse me sir he's trying to legalize
the apartment in the basement that is correct he bought it he was unaware it was in violation
L&I came out, told him it was a violation.
And through a little torture process, he figured out that he needed to file for variants for the fourth unit, which is currently occupied.
Right.
And my understanding is that when you went to the Overbrook West neighbors, they voted against you 16 to 1.
That is correct.
What I saw, and I didn't get involved in it during that time,
I got involved in it after, I guess, they said he needed an attorney to make this presentation.
So I don't really know much about that, except I'm seeing what you see in the RCO as everyone was opposed to it.
Do you want to bring your client on?
I just want to show the rest of the documents here, if I could.
the certificate of tax clearance we have that and you have the rco yeah and uh the deed
here's the deed for the property for modern living and
that pretty much are the documents that we have and i would like to call mr andrewska to testify
if i may so mr thompson let me ask you this what what's the rest of the block look like how many
units are in the block on most places uh i i believe they're all similar uh homes to what um
what what's depicted in uh 61 50 lebanon then you go up the street 500 feet and you've got these
these large uh yeah i saw that yeah and that that's pretty much what the neighborhood is
but mr andrews could speak to that uh better than i could bring him home please okay
Mr. Andruska, you've been unmuted. Please wait for the chair.
Why could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes. Good morning. This is Igor Andruska, I-G-O-R, Andruska, A-N-D-R-U-S-T-A.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Please proceed, counsel.
Mr. Angruska, the chair just asked a question about the 6100 block of Lebanon Avenue to describe the properties that are adjacent to yours or near your property.
Yes, the homes are similar homes, which are twin homes, and some of those are multi-units. Some of those are single-family use.
um now based on the documents that we've submitted already into uh evidence it appears
that you purchased the property in uh 2018 is that correct yes and you purchased it from a
mortgage company is that correct yes and was that the subject of a foreclosure yes i believe so
And when you took over the property, tell the chair about the condition of the property.
Well, the property had four units.
We did some renovation, and we rented it out.
It was vacant at the moment, but it did have the four units.
It was vacant at purchase, is that correct?
And there were already four units in the property, is that correct?
and you did some renovations and then you you rent it to property is that right
that's correct now are all four units now currently rented yes you have tenants and all
four units now currently rented yes you have tenants in all four units
yes tell the chair what the monthly rental costs are for those four units
um the third floor is 1100 second floor is 1200 first floor is 1200 and the lower unit
or the ground level unit is
and that includes
everything except the electrical
does the ground
unit have its own entrance
you can see it on the
picture
thank you
with regard
to the
the units that are currently in place
with four units
if you were not able to rent
the basement unit
what would the result be for you?
as I said
the cost of rent
it's a lower cost rent
i consider as i can see in the area there are higher rents this way i am able to keep it lower
cost and uh it's easier for people to pay that way if i'm not going to have the fourth unit i'm
going to have to rise uh the the cost for for rents of the other three units what's going to
happen to the space in that basement unit like what are you going to do with it well yeah it's
It's either going to have to stay vacant, storage, or I'm going to try maybe to use it, expand the first floor, expand it to the basement.
And would there be an expense involved in that?
Of course, yes.
We're going to have to get work done.
What's the viability of being able to rent it as storage in that area?
No, I'm not going to be able to rent it as storage.
I don't think so. It's not that much of usage as a storage.
It's going to be pretty much dead space at that point.
That's correct.
And there's a tenant in that basement unit now, is that right?
That's right.
Were you at the RCO meeting?
And there were some issues raised in that meeting that I want you to address with the chair right now.
There were some issues with regard to cleanliness of the property.
How do you address those issues when they arise?
Well, I said that I tried my best to keep it clean and we definitely did work on having it cleaner than it was. We did a lot of work on the outside and we always tried to clean.
You know, I always try to fix the issues with the tenants towards the trash.
We did a separate area for the trash cans.
And we always try to manage with the tenants and ourselves to keep it clean.
Do you have a maintenance crew that goes out on any kind of regular basis to make sure that it's clean?
With regard to parking, in the photographs there's a garage depicted. If this was approved, this variance was approved, would there be any issues with regard to that garage that you might be able to do to work out parking?
Yes, I could provide a garage for a lower unit tenant. And as I stated in the RCO meeting, we provided that parking blocking the garage in the back for the lower unit as there are other neighbors that are using that back alley for their parking.
and we provided that parking for a lower tenant usage.
But I was told at the RCO meeting
that that alley is not a parking.
That alley is not a parking alley and that it's not a good space, which I replied that I can do the garage and all of that, whatever I needed to do to provide an extra parking space.
Are there any other things that you would address if this variance request is approved with regard to the basement?
basement were there other renovations or things that needed to be done or that you intended to
do in order to uh convince the chair and the board members to approve your variance
yeah so they said if we are approved i'm gonna do a uh egress windows we do have
they they almost as a egress window they just need more expansion on the outside as it required
I believe 36-inch egress opening on the outside, we're going to need to expand that space.
But we do have windows that I believe as an egress, they just need more space on the outside to provide an egress fire exit additional.
So would you again tell the chair what the hardship would be to you if you're unable to continue to use this unit as a rental unit?
well the the the biggest hardship is a financial one because i like i said it's lower cost uh
apartments or living and we do get we do get sometimes well a lot of time one of the tenants
is being short on the payment and it's so it's always an issue like that so that i'm this way
i'm able to let it keep and let it work out if i'm not gonna have that unit it's gonna be a
financial hardship for me and for the times because i'm gonna have to rise up uh the rental cost
so all the questions i have mr chair thank you questions from the board uh questions from the
board no chair no questions chair questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
just a quick clarification um so the part any parking that would be available on the property
would be in the existing garage can you tell me how many spaces that would be
Mr. Andruska, did you hear that question?
Mr. Andruska, please unmute.
In the photos, it looked to me like a one-car garage.
It is a one-car garage.
I think it could be expanded if necessary, but now it is a one-car garage.
The building that's right down the street, 500 feet with 94 units,
It has no parking.
I can't indicate him to it.
All right.
All right.
Okay, there was just a refusal for parking,
so I just wanted to clarify how many spaces were existing.
That's what it is.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Chair, we have Gregory Allen with their hand up.
Gregory Allen, please unmute and wait for the chair.
Good morning, sir.
Could you please state your name?
It's spelled for the court stenographer.
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
My name is Gregory Allen.
g-r-e-g-o-r-y
last name
a-l-l-e-n
right do you swear or firm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do are you a neighbor
i i am
we represent the rco
okay please proceed within 250
feet but after
my um testimony i
would like for some of our near neighbors
to be heard specifically
miss olivia gillison
All right. So why don't you give me your testimony first? Yes, sir. So chair and board, you hit it. You hit the nail on the head with your first statement that the owner is trying to legalize the property after seven years of operating it illegally.
In fact, at $950 a month renting this property, he has earned nearly $100,000, and now only because he had to renew licenses does he now come to do it properly or legally.
our concerns i'll let the neighbors the near neighbors speak to the concerns of the owner
and how he maintains the property our concerns are two one the process that
The process that the owner used to notify the community was non-existent.
the process
According to ZBA guidelines, he should have sent a postal mailing to everyone within 250 feet.
He did not do that.
In fact, the near neighbors only learned about the RCO or the ZBA because we notified them.
And he didn't do that until January when we raised the issue with the ZBA.
This came out on Friday, October 13th of 2023, and he didn't contact us at all until we raised it some 90 days later on January 16th.
Secondly, and this is my only other issue, Chair, driveway parking is not allowed.
So for him to want to bring it up to code now, that just doesn't pass the test for us.
So that's that's all I have. Let me let me see if any of the other allowed to speak.
Let me see if there's any other neighbors in the audience. Yes, sir. Thank you.
And counsel, I'll give you a chance to respond to this after we get some other neighbors in.
Any other comments from the virtual audience? Chair, we have Victoria Gillison.
OK, Victoria Gillison, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
good morning could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer
yes good morning my name is victoria v-i-c-t-o-r-i-a last name is gillison g-i-l-l-i-s-o-n
you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes i do are you a neighbor i am a neighbor um i am in the immediate area and my sister is the
owner of 6152 Lebanon Avenue. So I spend a majority of my time at her house. Are you in
favor of this project or against? I am against this project. Could you tell us why? Yes. So I do
spend a fair amount of time. Like I said, my sister is the homeowner of 6152, which is right