ZBA Hearing - October 13, 2021

we are live you and we'll give everyone an opportunity to uh let us know when you're

ready we're ready to begin with our hearings

okay mr chair we have 40 members or 41 members in the room right now we're ready to begin sir

thank you and to the board members uh when i announce your name in the opening statement

just please say present okay good morning 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

with our Vice Chair, Ms. Carrollton-Airey.

Present.

Board Secretary, Professor Plaza.

Present.

Board members, Mr. Thomas Holloman.

Present, Mr. Chairman.

And Mr. James Snow.

Present. Board Administrator, Mr. Jason Hand and our Board

Attorney Ms. Saren Saletter are also in attendance as is our Zoning Board Administrator Ms. Tanya

Sunken. 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 the recording is being made available,

will be available to the public by contacting our board administrator, Ms. Tanya Sunkit at

tanya.sunkit at phila.gov. 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 that.

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 enter an appearance statement call google

267-270-5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue i will repeat

that. To enter an appearance statement, call Google 267-270-5548 and leave your email address

and the address of the property at issue. I'd like to also advise everyone, please do not

attempt to testify in the chat. Any comments, concerns, or issues you may have, please address

them to our Board Administrator, Mr. Jason Hand. With that, I'll begin the first add-on

for this morning's session is MI 2021-000904. One Red Lion Road. My vote is to deny the appeal.

Harold Tenere, my vote is to deny the appeal

James Snell, my vote is to deny the appeal

Thomas Holloman, my vote is to deny the appeal

Sorry guys, Confessor Plaza, appeal denied

you're muted Frank sorry about that thank you we'll go to the 930 list case number eight

MI 2021-002100 2431 North 29th Street request for continuance is granted number 11 on our list

MI 2021-002095

4319 Wrong Street

Request for Continuance by Attorney

Mr. Leo Mogendorf

I will ask now if anyone objects

to any of those continuances

I have just read into the record

If you object to those continuances

please raise your hand at this time

Mr. Chair, Mr. Leonard Reuter has his hand raised. I will allow him to speak at this

has his hand raised i will allow him to speak at this time is that is that is okay yes sir mr

time. Is that okay?

reuter please identify yourselves by your name and i swear you in uh thank you may please the

board leonard reuter r-e-u-t-e-r for the city of philadelphia uh i'm actually

leonard excuse me do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth

i do please proceed sorry yes i just meant to comment uh ask a question about the one right

red lion road case i just wanted to remind the board there were actually i think technically

four separate appeals that were filed to uh one by uh two by um busselton civic league and then

two by sandmeyer steel so uh i just want to clarify that the vote covered all of the appeals

uh so noted sharon do we need to read them back read that back in i apologize i think that would

be a good idea thank you mr reuter i will um send the board the additional mi numbers

great thank you okay while we're waiting for that information thank you leonard uh

anyone object to the continuance that have just been read into the record for the 930 list

so you don't have mr chair thank you i'll now ask if anyone would

like to request a continuance or withdrawal

Mr. Reuter has his hand raised. I will allow him to speak.

Again, Mr. Reuter, you're still under oath. Please proceed.

Thank you, Leonard Reuter, again, for the City of Philadelphia.

I'm just asking the board and the other participants in the Green Street matter whether there's been any decision on whether or not that would be continued,

or I believe L&I has already issued a new decision there.

So I don't know if that's something that Ms. Soletta wants to address now or if you want to wait until that comes up on the list.

Well, yeah, let's wait.

I will then ask as soon as we finish with this question, I'll ask the next question will be, is anyone requesting a continuance?

And that may clear it up.

All right.

And no other hands are up, Jason?

I think I might have seen one hand, but it's since I'm going down, sir.

okay i will now ask if anyone would like to request a continuance uh for the ninth on the

9 30 list the continuance or withdrawal please raise your hand on the 9 30 list

as tina marie russell has her hand raised i will allow her to speak at this time sir

thank you good morning miss russell please spell your name and i'll swear you in

tina marie russells t-i-n-a-m-a-r-i-e r-u-s-s-e-l-l

you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth

i do um again i'm sorry about my my timing but i haven't looked yet i'm not 25 14 north 17 street

i believe that's a 9 30 list if it is um the applicant was supposed to put in a continuance

okay i apologize this zba hearing is corresponding with our food distribution so it's hard for me to

try to do both so i might be on the wrong time what was that address again 25 14 north 17th

3 30 frank and number three okay thank you so much 3 30 thank you okay anyone requesting a

continuance or withdrawal for the 9 30 list please raise your hand

i see no hands mr chair

thank you um hold on please

sharon have you sent that uh correction over on the red line road yet

i have not but um can we hold that right we can do that later i can read those mi numbers actually

I have three MI numbers. I believe Mr. Okay. Please proceed. Okay. The MI numbers are 2021-000-904, 2021-000-876, and 2021-000-875, all one red line road.

My vote is to deny the appeal on all three MIs and MI numbers.

Carol Tenere, my vote is to deny on all three cases to deny the appeal.

to deny the appeal. Confessor Plaza, appeal denied to all. James Snell, appeal denied to all three.

Professor Plaza, appeal denied.

Thomas Holloman, appeal denied to all three. Thank you. Thank you Leonard for bringing that to our

attention. Okay. I'd like to announce that case number three on the 930 list, MI 2021-002671,

1451 North Broad Street. We're going to move that case to the end of the 930 list. We expect it to

be a long hearing. So we will move that to the end of the 930 list. Having said that, we will now

begin with the case number one MI 2021-002-178-10156 Busselton Avenue. Sean Ward is the attorney of

record. As of my notes that I have we have not yet received a letter from Somerton Civic.

Mr. Ward if you're out there please identify yourself and I'll swear you in.

good morning mr chairman sean ward on behalf of the applicant

olig ustaiev uh property 10156-58 musselton avenue calendar you swear we're firm to tell

the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i do thank you sir please proceed

do we have our questions yeah we do i was waiting for the chairman to say i know my

mistakes are that's okay do you agree to weigh the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its

accuracy yes i do have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance

refusal referral photos under plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing

and have you met with the rco and do you have a letter yes to all the above with regard to the

rco letter it was submitted late yesterday uh it was submitted via email to rco's eba

on which i was copied and i do have a copy of it with me today it is a letter of opposition

okay you may proceed thank you very much sure

just to confirm can everybody uh see my screen share

yes okay thank you uh mr chairman members of the board i've submitted my typical exhibit packet

um it looks familiar to you it's the same packet i submit every case the again the applicant is

Oleg Ustayev, O-L-E-G-U-S-T-E-Y-E-V. He is the president of the Bukharian Jewish Community

of Somerton. He is represented today here by his son, who is also a member of the

Bukharian Jewish Community of Somerton. The property is 10156-58 Busselton Avenue.

again the calendar is 2020-002-178 this application resulted in a notice of refusal the application

was for a permit for the consolidation of two lots into one and for the erection of a detached

structure for use as a community center with accessory offices it resulted in five refusals

one more than one principal use on a lot is not permitted in the rsd3 district more than one

principle building on the lot is not permitted a community center is not permitted in the rsd3

there is a side yard setback variance request 15 feet is required versus 11 feet four

is proposed and that is that consists of the existing dwelling on the site which

we intended to allow to remain for other use and then there is a refusal for bicycle spaces

two are required, zero are proposed. Accordingly, we seek relief today for two-use variances and

three-dimensional variances. A2 is the application of appeal. A3, the project information form.

A4, proof of ownership. A5, tax clearance. A6 is the lot consolidation survey plan.

A7 are the site plans. A8 are the elevation and floor plans. A9 are photographs.

address. A-10 is my RCO meeting notice with a certificate of mailing. Pardon the typo there.

Pardon the typo there. A-11 is the RCO letter, again, which was submitted directly, and I do have a copy of it with me today that I can share on my screen.

A-11 is the RCO letter. Again, which

A-12 is the relevant zoning history, 10-156, Hustleton.

1950, it was the erection of a single-family dwelling.

In 1982, it was used as a law office in one apartment.

1988, again, law office in one apartment.

and then in 2009 a zoning permit was issued for the demolition of that mixed-use structure

following a fire. 10-1-5-8, Busselton, it was a medical office and one apartment. A-13

is the zoning map and my screen's blocked by the, hang on a second, A-14 is the aerial photograph.

Again, so we have a copy of the refusal attached to the application.

We have a copy of the application of appeal, the project information form, my transmittal

letter to the board filing the appeal, a copy of the deed for 10-156, a copy of the

D for 10-158. Tax clearance for, let me blow that up, tax clearance for 10-156, showing the taxes

are paid through 2021. Same thing for, wait a second, and for 10-158, taxes are paid through

tax year 2021. Then we have the lot consolidation plan as you will see. There are two lots 10156

Busselton Avenue, 10158 Busselton Avenue. There are narrow lots very deep. Towards the front of

10158 is that existing frame dwelling which was used as a medical office and a one apartment.

The plan is to consolidate those two lots into one that has been reviewed by the survey and

regulators and approved, and therefore the application was filed.

Moving along, we have the zoning plan, which was submitted. I have a better copy that we can use

for display purposes here. Basically, the plan calls for the erection of a detached structure

towards the rear of the property to be used at the first floor as a community center for

the Bucharian Jewish community of Somerton, which basically entails Somerton, Busselton,

Huntington Valley, and portions of Trevos Feasterville. It calls for on-site parking of up to

22 parking spaces. Again, the existing structure would remain and hopefully be used in the future as

some other business office uh if the board was of a mind that that should not remain we

we'd be amenable to discussing that and accepting that uh going back i'm sorry you'll see let me go

back to this one you'll see we provide buffering landscape buffering around the perimeter of the

property as well as some interior landscaping on the lot as required by the planning commission

There is also buffering screening the parking lot from the front street.

There is an existing common driveway curb cut at the front that was shared by both lots

that will remain and be utilized for the community center if approved.

So with regard to the floor plans, the front elevation you'll see the first floor would be

used as a community center. Above there would be accessory offices for use by the community center

staff and the Bukharian Jewish community of Somerton, additionally there will be offices

that could be rented to members of the community for business purposes at that site. The reasoning

for that is to offset the cost of the maintenance of the community center as a non-profit. So again,

typical floor plan for the second and third floors. Series of offices, these are conceptual,

as you can see on the plan. There will be an elevator serving all three floors with a separate

entrance for the offices at the other end of the building. Again, then the community center

entry to the left, it would provide an open space area for community events and

it would be also available to other community groups in the area if they should have the need.

in the area if they should have the need. Okay, so the photographs, this is the existing dwelling

on the right. This is 110-156. To the left here is a single family residence. And to the right,

well, we'll get to that, but this is just a street view of the two lots together. And this

is the shared common driveway that we spoke of just earlier. Again, a front view of the existing

structure. This is the lot. There is a small detached garage in the rear that would be

demolished pursuant to the application. Two doors down to the left or south is the Beth Emanuel

Synagogue. To the right is the Jefferson Health Medical Center. I have an aerial which we can

get a better view of that. That is in there pursuant to variances as well.

Across the street is the George Washington High School.

Okay, so there's several pictures of that.

And directly next to the George Washington High School is the 10151 Family Medicine Building, Dr. Gardner, existing to this day.

And then you have views of Busselton Avenue facing north.

This is the Jefferson Health Center there.

Busselton Avenue facing south.

The white sign is the Beth Emanuel Synagogue that I spoke of earlier.

This was our notice of meeting.

The meeting was held at the Somerton Civic Association on July 14th at 7 o'clock p.m.

That notice included a copy of the refusal, and it went out to the address provided by the Planning Commission.

Certificate of mailing indicates that the 40 addresses contained on that list were

mailed a copy of that notice. And then we have the zoning history showing, you know, the the

permits that I discussed, they they are attached to documenting my summary on page one of my exhibit

packet. Again, the arrow, the zoning map, you'll see this, this lot here that extends from Varee

road out to Busselton Avenue or State Route 532 is the Jefferson Health complex. These two lots

here, the one blue and the one to the right, are the subject properties. And then two doors down

is the Emanuel, Beth Emanuel, across the street. Again, is the George Washington High School.

And obviously the tip of the triangle here is zoned CMX2, I believe.

So, again, with the aerial photo, I think it shows it best.

Directly next door to our property is the Jefferson Health Medical Complex, which has

been there for some time, permitted by variants.

These are our lots here, the vacant lot here, the pre-existing dwelling that was used as

a law office and an apartment was destroyed by fire, so that was demolished.

and again the existing structure so i do have with me today mr ward before you proceed just

uh that cursor to the left is that a single family home this is a single family home here yes

and left of that is another single family yes what is next this this is the bethe emmanuel

synagogue okay i wanted to make sure all right thank you that's correct okay uh i have alex

Ustiev on the Zoom conference, I asked him to raise his hand. I would like to bring him on

to verify and adopt. Sir, when you get on, please spell your first and last name and I'll swear you

in. Is it Mr. Ustiev who's speaking? It's spelled A-R-T-E-M-U-S-T-A-Y-E-V, like victim.

or firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing about the truth i do sir thank you

all right mr stye have you heard my representations to the board today

yes are they true and correct to the best of your knowledge information and belief

yes sir and would you adopt them as your own testimony i would all right thank you uh mr

chairman i would just add that this this strip of bustleton avenue i'm sure i'm sure the chair

familiar with it in your in your days and traveling the city um up in busselton is a very very highly

traveled uh corridor and we are seeking uh the permits because we feel that the use continued

use as single-family dwellings is not consistent with the character and nature of that strip of

busselton avenue especially given the health campus jefferson located partly to the north

And across the street is the, you know, the very busy George Washington High School, which generates a lot of traffic, both vehicular and school bus.

and across the street is the uh you know the very busy

And, you know, our research indicates that the highest and best use of this parcel is for a non-residential use as opposed to a residential use.

Now, would you happen to know the height of the health center building? It's a three-story building?

I believe it's a two-story for my let me go back to the

maybe that photo could

well obviously George Washington High School is three stories this is

I'm sorry well it appears to be you know one story with a raised uh you know roof uh from

the busselton avenue view i don't have a picture from inside the parking lot but

you're showing us what is that you're showing this the synagogue

no this is jefferson health oh i'm sorry the synagogue the other one right

all right any questions from the board no mr chairman no no no mr chairman thank you anyone

else would like to testify in this case please raise your hand mr chair and miss alice ufovich

has her hand raised i will allow her to speak at this time thank you good morning alice please

spell your full name and i'll swear you in good morning chairman members of the board alice udovich

u-d-o-v-i-c-h representing councilman brian o'neill's office we're affirmed to tell the truth

the whole truth nothing but the truth i do thank you please proceed chairman the councilman stands

by the somerton community in their opposition of this request this is an extremely excessive

variance request and the applicant has not proven hardship these these lots and that

one building can be used a single family thank you anyone else to testify in this case

No further hats, Mr. Chair.

Thank you.

Planning Commission?

Thank you, Chairman DiCicco, Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.

That's H-E-G-A-R-T-Y.

We're firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?

Yes, sir, I do.

Thank you.

Please proceed.

members of the board the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing single

family zoning at this location the adjacent non-conforming properties and the nature of

busselton avenue with high traffic and institutional uses do give basis for the variance the use

variances proposed the proposed dimensional variances are minimal and do not conflict with

the spirit and purpose of the zoning code and so the city planning commission recommends that the

the board grant the variances by 2021 that's zero zero two one seven eight one oh one five

six busselton avenue my vote is no carol tenere my vote is no confessor plaza my vote is no

James Snell, my vote is no

Thomas Holloman, my vote is no

Case number 2, MI 2021-001860

1102-04 East Columbia Avenue

Dawn Tancredi is the attorney of record

Unless it happened recently

We have not yet received a letter from the Fishtown neighbors

although I see my notation say if there is a yes vote with revised plan one page

stamp one page approved today. Ms. Tancredi if you're out there please raise your hand

spell your full name and I'll swear you in. Excuse me Mr. Chair Mr. Richard DeMarco had his hand

raised I would promote him to panelists. Mr. DeMarco please identify yourself spell your full

name. Good morning, Mr. Chairman. I am substituting for Dawn this morning, Richard DeMarco, D-E-M-A-R-C-O,

2005 Market Street. Yeah, go ahead. I'm sorry, finish. 2005 Market Street, Philadelphia PA 19104.

Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?

I do. Ms. Canary has some questions for you. Good morning, Mr. DeMarco. Do you also agree to

Good morning, Mr. DeMarc. Could you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?

the reading of the refusal and stipulate

I can certainly waive. I can stipulate to the accuracy.

There's one mathematical error, though, in the refusal that is covered in our revised proviso form.

There's a math error on the open space. It's larger than what is shown on the refusal as part of the revised proviso form.

have you emailed otherwise i can stipulate sorry okay have you emailed the exhibit packet with the

required documents proof of ownership tax compliance refusal referral photos and or

plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing and have you met with the rco and

do you have a letter uh yes to uh all the mailings and the emails we did submit some supplemental

information yesterday which are public information the zoning archives which i do want to refer to

today but all of the other things were submitted in a timely manner uh we don't have an rco letter

but we did meet with the neighbors and there was excuse me there was uh certificates of

you may proceed thank you thank you i'll thank you everyone i'll share my screen

what you're doing sharon did we get a letter from the rco

I didn't receive one. Thank you. I can say, Mr. Chairman, that there were some concerns from the

RCO. I don't know if they're fully opposed, but we can address the issue that we are aware of in

our presentation. So I put this collection of photos up first. As you can, first of all,

can everybody see my screen and hear me okay yes we hear you better than the other day but

apparently it's good you keep it it's on the back order mr chairman my microphone i'm sorry but i'm

very close to my screen today so hopefully that should be fine anyway it's better than the other

day that's for sure oh that's good so um this is the structure mr chairman and members of the board

As you can see, this is, and we're zoned CMX2, but it is a split zone.

If you follow my course here, the building actually includes this yellow RSA5 lot.

It's two long lots consolidated.

It's a CMX2 property, but the structure encompasses this RSA5 piece.

But because it's less than 20% of the total lot, it does not govern the lot,

and the CMX 2 property governs. We have a use refusal to not include commercial space on the

first floor. As you'll see from my testimony and the owner and Mr. Rustin Oler from Harman Deutsch,

this is an island of a commercial zoning in a number of row homes and residential single

family zoning. We are proposing to match that and actually provide a lower density than what is

permitted under the CMX2, and we're proposing five townhomes, five units total. As you can see,

Mr. Chairman, this property is an industrial property that is long vacant for over 15 years.

There have been multiple attempts to develop the property consistent with the underlying zoning

that have failed. Three separate attempts, which I will get into in a moment. But

this property was used in the past for woodworking, lumber, a typical industrial use

in a residential neighborhood. And the use is obsolete. The building is obsolete and it is no

longer viable and is no longer usable. And as the board knows, that is the essence of

unnecessary hardship. The new development in the area you can see down here their townhomes here

are single family in nature and we do have a variance for the parking. We are proposing and

I'll get to our plans in a moment but we are proposing five curb cuts for a one garage space

per unit. What we will show you in a moment is that this block of Wildey Street here has multiple

curb cuts. We are not displacing any on-street parking and there is a long history of curb cuts

and garage and pad parking along Wildey Street so we are consistent with the area. This is a design

document provided by Mr. Rustin Oler who will testify in a moment. We did look at all of the

lots of long-wieldy. The blue or the light blue are either pad parking or curb cuts.

This is the new construction here. There is a curb cut here to allow off-street parking for those.

There is a curb cut here to allow off-street parking for those areas.

There is a double curb cut here for the residential property directly across the street.

This is our site here, Mr. Chairman, in red.

And you can see all of the curb cuts that exist within this area.

Even Columbia Street, which has on-street parking, has a curb cut or two.

But we are not proposing anything unusual with regards to the community.

I do want to show you, this is the floor layout and first floor.

And I want to mention this particular, this is the basement, but what you will see here,

Mr. Chairman, this gets to why we need a, we are asking for a small, what we believe to be

de minimis height variance. This is unexcavated. We avoided, we do have this very, very narrow,

a small basement that would be excavated. But in order to not provide, when you provide

basements, it can result in complicated underpinning. Because we are not excavating, and we do believe

that this is a sensitive approach to the community, by not having to underpin, we will not, we

do not risk any issues with neighboring structures. But that is partly why we are requesting the

height variance. And by the way, the height variance we are requesting is now, we are asking

for a total of 40 feet, six inches. This is in the revised drawings and the proviso form.

We lowered that from significantly more in response to concerns for the community. So we

believe we are now asking for the minimum height variance of two feet, six inches. And that is

driven by the fact we did not want to have basements and we wanted to be able to have a

little bit more critical mass to have livable units. Note here, Mr. Chairman, the depth of

this structure is 40 feet, which is an abnormally shallow lot. That also creates a hardship for this

and why we are also asking for an occupied area variance. I'll show you a cross-section in a

minute so you can see we do have a rear yard, we do have open space, but I would like to note the

existing structure is 100% lock coverage. So this property has existed as a non-conforming

structure both dimensionally and use. This board recognized this hardship in 2007 when

it granted, and let me see if I can show you that. I'll get to it in a minute, but here

I'll show you the cross section. These are our elevations. Anyway, this board granted

variance in 07 for exactly a similar use fully residential height variances occupied area

variances very similar and six units very similar to what we are asking for now i'll pull up the

archives here this is the refusal from the 07 case where this board granted rear yard open area

height and use so this board already found a very similar hardship with this property in 07

nothing has changed since then other than additional failed development attempts by

multiple owners. The property has changed hands quite a few times as it's been vacant for over

15 years. But this board already found this hardship. In 2017, we did do a supplemental

submission. Of course, I'm having problems changing my screen.

Let me keep moving. I'll get on. So I do have with me Rustin Oler, and I do have,

these are some of the cross sections. Before I get to Rustin and the client, this is our revised

plan. This incorporates the changes, the height change. And we did also remove the pilot house,

Mr. Chairman, after complaints from privacy from the neighbors, especially our abutting near

neighbor we did meet with him the client met with him last night i think we have an understanding

but we're happy to work with him to address his concerns he has a lot right here he might be on

the call today but i think we have understanding with him but he can of course address the board

but we did remove the pilot houses and there's just an opening to there is there is roof decks

but they are fully compliant but there is no pilot house you just walk up from the stairway

to that. That's

our revised. I want to show you some photos

of the curb cut so you can see.

Marge, these

photos.

Mr. DeMarco,

the curb cut right there, yes.

The one that shows the neighboring property with the roof deck.

The one that shows the

neighboring property.

You mean the large residential property?

Oh, there.

Yes, that's our neighbor there.

Did it have a pilot house?

Unknown, Mr. Chairman.

No?

Okay.

All right.

Maybe Rustin knows or...

That's right.

I just was curious.

And you can see we have our own curb cut.

there's a well there's a curb cut right there already existing on the lot for our property

there is a car blocking it uh we do get some parking here along the sidewalk um but that is

a curb cut that is existing and this is the curb cut uh that's next to us this is actually right

next to our property there's pad parking there this is a directly across the street you have

two garages right across the street obviously we feel that the request for curb cuts is not

unreasonable um mr chairman this board um granted those variances the same variances in 07 but we

also attempted and as of right not we prior owner attempted it as of right development

moving too fast for my computer uh you know in 2017 there was an as of right permit

hold which i'll show you in a moment which was never built which the as of right allowed seven

apartment units above a commercial space that is in the archives i'll show you that information

at a moment, but that never came to fruition. So there were two attempts to develop this property

consistent with the code, which failed. The last one was 2020, which my client can speak about,

and I'll introduce him in a minute. They tried to do an actual office space consistent with the CMX2

for like a headquarters of City Fitness that also failed due to market conditions and COVID and

the unusual placement of commercial space within a fully residential area.

Let me ask Mr. Karasavisius to raise his hand virtually, and I'll ask him to speak briefly.

These are other curve cuts.

Are you with us, Tadas?

Yes.

Tadas Karasavisius.

Please spell your first and last name, and I'll swear you in.

My name is Tadas, T-A-D-A-S.

And my last name is K-A-R-U-S-E-V-I-C-I-U-S, Karasavichis.

Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?

I do.

Thank you, Mr. DeMarco.

Mr. Karasavichis, say your name for us also.

We make sure we get it right.

It's Karasavichis.

Karasavichis.

It's a tough one.

It's Lithuania.

Sorry.

Did you hear all of my factual statements and testimony?

and are they true and accurate? Yes, they are. Do you adopt them officially as your own testimony

in this matter? Yes. Great. The five units that you are proposing at this site, let me go back

to the site point. Are they the minimum number of units to allow you to feasibly develop this

property? Yes, that is correct. And tell the board what you remember about the 2020 attempt

to try to develop this property consistent with the zoning classification that was i right that

that was attempt to have an offices offices there yes it was supposed to i think all the permits

everything was pulled and uh we were supposed to start construction to do the offices for city

fitness and um obviously the covet hit and overall the location of the offices i think the the owners

just didn't really love it due to parking and just being in the middle of a neighborhood it

just didn't work out so they just pulled they pulled out. So as the owner you have attempted

to develop this property uh consistent with the zoning and you were unable to correct? That is

correct. And are you uh and is there any confidence in you as the owner that you can attract a

commercial tenant to this location in light of its positioning among a single family residence?

no no the way it's located in the middle of a neighborhood that just due to lack of traffic

and i'm sure not a lot of tenants would like to put in uh anything in there and is the context

that we described accurate as far as the other curb cuts in the area that is correct

um so mr chairman that's all i have i do want to have uh that's all i have for a totus i do want

to call Rustin Ohler to speak a little bit about the revisions and the. Why don't we

why don't we do this in the interest of time let's ask the board if they have any questions

do this in the interest of time let's see us the board if they have any questions.

if not we might might not be that necessary to rustin to speak unless you think it's

that important so i'll ask the board and board have any questions no

mr demarco if you need anything for the record if you'd still like to bring mr rustin on that's

fine if not we can move i can do it with two questions if that's okay just in case there's

opposition today. Understood. All right. I'll be fast. Rustin, please raise your hand virtually.