wanted to take care of their tenants um and they decided they were going to replace this metal part
with a solid brick, you know, concrete block wall covered in stucco.
And this happened towards the end of 2023, beginning of 2024.
And this is what was constructed.
They didn't know or didn't understand that this required permits
because they thought they were just replacing one material with another material.
L&I does issue a violation.
so at that point great they had no problem trying to get the correct permits um and they went to
apply with their building plans to get this all legalized and that's when it came back
with a refusal so we're going to go back to the refusal here to talk about
um why i don't think this is accurate and then if it is accurate why we have a hardship so um
The one refusal we received was for fences in the front yard, and the refusal was any fence located nearer to the front lot line, then the required building setback, or the actual distance of the building from the lot line, shall be no more than four feet in height and no more than 50% opaque.
this fence is not it is in line hold on I just I'm just getting back to where we're at hold on
one second because I want to be able to show you why I talk about it if you can see it's 100% in
line with the facade of these adjacent buildings it's not in front of the lot line it's not anywhere
beyond where the front of the facade of this building would be. In many other
In many other circumstances, if they didn't want to have a fence here, for example, so before I go on to that, so I don't think that that's a correct refusal because this is not in front of the facade, in front of the property line, in front of the building.
circumstances, if they didn't want to have a fence here, for example,
This is in line with the building. And I understand where the refusal came from. And in reviewing the code sections about fences, I think there's just nothing that really contemplates this kind of connection between multiple buildings along the existing facade line and the regulations for that.
because this is such a unique property where we have these multiple older buildings around a
courtyard with this one little gap that's fenced in and has been fenced in. So I don't think that
this is necessarily correct refusal. And I just want to state that for the record. I understand
we're probably going to proceed with it being that way, but I don't want to stipulate to it
being accurate. What I'll say in terms of hardship then is that if my clients instead decided they
wanted to expand their buildings and say we want to add on to the side of our building, we want to
make these units bigger, by right they could build a 38-foot building here. And it's only because
we're asking for a security fence and not for a building at this point that we're being limited
in terms of the height. And I do also want to say again, existing the previous wall here, this brick
is about a little under six feet tall already, and that's been there for a really long time.
And the previous fencing was about 10 feet tall total. This is a really unique property.
It has these disconnected buildings around a courtyard, where typically if you maybe had a
courtyard building, apartment complex, it would just go all the way around the courtyard. But we
have these couple of gaps where we need to fill in to secure that courtyard and secure the properties
of the buildings that are further back in this parcel. Obviously, I think most of us living in
and experiencing the city understand that a four-foot fence is not keeping anyone safe and is
not creating security for these residents. A 10-foot fence was not creating that. So I think
we have a really unique hardship based on just how these properties are laid out and where this
fence is located. We also understand that this, as it is, is not very good looking. So that's why
we're going to talk about how we worked with our community to try to get a better response. So
So let me just go up to. And let me just show you again. No, let's go back to. Sorry. I want to apologize. My brain is still a little messed up from COVID. So if I'm babbling to myself, I apologize.
Okay. So we had our first meeting with CCRA in June, June 25th. And that's where we proposed basically just legalizing what we had, what had already been done, that, that solid wall, and then maybe covering it with some stucco to match the side of the stucco of the building.
and the neighborhood understood the concerns about security they acknowledged that there
had already been a fence there that was pretty tall and understood that four foot is not a
reasonable fence height at that property but they were concerned about the aesthetics of this
of this wall of the fence which you know what we can agree on so what they had asked us to do
was go back and talk to some of the members of the community who had already, who had participated
in this for ideas about what they wanted to see instead. That we could have some sort of
compromise of security and a nice looking architectural element for the community.
And the general consensus was something more like what was there before. They didn't have a problem
with the bricks remaining. They liked the old bricks and they wanted to see metal above. So as
I said before, the problem was, was that people were using that gap to kind of reach in, plop
themselves over. And because of the orientation of how the top of the fence was, they were able
to jump over. Jim, what did you recommend? Why don't you show us what you recommend? Sure. So
what we did is we went back and we are proposing now to use a CMU 10 inch brick to kind of fill
in that gap area. It would be about a foot and a half at the lower point and about six
at the lower point and about six inches at this higher point.
inches at this higher point. And then there would be a four foot rail.
And then there would be a four foot railing
that all points out attached to the top of it.
When we went back to the community again in October,
they really didn't have an objection to this concept,
but they didn't want any stucco visible.
And so we agreed.
And why we don't have it on the rendering,
it is written on our plans
that what they proposed was to cover it in tile.
And so this will be covered in a decorative tile
that fits in with the aesthetic of the neighborhood.
We know it's a older neighborhood.
We don't want to put in like neon green
or anything like that,
which is something that will fit in
with the aesthetics of the community
and provide that extra safety for the residents.
And again, the total height of this would be 12 feet.
So we're going a little bit taller,
but we're having less opacity at the top.
And so, that's kind of a compromise. It's a little bit taller, but it's more in line
with what people want it to look like. And let me just show you the notes I received from CCRA.
One second. I have an email here. This is from Wade Albert from CCRA. And really, they were
looking for um you can see here that the request of the community was to just not have stucco they
don't want any stucco visible and we're on board with that i know you can't really make that a
proviso but this is a large building in this community and we're not looking to do something
tell the neighbors we're doing one thing and do something else um and if you look at number four
here too it says provided that your team supplies a redesign and eliminates the exposed stucco um
So we discussed an updated refusal at some point, but we just submitted proviso plans because it didn't change the refusal, our design, it was still for opacity and height, that they're likely not to oppose.
What happened was I haven't had a final vote from CCRA.
I talked to Wade this morning, and if you think it's appropriate, we would ask that you just hold your decision based on this presentation until they have a final vote in a few weeks.
Or you can accept that we've done extensive outreach to the community.
We've done extensive redesign.
We've met the criteria of what they have asked for.
But I did tell Wade that I would ask for that, for you to hold a vote for them.
But basically, we have a situation where we have a very unique property layout, we have documented security issues, and we've worked extensively to redesign our projects so that the community can, you know, our residents can have security, and the community can have something that looks, that looks good.
So that when they walk by, they aren't looking at something ugly or, you know, just a blank wall.
It should look substantially like what was there before, but just a little more secure for the residents.
So with that, I would and I just want to remind people that, again, if this was a because of the location, you could build a building there up to 38 feet tall.
So do you have a client that wants to adopt your testimony?
Sure. Adam, can you raise your hand so they can let you speak?
We will hold this.
We're not going to vote on it today.
They'll be rejoining us of Panama shortly, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you.
Yep, I'm here.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Adam Cohen, A-D-A-N-C-O-H-E-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Sure. Adam, just one question. Just verify that we've done extensive outreach to the community at this point in redesigns to meet their requests, correct?
Okay. And so you have had documented complaints from this building about security issues prior to raising the fence height, correct?
Correct.
And there haven't been any security issues since, correct?
None at all.
Okay, great. And then on that note, you heard my testimony here today.
uh do you adopt it as do you believe it to be fair and accurate yes and do you adopt it as your own
i do so questions from the board yes i have a question one could you pull back up the site plan
and walk through what that interior courtyard like from the sidewalk to the interior courtyard
what is the sort of the walking narrative sure so let me just i'm actually going to switch over
to an air to one that i can zoom in a little bit easier if that's okay um the plan in my
presentation packet it's the same documents but it's just not um easy to enhance so um let's
um let's actually go to a photo um hold on one second could you leave it on the plane
actually go to a photo um hold on one second could you leave it on
i i just wanted to show you so you could understand how people enter the building
i mean i saw their front door i'm i'm just trying to figure out what's happening in the court sure
so um so what's happening in these courtyards is that this is hold on let me just scoot over here
and move this so i can show so this is um you would where this striped area is i don't know
can you see my cursor on the screen I can okay so this area is the door right and that's where
people walk in to the building to the courtyard area this area right here and this area right
here is the courtyard this is one building this is two buildings three four five six
and this wall fence area is right there. So at the main vestibule, how high is that entrance?
Sure, so let me let me just go to the photo of the front of the building so you can you can see it
one second. So this is the front entrance. And as you can see, you know, it's right in between
the first and second floor, which is kind of congruent with where we're proposing this fence
to be. But this is completely solid. Is that iron on top of that too? Yes, there's iron railing on
top of that and it looks like i think there's some um like a little outdoor space for one of
the one of the units so my question was do you know the height to the top of that railing at
that location um i can see hold on one second i don't think i do off the top of i don't think
it's on the plans hold on it might be one second um adam do you know off the top of your head or
now no i don't okay so you can see here one second um the reason i ask is because your plan
and your elevations don't look to scale to the image of what you've shown or what's on google
earth and so i'm just trying to get a sense of like at the street side what is the highest
level that a person would not be able to see through this is the front elevation right here
So this is where the fence would come in. The highest part that's going to be opaque. Give me one second and I will zoom in for us. Okay.
And then while you're looking, my second question, which is probably for Mr. Cohen, is, is there a mailroom in this building anywhere or any common space on the interiors?
yeah there is a mail room uh borders lombard street uh it's also next to where the trash room
is so the mail and trash are currently stored inside the building correct so before i think
this like was predicated on this concern that people were jumping the fence and stealing
packages how are the individuals accessing the packages from the courtyard yeah so two ways
uh first off most of the packages are left in the vestibule where the main door is so when people
are able to gain access that's kind of the first area that they look and then the mail room isn't
enclosed it's underneath um like a hallway it's hard to describe it it's open to the courtyard
correct there's no door yes in the mail there's no door so once you're in the courtyard you can
right away easily access the mail area. It's not really a room. It's more so just like a covered
area between buildings E and F. Got it. So if I'm in the courtyard, if I can gain access to the
courtyard, I can access any of the buildings and I can access this mail area. Correct. And then my
second question is what are the actual activities happening in the courtyard on the other side of
the fence within your property line. Yeah. So if you could zoom out to the point, yeah.
Yeah. So you see the, that circle there, if you can zoom in on that, that is like a main area
where tenants will hang out. We have two picnic tables. We have six Adirondack chairs that people
also will put grills out there so um especially in the summer you'll see several tenants hanging
out there um by that area and what what's exactly against the fence because it looks like those are
enclosed areas with another fence yeah um so several of the units have their own uh fenced
in yards backyards or front yards so on the bottom right that's uh one of the units have has
So on the bottom right, that's one of the units have has like a front yard that's private to them that is fenced in.
And to the left of that, that's the bike area.
So we have two racks that can I think you can lock up to maybe 15 or 20 bikes.
And that was one of the main reasons that people were hopping over is because they would kind of peek through and see all these bikes.
So that was kind of like an appealing aspect for them.
And that's kind of also why we wanted to raise the height of the cinder block as well.
So people can't just, you know, peek their head over.
And are there any lights in that courtyard?
Well, we have like decorative lighting that kind of encompasses the walkways.
It's like a really nice kind of old style looking light.
I think there's about 10 or 15 of those.
uh that kind of like surround uh the walkway and then we did install one um
floodlight um what's the word i'm looking for motion sensor uh next to the wall fence i guess
in question um that was our first measure also to try and deter people from hopping over is
anyone walking by at night and immediately will flash that floodlight um that seemed to yeah you
can see right there seemed to work for a little bit but people i think during the pandemic became
more brazen and were jumping over regardless okay any other questions to to answer your initial
question um about how high it is opaque give me one second i'm just going to zoom in on that um
12 feet so no it's not 12 the the entire um fencing area is 12 feet right um but the the
top four feet are um are going to be that open metal grating so it's about eight feet um that
between the ground out front it's seven foot six inches here um with the metal is 10 is 12 feet
it's 12 feet yeah so because you have the metal on top of it but the but the opacity the part
that's completely opaque um is as you can see right here is is um you know around eight feet
depend it kind of varies there's like a slope but at the highest point it would be eight feet
okay all right um questions from our attorney hillary emerson not at this time virtual audience
i do not see any hands mr chair ron i'm gonna i'm gonna bring this back in three weeks
yeah um and what i and jennifer just so you know when it comes back
we're going to hold this for the um where the rco is to get what it is but
i would want you to have pictures of what it's going to look like and you talked about at the
top with tile we'd like to see what it is because okay this doesn't do it right so hillary i was
thinking the uh i think it's the 19th of february you want to give it the resumptive date okay
4 8 25 9 30 a.m for me wait what's the what's the resumptive date wait a minute wait a minute
Um, I, I, I thought if we came back in about three weeks, they should have the RCO done.