where there's accessory
parking.
All right.
Could you have your client state his name, please?
Mr. McPherson, what is your client's name?
Mr. Valerio.
Mr. Valerio, please unmute yourself
and wait for the chair.
Could you state your name,
please, and spell for the court reporter.
Sir, could you state your name and spell for the court?
Digno Valerio.
Spell it, please.
D-I-G-N-O-V-I-L-R-I-O.
dig no valerio okay do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes proceed counsel uh mr valerio uh you heard everything i had to say today about your matter
yes yes okay and it's true and correct yes
yes and you adopt it as your own testimony yes
yes thank you questions from the board no mr chairman questions or comments from the virtual
audience chair i see no hands at this time okay planning commission thank you chair and members
of the board, David Vecto, City Planning Commission. The comprehensive plan recommends
no change to the residential single-family zoning this location. The dimensional variance
for rear yard depth is a documentation of a long-term non-conforming condition. However,
there is no unique physical condition or circumstance of this new zoning lot that would
require off-street parking to be provided when it is not allowed in the zoning code. So the City
so the city planning commission recommends the board deny the variances for off-street parking
Planning Commission recommends the board deny the variances for off-street parking.
thank you mr knockinson you want to respond yeah again there's three instances on that block
817-19 uh 837 839-41 and there was one other instance on that block where there was off-street
parking so it's not our character to have parking of this sort in the neighborhood
And honestly, it's not the safest neighborhood to begin with.
So having this off-street parking will help allow my client to rent the property for the safety of their tenants.
MI 2022-006-191-835-East-Ontario-Street, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
i think we're going to see you a little bit later mr all right thank you sure number six
mi 2022 006 309 2205 to 07 north front street uh ronald patterson is the attorney
we do not see an rco letter yet hi mr chair this is hillary we did get one um over the break there
is a recommendation of support from east kensington neighbors association along with a letter of
non-opposition from council member lizetta thank you very much mr patterson could you state your
name please and spell for the court reporter sure mr chairman good afternoon ronald patterson
P-A-T-T-E-R-S-O-N. Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. Could you identify your client and their relationship to
this property? Sure. My clients are Josh Mann, M-A-N-N, and Graham Gernshimer, and they are
the owners of
Curio, C-U-R-I-O,
which is the equitable
owner and developer
and operator of this property.
Equitable owner meaning
this is under an agreement of sale
contingent upon zoning.
Mr. Howellman has
just a few questions for you, sir.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Good afternoon.
Do you agree to waive the reading
of the review?
Yes, I do.
Did you email all the documents that you required?
Did you meet with the RCO, and did you have a letter?
We did.
I don't have a letter, but we have a memorandum of agreement.
I'm sure that the RCO has a letter, Mr. Angleman.
Thank you.
Please proceed and share your screen.
Sure. Thank you.
Can you see my screen?
We did, and then it just went away, Ron.
Oh, okay. Sorry.
Yeah, we're good.
Good. Thank you.
So this application,
there regards 2205 North Front Street.
It is just north of Susquehanna Street.
The property, as you see, is this building here.
It is oddly and peculiarly shaped in an L-shape. It fronts on North Front Street, sorry, and the rear here on Emerald Street.
It is a vacant five-story building. It was built in 1875.
It is an historic building in a sense, not designated historical, but historic in that it was built and used by Fleur, F-L-E-U-H-R, Furniture.
And at one time, it was the tallest building in that area.
Mackensington area. It's been vacant for 17 years. The zoning is located in the CMX 2.5
commercial zoning district. What's proposed here is to repurpose and restore this fine building
back to life. It consists of five floors, a basement, and a roof. And generally, we'll get
into more specifics. We're proposing to create an eat-in restaurant, a micro hotel, and utilize
the roof by enclosing it and leaving a small portion open for outdoor activities. So as to
the restaurant, on floors one, two, five, and proposed on the sixth floor, which would be the
roof, obviously, we have a by-right zoning permit for that eating restaurant on floors one, two,
and five. The restaurant is to be a French-influenced food restaurant. And so this application
in regards in closing the roof partially, which is by right, and then using the partially open portion.
partially, which is by right, and then using the partially open portions here and here for
the restaurant use. And because the roof deck is proposed to be used for a non-residential
purpose, it's not permitted and requires special exception by the board.
The second use is a proposed micro hotel use or visitor accommodation, as it's called under the
code. It's not permitted in CMX 2.5, so that requires various relief. What we're proposing
are six units on two floors. So as the restaurant's concerned, as I stated, floors one, three,
and five, we have a permit, we're enclosing the roof, has been designed to capture and
contain and alleviate any sounds emanating from the roof, which would be back here and
on the front. We've designed an enclosure as well as an array of plants that acts as sound
absorbent materials to absorb what we know are the high frequency sounds, which are the ones that
emanate the farthest distance. And to that end, we hired a sound engineer to help us with this
design. And as you'll see, when we get to the end, I'll show you the MOA. We have an agreement as to
no use of glassware, silverware, plateware, and other restrictions as to this use,
and which is why we feel this will have no adverse impacts on the neighborhood. The deck
space is minimal. As I mentioned, all exhaust from the restaurant will be to the roof.
Here's a floor plan of the different floors. Here is the basement, and the basement area here is
where the trash will be stored for all uses.
The hotel use, which we'll get to,
has trash stores on the two floors here and here,
and some trash shoes,
but all trash will be stored in the basement
until it's removed by commercial trash hauler,
which will be removed from this loading area here on Emerald Street.
I'll show you.
Sorry.
All right. That's not good. There we go.
There's some interior photographs of the proposed restaurant.
can you see this exhibit one it did not come up did not come up okay
try this again
We see you.
Yes, I'm going to go back to this exhibit.
You see this exhibit?
We do. We're good now.
There's just some photos on the front on Front Street.
There's a side view. You see this old ghost sign here. This is Emerald Street that I've mentioned. Front Street, this is the corner. You can view the property near the L. Sorry.
It's real important on Emerald Street here is where the trash will be removed and all deliveries will be obtained.
I'll show you a floor plan and some elevations to show you
how the property will be reused here.
As to, so as I mentioned about the exhaust,
the trash, the MOU provides
that we will close the roof at 12 a.m.
We believe that the use of the roof deck
with our design and protections
will cause or create no adverse impacts
over any other permitted use allowed there.
Days and hours of operation,
Sunday, Monday through Thursday,
5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 5 to 11, with the roof closing at 12 as per the MOA.
As to the hotel, we're proposing on floors three and four, six units.
We're proposing six units.
Sorry, can you see the floor plans now? Yes.
Okay. We're proposing six units. Each unit has one bedroom.
Two units are 850 square feet, so they're quite spacious for 450 square feet with a lobby on the first floor.
The reservations will be made by either calling the property or through online, and there will be management online.
So we feel that the hotel and the restaurant does promote and support each other, which is kind of a common combination we're seeing throughout this area.
I did mention about the trash, and I showed you the floor plans.
So, in conclusion, we feel that the peculiar configuration of the property, the buildings, its past current and surrounding uses created unnecessary hardship to viably use the building for permitted use, yet we believe the hotel, as described, will have no adverse impacts in the surrounding area.
As I mentioned, we met with East Kennedy Neighborhood Association and the board several times held a public meeting, and we've entered into a detailed MOA I was showing you on the screen, although we're not offering as a proviso condition to the board because it goes beyond zoning related issues, but more operational issues.
I wanted just to show you that we feel that these issues address any adverse impacts that may arise.
So with that said, I'd like to ask Josh Mann to raise his hand and be promoted as a witness.
State your name, please, and spell it for the court reporter.
May I please unmute yourself and wait for the chair?
State your name, please, and spell it for the court reporter.
Sure. My name is Joshua Mann, J-O-S-H-U-A, last name M-A-N-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Josh, you've heard my testimony and presentation. Would you agree that it's true and accurate?
Yes, I do.
And would you adopt it as if you were your own?
Okay, and you recognize we're here for the roof deck and the hotel, and I'm showing you the rendering here.
And as far as the operation of the roof deck is very limited based upon the MOA, would that be accurate?
That is correct.
And all the trash, both from both uses, will be stored in a basement and removed by a commercial trash hauler?
Yes, indeed.
And how often is that proposed?
Daily.
And so you will be the owner and the developer as well as the operator. Is that correct?
That is correct. Yes.
You have and Graham have years and years of experience operating restaurants.
We do in all around the city.
OK, so you're familiar with the issues and trash and storage and loading. That's what I'm getting at.
Is there anything else you'd like to add that I may have missed or you'd like to inform the board about?
um no i think you covered it okay and lastly we did agree uh uh to the uh the items in the moa
and uh you're comfortable with uh being able to conform with those yes we are absolutely great
thank you um questions from the board no mr chairman questions or comments from the virtual audience
here i see the hands at this time okay planning commission thank you chair david effecto city
planning commission mr chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change the
commercial mixed use zoning at this location the applicant has not stated that the hardship exists
that would require granting a visitor accommodation or a non-residential roof deck city planning
Commission recommends the board deny the proposed use variances. And I'm sorry, Chair, if I may,
we do have one hand, Ms. Ramos. Okay. Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell it for
the court reporter. Ma'am, and you're unmuted. Hi, could you state your name, please?
there's something may be going
my apologies chair you can continue okay thank you um mi 2022 006 309 2205 207 north front street
I vote yes. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes. James Snell, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel. Great. Thank you. Good afternoon.
Thank you, counsel. Great, thank you. Good afternoon. Okay.
Okay. Number seven, MI 2022-006-184-242 Palace Street, TB 157873. And we're going to hear that
along with number nine, MI-2022, 006182, 242 Callow Street, TA-17157873.
Alan Nockamson is the attorney, and we're going to do both together.
Mr. Nockamson is coming back in as a panelist now, Chair.
Mr. Nockamson, you've already been sworn.
Just state your name for the record, please.
Alan Nockamson, A-L-A-N, last name Nockamson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N.
Mr. Nockamson, could you identify your client for both these projects and their relationship
to the property?