Mr. Swaggart, did you hear my testimony to the board?
Yes, I did.
Was it true or correct to the best of your knowledge?
Yes, it was.
And would you adopt and affirm that testimony to your own?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I have nothing further.
We're happy to ask you any questions you may have.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Any questions from the board?
Mr. Chairman? Mr. Holloman. Are there any provisos from the RCO?
No, there were no provisos from the RCO. I can screen in here a little bit for you, sir, so you can see.
Do you plan any security cameras, any form of security?
We do have lighting for safety purposes. I could ask Ms. Polanski if she wants to come up with me,
if she wants to add anything to what I testify to
in terms of safety standards for the ATM.
You're still unmuted, Ms. Polanski.
Thank you. Yes, we do have safety standards that are adopted for this ATM.
Thank you.
Yes, we do have safety standards
that are adopted for this ATM.
They include security cameras, as well as the lighting that Mr.
Careless spoke about.
Thank you.
Thank you. Any other questions from the board?
Anyone else like to testify in this case, please raise your hand.
Other hands, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Planning Commission?
property is indicated for ron bednar city planning property is indicated for neighborhood
commercial mixed use on the city plan given the site context we have no objection to the
grant and a special exception thank you mi 2020 does zero zero one six zero six one eight five
one south christopher columbus boulevard my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes
Thank you. MI 2020-001372, 331 West Gerrard Avenue.
Mr. Richard DeMarco has been promoted to my panelist, sir.
Good evening, Mr. DeMarco. Please identify yourself with a record and I'll swear you in.
hello mr chairman and everyone richard demarco uh i'm here for the applicant 2005 market street
16th floor filled up pa 19103 demarco is spelled uppercase d e uppercase m a r c o do you swear
affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do thank you mr complazzo
Mr. DeMarco, you agree to waive the reading of its refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I will.
Okay. Have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal, or referral, photos and plans five days prior to this hearing?
I did, except the tax compliance came in after we sent that on Monday.
No problem. Also, have you met with the RCO and have a letter?
We did meet with the RCO. We have a letter. It's opposition, but we're actually not that far apart, and I can explain.
Thank you. Please proceed.
Mr. Chairman, Mr. Board, I hope you're all well. This is the first time I've had to attend a hearing in the middle of a snowstorm.
I guess that's the new normal.
Uh, so, uh, this is a request for a variance for first floor residential in an existing, uh, currently mixed use structure where we have a, uh, a defunct commercial store on the first floor.
Um, I'll be as brief as I can, since you have a long list, you've had a long day.
the testimony that we can present and will present and my client will agree to and adopt
as his testimony is that they have attempted to market the first floor for commercial use this is
on gerard avenue there are uh you know some commercial uses but there are many first floor
storefronts that have already been converted to commercial i mean excuse me to residential
And this board actually granted a variance to allow a residential unit in the next door property two and a half years ago.
And I'll show you that when I share my screen in a moment, my screen, excuse me.
So my client will testify they have attempted to market this property.
While it wasn't officially listed on Zillow, the client's son is a realtor
and has shown the property to a number of commercial uses and no one is interested
in a commercial use here. There's already a full kitchen, a full bath, and it's already
reminiscent of a residential use. The current tenant is actually a holdover from the sale of
the property who doesn't even use the property for commercial use. There's a desk in there
and he's there maybe once or twice every month um i'm sorry mr demarco you didn't have exhibits
did you yes i sent exhibits on friday and again i mean for the presentation with us
i'll share them right now i was i was waiting to do that i'm sorry i could do that right
no worries thank you kindly okay here you go
uh oh hold on a minute
there we go
can you see my screen okay yes sir thank you
so i always have trouble doing this um it always you know this is the i'm going to go in a little
bit of reverse excuse me for that this is our rco notice this is our proof of the uh
This is our RCO notice. This is our proof of the RCO meeting on our flyer.
This is the variance that the board granted next door for residential use at the first floor.
You can see 2016, excuse me, 2017 calendar number of this board.
And this is the variance to legalize full residential use on the first floor.
this is a photo of other properties these are the properties across the street that have first
floor residential even though it's zoned commercial cmx2 these are our block this is the property
right here um you can see there's no signage rich could you rotate that
yeah this is where i have problems mr chairman i still have not learned how to do this i'm
gonna have to take a course on this um i can't rotate it i'm sorry um but this is our site i'll
try to do my best and apologize for that these are other residential uses uh here's the only
commercial use within a few doors. This is our site here. This is the property. This is the
store. This is the old storefront that we can't get a tenant for and has a defunct commercial use
currently. So this is the floor plan, Mr. Chairman. This is an existing kitchen and an existing full
Bath. The RCO, and it's Annie Moss, who I have a lot of respect for. I have a good rapport with
her. She may or may not be on the call. I'll show you her letter in a moment. They're opposed,
but what they asked us to do was do a quote unquote live work unit. They're not opposed
100% to residential use, but they want to maintain the commercial use.
So their letter reads like an opposition letter, but they would allow some residential use here.
So here's what I could say to you.
I believe we can, and I'll invite my client to testify in a moment.
I believe we can make out, we've made out a case for permanent relief.
Residential use is the only viable use right now, and we cannot obtain a commercial tenant.
but if the board is is is um uncomfortable with permanent relief i spoke to the client
and we would agree to a one-year temporary because the client actually doesn't necessarily
want to permanently convert the property he is willing to remain flexible while we want
permanent relief and a permanent variance we would accept a one-year temporary um
for residential use on the first floor. We can't do any commercial use right now.
So we need some form of a variance and a temporary one year would suffice. This is the site plan.
This is our petition of appeal. This is the refusal. There is a dimensional refusal for
lot area and the number of units uh but the unit is existing um so and this is the exhibit list so
i'm going to invite my client to testify uh and anthony saran tanakis is also on the call who's
our architect who can answer any architectural questions um i'm going to show you one more item
which is our letter from our realtor who
and give me a moment here
this is our realtor's letter he's had a professional opinion and has rendered it in writing that the
current commercial use is not feasible at this location at this time so i'll invite uh if tanya
If you could allow Aaron Junick to be unmuted, please.
If you see him.
I'm not allowed to speak.
Mr. Junick, please unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in.
Aaron, are you with us?
Yes, I believe I should be unmuted now.
Do you guys hear me?
Yes, you are.
Would you please identify yourself first and last name?
Our name is Aaron Junik.
That's A-A-R-O-N, last name J-U-N-I-K.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Aaron, were you able to hear all of my factual testimony a moment ago?
Yes, I heard everything and everything is correct.
Yes, I heard everything, and everything is correct.
I was going to say, do you also, is it true and accurate? And will you adopt it as your formal testimony in this matter?
I was going to say, do you also...
And do you agree with your son's letter and the history of the property and the difficulty in obtaining a commercial tenant for the space?
Yes, 100%.
And do you also agree that if the board is uncomfortable with permanent relief, you would be okay with a one-year temporary variance?
Yes, whatever we can do, they'll help pay the mortgage.
Mr. Chairman, that's my presentation.
I have a lot of respect for Annie.
I understand her position.
um so i think if if the board is as nervous about granting permanent relief we would accept
the temporary and that's uh would conclude my presentation i thank you for your time
thank you any questions from the board no no
anyone else would like to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
no other hands at this time mr chair to be clear mr thank you to be clear mr demarco the one year
temporary would be for residential or the residential use at the first floor level
obviously we would prefer permanent relief but um we we can accept a one-year temporary
as well. Thank you. Planning Commission? Ron Bednar, City Planning. Properties indicated for
commercial mixed use in the city plan. The applicant has not demonstrated necessary hardship
regarding the requirements of the code. The application is not consistent with our adopted
district plan. We believe given its location on a major commercial corridor that a variance is not
necessary to enable a viable economic use of the property before we recommend request for variance
not be granted thank you mi 2020-001372 331 west gerrard avenue my vote is yes with the following
proviso a one-year temporary residential use first floor level only yes for proviso yes with proviso
Yes, with a viso.
Excuse me, this is Sharon Saleta.
Could we give an end date to that?
Okay, the temporary variance will expire January 1st, 2022.
Thank you.
Thank you for your time, members of the board.
Mr. Chairman, have a good evening.
Thank you.
MI 2020, that's 000537, 3964 North 7th Street.
Chair, this is Sharon Saleta. We did receive exhibits for this application, but not a deed.
I requested, I emailed the applicant or the person who was submitted the exhibits yesterday
to request the deed and I did not receive one. Is anyone here for 3964 North 7th Street?
Mr. Chair, I see no hands raised for this particular case.
This case will be continued.
Was it continued in previously, Tanya?
I'm going to look, it looks like the application was from December 2019 and if I could mention
we do have the rep, Mr. Sloan-Folks from the council person's office for this.
Okay, Mr. Folks.
um excuse me this is sharon again we would not be able to take anything going to the merits from
mr folks so if he wants to speak to the continuance that would be fine folks good afternoon council
chairman chairman de chico zba board sloan fuchs uh sloan e fs of fire or lks office of council
and maria keyona sanchez room 508 city hall you're still under oath thank you please proceed
Yes, sir. This case has been, this is the third, one, two, this will be the third continuance for this case. I have a ZBA letter, a letter I sent to the ZBA on August the 4th and then on October 11th, which is to, we did not send a letter this hearing just to see it because we have not, we have not been able to hear from the appellate.
The appellant did meet with the RCO, and the letter we sent was in support or non-opposition of the case.
But if the applicant does not return to the ZBA, we would request a dismissal.
applicant does not return to the zba we would request a dismissal of the case
okay uh mi 2020 000 537 3964 south 7th street i'm sorry north 7th street uh my vote is to dismiss
Dismissed.
Dismissed.
Dismissed.
MI2020-001388.
4534 Van Kirk Street.
Natalie has been promoting
good afternoon um my name is Natalie Taveras Gill
good afternoon uh good evening Natalie would you please spell your last name
um yes my last name is t-a-v-e-r-a-s hyphen g-i-l and you are the owner correct i am the owner
are you a are you a for-profit do you have an llc or an lp no i'm an owner occupied um of 45 34
van kirk street thank you you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the
truth? Correct. Yes. Natalie, you agree. I'm sorry. You have emailed an exhibit packet with
the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal
or referral photos and plans five days prior to this. I have, yes. I did not submit the
application because it was submitted at the LNI office through the Eclipse system.
Okay. But did you email the packet five days to our board?
I have, yes.
Okay. Have you met with the RCO and have a letter?
We did not meet in person. We spoke over phone. And in my letter, my template one letter to the residents is stated on there to call him if anyone opposes.
um after the 30 days um he did receive give me a letter with um stating that no one has