Good morning, sir.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
They've been about to speak, sir.
Oh, can you hear me now?
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, Mr. Chairman.
Scott Frith, S-C-O-T-T, Frith, F-R-I-T-H.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Frith, can you please tell us your profession as it relates to Brewery Town and in particular this particular neighborhood?
Sure, sure. I'm an attorney by trade, but I'm a real estate agent with Compass Real Estate.
My wife and our newborn daughter live in Brewery Town, just across the river,
and I was retained to sell single-family homes on Pensgrove and Wyalusing by Thais Serrano.
Okay, and what can you tell me about the first two properties that were built by my client,
completely compliant with the zoning code, the two single-family homes?
You know, I'm not used to bragging about my failures, Mr. Antazio,
But I had 39.59 Wialusing on the market for six months, did 18 open houses, and unfortunately was unable to sell that house.
Understood. And have you looked at the proposed duplexes that are proposed for the otherwise vacant block?
I have.
Okay. And in your opinion, in your expert opinion, would these be more economically viable than the single-family homes that lay vacant?
Yes, sir.
Okay. And in your expert opinion, is there a viable economic use as a single-family home on these lots?
Unfortunately, no.
And unfortunately, in my experience, selling, you know, attempting to sell those houses
shows that there is not.
Very good.
And are you reasonably certain that the smaller units, the duplexes, would have a better chance
of occupancy for folks in the neighborhood?
Yes, they'll be.
I mean, they'll be more affordable because they're smaller and they'll fit the need better
than the larger houses.
Thank you very much. Mr. Mr. Chair, I'd like to call Ms. Carol Grosso.
Thank you very much.
Jason, do we see a hand? Good morning. Good morning. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the course stenographer?
Yes, Carol Grosso, G-R-O-S-S-O, first name G-R-O-L.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
You see, counsel.
Thank you.
Ms. Grosso, do you work for my firm as the zoning coordinator who works with RCOs and the zoning board?
Yes, I do.
Okay. And were you responsible for mailing the notice that went out to 320 individual households for the registered community organization meeting?
Okay. And Mr. Chair, I've already submitted those flyers and the proof of mailing.
Ms. Grosso, I asked Mr. Hand as well if Ms. Grosso would be permitted to share her screen.
Please hold.
Thank you.
Ms. Grosser will be announced in Azapanda shortly.
Let me share my screen and I will show you the document.
can everyone see the document i have up no no no well i selected share screen
what do you see nothing carol can you please select select the document and then hit shared
screen. I did. I did exactly that.
Would you please try again? Yes, I'll try again right now.
I'm selecting screen one.
Selecting share.
It's up. That's fine. Okay.
Very good. Can you open, can you, you said you, you
mailed the notice for the RCO meeting. And to your knowledge, the RCO meeting was had. Is that
correct? That's correct. Okay. And after said meeting, you received an email from the coordinating
RCO. Is that correct? That is correct. Please share with the board that email. Okay. And that's
what I had up. I don't know where it went. Give me one moment to bring it up yet again. We see
your inbox but we don't see the actual email yeah i know you do i'm moving i'm moving it over to my
other screen um i apologize for the delay okay let's okay here we go all right let's hope this
time there you go can you see that yes okay can you can you zoom in please
let's try
okay so after the mailing went out to all 320 households and a meeting was held
you received an email from the coordinating RCO is that right
Lorraine Gomez, correct.
Okay, please read the email to the board that you received right after the Registered Community Organization meeting.
Yes, this was received on August 16th.
And Lorraine states, good afternoon.
Thank you so much for meeting with us.
We have some questions about the project, and when we'd like to support it, can we set up another Zoom meeting as soon as possible?
Okay, thank you.
Mr. Chair, I'm going to move this email into evidence along with my other my other exhibits.
Ms. Grosso, after receiving this email, did you attempt to ask the RCO about additional questions that they might have?
Yes, we were trying to get some indications of, you know, how best to be prepared for whatever their questions may be.
Okay. And was your inquiry answered with the information requested?
we had multiple attempts in getting responses from it did we did you ever get a response
We had multiple attempts in getting responses from it.
um there was some response that was given at one point that um we received
and i'll have to find that one but essentially um
i might have it in another email did they provide you with the questions that you asked for
there was no specific question ever provided okay very good and are you are aware though
that we did uh go to a follow-up q a meeting with the rco is that right correct and the initial one
that was set up they never they never initiated because someone was sick and then they did another
one very good they rescheduled it as well very good uh did you mail did you mail a notice of
this follow-up Q&A? We asked the question of whether or not we needed to do any subsequent
mailing, and the response was no. Okay, so you did not mail any notice to the immediate neighbors
about this second meeting? Correct. Okay, and after this second meeting, as a result of the
second meeting, did you ask the RCO for a sign-in sheet and a copy of the recorded video of the
meeting? Yes, I did, and I never received anything. Okay, so you did not receive anything
after requesting the sign-in sheet and a copy of the recording? That is correct. Did you ever
receive notification or vote tally of the initial RCO meeting that was advertised and presented?
um not a never a tally but uh we did get no did you know the initial the initial the first
meeting did you receive a vote tally or a position letter as a result of the first meeting
no okay thank you very much not the chair i have nothing for this witness nothing else for this
witness. And I call Mr. William Taylor.
Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Can everyone hear me? Yes. State your name, please, and spell for the stenographer.
William Taylor. First name W-I-L-L-I-A-M. Last name Taylor, T-A-Y-L-O-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Taylor.
Mr. Taylor, you're a property owner in the immediate area.
Is that right?
Were you in attendance at the RCO meeting that was convened as a result of the mailing from my office?
The first meeting?
That's correct.
Yes, I was.
Okay. And you weren't in attendance for the entire time. Is that right?
Yes, I was.
And after I left the meeting and my client left the meeting, you stayed at the meeting, of course, for the vote or for any discussion. Is that right?
Was a vote taken?
Yes, there was.
And what was the tally of that vote?
The tally of the vote was five to five. And the deciding vote was a lady, I don't remember her name.
she said i'm not i don't live on the block or i don't live around there i just want to support
what the neighborhood wants after being pressed for a vote she voted um against so it was six
to five against so ostensibly though from immediate neighbors it was a split vote is that correct
yes very good did you attend did you get wind of the second meeting and did you get uh were you
able to attend yes i was okay how would you characterize that second meeting i would i
characterize it the second meeting was um it wasn't uh a q a it was just uh it was more
contentious and attacking in the first meeting it wasn't it wasn't like a a mix of people who
were interested it seemed who were enthusiastic and unenthusiastic about the project it seems
to be entirely all unenthusiastic people on the call okay was did anyone ever identify
themselves as being immediate neighbors no there was no was the actual rco head the person who ran
In the initial meeting, did they acquiesce to someone else who turned out to be a paid consultant?
Yeah, there was a gentleman who, the head of the RTO said she wasn't feeling well, or she had just come off of COVID, and she let this other gentleman basically run the meeting.
Yeah, there was a gentleman who the head of the RTO said.
Would you characterize the meeting and the tone to be hostile to my client?
Very good.
mr taylor there's a letter uh that was generated by uh not the uh not the uh coordinating rco but
another rco a secondary rco that um states uh that is sent to the zoning board where did you see that
letter no i haven't seen it okay were you aware that they referred to you as debunking my client's
claim that a single family home newly constructed is not viable in on this block were you aware of
that they were using whatever you said at the first meeting or the second meeting against my
client? Yes, I'm aware of that. Okay. And how do you rebut that? Well, my comment at the second
meeting was I jumped into, there was some lady who also doesn't live in the neighborhood. I don't
remember her name either. And she was basically, her position was that the price point that your
client was trying to get for her single family houses was too high. And so I refuted that by
letting them know that i sold um three single family houses one block over on a less dilapidated
block at a higher price point so i'm like it's not the price point it's the block and the vacant
you know the the emptiness of the block that has been the issue on why i loosened so that that was
my that was my argument and position is that the block needs to be filled in more to achieve any
price point. The people who came to see those houses all commented on the block itself,
not the neighborhood and the price point. Very good. So it's your position that you support
these duplexes because they will, in fact, help revitalize the block?
Yes. I think this neighborhood needs as much development as possible.
Thank you very much. Mr. Chair, before we bring it to parties of interest, I have to say that
in 15 years of practice, I'd never experienced an RCO situation as I did in this case.
We code-compliantly mailed all notices to 320 households. A meeting was held. It was a split
decision um and then a an email was sent under false pretense saying that they inclined to
support us uh but then when we attended rco leadership was absent a paid consultant then
created a hostile environment not my words my the witness's words uh and here's one of the few
female developers in the neighborhood who have consistently invested in this neighborhood
made to feel like, well, anyway, the point is that the RCO process was hijacked and made a
mockery of, and I do think that's something for note. More importantly, we have expert testimony
that these properties have no viable economic use as single-family homes. The proof is in the
putting the proof is on the block. That block is overwhelmingly vacant. And as a result, these
new duplexes, one and two bedrooms, will provide approachable price points, affordable
units as opposed to single family, and exactly what this block needs in order to turn itself
around with that i'd like to uh yield for now so that you can call parties of interest
questions from the board
no mr chairman
no chair no chair okay uh questions from our attorney hillary emerson um yes mr chair just
a couple quick things for Mr. Anastasio. First, one of the
properties has a different owner listed
than Ms. Serrano. Is she part of the
LLC that's the listed owner for that property? It's
39, 33 while losing? That's correct. Okay, so she's
BSM Investments. Yep. Okay. All right, thank you.
And the emails that Ms. Grosso showed,
since those were not part of the exhibit pack.
And if you could please submit those by close of business tomorrow
by close of business tomorrow
so that they can be included in the record,
so that they can be put in the record, that would be great.
that would be great.
Yes, and Mr. Chair and Ms. Emerson,
I do want to send, also submit into evidence
my email sent to the Zoning Board
at 9.04 a.m. this morning
objecting to the letter
that was sent by the non-coordinating RCO
as hearsay and inaccurate.
And actually, just because I have it,
I should put it up here.
Please bear with me. I submit into evidence 27 signatures of immediate neighbors, many of whom are on Wyalusing, in support of the zoning variances for the duplexes.