There were nine people that showed up.
It seems as though nine people opposed
or eight of the nine opposed, nine of the 10.
We have more than 30 supporters
in the immediate neighborhood.
I've got four letters here
from folks who operate businesses all within 300 feet.
And we also have two petitions of immediate neighbors.
There's 15 on page one, another 20 on page two.
So that's 35 signatures plus four letters of support.
That's 39 in total, which is 30 more than the folks who came and voted to oppose.
There's proof of post, proof of mailing.
And this is the streets department's approval.
This is the letter that was mailed.
and this mailing happened timely, of course.
With that, I want to start my witness list
by calling first the architect on the project,
Mr. Adib.
And he's going to raise his virtual hand.
Chair, that attendee, Mr. Madi is allowed to speak.
Good morning, sir. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, Hadid Mahdi, A-D-I-B-M-A-H-D as in David I.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Would you turn on your video, please?
Mr. Chairman, I've got to figure out how to do that.
it should be on the bottom left hand corner okay
what's that all tools all right you're gonna come back in this panel
what's that all tools all right you're going to come back in his panelist you should be able to
do it then yes join his panel that's the only way to do it yep yep
chair the attendee should be allowed to uh sure i see it now okay thank you
was he sworn in mr chair uh okay i have not yes i think i did swear thank you yes okay
thank you mr adib uh are you're an architect for the project here yes okay can you explain
um why the layout as it is uh with these junior one beds and and how the contractor left us this
and how you decided to work it creatively.
The building is a rectangular shape, of course.
It goes from front to rear, the rear of the property line.
And the three levels were built with windowing at the front and at the rear.
There's no windowing along the property lines.
So it left us limited options regarding the light and air to the apartments at each level.
So given that, we placed the bedrooms at the front and the rear with pocket door openings that allowed for that light and air to enter into the living space, both front and rear.
And that was our limitation.
Okay, thank you.
And each of these units will have a trash compactor, is that correct?
That's correct.
And there's storage also available at the garage level.
Vern, I think you indicated that there is a basement.
There is no basement.
The garage is slab on grade.
Thank you.
And at that level, each apartment having access to that level, there will be trash storage there.
And the owner hasn't done it yet, but he intends to have commercial trash pickup.
I might add one additional note.
The apartments or the entire building will be sprinklered.
Very good. Yes, thank you.
And Mr. Adib, you attended the RCO meetings.
Is that correct? Yes. Both of them. OK. Can you explain the movement that we that Mr. Torres made as a result of the first meeting and and your expectations and how that meeting went?
Yes. There was no conclusion or decision made at the first hearing. However, the neighbors were not so much in opposition to the way that the building was structured.
In fact, they seem to be very much in agreement with it.
However, they complained a lot about the goings on in the adjacent area, particularly the property that faces Glenwood Avenue.
There's a common alleyway between the properties at Sixth Street and the properties at Reece Street.
And there's a gate that opens out to Glenwood Avenue, and that gate was broken.
In fact, the fencing surrounding it was broken.
And the property that you see in the photographs surrounded by yellow barriers, most of them had been removed.
So they were concerned for access back there.
What did the client do to address that concern?
Well, Mr. Torres met with them.
I joined that meeting with the neighbors from Reece Street, and he hired a contractor to install or fix the gate area and the fence that surrounded it.
And I guess in conjunction with that, the owner of the corner property kind of joined in.
And he owns a, for lack of a better term, a junkyard across the street.
for lack of a better term, the junkyard, crossed the street on Glenwood Avenue,
and he reaffixed the barriers so that that property would be completely enclosed and not subject to vandalism.
So all of this came as a result of Mr. Torres kind of coordinating the help to the neighbors.
And the neighbors, particularly on Reese Street, they really appreciate it. In addition to that, the lighting at the back of 3309 was raised so that it would illuminate that entire alleyway area.
And what it essentially did was to create a space that was visible by all of the neighbors and sort of put it into encroachment into that area.
And I might add one additional thing. I never verified it personally, but the neighbors were complaining. They said there had been a murder at that corner property in that rear area.
And it was a woman, as I understand, from them.
And that was a part of their complaint that seemed to have nothing to do with our project.
However, it was brought up at the meeting, in fact, pretty intensely.
And Mr. Torres responded to that.
Thank you.
And then there was a petition was circulated by the client to all the immediate neighbors.
Is that correct?
Yes, Bern, I might add also that I don't think this is all of the petitions.
There were petitions before or just after the first meeting, which is another two pages.
I think the expediter sent that over to you, but it probably hasn't been uploaded into these.
So it's actually twice as many signatures as you've illustrated.
Okay. Well, if the board decides to hold its vote until verification and review of those, we'll certainly oblige. Thank you very much. Nothing further from the architect, and I'm just calling my client, Mr. Matthew Torres.
Mr. Torres, can you please raise your hand? Okay. Mr. Torres has raised his hand. He's allowed to speak.
Mr. Torres, please state your name as Bell for the stenographer.
How are you doing?
My name is Matthew Torres, M-A-T-T-H-E-W-T-O-R-R-E-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Do you please turn your video on?
Join as panelist or attendee?
He's panelist.
Panelist.
I can't promote him.
Can you promote him?
i don't know why i wouldn't let me do that that time
he should be coming in he's coming in now
hello mr torres
yep do you do you swear referring to tell the truth told you with nothing but the truth
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Mr. Torres, did you hear my presentation to the board?
Yes, I did.
Is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge?
Do you adopt it as your own testimony?
And is it accurate that you purchased this property, hired a contractor, paid that contractor,
believing that he had pulled all his permits in order to build this out?
Yes, that's correct.
And is it true that upon learning of the violation on the property, this contractor literally disappeared?
And your attempts to locate him and find him have not been fruitful. Is that right?
Okay. And then you contacted my office to assist with legalizing and proceeding with the development if approved. Is that right?
Thank you. Mr. Chairman, I have nothing further.
Questions from the board.
can you go back to the um the the plans the site in particular and i may defer to mr uh
adib if uh mr torres i have a question for you so um this has now been sitting for how long
partially completed?
Oh, go ahead.
hello mr tourists go ahead say that again i said this has been sitting for how long partially
Hello?
Mr. Torres, go ahead.
Say that again?
completed about like i'll say about two years now two years and at any point have you had
someone come in and do an assessment of anything that was already constructed no to determine the
viability no mr adib is is an architect he he's now not a structural engineer he's not a structure
No, he's not a structural engineer. That's right. But all of that will be determined before all the walls are closed up. The city will have to get involved.
And he's already involved. But yes, I mean, as far as determining the integrity of the of the construction.
Has there been a preliminary review from streets yet for the curb cut that will be needed for the driveway?
I've already submitted the streets department approvals.
So they've approved it already?
Correct.
That's all part of my exhibits.
I'm sorry.
I went by that one pretty quickly.
My concern is that the tire shop across the street has an entrance right there, and that's a busy intersection.
And because this is a double-loaded driveway, you'd have to back in and back out to get the second car in.
I don't know.
The streets department approved the turning radius.
i can tell you that and if there's any other questions with respect to that i would uh
defer to the architect okay because you also didn't show the turning you didn't show the
curb cut in the in the plans either so it miss mr abid there
you should probably stay on because i believe mr johns is going to ask
some questions i was looking for the site plan these are the yeah there's no site plan i don't
I'll see a site plan.
There is a site plan.
There it is.
It's showing.
Showing this panel.
Thank you.
So what's the rear yard depth?
Can you promote, Mr. D?
Looks like 10 feet, Mike.
Then there's an alley.
Well, let's get the architect on to speak on this.
Am I audible?
Yes, you are.
Go ahead.
Oh, thank you.
Thank you.
The plot plan indicates the, or shows the curb cut.
The turning radius and the site document are included.
This is the plan that's reviewed?
And they approved.
And I believe that was in the exhibits that were first introduced by the attorney.
And the rear yard, there's a 10-foot rear yard, correct?
And a three-foot alley, accessible alley?
It's the three-foot wide alleyway. That's correct. That's a public alleyway.
And that's only accessible from the garage, right?
Or the storage?
Yes, that's correct.
And you said there were trash compactors in the units?
Yes, trash compactors in the units and more than sufficient space in the garage area for bins assigned to each apartment.
All right.
And they don't have to leave the building to access it, right? Everything is internal.
That's correct.
That's great. Thank you.
And then what's happening at the rear of the garage is the storage?