Okay. Thank you. I would just want to incorporate our letter by reference. I think it reflects
accurately our position and concerns with the application. And a lot of what's already been
said today, we would echo. I think a lot of it is also reflected in our letter. In an effort to not
be duplicative, I just wanted to put a few things on the record. I didn't see what the text of the
support letters say. I didn't have a chance to see them on the screen, but it's not clear to me that
they reflect some of the concerns that were voiced by neighbors and certainly not the concerns that
were raised in a public forum, which is what the RCO process is designed to facilitate.
I would also disagree that the various efforts mentioned to prevent provincial nuisances are actually prevention.
I think there are more reactions or reactionary to address nuisances as they arise.
I think parties are only one of the issues that was mentioned in our letter and mentioned at the meeting.
There are also concerns with the residential character of the neighborhood being changed by what is effectively a hotel.
um and the other thing i wanted to note um was the mention of a proviso um any proviso wouldn't
actually cure any of the issues that have been raised by the neighbors um so with that i appreciate
everybody's time thank you thank you very much um mr sokloff do you have any follow-up
none of this time sure thank you okay thank you anyone else in the virtual audience
there are no more hands here okay planning commission thank you chair bergman and board
members good morning david vecto with the city planning commission the comprehensive plan
recommends no change to the residential single family zoning at this location there is no unique
physical condition or circumstance of this property that would prevent it from being used in conformance
with the zoning code the city planning commission recommends the board deny the proposed use
variance for visitor accommodations thank you mi 2023 002 192 112 elsewhere street i vote no
thomas holliman my vote is no ishmael shahim i vote is no thank you counsel
is there anyone in the virtual audience who has a case that has not been called yet on the 9 30 list
I see no hands. Oh, I'm sorry, Chair. A hand went up, Belinda Doughty.
I will allow you to speak.
Excuse me, Mr. Chair, we already spoke with Ms. Doughty.
Ms. Doughty, please contact the office for more information. The information was provided to you in the chat.
Okay. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience whose case is not?
No more hands, Chair.
Thanks, everyone. I appreciate it. See everyone at 2 p.m.
All right, Chair. Thanks, everyone.
Be safe, Ish.
Perfect. Thank you.
Bettina, I'm going to start right in, okay?
That's fine, Chair. We have 41 attendees.
All right. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this afternoon's EBA hearing.
With me is Thomas Holliman, our board member.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
James Snell, our board member.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
LeBaron Leonard Palmer, who is from Development Services, serving as our alternate board member.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
And our executive director, Tanya Sunket.
Here's our virtual format.
Be advised, the proceedings are being recorded.
The video will be available by contacting TanyaSunkett at phil.gov.
Benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you're participating by phone and you wish to testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548.
Leave your email and the address of the property in question.
And finally, the question and answer box on the screen is not for comment or testimony.
And finally, the question and answer box on the screen is not for comment or testimony, and any comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sunken.
Let's look at our schedule for this afternoon.
number one mi 2021 004 541 251 rift district is mr orphanetes in the in the in the audience
mr orphanetes if you're here please raise your virtual hand
chair they have been unmuted and allowed to speak okay thank you
can you hear me mr chairman good afternoon mr orphanetes could you state your name for the
record and spell for the court reporter certainly david orphanetes o-r-p-h-a-n-i-d-e-s
i understand for 251 ripka street you're requesting a continuance could you
please give us some information on that sure um we uh this project uh is a uh calls for the
subdivision of an existing lot into two lots and to construct a single family dwelling on each of
the lots um the property is located on ripka street as you can surmise from the address 251 ripka
uh oddly well as you know the prop this one as you may not know this property is in the
maniunk area as you do know everybody knows very hilly right so ripka street um where this
particular property is located it's it's extremely hilly we have a refusal for steep slopes um and
the rip portion of ripka street that our property fronts on actually dead ends uh it comes off a
wildy street and then dead ends at the bottom of a hill then goes and our prop is you coming up
ripka off a wildy we're at the end on the left there are five through four or five i think four
homes single family homes each with a uh driveway and parking um to the right as you head up and
then it is a very steep hill that's all wild undeveloped just like our property at the top
of that there's a development project that's uh townhomes that extend uh towards hermitage street
There's a cul-de-sac and then Ripka Street continues. The city plan shows doesn't show any of those existing conditions. The city plan shows Ripka going straight through from Wildey Street to Silverwood.
And the reason this is relevant is that right now, because of the existing topography and because of the extent of the paving, when I say extent, how far Ripka Street is paved, our project calls for these two single family dwellings to be set back off of Ripka Street.
It's actually a steeper grade, our property off of Ripka Street.
That's where the steepest slopes are.
Our houses are at the flattest portion.
um we've i i took this project over from another attorney we had a meeting with the zoning
committee for the coordinating rfco manny manny young neighborhood council and what one of the
things i think they had requested when the prior attorney handled it and also requested of my
client and i when we met with them was that that for the homes to be pulled forward so that they
actually are right up to ripka street well the issue with that and i can show you on the plan
is that in order to do that, if you were to do that, the house on the second lot would,
and by the way, you know, we meet the lot size requirements, obviously the lot width requirements,
it's a zoned RSA 5, so the use is permitted. We've made some revisions based upon moving
where we moved the house to eliminate the height refusal, but to pull the building forward,
essentially the the grade of the ground would cut across almost half of the most of the ground floor
of the house on the second unit the one that's furthest up the hill furthest away from wildy
i've spent literally six months working with the planning and the survey district and now recently
have reached out to the streets department to find out if we can even accommodate if it were
even like, even if we wanted to, can we even accommodate MNC's suggestion that we pull
the buildings forward? Because what it would require is to basically excavate out part of
Ripka Street, build a retaining wall across Ripka Street, which is presently on the city plan. It's
not been stricken. And so we'd have to get the street stricken. We'd somehow have to get permission
to put up a retaining wall across that.
It's extremely complicated.
It's three different departments.
Survey district doesn't like necessarily
isn't clear on the situation.
So long story short,
So long story short, in pursuing the option or the request or suggestion of MNC, I've
in pursuing the option or the request or suggestion,
been working really hard, and we just don't have a definitive answer yet as to what would
be involved.
Mr. Mifro-Orphadides, you have made your case.
So MI 2021-004-541-251 Ripka Street, Cases Continued Attorney Moving Party.
Thank you for the briefing.
And I apologize for all these continued hearings and scheduling.
I've been doing this a long time.
I never imagined this would take this long to sort out.
That's fine, Sheriff.
Thank you for your...
Thank you.
Have a good day.
See you at 3.30.
All right.
Number 11, MI 2023, 003-746-8200-22, East Roosevelt Boulevard.
That case is continued.
And number 12, MI-2022...
Mr. Chair, Mr. Chair, this is Hillary.
I'm just going back to Ripka Street.
I believe the request in that case
was for attorney moving party.
Did we continue to?
You did?
All right.
Thank you.
I must have missed it.
Not a problem.
Thank you.
And then Roosevelt has continued as well.
Thank you.
So I'll go back.
Number 11, MI 2023-003-746-8200-22
East Roosevelt Board.
Cases continue.
And number 12, MI-2022, 005-434-5953, Masher Street, that case is continued.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience who has comments relative to the three cases that have been continued?
Chair, we have Brett Feldman with their hand up.
They have been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Mr. Feldman, just for the record, could you state your name, please?
Sure. Members of the board, I'm Mr. Chair. Good afternoon. Brett Feldman.
Spell your name, please, for the quarter.
B-R-E-T-T, Feldman, F-E-L-D-M-A-N.
Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
You're number 11, right? Roosevelt Boulevard?
Yes. The continuance matter. If I may just add, this was a situation where we
are working with the zoning board, city planning streets on returning back to L&I for a new review
of revised plans to accommodate a better set up drive-through for a Dunkin' Donuts. I'm just
hoping that once we get that refusal, if there's any way to work with the board to try to get some
type of accelerated hearing date on this um um why don't you do this why don't you call the office
and we'll we'll we'll see what we can okay yeah because i think just so we we've done a lot of
work we've already had meetings with the community and uh we're well along once we can get these
revised plans hopefully uh reviewed so that'd be great thank you mr for calling we appreciate it
is there anyone else who has anyone else requesting good continuance
chair we have someone by the name of lee horn they have been unmuted and allowed to speak
why could you state your name please and spell for the court reporter
can you hear me yes i can can you state your name
right do you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
And what case are you calling about, sir?
I was calling for the number 11, the 8200 Roosevelt Boulevard.
I am the representative.
Go ahead.
I am the zoning chairman for Ron Hurst Civic Association.
I saw that you're, we have your letter.
I was going to reaffirm the statements that we made in the letter and see if there was any questions from the board to us.
we we're fine with that sir we're going to wait to continue this to see where we stand with it okay
but we do appreciate your letter and appreciate you calling in thank you so much sir all right
is there any other requests for continuance here we have alan knockamson they've been muted and
allowed to speak good afternoon mr knockamson good afternoon mr chair members of the board
Just state your name for the record and I'll swear.
Yes, Alan Nochamson, A-L-A-N-N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Are you talking about 605 Glenview Street?
No, I just want to make sure, and I'm pretty sure that this was done, but I'm just being extra careful.
2000 South Street was supposed to be heard today, but we had it administratively removed.
was supposed to be heard today but we had it administratively removed uh moved excuse me
moved to january 31st 2024 i just want to make sure that that is correct hillary tanya
i see that is that is not on our list today so um it's definitely been moved i don't have the
new date um in front of me yes but it's not okay thank you tanya
Mr. Nockamson. No, that's fine. Did Ms. Tonkett say that it has been moved to January 31st, 2024?
Yes, Mr. Nockamson. All right. Thank you. I just want to make sure that that. Okay. Thank you.
All right. Thank you, sir. Thanks for calling. We'll hear you shortly.
Number six, MI 2020. Yes. Excuse me. We have one more person with their hand up. Sure. Absolutely. Okay.
Henry Rojas has been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Hi, Mr. Rojas.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Good afternoon.
Yeah, H-E-N-R-Y-R-O-J-A-S.