Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
we see mr phillips yet
no okay
Leonard Reuter is on
should he be promoted
you could
you could if you
Thank you.
Thank you.
hillary do we have mr phillips phone number
um let me check
i i have it i can send him a text and see what
he needed two minutes uh but he's been having a hard time with his computer
Right.
um darren bilby's hand is raised i don't know if he's coming in
um through mr bilby
uh michael says he's logging in right now
Okay. Yep, there he is.
My sincerest apologies to the board. My entire computer just crashed.
So you're going to cross now?
Yes. Okay.
All right. My apologies for that miswrite.
so just wanted to go over a few things so you your address is 250 west west stories is that
251 west west stories okay so if we're looking uh pull up a street view
so this here is the overview and then uh if i'm looking here is this your is this uh the house
or is this a neighbor's house that is my home okay and is this your parking yes it is okay
And how many parking spaces do you have?
I wouldn't.
They're not broken down into spaces that you could probably get four cars in there.
And that's your primary means of ingressing and egressing.
That's my only way.
Only way.
and uh presume you look both ways before you pull out onto pastorius
no i pull out extremely slowly and then i um then i look both ways
because i don't have a you can't see pulling out
now directly uh across the street from you there's a home being constructed is that
correct not directly across the street from me no okay directly across the street from the property
directly across the street from the property, from 224 Topohockin?
from uh 224 top of hawking are you
Are you aware of the home being constructed?
That is up the street from me.
That is not directly across the street.
It's farther down the street?
It's closer to Green Street.
Closer to Green Street and closer to the property at Topohockin, right?
At 224 Topohockin, closer to the subject property, too, right?
Yes, it is.
Mm-hmm.
And are you aware of whether that property is proposed to have parking?
I don't understand what your question is.
Is that property built going to have parking?
Was he going to have parking?
Correct.
I assume so, because he's closed off.
That's his property.
That property was recently subdivided.
From the larger lot that faces West Walnut Lane?
That's correct.
Now, you're a longtime resident of the community, right?
Yes, I am.
And you know the long history of this property.
Do you even remember when it was, before it was owned by Mr. Bealby?
Yes, I do.
And what was the use of the property then?
It was a nursing home.
AND DO YOU RECALL A MATTER INVOLVING UNITARIAN UNIVERSAL HOUSE ZONING MATTER GOING BACK A FEW YEARS?
I'M SORRY, I'M GOING TO OBJECT. WHAT'S THE RELEVANCE OF SOMETHING THAT WAS IN THE PAST?
ARE YOU TRYING, WHAT'S THE OFFER OF PROOF AS TO WHAT'S THE RELEVANT HERE?
THIS IS FROM A PRIOR OWNER?
IT'S FROM A PRIOR PROPOSAL AT THE PROPERTY IS IT RELEVANT TO THIS COUNCIL YES IT'S DIRECTLY
RELEVANT IT RELATES TO THE USE OF THAT SPACE IT DOESN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE 2017
PROCEEDINGS IT DOESN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE 2023 PROCEEDINGS YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT
YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED WHEN THERE WAS THE NURSING HOME IN OPERATION
yes but there was a proposal with a unitarian uh universal house um that was proposed for
the property i just want to know if miss wright if she either recalls it or she doesn't recall
it i mean it's i i agree i i i we're we're not going to go there that's good no well it's
directly relevant what it's directly relevant because miss wright had testimony in that case
related to the use of this property in the green space and uh not disturbing it and that's directly
contradictory to her testimony i'm not going to allow no yeah thank you thank you mr chair
mr wright do you recall ever testifying at any proceeding that the interior space that i'm
dragging my cursor over should not be disturbed and that the i'm objecting that i'm objecting
that you're trying to ask a question that in a different way mr phillips i i think you need to
move on there's been testimony that by the objectors that my client should change the
entire parking proposal and provide some sort of egress on green street mr phillips i think
we're gonna move on all right and i know you're you're not agreeing with but that's fine i'm gonna
move on uh not agreeing but respecting it okay um so uh did you add this we'll go focusing back on
your house over here is that parking that you added after uh at some point yourself or was that
parking always there when you purchased no it was like that when we bought it and because of a horse
trough that was there i believe that that is the same amount of parking as when the house was built
in 1890 something did you at one point own the greater parcel including this parcel that leads
My husband and I purchased
the entire property and it was subdivided before we purchased it.
Mr. Phillips, so you know, we're still struggling to hear you.
Did you own it prior to the subdivision?
No, I did not.
No, I did not.
I see your point.
See you, Connie.
Mr. Phillips.
I have no further questions.
Thank you.
Before we go, Mr. Reuter, let me just, I think it's okay.
We're not going to get to Mr. Montadez today.
No, I understand.
I've already.
So we don't, you know, we're not.
Mr. Masters, you have any follow up questions? I don't. I just have my one more witness.
So what I want to do, can you do this witness in 10 minutes, please? Because we gave this two hours and we're just coming up on this now.
I believe so. All right. I mean, that depends on Mr. Phillips, but I but I don't.
Well, Mr. Phillips is going to try to pop up.
The next witness is Connie Winters.
Constance Winters has been promoted to panelists.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
I'm sorry, can we have no more
screen sharing from Mr. Fox?
I'm sorry, chair. There seems to be a problem with
Constance. They are being promoted.
Okay. But it's not going through. There they go. Here they are.
Okay. Good morning. Could you state your name, please,
and spell for the court sonographer? Connie, you're muted at this point.
We can see your video, but we can't get your audio yet.
Can you hear me now? Yes. Good morning.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Constance Winters, C-O-N-S-T-A-N-C-E-W-I-N-T-E-R-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Mr. Masters.
Good morning, Connie.
Can you describe the property that you own that is where it is in relation to Darren Bilby's property and the location of the 15 proposed parking spaces?
Well, I own 6120 Green Street, which faces Green Street, but has a garage that opens onto Pastoria Street.
um and you this is a property that you own but you don't personally live there is that correct
no i purchased it in the year 2000 and renovated it um to prop to for use as spaces that were
uh more compatible with a residential neighborhood okay do you have any training
in urban planning? I did. I went to graduate school in city planning, and I worked for the
National Capital Planning Commission and a private consulting firm before I moved to Germantown.
Okay, we're not asking Ms. Winders to be an expert witness, but we just do want the board
to understand that she has a background. I understand that you wanted to review the history
of the ZVA proviso for the board as part of your testimony?
Well, I want to thank the board for giving us so much time, and I will be really brief
because we've already had eloquent testimony about the pedestrian traffic on the street.
I just, I will be brief.
I just want to remind the zoning board that this was a variance originally that was granted
with a proviso, which I reread right before this hearing, and it was very clear that the
Zoning Board respected the theretofore use of Pastoria Street as part of a historic neighborhood
and one that's federally designated.
Their conclusion was that they would agree to the variance, and it was a variance.
for the use of multifamily provided that
there were Tulpahawken curb cuts only with no parking on
Pastorius. And I feel that the narrative has
been sort of redirected
from the upholding of the original variants, which is
very important to people who live in the neighborhood, by
continually reapplying so so council i'm going to let her finish um but a lot of what you cover
but a lot of what you cover, we're well aware of.
we're well aware.
I mean, I hear you're saying it's been changed,
but we're well aware of everything you're talking about.
Well, I just want you to know that four of the residents
or property owners on the street
have really gone to extraordinary efforts legally
and through expenses that are approaching $100,000
to uphold the use of this street
for the good of the neighborhood.
And I'm hoping I also want to remind you that the city policy is now to promote pedestrian use and discourage automobile traffic.
All of the people who have testified had use of their properties on Pastoria Street before Mr.
Billby applied for the variance. And the original proviso respected the previous occupants and
their use of the street. And I'm hoping this zoning board will too. Thank you.
Ms. Winters, do you have an opinion about whether any hardship that Mr. Billby might have in this
situation is his own creation? Or is that something that you wanted to share about with
the board? Yes, thank you for reminding me. Yes, if you can show the screenshots that I took
a couple of days ago of the way the townhouses were constructed with virtually no access from
the rear. There are rear doors, but there's a fence that encloses a patio. The parking for those
townhouses could have gone directly behind the townhouses that are now built. The parking that
is shown in front of the townhouses was built after the proviso. And with complete disrespect
to what the findings of the zoning board were.
I'll withhold it.
I agree with Mr. Phillips. We've already had testimony about that
and we understand it.
These are your photos, right, Connie?
He's put in additional parking at the
eastern end of the townhouses.
which I don't object to, except that those cars would now have to egress directly through the Pastorius Street opening that was forbidden.
And although the occupants of the townhouses can come out a back door, they come out into an enclosed backyard where Mr. Bilby did not even provide a gate that would allow direct access through to the existing parking.
So this is the gate that you're, I mean, this is the fence that you're referring to that has no gate?
That's the fence that shows no gate.
And it continues like that for all seven of the townhouses.
What are we looking at here with this parking space?