You have your votes.
Thank you, folks.
Have a nice day, everyone.
Number 15, MI 2023-001804-6024.
On 1300 Federal Street, John McCreech is the attorney.
So, letter of non-opposition from Council Member Squilla and a letter of non-opposition from the Patch Young Square Civic Association.
But there is a letter of opposition from a group of neighbors.
Mr. McCreech.
He's been promoted.
Good morning, Mr. McCreish.
I'm sorry, I had it on mute there.
Okay, good morning, Mr. McCreish.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, John McCreish, attorney ID 68944.
I represent the applicant, 1300 Federal Street.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, yes, sir.
Okay. And our vice chair has a few questions for you, sir.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, I didn't email them in yesterday.
The tax clearance I had from the OPA site,
but my client did send me a certificate of tax clearance this morning,
which was not included, but I can email that right after this meeting.
But in the packet is the OPA site showing no taxes are owed.
Okay, please proceed and share your screen.
And yeah, if you could email that over to our attorney, that would be helpful.
All right.
with it you need me okay um i'm sorry i just have to get what i sent
You need me?
i'll open
you can share your screen now though we can still proceed with the case i understand i
understand i just uh okay i'm not that good on the zoom where do i do the share oh share screen i got
it okay i apologize share okay so i have uh the we sit we know we've we've seen that we have a copy
of that okay okay so that this is just the application the pictures you have a copy of
everything but we want to see the photos okay the photos are the photos are the d there's the deed
um there was 500 owed for commercial trash go back to that taxes are your taxes okay
yes uh hold on and i have i have i have a tax clearance this morning okay good all right
There was a $500 commercial trash or something, and he paid that yesterday.
Okay, good.
Thank you.
And that's connected.
There's just a plan.
It's a small building, and there's the photos.
It came out sideways a little bit.
And then the non-opposition from Pachyong Square with three provisos.
They didn't want any plexiglass.
They wanted two trees planted.
They have been planted.
You can see them in the pictures.
They're small, but no metal gates or windows.
They still have them up, but they're going to remove them upon approval of this, hopefully.
But that's part of the provisos.
And there's a follow-up letter from between Mr. Goldfarb of the Pasch Young Square with Mr. Squilla's office about that the trees have been put up and that they've complied with what they're supposed to do.
That was a follow-up email.
why don't you bring your client on adopt your testimony okay um
the client's adam zoo is he how do how do i bring him on i know he's waiting well he should raise
his hand and we'll swear him in for you okay all right adam can you hear that can you raise your
hand adam is allowed to speak please unmute and wait for the chair morning sir could you state
your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer. Good morning, sir. This is Adam
Xu, A-D-A-M, last name X-U. Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth,
nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. Proceed, counsel. Mr. Xu, you heard my testimony in front of the
zoning board? Yes, sir. Okay. And you adopt all that testimony as your own?
Yes, I do.
All right. And you agree all that is true?
Yes, I do.
All right. And you met with the community, Mr. Goldfarb, and you agreed to, you wouldn't have any plexiglass?
Yes, I will follow exactly what we agreed with the community and with the provisor, all the provisors, including the plastic glass, the trees, and also the business hours and so on.
And the security gates.
No metal security gates.
No matter security case, that's correct.
I have no more questions.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
I'm here, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Just briefly, Mr. Chair.
Um, Mr. McCreech, um, can, can you just identify who Adam Zhu is in, um, relation?
Can you just identify who Adam Zhu is in relation to the property?
Because he's not who is listed on as the owner and the deed.
Mr. Zhu is a tenant.
I think I actually maybe I didn't.
I thought I attached the lease.
No, you did not.
So please, please.
Yeah, please forward that to us as soon as possible.
that's my yeah that's that's my that's my fault i'll i'll uh i'll say i'll send the lease over
and i'll say i'll send the tax certificate over but yes questions or comments from the virtual
audience yes chair emily gates good morning could you please state your name and spell for
the court stenographer hi my name is emily gates e-m-i-l-y g-a-t-e-s right do you swear
or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do uh are you a neighbor
i am um please proceed i live at 1177 south 13th okay which is uh you know kitty corner from that
establishment. And I have just moved in and I own the property. And I had a question for the
property owner, but I also wanted to voice my wholehearted support for the opening of this
establishment as it is stated in the permit. So I had a question, which was,
is this intended to be a sit down restaurant?
Adam, you can, can you answer that, Adam, what you're, I have to unmute again.
I'm sorry. Okay. Yes.
Great. That is great news. I'm very encouraged by that. Thank you.
Thank you. All right. Thank you very much for calling in, Ms. Gates. We appreciate it. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
no hands chair mr chair i just i just want to note quickly um because the applicant in this
matter is a tenant and we do not have the lease we will need to hold the vote until we receive
the lease sure absolutely thank you planning commission thank you chair bergman and good
afternoon david vecto with the city planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends
no change to the commercial mixed use zoning at this location this property has a documented
history as food preparation and serving dating to at least 1998. the city planning commission
recommends the board grant the proposed use variants for eating and drinking establishments
thank you council as you you've heard we're going to hold the vote on this
um hillary can we shoot for next wednesday at 9 30. um yes we can mr chair as long as
If we get the documents, we'll vote on this next Wednesday at 9.30 a.m.
Okay, Mr. McCreish.
Yes, that's fine.
Hillary, do I have your email?
I'm sorry.
Maybe.
If you send it to board council.
Board council.
I'll do it as soon as we get finished here.
All right.
Thank you.
Thank you, everyone.
We're going to move to number 16, MI 2023.
Thank you.
Thank you.
MI 2023-001-770-1022 Dickerson Street.
Vern Anastasio is the attorney.
There's a letter of non-opposition from Passion Square Civic
and a letter of non-opposition from Council Member Squilla.
Vern Anastasio is promoted.
Good morning.
Good morning, Council.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Sure. Vern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O, on behalf of, I represent Joe Cofone, who's the owner of the property.
Okay. Do you swear for him to tell the truth, tell the truth, nothing but the truth?
Our vice chair has just a few questions, sir.
Thank you.
Good morning. Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his acquisition?
have emailed all the in all the required documents that is needed and required to
proceed with this case yes sir thank you please proceed and share your screen thank you
members of the board i just before i share my full exhibits i want to share with you the
property history uh which is sent was sent to the zoning board under separate cover but i'm
going to move it into evidence as well this here was a permit from 2016 the first floor was a
This here was a permit from 2016.
The first floor was a commercial space, a residential unit in the rear of the first floor, and a residential unit on the second floor.
So the history here is of commercial plus a two-family dwelling.
And I'm going to stop sharing this and share my binder.
I can get everything to work. Okay, great. So, 1022 Dickinson, our application is strictly for
the two-family dwelling. There is no commercial use in this proposal because the underlying zone
and classification is now RSA 5. Obviously, it created the refusal, and that's why we're here.
Let me show you. The property is very unusually shaped, certainly a unique feature, as you can see here.
The basement is just mechanicals, washer, dryer.
Here's the front door, and you go into the left.
You have an open concept dining room and kitchen, a living room and a bath.
and second floor you're going to have
bedroom and then here living room
and dining room and kitchen
this is the property as it exists
my client literally just purchased it this year
believed that it was a compliant to family dwelling
and as it turns out it is not
here's the shared area for trash storage
which was of major concern to the passion square civic association here's the interior photos
there's the block in which it sits there's the property in question as you can see the unusual
size double wide and comes into a triangle triangle there's another multifamily right
next to it adjacent proof of posting we've got these rco letter that went out to
138 individual households and the result of that meeting was a letter of non-opposition
from passion square and i understand that councilman squilla was kind enough
to forward a letter of non-opposition as well because of the unique uh features of the property
in question because of the long history of it being commercial mixed use with multi-family
And because my client reasonably relied on the marketing of this just months ago as a two-family dwelling, I respectfully request the granting of this variance.
And with that, I'd like to call Mr. Joe Cofone, if he's still with us, to raise his virtual hand.
He may no longer be on.
He's on. Mr. Cofone, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Good morning, sir.
Chair, could you state your name, please, as spelled for the court's sonographer?
Joseph Cofone, please unmute yourself so you can be heard.
Mr. Cofone?
Counselor, you are an officer of the court.
We will gladly accept your testimony.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
no mr chairman no chair no chair questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience