has something new and different we're not trying to ignore you we're not being disrespectful
we appreciate the time that you spent on this call but to be redundant is not helping this
process so if you have something new and different we understand the the aesthetic integrity of
dupont street we get that we get the driveway issue on dupont so if you have something new and
different then keep your hand up if not we would respectfully request that you put any
We would respectfully request that you put any of your comments in writing and submit them to Ms. Tunkett.
of your comments in writing and
Okay, we do have Celeste Hardister.
Celeste, you can unmute yourself.
Wait to be sworn in.
Ma'am, are you on?
Ms. Hardister, you will have to unmute your mic.
No success, Chair.
Okay, next witness, please.
Mary Cochran you can unmute your mic and wait to be sworn in yes ma'am good afternoon
good afternoon uh thank you uh for waiting uh please identify yourself spell your name for
the record and give us your address m-a-r-y-c-o-c-h-r-a-n on that two six two dupont street
the house they had semi-detached house next to the proposed uh site for construction do you
swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do please
proceed uh one thing that there's a couple of things mr obayem brought up a picture of a house
that he said he used as an example but it had a front porch all the houses on dupont street and
that most of the houses on fleming street all have front porches and he did not include that
in the design so it doesn't look anything like anything on either of the two streets
also there's a major problem with parking if he puts this driveway in in the back
and it exits out onto dupont street we are going to lose parking spaces my house
was actually built before there were cars none of the houses on dupont street have
parking places we have no driveways no garages where will we park it's already crazy with the
parking and we've all got parking permits and there's still not enough space to park
when he builds these houses it's going to bring more people in a very tiny neighborhood and it's
going to be impossible if they have people visiting them where will they park someone needs
to truly consider the parking in this area and what happens to those that come home in the evening
that work at night there is no way to park at all thank you for that consideration and thank you for
considering the porches as well i'm going
i'm sorry chair mr o'brien just very briefly uh i would direct the board's
attention to photograph 1d in the original package it shows the
fleming street houses um north of this site they do not
have porches uh and one of the concessions was made
uh the original plan should depicted an 18 foot wide driveway
curb cut that was reduced to 12 feet so the community would only lose one off
street parking space. Thank you.
Celeste Hardister. Thank you. Yes, this is Celeste Hardister, C-E-L-E-S-T-E-H-A-R-D-E-S-T-E-R at 368 Green Lane 19128.
I'm the president of the CRCA. I was present at the- Thank you and I need to
swear you went you swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do thank you please proceed i was present at the meeting in december where jordan abrams
presented to the zoning committee of mnc uh the the alternative of the four houses with the corner
lot x'd out and he was the only person at that meeting it became clear that he did not have the
authority from his partner nor the counsel of his his attorney to actually discuss alternatives so
as we worked through various considerations to try to get to where we could come to a compromise
it was clear that he was not he did not have the authority to compromise and so nothing resulted
from that meeting i i would add that i'm concerned that regardless of the design of what has been
provided by this developer of the potential design that there would be with a zoning permit
there would be with a zoning permit no obligation to build houses that are anything like what has
no obligation to build houses that are anything
been presented in the plan should they sell this property with the zoning thank you
may i briefly respond attention to my letter dated december 12th which uh confirmed the
proposed compromise plan again it still required rsa 5 but it was three houses still providing
off-street parking and the zoning decision does not include any provisos but my client would be
willing to accept the proviso to build the four homes depicted in the reviso plans as shown on
that rendering. Thank you. Chair, if I could mention we're almost at the six o'clock mark
and we have 330 cases and I still have five hands up. I'd let someone, I think what we're
going to have to do is ask those individuals, unless Mr. Wise, somebody has some new and
different information that you're aware of, I'm going to ask that the other folks submit written
testimony and and submit them to the board and we will take this matter up at our next executive
session we'll give everybody everybody time to have written uh responses and mr o'brien maybe
you can come up with something as it relates to the issue that of the compromise plan that could
be shared with the uh this rco and with the zoning board because it seems to be there's some people
We have a question, I guess, of trust or don't understand exactly what the compromise represents.
I'll put it to Mr. Kevin Smith.
I know he said he had experience as far as the compromises and that he had experience with if he needs to speak or he can.
We'll hear from Mr. Smith and then we'll move on.
And as I said, submit written responses to anyone who's listening in to the board.
And obviously copy Mr. O'Brien.
And Mr. O'Brien, you'll submit any compromise material to the board as well.
Very well.
Okay, Mr. Smith.
Do you want to speak, Kevin?
It's kind of awkward.
Kevin, you can unmute yourself.
I got an unmute pop-up list.
Okay, Mr. Smith, please identify yourself.
Name and address.
Kevin Smith, president of Manioc Neighborhood Council, 471 Rivka Street, 19128.
We swore you went out, didn't I?
Yeah, you did.
Okay, you're still under oath.
so um as we've said uh sort of repeatedly and you actually and you acknowledged is the core concern
is preserving the dupont streetscape and an rsa3 conforming development facing dupont so if mr
o'brien is prepared to offer that um we are prepared to hear it but he has so far refused
to offer any solution that approaches that so i we would urge the board to just go ahead and
deny this case and if he really has another plan he can he can bring it back but right now i have
no faith in his desire or ability to to to do a plan that conforming to the community's concerns
of an rsa3 streetscape on dupont but if mr o'brien is willing to say he's prepared to
propose such a plan we would certainly listen perhaps i didn't make myself clear the applicant
has tried to find a way to put three houses two facing dupont one facing fleming with curb cut
turning radii and parking for all three houses it cannot be done so if that's
clear now we can move forward the remaining issue that the board offered
was to address density if that is important to the community we can go
back and look at the three house configuration with the curb cut coming
from dupont street and and see if that can be tidied up but achieve
developing it according to the configuration from preferred by the civic is not possible
is not possible mr chair this is an application for a variance by a developer with an agreement
mr chair this is
of sale he wants to build the houses the way he wants to build them which is 50 feet deep
we're hearing he can't have a turning radius with a curb cut off of fleming but the compromise would
be maybe reduce the size of the house so that that turning radius can be increased just without
testimony about so I don't want to thank you for all your time I don't think this is the forum to
entertain these these things you've been very indulgent but it's it's what the neighbors have
been saying where we can't do it take this so in closing on on my end I do thank you for your
indulgence and all the time and to all the other applicants present but the this is a variance
application where these are neighbors who are long-standing neighbors invested in this
neighborhood protecting the character of what they feel is important to this neighborhood
where the developer is someone who who is under contract to buy this property with no prejudice
if if this important issue is is rejected by the board but I do not believe there is support or
evidence for a variance where there's no hardship mentioned why a project as by right can't be
constructed on that lot and when we talk about financial hardship these are not this is a use
variance looking to use a single family property for more than a single family use um so uh he's
creating where you're creating the hardship by claiming you want to subdivide it into four lots
uh and make it a dimensional variance that's that's not a true hardship that would entertain
any financial being said there's no financial evidence that's been presented uh what is what
is the hardship financially other than mr o'brien telling us that it can't be done um so again i do
thank all the neighbors appearing multiple times on this important issue and i thank the board and
mr chair as well as all the applicants here today uh thank you thank you mr chairman just for the
record i'd ask that jordan abrams raise his hand um chair um chair yes um legal counsel would like
to confer with you briefly uh we just spoke thank you okay good mr abrams would you raise your hand
please so you may be recognized hey bill mr abrams please identify yourself with a record name and
address my name is jordan abrams i live at 139 civil street i am the applicant
Do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, all truth, and nothing but the truth?
Mr. O'Brien?
Mr. Abrams, were you listening in to this entire proceeding?
I have been.
Did you clearly hear all the representations that I made?
I did.
Are they true and correct?
Do you adopt them as your own?
Thank you.
I have nothing further.
it no testimony on the financial thank you um the record already contains that record
i'm sorry what was that the record mr wise asked me to provide additional financial information
and the record already contains that uh testimony thank you as for calendar number three seven six
Let me start again. Calendar number 37679, 270 DuPont Street. The record is closed. The board will render a decision at its next executive meeting, which is September 16th, 9.30 a.m.
Oh, Planning Commissioner.
Chairman, can I ask a quick question of the applicant to clarify because this has been going on a lot and I don't have the materials in front of me?
So the applicant is proposing three homes, but you're still proposing four lots.
No, the Zoning Board, the matter that was submitted to the Zoning Board on November
12th was the revised plans with four houses on four lots configured as a pair of duplexes.
The Board granted the variance under those revised plans.
This is a reconsideration based on new discovered things.
The interim was a period that both parties took advantage of to see if a compromise could be reached on a three-house configuration.
The offer was not accepted, so there is no three-house configuration.
It doesn't exist.
okay so we are four houses on four lots it is the revised plan
okay so we are four houses on four locks it is the revised plans uh which were either supported
based upon upon the plan review with marty and and matt or were not objected no objection to them
uh if that was what ron said at the hearing so there's four houses on four lots yes configured
as duplexes our recommendation i don't have the recommendation from the previous hearing that
asked for the four houses so we're going to have no objection thank you i have one question excuse
this is sharon seleta mr o'brien if the board should vote to approve this they would be doing
it with the same revised plans that were approved in the initial vote is that correct that's correct
thank you thank you everyone that concludes the two o'clock session thank you members thank you
the stenographer you okay
do you need a break stenographer three minutes please five minutes okay okay
now you said it not me make sure it's on the record five
good evening everyone i guess i have to read this entire statement is that correct uh sharon
all right uh good evening everyone my name is frank d chico sorry the answer was yes i know i
know i knew it was i just was hoping that uh we didn't have to do it all right uh good evening
everyone my name is Frank DiCicco I'm the chair of the zoning board of adjustment I'll be
participating in today's hearing along with our board secretary Mr. Confessor Plaza and board
members Thomas Holloman and Mr. James Snell. Board Administrator Tanya Sunkett and board
attorney Sharon Saletta are also in attendance. For those of you who haven't participated in one
of our virtual hearings I'll go through some of the basics of what you can expect. First
we'll begin this evening's session by reading a list of cases to be continued.
If you believe that any case announced is being continued in error, we will give you
an opportunity to respond. After reading the continuance list and receiving any feedback,
we will take any additional continuance request and or withdrawal request. Then once we've
confirm which hearings are being continued, Mr. Plaza or Mr. Snell will begin calling the
remaining cases listed for this session. When a case is called, we ask that attorneys representing
applicants or other interested parties in the matter identify themselves for the record.
We will then hear the appellant's presentation, followed by any presentation by attorneys
representing other parties interested parties and members of the
public not represented by council will then be
given an opportunity to testify we will finally read the recommendation
of the planning commission at the hearing's conclusion we will
either vote the matter immediately or hold it for discussion in executive
session any case held for discussion will be
voted at the next scheduled wednesday morning session
Please note the following changes related to the virtual format.
First, we will be administering oaths to individuals prior to their testimony.
Second, for the benefit of anyone participating by phone, we ask that attorneys and witnesses
identify themselves prior to speaking or testifying. Third, we'd like to advise everyone
that this proceeding is being recorded and that by participating, you acknowledge your
agreement to be recorded. Fourth, for anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify,
you must raise your hand by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself. I'll repeat,
for anyone wishing to participate by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by
hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself. Finally, to enter an appearance statement,
call google 267-270-5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue
i'll repeat to enter an appearance statement call google 267-270-5548 and leave your email address