This is a CMX2 zoning district, but as I'll show the board,
this part of Mifflin Street is generally residential.
We're only one block, actually a half a block from Pass Yonk Avenue.
the property is, and that's really where the commercial district is now. This used to be
more commercial than it is now, but I'll show you the aerial photographs indicating that's really
a residential area. So the refusal really concerns the use of the first floor. The first floor used
to be commercial, and I'll trace the history of that for the board, but it's being used as a
two-family dwelling, one unit on the first floor, the other on the second floor. Basically,
similar as the property that's Catted Corner to where this property is located. The property is
at the intersection of Camac Street and Mifflin Street. We do have an RCO letter of support. Just
want to point out it is unanimous support by both the East Pass Yonk Crossing Committee as well as
the attendees. So this is Mifflin Street. The property is where this red balloon is. Directly
caddy corner is another two-family dwelling directly across the street is commercial it's
a deli it's a remnant of what this whole area used to be you can see adjacent to my client's
property is residential and across the street is also residential and this is the front of
the property there's two mailboxes on the face of the property residential to the east
again uh the store to the west is a deli uh that's been there for many moons in fact my
client's property used to be a pasta distribution center uh and was known as nino's uh market and
pasta and there's there's two doors actually there's three doors uh the white door leads to
the second floor uh the front door and the side door both lead to the first floor one bedroom
apartment it's 100 lot coverage always has been we're not asking for any relief
with regard to height open space or rear yard this property has been in existence for decades
i have photographs of the the basement of the property indicating that in fact it is two units
two gas meters two electric meters two hot water heaters and there's two heaters two furnaces one
One in the forefront and one in the rear.
Just some more photographs for context.
Uh, this, these are the plans again, this is existing, uh, come back street, excuse me, come back street, uh, at the bottom of the, the, the plan first floor, even though the front is listed as a bedroom, it's really used as a living area.
These are the plans.
Again, this is existing.
come action.
So it's really a one bedroom on the first floor, uh, with kitchen living, and then the door in the middle on come back street leads you to the second floor and that's a one bedroom apartment.
it the remaining documents are what i've referenced in my table of contents we also have our tax
clearance zoning map again for illustrative purposes uh the whole row the north side of
mifflin street is all still zone cmx2 there's only one property at the corner of weissmanger
and mifflin that is commercial everything else is residential as i say across the street the
CMX1, there's a store there, and then Cata Corner to our property on the south side of Mifflin at Camac.
Again, that's CMX1, but that's also residential.
It's a deed to the property indicating Ms. Flavia owns her property.
Her husband passed away several years ago.
Our notice letter to the community.
I just wanted to show the board that the previous uses, it used to be storage, it used to be Nino's Market and fresh pasta in the early 90s, and it's been used as a two-family dwelling for at least 10 years.
again just showing you that my client did have a residential rental license for the second floor
when she listed this property with a realtor to rent it he brought to her attention the first
floor uh was not uh you could not get a rental license until it was basically approved uh my
client went to councilman squilla's office and then the office directed her how to move forward
with this matter.
So in conclusion,
this is a request
to eliminate the first floor.
I'll go back to the refusal.
Eliminate the use of the first floor as commercial
because as the chairman knows
and the board knows
in the CMX2 zoning district,
the first 30 feet of the first floor
should be commercial.
This property hasn't been commercial
for over a decade. The majority of the block on both sides is residential. It doesn't really make
any sense to make this commercial. As I said, past Yonk Avenue was a half a block away. That's where
the commercial district is. We're not impeding anyone's later error. We're not further developing
the property. We're not adding to the second floor or to the rear yard. And we're basically
in conformance or in harmony with the code and in harmony with the desires of the community
as evidenced by their full support and unanimous support of this application.
With that, Mr. Chairman, I'll rest and entertain any questions.
Would you want to have your client on to come on and adopt your testimony, please?
Correct.
Josephine, can you unmute yourself and we'll have your mom adopt my testimony if she's available?
I have Flavia Carabello. I will give her permission to speak.
Good morning. Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Mrs. Carabello or Josephine? Yes, go ahead. Hi, Flavia. Hello. Go ahead, proceed.
Say your name
My name is Flavia Carabello
Could you spell your name please
F-L-A-B-I-A
Flavia
Carabello
C-A-R-A
B-E-L-L-O
Thank you
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
The whole truth and nothing but the truth
It's the truth
Thank you
Mr. Clinton, please proceed.
Hello, Mrs. Carabella.
This is Henry Clinton, your attorney.
Were you on the call when I presented the project for your property at 1208 Mifflin Street?
Did you hear what I said?
What do you know?
You heard?
Did you hear what?
And Mr. Carabella, would you adopt my testimony as your own and that it's true?
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Clinton, I didn't receive the additional photos with the utilities in them, so if you wouldn't mind resending them to include in the record, that would be great. Thank you.
Mr. Clinton, I didn't receive the additional...
Well, I'll send the entire presentation that I just gave now, which includes those photographs.
Okay, great. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Emerson.
Thank you. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
No hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good morning.
David Vecto with the City Planning Commission.
Chair and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning in this location from commercial mixed use to residential single family.
The proposed variance from the commercial ground floor requirement in the zoning code will bring the property closer into conformance with the recommended zoning.
The City Planning Commission recommends the board grant the use variance from the required ground floor commercial space.
Thank you. MI 2023-002-702-1208 Mifflin Street, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you, Counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
We're going to move on to number 10 and 11, but we'll be hearing the both together.
MI 2023-002-735-247-West Pastor Street, and MI 2022-007-363-241-Pastor Street.
Michael McElhenney is the attorney.
There's a letter of support from the West Germantown, from the West Central Germantown neighbors.
Mr. McElhenney.
He's been promoted to panelists.
Good morning, sir.
Could you state your name and spell it for the court stenographer?
Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Could you state your name, please, and spell it for the court stenographer?
Michael McElhenney, M-I-C-H-A-E-L, M-C-I-L-H-I-N-N-E-Y.
Good morning.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Could you identify your clients in any relationship to the property?
The clients are Mary South and Karen Olivier.
Okay. And our vice chair has just a few questions, sir.
Good morning, Counselor. 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?
I'll have these in advance of this hearing.
Yes, we have.
And we did provide an updated exhibit for the tax clearance for 241.
Thank you.
Please proceed and share your screen.
Good morning again.
On the screen is the exhibit packet for the property at 241 West Pastoria Street.
There is a second packet that was submitted that is nearly identical for 247 West Pastoria.
And just by way of background, preliminary matters, both packets have the zoning appeal at Exhibit 6, photographs of the property having been posted with the zoning posters at Exhibit 7.
The RCO neighbor notice that went out for the meeting on November 1st is at Exhibit 8.
the deed to both properties. It's actually a deed of correction. My client purchased this
from a developer during COVID in November of 2020. That's at Exhibit 9 for both addresses.
The tax clearance for both properties is at Exhibit 10. And originally for 241, we had an
issue with the abatement not being implemented, thanks to Council for the Zoning Board to work
with us in the Office of Property Assessment to get the tax balance. And now we actually have a
credit on the account for 241, and 247 is tax-complied as well with a zero balance.
And I'm going to zoom in.
As you noted, Mr. Chairman, we do have a letter of support from the community, 18 in favor,
three opposed, for our variance requests for both properties.
My client owns 241 West Pastoreas, which is their house.
247 West Pastoreas is their side yard.
It's a separate parcel, but it is used as a side yard together with their house.
The refusal, there are three of them.
My client installed a fence around both parcels, and we have identical refusals for 241 and 247 Pastoreas.
Essentially, the fence on the front of the property is more than six feet tall, is 6.17 feet, whereas four feet per minute.
more than six feet tall is 6.17 feet, whereas four feet per minute. And it's a wooden fence,
the majority of it. So that's more than 50% opaque. The side fence on the side side of the
property, again, is more than is allowed to be six feet, but we're 6.17 feet. And the reason for
the additional height is just how the install its company did their footer. And it raised it a little
over the six foot limit. So it's a very de minimis request for the variance in terms of the height of
the fence on the side of property. Exhibit three are just zoning maps and aerial maps for the
property. The property is zoned residential and this is not a use variance just for a fence
and it will help the board to look at the fourth photograph which the third photograph depicts
the property in the middle of the screen on Pistorius. To the west is West Topol-Hawken
Street, and to the east is West Walnut Lane. Pastoria Street is a very narrow street and
actually serves as the rear of a lot of these large properties that front the other streets.
A lot of these are properties that go back over 100 years, and these were estate-type properties.
My client's property was subdivided from this property on Tupelhocken to create two smaller
partials. And the fourth photo is a close-up of my client's house, which is on the right of the
screen and the vacant lot at 247 next door. And again, we have a wooden fence that was installed
around the entirety of both parcels that were seeking permission to legalize the height and
the wooden fence. Exhibit four are just the site photos for the property. My client's house is in
the middle of the screen. The wooden fence at issue separating the properties to the north
is highlighted. The second photograph shows that partial on the front of the property is a
metal fence that meets the opaqueness requirements, but it is 6.17 feet. So it is
slightly higher than what's allowed by code by right. And going to the south at 247 West
Pastoreas is the wooden fence that my client installed along the front property line.
Scrolling through the remaining photos, going to the south, just to give context to the block,
as the board can, and I should mention, not a zoning issue, but one of the things my client
does have a pet and that has gone through spinal surgery. And one of the reasons for the wooden
fence was to limit interaction with cars and neighbors walking up and down the street on
Pistorius. As you can see, looking south, there's not much of a sidewalk on Pistorius. It's basically
a rear drive that services the properties on Tupulhocken and Walnut Lane. Many of the properties
are built right by the property line by the curb line as you go down towards walnut lane or strike
that towards wayne avenue to the south most of the houses are long existing houses built near
the property line with off-street parking and curb cuts on when you get to the end of the block
on the east side at wayne avenue you can see old houses that are built right by the property line