City of Middletown Zoning Board of Appeals Minutes
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CITY OF MIDDLETOWN ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS MINUTES January 18, 2017 A meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals was held in the Common Council Chambers, Second Floor, City Hall, 16 James Street, Middletown, New York, on January 18, 2017 at 7:00 P.M., Joel Sierra, presiding. Board Members Present: Joel Sierra, Nick Barber, Andrew Green and Don Luis. Board Members Absent: Deborah Clark Other Attendees: Alex Smith, Assistant Corporation Counsel, Walter Welch, Building Inspector, Edwin Steenrod, Code Enforcement Officer. A motion was made by Mr. Luis and seconded by Mr. Green to accept December 14, 2016 minutes as submitted. Board Members Aye: Andrew Green, Joel Sierra, Don Luis. 86 Grand Avenue Jose Rios Area variance for a carport Mr. Sierra: Alex has written up a resolution. Mr. Smith: Mr. Rios, that’s you, right? Mr. Rios: That’s correct. Mr. Smith: We have a quorum so we can vote. Everybody has a written resolution? Mr. Sierra: Did you get a written resolution approving the car port? All right, so I need a motion to approve the resolution. 01/18/2017 Page 1 A motion was made by Mr. Luis and seconded by Mr. Green to approve the application of Jose Rios for an area variance for a car port located at 86 Grand Avenue, Middletown, NY. Board Members Aye: Don Luis, Joel Sierra, Andrew Green. Mr. Smith: He doesn’t need anything from you, does he, Walter? Mr. Welch: No Sir. Mr. Smith: Ok. Martina, make sure Mr. Rios gets the copy of the resolution, ok? Clerk: Sure. Mr. Rios: Thank you, sir. 54-56 Beacon Street Beacon Street Holdings, LLC. 4-family dwelling in R-1 zoning district Mr. Sierra: How are you doing? Mr. Preston: Good evening. Mr. Sierra: Please state your name and address. Mr. Preston: Sure. My name is Kevin Preston, I’m with the firm MacVean Lewis Sherwin & McDermott, 34 Grove Street, Middletown, New York; I’m here with my client Chris Kearny who is the principal owner of the building, 54-56 Beacon. Mr. Smith: Mr. Preston, you are claiming that this area was re-zoned in 2010? Mr. Preston: That was my understanding, Mr. Smith. Mr. Smith: We’ll have to check that out. 01/18/2017 Page 2 Mr. Preston: It’s clear from the configuration of the building that it had been historically used as a four-family. My client bought it at the time that it was vacant and ... Mr. Smith: 2002? Mr. Preston: 2002. Mr. Smith: And for how many years did it stay vacant? Mr. Preston: It stayed vacant for quite a number of years. Mr. Smith: And you are saying that zoning was changed in 2010. We gonna have to check that out but here is another question for you Kevin, while we are checking things out. An R-1 zone is subject to the amortization. Mr. Preston: I understand that and I was going to raise that tonight. I was just talking to my clients about that and I do think that that is a valid point so we would be in a position to amend our application for a variance to a 2- family rather than a four-family because I believe that’s all we are entitled to. Mr. Smith: Well, but the Zoning Board of Appeals doesn’t have the power to grant that type of variance. Zoning Board of Appeals only has with respect to amortization to extend a period for 5 years. The issue whether it’s structurally unsuitable to be reduced from say a four-family to a two-family that would be a Commissioner of Public Works. So I think you might want to do a little research and I’ll be happy to talk to you about the interplay between the amortization statute and what you are trying to do here because I can see a conflict here. Mr. Preston: Ok. Could we hold this in a ban stand? Mr. Smith: Sure. I also want to get straight when the zoning was changed because I don’t recall that zoning being changed in 2010 but we’ll check that out. Mr. Preston: All right. Mr. Smith: But you are welcome to give me a call and we’ll talk about the two ordinances and how they affect each other. 01/18/2017 Page 3 Mr. Preston: That’s fine. We just want to do the right thing and go to the correct agency. Mr. Smith: Ok. Mr. Preston: All right, thank you. Mr. Sierra: So we’ll table this until next month? Mr. Smith: Yes. 22-26 Lafayette Avenue Dulce and Elena Ferrera 5-year extension to comply with Amortization Ordinance Mr. Sierra: Please state your name and address. Ms. E. Ferrera: Good evening, my name is Elena Ferrera. The address in question… you stated for the record my personal address is 30 North View Court, Staten Island, New York. Ms. D. Ferrera: My name is Dulce Ferrera and I live at 134 Lake Shore Drive, Pine Bush, New York. Mr. Smith: So you are looking for what? Ms. E. Ferrera: We are looking for an extension of the change in the zoning status of the property for a period of 5 years. We submitted a statement back in December. I’ll be happy to read it for the record. Mr. Smith: You don’t have to read it. We’ll deem it in evidence. Ms. E. Ferrera: Ok. Also, if I can bring something to the Board’s attention, there is one error; can I bring the correction to your attention at this point? Mr. Smith: Sure. Ms. E. Ferrera: Thank you. On our submitted statement which is attached to the form, it’s on page… and I apologize for the error, it’s at the bottom of page 2, it’s the very last sentence on page 2, it says we respectfully request, 01/18/2017 Page 4 it should read that the properties and the next line should read for the maximum amount of time permitted by law. I apologize for that. And also I discovered just earlier this evening as I was reading the papers that my social security number was included with one of the exhibits. I would ask that the City redact it for its records for my own privacy. Mr. Smith: Martina, can you do that please? Clerk: Yes, sure. Ms. E. Ferrera: Thank you. Mr. Smith: Just take a black highlighter to it. Ms. E. Ferrera: Thank you so much, I appreciate it. Would you like us to read our individual… Mr. Smith: You don’t have to. We need some time to study it but basically you’ve own the property since 2006. Ms. E. Ferrera: That’s correct. Mr. Smith: And you purchased it for… What exactly did you purchase it for? Ms. D. Ferrera: 290. Ms. E. Ferrera: 290. We’ve included the closing summary as Exhibit A. The property, if I can just summarize our statement, the property has essentially been operated at a loss; it is well maintained. We have complied, we have made various improvements to the property, some of those improvements have been at the request of the department of buildings for the City. Mr. Smith: Do you have an income and expense? Ms. E. Ferrera: I have attached as Exhibit F the portion of my income taxes that show income and expenses on the property as reported to the IRS going all the way to 2009. 01/18/2017 Page 5 Mr. Smith: Ok, I see that. So you are basically saying you operated at a loss in 2015 and 2014, 2013. How are you going to recoup your investment if you are operating at a loss? Ms. E. Ferrera: Well, obviously, as you know and we mentioned this in our statement property prices took a hit starting in 2007-2008 period. We understand that they have been improving in the City of Middletown and obviously elsewhere in the country we are hoping that we can recoup that loss if we are given that 5-year extension. Mr. Smith: But how will that help you recoup the loss? The 5-year extension is the last extension that the Board can give. That would be it. Then you have to sell it as a two-family. Ms. E. Ferrera: That is correct and we would be selling it if the property, it is my hope with the 5-year extension that even if we sell it as a two-family house, if we are compelled to change it to a two-family house at that point that at least it would have gained in value between now and the time that it has to change. Mr. Smith: Did you give us those figures on the increase in the value of a two-family in the next five years? Ms. D. Ferrera: Well, one of the things that she is also trying to say is that in another 5 years we’ll have an opportunity to pay more down on what we owe the bank so it would make it more easy for us to sell. Mr. Smith: That’s assuming you don’t operate it at a loss anymore. Ms. E. Ferrera: That’s correct. Mr. Smith: Can you give the Board any idea how you are not going to operate it at a loss? Because it seems that the loss has been increasing every year. Ms. E. Ferrera: Well, we are hoping that the overall value of the property will go up, we are hoping rental incomes will go up and importantly for us as I mentioned in our submission we had attempted to refinance on the property but because it has suffered a loss in value we have not been able to.