1
1 CITY OF YONKERS
2
3 ------x
4 Minutes of
5 The City of Yonkers Zoning Board
6 April 20, 2021 - 5:06 p.m.
7 ------x
8
9
10 B E F O R E:
11
12 JOSEPH CIANCIULLI, Chairman
13 HARRY SINGH, Member
14 JEFFREY LANDSMAN, Member
15 HECTOR LOPEZ, Member
16 WILSON KIMBALL, Member
17 VINCENT GIORGIO, Member
18 RALPH BATTISTA, Member
19
20 P R E S E N T:
21 DAVE BARBUTI, Building Department
22 ALAIN NATCHEV, Assistant Corporation
23 Counsel
24 LEE ELLMAN, Planning Department
25
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1 INDEX
2
3 DECISIONS
4 #5733 - Andrew Romano, 28 Dunbar 26
5 #5735 - Stephen Veneruso, 631 Yonkers Ave/aka 41 Alida Street 31 6 #5737 - Janet Giris, 1235-1245 Central Pk Ave 41 7
8
9 ADJOURNED CASES 10 #5660 - James Dibbini, 540 Nepperhan Ave 4 11 #5661 - James Dibbini, 578 Nepperhan Ave 4 12 #5733 - Andrew Romano, 383 Warburton Ave 6 13 #5715 - Tom F. Abillama, 1969 Central Park Ave 7 14 #5716 - Gibbons Engineering, 687 Nepperhan Ave 7 15 #5727 - Andrew Maniglia, 70 Pier Street 9 16 #5730 - James Veneruso, 2592 Central Pk Ave 10 17 #5736 - James Veneruso, 83-94 Vineyard Ave 10 18
19 CONTINUED HEARING 20 5728 - Andrew Romano, 722 Yonkers Ave 13 21
22
23
24 - continued on next page - 25
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1 NEW HEARINGS
2 #5724 - Andrew Romano, 125 Orchard Street 16
3 #5738 - James Dibbini, 12 Inverness Road 45
4 #5739 - Edward D'Amore, 56 Margaret Ave 57
5 #5742 - Andrew Romano, 62 William Street 67
6 #5741 - Jennifer Porter, 1222 Nepperhan Ave 74
7 #5740 - Janet Giris, 316 N Broadway & 315 Palisade Ave. 89 8 #5732 - Shahin Badaly, 45 Elizabeth Place 150 9 #5743 - David Steinmetz, 40 aka 44 Hudson St. 161 10
11 OFF-AGENDA ITEMS 12 #5727 70 Pier Street 9 13 #5242 251 Valentine Lane 214 14 #5154 1025 aka 999 Central Park Ave 215 15 #5681 56 Prospect Street 216 16 #5603 90 University Ave 218 17 #5604 98 University Ave 218 18 #5637 25 Torre Pl 218 19 #5668 1219 Yonkers Ave 219 20 #4552A 101 North Broadway 219 21 #5375 28 Sunnybrook Rd aka 51 Carlton Rd 220 22
23
24
25
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1 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. The
2 Zoning Board of Appeals Public Hearing is
3 now in session. Would the members
4 introduce themselves. Starting with
5 Mr. Battista.
6 MR. BATTISTA: Ralph Battista.
7 THE CHAIRMAN: Ms. Kimball.
8 MS. KIMBALL: Wilson Kimball.
9 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. And
10 Mr. Giorgio.
11 MR. GIORGIO: Vincent Giorgio.
12 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Mr. Landsman.
13 MR. LANDSMAN: Jeffrey Landsman.
14 THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Singh.
15 MR. SINGH: Harry Singh.
16 THE CHAIRMAN: And Mr. Lopez.
17 MR. LOPEZ: Hector Lopez.
18 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. I'm Joseph
19 Cianciulli. I'm Chairman of the Board.
20 We're going to have a motion to
21 accept the minutes from the last hearing.
22 Do I have a motion, please?
23 MS. KIMBALL: Motion, Mr. Chairman.
24 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you. Do I have
25 a second, please?
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1 MR. LANDSMAN: Second.
2 THE CHAIRMAN: Second. Okay.
3 Everybody in favor say aye.
4 (A chorus of ayes.)
5 THE CHAIRMAN: Anybody opposed?
6 Motion carried 7, 7-0.
7 Okay. Now, we're going to have the
8 Pledge of Allegiance led by Mr. Landsman.
9 Would everybody raise their hand or you
10 know. Mr. Landsman.
11 (Pledge of Allegiance.)
12 MR. LANDSMAN: Thank you.
13 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Thank you.
14 Let me just -- I have a hard time
15 with this anyway, so, please nobody speak
16 out. I'll recognize you. Don't worry
17 about it. We'll ask you if anybody is in
18 favor or against. We'll go on from there.
19 I'll announce the cases and take it up.
20 All right. Now, what we're going to
21 do tonight, ladies and gentlemen, we've got
22 two cases that are going to be put over.
23 Case number 5660 and 5661 is 540 Nepperhan
24 Avenue, 578 Nepperhan Avenue.
25 Mr. Dibbini, I see you're with us.
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1 Would you introduce yourself, please. Put
2 Mr. Dibbini on.
3 MR. DIBBINI: Good evening,
4 Mr. Chairman. James Dibbini, 570 Yonkers
5 Avenue, New York.
6 THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Dibbini, any
7 chance, what are we doing with this? Do
8 you know?
9 MR. DIBBINI: I have to try to reach
10 out again to the Fire Department Chief
11 regarding coming out to the location one
12 more time and assessing the situation with
13 the neighbor. That's been the problem. I
14 spoke to Tom Haynes, Haynes, the architect
15 about it as well. And we're -- it's a
16 difficult situation which I'm going try to
17 reach out to him one more time and see if
18 we can get him out there.
19 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Thank you.
20 I'm going to make a motion to put these two
21 cases over. Do I have a second?
22 MR. LANDSMAN: Second.
23 THE CHAIRMAN: Everybody in favor
24 say aye.
25 (A chorus of ayes.)
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1 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay.
2 MR. DIBBINI: Thank you.
3 THE CHAIRMAN: You're welcome. 7-0.
4 Okay.
5 Then we have a case here, 125
6 Orchard Street.
7 Mr. Romano, we're going to hear that
8 case tonight. We have case number 5733,
9 Mr. Romano, again. This case is on 383
10 Warburton. I'm going to make a motion,
11 make a motion to put this case over. Do I
12 have a second on that?
13 MR. SINGH: Second.
14 THE CHAIRMAN: Everybody in favor
15 say aye of the Board Members.
16 (A chorus of ayes.)
17 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Anybody
18 opposed? Okay. That case is put over.
19 Now, we have a case on 5734.
20 Mr. Romano, again. We're going to have a
21 decision on that tonight. We're going to
22 talk to Mr. Romano in a minute. Then we
23 have case 517 -- 5715. This is
24 Mr. Abillama. He wants to --
25 (Briefly lost audio.)
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1 MR. KUNTZ: Yeah, I don't hear the
2 sound either.
3 Chairman, oh, you're good now. Do
4 you hear us? We didn't hear you for around
5 20 seconds.
6 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. We have a
7 case on Central Park Avenue, 5715. I'm
8 going to make a motion to put it over. Do
9 I have a second?
10 MR. LANDSMAN: Second.
11 THE CHAIRMAN: Everybody in favor
12 say aye.
13 (A chorus of ayes.)
14 (As per Mr. Giorgio's request, he
15 abstains from this application.)
16 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. That case is
17 put over.
18 Now, we have a case at 687 Nepperhan
19 Avenue. Mr. Romano?
20 UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Mr. Romano
21 will be on in two seconds. One second.
22 THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Romano, identify
23 yourself, please.
24 MR. ROMANO: Andrew Romano, 55 Main
25 Street, Yonkers, New York. Attorney.
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1 THE CHAIRMAN: All right.
2 Mr. Romano, I just want to get this clear.
3 This Gibbons Engineering case on 687
4 Nepperhan Avenue, what are you going to do
5 with that? You were talking about --
6 MR. ROMANO: We have -- yes, sir.
7 We have filed amended plans. It's been up
8 in the Building Department for several
9 months. So I'm trying to get it through so
10 I can get the objection letter to
11 straighten it out to make it go from a use
12 variance to a regular, I guess, maybe
13 improvement to a non-conforming use or a
14 restoration of a non-conforming use. I'm
15 just waiting for them to do the plan. They
16 did one, but they didn't do this one.
17 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you. Okay.
18 We're going to put this case over then.
19 MR. ROMANO: Yes, sir.
20 THE CHAIRMAN: Don't put -- this is
21 new information, Mr. Romano. You have to
22 give us, you have to -- we have to
23 advertise this case and signs gotta go up
24 again.
25 MR. ROMANO: I know, sir. I know.
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1 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Thank you.
2 This case is put over.
3 All right. Then we have
4 Mr. Maniglia, 5727. This is 70 Pier
5 Street. They sent a letter in asking for
6 an adjournment. So, I'm going to make a
7 motion that we adjourn that case also. Do
8 I have a second?
9 MS. KIMBALL: Second.
10 THE CHAIRMAN: Everybody in favor
11 say aye.
12 (A chorus of ayes.)
13 THE CHAIRMAN: Does anybody -- okay.
14 That case is put over.
15 Then we have 5728. Mr. Romano. And
16 I believe Mr. Fernandez is on this as
17 Mr. Flowers Funeral Parlor. I'm going to
18 get to that in a few minutes. So we're
19 going to get to that in a little while.
20 Put that off for a couple of minutes.
21 MR. ROMANO: Thank you.
22 THE CHAIRMAN: You're welcome. Then
23 we have Mr. Veneruso at 2592 Central Park
24 Avenue. He wishes to put it over. I'm
25 going to make a motion that we put that
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1 case over. Do I have a second on that?
2 MS. KIMBALL: Second.
3 THE CHAIRMAN: Everybody in favor
4 say aye.
5 (A chorus of ayes.)
6 THE CHAIRMAN: That case is put over
7 7 to 0.
8 Then we have, okay, we have 5732.
9 We're going to hear that case tonight.
10 That's over at Elizabeth Place. Then we
11 have 5735. That's over in Yonkers Avenue.
12 It's a gas station. We're going to have a
13 decision on that tonight. And then we have
14 Ms. Giris' case on 5737. We're going to
15 have a decision on that tonight also.
16 That's Central Park Avenue.
17 All right. On the new hearings
18 beside the one up there at Elizabeth Place
19 and Mr. Romano on, on Orchard Street.
20 We're going to have the case on 5736.
21 This is Vineyard Avenue, 83-94 Vineyard
22 Avenue. Going to make a motion to put it
23 over. Mr. Veneruso sent us a note putting
24 it over. So do I have a second on that?
25 MS. KIMBALL: Second.
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1 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Everybody in
2 favor say aye.
3 (A chorus of ayes.)
4 THE CHAIRMAN: Anybody opposed?
5 All right. Then the next case.
6 Mr. Dibbini has got a case on Inverness
7 Avenue and Road, we're going to hear that
8 tonight. Then we have Mr. D'Amore. He has
9 a case on Margaret Avenue. We're going to
10 hear that tonight. Then we have Ms. Giris
11 again with a case on North Broadway, 316
12 North Broadway and 315 Palisade Avenue.
13 We're going to hear that tonight. And then
14 we have a case over at 1222 Nepperhan
15 Avenue. It's a bank. We're going to hear
16 that tonight. And then we have case on 62
17 Williams Street. That's Romano. 5742,
18 we're going to hear that tonight. And we
19 got a case on 5743, Mr. Steinmetz, that's a
20 case on 46 -- I'm sorry, 40 also known as
21 44 Hudson Street. We're going to hear that
22 tonight also. So, and then we got a few
23 extensions. We're going to get to them at
24 the end of the hearing. Okay. One second,
25 please.
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1 Mr. Romano, 28 Dunbar Street, can I
2 put that over until the end of the hearing
3 or you want to hear it now? Are any of
4 your clients here? Mr. Romano?
5 MR. LANDSMAN: You're on mute.
6 You're on mute.
7 THE CHAIRMAN: Who's on mute?
8 MR. KUNTZ: Mr. Romano is on mute.
9 He's off now.
10 MR. ROMANO: Mr. Chairman, yeah, you
11 can put it at the end, that's fine.
12 THE CHAIRMAN: Oh, that's good.
13 Okay. So, we're going to get to that in a
14 little while. I'll let you know. Just for
15 that, Mr. Romano, I'm going to take your
16 case first, so, for helping me out there.
17 MR. ROMANO: That's very kind of
18 you, sir.
19 THE CHAIRMAN: Flattery will get you
20 nowhere. Don't worry. Especially with
21 you.
22 MR. ROMANO: Yes, sir.
23 THE CHAIRMAN: I love it.
24 Mr. Romano, how is Mrs. Romano feeling?
25 MR. ROMANO: She's feeling much
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1 better. There's no more chemo. So that's
2 a big positive. Now it's just surgery so.
3 THE CHAIRMAN: Oh, very good. I'm
4 glad to hear that.
5 MR. ROMANO: I'm happy. And I thank
6 everybody for their prayers.
7 THE CHAIRMAN: Just one second now.
8 Okay.
9 MR. ROMANO: Yes, sir.
10 THE CHAIRMAN: All right.
11 Mr. Veneruso, Stephen, are you here?
12 MR. VENERUSO: Yes, Mr. Chairman.
13 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. We're
14 going put the decision over in a little
15 while. And, Mr. Veneruso, we'll give the
16 decision in a little while. All right.
17 So I'm going to get into the new
18 cases first. Mr. Romano and Mr. Fernandez,
19 over at Flower Funeral Parlor, do you have
20 any -- do you have anything to add to this
21 case? The case is 5728, 722 Yonkers
22 Avenue. We were discussing that the last
23 time. You had to get a, you had to get a
24 certain variance, one of the variances
25 taken off. You got that done, right?
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1 MR. ROMANO: Yes, sir, that's
2 already been done already.
3 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. So all we have
4 now is the one variance on the parking, the
5 parking situation. Do you have anything
6 else to say to us?
7 MR. ROMANO: No, sir.
8 THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Fernandez?
9 MR. FERNANDEZ: No, no,
10 Mr. Chairman.
11 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Nobody has any
12 -- Mr. Fernandez, you realize you're still
13 under oath, right?
14 MR. FERNANDEZ: Yes, sir.
15 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. All right.
16 And we have nothing to say. All right.
17 I'm going to close this case. We're going
18 to close this case. Did we get the -- is
19 Deputy Commissioner Ellman here?
20 MR. ELLMAN: Yes, I am,
21 Mr. Chairman.
22 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Sir. Did we
23 get the EIS back on Flower Funeral Parlor?
24 MR. ELLMAN: Yes, we did.
25 THE CHAIRMAN: We got it back.
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1 Everything is okay?
2 MR. ELLMAN: Yes, it is.
3 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. All right.
4 Then we're going to put this case over for
5 decision until next month. Okay. Do I
6 have a second on my motion?
7 MS. KIMBALL: Second.
8 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Everybody in
9 favor say aye.
10 (A chorus of ayes.)
11 THE CHAIRMAN: Anybody not in favor?
12 All right. The vote was 7-0. Thank you.
13 You'll have a decision next month,
14 Mr. Romano, on that. Okay?
15 MR. ROMANO: Yes, sir.
16 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you.
17 MR. FERNANDEZ: Thank you.
18 THE CHAIRMAN: All right.
19 Mr. Romano, we're going to take your case
20 first.
21 MR. ROMANO: Thank you, sir.
22 THE CHAIRMAN: You're welcome. This
23 is 5724. It's an area variance.
24 Mr. Romano on behalf of Orchard Street,
25 LLC, that's Limited Liability Corporation
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1 to construct a five-story multi-family to
2 -- to construct five-story multi-family
3 building, having:
4 - Insufficient front yard, Section
5 43-27, Table 43-3, required is 25 ft.,
6 proposed is 5 ft.;
7 - Insufficient parking, Section
8 43-128, Table 43-4, required is 38, 38
9 spaces proposed is 37;
10 - Then we got fences and walls
11 including retaining walls must not exceed 4
12 foot in height in a required front yard
13 setback or in any other required yard
14 setback abutting a street and 6 feet in
15 height within any other required yard
16 setback, Reference Yonkers Zoning Ordinance
17 43-41.D.3.a, proposed is 19.42 ft. high;
18 On premises known as 125 Orchard
19 Street, Block: 2174, Lot: 101 in an A Zone.
20 Mr. Romano, has everybody within the
21 200 foot radius been notified, sir?
22 MR. ROMANO: Yes, sir.
23 THE CHAIRMAN: Did anything come
24 back that was undeliverable?
25 MR. ROMANO: Yes, sir, three returns
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1 came back.
2 THE CHAIRMAN: Three came back?
3 MR. ROMANO: Yes, sir.
4 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Fine. All
5 right. Is there anybody here tonight on
6 this case? This case is on Orchard Street.
7 It's been around. They wanted to make it
8 six stories, they're coming in now with
9 five stories. Is there anybody on this
10 case? This case is on Orchard Street
11 between Moquette Road north and south.
12 Between Moquette Road north and south.
13 Anybody here tonight --
14 MR. D'AMORE: Chairman, Ted D'Amore,
15 I'm here. The architect for the project.
16 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Fine. Okay.
17 Mr. Romano.
18 MR. ROMANO: Yes.
19 THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Landsman, did you
20 unmute everybody?
21 MR. LANDSMAN: Yeah, well, we'll do
22 it when they want to speak at the end.
23 THE CHAIRMAN: Well, they can hear
24 though, can't they?
25 MR. LANDSMAN: They can hear it now,
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1 yes.
2 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Thank you.
3 Proceed, Mr. Romano.
4 MR. ROMANO: Mr. Chairman, I'm the
5 attorney for 125 Orchard, LLC. My client
6 has owned the property since August 29,
7 2019, when we bought it from the City of
8 Yonkers. We were back before -- the Board
9 originally approved the six story, but then
10 they disapproved a six-story when we came
11 back about six months ago. My client has
12 -- the Board thinking it was a better idea,
13 we reduced it from six stories to five
14 stories in order to substantially to comply
15 with parking. Originally we had -- it was
16 a six family, now we're down to a five
17 story, 26 units now, so now we're only one
18 parking space shy of the, of the
19 requirement of parking --
20 (Poor audio quality.)
21 MR. LANDSMAN: Could Mr. D'Amore
22 mute himself until he speaks? He's making
23 a lot of noise.
24 (Court reporter interrupted due to
25 noise distortion.)
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1 MR. LANDSMAN: Okay. Go ahead.
2 MR. ROMANO: Oh, I'm sorry. So
3 essentially what we've done is we reduced
4 it from six stories to five stories to
5 substantially comply with parking which
6 we're only one parking spot shy of, of
7 proposed. Now, there's, as we said before,
8 the back gives on to a severe rock face.
9 And if we would chop down the rock face, it
10 would be an expensive process as we
11 explained before. And that's why we're,
12 we're -- the front yard setback -- and it
13 would cause a lot of problems with the
14 neighborhood, we believe, if we had to
15 blast a chip in order to reduce the rock.
16 So, and then in looking at the other
17 Structures on the property on Orchard, we
18 would actually be at a similar frontage
19 with the adjoining property up and down the
20 block all because of the rock face --
21 (Poor audio quality.)
22 MR. ROMANO: I don't believe the
23 variance is not substantiated. We're only
24 one parking space short of code. And as I
25 said the front yard variance would be
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1 similar to others in the area. We don't --
2 the odd variance cannot be obviated. We
3 can't get additional land and because the
4 cost of rock removal is expensive as we had
5 delineated on previous variances, we don't
6 believe they make adverse, physical, and
7 environmental impact. The premises will
8 comply with setbacks except for the front
9 yard. Comply with height. Comply with all
10 living space requirements. And
11 realistically one spot short, we comply
12 with the parking which is a big problem I
13 understand from previous discussions of
14 people in the neighborhood.
15 I do have Mr. D'Amore here who will
16 address any concerns regarding the plans
17 with the Board's permission. Thank you,
18 all.
19 MR. KUNTZ: Chairman, you're muted.
20 You both, together with you and Andrew,
21 were causing interference with each other,
22 so I had to mute you. But you are now --
23 you can unmute yourself, Chairman. It's
24 that mute button on the bottom left-hand
25 side. Looks like a microphone. It should
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1 be in red.
2 MR. ROMANO: Is it okay if I stay
3 on? Guys?
4 MR. KUNTZ: Wait for the Chairman to
5 unmute himself.
6 MR. ROMANO: Okay.
7 MR KUNTZ: Chairman, you can hit the
8 space bar too, if you want.
9 (Brief pause for technical issues.)
10 MR. ROMANO: Should teach Nana how
11 to make good iced tea. Instead of that
12 weird crap she used.
13 MR. ELLMAN: Mr. Romano.
14 MR. ROMANO: Yes, sir.
15 (Poor audio connection.)
16 MR. ELLMAN: -- we can hear
17 everything you're saying.
18 MR. ROMANO: Okay. Thank you.
19 THE CHAIRMAN: I hope you said some
20 things about me.
21 MR. ROMANO: Constantly.
22 MR. ELLMAN: It was mostly about the
23 iced tea.
24 MR. KUNTZ: Yeah, we know what kind
25 of iced tea Mr. Romano drinks.
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1 So, yeah, just everyone, everyone on
2 the call just realize that if you're
3 microphone is un-muted we can hear
4 everything you say. So I will try mute you
5 when possible.
6 So, Chairman, are you ready?
7 THE CHAIRMAN: I'm ready.
8 Mr. Romano, why don't we move the
9 building back a little bit? Is there a
10 reason why -- what are you going to do in
11 the backyard?
12 MR. ROMANO: If it's all right,
13 Mr. Chairman, I'll put Mr. D'Amore on with
14 your permission, please.
15 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Mr. D'Amore,
16 are you an attorney?
17 MR. D'AMORE: No, I'm not.
18 THE CHAIRMAN: Raise your right
19 hand, please. Do you solemnly swear to
20 tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing
21 but the truth so help you God?
22 MR. D'AMORE: Yes, I do.
23 THE CHAIRMAN: State your name and
24 address, please.
25 MR. D'AMORE: My name is Ted
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1 D'Amore. 136 Stevens Avenue, Mount Vernon,
2 New York. Can you hear me okay?
3 THE CHAIRMAN: Yeah, I hear you,
4 yeah. Mr. D'Amore, if you moved the
5 building back -- if you -- what are you
6 going to do in the backyard?
7 MR. D'AMORE: If you could let me
8 share my screen, I could show you in a
9 cross section drawing why the building is
10 set so far up. We have a rock face in the
11 back that we can't cut back any steeper
12 because the houses behind us on Vineyard
13 will make the slope unstable. And we can't
14 take it any further back. We have parking
15 for our cars back there and we can't pull,
16 the pull the building any further back from
17 the front yard.
18 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. But
19 you're going --
20 MR. D'AMORE: If I can share my
21 screen, I'll show you, cross section.
22 THE CHAIRMAN: But you're going to
23 have a parking garage back there, right?
24 MR. D'AMORE: Yes.
25 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. That's why you
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1 got the front yard so small. Okay. Do you
2 have any area for children to play?
3 MR. D'AMORE: Yes, I do. I have
4 that on the plan. It's the roof over the
5 parking garage.
6 THE CHAIRMAN: The roof over the
7 parking garage.
8 MR. D'AMORE: Yes.
9 THE CHAIRMAN: So it's on the roof.
10 How big is it? Square feet.
11 MR. D'AMORE: I can give you that
12 information in a second. I don't have it
13 at my fingertips. Well, I do have it in my
14 fingertips, I just don't have it memorized.
15 About 2,500 square feet.
16 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Thank you.
17 Are there any questions of the Board?
18 Is there anybody here tonight in
19 favor of this application?
20 MR. KUNTZ: Anyone who is on their
21 phone they can press start 6 to unmute
22 themselves and to mute themselves back.
23 THE CHAIRMAN: Is there anybody here
24 to speak on this case?
25 Mr. Landsman, you got everything
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1 open, right?
2 MR. LANDSMAN: Anybody here to speak
3 on this case on Orchard Street either for
4 or against? Is anybody here to talk about
5 it either way? Last call. Anybody here?
6 Okay. Mr. Chairman, looks like
7 nobody is here on this case.
8 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Thank you.
9 All right. This case is hereby
10 closed. Reserve the right to reopen it for
11 any reason whatsoever, any time whatsoever
12 and that includes after the decision is
13 made.
14 (Briefly lost audio.)
15 Mr. Landsman?
16 MR. LANDSMAN: Yes, yes, sir.
17 He's muted again. You're muted
18 again.
19 MR. KUNTZ: No, he's not muted.
20 He's having problems with his Wi-Fi
21 probably.
22 MR. LANDSMAN: Okay. Yes, you want
23 me?
24 THE CHAIRMAN: Yeah, I want a
25 decision on case 5734. Would you give it
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 27
1 to me, please. Dunbar Street.
2 Mr. Romano, we're going to give you
3 the decision on that right now.
4 MR. LANDSMAN: Okay. I make a
5 motion to approve the request for a
6 reconstruction of a non-conforming use,
7 subject to conditions based on facts,
8 findings, information, and testimony
9 presented to this Board at the public
10 hearing, site visits by the members of the
11 Zoning Board and otherwise obtained. The
12 subject property in question in the
13 neighborhood of Runyon Heights on the
14 corner of Dunbar Street and Horatio Street.
15 The garage fronts Horatio Street.
16 In making this determination the
17 Zoning Board of Appeals has taken into
18 consideration the applicant's plan which
19 will result in a greater conformity with
20 the Zoning Ordinance for the reconstruction
21 of a non-conforming structure.
22 The Zoning Board has visited the
23 site on multiple times and finds the
24 property has existed at this location since
25 1920 and nothing with the exterior setbacks
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1 is going to change.
2 The house does not meet current
3 setback requirements and it cannot not be
4 moved.
5 The re-construction of this
6 non-conforming structure is substantial but
7 not prohibited for the reasons cited above.
8 There will be no adverse physical or
9 environmental impact on the neighborhood.
10 The applicants are going to repair the
11 structure which was substantially damaged
12 by the fire which has been an eyesore in
13 the neighborhood for years. Granting this
14 reconstruction of a non-conforming
15 structure would not alter, will not
16 negatively alter the quality of life in the
17 neighborhood.
18 However, there are conditions that
19 will need to be met for the reconstruction
20 of the structure.
21 Number one, all health, safety, fire
22 building and environmental codes shall be
23 adhered to at all times by the applicant
24 and/or owner.
25 Number two, fire, smoke and carbon
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1 monoxide detectors shall be installed
2 throughout the entire building. All smoke,
3 carbon, fire detectors shall be hooked up
4 to an outside 24-hour monitoring system
5 such as ADT.
6 Number three, that no resident shall
7 reside in this property until completed C
8 of O is issued from the Department of
9 Buildings City of Yonkers.
10 Number four, as determined by the
11 City of Yonkers Engineer, if any sidewalks
12 or curbs need repairing or replacing in
13 front of the entire property, the owner or
14 applicant must comply with their request
15 for the certificate of occupancy is issued.
16 Number five, all taxes and fines, if
17 owed, must be paid in full 60 days from
18 today's date.
19 Number six, these conditions shall
20 be listed on the C of O and the applicant
21 or the property owner shall permit
22 inspections at the discretion with the
23 Department of Housing and Buildings, City
24 of Yonkers, at least once per year to
25 determine compliance of the conditions.
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 30
1 Number seven, should the applicant
2 and/or property owner not comply with or
3 breach or violate any of these conditions
4 at any time, the area variance is hereby
5 rescinded and the Zoning Board authorizes
6 the City of Yonkers Department of Housing
7 and Buildings to take appropriate action.
8 Number eight, all expenses
9 associated with conditions shall be the
10 responsibility of the owner or applicant.
11 Number nine, this house shall remain
12 a two-family. No in-law or boarding house
13 setup is allowed. The basement shall be
14 unfinished. No car shall park in the yard
15 space, only in the garage.
16 Number 10, no businesses shall
17 operate from the entire property.
18 Thank you.
19 THE CHAIRMAN: You're welcome.
20 Do I have a second on this motion,
21 please?
22 MR. SINGH: Second.
23 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. On the motion,
24 Mr. Battista?
25 MR. BATTISTA: For.
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 31
1 THE CHAIRMAN: Ms. Kimball.
2 MS. KIMBALL: For the motion.
3 THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Giorgio.
4 MR. GIORGIO: For the motion.
5 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Mr. Landsman.
6 MR. LANDSMAN: For the motion.
7 THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Singh.
8 MR. SINGH: (Muted.)
9 THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Singh? All
10 right. For the motion. I can see his
11 lips. All right. Mr. Lopez.
12 MR. LOPEZ: For the motion.
13 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Chairman votes
14 for the motion. The motion vote is carried
15 7-0. One second, please.
16 All right. We have another motion.
17 Mr. Veneruso, Mr. Stephen Veneruso is here.
18 This case is --
19 (Briefly lost audio.)
20 MR. KUNTZ: Mr. Chairman, accidently
21 muted yourself.
22 UNIDENTIFIED VOICE: Aye, aye, aye.
23 THE CHAIRMAN: How's that?
24 MR. KUNTZ: Perfect.
25 THE CHAIRMAN: Yeah, and aye, aye,
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 32
1 aye, how you doing. That guy. Yeah.
2 631 Yonkers Avenue also known as 17
3 Alida Street. Do I have a motion, please?
4 MR. SINGH: Yes, Mr. Chairman.
5 THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Since.
6 MR. SINGH: Okay. Mr. Chairman,
7 case number 5735, improvement to a
8 non-conforming use, Stephen Veneruso, Esq.,
9 on behalf of Jai Balaji, LLC, owner, on
10 premises known 631 Yonkers Avenue aka 41
11 Alida Street, Block: 6071, Lot: 17.21, Zone
12 50S.
13 Please be noted that the applicant
14 was before this Board three years ago and a
15 decision was rendered on July 17, 2018, on
16 an application seeking to improve the
17 premises, Zoning Board Appeal case number
18 5602; however, there were several critical
19 distinctions between that application from
20 2018 and the one currently before the
21 Board. The proposed additional square
22 footage of the convenience store is 33
23 percent less than what the applicant sought
24 is 2018.
25 The proposed result is a redesign and
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 33
1 expansion of the existing convenience store
2 located on the premises. The applicant has
3 sought to maximize the utility of the
4 premises by modifying the three existing
5 auto service bays. Two of the auto service
6 bays should be changed and used to expand
7 the existing convenience store which will
8 enable the applicant to better utilize the
9 property by increasing both the retail
10 display and the sales area. This will be
11 accomplished by new separation partition
12 and the removal of existing section. The
13 third auto service bay will be utilizing
14 office and storage space as outlined in the
15 plans.
16 The parking space on the property will
17 also be modified to comply with zoning
18 setback requirements and provide
19 handicapped accessible parking space. The
20 applicant also proposes that the entrance
21 into the new retail space be moved and that
22 modification to that existing storefront to
23 be completed to add to the improving
24 aesthetic of the property.
25 As such, Mr. Chairman, I make a
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 34
1 motion to approve the requested area
2 variance subject to conditions based on
3 facts, findings, information, and testimony
4 presented to this Board at the public
5 hearing, site visits by members of the
6 Zoning Board of Appeals, otherwise
7 obtained.
8 To grant an area variance, the Board
9 must be satisfied by the five points of
10 law.
11 1. Whether an undesirable change will
12 be produced in the neighborhood character
13 or the granting of this variance will
14 create a detriment to nearby properties.
15 The proposed variance will not
16 create an undesirable change in the
17 character of the neighborhood. The section
18 of the Yonkers avenue corridor is mostly
19 surrounded by residential homes and small
20 businesses and the applicant is mindful of
21 this fact. As such applicant is in a
22 difficult position whereas they are limited
23 in the improvement they can make to their
24 property without the ZBA approval.
25 2. Whether the benefit sought by the
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 35
1 applicant can be achieved by some other
2 method, feasible for the applicant to
3 pursue, other than the area variances.
4 The benefit sought by the applicant
5 cannot be achieved by some other method,
6 feasible for the applicant to pursue other
7 than the area variance. The new project
8 differs substantially from that submitted
9 in 2018 not only scale but also
10 both utility and physical appearance.
11 3. Whether the requested variance is
12 substantial. The requested variance is
13 substantial. The applicant respectfully
14 submitted that the project's benefits
15 far outweigh the scope of the variance.
16 The project has bene developed and designed
17 to maximize its utility to the premises and
18 feel that the project is a critical upgrade
19 to the premises and will result in that
20 great benefit to the applicant and the
21 surrounding neighborhood.
22 4. Whether the granting of area
23 variance to allow for the proposed
24 improvement will have an adverse effect on
25 the condition on the physical or
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 36
1 environmental conditions in the
2 neighborhood or district.
3 The location of the proposed variance
4 due to its nature, will not have an adverse
5 effect or impact on the environmental
6 characteristics such as water use,
7 pollution, energy used, drainage, run-off
8 and flooding, nor create any noise, light,
9 odor, visual or nuisance conditions.
10 Therefore, the applicant believes that the
11 proposed variance will have no adverse
12 effect or impact on the physical or
13 environmental conditions of the
14 neighborhood.
15 5. Whether the alleged difficulty was
16 self-created, consideration shall be
17 relevant to the decision of the Zoning
18 Board of Appeals but shall not necessarily
19 preclude the granting of the area variance.
20 While the applicant had actual or
21 constructive knowledge of the applicable
22 zoning law before it acquired the premises,
23 it is possible the self-created hardship
24 rule is merely a consideration that does
25 not necessarily bar the granting of the
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 37
1 variance.
2 Mr. Chairman, in granting these
3 variances, the Board imposes the following
4 conditions:
5 1. All health, safety, fire,
6 building, and environmental codes shall
7 always be adhered to by the applicant.
8 2. All curbs and sidewalks abutting
9 the property that needs repairing or
10 replacement as per the City of Yonkers
11 department Of Engineering, then the repair
12 or replacements must be done before the
13 certificate of occupancy is issued number.
14 3. If any back real estate taxes
15 and/or fine if owed, be paid in full within
16 60 days of this hearing, and must proof
17 must be submitted to the Board.
18 4. This condition shall be on the
19 certificate of occupancy, and the
20 Application and/or property owner shall
21 permit inspections at the discretion of the
22 City's Department of Housing and Buildings
23 at least once every calendar year, to
24 determine that the conditions are being
25 satisfied.
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 38
1 5. There will be a fire/carbon
2 monoxide and smoke detectors on the
3 premises hooked up to outside 24-hour
4 monitoring system such as ADT before the
5 certificate of occupancy is issued.
6 6. Should the applicant and/or
7 property owner not comply with, breach, or
8 violate any of these conditions, at any
9 time, the approval of these variances is
10 hereby rescinded. It authorizes the City's
11 Department of Housing and Building to take
12 appropriate action.
13 7. Hours and operation would be
14 from 6 a.m. to 12 midnight.
15 8. A sign needs to be assigned on
16 each pump to see the attendant -- to pump
17 the fuel.
18 (Audio interference.)
19 MR. KUNTZ: Mr. Singh?
20 MR. SINGH: Yes.
21 MR. KUNTZ: Yeah, would you hold off
22 just one second.
23 Chairman, would you mind if I muted
24 you while Mr. Singh is speaking? Because
25 we're getting background noise and it's
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 39
1 coming from both your microphone -- I
2 believe from your microphone. Are you able
3 to unmute yourself if I mute you?
4 THE CHAIRMAN: Probably, yeah. I
5 have the motion here so I'm okay. Go
6 ahead.
7 MR. KUNTZ: All right. I'm going to
8 mute you then. Thank you.
9 MR. SINGH: Okay.
10 10. Garbage only can be picked up
11 on Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to
12 4:30 p.m. And weekends or holiday
13 collection not be allowed.
14 11. Any comments from the Deputy
15 Commissioner by Mr. Lee Ellman need to be
16 answered in this matter.
17 12. All expenses associated with
18 these conditions shall be sole
19 responsibility of the applicant and/or
20 property owner.
21 Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
22 MR. SINGH: Mr. Chairman, you're on
23 mute, it look like.
24 MR. KUNTZ: You can now unmute
25 yourself, Chairman.
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 40
1 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay, George?
2 MR. KUNTZ: Perfect.
3 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. All right. Do
4 I have a second on that motion?
5 MR. BATTISTA: Second.
6 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. On the motion,
7 Mr. Battista.
8 MR. BATTISTA: For the motion.
9 THE CHAIRMAN: Ms. Kimball.
10 MS. KIMBALL: For the motion.
11 THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Giorgio.
12 MR. GIORGIO: For the motion.
13 (Briefly lost audio.)
14 MR. KUNTZ: The Chairman might be
15 having an Internet problem right now.
16 MR. LANDSMAN: Yeah, maybe.
17 MR. KUNTZ: So, just hold off.
18 THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Giorgio?
19 MR. GIORGIO: Yeah, for the motion.
20 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Thank you.
21 Mr. Landsman.
22 MR. LANDSMAN: For the motion.
23 THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Singh.
24 MR. SINGH: For the motion,
25 Mr. Chairman.
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 41
1 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. Thank
2 you.
3 Mr. Lopez.
4 MR. LOPEZ: For the motion.
5 THE CHAIRMAN: Chairman votes for
6 the motion, the motion is carried 7-0.
7 Thank you.
8 Okay. Now, we got the next case.
9 (Briefly lost audio.)
10 THE CHAIRMAN: Everybody there now?
11 MR. KUNTZ: Yes, Mr. Chairman. We
12 can hear you.
13 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. All right.
14 The next case we're going to have the,
15 we're going to have the decision on 5737
16 the modification of conditions for
17 Ms. Giris at 1235-1245 Central Park Avenue.
18 Do I have a motion, please?
19 MR. GIORGIO: Yes, Mr. Chairman.
20 THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Giorgio.
21 MR. GIORGIO: Case number 5737,
22 1235-1245 Central Park Avenue, Block: 5425,
23 Lot: 41.50, Zone OL.
24 The property in question is located
25 on Central Park Avenue just south of
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 42
1 intersection with Palmer Road. As
2 testified, since 1955, the property has
3 been used as an automobile sales
4 establishment offering service to vehicles.
5 Motor vehicle uses at the property became
6 legal non-conforming in the '80s when the
7 OL District regulations were adopted by the
8 City and the property map was mapped in the
9 new district.
10 At its October 2018 meeting, the
11 Zoning Board of Appeals reinstated the
12 non-conforming automobile sales use which
13 had previously ceased and granted several
14 area variances in conjunction with that use
15 subject to 12 Special Conditions.
16 The applicant now seeks to lease the
17 property to a branded new manufacturer as a
18 sales and service facility for new and used
19 vehicles and is requesting that Special
20 Conditions 7 and 8 of the 2018 ZBA
21 approval, case number 5610, be eliminated.
22 Special condition number 7 placed
23 limitations on the use of the property as
24 an automobile sales establishment and
25 Special Condition 8 placed restrictions on
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 43
1 the allowed hours of operation.
2 Mr. Chairman, I made a make a motion
3 to modify the ZBA approval October 16,
4 2018, by eliminating Special Condition 7 in
5 its entirety and modifying Special
6 Condition 8 to read as follows;
7 Hours of operation for sales shall be
8 no greater than:
9 10 a.m. To 9 p.m. Monday through
10 Thursday,
11 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, and
12 Saturday,
13 And 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
14 Hours of operation for service shall
15 be no greater than:
16 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through
17 Thursday and
18 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and
19 Saturday.
20 Mr. Chairman, I further make a
21 motion to add the following Special
22 Condition as Special Condition number 13 -
23 all garbage collection shall take place
24 between 8 a.m. And 4:30 p.m. Monday through
25 Friday.
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 44
1 I also note for the record, that this
2 decision does not modify any of the other
3 conditions of the 2018 motion including
4 Special Condition 11, which requires any
5 changes, it needs to come back to the Board
6 for additional public hearing and decision.
7 Thank you.
8 MR. LANDSMAN: You're muted.
9 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Everybody hear
10 me?
11 MR. LANDSMAN: Yes.
12 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. All right. Do
13 I have a second on that motion?
14 MR. LANDSMAN: Second.
15 THE CHAIRMAN: On the motion,
16 Mr. Battista.
17 MR. BATTISTA: For the motion.
18 THE CHAIRMAN: Ms. Kimball.
19 MS. KIMBALL: For the motion.
20 THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Giorgio.
21 MR. GIORGIO: For the motion.
22 THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Landsman.
23 MR. LANDSMAN: For the motion.
24 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay --
25 (Briefly lost connection.)
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 45
1 MR. KUNTZ: Chairman's Wi-Fi is
2 going out every once in awhile.
3 THE CHAIRMAN: I don't know what's
4 going on here. I'm having a hell of a time.
5 Mr. Lopez, how do you vote in that
6 motion?
7 MR. LOPEZ: For the motion.
8 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you. Chairman
9 votes for the motion. Motion is carried
10 7-0. Thank you.
11 MS. GIRIS: Thank you very much,
12 Mr. Chairman.
13 THE CHAIRMAN: You're welcome,
14 Ms. Giris.
15 Okay. All right. Now --
16 (Briefly lost connection.)
17 THE CHAIRMAN: Hello?
18 MR. KUNTZ: We can hear you,
19 Chairman.
20 THE CHAIRMAN: You can hear me.
21 Thank you very much. I'm just having a
22 problem. I don't know what it is. I do
23 apologize to everybody. I'm trying not to
24 have a problem, but I'm having a problem
25 so.
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 46
1 MR. KUNTZ: I believe it's your
2 Wi-Fi, chairman.
3 (Brief pause discussing technical
4 issues.)
5 THE CHAIRMAN: George, you got me?
6 MR. KUNTZ: We have you.
7 THE CHAIRMAN: Good. Okay.
8 All right. The next case is, the
9 next case is Mr. Dibbini. It's case 5738.
10 It's an area variance.
11 Mr. Dibbini on behalf of 12
12 Inverness, LLC, that's Limited Liability
13 Corporation, owner, to construct a new
14 one-family dwelling, whereas;
15 - Violation of side setback plane on
16 right side, south, of the house, that's
17 Reference 43 --
18 (Briefly lost audio.)
19 THE CHAIRMAN: -- 4965, Lot: 72 in
20 an S-200 Zone.
21 Mr. Dibbini, has everybody within a
22 200-foot radius been notified, sir?
23 MR. DIBBINI: Yes, Mr. Chairman.
24 THE CHAIRMAN: And do you have
25 anything that came back that was returned?
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 47
1 MR. DIBBINI: No, 17 went out, none
2 returned.
3 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Very good.
4 All right. Is there anybody here
5 tonight on this case? This case is on
6 Inverness, Inverness Road. Inverness Road.
7 MR. KUNTZ: Is there anyone that
8 would like to speak to --
9 MR. LANDSMAN: Well, they're not
10 going to speak yet. They're going to speak
11 after the case is heard. Everybody can
12 hear what's going on now.
13 AIMEE HECTOR POLLAND: Sure. I'm
14 here just because I received a
15 notification. I live, I guess, within 200
16 feet.
17 MR. LANDSMAN: Okay. You'll have a
18 chance when the case is over to speak.
19 AIMEE HECTOR POLLAND: Sure. Thank
20 you.
21 MR. LANDSMAN: You're welcome.
22 THE CHAIRMAN: All right.
23 Mr. Dibbini, present your case, please.
24 MR. DIBBINI: Yes, Mr. Chairman.
25 Thank you very much.
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 48
1 As stated the subject premises is
2 located at 12 Inverness Road. And it's
3 located in the Beech Hill area. The
4 existing premises is a vacant lot in the
5 S-200 Zone. The applicant, 12 Inverness,
6 LLC is owned by Anne Persico and is seeking
7 to build a beautifully designed and
8 constructive -- house for her daughter to
9 live with her family.
10 The Persicos have been in the Beech
11 Hill area for over 25 years and want to
12 keep the family close to each other. So
13 Mr. and Mrs. Persico can assist with their
14 daughter's son who is autistic. The
15 variance sought is limited to the side yard
16 setback which the applicant feels in light
17 of the overall project is minimal.
18 The following are the five points:
19 point one, the applicant cannot build on
20 family house without the minor side yard
21 setback variance. Point two, granting the
22 variance will not change the character of
23 the neighborhood variance from -- variation
24 from the code is minor. Permitting the
25 variance will -- in conformity of the
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 49
1 neighborhood --
2 (Court reporter interrupted due to
3 poor audio.)
4 THE CHAIRMAN: Repeat that,
5 Mr. Dibbini.
6 MR. DIBBINI: Sure.
7 Second point, granting the variance
8 will not change the character of the
9 neighborhood as the variation from the code
10 is minor. Permitting the variance will
11 allow a properly-sized house in conformity
12 with the neighborhood. Point three, the
13 requested variance is not substantial when
14 viewed in the context on the entire
15 application as a whole. The neighbors have
16 a couple of buffers between the houses and
17 same will be maintained if the variance is
18 approved.
19 There is no adverse point for this.
20 There's no adverse effect on the physical
21 or environmental conditions in the
22 neighborhood. The variation will not
23 negatively impact the neighborhood as there
24 will be no significant noticeable change.
25 The new house will be beautifully designed
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 50
1 and constructed to compliment the
2 neighbor's houses in the neighborhood.
3 Point five, the difficulty was not
4 self-created. The applicant has purchased
5 the premises in the present condition with
6 a empty lot with the intention to build a
7 one-family house.
8 The applicant has been in the same
9 neighborhood for 25 years and wants to stay
10 in Yonkers and granting this variance will
11 make this possible.
12 Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'll be
13 happy to take any questions.
14 MR. KUNTZ: Mr. Chairman, you're
15 going to have unmute yourself. There you
16 go. Perfect.
17 THE CHAIRMAN: Yeah. We're okay.
18 Mr. Dibbini, do you have anything
19 else to say? I lost you for a minute.
20 MR. DIBBINI: I'm sorry,
21 Mr. Chairman. I don't, unless you want me
22 to repeat something.
23 THE CHAIRMAN: I lost you for a
24 minute. Do you have anything else to say?
25 MR. DIBBINI: Mr. Chairman, where
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 51
1 did you lose me? I'll be happy to repeat
2 it.
3 (Briefly lost connection.)
4 MR. KUNTZ: Sorry, Mr. Dibbini, he's
5 going off and on.
6 MR. DIBBINI: I gotcha.
7 MR. KUNTZ: In and out. In order to
8 hear you, Mr. Dibbini, sometimes we're
9 going to have to mute the Chairman.
10 Chairman, you are now un-muted and
11 you can speak.
12 (Brief pause to discuss technical
13 issues.)
14 MR. KUNTZ: Okay. I think it's your
15 Wi-Fi. But, Mr. Dibbini, he read and he's
16 asking the Chairman if he would like to
17 repeat what he said.
18 THE CHAIRMAN: I just want him to
19 repeat the last paragraph of what he was
20 talking about.
21 MR. DIBBINI: Sure. Mr. Chairman,
22 that was point five with respect to the
23 difficulty that was not self-created. I
24 indicated the applicant has purchased the
25 premises in the present condition as an
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 52
1 empty with the intention to build a
2 one-family house. Additionally, the
3 applicant has been in the same neighborhood
4 for 25 years and wants to stay in Yonkers
5 and granting this Yonkers will make that
6 possible.
7 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Are there any
8 questions of the Board? Any questions of
9 the Board? No? All right. Is there
10 anybody here tonight that would like to
11 speak on this case?
12 MR. LANDSMAN: Okay, we have
13 Ms. Hector.
14 AIMEE HECTOR POLLAND: Hi. Good
15 evening, everyone.
16 THE CHAIRMAN: Are you an attorney,
17 madam?
18 AIMEE HECTOR POLLAND: I actually
19 happen to be an attorney, but I am not here
20 in the capacity --
21 THE CHAIRMAN: No, just answer my
22 question, please. Are you an attorney?
23 AIMEE HECTOR POLLAND: Yes, I am.
24 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Speak, please.
25 Give me your address, please, and your name
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 53
1 and address, please.
2 AIMEE HECTOR POLLAND: Sure. Amiee
3 Hector Polland. I live at 19 Cotswold Way
4 in Scarsdale.
5 THE CHAIRMAN: Is that in Scarsdale
6 or is that in Yonkers?
7 AIMEE HECTOR POLLAND: It is a
8 Scarsdale address. I received notification
9 I assume because I'm within 200 yards.
10 THE CHAIRMAN: But it's in Yonkers
11 though you live, correct?
12 AIMEE HECTOR POLLAND: No, I live in
13 Scarsdale -- part of my property is in
14 Yonkers and part of it is in Scarsdale. We
15 have a Scarsdale Post Office address.
16 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. But you
17 do live in -- some of your property is in
18 Yonkers? Continue --
19 AIMEE HECTOR POLLAND: Some of my
20 property is in Yonkers, yes.
21 THE CHAIRMAN: Continue, please.
22 AIMEE HECTOR POLLAND: Okay. So I
23 received notification. And so I just came
24 to this meeting to understand what the
25 issue was. So now I understand a little
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 54
1 bit about it. I'm curious whether the
2 portion -- whether the property actually
3 abuts my property at all. I'm not sure if
4 it does. I couldn't tell. And if it does,
5 whether the area that they're seeking the
6 variance for whether that side abuts my
7 property. Those were my two questions.
8 MR. DIBBINI: If I may speak,
9 Mr. Chairman.
10 THE CHAIRMAN: Yes, Mr. Dibbini.
11 MR. DIBBINI: Yes, I can tell you
12 your property does not abut my client's
13 property to the left or to the right.
14 Because then I think you would have the
15 same street address. I can't speak to what
16 may be behind my client's property. I'm
17 not sure what street is directly behind my
18 client's property. I can go on the
19 Internet now and check to see. But if it
20 is, the variance would not be affecting
21 that rear portion of the property if your
22 property happened to be in the rear.
23 AIMEE HECTOR POLLAND: Okay.
24 MR. DIBBINI: The variance, the
25 variance is when looking at the street on
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1 Inverness, the variance is on the right
2 side of my client's -- the front right side
3 of my client's property --
4 (Poor audio connection.)
5 MR. DIBBINI: -- which abuts the
6 neighbor to the left.
7 AIMEE HECTOR POLLAND: Okay. It
8 would be wonderful if you could look if it
9 actually abuts my property in any way.
10 Because I think that would -- I don't
11 imagine that I would have any concern if it
12 doesn't abut my property at all.
13 THE CHAIRMAN: Do I have a property
14 back, Mr. Dibbini? You sent me one here?
15 MR. DIBBINI: Yes, Mr. Chairman, I
16 did.
17 THE CHAIRMAN: Yeah, hold on. You
18 did not print the -- let's see. This map
19 is very poor. There's no streets. I can
20 just about --
21 (Briefly lost audio.)
22 THE CHAIRMAN: -- your property --
23 touches this property, madam. It does not
24 look like it touches it.
25 AIMEE HECTOR POLLAND: It does not.
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1 You cut out for a second, but I think
2 you're saying that it does not.
3 THE CHAIRMAN: No, from the best of
4 my ability, I'm the Chairman of the Board,
5 it does not look like it touches your
6 property at all.
7 AIMEE HECTOR POLLAND: Okay.
8 MR. DIBBINI: Mr. Chairman, if I may
9 speak as well. I'm looking at Google Maps.
10 And I typed in 19 Cotswold Avenue -- Way
11 rather. And the house that Ms. Hector
12 lives in apparently is about halfway down
13 the street. So it definitely does not abut
14 my client's property.
15 THE CHAIRMAN: I said that. Thank
16 you, Mr. Dibbini.
17 AIMEE HECTOR POLLAND: Okay. Thank
18 you very much. I very much appreciate
19 that.
20 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you.
21 Is there anybody else here to speak
22 on this, on this, on this case? This case
23 is on Inverness Avenue. Is there anybody
24 else?
25 MR. LANDSMAN: Anybody else to speak
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1 for or against this motion, this case?
2 Anybody else here?
3 I think that's it, Mr. Chairman.
4 THE CHAIRMAN: All right.
5 Mr. Dibbini, do you have anything else to
6 say? Mr. Dibbini?
7 MR. KUNTZ: You're going to have to
8 unmute yourself, Mr. Dibbini.
9 MR. DIBBINI: No --
10 THE CHAIRMAN: Do you have anything
11 else to say?
12 MR. DIBBINI: No, Mr. Chairman,
13 thank you very much for your time.
14 THE CHAIRMAN: You're welcome.
15 Is there any questions of the Board?
16 Okay. This case is hereby -- somebody said
17 something? Okay. This case is hereby
18 closed. We reserve the right to reopen it
19 for any reason whatsoever, any time
20 whatsoever and that includes after the
21 decision is made.
22 Thank you, Mr. Dibbini.
23 MR. DIBBINI: Thank you,
24 Mr. Chairman. Good evening.
25 THE CHAIRMAN: One second, please.
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 58
1 All right. The next case tonight is
2 case 5739. It's Mr. D'Amore, RA, that's
3 Registered Architect, on behalf of Gerald
4 and Maureen Houlihan, owner, to enclose
5 porch in the rear yard, Having:
6 - Insufficient rear yard section
7 43-27, Table 43-3, required is 25 ft.,
8 proposed is 20.75 ft. And proposed
9 enclosed porch in the rear yard;
10 On premises known as 56 Margaret
11 Avenue also known as 182 Crestwood Avenue,
12 Block: 4706, Lot: 23, in an S-50 Zone.
13 Mr. D'Amore, are you there, sir?
14 MR. D'AMORE: I'm here. Can you
15 hear me okay?
16 THE CHAIRMAN: Yes. I swore you in
17 before; is that correct?
18 MR. D'AMORE: That's correct.
19 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. I'm not going
20 to swear you in this time. You're under
21 oath. You understand that?
22 MR. D'AMORE: Yes, I do.
23 THE CHAIRMAN: Proceed, sir. First
24 off, has everybody within a 200-foot radius
25 been notified, sir?
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 59
1 MR. D'AMORE: Yes, everyone has.
2 THE CHAIRMAN: Did anything come
3 back that was undeliverable?
4 MR. D'AMORE: One envelope came
5 back.
6 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Thank you.
7 Is there anybody here tonight on
8 this case?
9 Mr. Landsman, would you announce
10 that, please?
11 MR. LANDSMAN: Yeah, they can all
12 hear. We'll get to them after. They hear
13 it.
14 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Thank you.
15 All right. Mr. D'Amore, present
16 your case, please.
17 MR. D'AMORE: Okay. The subject
18 house is a one-family house in the
19 Crestwood section of Yonkers. It's on
20 Crestwood Avenue and Margaret Avenue. On
21 the corner. It's a 50 by 100 lot. Most of
22 the houses in the neighborhood are on 50 by
23 100 lots. And for this particular house,
24 on the corner -- would you mind if I shared
25 my screen or are you good with having your
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1 own set of drawings to look at? Because --
2 THE CHAIRMAN: Proceed. Proceed
3 with your case, please. Okay? Thank you.
4 MR. D'AMORE: Okay. Okay. The
5 extension is in the rear yard. It extends
6 outwards 12 foot 6. In order that we can
7 get a 12-foot dimension inside. And we
8 need the 12-feet to make a dining room
9 area. That'll be an enclosed room. A
10 three-season room. And instead of having a
11 25-foot setback, we will have a 20 feet --
12 we'll be 4 feet 3 inches short. So we're
13 coming, we have a 20-foot 9-inch setback.
14 So, so, the zoning -- that describes the
15 zoning issues.
16 Now, the requirements for an area
17 variance are that we have to meet those
18 several points. The first being will there
19 be an undesirable change in the
20 neighborhood. And we submit that it's only
21 a one-story addition to a two-story house.
22 The front -- pardon me? Oh, sorry. It's a
23 one-story addition to a two-story house.
24 It's got a pitched roof. To the top of the
25 pitched roof from the ground is only 13
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1 feet. And because of the slope of the
2 drive -- the slope of the sidewalk going
3 up, the driveway of the house next door,
4 goes another 7 feet higher. So our peak of
5 the roof is only 7 feet above that
6 driveway. So, this is as close as we come
7 to being any encroachment towards our
8 neighbor. And that'll be point one that
9 we're not making an undesirable change in
10 the neighborhood.
11 Point two is whether the area
12 variance is substantial. And we are 4 foot
13 3 shorter than required. It's a variance
14 of 17 percent which we say is not
15 substantial. And once again I want to
16 mention that the roof is only 4 foot 7 feet
17 higher than the neighbor's driveway. The
18 roof doesn't even come up to the, on the
19 window sill of the first story of their
20 house.
21 Whether the proposed variance -- the
22 point three will be, four I mean, I should
23 say, whether the proposed variance will
24 have an adverse impact on the fiscal or
25 environmental conditions of the
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1 neighborhood. And we submit that there's
2 no adverse conditions because of the size
3 of the addition, because of the slope in
4 the sidewalk in front of the house, and the
5 addition will be, half of it invisible to
6 the eye. Because it's -- of the slope of
7 the sidewalk. That shows in the
8 photographs. I've got a series of
9 photographs that point out the rock out
10 crops that are in front of building that
11 substantiate what I'm talking about the
12 non-adverse impact.
13 And the last part is whether the
14 difficulty was self-created which is a
15 relevant condition, but doesn't preclude
16 you from granting the variance. In which
17 said the condition of a homeowner desiring
18 to expand his house beyond the limits of
19 zoning is a hardship that's self-created,
20 but it's only a small area variance. It's
21 not a use variance. And the definition
22 doesn't disqualify the applicant from your
23 consideration. The family needs space for
24 entertainment and have nicer views of their
25 yard. And they do a lot of barbecuing in
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1 the yard and they need to have this extra
2 three-season room so that when they have
3 barbecues and want to eat, they can be
4 sectioned off from all the mosquitos in the
5 area. So we're creating an outdoor room.
6 And I want to point out that even
7 though we are short on the rear yard, we
8 are within bounds, we are well within
9 bounds of our maximum lot coverage. The
10 maximum lot coverage in the area is --
11 excuse me, while I grab this number. The
12 maximum lot coverage in the area is, excuse
13 me, 40 percent. And we are only adding up
14 to 27 percent. We're 22 percent now.
15 We're coming up to 27 percent and the lot
16 coverage allowed in the area is 40 percent.
17 So we're not crowding the lot and we're not
18 creating an adverse impact.
19 And that's our case except to say
20 that we submitted a consent letter from the
21 neighbor that's on our side on Crestwood
22 Avenue. And I have it to share on my
23 screen, but I believe Shannon said she was
24 going to share the consent letter with all
25 the Members of the Board. If you don't
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 64
1 have it, I can show it on my screen that
2 the neighbor that we are coming closest to
3 that would have the most to say against our
4 variance is actually has no, no objection
5 to it and consents to it. Would you like
6 me to share my screen and show that letter?
7 THE CHAIRMAN: No, I have it here.
8 You submitted it to Shannon. I have it.
9 MR. D'AMORE: Great.
10 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. All right.
11 Are there any questions of the Board?
12 All right. Mr. D'Amore, this is
13 going to be one-family, right?
14 MR. D'AMORE: Yes, one-family.
15 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. It's going to
16 have one kitchen, correct?
17 MR. D'AMORE: Correct. One kitchen.
18 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. How many --
19 well, how many kitchens does it have now?
20 One?
21 MR. D'AMORE: There's only one
22 kitchen and there's no new other kitchen
23 proposed.
24 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. All right.
25 Okay. Thank you.
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 65
1 Any questions of the Board?
2 Okay. Is there anybody here tonight
3 to speak on this case? It's on Margaret
4 Avenue and Crestwood Avenue.
5 MR. LANDSMAN: Is there anybody here
6 to speak for or against? You can unmute
7 yourself. Crestwood and --
8 JOANNE SCHWIND: I'm here.
9 MR. LANDSMAN: I'm sorry?
10 JOANNE SCHWIND: I'm here.
11 MR. LANDSMAN: Okay. We have
12 Ms. Schwind. Chairman, Ms. Schwind.
13 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Ms. Schwind,
14 are you an attorney?
15 JOANNE SCHWIND: No, I'm not.
16 THE CHAIRMAN: Raise your right
17 hand, please. Do you solemnly swear to
18 tell the truth -- raise your right hand.
19 JOANNE SCHWIND: It's up. I don't
20 know if you can see it.
21 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Do you swear
22 to tell the truth, the whole truth, and
23 nothing but the truth so help you God?
24 JOANNE SCHWIND: Yes, I do.
25 THE CHAIRMAN: State your name and
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1 address, please. State your name and
2 address please.
3 JOANNE SCHWIND: -- Schwind -- yes,
4 can you hear me?
5 THE CHAIRMAN: Yes.
6 JOANNE SCHWIND: My name is Joanne
7 Schwind. I live at 52 Margaret Avenue.
8 I'm the house right next door.
9 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay.
10 JOANNE SCHWIND: And we have no
11 objections. I just wanted to state that.
12 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Thank you very
13 much. Okay. Is there anybody else here to
14 speak on this, on this variance?
15 MR. LANDSMAN: Anybody else for this
16 case?
17 I think that's it, Mr. Chairman.
18 MR. CHAIRMAN: Thank you.
19 MR. KUNTZ: Anyone, anyone who is on
20 a phone, you have to press star 6 if you
21 want to speak.
22 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. This case is
23 hereby closed. Reserve the right to reopen
24 it for any reason whatsoever, any time
25 whatsoever and that includes after the
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 67
1 decision is made. Thank you.
2 MR. D'AMORE: Thank you,
3 Mr. Chairman and Members of the Board.
4 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you.
5 Mr. Romano, are you there?
6 Mr. Romano?
7 MR. ROMANO: Yes, sir.
8 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. We're
9 going to take your case.
10 MR. ROMANO: Oh, thank you, sir.
11 THE CHAIRMAN: Yeah. Case 5742,
12 improvement to a non-conforming use.
13 Mr. Romano on behalf of Claudio Herrera
14 Ramirez, owner, to legalize the barrier
15 fence wall that is between an adjoining
16 properties, whereas:
17 -- Improvement to a non-conforming
18 use requires Zoning Board of Appeals
19 approval Reference 43-21.G.
20 Note: Two-family row house is a
21 non-conforming use - patio and playground
22 in rear yard;
23 On premises known as 62 William
24 Street, Block: 444, Lot: 30, in an M Zone.
25 Mr. Romano, has everybody within the
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 68
1 200-foot radius been notified, sir?
2 MR. ROMANO: Yes, Mr. Chairman.
3 THE CHAIRMAN: They have. Okay.
4 MR. ROMANO: One return,
5 Mr. Chairman.
6 THE CHAIRMAN: One return. Okay.
7 Just one second, please. This is between
8 Garfield Street and Webster Avenue. Is
9 there anybody here tonight on this case?
10 Mr. Landsman, you want to see?
11 MR. LANDSMAN: Yeah, they're all,
12 they're all un-muted. They could all hear.
13 They can speak at the end of the case.
14 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Mr. Romano,
15 present your case.
16 MR. ROMANO: Mr. Chairman, here on
17 behalf of Claudio Herrera Ramirez who's the
18 owner of 62 William Street. We're here
19 because we're improving a non-conforming
20 use. Otherwise if it was a conforming use
21 we would not be here because we would meet
22 code.
23 THE CHAIRMAN: That's a brilliant,
24 that's a brilliant thing. Go ahead.
25 MR. ROMANO: I know. I'm not happy
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1 with this non-conforming --
2 THE CHAIRMAN: I don't care what
3 you're not happy with. Present your case.
4 Come on. I got a full night here.
5 MR. ROMANO: I know. I know.
6 Anyway, so, Mr. Chairman, it's a two-family
7 row house. My client seeks to improve it.
8 On the rear left side of the house, which
9 is connected to the adjoining house, the
10 other row house, we're going to remove the
11 concrete wall and take the fence that's on
12 top of that and lower it and use that as
13 the barrier instead of the concrete wall.
14 In addition, he's redoing the patio with a
15 playground that requires Zoning Board
16 approval as well. He's not making any
17 exterior changes. He's not -- he's going
18 to have same, still a two-family. He's not
19 making any interior alterations. He's just
20 doing this in order to comply with the
21 code. The lot coverage is met. The
22 parking is met. Everything is done right.
23 And he just wants to upgrade his property
24 on the row house. So that's what we're
25 doing, Mr. Chairman. We're not doing else
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1 anything else.
2 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. Is he, is
3 he the side with the child care center?
4 MR. ROMANO: No, I think that's the
5 other side. That's the left side. He's on
6 the right side.
7 THE CHAIRMAN: So he doesn't run the
8 child care center.
9 MR. ROMANO: No, sir.
10 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Who owns the
11 entire house?
12 MR. ROMANO: My client owns that
13 half of the row house. I don't know who
14 owns the other house, but I can find out,
15 Mr. Chairman.
16 THE CHAIRMAN: No, that's okay. I
17 don't have to know. But he's not running
18 the child care center, somebody else is?
19 MR. ROMANO: Yes, sir.
20 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. All right.
21 One second, please.
22 MR. ROMANO: Yes, sir.
23 THE CHAIRMAN: I seem to have lost
24 something. All right. All right. How
25 many families live in this house,
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1 Mr. Romano?
2 MR. ROMANO: Two families,
3 Mr. Chairman.
4 THE CHAIRMAN: So that's a
5 two-family and the other part of the row
6 house is a two-family also.
7 MR. ROMANO: I believe that's
8 accurate, yes, sir.
9 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. You're
10 going to have to send me a letter signed by
11 both families and it's gotta be notarized.
12 Okay? Saying that they live there. Okay?
13 MR. ROMANO: Yes, sir.
14 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. All right.
15 How many kitchens?
16 MR. ROMANO: Two kitchens,
17 Mr. Chairman.
18 THE CHAIRMAN: Two kitchens. Okay.
19 How many electrical units?
20 MR. ROMANO: I don't know,
21 Mr. Chairman, there might be one for the
22 common area. But I will check for you.
23 THE CHAIRMAN: Well, can't be a
24 common area, there's only -- there's two
25 apartments. So there's one for each
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 72
1 apartment.
2 MR. ROMANO: Right --
3 THE CHAIRMAN: If there's three, if
4 there's three, I want to know what the
5 third one is.
6 MR. ROMANO: Yeah, yeah, Con Ed has
7 been making us put in common in the last 15
8 years. But I will check, Mr. Chairman.
9 There might be one for the common area.
10 But I'm not sure, but I will find out.
11 THE CHAIRMAN: If there's one for
12 the common area, I want to know who, who
13 that meter is assigned to.
14 MR. ROMANO: It would be my client,
15 Mr. Chairman.
16 THE CHAIRMAN: Well, you put that in
17 the record then.
18 MR. ROMANO: Yes, sir.
19 THE CHAIRMAN: You know. I want
20 that in writing.
21 MR. ROMANO: Absolutely.
22 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay, Mr. Romano.
23 Are there any questions of the
24 Board? Okay.
25 Is there anybody here tonight to
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1 speak to this application? All right.
2 Mr. Landsman, will you announce
3 that?
4 MR. LANDSMAN: Yeah. Anybody here
5 to talk on this case on William Street?
6 Any neighbor here, anybody who wants to
7 speak about it for or against? Looks like
8 nobody is here.
9 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Thank you.
10 Okay.
11 Mr. Romano, do you have anything
12 else you want to say to me?
13 MR. ROMANO: Not on this case,
14 Mr. Chairman.
15 THE CHAIRMAN: Not on this case.
16 You have another case you want to say
17 something?
18 MR. ROMANO: No, no, I don't know if
19 there's another decision on 383 Warburton.
20 I got here a little late.
21 THE CHAIRMAN: No, we put that over
22 for decision.
23 MR. ROMANO: Okay. All right. Then
24 I'm good. I'm good. I am leaving.
25 THE CHAIRMAN: Well, you're home
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1 already, aren't you?
2 MR. ROMANO: No, no, I'm at my
3 daughter's apartment on Sawyer Place. My
4 daughter Christine. She's getting her
5 Ph.D. in mental health counseling so she
6 knows where I went wrong.
7 THE CHAIRMAN: She's getting a
8 degree in mental health?
9 MR. ROMANO: Counseling, yes.
10 THE CHAIRMAN: Yeah, she's got a
11 good patient. I know that.
12 MR. ROMANO: Yeah. Oh, God.
13 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. I'll
14 leave it alone.
15 This case is hereby closed. Reserve
16 the right to reopen it for any reason
17 whatsoever, at any time whatsoever.
18 Thank you, Mr. Romano.
19 MR. ROMANO: Thank you. Have a good
20 evening everybody and be safe.
21 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. The next
22 case is 5741. It's an improvement of
23 non-conforming use and an area variance.
24 Jennifer Porter, Esq. on behalf of Silver
25 Bell Company, owner, and JP Morgan Chase
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1 National Bank, I guess, lessee. They're
2 the lessee. For alterations and site
3 improvements to the building and parking
4 area at the existing Chase Bank including
5 demolishing of the drive-through window to
6 convert the drive-through to an ATM,
7 whereas:
8 -- Improvement to a non-conforming use
9 requires Zoning Board of Appeals approval,
10 Reference Yonkers Zoning Ordinance 43.21.G,
11 the bank is not permitted, not permitted
12 use in an I Zone.
13 -- Then there's insufficient
14 parking. That's per Section 43-128, Table:
15 43-4, two additional parking spaces
16 required;
17 On premises known as 1222 Nepperhan
18 Avenue, Block: 3180 -- that's Block: 3182,
19 Lot: 15 in an I Zone.
20 Ms. Porter, are you here?
21 MS. PORTER: I'm here.
22 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Introduce
23 yourself, please.
24 MS. PORTER: Good evening. My name
25 is Jennifer Porter. I'm the attorney for
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1 the owner and applicant JP Morgan Chase
2 Bank. The owner is Silver Bell Company.
3 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you. Has
4 everyone, has everybody within the 200-foot
5 radius been notified, ma'am?
6 MS. PORTER: Yes, they have.
7 THE CHAIRMAN: Did anything come
8 back that's undeliverable?
9 MS. PORTER: No.
10 THE CHAIRMAN: Nothing. Okay.
11 Is there anybody here tonight on
12 this case?
13 Mr. Landsman, ask around, please.
14 MR. LANDSMAN: Yeah, they're all,
15 they can all hear. We'll get them at the
16 end. Everybody can hear.
17 THE CHAIRMAN: This is on 1222
18 Nepperhan Avenue between Cross Hill Avenue
19 and Odell Avenue. It's on the east side of
20 Nepperhan Avenue. Is there anybody here
21 tonight on this case?
22 Ms. Porter proceed, please.
23 MS. PORTER: Great. Thank you,
24 Mr. Chairman. We're here tonight in
25 connection with Chase's application. It's
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 77
1 a relatively straight forward simple
2 application. Chase is seeking to remove
3 the existing teller window and replace it
4 with a drive-up ATM. Because banks are not
5 permitted in the industrial district, we
6 are seeking relief for a pre-existing
7 non-conforming use to allow this change to
8 occur. It also triggers relief because
9 it's considered an improvement to a
10 non-permitted use. In addition, we are
11 seeking a variance because any ATM for a
12 facility triggers the need for two
13 additional parking spaces. So even though
14 this is a drive-up ATM versus a walk-up
15 ATM, the need for two additional spaces
16 requires, requires variance relief which is
17 why we're before the Board.
18 So in terms of the five factors for
19 granting the relief, first, in terms of the
20 character of the neighborhood. This site
21 has been operated as a bank since 1969 so
22 for over 50 years. Again, there's no other
23 changes to the facility, to the operations
24 at the site, to the parking except for
25 essentially pulling out the driver's -- the
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1 drive-up teller window and replacing it
2 with a drive-up ATM.
3 With respect to whether there are
4 any other methods feasible for the
5 applicant to pursue. Because of modern
6 banking and trends across all banking, both
7 regionally across the State and across the
8 Country, there's no longer the demand or
9 need for teller windows as increasing usage
10 at ATMs has become more main stream and for
11 that reason Chase is seeking to do this
12 improvement to its site.
13 With respect to parking, Chase has
14 always shared parking with the adjacent
15 Walgreens site. It has operated
16 effectively and efficiently with the
17 existing parking allocated between those
18 uses on the site and will continue to share
19 parking; therefore, the need for two
20 additional spaces is not warranted. We did
21 provide a copy of a parking analysis, which
22 demonstrates that.
23 With respect to the third criteria
24 in terms of substantiality. We do not
25 believe that the variances are substantial.
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1 Again, it's a replacement of the teller
2 window. No impact, other impact whatsoever
3 to the site or operations.
4 Finally, with respect to whether
5 there are any impacts, physical or
6 environmental conditions in the
7 neighborhood. There are no other changes
8 that would result in impact to the
9 surrounding neighborhood whether they be
10 physical or environmental.
11 And, lastly, although the relief is
12 -- and the variances are self-created, we
13 believe that based upon a weighing of the
14 five factors, that the relief is warranted.
15 We have with us this evening our
16 site engineer who would be happy to walk
17 the Board, very briefly, through the site
18 plan just to show you scope of the proposed
19 changes to the site and who can also answer
20 any questions with regard to the parking
21 analyses that was done which verified that
22 the existing parking at the site is more
23 than adequate to serve the existing uses.
24 And with that I would close.
25 MR. KUNTZ: Chairman, please unmute
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1 yourself.
2 (Brief pause.)
3 MR. KUNTZ: Perfect.
4 THE CHAIRMAN: I got it right that
5 time.
6 MR. KUNTZ: There you go.
7 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. Just one
8 second, please.
9 MR. KUNTZ: Chairman, I --
10 THE CHAIRMAN: Yeah, I can, I can
11 hear you. I can hear you.
12 MR. KUNTZ: Yeah, I'm muting
13 yourself because there's interference when
14 you have your mic open. So when somebody
15 talks, I have to mute you.
16 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. Just one
17 second. All right. Ms. Porter, put that
18 gentleman on, please.
19 MS. PORTER: Terrific. I'll turn it
20 over. His name is Zachary Chaplain from
21 Stonefield Engineering.
22 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. You are an
23 attorney, sir?
24 MR. CHAPLAIN: I am not.
25 THE CHAIRMAN: Raise your right
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1 hand, please. Do you solemnly swear to
2 tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing
3 but the truth so help you God?
4 MR. CHAPLAIN: I do.
5 THE CHAIRMAN: State your name and
6 your address, please.
7 MR. CHAPLAIN: For the record
8 Zachary Chaplain. Last name
9 C-h-a-p-l-a-i-n. With Stonefield
10 Engineering and Design located at 588
11 Broadway, Suite 310, New York, New York.
12 THE CHAIRMAN: Proceed, sir.
13 MR. CHAPLAIN: So good evening,
14 Mr. Chairman, Members of the Board. I
15 think Ms. Porter generally summed it up
16 pretty well. But if it's possible, I can
17 share my screen and just kind of walk you
18 through the plan. Looks like I can do
19 that. Everybody, you can see my screen?
20 THE CHAIRMAN: Proceed, please.
21 MR. CHAPLAIN: So, the Walgreens is
22 situated on the northeast corner. The
23 Chase Bank is right here towards the
24 southwest. As you can see there's a teller
25 window at the northwest corner of the
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1 building. That would be removed and
2 replaced with a drive-up ATM.
3 Our office prepared a parking study
4 because we are seeking a parking variance
5 where on July 15, 2020, between the hours
6 of 8 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., we observed the
7 parking conditions of the site. We found
8 that at no point in time were parking
9 spaces at full capacity. There was at
10 least 12 parking spaces that were available
11 at all times. With the addition of the
12 ATM, as it is a drive-up ATM, if anything,
13 we think it may reduce the demand for
14 parking. And overall we don't believe
15 there will be a significant change compared
16 to what's occurring -- what previously
17 occurred as it used to be a teller window.
18 And, again, no other improvements in terms
19 of within site disturbance are proposed.
20 It's just the switching of the teller
21 window to the drive-up ATM.
22 MR. KUNTZ: Chairman, please unmute
23 yourself.
24 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Can you hear
25 me, sir?
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1 MR. CHAPLAIN: Yes.
2 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Look, I've
3 been over there. I was born and raised in
4 that neighborhood so I know what I'm
5 talking about. Now, that parking lot is a
6 mess. What are you going to do about
7 fixing that parking lot, the whole parking
8 lot?
9 MR. CHAPLAIN: In terms of the
10 condition of the parking lot or in terms --
11 THE CHAIRMAN: Oh, I know the
12 condition of the parking lot. The parking
13 lot is a mess. It's full of ruts and
14 everything else. What are you going to do
15 to fix that parking lot? Because I tell
16 you right now, it's going to be repaved.
17 MR. CHAPLAIN: We -- I'll defer to
18 Ms. Porter. I mean, we're here on behalf
19 of the applicant, the tenant Chase. I
20 don't know if we could speak for the owner
21 on this.
22 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. That's
23 fine. Then what you are you going to do
24 about the entrance and exits? In front of,
25 the Walgreens?
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1 MR. CHAPLAIN: Yeah, we're here on
2 behalf of the tenant Chase Bank. We're not
3 here on behalf of the owner in terms of any
4 other additional improvements. This is a
5 conversation we would have to have with the
6 owner.
7 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. So then you're
8 finished talking to me. You have nothing
9 else to say about it then. You've talked
10 to me about the bank; am I correct?
11 MR. CHAPLAIN: We've talked to you
12 about the bank. But if there's something
13 specifically that, you know, we -- you
14 would like us to speak to the owner about,
15 we can consider that.
16 THE CHAIRMAN: Oh, good.
17 Ms. Porter, can you hear me?
18 MS. PORTER: (Indicated.)
19 THE CHAIRMAN: You can?
20 Would you unmute Ms. Porter, please.
21 MR. KUNTZ: Yeah, she can hear you--
22 MS. PORTER: Yes.
23 MR. KUNTZ: There you go.
24 MS. PORTER: I can hear you,
25 Mr. Chairman.
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1 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you very much.
2 The parking lot is a mess.
3 MS. PORTER: Okay.
4 THE CHAIRMAN: It's full of -- I'm
5 sure you know because I'm sure you're over
6 there looking at it. So we're going to
7 tell you right now, the parking lot is
8 going to be paved.
9 MS. PORTER: Okay.
10 THE CHAIRMAN: It's gotta be paved,
11 I'm going to tell you right now. Now, the
12 front entrance and exits, I'm going to
13 leave that. They gotta be redone, but I'm
14 going to leave that to probably the, the,
15 the City Engineering Department. Okay?
16 MS. PORTER: Okay.
17 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Do you want to
18 get -- well, I'll call Paul Summerfield
19 tomorrow, the Commissioner. I'll ask him
20 to take a look at it.
21 Commissioner Barbuti, are you there?
22 MR. BARBUTI: Yes, I am.
23 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. You get ahold
24 of Paul Summerfield tomorrow and tell him,
25 ask him, to take a look at those entrances
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1 and exits pretty quickly. And if
2 Ms. Porter wants to be with him, would you
3 give him Ms. Porter's phone number, please.
4 MR. BARBUTI: Certainly.
5 THE CHAIRMAN: And Mike gotta be
6 there. I don't know. Might be a good idea
7 what they're going to do if they want to
8 move them or not move them.
9 MR. BARBUTI: Okay.
10 THE CHAIRMAN: The parking lot is a
11 mess. And there's a hard time getting in
12 and out of it. Like, I said I know it very
13 well.
14 MR. CHAPLAIN: I do want to point
15 out that our, our lot, we're on a separate
16 lot. As shown here. That doesn't include
17 -- we do share the parking with Walgreens,
18 but we have our own lot.
19 THE CHAIRMAN: That's why it's gotta
20 be fixed, sir. Okay?
21 MR. CHAPLAIN: Yeah.
22 THE CHAIRMAN: It's going to be
23 fixed. Okay. Listen carefully. Listen
24 carefully. Ms. Porter knows me. Okay? I
25 had her over at Wendy's so, so -- am I
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1 correct, Ms. Porter?
2 MS. PORTER: You are 100 percent
3 correct. I hear you loud and clear. And
4 we will be having this discussion with the
5 property owner tomorrow. Because I
6 understand it's going to be imposed as a
7 condition as part of our approval so we're
8 not getting away from it. So I hear you.
9 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Good. I just
10 gained a few years. I'll be 80 years old
11 in November, but I've been around a long
12 time. Believe me. A long time.
13 Okay. Are there any questions of
14 the Board?
15 Okay. Sir, do you have anything
16 more to say to me, sir?
17 MR. CHAPLAIN: I do not.
18 THE CHAIRMAN: You do not.
19 Ms. Porter, would you like to say
20 something? Ms. Porter?
21 MS. PORTER: Not at this time. As I
22 indicated we'll have those follow-up
23 discussions with the property owner
24 certainly about repaving in connection with
25 the improvement and then to whatever extent
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1 we need to have conversations with the City
2 engineer, we will do that as well.
3 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Very good.
4 We're going to leave this case open. It's
5 going to be continued to next month. I'll
6 try to put you on as number one if I can.
7 MS. PORTER: Great.
8 THE CHAIRMAN: And we'll discuss it
9 from there. So, if you need the City
10 Engineer, you can call, his name is
11 Mr. Paul Summerfield. Also you can speak
12 to Mike Lepre. And I'll be getting ahold
13 of him tomorrow. Mr. Barbuti will also.
14 Thank you.
15 So this case is hereby continued.
16 Thank you.
17 MR. CHAPLAIN: Thank you.
18 MS. PORTER: Great. Thank you,
19 Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Members.
20 THE CHAIRMAN: You're welcome,
21 Ms. Porter. By the way, that Wendy's is
22 very crowded. You did a good job over
23 there.
24 MS. PORTER: Thank you.
25 THE CHAIRMAN: And it's well
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1 protected.
2 MS. PORTER: It is well protected.
3 Yes. Well, we fought hard for that
4 security, so.
5 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay.
6 MS. PORTER: Thank you. Take care.
7 THE CHAIRMAN: You're welcome,
8 ma'am.
9 (Brief pause.)
10 THE CHAIRMAN: My wife says that was
11 quite interesting. I don't know. One
12 second, please.
13 All right. The next case is case
14 5740, an area variance. Janet Giris, Esq.
15 on behalf of N Broadway LLC, that's Limited
16 Liability Corporation, owner, to redevelop
17 property with seven-story apartment
18 building containing 60 units, 60 dwelling
19 units, parking structure and related
20 infrastructure, whereas:
21 - Provide to scale site plans, as
22 submitted indicate not to sale;
23 - Insufficient side yard setback, to
24 parking structure, 25' is required, 5.25'
25 is proposed;
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1 - Insufficient total side yard
2 setback, to parking structure, 50' is
3 required, 11.25' is proposed;
4 - Loading area not permitted in front
5 yard Section that's under 43-133B;
6 - Exceeding maximum permitted height
7 of retaining wall in minimum front yard 4'
8 is the maximum, proposed is 14'.
9 Is there somebody making some noise?
10 Can we please keep it quiet? Thank you.
11 - Exceeds the maximum permitted
12 height of the retaining wall in the minimum
13 side yard 6', they need maximum, that's one
14 side, 22' proposed on the north and on the
15 south 12' is proposed.
16 - Note: Complete zoning requires
17 survey with topo information. Site plan to
18 indicate location of Zoning District
19 boundary line;
20 On premises known as 316 North
21 Broadway and 315 Palisade Avenue,
22 Block: 2155, Lot: 59 and 16 in an M zone.
23 One second, Ms. Giris. Ms. Giris.
24 Ms. Giris, identify yourself please.
25 MS. GIRIS: Good evening,
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1 Mr. Chairman. My name is Janet Giris. I'm
2 a partner with DelBello, Donnellan,
3 Weingarten, Wise and Wiederkehr this
4 evening on behalf of the applicant.
5 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you. Did you
6 notify everybody within a 200-foot radius,
7 ma'am?
8 MS. GIRIS: Yes.
9 THE CHAIRMAN: Did anything come
10 back that was undeliverable?
11 MS. GIRIS: Not yet, Mr. Chairman.
12 THE CHAIRMAN: So nothing came back
13 as of today? Okay.
14 MS. GIRIS: Nothing. No.
15 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Anybody here
16 on that case? This case is on North
17 Broadway. And it is also on Palisade
18 Avenue.
19 MR. LANDSMAN: Yeah, I believe
20 there's many people here for this case,
21 Mr. Chairman. They can see and hear.
22 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. Just put
23 it on for a minute and I'll tell you in a
24 second. Is there anybody here tonight on
25 this case? This case is on North Broadway
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1 and part of it is on Palisade Avenue. It's
2 south of Glenwood Avenue. It's north of
3 Pine Street and High Street. It's across
4 the street from Devalan Avenue. Is there
5 anybody here tonight on this case?
6 MR. LANDSMAN: Yeah, there are many
7 people are here.
8 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. So put the
9 people on.
10 MR. LANDSMAN: They hear it. They
11 hear it. We'll get to them at the end.
12 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Fine. Thank
13 you.
14 Okay. Ms. Giris, proceed please.
15 MS. GIRIS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
16 Good evening. And good evening, Members of
17 the Board. As I mentioned my name is Janet
18 Giris. I'm with DelBello, Donnellan,
19 Weingarten, Wise, and Wiederkehr. And I'm
20 here this evening on behalf of the
21 applicant. Also joining me this evening,
22 Joe Fernandez, our project architect.
23 Mr. Fernandez in a moment will be able to
24 share his screen and will be able to show
25 you the proposed project.
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 93
1 So this is an application for area
2 variances in connection with the property
3 located at 316 North Broadway and 315
4 Palisade Avenue. This is a through lot
5 that goes from North Broadway to Palisade
6 Avenue. The property consists of
7 approximately 1.2 acres and there is an
8 existing apartment building at 316 North
9 Broadway that's intended to be demolished
10 if this project receives all its approvals.
11 315 Palisade is currently undeveloped.
12 We are proposing to redevelop this
13 property with a seven-story apartment
14 building containing 60 units. Currently
15 the unit mix is proposed to be two studios,
16 44 one-bedrooms, and 14 two-bedrooms. In
17 connection with that a parking structure on
18 the property at 315 Palisade containing 94
19 parking spaces including four handicap
20 spaces on three levels. So, that parking
21 structure, as you come off of Palisade, it
22 appears to be a lot on grade. And then the
23 parking structure goes two levels below
24 grade to provide the required number of
25 parking spaces.
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1 The project has been designed to
2 take advantage of the existing topography
3 of the property. The property slopes
4 approximately 54 feet from the top of
5 Palisade Avenue to the frontage along North
6 Broadway so it's a fairly steep property.
7 And in connection with the redevelopment we
8 are seeking five area variances from the
9 Zoning Board of Appeals. Two of them are
10 generally related to the topography of the
11 property and have to do with the retaining
12 walls on the property. And then two are
13 related to the side yard as, as it relates
14 to the parking structure on Palisade
15 Avenue. We note that on one, one side of
16 the property is the Ukrainian Youth Center
17 which similarly has parking located right
18 along the property line. So if this were
19 approved, it would be adjacent to that and
20 along the other side as well. And there is
21 proposed to be a landscape buffer along
22 those property lines to help buffer this
23 parking area from that.
24 So, Mr. Fernandez, are you available
25 to share your screen to show, the drawings?
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1 MR. FERNANDEZ: If -- I'm sorry.
2 Annie of your office mentioned that you
3 were going to load them.
4 MS. GIRIS: All right. One second.
5 MR. FERNANDEZ: No worries.
6 MS. GIRIS: I apologize,
7 Mr. Chairman.
8 MR. LANDSMAN: Mr. Chairman, you're
9 muted. We can't hear you.
10 MR. KUNTZ: You're muted,
11 Mr. Chairman.
12 THE CHAIRMAN: All right.
13 Ms. Giris, no apologies needed. Do you
14 want Mr. Fernandez to speak?
15 MS. GIRIS: Well, as soon as I load
16 the drawings, Mr. Chairman, he can present
17 a little bit more of the project if you're
18 interested in seeing it.
19 THE CHAIRMAN: Whatever you want to
20 present. But if he's going to speak, he's
21 gotta get sworn in.
22 MS. GIRIS: Understood.
23 THE CHAIRMAN: You tell me what you
24 want me to do.
25 MS. GIRIS: We would like him to be
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1 sworn in, please.
2 THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Fernandez, are
3 you an attorney?
4 MR. FERNANDEZ: No, sir.
5 THE CHAIRMAN: Do you solemnly swear
6 to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing
7 but the truth so help you God?
8 MR. FERNANDEZ: I do.
9 THE CHAIRMAN: State your name and
10 address.
11 MR. FERNANDEZ: Joseph Fernandez,
12 Architect. 575 White Plains Road,
13 Eastchester, New York.
14 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you.
15 Ms. Giris.
16 MS. GIRIS: Thank you.
17 THE CHAIRMAN: The screen is yours.
18 MS. GIRIS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
19 I'm sharing my screen. I hope you see the
20 right screen.
21 MR. LANDSMAN: Nothing.
22 MR. KUNTZ: Yeah, we see nothing.
23 MS. GIRIS: Hold on. Do you see
24 those drawings or not?
25 MR. KUNTZ: Westchester Industry
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1 Development Agency?
2 MR. FERNANDEZ: No, it's the wrong
3 one.
4 MS. GIRIS: Apologies. Hold on.
5 THE CHAIRMAN: Go ahead.
6 MS. GIRIS: I'm trying.
7 MR. KUNTZ: Ms. Giris, if you want
8 to send it me, I can share it with
9 everyone. Oh, you got it.
10 MS. GIRIS: Is that it?
11 MR. FERNANDEZ: That's it.
12 MS. GIRIS: All right. Okay. So,
13 Mr. Fernandez, do you want to talk about
14 it, would you like me to do it?
15 MR. FERNANDEZ: Sure. Sure. I can
16 speak. So we constructed -- I'm getting an
17 echo.
18 MR. KUNTZ: Yeah, I'm going to --
19 Janet, we're going to mute you. I muted
20 the Chairman as well.
21 MR. FERNANDEZ: So we constructed
22 the seven-story building to work with the
23 site. The site is a very steep slope.
24 We've utilized -- we've utilized the
25 existing driveway as a fire access road and
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1 for -- we have taken all the parking off of
2 North Broadway and basically put it on the
3 Palisade Avenue side with open-aired
4 parking which is, as you can see, up at the
5 top. And then we have ramps that go down
6 to underground parking.
7 (Poor audio quality.)
8 MR. KUNTZ: Mr. Fernandez.
9 MR. FERNANDEZ: Yes, sir.
10 MR. KUNTZ: You're on twice. Just
11 to let you know. That's why you're getting
12 background noise.
13 MR. FERNANDEZ: Oh. Can I delete
14 one? I'm sorry.
15 MR. KUNTZ: Everyone is muted except
16 for you and you have another microphone
17 open. Unless there's a different Joe. But
18 I think it's the same.
19 MR. FERNANDEZ: Okay. Can I just
20 "X" out of that?
21 MR. KUNTZ: You might be able to,
22 yeah.
23 MR. FERNANDEZ: Let me try. Okay.
24 How's that?
25 MR. KUNTZ: Better.
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1 MR. FERNANDEZ: Okay. Okay. Great.
2 So, we have the parking on the east
3 side of the site. Which is north of the
4 Ukrainian parking lot. So, it's going to
5 be a very similar feel. We do have ramps
6 that go down to conceal a majority of the
7 parking. There is a proposed small
8 structure for the parking lot to which will
9 have an elevator, some stairs, and a sky
10 bridge, which will take us across to the
11 building on the fourth floor to a sky
12 lobby.
13 The building has a mix of
14 apartments. And they're going to have nice
15 views of the Palisades. We're taking
16 advantage of being up on the hill.
17 These are some of the
18 below-parking-level plans. And we have an
19 open area in the back of the site, which
20 we've created now by creating this parking
21 garage to open up some space. If you were
22 at the site you would see that the building
23 that's there is sitting on top of a hill
24 and then there's a very, very steep slope
25 to get us up to the upper section of the
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1 Palisade site. We're basically, redefining
2 that Palisade site by creating this
3 underground parking structure. We are not,
4 we have no deficit for parking for the
5 amount of units and based on the height
6 requirements, technically we could have
7 went higher; however, we would have then
8 had a parking deficiency. So we wanted to
9 stay away from that because North Broadway
10 and/or Palisade would have issues with
11 additional parking. There's already too
12 many buildings there and too little parking
13 to speak of. So, we will account for all
14 the parking within our building inclusive
15 of guests. And, you know, we have all the
16 handicap spots also laid out nicely.
17 We've worked with the fire
18 department in terms of layout, grading, and
19 access road for the building.
20 We did have loading in the front;
21 however, if, again if you're at the site,
22 there is a retaining wall along the North
23 Broadway site. And then there's a quite a
24 steep mound. And that's why we have that
25 14-foot high retaining wall to kind of
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1 carve out the little loading area which
2 we've created. Which is essentially just
3 an overhead door to work with DPW to, I
4 guess, take the refuge from the building.
5 There will be the same access from
6 North Broadway. We're going to retain the
7 stairwell that's there. Which I think is
8 very elegantly done. And on the rear of
9 the site, or the Palisade Avenue site,
10 we're also going to retain the existing
11 entrance that's there between stone
12 pillars, you know, pre-dated probably
13 myself and use that as our entrance. So
14 there's really no change in the in-and-out
15 of that site; however there will be more
16 cars than there were historically in the
17 past. What else?
18 We've provided landscaping to create
19 buffers from, not only from the south, the
20 Ukrainian parking lot, but from the
21 two-story structure which is north on the
22 Palisade side. On the North Broadway site
23 we have also landscaping that's going to
24 buffer us from the north and the north
25 Broadway site from the units which are
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1 across the street.
2 The building is going to be very
3 self sufficient with a gym and just, you
4 know, everything that a rental building
5 would want. And I think it's going to be a
6 modern and nice addition to the
7 neighborhood. And that's, that's probably
8 what all I have right now, Chairman, and
9 Board Members.
10 MR. KUNTZ: Chairman, you are muted.
11 Chairman, you're muted. Chairman, you are
12 still muted.
13 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay?
14 MR. KUNTZ: Perfect.
15 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Very good.
16 Thank you.
17 Ms. Giris, is there anything else to
18 say?
19 MS. GIRIS: Yes, Mr. Chairman. I
20 just wanted to point out to the Board that
21 we have submitted along with our
22 application a statement of principal
23 points. Which goes through the criteria
24 for an area variance. We discussed why the
25 variances, if they're granted, are more
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1 beneficial to the applicant than they would
2 be detrimental to the neighborhood. As I
3 mentioned the variances having to do with
4 the side yard setbacks are buffered with
5 extensive landscaping which will conceal
6 the parking that's being proposed. Again,
7 to the south is the Ukrainian Youth Center
8 and they have similarly situated parking
9 along the parking property line.
10 With regard to the variance for, for
11 the loading dock in the front yard. It's
12 difficult to see from this drawing, but you
13 can see from the elevation that you can't
14 see that loading area from North Broadway.
15 The topography of the property, that
16 loading area is concealed. So somebody
17 could pull into the driveway, pull into the
18 loading dock and you would not be able to
19 see them there.
20 And then as I mentioned with regard
21 to the retaining walls which, for which
22 we're seeking variances, those obviously
23 are as a result of the difficult topography
24 of this property.
25 So as I mentioned without going
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1 through all the, you know, several pages of
2 principal points that go through the
3 criteria for an area variance, we
4 respectfully request that the Board grant
5 those variances. We're happy to answer any
6 additional questions you might have.
7 MR. KUNTZ: Chairman, you may unmute
8 yourself.
9 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. I'm okay,
10 George?
11 MR. KUNTZ: You're perfect.
12 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you.
13 Mr. Fernandez.
14 MR. FERNANDEZ: Yes, sir.
15 THE CHAIRMAN: I'm looking at the
16 pictures that you've submitted to this
17 Board. On North Broadway, that big brown
18 house, is that coming down?
19 MR. FERNANDEZ: Yes, that's the
20 principal building on the site.
21 THE CHAIRMAN: That's a principal.
22 Now, the building to the right of that, is
23 that coming down?
24 MR. FERNANDEZ: That would not be on
25 our site.
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1 THE CHAIRMAN: That's what I
2 thought. Okay. So that's staying up.
3 That's a house.
4 MR. FERNANDEZ: Yes, sir.
5 THE CHAIRMAN: Yeah. Okay. All
6 right. And in the back what you're going
7 to do is you're going leave that wall.
8 You're going, the ten-foot retaining wall
9 is going to be demolished. But you're
10 going to put something else in its place;
11 am I correct?
12 MR. FERNANDEZ: Yes, they'll be a
13 parking structure built into the hill.
14 THE CHAIRMAN: Right. And to get to
15 the, to get to the parking structure, you
16 have to, it's like a bridge to get to it.
17 It's a three-story bridge; am I correct?
18 MR. FERNANDEZ: That is one way to
19 exit from the parking structure, but there
20 will also be stairs that come down to the
21 main level which is the fire access road
22 along with an elevator.
23 THE CHAIRMAN: Yeah. Okay.
24 Are there any questions of the
25 Board?
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1 MR. LANDSMAN: Yeah, I have one.
2 THE CHAIRMAN: Who is that?
3 Mr. Landsman?
4 MR. LANDSMAN: Yes.
5 THE CHAIRMAN: Yes, Mr. Landsman.
6 MR. LANDSMAN: Yeah. Mr. Fernandez,
7 how many handicap parking spots do you
8 have?
9 MR. FERNANDEZ: I believe there are
10 four.
11 MR. LANDSMAN: And they don't look
12 too close to the building. I mean, to be
13 usable for handicap people, where are they
14 exactly located?
15 MR. FERNANDEZ: So they're located
16 at the upper level of the parking
17 structure. And they're right next to the
18 parking structure building which will have
19 an elevator and which will have access to
20 that sky bridge to go across to the fourth
21 floor to the main building which will also
22 have an elevator.
23 MR. LANDSMAN: So how many feet
24 would you say the parking spots are to get
25 to the building? How many feet away?
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1 MR. FERNANDEZ: From the building?
2 MR. LANDSMAN: From the parking spot
3 to get into the building, how many feet is
4 that?
5 MR. FERNANDEZ: That would be the
6 distance of the bridge, I would assume
7 you're asking.
8 MR. LANDSMAN: I, I don't know. How
9 many feet from when you park your car until
10 you get into the building?
11 MR. FERNANDEZ: I would say that
12 bridge is about 40 feet.
13 THE CHAIRMAN: All right.
14 Mr. Fernandez. Mr. Fernandez, look, I'm
15 going to be honest with you, you're before
16 this Board a lot. I don't like your
17 answers sometimes. I want specific
18 answers. Answer the question specifically.
19 And even before that, is there four parking
20 spaces, handicap, or what are they?
21 MR. FERNANDEZ: Yes.
22 THE CHAIRMAN: There's four?
23 MR. FERNANDEZ: Yes, sir.
24 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Don't say, I
25 think it's four, something like that. It's
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1 gotta be specific. Otherwise, please,
2 don't come to the Board. I want specific
3 answers. That bridge, how many feet is it?
4 MR. FERNANDEZ: 40 feet, sir.
5 THE CHAIRMAN: 40 feet. Okay.
6 That's fine.
7 There's your answer, Mr. Landsman.
8 Continue.
9 MR. LANDSMAN: Okay. That's --
10 that's -- he answered my question. Thank
11 you.
12 MR. FERNANDEZ: Thank you.
13 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Thank you,
14 Mr. Fernandez. Is there any other
15 questions of the Board?
16 KENNETH ESEHAK: I do.
17 THE CHAIRMAN: Who is that?
18 KENNETH ESEHAK: Esehak.
19 THE CHAIRMAN: Who?
20 KENNETH ESEHAK: Esehak.
21 THE CHAIRMAN: Who?
22 KENNETH ESEHAK: Can you hear me
23 now?
24 MR. LANDSMAN: Okay. We're asking
25 for the Board Members. You're not a Board
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1 Member, sir. We'll get to you.
2 KENNETH ESEHAK: Oh, I'm sorry. I
3 misunderstood.
4 MR. LANDSMAN: No problem.
5 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. Listen,
6 please. Okay. All right. Is there any
7 other questions of the Board?
8 MR. BATTISTA: Mr. Chairman, I have
9 a question.
10 THE CHAIRMAN: Yes, sir.
11 MR. BATTISTA: The two-story house
12 that's on the Palisade side, so will the --
13 how high up will that parking structure
14 come? Will that obstruct the view of that
15 house or what is that going to look like?
16 MS. GIRIS: No, the parking
17 structure is at grade. So when you come
18 off of Palisade Avenue, it's as if you're
19 pulling into an at-grade parking lot. And
20 then the ramps go down and the structured
21 part of the parking is below grade. So
22 it's going to be an at-grade lot and it'll
23 be fully landscaped and buffered on both
24 sides.
25 MR. BATTISTA: Thank you, Ms. Giris.
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1 THE CHAIRMAN: Are there any other
2 questions of the Board?
3 MR. GIORGIO: I've got one question,
4 Mr. Chairman. It's Mr. Giorgio.
5 THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Giorgio, proceed.
6 MR. GIORGIO: The wall that's on the
7 sidewalk on the North Broadway side, that's
8 not what we're talking about in terms of
9 the height variance. It's the wall that's
10 more set back near the parking loading
11 area; is that correct?
12 MS. GIRIS: It's, it's both of
13 those, Mr. Giorgio. The existing retaining
14 wall that's along North Broadway, although
15 it's existing, it does require variances as
16 well, because it does not comply with the
17 Zoning. And, you know, in some places that
18 would allowed -- that would be allowed to
19 remain without variances in the City of
20 Yonkers where asked to seek variances for
21 that retaining wall. So that'll be
22 repaired and repointed as part of the
23 project but it's not intended to change in
24 height.
25 MR. GIORGIO: How high does that get
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1 along the North Broadway sidewalk?
2 MS. GIRIS: It ranges in height
3 along North Broadway to about 5 feet in
4 height between 4 and 5 feet.
5 MR. GIORGIO: And when you get to --
6 you're going to go up the 14 feet or
7 whatever it is, how far back off the
8 sidewalk are you?
9 (Poor audio connection.)
10 MS. GIRIS: I'm sorry, I beg your
11 pardon. I didn't understand you.
12 MR. GIORGIO: When you get to the
13 maximum height of that retaining wall, how
14 far off the street or the sidewalk are you?
15 THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Fernandez,
16 Mr. Fernandez, can you answer that, please?
17 MR. FERNANDEZ: Yes, yes. The
18 highest point of the retaining wall would
19 be behind the building. So it wouldn't be
20 observed from North Broadway. And the
21 intersecting wall for that, that backs up
22 the loading dock, it, it goes from the 4 to
23 5 foot level which is existing and then it
24 goes up to 14 feet.
25 MS. GIRIS: Yeah, 14 feet.
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1 MR. FERNANDEZ: And that's, that's
2 the backside of the loading dock. But the
3 loading dock would then be concealed.
4 MR. GIORGIO: Well, that's what I'm
5 asking you. That 14-foot wall that you're
6 talking -- I'm getting some feedback so
7 bear with me if you can't hear me. That
8 14-foot height that you're talking about on
9 that retaining wall near the loading dock,
10 how far off of the sidewalk is that?
11 MS. GIRIS: So it varies, looking at
12 the drawing. Bear with me for a moment.
13 MR. GIORGIO: I mean I realize it
14 probably goes up gradually.
15 MS. GIRIS: Yeah, it does.
16 MR. FERNANDEZ: The 14 feet is going
17 to be at least one bay in on the loading
18 dock. So it'd be probably about 20 feet
19 from the property line or the wall, because
20 it slopes upwards.
21 MS. GIRIS: Right. And it changes,
22 because it's, it's kind of set out on a
23 diagonal. So when you come in the
24 driveway, you know, there's, you know,
25 maybe five feet or so from the, from the
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1 property line. But that's about, I'm going
2 to say 10 to 12 feet from the actual
3 sidewalk. And then you come into that
4 property and then you turn left into the
5 loading dock and then it goes up gradually
6 there.
7 MR. GIORGIO: And where --
8 MS. GIRIS: And the distance, and
9 the distance also increases probably
10 another 5 or 10 feet.
11 MR. GIORGIO: Thank you. When
12 Mr. Fernandez said the maximum height is
13 behind the building, you're talking about
14 the side wall?
15 MR. FERNANDEZ: The north --
16 MS. GIRIS: Yes.
17 MR. FERNANDEZ: Yes, it would be the
18 northeast corner behind the building, which
19 would be the back of the fire access road.
20 So we needed to keep a certain distance for
21 the fire apparatus to be able to spread
22 their outriggers if they needed to be back
23 there.
24 MS. GIRIS: Right.
25 MR. FERNANDEZ: So that caused,
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1 because of the elevations that we got from
2 the topos, that caused that wall to be 22
3 feet.
4 MS. GIRIS: Right. And that's on
5 the northeast corner --
6 (Simultaneous speaking.)
7 MR. FERNANDEZ: -- and it's
8 concealed.
9 MS. GIRIS: Right, northeast corner.
10 MR. FERNANDEZ: Correct. On the
11 southern end, on the southern end by the
12 parking garage it's only 12 feet. Because
13 the slope is much, much less.
14 MR. GIORGIO: Thank you.
15 MR. FERNANDEZ: You're welcome.
16 MR. LANDSMAN: Mr. Chairman, you're
17 muted. Still muted.
18 MR. KUNTZ: You're still muted.
19 THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Giorgio, did you
20 get your questions answered, sir?
21 MR. GIORGIO: I sure did. Thank you
22 very much, Mr. Chairman.
23 THE CHAIRMAN: You're welcome.
24 Are there any other questions of the
25 Board?
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1 Okay. Is there anybody here tonight
2 to speak in favor of this application?
3 MR. LANDSMAN: Okay. Anybody that's
4 live, can you raise your hand if you want
5 to talk, if you're for this application.
6 If you want to speak in favor of it.
7 Anybody at all?
8 MR. KUNTZ: You can raise your hand
9 electronically by putting your mouse over
10 your name if you'd like or just raise your
11 hand physically.
12 MR. LANDSMAN: Okay. Anybody here
13 to speak in favor of it?
14 MR. KUNTZ: I think we have Fernando
15 Barbosa.
16 MR. LANDSMAN: Yes, Mr. Barbosa,
17 Mr. Chairman.
18 THE CHAIRMAN: Yes. So are you an
19 attorney, sir?
20 FERNANDO BARBOSA: Excuse me?
21 THE CHAIRMAN: Are you an attorney?
22 FERNANDO BARBOSA: No, I'm the
23 adjacent neighbor to the proposed --
24 THE CHAIRMAN: No, are you an
25 attorney?
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1 FERNANDO BARBOSA: No, I'm not an
2 attorney.
3 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. Are you
4 in favor of this application?
5 FERNANDO BARBOSA: Correct. I'm in
6 favor.
7 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Raise your
8 right hand, please. Do you swear to tell
9 the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but
10 the truth so help you God?
11 FERNANDO BARBOSA: Yes. Yes.
12 THE CHAIRMAN: State your name and
13 address, please.
14 FERNANDO BARBOSA: Sure. It's
15 Fernando Barbosa. 323 Palisade Avenue,
16 Yonkers, New York 10703.
17 THE CHAIRMAN: Proceed, sir.
18 FERNANDO BARBOSA: So I've been --
19 I'm the adjacent property. I've been the
20 neighbor there for many years. That site
21 has been unpleasant to look at. It's been
22 a sight for sore eyes, full of debris,
23 overgrown weeds, rodents. And I'm in favor
24 of the proposed development to help
25 beautify the area that segment of the
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1 street. And also to, to add to the City of
2 Yonkers tax base. And as a place to live
3 for a --
4 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Is there
5 anything else you would like to say, sir?
6 FERNANDO BARBOSA: No, just that I'm
7 in favor of the site. And again I'm the
8 adjacent neighbor right next to the
9 property.
10 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. And you're
11 neighbor to the north of the property or to
12 the south of the property?
13 FERNANDO BARBOSA: We're right to
14 the north of the property.
15 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. It's a
16 two-family, right?
17 FERNANDO BARBOSA: Correct.
18 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Is there any
19 questions of this gentleman from the Board
20 Members?
21 Okay. Thank you, sir.
22 Is anybody there else to speak in
23 favor?
24 Mr. Landsman, did you find out?
25 MR. LANDSMAN: Yeah, anybody else to
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1 speak in favor of this project?
2 No, I think we can move on.
3 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Thank you.
4 MR. LANDSMAN: Okay. so let's see
5 if there's anybody to speak against this
6 project. There's a few people so we'll try
7 to keep some order.
8 THE CHAIRMAN: No, no, Mr. Landsman.
9 Is there anybody here in favor of it
10 besides that gentleman that just spoke?
11 MR. LANDSMAN: Nobody. Nobody else.
12 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Is there
13 anybody here that's against this project?
14 Not in favor of it.
15 MR. LANDSMAN: Okay. So who wants
16 to speak next?
17 MR. KUNTZ: Should we let Victoria?
18 MR. LANDSMAN: Okay. Ms. Ellman?
19 MR. KUNTZ: You're going to have to
20 unmute.
21 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Who wants to
22 speak? Are you an attorney, madam?
23 VICTORIA ELLMAN: I am not.
24 THE CHAIRMAN: Would you raise your
25 right hand, please. Do you solemnly swear
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1 to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing
2 but the truth so help you God?
3 VICTORIA ELLMAN: Yes, I do.
4 THE CHAIRMAN: State your name and
5 address, please.
6 VICTORIA ELLMAN: Victoria Ellman.
7 239 Palisade Avenue, Yonkers, New York.
8 THE CHAIRMAN: Proceed, please.
9 VICTORIA ELLMAN: I'm just speaking
10 in opposition, objection -- and seeking
11 petition that you use deny the application
12 satisfying North Broadway, LLC in their
13 proposal for the construction of what they
14 are referring to as the Glenwood Skyline
15 Apartment Building Complex.
16 Number one, I believe that it would
17 be detrimental to the characteristics of
18 the neighborhood. I do understand that
19 there are many medium-density-sized
20 buildings. My home in particular is
21 actually a three-family building. There
22 are several homes further up that are
23 primarily single-family residences in
24 addition to the medium-density to small-
25 density apartment complexes.
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1 The characteristics of the
2 neighborhood is largely historical. There
3 has been an increase in deterioration of
4 people's concerns for the historical
5 properties in the area and one of the
6 properties that I would be most concerned
7 about even historically protected is the
8 316 North Broadway complex, which is
9 actually a Tudor-style apartment building
10 which is currently providing housing for
11 the community. More importantly though the
12 domestic architecture of the Glenwood and
13 St. John's neighborhood in its particular
14 environment is not that of a New York City
15 landscape, which is what the proposed
16 complex appears like. Which would be more
17 appropriate, in my personal opinion, in a
18 redevelopment zone closer to the waterfront
19 where such structures are currently being
20 erected; however, in the residential
21 neighborhood even though there's the
22 adjacent parking lot, the Ukrainian
23 complex, this is a very family-friendly
24 neighborhood. And it's actually one of the
25 few locations of Yonkers that is being more
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1 or less maintained as a residential
2 community neighborhood. I do understand
3 that the vacant lot could be considered an
4 eyesore; however, this is a direct result
5 of destruction demolition of the Smith(ph)
6 historical building. That was demolished a
7 number of years ago of course and is no
8 longer standing in its place. It's
9 currently just a vacant lot; however, it
10 would be more connecting to the
11 neighborhood and the community that reside
12 in the area if some single-family
13 residences were erected on this lot on
14 Palisade Avenue. This of course it would
15 directly benefit the neighborhood by
16 offering increasing home ownership as
17 opposed to more apartment complexes. Or
18 it'd also pose the concept and idea for
19 people to consider that the building that
20 would be constructed would not be for the
21 residents in this immediate neighborhood of
22 course, as we all know. This would be to
23 entice new residents and I would suggest
24 more, you know, asking the questions of
25 course of what the average rent price would
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1 be for this apartment complex as I'm sure
2 it would be a great deal more than the
3 current building that is at least 90 years
4 old located on North Broadway. And so I
5 would say that essentially by the
6 demolition of this structure not only would
7 it take away from the character of the
8 neighborhood on North Broadway, but it
9 would also take away affordable housing for
10 the people who currently live in this
11 community.
12 So these are all concepts that I
13 would hope would be considered. Of course
14 I am not in favor of making any variance
15 approvals or increasing any density in this
16 residential neighborhood. I'm also not in
17 favor of architecture that goes in direct
18 contrast with the domestic architecture
19 that is currently in place. There are ways
20 to build these structures that are
21 complimentary to the neighborhood instead
22 of being in opposition to what is currently
23 in existence.
24 There was an application that was --
25 I'm sorry, there was a letter that is, I
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1 want to say about eight or so pages long
2 that was submitted to the ZBA forum. I'm
3 not sure if the Chairman, the Board
4 Members, had time to review that before
5 this meeting today. But I would hope that
6 the letter could be potentially read as it
7 involves going over the introduction and
8 the history of the neighborhood as well as
9 the complex that's located on North
10 Broadway and details the opposition in more
11 gravity as well photographs of the
12 neighborhood and the historical context of
13 the apartment building that's being
14 proposed for demolition.
15 Lastly, I would just add that it
16 also has the names and addresses of more
17 than ten members of the community that are
18 located up and down Palisade Avenue as well
19 as a few residents of the apartment
20 building directly across on North Broadway.
21 And so essentially I hope that this could
22 be considered at some point in time. I
23 will end my speech on that note.
24 MR. LANDSMAN: You're muted,
25 Mr. Chairman.
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1 MR. KUNTZ: Chairman, yeah, please
2 unmute yourself.
3 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. Where do
4 you live, madam, exactly?
5 VICTORIA ELLMAN: I live it, located
6 at 239 Palisade Av.
7 THE CHAIRMAN: 239 Palisade Avenue.
8 So you're north of -- you're south of the
9 proposed, proposed variance here; am I
10 correct?
11 VICTORIA ELLMAN: Yes. Yes.
12 THE CHAIRMAN: And you live in a,
13 you live in a private house or you live in
14 an apartment house also?
15 VICTORIA ELLMAN: No, I own the
16 building located at 239 Palisade Avenue and
17 that is of course where I have been a
18 lifelong resident of Yonkers and, in fact,
19 my grandparents immigrated from here --
20 coming from Ukraine. And they were members
21 until their death as the same Cultural
22 Center, which also has connection and ties.
23 So I'm very familiar with the neighborhood
24 and the adjacent lot.
25 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. All right.
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1 Fine. I know you're familiar, I think
2 you're familiar with it. What would you
3 like to see there?
4 VICTORIA ELLMAN: I would love to
5 see possibly a single or two-family home
6 constructed there. I'd like to increase
7 home ownership and allow people to maintain
8 a residential feeling to that neighborhood.
9 Because of course I am in full support of
10 the rapid development that the City of
11 Yonkers has been undergoing; however, I do
12 believe that we can do smart development
13 planning. Which actually, Mr. Lee Ellman,
14 if I could quote him, which was reported in
15 a New York Times article a number of years
16 ago commenting on this particular
17 neighborhood on why this section of
18 Northwest Yonkers, this is a quote from
19 1994, Mr. Lee Ellman said, "this is the one
20 area where we've really done a development
21 right. It's housing-handsome with an ideal
22 mix of public parks and institutional open
23 space. There's good access in every
24 direction, a reasonable amount of
25 neighborhood commercial establishment, and
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1 it's very safe."
2 And so, I would like to see the
3 neighborhood be retained in this manner as
4 a beautiful, wonderful, residential
5 neighborhood and not have large essentially
6 commercial apartment buildings erected
7 where potentially multiple homes could be
8 built in its place.
9 MR. KUNTZ: Chairman, you're going
10 to have to unmute yourself.
11 THE CHAIRMAN: When I go up and down
12 Broadway or Palisade Avenue, I see garden
13 apartments all over the place. I see
14 apartment houses all over the place. I see
15 some one-family or two-family houses. I
16 do. So it's not uncommon to have something
17 like this in the neighborhood. Thank you,
18 madam.
19 Is there anybody else here to speak
20 in opposition?
21 MR. LANDSMAN: We got Mr. Hertz.
22 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Mr. Hertz, are
23 you an attorney, sir?
24 MICHAEL HERTZ: I am not.
25 THE CHAIRMAN: Raise your right
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1 hand, please. Do you solemnly swear to
2 tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing
3 but the truth, so help you God?
4 MICHAEL HERTZ: I solemnly swear,
5 Mr. Cianciulli.
6 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you. Would you
7 state your name and address, please.
8 MICHAEL HERTZ: My name is Michael
9 Hertz. I'm a resident here in Yonkers at
10 One David Lane. I am a member of the River
11 Communities Coalition of Yonkers.
12 I read this agenda and I saw the
13 variances requested for this project. And
14 I found the retaining walls alarming.
15 We've had a lot of experience in this area.
16 Where buildings with plans for deep, deep
17 retaining walls have had collapses and all
18 sorts of construction mishaps, real
19 disasters along the way.
20 I've looked at side yards, the front
21 yard, and the rear yard setbacks that are
22 requested in the variance. And I was kind
23 of astounded that these sort of variances
24 were being put forward. I felt that it was
25 really out of character for what I would
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1 expect to see in an M Zone.
2 While I applaud the applicant for
3 looking to make sure there were no parking
4 deficits that they did acknowledge what is
5 a challenge in that particular district.
6 So I do applaud the applicant for that. I
7 don't think the solution is just expand,
8 blow out, the garage to meet the deficits.
9 I think if you have to still meet the front
10 yards, the side yards, the rear yard
11 requirements within the M zone. I think
12 it's also important regarding the loading
13 docket. I think the retaining walls, I
14 find, I find shocking. And I am fearful
15 for folks that I hope they never have our
16 experience that we endured for more than a
17 decade up here on upper Warburton Avenue.
18 So therefore I felt compelled to
19 make it my business to come and speak
20 tonight in opposition and I thank you for
21 calling on me, Mr. Chairman.
22 MR. KUNTZ: Mr. Chairman, can you
23 unmute yourself?
24 THE CHAIRMAN: Is there anybody else
25 here tonight to speak in opposition to this
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1 project?
2 (Simultaneous speaking.)
3 MR. LANDSMAN: We have Ms. Stark.
4 Ms. Stark.
5 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Are you an
6 attorney, Ms. Stark?
7 MARCIA STARK: No, I am not.
8 THE CHAIRMAN: Would you raise your
9 right hand, please. Do you swear to tell
10 the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the
11 truth so help you God?
12 MARCIA STARK: I do. My name is
13 Marcia --
14 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Would you
15 state your name and your address, please.
16 MARCIA STARK: Marcia Stark. I live
17 at 295 North Broadway, Apartment 29,
18 Yonkers, New York.
19 THE CHAIRMAN: What's your address
20 again, madam?
21 MARCIA STARK: 295 North Broadway,
22 Apartment 29, Yonkers, New York. Across
23 the street from the project.
24 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Proceed,
25 please.
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1 MARCIA STARK: I don't really want
2 to throw the --
3 THE CHAIRMAN: Proceed.
4 MARCIA STARK: -- cat among the
5 pigeons here, but in going through the
6 submission to the ZBA, the notice for our
7 building was sent to our old property
8 management company. So I never received
9 one. And I think it's pretty safe to
10 assume the other 39 units in the building
11 did not receive one. How is this dealt
12 with?
13 THE CHAIRMAN: How is it dealt with?
14 MARCIA STARK: I found out this
15 because of the sign.
16 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. I have to
17 check it out. We were assuming that
18 everybody within the 200-foot radius was
19 notified. Okay? You got notified. You're
20 here tonight.
21 MARCIA STARK: No, I was notified
22 because one of the shareholders in the
23 building saw the sign in front of the
24 structure to be demolished. We did not
25 receive mailed notification because it went
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1 to the wrong managing agent.
2 THE CHAIRMAN: It went to where?
3 MARCIA STARK: Our previous
4 management agent.
5 THE CHAIRMAN: Where'd it go to?
6 MARCIA STARK: Our old management
7 company. Not our current management
8 company.
9 THE CHAIRMAN: George?
10 MARCIA STARK: And not to any of us
11 individually at our address here on North
12 Broadway.
13 MR. KUNTZ: Can you hear her,
14 Chairman?
15 THE CHAIRMAN: Yeah.
16 MR. KUNTZ: Okay.
17 THE CHAIRMAN: Yeah. Do you have a
18 -- is yours a co-op or a --
19 MARCIA STARK: Yes.
20 THE CHAIRMAN: -- what is it? Is it
21 a co-op or a --
22 MARCIA STARK: Co-op. It's a co-op.
23 THE CHAIRMAN: It's a co-op. Well,
24 and you say that the co-op owners were
25 not -- not individual, but they were not
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1 notified?
2 MARCIA STARK: Our -- the notice was
3 sent to our old management company. The
4 management company we do not use any
5 longer.
6 THE CHAIRMAN: Well, that's probably
7 what's on the deed or something. All
8 right. Listen, I gotta --
9 (Simultaneous speaking.)
10 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. Madam, I
11 gotta get this hearing going. I'm not
12 going to stop the hearing because of that.
13 Would you like to talk about the variance
14 now?
15 MARCIA STARK: I can't say that I
16 support --
17 THE CHAIRMAN: Madam?
18 KENNETH ESEHAK: She's speaking, let
19 her speak.
20 MARCIA STARK: Mr. Chairman --
21 MR. KUNTZ: She's speaking. She's
22 speaking.
23 MARCIA STARK: I'm trying to speak.
24 THE CHAIRMAN: We're having
25 mechanical troubles, madam, that's the
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1 problem.
2 George, can you straighten this out
3 so the lady can be heard?
4 MR. KUNTZ: Yeah, I think, to be
5 honest, I think probably most people can
6 hear her. I think your Wi-Fi might be
7 going out a little bit.
8 So, Ms. Stark, we can hear you. And
9 you are being recorded, so.
10 MARCIA STARK: All right. Thank you
11 very much. I do not support the building.
12 It is aesthetically not in keeping with the
13 overall area. It is very large. I
14 appreciate the arrangements for parking.
15 But I am not sure that it is going to
16 entirely solve the problem, because there
17 is a very limited amount of visitor parking
18 for a 60-unit building. I have my concerns
19 about the 14-foot retaining wall. And I
20 would like to ask Mr. Fernandez, if the
21 owner of this property, if they receive
22 permission from the ZBA to proceed, how
23 they intend to deal with the water that
24 comes down the current driveway and freezes
25 like mad in the winter? There is a stream
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1 back there.
2 MR. FERNANDEZ: There is.
3 THE CHAIRMAN: All right.
4 Mr. Fernandez, you're not answering any
5 questions.
6 Nobody is going to answer any
7 questions, madam. That's something you --
8 if got a problem with that water, call up
9 the Building Department and make a
10 complaint. But I'm not going to solve any
11 problems tonight, I'm not going to allow
12 Mr. Fernandez to solve any problems. We're
13 talking about the variance, talk about the
14 variance, please.
15 MARCIA STARK: Well, I've spoken to
16 my objection regarding the 14-foot
17 retaining wall. And I do have a concern,
18 but I guess I will contact the Building
19 Department tomorrow.
20 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Fine. Is
21 there anything else you would like to say,
22 madam?
23 MARCIA STARK: As I mentioned, the
24 aesthetics and the size do not suit the
25 area. Thank you.
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1 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you very much.
2 Is there anybody else here to speak?
3 MR. LANDSMAN: Who else wants to
4 speak?
5 THE CHAIRMAN: In opposition to
6 this.
7 MR. LANDSMAN: Okay. We got
8 Mr. Overton.
9 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Mr. Overton,
10 are you an attorney?
11 MARK OVERTON: I am not an attorney.
12 THE CHAIRMAN: Would you raise your
13 right hand, please. Do you solemnly swear
14 to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing
15 but the truth so help you God?
16 MARK OVERTON: Yes, I do.
17 THE CHAIRMAN: State your name and
18 address, please.
19 MARK OVERTON: My name is Mark
20 Overton. I also, well, I also live across
21 the street at 290 North Broadway, Apartment
22 34.
23 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Proceed,
24 please.
25 MARK OVERTON: I do have issue with
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1 the variances and the walls. I personally
2 think that they as --
3 (Brief audio interruption.)
4 MARK OVERTON: -- spoken, spoken
5 about before will over time probably be a
6 structural issue. Ms. Stark also mentioned
7 the stream next door. It's been something
8 that the City has come out and looked at
9 many, many times. It seems to be either an
10 artesian well or a stream that is
11 constantly pushing water on to that lot.
12 And without some kind of remediation, I see
13 that as being something that could
14 undermine a 22-foot wall.
15 I also am not pleased with the
16 aesthetics. I mean it's not an ugly
17 building. It's kind of handsome, but I
18 don't -- I also believe that it does not
19 belong in this neighborhood.
20 There was mention of the many
21 multiple dwelling apartments in this area
22 as kind of normal. I would tend to
23 disagree because on the parameter we had
24 some fabulous, fabulous old historic
25 buildings. And unfortunately I think over
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1 time, buildings like this get passed
2 through the City to be allowed to be built.
3 I have issue with the fact that this
4 is going to be an enormous project across
5 the street for two years. That is both a
6 sound, dust issue. A number of trucks.
7 I'm assuming that virtually everything is
8 going to be dealt with from the Broadway
9 side in terms of access with heavy
10 machinery. And some of it will be at the
11 top at some point, but there's going to
12 have to be an enormous amount of it
13 literally 30 feet away from our building,
14 60 feet from our building.
15 I feel that a building like this,
16 and again I agree with Ms. Ellman, about
17 the historical part of this. That if
18 there's any way that we can avoid turning
19 this into downtown. I lived in downtown
20 for 11 years. I came out of New York City
21 to have a nice kind of Utopia on the water
22 down at Hudson Park. For 11 years I've
23 lived in a construction zone. The total
24 renovation of the space that H20 is in, or
25 X20. The three or four buildings that have
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1 gone up since then. I fled the area to
2 have a better view of the Hudson and to
3 enjoy my life in a nice residential
4 neighborhood. And I just don't want to see
5 it be, become something other than that.
6 Thank you for your time.
7 MR. KUNTZ: Chairman, could you
8 unmute yourself?
9 Thank you, Mr. Overton.
10 MARK OVERTON: Thank you.
11 THE CHAIRMAN: Is there anybody else
12 here tonight to speak in opposition to
13 this, this --
14 MR. LANDSMAN: We have Ms. Greenup.
15 THE CHAIRMAN: Wait. Wait. Please.
16 Listen to me. Anybody else here tonight to
17 speak in opposition?
18 MR. LANDSMAN: Ms. Greenup.
19 THE CHAIRMAN: Who?
20 MR. LANDSMAN: Greenup.
21 Ms. Greenup.
22 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. Would you
23 put that person on the --
24 MR. LANDSMAN: Yeah, she's there.
25 MARION GREENUP: I'm here. My name
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1 is Marion Greenup.
2 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. We're
3 going this first, madam. Are you an
4 attorney?
5 MARION GREENUP: I am not.
6 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. Raise
7 your right hand, please. Do you solemnly
8 swear to tell the truth, the whole truth
9 and nothing but the truth so help you God?
10 MARION GREENUP: I do.
11 THE CHAIRMAN: State your name and
12 your address, please.
13 MARION GREENUP: My name is Marion
14 Greenup. I live at 293 North Broadway,
15 Apartment 54. Across the street.
16 THE CHAIRMAN: Proceed, madam.
17 MARION GREENUP: I'm opposed to the
18 variances for the following reasons. The
19 first is that I believe the density of this
20 building will be a detrimental effect on
21 the neighborhood.
22 Secondly, the aesthetics of the
23 building design, while appropriate for
24 another part of Yonkers, simply does not
25 compliment the rest of the neighborhood.
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1 The third is that the parking, while
2 I understand it to be a considerable given
3 the size of the building, will not
4 accommodate, from my point of view,
5 visitors with any degree of coverage. So
6 that we already have serious problems with
7 parking on North Broadway as a result of
8 new water mains and fire hydrants that
9 removed a lot of parking on the street.
10 I'm also opposed to the retaining
11 wall height and I'm concerned, seriously
12 concerned, about what construction will do
13 to this part of North Broadway and to me
14 and my building, my home, across the
15 street.
16 I've lived here since 1998. I very
17 much love the neighborhood. And I am, I
18 would be happy to have another kind of
19 building built across the street, but not
20 something this large and that would require
21 so much in the way of demolition and
22 building construction, and will also, is
23 not designed to fit in with the rest of the
24 buildings here.
25 This is a historic neighborhood.
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1 It's one of the reasons why I moved here
2 and I just don't believe this particular
3 development works very well for us.
4 Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and other
5 Members of the Board.
6 MR. KUNTZ: Thank you, Ms. Greenup.
7 Chairman, can you unmute yourself?
8 THE CHAIRMAN: Is there anybody else
9 here tonight to speak in opposition? I'm
10 going to take one more, one more person.
11 Who wants to speak?
12 MR. LANDSMAN: Anybody else?
13 KENNETH ESEHAK: Me. Esehak.
14 MR. LANDSMAN: You're Mr. Esehak?
15 KENNETH ESEHAK: Yes.
16 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Are you an
17 attorney, sir?
18 KENNETH ESEHAK: I am an attorney, I
19 am not in that capacity tonight.
20 THE CHAIRMAN: Are you an attorney,
21 sir?
22 KENNETH ESEHAK: Yes, sir.
23 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. You want me to
24 swear you in, is that what you're saying?
25 KENNETH ESEHAK: Only if --
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1 THE CHAIRMAN: Raise your right
2 hand. Raise your right hand. Raise your
3 right hand.
4 KENNETH ESEHAK: It's up.
5 THE CHAIRMAN: Yeah. Do you
6 solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole
7 truth and nothing but the truth so help you
8 God?
9 KENNETH ESEHAK: I do.
10 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Now state your
11 name and address, please.
12 KENNETH ESEHAK: Kenneth Esehak. My
13 address is PO BOX 703, Yonkers, New York
14 10703.
15 THE CHAIRMAN: And what is your
16 address?
17 KENNETH ESEHAK: PO Box 703 --
18 THE CHAIRMAN: No, no, no, what's
19 your street address?
20 KENNETH ESEHAK: Okay. I stay at
21 occasionally at 295 North Broadway because
22 I am taking care of an apartment for
23 someone who's in Florida and unable to get
24 back right now. So I'm here --
25 THE CHAIRMAN: In other words, you,
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1 you -- where do you live exactly, sir?
2 KENNETH ESEHAK: Right now, I'm
3 going to use 295 Broadway but --
4 THE CHAIRMAN: No, no, no, I know
5 that. But look, listen to me --
6 KENNETH ESEHAK: I have a residence
7 in Queens.
8 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. What's
9 your address in Queens, please?
10 KENNETH ESEHAK: 154-14 9th Avenue,
11 Beechurst, New York 107 -- 11357. I'm
12 sorry.
13 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. And you're
14 visiting and taking care of an apartment at
15 293. Okay. Go ahead.
16 KENNETH ESEHAK: And taking care of
17 the pets. Your Honor --
18 (Court reporter requested
19 clarification.)
20 KENNETH ESEHAK: 154-14 9th Avenue,
21 Beechurst, New York 11357.
22 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you. Proceed,
23 please.
24 KENNETH ESEHAK: I moved into the
25 area on North Broadway in 1976 near Lake
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1 Avenue. And I moved into 324 North
2 Broadway which is the subject of this. And
3 I was there for 37 years. I moved in there
4 in 1980. And the building, as a couple of
5 people have mentioned, that building went
6 downhill when a former person purchased it
7 and allowed it to degrade and refused to
8 make any repairs. So it is an eyesore
9 right now. But it's 102 years old. It's a
10 historic Tudor-looking building with fire
11 places, high ceilings, big rooms. And it's
12 a shame that this is the way it might go.
13 Parking I think has been addressed
14 adequately. And there is a serious parking
15 problem. Everyone knows there is a parking
16 problem on North Broadway in that area.
17 In addition, mentioned, a couple of
18 people mentioned a stream. As a resident
19 there, yes, there is a stream. It's in the
20 backyard right behind the current garage
21 against the back wall. And it is a stream,
22 it was an open stream when the building was
23 built. And it causes damage in the
24 backyard. It was paved over and came up.
25 (Poor audio connection.)
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1 KENNETH ESEHAK: But that's what
2 we're looking at, and I don't know how
3 they're going fix that.
4 In addition, there's no indication
5 of any other Environmental Impact Studies
6 done. There are animals in there I had
7 never seen before living there.
8 THE CHAIRMAN: Excuse me, sir. Sir.
9 KENNETH ESEHAK: Yes.
10 THE CHAIRMAN: Talk about the, talk
11 about the variances. Don't tell me what's
12 wrong with the property. That's the
13 Building Department's --
14 KENNETH ESEHAK: Your Honor, they
15 didn't -- there wasn't an impact -- I I
16 said there was not an impact, an
17 Environmental Impact Study done, I don't
18 believe. And I would indicate what was
19 there to do it on --
20 (Poor audio connection.)
21 KENNETH ESEHAK: -- of why an
22 Environmental Impact Study of. And there
23 were certain birds that I've never seen
24 before that were only there. And I've
25 never seen in my life live except there.
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1 So those animals will be displaced. That's
2 why I'm upset with that also.
3 The retaining wall in front, I, I
4 assume is going to be rebuilt. The one in
5 back, I don't know if they're taking the
6 one down, down that's there. But, but,
7 that whole thing, I don't, I don't think
8 they've seen how unstable or realize how
9 unstable it is. And it scares me that,
10 that whole backyard can come down. Because
11 I used to see water cascading every time it
12 rained. Over the top. Right through all
13 the hedged vegetation, right over the wall
14 and flood the garages. To me, that's a
15 serious problem. Because that water, as
16 Ms. Stark said, water goes down that
17 driveway. And I know when I lived there, I
18 couldn't drive up and down that driveway.
19 And it runs right onto the street and
20 freezes. Right on the sidewalk on North
21 Broadway. I see children trying to walk
22 over that. And I think that needs to be
23 dealt with. And I don't think that's
24 something for the Building Department. I
25 think that's something the builders --
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1 something that the builders have to
2 consider first. Because I don't think it's
3 going to be fixed now. Has to be part of
4 their construction. And I don't see from
5 what I saw in the plans that they intended
6 to do anything to alleviate that situation.
7 For those reasons, I'm opposed. For
8 all other reasons, Your Honor, I'm opposed
9 to the building as proposed.
10 MR. LANDSMAN: Mr. Chairman, unmute
11 yourself.
12 MR. KUNTZ: Chairman, yeah.
13 THE CHAIRMAN: Yeah. What we're
14 going to do here -- thank you, sir -- what
15 we're going to do here, because the night
16 is getting late and I haven't heard -- I
17 have a hearing to go. And I think it's
18 going be a long hearing too. We're going
19 to just take this case, right now, and
20 we're going to continue it for next month.
21 Ms. Giris, you're listening, right?
22 MS. GIRIS: Yes, sir.
23 THE CHAIRMAN: Ms. Giris --
24 MS. GIRIS: Yes, Chairman.
25 THE CHAIRMAN: -- we're going to
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1 continue this next month. I want you to
2 send out all new notices. Registered mail.
3 I want you to put the -- leave the signs
4 up. The signs are very good. I went by
5 there. And I want you to send all new
6 notices. One lady tonight that was
7 particular that she didn't get the notice.
8 I want you to check out and see how you can
9 notify the people in that building. That,
10 that lady was concerned about. Okay.
11 Ms. Giris?
12 MS. GIRIS: Yes, Mr. Chairman, when
13 we obtain addresses for notices, we get
14 what's of record in the assessor's office.
15 THE CHAIRMAN: Yeah, I know --
16 MS. GIRIS: That's the only way we
17 can get those notices, those addresses. If
18 there's a different address that I should
19 have, I welcome her to e-mail me and we
20 will make sure we get a notice to the right
21 management company.
22 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you, Ms. Giris.
23 MS. GIRIS: That's the information
24 we get from the assessor's office.
25 THE CHAIRMAN: No, I know, I know
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1 you're very good at that. You're in front
2 of this Board all the time.
3 So this case is hereby continued to
4 next month and the meeting is in May. I
5 don't know what day it is in May. That you
6 will be getting -- somebody is going to be
7 getting registered letters and some of the
8 others you can see the signs. Thank you
9 very much.
10 Is every member of the Board okay
11 with that?
12 MR. LANDSMAN: Yes.
13 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Anybody else?
14 Okay. Thank you very much. This case is
15 continued. Thank you, Ms. Giris.
16 MS. GIRIS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
17 Good night.
18 THE CHAIRMAN: You're welcome.
19 Thank you, Mr. Fernandez, and thank you to
20 the public.
21 Okay. The next case for the
22 tonight. Going to need a couple of
23 seconds.
24 Mr. Badaly, are you here tonight?
25 MR. BADALY: Yes, I am.
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1 THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Badaly. Okay.
2 His case is next. All right. This is case
3 number 5732. It's an area variance.
4 Shahin Badaly, Professional Engineer, on
5 behalf of Oluwatosin Shokeye, owner, on
6 premises known as 45 Elizabeth Place,
7 Block: 3075, Lot: 104 in a T Zone.
8 Introduce yourself, please.
9 Mr. Badaly.
10 MR. BADALY: This is Shahin Badaly.
11 THE CHAIRMAN: Yes. Would you
12 introduce yourself, please.
13 MR. BADALY: Applicant representing
14 the owner located at 2 Wilson Place, Mount
15 Vernon, New York 10550.
16 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Has everybody
17 within the 200-foot radius been notified,
18 sir?
19 MR. BADALY: Yes. One came back as
20 undeliverable.
21 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Were you the
22 gentleman at the last hearing?
23 MR. BADALY: That is correct, sir.
24 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Fine. Is
25 there anybody here tonight on this case?
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1 This case is on Elizabeth Place. It's,
2 it's a cul-de-sac, dead end cul-de-sac off
3 of Nepperhan Avenue. Just south of Roberts
4 Avenue. Is there anybody here tonight on
5 this case?
6 OLUWATOSIN SHOKEYE: Yes.
7 THE CHAIRMAN: There's somebody here
8 tonight on it?
9 MR. LANDSMAN: Yeah, that's the
10 owner.
11 OLUWATOSIN SHOKEYE: The owner.
12 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. Proceed,
13 Mr. Badaly.
14 MR. BADALY: Thank you. Mr. Chairman
15 and Members of the Board. So we're
16 proposing a reconstruction of a retaining
17 wall in the rear and side yard of an
18 existing two-family house as well as a rear
19 patio and the steps that lead down from
20 that patio on the first floor level to the
21 rear yard which is approximately 8 feet
22 down. The existing retaining wall is in
23 severe disrepair. There's a violation
24 issued by the Building Department right now
25 I believe dating from 2017. The retaining
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1 wall mostly abuts a commercial property
2 along Nepperhan. But it does also abut a
3 residential house along the rear yard.
4 The site itself is somewhat of a
5 skinny lot. And the house is an attached
6 two-family house. So the lot is only about
7 20-feet wide at the rear yard. It is 184
8 feet long and then in the front it's on a
9 curb in the cul-de-sac and it's about 46
10 feet wide. So the rear yard is generally
11 skinny and the existing retaining wall
12 that's on property line being in that it's
13 10 feet, we're requesting to reconstruct in
14 order to maintain the small rear yard that
15 the owner currently has.
16 Similarly the porch that's currently
17 there is not in great shape. And we're
18 hoping to reconstruct it and it is in the
19 existing side yard. We are slightly
20 expanding it, but only by maybe a foot or
21 two. Otherwise to touch on the principal
22 points the -- the --
23 (Brief audio disruption.)
24 MR. BADALY: -- the porch and the
25 proposed porch are very similar to the
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1 existing porches along the other houses in
2 that neighborhood as well as the retaining
3 walls that support many of the houses along
4 Elizabeth Place and Roberts Avenue and
5 therefore we don't believe it will have an
6 adverse -- an undesirable change to the
7 character of the neighborhood.
8 The benefits by the applicant cannot
9 really be achieved by another means in that
10 the existing wall is already 10 feet high.
11 And the porch is already constructed within
12 the existing sides yards of the house -- of
13 the lot. Excuse me. And therefore the
14 reconstruction of either one of the two
15 would trigger the variance.
16 The two variances requested are
17 somewhat substantial; however, I will
18 remind the members that it is a mostly
19 existing condition and it is mostly
20 conforming with the neighborhood conditions
21 as well.
22 The proposed variance will not have
23 an adverse effect on the physical
24 environmental condition as we are seeking
25 to reconstruct a currently negative impact
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1 on the neighborhood in that the wall is in
2 very bad shape and could potentially fall.
3 And, and finally that the
4 applicant's difficulty was not self-created
5 in that the retaining wall has been in
6 disrepair in sometime due to weathering and
7 age and the porch in order to reconstruct
8 it is already located within those side
9 yards. And with that, if you have any
10 questions, please.
11 MR. KUNTZ: Chairman, please unmute
12 yourself.
13 THE CHAIRMAN: Yeah, thank you.
14 How many families live here?
15 MR. BADALY: It is a two-family
16 home. And the owner lives in the house.
17 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. That
18 wasn't my question. My question was how
19 many families lives in this house?
20 MR. BADALY: Two families.
21 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay.
22 OLUWATOSIN SHOKEYE: It's a
23 one-family.
24 MR. BADALY: Oh, it's a one-family.
25 OLUWATOSIN SHOKEYE: Yes,
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1 one-family.
2 THE CHAIRMAN: No, no, don't talk
3 please. You're not being asked what it is.
4 Mr. Badaly, tell whoever is talking
5 not to talk.
6 MR. BADALY: Please do not interrupt
7 the meeting.
8 THE CHAIRMAN: If you want, if you
9 want him to talk, I gotta swear him in. If
10 he's not an attorney.
11 Okay. You said there's two families
12 that live there, Mr. Badaly?
13 MR. BADALY: That's my mistake.
14 It's the two-family zone, it is a
15 one-family house.
16 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. It's a
17 one-family house. Okay. All right. If
18 this goes through, I'm telling you right
19 now it's going to be a one-family house.
20 We're going to make it a one-family house.
21 MR. BADALY: Yes, sir.
22 THE CHAIRMAN: Just think about
23 that. Okay. How many electric meters?
24 MR. BADALY: I'm not sure offhand,
25 but the owner is present and we could ask.
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1 THE CHAIRMAN: You want to swear him
2 in? You want me to swear him? It's up to
3 you.
4 MR. BADALY: Yes, please. It is a
5 woman. Thank you.
6 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. You want me to
7 the swear the woman? It's up to you.
8 MR. BADALY: Yes, please.
9 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay.
10 MR. LANDSMAN: Ms. Shokeye.
11 Ms. Shokeye.
12 THE CHAIRMAN: Shokeye. Okay.
13 Where are you, Ms. Shokeye? Raise your
14 right hand, please. Are you an attorney?
15 MR. LANDSMAN: She's muted.
16 THE CHAIRMAN: Are you an attorney,
17 madam?
18 MR. LANDSMAN: I can't hear her.
19 MR. KUNTZ: You're on mute,
20 Ms. Shokeye.
21 OLUWATOSIN SHOKEYE: I am not an
22 attorney.
23 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Are you an
24 attorney?
25 OLUWATOSIN SHOKEYE: No.
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1 THE CHAIRMAN: Raise your right
2 hand, please. Do you solemnly swear to
3 tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing
4 but the truth so help you God?
5 OLUWATOSIN SHOKEYE: Yes, I do.
6 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you. State
7 your name and your address, please.
8 OLUWATOSIN SHOKEYE: My name is
9 Oluwatosin Shokeye. I live 45 Elizabeth
10 Place, Yonkers, New York 10703.
11 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you. All
12 right. This is a one-family house; am I
13 correct?
14 OLUWATOSIN SHOKEYE: Yes, sir.
15 THE CHAIRMAN: You can put your hand
16 down. You can put your hand down. How
17 many electrical meters are there?
18 OLUWATOSIN SHOKEYE: How many?
19 THE CHAIRMAN: Electric meters.
20 OLUWATOSIN SHOKEYE: One.
21 THE CHAIRMAN: One. Okay. I was up
22 there a couple of weeks ago with one of the
23 other Members. And we seen a young lady
24 walk in the driveway and through a door in
25 the garage door. Is there an apartment
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1 down there?
2 OLUWATOSIN SHOKEYE: No, that's not
3 my property. My property have no garage.
4 THE CHAIRMAN: No apartment -- no,
5 there's no garage there now.
6 OLUWATOSIN SHOKEYE: Yes.
7 THE CHAIRMAN: But there was a
8 garage there -- she went down that driveway
9 and into the house through a door there.
10 Is there an apartment down there?
11 OLUWATOSIN SHOKEYE: Recently or
12 before, sir?
13 THE CHAIRMAN: About a month ago,
14 madam.
15 OLUWATOSIN SHOKEYE: I don't know
16 what to say.
17 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Here's what
18 we're going to do. Do we have your
19 permission to come up and inspect the
20 property?
21 OLUWATOSIN SHOKEYE: Sure.
22 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. We're going to
23 come up there. I'm in Florida. When I
24 come back in a couple of weeks, I'm going
25 to come up there with another member of the
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1 Board and we're going to call you or you're
2 going to call the Building Department and
3 speak to Shannon. The secretary for the
4 Zoning Board of Appeals. And set up an
5 appointment when we come up.
6 Mr. Badaly, I'm expecting you to do
7 this, sir.
8 OLUWATOSIN SHOKEYE: Can I speak,
9 sir?
10 THE CHAIRMAN: Yes.
11 OLUWATOSIN SHOKEYE: Okay. When I
12 bought the property, I think the, the
13 former owner, I think she have, she have a
14 permit for one room downstairs which is in
15 the basement. So, there is one room there
16 which is -- that's how I bought it.
17 THE CHAIRMAN: Doesn't matter how
18 you bought it. Is it one family living
19 there or two families living there?
20 OLUWATOSIN SHOKEYE: One family.
21 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Mr. Badaly,
22 call Shannon, you know Shannon my
23 secretary.
24 MR. BADALY: Yes, sir.
25 THE CHAIRMAN: Or our secretary,
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1 right. Set up an appointment for about two
2 or three weeks from now. And I'll be up
3 from Florida and I'm coming over there with
4 another, with another person.
5 MR. BADALY: Should I be present?
6 THE CHAIRMAN: Huh? You should be
7 present. Is it my advice to be present,
8 well, you know, you're the attorney for
9 them or the architect for these people.
10 You know, so.
11 MR. BADALY: Right.
12 THE CHAIRMAN: We do this quite
13 often. But we have the lady's permission
14 and we have your permission; is that
15 correct?
16 OLUWATOSIN SHOKEYE: Yes.
17 MR. BADALY: Yes.
18 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you.
19 OLUWATOSIN SHOKEYE: You're welcome.
20 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. All right. In
21 the back of this, I see there's a big pile
22 of, there's a big mess back there. Might
23 be a good idea to get that cleaned up
24 before we get there so it looks nice so I
25 can walk around. You know.
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1 Okay. So is there any other
2 questions of the Board? Okay. Is there
3 anybody here tonight to speak in favor of
4 this application? Is there anybody here
5 tonight to speak in opposition?
6 MR. LANDSMAN: Anybody here to speak
7 on this case? Elizabeth Place. Anybody
8 here? Looks like nobody, Mr. Chairman.
9 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. This case is
10 hereby closed. Reserve the right to reopen
11 it for any reason whatsoever, at any time
12 whatsoever and that includes after the
13 decision is made.
14 Mr. Badaly, we're depending on you
15 to set up this appointment. Thank you.
16 MR. BADALY: Thank you.
17 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you, madam.
18 OLUWATOSIN SHOKEYE: Thank you, sir.
19 THE CHAIRMAN: You're welcome.
20 Thank you.
21 All right. We have the last case of
22 the night. This is case number 5743. It's
23 an area variance, David Steinmetz, Esq. on
24 behalf of Miroza Tower, LLC, that's Limited
25 Liability Corporation, owner, to construct
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1 a 27-story, 296'5" residential tower
2 containing 267 units with 222 parking
3 spaces located on-site and 24 spaces to be
4 located off-site at 68-72 Buena Vista
5 Avenue; and 1,699 square feet of retail on
6 the ground level, having:
7 - Exceeding maximum permitted
8 height, Section 43-221, attachment #14, Map
9 B, Height District Map, 150' is permitted,
10 proposed is 296'5" plus or minus;
11 - Exceeding the maximum permitted
12 distance from parking off-street parking
13 lot as per Section 43-44A(9); 200 feet
14 maximum, 579' plus or minus is proposed;
15 On premises known as 40 also known as
16 44 Hudson street, Block: 502, Lot: 1.10, in
17 Zone DWD. That's Zone DWD.
18 Okay. Mr. Steinmetz, are there,
19 sir?
20 MR. STEINMETZ: Yes, I am. Good
21 evening, Mr. Chairman. Good to see you.
22 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you very much.
23 Same here. Can you introduce yourself,
24 please.
25 MR. STEINMETZ: Yes. Good evening,
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1 Mr. Chairman, Members of the Board. David
2 Steinmetz from the Law Firm of Zarin and
3 Steinmetz, 81 Main Street, White Plains New
4 York here representing Azorim or Miroza
5 Tower, LLC, specifically with regard to
6 this property.
7 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you. Okay. Is
8 there anybody here -- number one,
9 Mr. Steinmetz, has everybody within the
10 200-foot been radius notified, sir?
11 MR. STEINMETZ: They have,
12 Mr. Chairman. And no returns as of today.
13 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you.
14 Is there anybody here tonight on
15 this case? This case is on Hudson Street.
16 It's between Riverdale Avenue and -- what's
17 the name of that street on the side --
18 MR. STEINMETZ: It's at Hudson and
19 Hawthorne, Mr. Chairman.
20 THE CHAIRMAN: That's right. Hudson
21 Street. It's between Hawthorne Avenue and
22 Riverdale Avenue. Some things I'm starting
23 to forget a little bit. It's on the south
24 side of Hudson Street. And it, it used to
25 be a church. Is there anybody here tonight
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1 on this case?
2 MR. LANDSMAN: I think there's a lot
3 of people here for this case, Mr. Chairman.
4 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Tell them --
5 you're going to put them all on to listen
6 or --
7 MR. LANDSMAN: They all, they call
8 can hear everything.
9 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Thank you very
10 much. Okay.
11 Mr. Steinmetz, would you present
12 your case, please.
13 MR. STEINMETZ: Thank you,
14 Mr. Chairman. We're going to take you
15 through a very brief PowerPoint just to
16 walk the Board and the public through the
17 application. As the Chair indicated we are
18 referring to this as 44 Hudson Street.
19 There is indication that it's also
20 identified as 40 Hudson Street. For
21 purposes of tonight we'll refer to it as 44
22 Hudson Street. I am here as I said
23 representing Azorim Development and the
24 actual property owner Miroza Tower, LLC.
25 We can go to the next slide.
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1 Just so the Board is aware, Azorim
2 is actually one of the largest real estate
3 developers in the State of Israel. It's
4 got a track record of extreme high quality
5 successful real property development. And
6 for folks who may not know, Azorim is
7 actually presently developing the
8 residential towers two, three, and four
9 known as the Monarch or Horizon at Ridge
10 Hill. And that's a representation of
11 what's going on right now. Ground breaking
12 on tower three actually just took place
13 last week.
14 We can go to the next slide.
15 Just so the Board is aware, our team
16 is comprised of our client, Azorim. Which
17 I don't think I indicated actually is a
18 publicly-traded entity. We're very pleased
19 to have the architectural firm of INOA and
20 Murat Mutlu. You can see his, you've
21 already seen his design. Azorim was very
22 happy to be able to engage with Murat on
23 what we really believe is a very exciting
24 project for Downtown Yonkers.
25 Our traffic consultant, Dynamic
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1 Traffic, Craig Peregoy, is here on screen
2 with us tonight. Craig has already
3 commenced doing some vehicular and
4 pedestrian traffic in circulation and
5 parking analyses all of which will be part
6 of our application. And I am here tonight
7 along with my colleague Max Mahalek and we
8 comprise the team that will be processing
9 this.
10 The site, as the Chair has already
11 indicated, presently is a vacant lot at the
12 intersection of Hudson and Hawthorne. It's
13 represented there in the middle of the
14 circle with the word site on it. And as
15 the Chair indicated, and I'll go into it
16 momentarily in a little bit more detail,
17 although the bulk of the parking is all
18 on-site and structured, there is a small
19 lot immediately around the corner on which
20 we will have some surface parking. And
21 that's indicated, and you can see it with
22 the cursor there, it is identified in blue.
23 Both properties are before the Zoning Board
24 because there are variances in connection
25 with both aspects.
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1 We can change slides.
2 Much like what you've been talking
3 about this evening, Mr. Chairman, on other
4 matters, we thought it was relevant to
5 bring to the Board and the public's
6 attention and to indicate for the record
7 the current condition and issues on these
8 sites. 44 Hudson, I need not remind the
9 Board is presently vacant. As the Chair
10 correctly indicated it was a church. Since
11 the church came down, the property is
12 actually rather blighted. It's in
13 disrepair. There's a significant amount of
14 litter and debris. And I actually was
15 provided today with a list of quite a few
16 violations that have been issued by the
17 City prior to my client's acquisition based
18 upon the condition of the property, the
19 condition of the sidewalks in front of it,
20 et cetera. So, this is not, this is not an
21 undisturbed site.
22 Around the corner at 68 to 72 Buena
23 Vista, there are two residential
24 structures. One of which is abandoned. I
25 will be discussing those as I said as
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1 surface parking.
2 Next slide.
3 So, we're really excited about what
4 you have it in front of you. This is
5 proposed to be a 27-story residential tower
6 comprised of 267 residential units. There
7 would be a modest amount of ground floor
8 retail space. This is a site that would
9 obviously call for some amenities. The
10 amenities that are currently contemplated
11 are party-room lounges, some kind of
12 fitness center or gym. A gathering place
13 for a library. And it would certainly be a
14 rooftop amenity such as a rooftop garden
15 with some magnificent views of the Hudson
16 River and the Palisades.
17 As I indicated, my client is
18 proposing 222 parking spaces on-site in the
19 structured parking. There would be 24
20 parking spaces on the Buena Vista lot. And
21 we presently intend to apply for 17 parking
22 spaces through the waiver by the payment of
23 a fee-in-lieu. We've done that on other
24 projects and we are proposing that here.
25 We think this truly is part of the
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1 downtown nexus. This gives a
2 transportation-oriented district area.
3 This is a short walk, as you all know, to
4 the train station. And by incorporating
5 both residential and retail, we have the
6 ability to genuinely activate the street in
7 that area.
8 As you can see in terms of the
9 design in front of you, Murat and his team
10 have put together what we think is going to
11 be basically an emblematic building for
12 Downtown Yonkers. This is anything other
13 than ordinary. The undulated ribbons
14 around the perimeters of the building
15 incorporate terraces on certain floors.
16 They define a roofline which is
17 specifically designed to hide the
18 mechanical units and the bulkheads. And
19 this is something with the parking
20 incorporated at the lower levels that
21 regardless of the parking on-site, it is
22 still, what we believe is a magnificent
23 building. And we acknowledge that this is
24 being proposed in lieu of what had been
25 previously been proposed and approved by
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1 the City of Yonkers. I should say proposed
2 by the prior owner and approved by the City
3 of Yonkers. And that was a 15-story
4 residential tower.
5 We can go to the next slide.
6 We share these renderings because
7 it's important to understand that one of
8 the reasons that Azorim is proposing this
9 building, is that there are a number of --
10 highly amenitized high-quality residential
11 buildings. Several towers are now being
12 proposed in the area and we think that this
13 is a wonderful introduction to continue the
14 growth and the stimulation of Downtown
15 Yonkers.
16 Next slide.
17 So let's talk about why we're here.
18 We're here, Mr. Chairman and Members of the
19 Board because we specifically need two
20 variances. The first is with regard to the
21 height. In the DMX Zone in which this --
22 acre property is located. We are entitled
23 to 150 foot height. The proposal
24 admittedly is 296 feet 5 inches. And there
25 is a variance request for 146 feet 5
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1 inches. With regard to the parking, there
2 is a 200 linear foot distance cap to
3 off-street parking. This around the corner
4 parking lot is 579 linear feet away
5 necessitating a variance of 379 feet.
6 Next slide.
7 I don't want to go into tremendous
8 detail because we did provide you with a
9 written submission, but I want to cover the
10 factors at least briefly. In sum we
11 believe the benefit to the applicant
12 outweighs any detriment to the surrounding
13 area and the community. And let's look at
14 the five factors. In terms of the
15 neighborhood character and detriment to
16 surrounding properties, we actually think
17 that the height variance that is being
18 requested is consistent with other area
19 developments that's now occurring in
20 Yonkers. The proposed density of this
21 development is actually designed to
22 stimulate the area and the parking
23 variance, is, as we indicated, necessary to
24 allow for this short additional distance to
25 get to the extra surface parking required.
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1 We don't believe that the building, my
2 client doesn't believe that the building,
3 its design, its height, or the parking will
4 change the character in a detrimental way
5 of the neighborhood. In fact, I think as
6 the Board knows, one of the areas' largest
7 new property owners and developers, the
8 Munich(ph) organization has submitted a
9 letter indicating that they believe this
10 project would compliment what's happening
11 in Yonkers and it's actually indicated a
12 written support for this.
13 In terms of other feasible
14 alternatives. As I've indicated the height
15 variance is in line with other high density
16 development in the area. And most
17 importantly in order to generate a high
18 quality building on this property providing
19 affordable housing units, amenities, and
20 structured parking, Azorim believes it
21 needs the density in order to get this kind
22 of design and make this project successful.
23 In terms of the parking variance,
24 there is currently no other closer lot that
25 we can reduce that 529 foot linear distance
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1 to. While our eyes are open at the moment,
2 this application relates to those Buena
3 Vista lots.
4 Next slide.
5 In terms of substantiality. There's
6 no question that we are asking for a
7 146-foot-height variance; however, as we
8 identified in our submission the case law
9 is clear, substantiality in doing a factor
10 analysis is not based on straight math,
11 it's based on the totality of the
12 circumstances. We believe that when you
13 take into account the totality of
14 circumstances, the quality of the building,
15 the amenities, the street activation, the
16 taxes, the urban area that it's going into
17 and the fact that it's introducing
18 affordable housing, they all militate
19 against the substantiality. Parking
20 variance, the same thing. We're actually
21 replacing an abandoned unsightly structure
22 and creating something that will be far
23 more useful in terms of the parking area.
24 In terms of physical and
25 environmental conditions, we don't believe
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1 that the height will create an adverse
2 environmental impact. We understand,
3 Mr. Chairman, that there were additional
4 studies that our team will need to supply
5 to the Board and to your professional
6 staff. We're prepared to do that.
7 Including examining the height of the
8 building and its shade impact on
9 neighboring properties. But we don't
10 believe that the building creates an
11 adverse physical impact.
12 In terms of self-created hardship,
13 there's absolutely no question my client
14 acquired this the property knowing that it
15 was seeking a building that would exceed
16 the maximum height limitation. So, yes,
17 they knew they were creating that hurdle
18 for themselves. Self-created hardship, as
19 this Board knows, and as we've identified
20 with case law, is by no means a dispositive
21 preclusion for the granting of the
22 variances. And we think, as I've said
23 earlier, on balance when you factor in
24 everything, the benefit to Azorim and the
25 benefit to this property and project,
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1 grossly outweighs the detriment.
2 Next slide.
3 In sum, Mr. Chairman, I think what
4 we're really looking for, because this is
5 an important project. This is a big
6 project. And we know that there's work
7 that needs to be done. You are our first
8 stop. Murat and his team filed with the
9 Building Department. We got a denial
10 letter from Mr. Barbuti and his team. And
11 we are now here beginning the process for
12 the variances. We do need a determination
13 of which Board will serve as lead agency
14 under the New York State Environmental
15 Quality Review Act. Whether it's the
16 Zoning Board or the Planning Board. We do
17 need to know which Board wants to exercise
18 primary jurisdiction. And we need to know
19 what additional studies your Board believes
20 need to be engaged, engaged in.
21 So. Mr. Chairman, that, that does
22 conclude our affirmative presentation. We
23 have submitted a tremendous amount of
24 information in our environmental assessment
25 form and supporting studies. I've got our
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1 whole team here including my clients to
2 answer questions. But tonight is a public
3 hearing. We're here to listen but I would
4 ask, Mr. Chairman, that you, the Board and
5 the staff begin the process and identify
6 where we go from here. And, Mr. Chairman,
7 it is good to be back before the Board.
8 MR. LANDSMAN: Mr. Chairman, unmute
9 yourself.
10 THE CHAIRMAN: It's nice seeing you
11 too. We're going to make up our minds
12 about lead agency and everything. Well,
13 first we're going to get into some other
14 things. When did your client purchase this
15 property?
16 MR. STEINMETZ: I think we closed
17 during the month of February at this point.
18 Possibly the beginning -- possibly early
19 March.
20 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. I'm going to
21 accept that, but please don't give me
22 probablies anymore. They gotta be facts.
23 Okay. We'll accept that. What did he pay
24 for the property? What'd they pay for the
25 property?
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1 MR. STEINMETZ: Mr. Chairman, I
2 don't have that. And I don't want to give
3 you a probably in front of me. And I'm not
4 just quite sure that's relevant for the
5 Board's determination.
6 THE CHAIRMAN: Oh, no, no, no.
7 We're going to find out what you paid for
8 the property.
9 MR. STEINMETZ: It's a matter of
10 public record. So I just don't want to
11 give you an inaccurate answer.
12 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay.
13 MR. STEINMETZ: If you want, I do
14 see my client, Mr. Klein, has now arrived.
15 Jack, do you have the exact number?
16 THE CHAIRMAN: By the way,
17 Mr. Steinmetz.
18 MR. STEINMETZ: -- before you
19 answer, yes.
20 THE CHAIRMAN: Yes. You know
21 exactly what I'm going to tell you, I do
22 not allow first names. Don't have anymore
23 first names. And his name is Klein, it's
24 Mr. Klein. Okay? Whatever you want to
25 say. There's no first names at this Board.
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1 Go ahead.
2 MR. STEINMETZ: Mr. Klein, I think
3 before you answer you're going to need to
4 be sworn in.
5 THE CHAIRMAN: You want your client
6 to talk?
7 MR. STEINMETZ: If you want an
8 answer to the question, Mr. Chairman, yes.
9 THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Klein, will you
10 raise your right hand, please. Are you an
11 attorney?
12 MR. KLEIN: (Indicated.)
13 THE CHAIRMAN: No. Okay. Do you
14 solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole
15 truth and nothing but the truth so help you
16 God?
17 MR. LANDSMAN: He's on mute.
18 Mr. Klein is on mute.
19 MR. KUNTZ: You're on mute. There
20 you go.
21 MR. KLEIN: I do.
22 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you. Would you
23 state your name and address, please.
24 MR. KLEIN: Mr. Klein --
25 (Audio interruption.)
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1 MR. KLEIN: -- Brooklyn New York.
2 (Court reporter requested
3 clarification.)
4 MR. KLEIN: 1227 56th Street in
5 Brooklyn, New York.
6 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you. What did
7 you pay for this property, Mr. Klein?
8 MR. KLEIN: 10.7 million dollars,
9 Mr. Chairman.
10 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you.
11 Mr. Steinmetz, you talked about the
12 property. I'm in Florida by the way. One
13 of the last year -- (audio interruption) in
14 Florida -- not that I live here, I don't
15 live here but I'm in my Florida residence.
16 But I'm going to go up there. Been up
17 there several times with the Board Members.
18 We've been around the property. What we're
19 going to do is sometime in May, we're going
20 to set up an appointment with you and
21 Mr. Klein.
22 MR. STEINMETZ: Terrific.
23 THE CHAIRMAN: And whoever else you
24 want to bring is fine with me. You want to
25 bring your architect, whatever you want to
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 180
1 do. And we're going to come down and we're
2 see this property. I'm going to bring a
3 count of Members with me. Okay? You
4 understand that, right?
5 MR. STEINMETZ: I do.
6 THE CHAIRMAN: We've done this
7 before with you.
8 MR. STEINMETZ: We have.
9 Mr. Chairman, would you like anything
10 marked out in advance of your arrival by my
11 team in terms of corners of the building or
12 anything of that nature?
13 THE CHAIRMAN: No. You can show me
14 if we want to, then we'll ask you when we
15 get down there. We're going to see the
16 other parking lot by the way. The parking
17 lot for the 24 spaces. Like I said, I'm
18 going to be going down there. The last
19 time I was down there, it didn't seem too
20 messy to me, but you said it was a little
21 messy tonight. Might be a good idea,
22 suggestion, to clean it up.
23 MR. STEINMETZ: Understood.
24 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. I'm glad you
25 understand me. We've had a lot of cases
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1 together. And you've been pretty
2 successful. I'm glad you understand me. A
3 lot of people don't. Okay.
4 Are there any questions of the
5 Board?
6 MS. KIMBALL: Mr. Chairman, I have
7 some questions.
8 THE CHAIRMAN: Yes, Ms. Kimball.
9 MS. KIMBALL: Mr. Steinmetz, the
10 building is 27 stories and 267 units. If
11 you reduced the height of the building in
12 accordance with the Code which would allow
13 for 150 feet, how many units could you get
14 in the building?
15 MR. STEINMETZ: Somewhere -- and,
16 Mr. Chairman, I have to answer this in a
17 range, because we have not designed that
18 building. So you're not going to get the
19 precision I know the Chair likes. But we
20 believe, Ms. Kimball, it would be somewhere
21 in the neighborhood of 150 units give or
22 take a margin depending upon the size of
23 the units. So, "A," there would be a
24 dramatic reduction in units. "B," there
25 would be a reduction proportionately of
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1 affordable housing. "C," it would take
2 away from the ability to generate the kind
3 of quality, design, and construction that
4 Azorim and its team have tried to put
5 together here.
6 THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Steinmetz, let me
7 explain something to you. Answer the
8 question specifically. Don't add to it.
9 Because if you do, I'll just tell you to be
10 quiet. I don't want to say that to you.
11 Go ahead, Ms. Kimball.
12 MS. KIMBALL: The 17 parking spaces
13 that you would be getting a waiver for, for
14 payment in lieu, that is -- at what price
15 are you paying the City?
16 MR. STEINMETZ: Whatever we're
17 ultimately determined by the City Council
18 to be charged. I believe on another matter
19 we paid something in the neighborhood of
20 20-to-25,000 dollars a space. Mr. Ellman,
21 Deputy Commissioner Ellman could confirm.
22 That was a few years ago.
23 MS. KIMBALL: Is there going to be
24 visitor parking here or this is just enough
25 parking by the three different, whatever
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1 the two different locations, one that
2 you're requiring the variance for and one
3 on-site?
4 MR. STEINMETZ: This takes into
5 account visitor parking.
6 MS. KIMBALL: And it's TOD parking
7 standards?
8 MR. STEINMETZ: Correct.
9 MS. KIMBALL: Those are my
10 questions, Mr. Chairman.
11 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you,
12 Ms. Kimball.
13 Any other questions of the Board?
14 Okay.
15 Mr. Steinmetz, would you like to say
16 something?
17 MR. STEINMETZ: We're here to answer
18 any other questions, Mr. Chairman, that you
19 or the public may have.
20 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you. Is there
21 anybody here tonight to speak in favor of
22 this application? Is there anybody here --
23 is there somebody here to speak in favor?
24 MR. LANDSMAN: Anybody here in favor
25 of this project on Hudson Street? Anybody
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1 here? Okay. Looks like nobody is in favor
2 that's here tonight.
3 THE CHAIRMAN: Anybody here --
4 MR. KUNTZ: Anybody -- I'm sorry,
5 Chairman. Anyone on the phone, if you need
6 to speak, hit star 6.
7 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Is there
8 anybody here tonight to speak in
9 opposition? Mr. Landsman?
10 MR. LANDSMAN: Yes, we have first I
11 see Tony Capone.
12 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. What's the
13 gentleman's name?
14 MR. LANDSMAN: Mr. Capone.
15 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Mr. Capone,
16 are you here?
17 MR. KUNTZ: He's here. He's going
18 to have to unmute himself.
19 TONY CAPONE: I'm here.
20 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Are you an
21 attorney, sir?
22 TONY CAPONE: No.
23 THE CHAIRMAN: Raise your right
24 hand, please. Do you solemnly swear to
25 tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing
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1 but the truth so help you God?
2 TONY CAPONE: Yes, I do.
3 THE CHAIRMAN: State your name and
4 address, please.
5 TONY CAPONE: My name is Tony
6 Capone. I live at 35 Hudson Street,
7 Yonkers, New York.
8 THE CHAIRMAN: Proceed, sir.
9 TONY CAPONE: Thank you very much. I
10 wanted to state opposition for several
11 reasons. We believe sunlight, there will
12 be impact on our building. We're right
13 across the street from the empty lot. I'm
14 the President of the Board for 35 Hudson
15 Street, by the way, so I'm representing
16 myself and our Board.
17 The traffic impact is even more
18 important. I think we all know that the
19 amount of 18-wheelers and industrial
20 traffic that goes down this street from bus
21 companies, Shop Rite, City buses is, it's
22 already beyond what it can handle.
23 Electricity.
24 We have lots of brown-outs in this
25 neighborhood throughout the summer. On a
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1 structure like this, how would it impact
2 the electricity in this neighborhood. The
3 parking you mentioned, I guess most of what
4 we would see from street level would be
5 many stories of just parking garage.
6 Because that's probably where it's going to
7 be.
8 And also just info and transparency.
9 We did not receive any notice until our
10 management company sent me as President of
11 the Board a notice about this hearing on
12 Friday. So we didn't really receive any
13 notice about this, this current plan. So
14 I'm looking to understand more about this.
15 Because I think a variance of double the
16 size is quite a huge ask. And it's not
17 really in keeping with any of the structure
18 that's in this immediate neighborhood, I'll
19 tell you that. We're talking about
20 stories, you know, ten stories, five
21 stories, things like that.
22 So, that's really my opposition and
23 I will yield my time.
24 THE CHAIRMAN: All right.
25 Mr. Steinmetz, I want this gentleman to get
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1 a set of plans. There's two sets of plans
2 we have. Total set of plans and we want
3 him to get a copy of your principal points.
4 His name is Mr. Capone, Tony Capone. And
5 he lives at 35 Hudson Street.
6 MR. STEINMETZ: Understood,
7 Mr. Chairman. We will take care of that.
8 THE CHAIRMAN: Both sets of plans
9 that I have and a set of the principal
10 points. Okay.
11 Now, Mr. Capone, what I've just
12 done, I asked mister -- I directed
13 Mr. Steinmetz, and he's very good. Believe
14 me. To send you the two sets of plans that
15 we have and the principal points that he
16 sent us. So you can the discuss that, you
17 can review that, and what have you. Okay?
18 All right. Anybody else --
19 (Simultaneous speaking.)
20 TONY CAPONE: -- you can add
21 Apartment 4A to that address. Thank you.
22 THE CHAIRMAN: Apartment 4A,
23 Mr. Steinmetz. Okay.
24 Is there anybody else here to speak
25 in opposition?
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1 JUNE BATEMAN: Yes.
2 MR. LANDSMAN: We have Ms. Bateman.
3 THE CHAIRMAN: Mister who?
4 JUNE BATEMAN: Yes, hello.
5 MR. LANDSMAN: Ms. Bateman.
6 Ms. Bateman.
7 THE CHAIRMAN: All right.
8 Ms. Bateman. Where are you?
9 JUNE BATEMAN: Yes, I'm here. I'm
10 on camera. I'm looking for my, where it
11 was muted -- here. Hi.
12 THE CHAIRMAN: Wait a minute. Wait
13 one second, please. Give me a break.
14 Okay? I don't get paid for this. Are you
15 an attorney?
16 JUNE BATEMAN: No, I'm not.
17 THE CHAIRMAN: Raise your right
18 hand, please. Do you solemnly swear to
19 tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing
20 but the truth so help you God?
21 JUNE BATEMAN: Yes, I do.
22 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Could you
23 state your name and your address, please.
24 JUNE BATEMAN: Yes, my name is June
25 Bateman. And I live at 35 Hudson Street in
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1 Apartment 5A.
2 THE CHAIRMAN: Fine. Thank you.
3 Proceed, madam.
4 JUNE BATEMAN: I have the same
5 concerns that Tony expressed about the
6 blotting out of daylight. I mean, also I
7 don't think any of us have received any
8 kind of notification. And I'm not sure
9 that anyone is in our neighboring building
10 of 66 Main Street has received it either.
11 I mean, we're looking at a building twice
12 as tall as it was supposed to have been.
13 Completely blotting out our sunlight.
14 Completely throwing us into shade. Not
15 only shade, but lack of any kind of view.
16 Lack of any, you know, kind of sense of,
17 you know, living in our own neighborhood.
18 And it's interesting to hear about
19 the blight of the lot across the street
20 which was a created blight. It was
21 manufactured when the church was torn down.
22 When we moved into this building in 2015,
23 there was a lovely old stone church right
24 across the street. And it was a very nice
25 point in the neighborhood. I happen also
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1 to be on the Board of Philipse Manor Hall
2 which is a historic property. So I share
3 an interest in preserving the historic
4 character of Yonkers with a lot of people
5 in our neighborhood and a real sense of
6 alarm at this constant ask to, you know,
7 double the size of buildings that are
8 proposed to go up that are gargantuan to
9 begin with. I am concerned and I would
10 like to know from Mr. Steinmetz or from
11 Mr. Klein what the --
12 (Brief audio interruption.)
13 JUNE BATEMAN: -- is for the parking
14 spaces on the lower levels of that
15 building. Are we in our five-story
16 building going to be looking at a parking
17 garage and having the adverse health
18 effects of that? What's the plan for that?
19 MR. KUNTZ: Chairman, you're going
20 to have to unmute yourself.
21 THE CHAIRMAN: I'm sorry, madam. I
22 didn't hear the last part of your -- would
23 you repeat that, please?
24 JUNE BATEMAN: Sure. My question is
25 as far as the parking structure goes that
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1 would be attached to this building, we're a
2 five-story building. So would we be facing
3 a parking lot? I mean that have enormous
4 adverse health effects on the people in our
5 building. You know. What's the plan for
6 parking as it's conceived for this
7 building? For in-house parking. I'm not
8 talking about the parking lot around the
9 corner. Although the thought that
10 buildings might be raised in order to build
11 a parking lot. There's some really
12 beautiful old historic homes on Hawthorne
13 Street. And the thought that those are
14 going to be torn down, you know, for
15 ancillary parking system is also pretty
16 alarming. But I'd like to know
17 specifically what the plan is whether this
18 is a building as originally conceived as 17
19 stories or this 27-story edifice? What is
20 the plan for parking? And what part of
21 that building would it occupy?
22 MR. STEINMETZ: Mr. Chairman, would
23 you like me to respond?
24 (Poor audio connection.)
25 MR. KUNTZ: Chairman, do you hear
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1 that?
2 THE CHAIRMAN: A little bit. But I
3 have the -- it'll be back in the minutes.
4 We take it up from there too.
5 Madam, are you still there?
6 JUNE BATEMAN: Yes, I'm here.
7 THE CHAIRMAN: Madam?
8 JUNE BATEMAN: Yes, I'm here.
9 THE CHAIRMAN: Can we put that lady
10 back on?
11 MR. LANDSMAN: He can't hear.
12 THE CHAIRMAN: George.
13 MR. KUNTZ: Yes, she's on.
14 JUNE BATEMAN: I'm here.
15 MR. KUNTZ: Chairman, I'm going to
16 mute you, because --
17 THE CHAIRMAN: I can --
18 MR. KUNTZ: -- your microphone is
19 causing background noise. So I'm going to
20 mute you.
21 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. But I
22 gotta explain something to this lady.
23 Okay?
24 MR. KUNTZ: Sure. You want to
25 explain it now?
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1 THE CHAIRMAN: Yeah. 66 Main Street
2 was notified. And that's owned by Main
3 Street Lofts Yonkers, LLC and 35, 35 Hudson
4 Street was notified. It's art -- Act
5 rather, A-c-t, One Tenant's Group
6 Corporation Ferrara Management Group, Inc.,
7 50 Plainfield Avenue, Bedford Hills, New
8 York 10507. So they were. Now, I don't
9 know who Ferrara Management is. I don't
10 know if they live there or just a
11 management company. But they were
12 notified.
13 Now, I can't, I can't ask
14 Mr. Steinmetz to notify everybody in 35
15 Hudson Street and everybody in 66 Main
16 Street by name because he doesn't have to.
17 So, maybe, maybe your management got it and
18 they didn't, they didn't tell you about it.
19 But you're here. Maybe you can go around
20 in the apartment and tell everybody about
21 this. Okay? Now, I just gave Mr. Capone a
22 set of plans and principal points which
23 Mr. Steinmetz gave us. He's going to send
24 them to that gentleman. Okay? And I'm
25 going to make sure they get to him, because
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1 the next time we talk about this next
2 month, that's one of the questions I'm
3 going ask Mr. Steinmetz and he's going to
4 have an answer for me. So there's nothing
5 more I can do about that as far as --
6 JUNE BATEMAN: Okay.
7 THE CHAIRMAN: -- the sunlight and
8 everything, we're going, we're going to get
9 into that more deeper. Go ahead. Go
10 ahead.
11 JUNE BATEMAN: My other question was
12 about the parking. And whether on what
13 floors, on what levels, they plan to have a
14 parking garage. Because our building is a
15 five-story building. And if they put five
16 or six floors of parking, all we'll get are
17 the exhaust. And that's a health
18 violation. So --
19 THE CHAIRMAN: Well, I don't --
20 JUNE BATEMAN: That's a major
21 concern. Oh, yeah. If you're, if you're
22 across from the street from us, parking
23 garage, and you're doing nothing but
24 breathing in exhaust fumes from that
25 structure. I'm asking what's the -- what
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1 is the design and, I mean, I understand
2 that they purchased the property with the
3 intention of building it twice as tall as,
4 as it is allowed --
5 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. Listen to
6 me. We're going to give a set of plans to
7 Mr. Capone. He can look at those. I'll
8 try to find out a little more about the
9 parking garage. Not tonight. Maybe at the
10 next hearing. We're going to have -- it's
11 going to be continued. So, and we're
12 probably going to be the lead agency. So
13 it's going to take a little time. Maybe we
14 can get that. Mr. Steinmetz heard you.
15 And he's knows that I'm going to ask that
16 question next time. But there's parking
17 garages all over the place next to
18 apartments with exhaust coming out. Maybe
19 they got special things for exhaust, I
20 don't know. Okay. So we're going to get
21 to -- we're going to see if there's anybody
22 else here. Do you have anything else to
23 say to me, please?
24 JUNE BATEMAN: Yes, I do. You know,
25 the other thing about living across,
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1 directly across from a parking garage on a
2 small street, and I also have concerns
3 about traffic flow on our street. It's a
4 narrow little street. It would be a small
5 street in any town. It's not a major, you
6 know, thruway in front of our building.
7 And the other thing is then of
8 course the visual. You know, it's
9 wonderful to think that the people who live
10 in the upper floors of this building will
11 have commanding views of the Hudson. Where
12 our views will become a view of a parking
13 lot.
14 THE CHAIRMAN: We're going to take a
15 look at it. Okay. All right. We're going
16 to take a look at these things. I gotta
17 get to some of other people now. Okay?
18 JUNE BATEMAN: Okay.
19 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you.
20 JUNE BATEMAN: I, I just wanted to
21 ask one other thing. My husband is also
22 signed up to ask questions. But he can't
23 get it to work on his phone. Can he slide
24 over and speak to, to the group? His name
25 is John Davis. And he's definitely signed
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1 up.
2 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Let's get him
3 in. Come on. Yeah.
4 JUNE BATEMAN: Okay. Great. Thank
5 you so much. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and
6 the Board.
7 JOHN DAVIS: Thank you.
8 THE CHAIRMAN: Yeah. All right.
9 Mr. Davis, are you an --
10 JOHN DAVIS: Yes, sir.
11 THE CHAIRMAN: -- attorney?
12 JOHN DAVIS: No, sir, I'm not.
13 THE CHAIRMAN: Are you an attorney?
14 JOHN DAVIS: No, sir, I am not.
15 THE CHAIRMAN: Raise your right
16 hand, please. Listen I don't need any -- I
17 don't need any comic things. I'm the comic
18 around here. Do you solemnly swear to tell
19 the truth, and nothing but the truth so
20 help you God?
21 JOHN DAVIS: Yes, sir.
22 THE CHAIRMAN: What do you want to
23 say to me, sir?
24 JOHN DAVIS: Well, I am, I am in
25 agreement too with how much of a shadow our
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1 building is going to be suffering because
2 of this. And you know I just counted what
3 the, what Mr. Steinmetz presented. And it
4 may say that it's a 27-story building, but
5 it appears to be more than that. So, in
6 the, in the realm of 30 stories, which is
7 twice as high as the buildings over on
8 Riverdale and Prospect, which have been
9 there for many years. But those are two
10 huge buildings. This is going to be twice
11 as high as those buildings, I think they're
12 15 or 16 stories high. So the amount of
13 shade that we're going to get is going to
14 be dominating. We'll never see the sun for
15 except in the early morning and the
16 afternoon. So our sun is gone.
17 We own these apartments at 35 Hudson
18 Street. The People at 66, I don't think
19 its owned but it's renting. And all of
20 those people, there are, I think 50
21 apartments are going to be in shade just as
22 we are because of the height of this
23 overblown building.
24 Again, it's the kind of things that
25 are happening Yonkers way too much where
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1 Tuetonia Hall said it's going to be 25
2 stories and now it's going to be another 20
3 stories, 45. When Sawyer Place started,
4 they added another four or five stories and
5 nobody did anything about it. And when the
6 JFK Marina, when the private developer
7 wants to have a parking facility, they may
8 want to take the last 1,000 feet of the, of
9 the public land. I just -- how did this
10 ever get to that point? It seems like
11 these are -- the 2011 restrictions were
12 thought through, they were viable, they
13 were lawful. Everybody agreed on them
14 because they had studied them and they made
15 a lot of sense. And now all that's being
16 cast aside because some developer comes in
17 and gives somebody in City Hall another
18 silver shovel. Because when you go over to
19 the some of the offices in City Hall, they
20 show those shovels like points of pride.
21 Like medals of achievement. My problem is
22 they're not representing us. They're not
23 representing the citizens and the taxpayers
24 and the voters here in Yonkers. They're
25 representing the developers. This is a
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1 decision to lean into the favor of the
2 developer, not the people of Yonkers. And
3 that's my main, that's my main gripe and
4 consideration and concern. This is
5 supposed to be a place where people are
6 welcome to be here to live here not to be
7 dominated by developers.
8 That's it. Thank you very much,
9 Mr. Chairman and the Board, for listening
10 to me. Have a good evening. Thank you.
11 MR. LANDSMAN: Mr. Chairman, you're
12 muted.
13 THE CHAIRMAN: Is there anybody else
14 here tonight that wants to speak in
15 opposition to this?
16 UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Yes.
17 THE CHAIRMAN: Yes, sir. Who is it,
18 Jeff?
19 MR. LANDSMAN: I don't see. Who
20 wants to speak? Who said they want to
21 speak?
22 MR. KUNTZ: You can put your hand up
23 electronically or you can raise hand
24 fistically.
25 MR. LANDSMAN: Anybody else that
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1 wants to speak on this project?
2 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay.
3 MR. KUNTZ: I don't see anyone.
4 Nortrud Spero, he just took his hand down
5 so.
6 THE CHAIRMAN: All right.
7 Ms. Spero, do you want to speak?
8 MR. KUNTZ: Nortrud, do you need
9 speak?
10 NORTRUD SPERO: Oh, yes. Hi, sir.
11 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. Hold on.
12 Mr. Landsman, see if anybody else
13 wants to speak, please?
14 MR. LANDSMAN: Okay. Did anybody
15 else want to speak? Is anybody on the
16 phone that wants to speak? You can unmute
17 yourself. Okay. So last call if anybody
18 wants to speak. Okay. Looks like nobody.
19 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. We're going --
20 NORTRUD SPERO: Yeah, I am. Hello?
21 MR. LANDSMAN: Yes.
22 NORTRUD SPERO: I've been waiting.
23 MR. KUNTZ: You're having, ma'am,
24 you're having problems with your Wi-Fi. It
25 looks like. You're going in and out.
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1 MR. LANDSMAN: Who is it? What's
2 the name, please?
3 MR. KUNTZ: Nortrud, Nortrud Spero
4 is trying to speak. She's having
5 difficulty with her Wi-Fi.
6 MR. LANDSMAN: Okay. Well, we can't
7 help that.
8 NORTRUD SPERO: All right.
9 MR. KUNTZ: We can hear you now,
10 ma'am.
11 NORTRUD SPERO: I'm trying to fix
12 it. Can you hear me now?
13 MR. KUNTZ: We can hear you.
14 MR. LANDSMAN: Yes, we can.
15 THE CHAIRMAN: Yes.
16 NORTRUD SPERO: Okay.
17 THE CHAIRMAN: Are you an attorney,
18 Ms. Spero.
19 NORTRUD SPERO: No, I'm not.
20 THE CHAIRMAN: Raise your right,
21 raise your right hand, please. Do you
22 solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole
23 truth and nothing but the truth so help you
24 God?
25 NORTRUD SPERO: I do.
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1 THE CHAIRMAN: State your name and
2 address, please.
3 NORTRUD SPERO: Nortrud Spero, 63
4 Sunnyside Drive, Yonkers, New York.
5 THE CHAIRMAN: Proceed, please.
6 NORTRUD SPERO: Okay. I have, in
7 speaking with some members of the Yonkers
8 Historical Society, we have some concern
9 about the two buildings the Cochran Houses
10 on the corner of Hawthorne Avenue and Buena
11 Vista that are being slated to become
12 parking lots. They were previously part of
13 a Tuetonia Hall building plan to restore.
14 So that the Hawthorne Avenue -- Buena Vista
15 Avenue Street would retain some of its late
16 19, early 20th century street scape. My
17 question is, number one, are these two lots
18 and two buildings currently owned by the
19 developer? Can I get an answer to that,
20 please, Mr. Chairman?
21 THE CHAIRMAN: What addresses are
22 they, please?
23 NORTRUD SPERO: You know, I'm sorry,
24 sir. I don't have the addresses
25 physically--
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1 (Poor audio connection.)
2 THE CHAIRMAN: Well, I can't, I
3 can't ask Mr. Steinmetz about that. This
4 case is going to be continued. Bring that
5 next month, and we'll try to get
6 Mr. Steinmetz to get an answer.
7 NORTRUD SPERO: Okay. The other
8 question I have is this Board permitted
9 earlier on a development that was part of
10 the tear-down for that church. And it was
11 the same builder. It was approved. Why
12 are they suddenly changing course -- maybe
13 I can answer my own question. Why is the
14 Board even considering this particular
15 project Tuetonia Hall project and other
16 projects that are in excess of what the
17 City's plans put down in Yonkers were?
18 THE CHAIRMAN: Ms. Spero, listen to
19 me, please. The piece of property right
20 now, this Board, had nothing to do with it.
21 This Board had nothing to do with it. This
22 was an old church. The applicant bought
23 it. And they're going to knock it down.
24 Now they want to do something. Tuetonia
25 Hall --
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1 (Simultaneous speaking.)
2 NORTRUD SPERO: -- Mr. Chairman.
3 THE CHAIRMAN: -- listen to me.
4 Listen to me. Tuetonia Hall is on Buena
5 Vista Avenue. It's down at the end of
6 Hudson Street. Yes, we had that before.
7 We had that case before. I don't know if
8 we gave a -- after we heard it, they didn't
9 build anything. I don't know if we gave
10 them a chance, an extension. I don't know
11 if we gave them the extension.
12 Commissioner Barbuti, would you
13 check tomorrow and see if this Board that
14 I'm on, gave Tuetonia Hall on Buena Vista
15 Avenue at the end of Hudson Street an
16 extension and let this Board know, please?
17 MR. BARBUTI: Certainly.
18 NORTRUD SPERO: Specifically,
19 Mr. Chairman, specifically those two
20 Victorian Houses that were part of the
21 Cochran Family.
22 THE CHAIRMAN: Yeah, but please,
23 Ms. Spero --
24 (Simultaneous speaking.)
25 THE CHAIRMAN: -- we're not
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1 listening Tuetonia Hall. I'm not listening
2 Tuetonia Hall tonight. If they have
3 permission to build, that's their business.
4 If we gave them the extension, that's their
5 business. If we didn't give them the
6 extension --
7 (Simultaneous speaking.)
8 THE CHAIRMAN: -- they gotta be back
9 before us, we'll discuss it, the Board will
10 decide if they want it or not.
11 NORTRUD SPERO: Mr. Chairman.
12 THE CHAIRMAN: That's it. We're on
13 this piece of property now.
14 NORTRUD SPERO: Mr. Chairman, I'm
15 not questioning the wisdom of that. What I
16 am questioning is specifically are the --
17 that overflow, is that overflow parking lot
18 for which those two buildings are going to
19 be torn down --
20 (Simultaneous speaking.)
21 THE CHAIRMAN: I don't -- you --
22 NORTRUD SPERO: -- are they part of
23 this development that is owned by this
24 developer?
25 THE CHAIRMAN: About two minutes ago
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1 you said to me for certain buildings, or
2 certain parking lots, empty lots, whatever
3 they are. I asked you what's the
4 addresses. You said you didn't have them.
5 I said get them get for us and submit it to
6 the Board --
7 NORTRUD SPERO: I will.
8 THE CHAIRMAN: -- and I will --
9 NORTRUD SPERO: I will.
10 THE CHAIRMAN: I will ask
11 Mr. Steinmetz. But I'm not going to talk
12 about that anymore tonight because I don't
13 know the answer, you don't know the answer.
14 Go ahead. Anything else, Ms. Spero?
15 NORTRUD SPERO: No, I'm just very
16 puzzled and perplexed at the direction that
17 the City is going vis-a-vis these new
18 developers who come in and make proposals
19 for 15-story buildings and then come back
20 with 40-story buildings or --
21 THE CHAIRMAN: Well --
22 NORTRUD SPERO: -- or 47-story
23 buildings.
24 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. They
25 didn't do it here. Okay? This is the
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1 first time I've had this case. And anybody
2 else here has a case, if we make a
3 decision, and they don't obey our decision,
4 believe me when I tell you, they're going
5 to have a hell of a problem with this
6 Board. Particularly the Chairman.
7 NORTRUD SPERO: But we have all
8 faith in you, Mr. Chairman.
9 THE CHAIRMAN: Well, I know you've
10 been around a long time and so have I, so.
11 NORTRUD SPERO: That makes two of
12 us.
13 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. Thank
14 you, Ms. Spero. We appreciate it.
15 NORTRUD SPERO: Thank you.
16 THE CHAIRMAN: You're welcome.
17 Mr. Landsman, we're not going to
18 hear anybody else tonight. Okay?
19 MR. LANDSMAN: Very good.
20 THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Steinmetz, you
21 can do your homework now. You can find
22 out. I don't know where the addresses are
23 but they're somewheres around there. You
24 know. And let us know what's going on.
25 As far as Tuetonia Hall goes, you
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1 got nothing to do with that. You know.
2 The Deputy Commissioner is going to get
3 back to me tomorrow. He's going to give me
4 an answer tomorrow and we'll go on from
5 there.
6 Okay. Mr. Steinmetz, we're coming
7 back here in May. I want you to send
8 registered letters out again. Everybody
9 within a 200-foot radius. And I want you
10 to leave the signs up with a new address on
11 it. Okay? All right.
12 MR. STEINMETZ: Yes, sir.
13 THE CHAIRMAN: I'll come back
14 sometime in May and we'll set up an
15 appointment with you to come down there.
16 I'll have Shannon get ahold of you or I'll
17 get ahold of you. And we'll set up an
18 appointment to go down there. And we'll
19 see who we want to bring with us at that
20 particular time. If I want to bring some
21 neighbors, I'll let you know. I don't know
22 yet what we're going to do there.
23 So this case is hereby closed. It's
24 not closed, this case is hereby continued.
25 We'll let you know about the, the lead
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1 agency. Well, let me see. Deputy
2 Commissioner Ellman?
3 MR. NATCHEV: Mr. Chairman.
4 THE CHAIRMAN: Yeah. The lead
5 agency, I think we'll take the lead agency.
6 You have the --
7 MR. NATCHEV: Mr. Chairman.
8 Mr. Chairman, can you hear me?
9 THE CHAIRMAN: Yeah, who's talking?
10 MR. NATCHEV: This is Mr. Natchev.
11 THE CHAIRMAN: Oh, Mr. Natchev.
12 Yes, I'm sorry, sir.
13 MR. NATCHEV: I believe Board Member
14 Giorgio has a motion.
15 THE CHAIRMAN: He has a motion.
16 Okay. Mr. Giorgio. Go ahead, sir.
17 MR. GIORGIO: Yes, Thank you,
18 Mr. Chairman. Case number 5743,
19 Block: 502, Lot: 1.10, 44 Hudson Street. I
20 make a motion that the Zoning Board of
21 Appeals pursuant to the New York State
22 Environmental Quality Review Act declare
23 its intention to seek lead agency status
24 for the purpose of environmental review of
25 this matter. And directs the Planning
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1 Director on behalf of this Board to
2 initiate lead agency, notification, and
3 coordinated review with all other involved
4 agencies in this action. If no other
5 involved agency seeks to be lead agency
6 within 30 days of the effective date of
7 this notice, the Zoning Board of Appeals
8 shall assume lead agency status for the
9 purpose of the review of this matter.
10 THE CHAIRMAN: Do I have a second on
11 this?
12 MR. STEINMETZ: Point of order,
13 Mr. Chairman?
14 THE CHAIRMAN: No. We got a motion.
15 No point of order. We got a motion on the
16 Board.
17 MR. BATTISTA: Second.
18 THE CHAIRMAN: We have a second.
19 All right. On the motion, Mr. Battista.
20 MR. BATTISTA: For the motion.
21 THE CHAIRMAN: Ms. Kimball.
22 MS. KIMBALL: For the motion.
23 THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Giorgio.
24 MR. GIORGIO: For the motion.
25 THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Landsman.
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1 MR. LANDSMAN: For the motion.
2 THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Singh.
3 MR. SINGH: (Indicated. On mute.)
4 THE CHAIRMAN: For the motion.
5 Okay. Mr. Lopez.
6 MR. LOPEZ: For the motion.
7 THE CHAIRMAN: Chairman votes for
8 the motion. Motion is carried 7.
9 Now, you want to say something to
10 me, Mr. Steinmetz. You can.
11 MR. STEINMETZ: Absolutely,
12 Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the courtesy of
13 being heard. I simply wanted to confirm, I
14 think Mr. Giorgio's motion related solely
15 to 44 Hudson. The application, as the
16 Board knows, relates to both 44 Hudson and
17 the Buena Vista property. And I Simply was
18 seeking, trying to suggest clarity on lead
19 agency with regard to the entire
20 application. That's all.
21 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Mr. Natchev.
22 MR. NATCHEV: The Board Member can
23 make that amendment. The agenda reads
24 differently. That's all. It refers to 72
25 Buena Vista but it's not known as the
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1 premises. So if you want to make that
2 correction that it should be 40 also known
3 as 44 Hudson Street and I guess --
4 (simultaneous speaking.)
5 MR. NATCHEV: -- you want to do --
6 Buena Vista Avenue; is that correct?
7 MR. GIORGIO: I would like to amend
8 the previously adopted motion to include 40
9 also known as 44 Hudson street and 68 to 72
10 Buena Vista Avenue.
11 THE CHAIRMAN: One second.
12 Ms. Kimball -- oh, okay.
13 MS. KIMBALL: (Indicated.)
14 THE CHAIRMAN: Ms. Kimball. Fine.
15 All right. So we're going add that to it,
16 Mr. Steinmetz.
17 I have a second, Ms. Kimball. On
18 the motion, Mr. Battista. Mr. Battista?
19 MR. BATTISTA: For the motion.
20 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you.
21 Ms. Kimball.
22 MS. KIMBALL: For the motion.
23 THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Giorgio.
24 MR. GIORGIO: For the motion.
25 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Mr. Landsman.
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 214
1 MR. LANDSMAN: For the motion.
2 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Mr. Singh.
3 MR. SINGH: (Indicated. On mute.)
4 THE CHAIRMAN: For the motion.
5 Mr. Lopez.
6 MR. LOPEZ: For the motion.
7 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you. Chairman
8 votes for the motion. Motion carries 7-0.
9 Okay. Thank you.
10 MR. STEINMETZ: Thank you.
11 THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Steinmetz, we'll
12 see you next month. Don't forget the signs
13 and the registered letters.
14 MR. STEINMETZ: Stay well. Thank
15 you. Good to see you all.
16 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you. I have
17 some off-the-agenda items. You can get rid
18 of everybody else if you want to. If they
19 want to stay, they can stay.
20 On 251 Valentine Lane. They had
21 this one here 251 Valentine Lane. They
22 want an extension. Just one second. Just
23 one second, please. I'm sorry. All right.
24 This 251 Valentine Lane, I'm going to make
25 a motion to give them, give them a one-year
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 215
1 extension. But they haven't had the
2 extension since -- who's talking? Would
3 you please get the person who's talking off
4 the phone or whatever it is. The last time
5 they had an extension was in 2012. So I'm
6 going make a motion --
7 (Briefly lost audio.)
8 THE CHAIRMAN: -- to the 24th. I'll
9 give them until the end of the year to
10 December 31st.
11 (Briefly lost audio.)
12 MR. KUNTZ: Chairman, you're muted.
13 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. So this
14 is 9 years times $750. They gotta pay
15 $6,750 due to the City.
16 Commissioner Barbuti, make sure
17 that, that gets over to the extension.
18 That's case number -- thank you -- that's
19 case number 251 Valentine Lane, Block: 124,
20 Lot: 58 in an A zone. So, that would be
21 from October 24, 2012 to, well, I'm going
22 to give them until December 31, 2021.
23 Okay.
24 Do I have a second to that motion?
25 MS. KIMBALL: Second.
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1 THE CHAIRMAN: Everybody in favor
2 say aye.
3 (A chorus of ayes.)
4 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. That's
5 carried.
6 Then we have 1025 also known as 999
7 Central Park Avenue. I'm going to make a
8 motion to give them an extension for one
9 year as of today. Just one second, please.
10 Sorry. I need a secretary here. I don't
11 want to ask my wife, she'll charge me. I'm
12 sorry, Members. It's just going to take me
13 a little longer. Okay. I got it. All
14 right. This is one for 1025 also known as
15 999 Central Avenue. I'm going to make a
16 motion that we give them a year's extension
17 beginning, beginning April 16, 2021, until
18 April 15, 2022.
19 Do I have a second on that, please?
20 MS. KIMBALL: Second.
21 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Everybody in
22 favor say aye.
23 (A chorus of ayes.)
24 THE CHAIRMAN: Anybody opposed?
25 Okay. That's case 5154.
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1 All right. Now this, we got another
2 one here which is kind of weird.
3 Deputy Commissioner Barbuti, we got
4 56 Prospect Holdings. They want an
5 extension. They paid the money. But I'm
6 going to be honest with you, we were down
7 there the other day looking at some other
8 cases and they were under construction. I
9 don't know if they need it or not. I'll
10 make a motion to give them an extension,
11 and that's case 5681. If it's correct to
12 keep their money, fine, if not give it back
13 to them. $750.
14 MR. BARBUTI: All right. I'll find
15 out what that's about.
16 THE CHAIRMAN: Yeah, because the
17 Jimmy Veneruso, James Veneruso, his check.
18 I don't know if he knows that. It's good
19 to --
20 MS. KIMBALL: Alain, I heard they
21 hit bedrock.
22 THE CHAIRMAN: It's good until June
23 15th, this year. But once they start, I
24 don't think they need an extension. Do
25 they need an extension, Deputy
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1 Commissioner?
2 MR. BARBUTI: Well, I had thought
3 that they had pulled a foundation permit.
4 And then they had some issues because of
5 hitting rock and they were going come back
6 and revise their foundation drawings. So
7 I'll look into it. I'll try to figure out
8 what's going on.
9 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. If you need
10 it, that's up to you. So we're out of it
11 as of now. Everybody on the Board okay
12 with that?
13 MR. LANDSMAN: Yeah.
14 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Case 5604, 98
15 University, I'm going to make a motion to
16 give them an extension from 11/19/20 to
17 11/19/2021. Okay. And on case, case
18 number on, I'm sorry, on 90 University,
19 case number 5603, I'm going to give them a,
20 make a motion to give them an extension
21 from 11/19/20 to 11/19/21.
22 Do I have a second?
23 MR. LOPEZ: Second.
24 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Everybody in
25 favor say aye.
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1 (A chorus of ayes.)
2 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. Then we
3 got Yonkers Avenue and Bronx River Road.
4 They haven't gotten started yet. This is,
5 they want an extension for one year.
6 That's that big apartment house over there.
7 Okay. I'll make an extension to -- that's
8 case 5668 from July 1, 2021 to July 1,
9 2022. Do I have a second please?
10 MR. GIORGIO: Second.
11 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Everybody in
12 favor say aye.
13 (A chorus of ayes.)
14 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. We gotta few
15 more to go. So then we got Torre Place.
16 Case 5637, I'm going to make a motion to
17 give them an extension from March 19, 2021
18 to March 18, 2022. So, they paid the
19 money. Do I have a second on it?
20 MR. LANDSMAN: Second.
21 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Everybody in
22 favor say aye.
23 (A Chorus of ayes.)
24 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. All right.
25 That's passed. We got that one.
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1 All right. Then I got one for Nobile,
2 Magarian and DiSalvo. It's for 101 North
3 Broadway. This is the mens' shelter for
4 Westhab. And a fellow name Landsman, no
5 relation to Mr. Landsman here. I'm going
6 to give them an extension from April 16,
7 2021 to April 15, 2022. They paid the
8 money and everything. Do I have a second?
9 MS. KIMBALL: Second.
10 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Everybody in
11 favor say aye.
12 (A chorus of ayes.)
13 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. Now, we
14 have one for 28 Sunnybrook and 51 Carlton
15 Road. They paid, they paid the money on
16 the permit. And they paid the money on the
17 on the, on the Zoning permit too. Just one
18 second, please. I can't find it. I know
19 it was here. Oh, I see it. All right.
20 Hold on a second. All right. This is case
21 number, all right, I don't remember the
22 case number right now.
23 MR. LANDSMAN: 5375. 5375.
24 THE CHAIRMAN: All right. Thank
25 you. Everybody can hear me?
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1 MR. LANDSMAN: Yes.
2 MS. KIMBALL: Yes.
3 THE CHAIRMAN: Good. Okay. So I'm
4 going to make a motion that we give him a
5 year. He paid up until -- and all the way
6 up to end of, the end of this year, 2021.
7 Is that right, Deputy Commissioner Barbuti?
8 MR. BARBUTI: I believe that's what
9 Shannon told me today.
10 THE CHAIRMAN: Yeah. Okay. Very
11 good. Do I have a second?
12 MR. LANDSMAN: Second.
13 THE CHAIRMAN: Everybody in favor
14 say aye.
15 (A chorus of ayes.)
16 THE CHAIRMAN: I think that's about
17 it. I don't think we have anymore, do we?
18 Does anybody have anymore?
19 Okay. All right. We're going to
20 come back next month. We have, I
21 understand we're also going to have
22 Parkview Avenue on. So I'm going to have
23 to talk to -- because this case, this last
24 case we had now is going to be a little
25 more distant. I don't know if we can get
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1 back into City Hall. I seen the Council
2 was back at the City Hall. I don't know.
3 Deputy Commissioner Ellman, can we
4 get back into City Hall?
5 MR. ELLMAN: I don't think the
6 administration is recommending that any of
7 the Boards go back. I think that was a
8 decision made unilaterally by the City
9 Council. I know that we're not planning on
10 the Planning Board or the Landmarks Board
11 going back to in-person meetings at least
12 until the fall.
13 MS. KIMBALL: I think, I think,
14 Mr. Chairman, the issue also is New York
15 State has not extended the moratorium. So
16 it may expire in May or it may be extended.
17 We don't know, of in-person meetings.
18 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. As of now
19 it'll be virtual again.
20 Everybody we had a good hearing
21 tonight. It was a little long. But mostly
22 on account of me being muted. I'm very
23 proud, I'm very proud of the Board. Very
24 proud of the Board. So anyway, so we'll
25 talk to you soon. I'm sure I'll be talking
718 624-7200 Diamond Reporting A Veritext Company www.veritext.com Proceedings 223 1 to some of you soon. Thank you very much
2 and good night.
3 BOARD MEMBERS: Good night.
4 (Time Noted: 9:03 p.m.)
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25 Proceedings 224 1 CERTIFICATION
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3 STATE OF NEW YORK )
4 ) ss.
5 COUNTY OF WESTCHESTER )
6 I, LYNNETTE MORATO, a Court 7 Reporter and Notary Public within and for 8 the State of New York, do hereby certify: 9 That I reported the proceedings that 10 are hereinbefore set forth, and that such 11 transcript is a true and accurate record of 12 said proceedings. 13 I further certify that I am not 14 related to any of the parties to this 15 action by blood or marriage, and that I am 16 no way interested in the outcome of this 17 matter. 18 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto 19 set my hand. 20
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23 ______24 LYNNETTE MORATO, 25 COURT REPORTER