Planning Board

1 1 CITY OF UNION CITY HUDSON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY 2 PLANNING BOARD 3 : REGULAR MEETING : TRANSCRIPT OF 4 : --------------------: PROCEEDINGS 5 6 Union City High School Media Center 7 2500 Kennedy Boulevard Union City, New Jersey 8 9 Tuesday, January 23, 2024 Commencing at 6:00 p.m. 10 11 M E M B E R S P R E S E N T: 12 ALEJANDRO VELAZQUEZ, Chairperson YDALIA GENAO 13 ALICIA MOREJON FRANKLIN MEDINA 14 JOSE GUARENO, Alternate #1 HECTOR OSEGUERA, Alternate #2 15 M E M B E R S A B S E N T: 16 BRIAN T. STACK, Mayor 17 CELIN J. VALDIVIA, Commissioner CAROLINA FERNANDEZ 18 A L S O P R E S E N T: 19 GREG RANDAZZO, ESQ. 20 Board Counsel 21 CARLOS VALLEJO, Board Secretary 22 DAVID SPATZ, P.P. 23 24 SUSAN BISCHOFF, CCR, RPR 449 Columbia Blvd., Wood-Ridge, NJ 07075 25 201-933-8220 SBischoffccr@yahoo.com  2 1 A P P E A R A N C E S: 2 BIANCA PEREIRAS, ESQ. Attorney for Applicant, 3 2107 Bergenline Avenue 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  3 1 I N D E X 2 PAGE 3 CALL TO ORDER 5 4 SALUTE TO FLAG 5 5 ROLL CALL 6 6 REORGANIZATION 7 7 ADOPTION OF MINUTES 9 8 HEARINGS 2107 Bergenline LLC 11 9 ADOPTION OF RESOLUTIONS n/a 10 ADJOURNMENT 35 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  4 1 I N D E X 2 2107 Bergenline, LLC 2107 Bergenline Avenue 3 4 WITNESS PAGE 5 MANUEL PEREIRAS 11 6 7 8 E X H I B I T S 9 10 NO. DOCUMENT PAGE 11 12 NO EXHIBITS MARKED 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  5 1 MR. VALLEJO: May I have your attention 2 please? 3 Please take notice that on Tuesday, 4 January 23, 2024, at 6:00 p.m., a regular meeting 5 is scheduled for the City of Union City Planning 6 Board to be held in Union City High School, 7 located at 2500 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Union 8 City, New Jersey. 9 Adequate notice of this meeting has been 10 provided as follows: 11 Notice of this meeting setting forth the 12 time, date, location, to the agenda to the extent 13 known, was forwarded to The Jersey Journal, The 14 Record, and The Star Ledger, has been posted on 15 the bulletin board in City Hall, and has been made 16 available to the public in the Office of the 17 Municipal Clerk. 18 Before we do roll call for tonight's 19 meeting, can everybody kindly rise to salute the 20 flag, please? 21 22 (Whereupon the Pledge of Allegiance was 23 recited.) 24 25 MR. VALLEJO: Thank you.  6 1 ROLL CALL: 2 3 MR. VALLEJO: Roll call for tonight's 4 meeting. Mayor Stack is absent. 5 Mr. Velazquez. 6 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: Here. 7 MR. VALLEJO: Commissioner Valdivia is 8 absent. 9 Ms. Genao. 10 MS. GENAO: Yes. 11 MR. VALLEJO: Ms. Morejon. 12 MS. MOREJON: Yes. 13 MR. VALLEJO: Ms. Fernandez is absent. 14 Mr. Medina. 15 MR. MEDINA: Here. 16 MR. VALLEJO: Mr. Guareno. 17 MR. GUARENO: Yes. 18 MR. VALLEJO: Mr. Oseguera. 19 MR. OSEGUERA: Here. 20 MR. VALLEJO: Let the record indicate 21 there are six present. 22 * * * * 23 24 25  7 1 REORGANIZATION: 2 3 MR. VALLEJO: All right. We're going 4 first, it's January, reorganization to elect a 5 chairperson. Can anybody make a nomination for 6 chairperson. 7 MS. MOREJON: I nominate Alex Velazquez. 8 MS. GENAO: I second that. 9 MR. VALLEJO: Mentioned by Ms. Morejon 10 to nominate Mr. Velazquez as chairperson. 11 Seconded by Ms. Genao. Any other nominations? 12 Seeing none, close. 13 Roll call on the motion for Mr. 14 Velazquez to be the chairperson. 15 Ms. Genao. 16 MS. GENAO: Yes. 17 MR. VALLEJO: Ms. Morejon. 18 MS. MOREJON: Yes. 19 MR. VALLEJO: Mr. Medina. 20 MR. MEDINA: Yes. 21 MR. VALLEJO: Mr. Guareno. 22 MR. GUARENO: Yes. 23 MR. VALLEJO: Mr. Oseguera. 24 MR. OSEGUERA: Yes. 25 MR. VALLEJO: Mr. Velazquez.  8 1 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: Yes. 2 MR. VALLEJO: Six in favor, motion 3 carries. 4 All right. Can I have a motion to 5 nominate a vice chairperson. I see no 6 nominations, we pass that. 7 * * * * 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  9 1 ADOPTION OF MINUTES: 2 3 MR. VALLEJO: Now, we're going to 4 adoption of minutes -- congratulations, Mr. 5 Velazquez, as chairperson. 6 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: Thank you, 7 everyone. 8 MR. VALLEJO: Adoption of minutes of the 9 regular meeting held on November 28, 2023. 10 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: Make a motion. 11 MR. VALLEJO: Motion by Mr. Velazquez. 12 MS. MOREJON: Second. 13 MR. VALLEJO: Seconded by Ms. Morejon. 14 Roll call on the motion. Mr. Velazquez. 15 VICE CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: Yes. 16 MR. VALLEJO: Ms. Genao. 17 MS. GENAO: Yes. 18 MR. VALLEJO: Mr. Guareno. 19 MR. GUARENO: Yes. 20 MR. VALLEJO: Mr. Medina. 21 MR. MEDINA: Yes. 22 MR. VALLEJO: Ms. Morejon. 23 MS. MOREJON: Yes. 24 MR. VALLEJO: Mr. Oseguera. 25 MR. OSEGUERA: Yes.  10 1 MR. VALLEJO: Six in favor, motion 2 carries. 3 * * * * 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  11 1 HEARINGS/APPLICATIONS: 2 2107 BERGENLINE LLC - 3 2107 BERGENLINE AVENUE: 4 5 MR. VALLEJO: We're going to item number 6 one, 2107 Bergenline Avenue. Ms. Pereiras, please. 7 MS. PEREIRAS: Thank you, Mr. Vallejo. 8 Good evening, counsel, chairman, members of the 9 board. May it please the board, Bianca Pereiras 10 on behalf of 2107 Bergenline, LLC. 11 We had previously submitted our 12 jurisdictional proofs at the November meeting. 13 We're glad to be here before you in this new year, 14 so happy new year to everyone. The application is 15 for property at 2107 Bergenline. This is in the 16 CN zone and we are proposing a mixed use building, 17 consisting of commercial on the ground floor with 18 three residential units above. We have one expert 19 to testify before the board this evening and that 20 is our architect, Mr. Manuel Pereiras. 21 22 M A N U E L P E R E I R A S, after having been 23 duly sworn or affirmed, did testify as follows: 24 25 MR. PEREIRAS: Manny Pereiras,  12 1 P-E-R-E-I-R-A-S, with Pereiras Architects 2 Ubiquitous located at 1116 Summit Avenue, Union 3 City, New Jersey. 4 MS. PEREIRAS: For purposes of the 5 record, Mr. Pereiras has testified before this 6 board as an expert in architecture and I ask the 7 board to recognize him this evening as well. 8 MR. RANDAZZO: We'll recognize his 9 qualifications. 10 MS. PEREIRAS: Thank you very much, 11 counsel. 12 Mr. Pereiras, are you familiar with the 13 property at 2107 Bergenline Avenue? 14 MR. PEREIRAS: I am. 15 MS. PEREIRAS: And did you prepare the 16 drawings that are before the board this evening? 17 MR. PEREIRAS: I have. 18 MS. PEREIRAS: Would you kindly describe 19 the proposal for the board? 20 MR. PEREIRAS: I'd be very happy to. 21 For purposes of the record, the drawings to my 22 left are the same drawings that were submitted to 23 the board. Just to give you guys a reference, 24 this is between 21st and 22nd Street on 25 Bergenline, on the east -- on the west side of  13 1 Bergenline. This is where the fire happened, I 2 think it was back in 2011. It devastated three 3 lots to the ground. It damaged two properties 4 over. We have the resident of one of -- two of 5 the properties over that we repaired her house, we 6 repaired the -- I was lucky enough to be the 7 architect, I repaired both those houses to the 8 north. And I was the architect that designed the 9 two houses to the south of this. 10 This is the missing tooth in that block. 11 It's been like that since 2012. So I'm very happy 12 to get before this board today and finally 13 hopefully resolve the situation and finish that 14 block, I think it's going to -- right now, the way 15 it exists, it's a hazard. It's a bit of a drop 16 into the property. There's water seeping into the 17 two neighbors. This site is desperate for 18 rehabilitation, and that's why we're here before 19 you today. 20 What we're looking to do is nothing more 21 than what's exactly requested of us in the master 22 plan and in the zoning ordinance. We have a 23 typical 25-by-100 lot. So the lot width and the 24 lot depth is what the ordinance requires and we're 25 proposing what the ordinance allows. The  14 1 ordinance is looking, and the master plan is 2 looking for a 24-hour active location. That means 3 we have businesses on the ground floor during the 4 day and we have apartments above that keeps the 5 site occupied all 24 hours a day. That's good for 6 safety and it's good for the neighborhood. It 7 gives it the density that the neighborhood needs 8 to survive, to have people who shop at the stores, 9 and keeps the neighborhood alive. 10 So I'd like to walk now and show you the 11 site. As I said, the sight is 25 feet wide along 12 Bergenline Avenue there, the site -- all the 13 buildings are two feet setback from the front. We 14 don't want to mess with that, we want to keep that 15 frontage, so we're setting our building back two 16 feet, which keeps in line with the adjacent 17 properties. Even though we're allowed to have 18 zero foot setback there, we're setting back those 19 two feet to keep it in line with both the 20 properties to the north and the south. 21 On the south side, we're doing zero 22 setback, which is what's permitted and asked for 23 in the ordinance. On the north side, we have a 24 three foot setback. Our ordinance has a strange 25 thing, it allows us to do zero. We're completely  15 1 permitted to do zero setback. And we could have 2 put the building right up to zero, but I wanted to 3 first have a way for firemen to be able to get to 4 the back of the building. And number two, have 5 egress from the window, so that we have light 6 coming into the apartments above. So we elected 7 to create a three foot setback. And because we're 8 creating a setback, our ordinance actually 9 requires a variance for that. Because the 10 ordinance says either you do zero feet or you go 11 five feet. We're doing three feet, so we're 12 asking for a variance on that. It's one of our 13 only two variances that we're asking for. Our 14 rear yard, we're providing a full 20 feet, which 15 is what the ordinance requests of us. 16 Now, moving on to the other items. We 17 are permitted a maximum coverage of 80 percent, 18 we're at 70.4 because in theory that whole lot 19 could be covered, and we're setback three feet 20 along the entire perimeter, so we're well under 21 that. And the maximum coverage, we're permitted 22 to be 100 percent and we elected to put the 23 backyard as grass, so we're well under that as 24 well. And so we meet the ordinance and actually 25 exceed it.  16 1 The height of the building, we're 2 permitted to go four stories and we're a 3 four-story structure. And we're allowed to go up 4 to 50 feet in height, we're doing five feet less 5 than that, 45 feet. So we're compliant in all 6 those aspects as well. 7 The only thing that we're not compliant 8 with, in addition to the side yard setback, is 9 parking. Parking, the way the ordinance reads, we 10 need two parking spaces per apartment, that would 11 be a total of six parking spaces and we would need 12 a total of four parking spaces for the commercial 13 space as well. So we would need a total of ten 14 parking spaces. Obviously, this is Bergenline 15 Avenue, we only have a 25-foot wide lot, there's 16 no way to create a curb cut to get cars in there. 17 If we did that, there would be no room to have a 18 commercial space on the ground floor, which would 19 violate the master plan and the ordinance. 20 So we're providing the exact what's 21 required here and obviously we have efficient 22 apartments and we have access to public 23 transportation and this is a very walkable 24 neighborhood. And, therefore, we hope you 25 understand the hardship for the parking variance  17 1 there. 2 Turning now to page Z02, we see each of 3 the floor plans of the building. I'll start with 4 the basement. The basement has stormwater 5 retention system there, that's what you see in the 6 corner. That means all the water that lands on 7 this property, currently it's filling up like a 8 tank and leaking into the properties next door. 9 What we're doing is we're going to have all that 10 water contained within the tank and slowly seep 11 into the earth or if it gets overflowed, go into 12 the sewer system. So it's a huge improvement for 13 every single one of the neighbors. It makes a big 14 difference on this site. So we're taking a 15 problem that currently exists and we're rectifying 16 it by having these stormwater detention tanks in 17 that space. 18 In addition to that, we have our -- all 19 our mechanicals, our sprinkler system, our 20 electrical main system is there, our gas and water 21 meters are going into the basement in the first 22 section. And then the back of it is storage for a 23 commercial space. And we have a half bath down 24 there for employees to be able to use and also to 25 clean the space.  18 1 On the ground floor, we have a 2 commercial space. It is 20 wide by 68 feet in 3 depth. It's the entire space length, and 4 obviously it has its ADA bathroom in the back. 5 And that has a beautiful storefront. 6 Right next to it, we have the entrance 7 foyer with stairs that lead you upstairs to the 8 apartments. The apartments are laid out in a very 9 simple way. You have the stairwell that leads you 10 to each floor. If you turn to the left, you have 11 an open space, which is kitchen, living room, and 12 dining room space, nice and large. The kitchen is 13 9 by 10, the living room and dining room space is 14 15 -- actually 14-11 by 10-7. So it's a nice open 15 space with huge windows facing the street. And 16 then we have three bedrooms along the back, the 17 last of which is a master bedroom that's 12 by 18 18-7. It has two closets and its own master 19 suite. If you would notice, there's an additional 20 stairwell in the back rear corner for safety 21 reasons. If there's a fire, if there's a problem 22 in the building, each apartment has two means of 23 egress. One through the main stairwell here and 24 the second one through the rear stairwell at the 25 back.  19 1 And then the third and fourth floor are 2 exactly the same thing. And what we propose to do 3 in the facades, it's very similar. We want to be 4 similar to the adjacent buildings, they're brick, 5 except we're doing something a little bit nicer. 6 We're putting a little bit of a larger cornice and 7 accentuating those windows with a little bit 8 larger windows and making that storefront a little 9 bit bigger than the neighbors. So it's going to 10 be very beautiful at the end. And the sides are 11 going to be vinyl siding, whereas, when it's 12 touching another building, it's going to be CMU 13 block and it's going to be waterproof CMU block. 14 In the rear would be siding. And that concludes 15 my testimony. I'm open for your questions. 16 MR. OSEGUERA: I have a quick question. 17 Looking at the street view, the two buildings on 18 each side appear to be three stories and this 19 one's going to be four? 20 MR. PEREIRAS: That's correct. 21 MR. OSEGUERA: Okay. 22 MR. PEREIRAS: The ordinance changed. 23 When we designed those buildings, we were allowed 24 to do five units and three stories. So each of 25 those units have two apartments, one in each end  20 1 and then an apartment in the bottom and a small 2 store in the front. Union City reexamined the 3 ordinance and updated it and said you know what, 4 five units is a little too dense. We'd rather 5 have bigger units, taller, have more light coming 6 in there, but have less units. So instead of 7 having five families, here, we have three 8 families, even though they're larger apartments 9 with more space. So that's the change that the 10 ordinance did and we're doing exactly that change. 11 MR. OSEGUERA: Okay. 12 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: I believe 2118 13 Bergenline Ave. across the street has a three over 14 one with a commercial. 15 MR. PEREIRAS: You're correct. So it 16 is, as the chairman just said, this neighborhood 17 does have four-story structures. You go one block 18 away, you even have a five-story structure. You 19 have the Wells Fargo building, you have a bunch of 20 taller buildings in the area. So it's not going 21 to stick out in any way negatively. It fits into 22 the neighborhood. 23 MR. GUARENO: Can you explain about the 24 stormwater tanks again? 25 MR. PEREIRAS: I'll be very happy to.  21 1 So we have in Union City, one of the oldest sewer 2 systems in the entire country, okay. Because of 3 that, there's a lot of maintenance that has to be 4 done to the sewer systems. And we have what's 5 called a combined sewer, okay. The dirty water 6 goes into the sewer and so does stormwater, water 7 that falls as a rainfall. So everything is in one 8 system, whereas in more developed areas around us, 9 when they have newer sewer systems, they actually 10 have two separate things. 11 So what has happened? We want to try to 12 fix the problem a little bit. So we have set a 13 lot of new rules limiting the way water flows into 14 the sewer system. So we've split it up. Now, all 15 the stormwater instead of it going straight into 16 the sewer, it goes into tanks and those tanks are 17 located within the building. So when we have a 18 big storm and we have a lot of water, so that the 19 sewer system doesn't get overflowed, it goes 20 within the tanks within the building. And then it 21 slowly seeps into the ground and slowly seeps into 22 the sewer system. 23 If there's ever a problem and we have 24 like Hurricane Sandy and we have a lot of rain, 25 those tanks overflow back into the sewer system.  22 1 But it's designed to withstand what we call the 2 100-year storm, so it holds a lot of water. And 3 that's what we have proposed in this. So all the 4 water that lands on the roof, all the water that 5 lands in the rear yard goes first into the tanks 6 and stays there until it dissipates slowly. 7 MR. GUARENO: It's going to be absorbed 8 by the dirt? 9 MR. PEREIRAS: It is absorbed by the 10 dirt. 11 MR. GUARENO: Wouldn't that be a problem 12 eventually for the foundation? 13 MR. PEREIRAS: No. It's designed in a 14 way it so works with the foundation system. So we 15 do what's called percolation tests. And the 16 percolation test tells us how much water the earth 17 could absorb and we design for that. And our 18 system seeps slowly for that. And this isn't 19 something we want to do. This is actually state 20 regulated conditions, we have no options there. 21 We have to do this. Every building you see going 22 up has to do this. 23 MR. GUARENO: One thing is doing it, I'm 24 not an architect nor an engineer, but I've seen 25 plenty of homes that because of water with the  23 1 rain and so forth, the foundation eventually does 2 get affected by it. 3 MR. PEREIRAS: Correct. 4 MR. GUARENO: That is my concern. 5 MR. PEREIRAS: That happens often, 6 usually when there is no stormwater protection 7 system because the water just goes everywhere and 8 damages the foundation. This has it retained, has 9 it drop in a specific way to go back into the 10 aquifer and into the dirt. So it's designed to 11 work right. 12 MR. GUARENO: What is the specific way? 13 MR. PEREIRAS: So there are lots of 14 tests that are done and there's an engineer that 15 designs the entire system and North Hudson Sewer 16 reviews and approves it and the Union City 17 building department reviews and approves it. We 18 figure out the percolation test, how quickly it 19 could absorb. And we design the system in order 20 to provide for that. 21 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: In my other hat, 22 as commissioner on the sewerage authority, they're 23 going to love that, don't worry about that. 24 I got a quick question, just in case -- 25 I'm saying if this is approved, the setback, the  24 1 three feet side yard setback, would you be having 2 a fence there or a gate? 3 MR. PEREIRAS: Well, we're -- we'll put 4 a gate at Bergenline Avenue for safety. And then 5 what we have is -- there's no gate on the other 6 side because it's the actual building that's the 7 side. But in front, we put a gate. 8 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: I'm concerned 9 because I know -- and Nicky knows this, we deal 10 with this with the cats being fed, they'll be on 11 the side. 12 MR. PEREIRAS: Union City has a new 13 ordinance, it's very fresh, I think it's less than 14 a month old, where we need to put -- it's actually 15 required now -- 16 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: Okay. 17 MR. PEREIRAS: -- by ordinance. It's 18 brand new, I just heard about it two weeks ago. 19 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: And if this goes 20 forward, there's going to be have a little bit of 21 stipulations, I dealt with this Kevin Law on many 22 occasions about cleaning up, the weeds were 23 growing like the rainforest in there. And he was 24 telling me that he couldn't get there because of 25 the dip, I understand that. But there was a woman  25 1 actually feeding cats all the way at the end -- 2 MS. PERGAMINOS: Still does. 3 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: It was becoming 4 problematic. 5 MR. PEREIRAS: She feeds cats all over 6 Union City. 7 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: That's a haven 8 just to say come on and feed my cats here. 9 Because, you know, a cat has the agility to walk 10 on that thing. God forbid, we were scared over 11 the summer that she was going to fall in. And I 12 kept telling her please don't do this. 13 He has to make sure that while this 14 going on, you know how I am a stickler when it 15 comes to this, that this is going on, that it's 16 going to be maintained. It's going to be less -- 17 I can't say annoyance -- less impact on the 18 neighborhood that we're get 150,000 complaints 19 that they're doing this, they're doing that. As 20 long as everything is maintained and done the 21 proper way, fences not falling down during the 22 snow, everything is swept and cleaned and 23 maintained. When we give him a call and all that 24 or his contractor, it can't be like waiting to 25 respond until he gets a summons and then all of a  26 1 sudden he wants to act out. 2 MS. PEREIRAS: We will stress that to 3 our client. 4 MR. PEREIRAS: I can't agree with you 5 enough. I'm glad for it to be in the contractor's 6 hands rather than his hands. 7 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: This really 8 needs it. It's been here for years, I'd like to 9 have that regenerate that whole neighborhood. I 10 think something like that would because it's a 11 beautiful -- 12 MR. PEREIRAS: It's over a decade. 13 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: Anybody else 14 have any questions? I make a motion -- 15 MR. VALLEJO: Open to the public? 16 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: I'm sorry. 17 Anybody in the public? 18 MS. PERGAMINOS: My turn. Evangeline 19 Pergaminos, 2111 Bergenline. Can I stand here? 20 I'm glad they're finally going to build on that 21 empty lot. It's a jungle there, it's going to be 22 really a nightmare for you to even clean it out. 23 There's a million -- so many animals, skunks, 24 there's everything living in there. Okay, that's 25 not -- that's neither here nor there.  27 1 I'm objecting to the fourth floor. My 2 building on my block, which is my neighborhood, we 3 have it as a neighborhood, it's not just rent -- 4 you know people coming and going. I'm the only 5 building that didn't build all the way out on the 6 25 by 100, I have a backyard. Everyone else has 7 the businesses all the way to the end. 8 My problem is it will definitely block 9 the sun coming to my backyard, my deck, my 10 Magnolia tree. I have Puppy University is my 11 tenant in the store, the dogs are out in the 12 backyard. Certain hours of the afternoon, it's 13 going to be dark. I took pictures if anybody 14 wanted to see them, showing you exactly how the 15 sun will be blocking my property. That's my big 16 objection. 17 And I didn't even think about while the 18 construction is going on. I'm the one that's 19 always been calling the mayor, your office, 20 complaining about the -- thank goodness -- God 21 bless Mayor Stack. He gave him a new sidewalk 22 because it was dangerous, they weren't maintaining 23 the sidewalk. And then the fence, they put up a 24 new fence and then a cloth across it so that 25 people wouldn't throw things in because it became  28 1 a dump yard. 2 So I don't know if -- and plus, the 3 other buildings that they built there now, which 4 are very nice. There's a pharmacy and now just a 5 smoke shop, unfortunately, opened next door, which 6 I kind of object to. I kept my store empty a 7 couple of years because I didn't want to rent to a 8 smoke shop. Then one just opened two doors down. 9 But I don't know how long it's going to last 10 there, there's one on every block, but okay, again 11 that's neither here nor there. 12 The apartments aren't even all rented in 13 that building. So he's going for four apartments 14 and it's only one apartment each floor, he's going 15 to have to get over $2,000 rent. I don't know if 16 he has people lined up to rent, it looks to me 17 like it's going to be an empty building. The 18 store now just got rented after all these years. 19 The smoke shop just rented the store, so that's 20 been empty all along. 21 So that's what I have say. Thank 22 goodness for Mayor Stack that it's really 23 maintaining the property for them. Because he's 24 putting up the fence, cleaning the sidewalk -- 25 putting in a new sidewalk. And also now, Javier  29 1 was supposed to be here, but he owns the property 2 next door. I have a statement I'd like to read 3 that I asked him to text on his behalf. Can I do 4 that, is that legal? 5 MS. PEREIRAS: I would object to anybody 6 not being present to testify, so we could question 7 him if we had to question him. 8 MS. PERGAMINOS: You could see it's from 9 his phone number, that doesn't count? 10 MS. PEREIRAS: No. 11 MR. VALLEJO: No. 12 MS. PERGAMINOS: Okay. 13 MR. PEREIRAS: Nicky, if I may just 14 address a few of your comments? 15 MS. PEREIRAS: He's at 2109 and he 16 objects also. 17 MR. PEREIRAS: I'd like to address a few 18 of your comments, just I want to -- this is 2107 19 and am I correct you're 2111? 20 MS. PERGAMINOS: 11. 21 MR. PEREIRAS: So you're not the 22 adjacent property, you're one over? 23 MS. PERGAMINOS: Javier is next door. 24 MR. PEREIRAS: I know Javier well. He's 25 next door and then you're one property over.  30 1 MS. PERGAMINOS: Then there's the 2 grocery store, you're right. 3 MR. PEREIRAS: Just another -- so this 4 property is to the south, you have the sun rising 5 in the east, heading towards the north, coming 6 across. So your property is probably not going to 7 receive shadows off of this fourth story. It's 8 not going to create additional shadows onto your 9 rear yard. 10 MS. PERGAMINOS: I don't know. I don't 11 know. In my opinion, I think it will, but all 12 right. 13 MR. PEREIRAS: With the physics of it, 14 it shouldn't cast any shadows on your rear yard 15 and your magnolia tree should be fine. 16 MS. PERGAMINOS: It's going to stick out 17 like a sore thumb, in my opinion. And also it's 18 not -- 19 MR. PEREIRAS: I think one of your 20 concerns is too many residential units with that 21 fourth story. We actually have less. You 22 mentioned four, we're only proposing three 23 residential units, whereas -- 24 MS. PERGAMINOS: Three and the store is 25 four, right.  31 1 MR. PEREIRAS: The store and then three. 2 And the other buildings that were built on the 3 block were five residential units and then the 4 commercial, so we're actually -- 5 MS. PERGAMINOS: But the building is 6 empty. 7 MR. PEREIRAS: -- we're doing less. 8 MS. PERGAMINOS: All right, all right. 9 I'm sure they're not asking the rents that this 10 fellow is going to be asking. But I don't know. 11 I just object to the -- it's going to block my sun 12 in my backyard. It's going to block the deck and 13 my backyard, that's all I know. 14 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: What I hear 15 sometimes, especially on that block, is it's not 16 about people don't want the apartments, it's the 17 scrutiny of how their application is being looked 18 at because of credit scores and everything. They 19 don't want to just rent that. These are the type 20 of people that say I'm going to wait and I'll wait 21 until I get the proper person, not -- they're not 22 saying I'm going to take that first $6,000 deposit 23 so I can get somebody in there and have a headache 24 down the line. 25 Everybody is building a little bit to  32 1 say I don't want to have that headache down the 2 line. That's the problem because I've heard 3 people call the mayor's phone about what should 4 they have over here in the storefronts. I don't 5 want to do this, I don't want to do that. He has 6 no say, he doesn't say anything about it. He's 7 like it has to go through zoning. Let it be what 8 it be because at the end of the day, he gets 9 blamed for everything then. 10 MS. PERGAMINOS: We have a safe block 11 and no problems in my neighborhood. And I call it 12 my neighborhood because I've been there -- this 13 building was my grandmother's from the '50s, so I 14 kind of grew up here and it's a neighborhood. 15 It's not just people coming and moving in and out 16 every two months. 17 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: I know every 18 single -- 19 MS. PERGAMINOS: All right. I said what 20 I had to say. And to me, I just -- well, if it 21 does get approved for the fourth floor, I hope it 22 doesn't block my sun, I really do because it's 23 going to hurt me personally, my building, my 24 backyard, my deck, my magnolia tree that my 25 grandmother planted years ago.  33 1 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: Now we got it on 2 the record Manny said that's not going to -- 3 MR. PEREIRAS: I did and just to 4 supplement the record also, we're not asking for a 5 variance on height, we're not asking for a 6 variance either on stories or on feet, it's 7 permitted. 8 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: I think this is 9 a long overdue project and I want to see something 10 happen over there because it's been an eyesore -- 11 MS. PERGAMINOS: Yeah. 12 CHAIRMAN CONTE: Is that everybody from 13 the public that wants to say something? 14 MS. PERGAMINOS: I'm fine. And the 15 parking, I hope each -- I hope there's not two 16 cars per floor because they're going to have a 17 problem. 18 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: Does anybody 19 else? 20 MS. PERGAMINOS: Thank you. 21 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: Seeing none, I 22 make a motion to approve the project. 23 MR. VALLEJO: Motion on the table to 24 grant the application by Mr. Velazquez. Anybody 25 second the motion?  34 1 MR. OSEGUERA: Second. 2 MR. VALLEJO: Seconded by Mr. Oseguera. 3 Roll call on the motion to approve this 4 application. Mr. Guareno. 5 MR. GUARENO: Yes. 6 MR. VALLEJO: Mr. Velazquez. 7 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: Yes, with 8 stipulations. 9 MR. VALLEJO: Ms. Genao. 10 MS. GENAO: Yes. 11 MR. VALLEJO: Ms. Morejon. 12 MS. MOREJON: Yes. 13 MR. VALLEJO: Mr. Medina. 14 MR. MEDINA: Yes. 15 MR. VALLEJO: Mr. Oseguera. 16 MR. OSEGUERA: Yes. 17 MR. VALLEJO: Six in favor, motion 18 carries. 19 MR. PEREIRAS: Thank you, everybody. 20 MS. PEREIRAS: Thank you. 21 * * * * 22 23 24 25  35 1 ADJOURNMENT: 2 3 MR. VALLEJO: We don't have resolutions 4 on tonight's agenda. There being no other 5 application on tonight's agenda, can I have a 6 motion to close tonight's meeting? 7 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: I make a motion. 8 MR. VALLEJO: Motion by Mr. Velazquez. 9 MR. GUARENO: Second. 10 MR. VALLEJO: Seconded by Mr. Guareno. 11 All in favor. 12 13 (All Board Members indicate in the 14 affirmative.) 15 16 MR. VALLEJO: The ayes have it. Let the 17 record indicate that the meeting has ended. Thank 18 you and good night everybody. 19 20 (Whereupon the meeting was adjourned at 21 6:30 p.m.) 22 23 24 25  36 1 C E R T I F I C A T E 2 3 4 5 6 I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing is a 7 true and accurate transcript of the testimony and 8 proceedings as taken stenographically by me at the 9 time, place, and on the date hereinbefore set 10 forth. 11 12 13 14 SUSAN BISCHOFF, CCR, RPR LICENSE NO. 30XI00233700 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25