of adjustment I'm sorry this meeting is in held in this meeting is being held in accordance with njsa 10 colon 4-12 the open public meetings act I would like to call this meeting to order Francisco are there any Sunshine announcements to share yes in accordance with the open public meeting act notice has been given to the Jersey journal the Jersey City Reporter lalito and posted with the city clerk on Monday July 8th 2024 we have the notices to be marked this is B1 for the record okay Mr Espinosa will you please take roll call I see commissioner Allen present commissioner Burns here commissioner Baron here commissioner shadid yes Vice chair aruo yes and chair Coy present we have a total of six Commissioners tonight okay um can we please stand for the flag salute I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all Iris can you please swear in any staff that you have in attendance yes Francisco any correspondence or German the share uh no all new business items will be moving forward tonight okay uh tonight on the agenda we have um one two four extension cases uh which we will hear first and then we have case z 22-79 which is the preliminary and final major site plan for CND D variances at 146-152 Glenwood Avenue since um we have been requested to have Commissioners present to take a vote the only thing we will do this evening is have the presentations on the part of um Mr Joseph and his planners Etc and there will be no public comment tonight we will hold that off until our meeting um which I believe is July July 25th July 25th where the public will have time to make their comments um and we will have questions Etc once again okay so without further ado um I would like to start with um case uh Z2 024 d25 a one-year extension um and Veronica Jim okay oh there we go good evening members of the board Veronica shme of Connell Foley on behalf of the applicants here for a one-year application the property is 250 Barrow Street block 14106 lot 46 um the underlying approval was Z 21-33 and the applicant is requesting one additional year uh to be able to construct the project in in accordance with their approvals um by way of brief overview the project was just a removal of a rear yard shed and a staircase and they would hope to construct a new rear yard deck um the date of approval was April 7th of 2022 so it expired April 7th of this year 2024 we're AC uh requesting a one-year extension to April 7th of 2025 the reasons being the applicant is uh you know just a couple not a big developer they did not keep an eye on the approvals nor did they know that they could lapse um so they are also facing some financing troubles they would just like uh one additional year to be able to construct the project as approved is there anyone from the public here to comment okay um what about hearing from the city we don't have to do that okay any comments from the Commissioners okay um if none um I'd like to um ask for um a motion to vote uh Madam Madam president I'd like to make a motion to approve KZ 2024-25 as presented to the board this evening do I hear a second second okay can we take roll call on a motion to approve commissioner Burns yes commissioner Baron yes commissioner Allen yes commissioner shadid yes Vice chair aruo yes and chair coyo yes motion carries all in favor thank you very much members of okay yes it's 43 thank you yes thank you okay our next case is z20 24-34 it's for three one-year extensions at 203 Danforth Avenue um is Jim Burke here good evening chair and board members and Council um my client uh received approvals on July 28th 2022 so it hasn't quite expired but it's real close and uh he had suffered covid and then long covid and so he was sick for a while could not get going while the interest rates were low and then uh this past year he recovered but unfortunately he got sick again because he looked at the interest rates uh and so he's uh so uh anyway um he's asking for three onee extensions uh and hopefully the board can see fit to Grant those okay okay do they do we have any comments from our commissioners anybody okay all right then let's take uh can we take a vote St I'm sorry I'm sorry we need a motion can we make a motion for kz2 02434 Madam chair I'd like to make a motion to approve K z202 4-34 okay he's he's right D- z34 as presented to the board this evening can I get a second second okay Francisco please take vote on a motion to approve commissioner Burns Commission Baron yes commissioner Allen yes commissioner shadid I vote Yes wishing him good Vice chair aruo yes and chair Coy and with interest rates dropping I wish for that too yes yes yes thank you all very much I we all want interest motion carries all in favor they're horrible okay our next case is z22 4-35 it's a one-year extension at 29 97th Street um good evening Stephen Joseph of casano quickly try for the applicant uh this is the second one-year extension on this um the client's not ready to begin construction on this with construction cost and financing cost uh they're requesting an additional year okay okay any comments from the Commissioners okay um can I get a motion to vote on case z202 4-35 Madam chair like to make a motion to approve kz2 024 d35 as a presented to the board this evening can I get a second second on a motion to approve commissioner sorry commissioner Burns commissioner Baron yes commissioner Allen yes commissioner shadid Vice chair aruo yes and chair Coyle yes motion carries all in favor okay our next K congratulations oh you're staying for the next one yes you're going to be it for the next too I guess okay uh for case z202 4- 0036 for an extension uh the address is 296 Union Street uh can I get a motion oh oh I'm sorry we're just moving along here tonight for for for the record Stephen Joseph uh for the applicant um this is the first one year extension on this if approved it'll expire August um 2025 this is not a developer you can see it's not not an LLC as the applicant that it's been difficult for a individual to put together a project of this size and needs more time okay can I get a motion for case do we have any comments from our commissioners on this no okay can I get a motion for z202 4- z36 do you you want to ask Staff first or yes staff Francisco you have uh staff does recommend approval with previous conditions okay okay Madam chair I'd like to make a motion to approve z202 4- 0036 as presented to the board this evening can I get a second second on a motion to approve commissioner Burns yes commissioner Baron yes commissioner Allen yes commissioner shadid Vice chair aruo yes and chair Co yes motion carries all in favor okay [Laughter] oh my God it's horrible okay and our final case for the evening is case z22 d79 it's for 146-152 Glenwood Avenue and Stephen Joseph is presenting again okay stevenh Joseph of casano quickly chami for the applicant uh good evening everybody uh 146 Glenwood Avenue um this has been on the agenda for quite some time we have carried many many times uh either there wasn't a full board or at the request of the community um unfortunately we couldn't uh come to full agreement with the community with what to do with this building um but uh we do have Dennis uh and Antonio our Architects is here here this evening to show you the plans we do have Caroline our planner and I understand we're going to hold off on public comment until uh the next hearing when we do have a full board so this is um and this is going to sound before yes so let's let's first oh I'm sorry I apologize yesid service your notice of publication Iris we'll come around later so Mr Joseph you know you have requested a board we only have six here and we've told the public uh that the next meeting which I guess would be July 25th they have a right come in they'll look at the transcript they might look at the video and they'll question your experts so your experts will be available next next time for them as well correct yes uh 25th we will be there great and hopefully we'll have a seven member board for the 25th and then we can proceed to go forward now as you said you're going to uh present your Witnesses I guess the Commissioners if they have any questions or your Commissioners will do that as well absolutely we'll go from there we won't hear from staff we'll do that on the 25th okay wonderful yes something to yeah just keep the ball moving forward here um all right wonderful thank you uh so this is a approximately 17,500 square foot site it's a fairly large fairly large site there's an existing five-story um dormatory building was the last use on the site it was previously used as an apartment building um St Peters had been using it as as a dormatory um what we're proposing to do here is renovate and restore the building it has been deemed historic so we had to work with the historic officer on the renovations to the building on the facade uh on the work there's no expansion of square footage on the building um whatsoever and we're proposing 53 dwelling units um there will be a 10% affordable component to this building um and this should sound very familiar because there was another application 104 Glennwood that was heard by this board it's the same um same application basically um Dennis is getting set up now trying to keep talking a little bit until he's ready to go yes Mr Joseph to to uh tell the board the building as it now stands is that vacant or is it it it is currently vacant so there was actually a casualty at the building there was um a big a pipe burst so there was some remediation that had to happen because when a pipe burst in a building that old there's m and there's asbestos that need to be removed um so there's some permits and stuff that were pulled related to that there was some additional work done at the property but it is currently vacant uh because of that the pipe that burst how many dormatory units are in there at the at this or were in there at Dennis has that information you could go through that with you um you know dormitories are set up differently differently so Mr is your first witness he is an architect he's licensed in New Jersey he's been here before we recognize him as an AR yes his license is still valid and so yes it is wonderful Dennis Michael deino D VZ in Victor i n [Music] o yes it is what happened that one didn't work [Music] is it up on commissioner [Music] [Music] screens need R for the mouse there we go all right great okay is it on everyone's screens I see it's only on two do you have it on yours I have it it's on mine screen do we good yes okay thank you so this is just a backup in case we had problems with this one so I'll just going to keep this up in case it's needed um again my name is Dennis deino from dinino Architects here in Jersey City uh as Mr uh uh Steven Joseph mentioned that the uh building 146 150 um Glenwood Avenue um this is one of four projects that St Peter sold um this three of them with dormitories I believe this board her uh 104 Glenwood uh which is was uh 21 units um possibly condos or or rentals uh this is um uh we met uh back actually in 2022 with historic uh to get a ruling on this and whether or not it it had a historic significance we met with Miss O'Neal she wrote a a memo on it and that is uh essentially why the building uh we taking the building as is there's a a total of 46,6 35 gross square feet we're not adding any additions um so uh the building volume will remain the same we're essentially taking the number of dormitories that are in there and uh changing them over uh and adding some additional units and creating multi uh a multif family um so the building characteristics it's a four-story brick uh the lower level has steel components because there are um wood bearing walls in the building the building um has a fully usable basement uh right now the the should I say the college used the basement not for dorms but they did use the basement for a computer lab um there was um laundry some laundry rooms down there there was a chapel so that um common restrooms and and a Lobby so the basement isn't fully usable and the the East wing of the building was mostly for services that's where the electric came in the sprinkler systems came in and there boilers so the building is I mean the basement is 100% usable so uh as part of this presentation as part of of the renovating the building we will be utiliz in the basement for uh some duplexes some three bedrooms which uh will most likely be associated with the affordable units and um so I'll go through um the building also has five entrances in the courtyard it's unusual design of the building the building is kind of sectioned off in in quadrants in other words there's one separate entrance and it feeds essentially a vertical column which on on each floor there' be either two or three dorm uh um doors that go in that went into dorm rooms so and you the the entire floor doesn't they don't communicate so that's why the building has four separate entrances one entrance would feed basically a column of let's say 12 units and then each so you have four of those uh so it's difficult it would have been difficult to to to to try to redesign the building because the floor lines don't even match up um and the fifth entrance uh is in the all the way in the back um of the courtyard the fifth entrance is was used by the College of dormatory for a Lobby that's where the students checked in that's where they got their mail and it is actually in a lower level that was actually in the basement um the only characteristic uh that we're really changing in the building is that we're trying to take advantage of the flat roof this is one of those buildings that uh able to try to have some outdoor space uh so we extended all of those stairwells to the roof and we've created a a roof deck um so the dorm uh there like I mentioned there are no dorm rooms in the basement each floor there one floors one through four um uh were serviced by by a total of 41 uh dorm units um each total dorm units by the 41 dorm units had a total of actually 86 uh dorm rooms uh 51 total bathrooms uh there are actually bathrooms in the in the in the basement as well there were common bathrooms but each dorm room usually just only had one bathroom uh the courtyard was essentially a gathering space that's where and a security kind of the the two-point um security entrance you'd come through the courtyard initially and then of course your your your main door um I I I probably mentioned this during the 104 testimony but I didn't want to bring it up to the U to the board again um we're here because because this property is zoned University uh universities allowed dorms with not allowed multifamilies the unit the international building code does not uh look at this dor a dormatory is an R2 use just like a multif family is an R2 use so there's actually no change in use as far as the building bu code is is is considered uh that's why I think there you know if there regardless of what happens to this building whether or not it stays dorms or whether or not it becomes a multif family it can still be renovated as far as the building department is concerned because it's there no change it's there's no change of use as far as the building Department's concerned and R2 is an R2 um so I'll go through the plans um real quick again you see the uh the elevation I do want to point out one thing that the community board mentioned that it's probably uh on your plan I don't it's probably just worth uh me um testifying to it but if your plan you we probably see some lights right in this area right here uh the community board wanted us to remove those lights because of light pollution so this plan particular shows uh no lights uh on these two panels no uplights on these two panels um okay come on here we go so the basement will have a total uh what we're proposing the basement will have a total of of U five units uh eight bedrooms um the first floor uh there'll be on in basement it be one Studio One three-bedroom one two-bedroom and two one-bedrooms on the first floor were a total of 12 units one three bed room uh three two-bedrooms uh six one-bedrooms and two Studios and then on Floors uh uh two through four it'll be a total of 12 units per floor 10 two-bedrooms and two one-bedrooms for a total of 53 dwelling units um 79 bathrooms full bathrooms six half baths and 81 total bedrooms versus if you actually look at um the dormatory rooms of total of eight 86 that's you know we actually have less less rooms less bedrooms uh I want to uh point out I know they again the community board was concerned about uh water um usage and and sanitary and Sewer usage but I think it's important the board when we often look at density we look at it based on units per acre or how many units in a building when you're looking at it when you're comparing it to a different use or a dormatory use the MUA actually looks at it based on the number of students so when you actually do the calculation if assuming that there be two students per per uh dorm bedroom or dorm room uh You' actually end up with uh a total of 33 less occupants in the building the way it's designed right now because the MUA looks at a dorm room one uh they count the number of students again assuming that one dorm room is going to have two students when you do the calculation and then when they look at an actual U residential bedroom they look at a one-bedroom as two people assuming that they put two people in the first bed a two-bedroom would be three people two people in the first bed and one person in the second bed and the three-bedroom would be two would be uh four people two people in the first bed and then one in each of the other bedrooms so in actuality when you do the calculation we this this proposal has an actual total number of 33 less occupants uh okay so let's continue to go through the plan we'll we'll start up here with the uh the roof change and the rear yard and the courtyard on all right so this is a a site plan which is also showed essentially a roof plan uh you could see the rear yard the setback I believe was about 20 existing re setback was about 20 ft uh we were proposing a five foot buffer along the back uh this along on the left side here is where the bicycle storage will be uh and we created a bicycle shelter here you can see the detail here to the left the bike shelter uh and was actually a comment by the community board we had it on this side and we had the dog run on this side since this side was closest to the single family residence here and this side was closer to another multi family we did uh we um we um made the adjustment where we put the dog run here next to the next project next is 140 Glenwood uh where we put the dog runs next to each other so again I was a community comment we made a we made the the adjustment for the community uh uh the based on community comments another comment if you look at some of the drawings the pl you'll see some bubbles throughout the throughout the plan these bubbles are all revisions made by Community suggestions U um or maybe possibly by um by the client suggestion but most of these bubbles are are based on some Community comments there's a bubble here where you see we put some Landscaping in the on the on the roof deck again being adjacent to the uh neighboring property a single family um they had wanted us to not have the roof deck go that close to the property line so we created a buffer on the roof and we took that area of the roof deck away and we added that little bit of area that we took away here and we put it in the back so that was another Community comment that we've uh made changes uh there was some also some concern about Landscaping in the uh Courtyard uh one comment was that we would try to salvage the existing vegetation uh we took an assessment of what kind of plants were in the courtyard and what we are willing to try to do is uh I we don't anticipate being able to salvage those um uh trees because of in our opinion if the board uh finds this approval uh approved that the courtyard is really going to be a a perfect staging area for a contractor uh to be able to use that to to build or renovate the building because this it's less it'll be less traffic and less uh disruption to Glenn would have they could come in and out they would uh would come in and out of this area right here and right there and it'll be the only place that they'll just you know that they'll take away um a possible um uh parking space and they'll just use the courtyard to stage in and out uh so we don't think that the trees are are salvageable but we do believe that the trees can be re replanted somewhere else in the community so that would be our recommendation uh we of course we'd want to save uh the trees so uh again our recommendation would be and it was a recommendation to the community board that we would plant them somewhere else to their you know to their location in the community in the in the neighborhood somewhere um so we'll um move on to the floor plans um you can see this plate will give you the existing basement on the left side and the proposed Flor plans on the right side uh and Dennis when we when we think of a basement we typically think of something that's you know below grade or mostly below grade uh if you could just point out on on the plan and also when you get to the elevation uh where the windows are for that and yeah well this is a this is a considered a story below grade so it doesn't actually add a story to the building it would have to be six feet out of the ground in order for it to be considered another story but it does it is um high enough out of the out of the ground where you can get um window um the required windows for light and air so we are able to use it um for a um for an to put units in there to put bedrooms in there so that you could see it from uh you can see Windows along this wall Windows along that wall windows on in in this wall in the courtyard windows in the rear so the building is the windows in the front here so there we have um plenty of opportunity to utilize the basement for for residential units uh the the um the duplexes are over here on this side right here you can see these interior stairs within the units there'll be duplex to the first floor and the rest of these units uh you can see two-bedroom Studio one bedroom and so on and then this where the lobby is right now where the where the where the dorm had the lobby should I say we're going to maintain that as a Lobby right here uh this is also an area that we can have um a little um exercise room right over here in this back right corner so we're trying to provide some amend these for the uh occupants as well as the roof deck so moving up to the second floor all the floors from here on up are the same uh again comparing this the left side is the dorms of the existing dormitories and the right side uh are the proposed residential units uh here you could see how the the one two three four five different stairs within this Courtyard space I know there was some discussion about trying to get parking and just the way way the building is constructed and the way it's designed parking would be almost impossible to be able to negotiate parking around all these access points uh so you'd come into this entrance and then as you go up the stair you can see there's one door here another door there and another door there so this platform or this flat if you will has three separate units on that particular quadrant uh so so that that's how the building is designed um and uh we maintain that same um vertical circulation second means of egress is through is is again no change of use so we don't have to we can continue to use um fire Escapes in this building so we do have uh we're utilizing the the existing fire escapes uh for the second means of erress so that takes us through through I'm sorry so this a building like this requires a second means of egress well this would be one means the second means would be a fire escape yeah so as long as we don't change the use we can maintain and utilize the fire escapes okay um the exterior of the building uh we are proposing to um power wash the existing brick uh again this is a historically sensitive uh structure so we're going to maintain uh the the brick facade it'll be washed it'll be repointed the windows are all going to be replaced the doors will be replaced uh the um the brick bricks will be pointed uh and we're probably going to be uh inspecting each one of the window headers for a building like this CU they they're steel angled headers to see what kind of condition they're in and uh they'll be replaced as necessary so this this is a a view of uh here we go uh we are proposing and then we we got this cleared through historic um just a there's nothing really identifying this building from the ground so we're proposing a a base uh um um water table if you will so we we're just changing the material just at this lower level the or the basement level right here so yeah so this is the basement level and then as you go up the building that's the other four stories um the we got approval these initially um the lettering had backlit and historic um told us that they would not allow those to be backlit but we are they were are allowed to keep I mean numbers we are allowed to keep the numbers so 146 152 uh we had a darker base uh water table and historic wanted something lighter so we brought this uh into this uh other um shade work to work a little bit more with the existing brick um uh that's all I have as far as the building presentation um I I can simp if I just testify that we have been in with the community board I probably at least five times whether some in some cases it was uh personal we it was uh it was um um um on a one to one basis and sometimes we did a zoom meeting but we did meet with him quite a bit of time quite a few times we got several comment letters we responded to several comment letters as you can see as some of the changes that we've made and some of the revisions that I I'm pretty sure we we've met um most if not all of their all their comments um bird friendly Windows uh again it's very similar to what we did on 104 Glennwood so um I feel confident that we've we've um met the Community board's needs and hopefully um the zoning board okay thank you just to clarify some of Dennis's uh comments about the community so there's three different Community groups we met with in this area uh McGinley square is the big community group we met with them I I think two or three times over Zoom um Highland Avenue has its own Block Association we met with them as well and then there's a a house of worship in the area uh where client met with that congregation as well just put that yeah so I just just just to go on record I don't know if the board has everything in their portal but um May 3rd was uh Miss O'Neal's um initial uh letter uh historic letter we've had a comment letter back to uh the uh community board on on 101023 we had another one on 21924 uh and we have read and we agree on the um comments from engineering so we went we've went through where is that one I just wanted to put the date on that March 22nd 23 March right March 22nd 2023 engineering report we have read and and agreed to work with engineering on those items that's all I got yeah and uh with regard to the affordable units there's five affordable units proposed in the building uh two three bedrooms two two bedrooms and one one bed room are being proposed um the only other thing I want to mention that's related to architectural is uh parking parking is not feasible for a bunch of reasons the the most obvious being we can't take down the building because it's historic um but it's also not required in the city's ordinance if affordable housing is being proposed there's there's no parking requirement um so even if this was a new construction with the affordable component there would be no parking required um for the building um so that's our architect actual testimony if the board has any questions for for Dennis not at the moment great we'll hold our questions to the end understood so we'll bring up uh Caroline now and get her sworn in I do it's Carolyn worstell w r s t l l everything until the next meeting car you're license is current in full standing yes my my license is in good standing this evening uh good evening everyone it's nice to be back and see you all in person again um so we're here this night um for a handful of variances um mostly related to the fact that um this building is in the University District but it is no longer serving a university use and so we need a use variance um to that sort of the the biggest one we're asking for this this evening and then there are a couple of smaller bulk variances that relate to um one of them is relates to that University District that we're in and then the other has to do with some uh the location of bicycle parking um so as was mentioned this this property is located in that University U District um but uh it's no longer owned by the university um what we're here tonight is to propose a 53 unit multif family res Residential Building um which is not a permitted use in the University District um the University District permits uh a handful only handful of of uses colleges and universities which uh obviously is not applicable here parks and playgrounds dormitories fraternity sorority houses or meeting Halls um so because it's no longer owned by the University number of these uses really just aren't applicable anymore such as college and universities meeting Halls dormitories um as has been mentioned previously this building is in uh decent condition good condition and um is in consistent with the historic character of the block and as such it's not suitable for demolition uh to make way for another permitted use such as parks and playgrounds um or uh so so there's a limited number now we're we're sort of widowing away the the types of uses that we can be actually permitted in this District um so finally we're sort of left with these fraternity sority houses as you know potential uses um originally this um uh building was developed as an apartment complex um and was you know bought by the university to be turned into dorms and so this project really is just returning the building to its previous use it's not prom promote uh proposing any expansion of the existing structure as was testified uh by Mr deino um but we are looking to have sort of extensive internal Renovations that would um you know sort of return it to its original use while still updating the building to Modern uh building and fire code standards and so really what this is it's an Adaptive reuse of the structure as a multif family residential use which really I believe is appropriate use and presents a better planning alternative um then um it then the two other uses of fraternity assurity house um those uses are also still residential in character um however even though they're permitted in the U you know they're permitted in U District but there's no maximum density for either units or bedrooms in the U District so there is really no limit to how many people could uh be potentially pulled into that that building so I think that what's being proposed here tonight which is um transferring this or or adaptively using this building to create the 53 units of residential housing is really in character with those permitted uses um but it really allows for this project to provide um housing for a wider range of occupants um to include families and young professionals and there's not a limit that says that students of the University can't still live here um but it just would no longer be University run housing um and I think that that this use this proposed mid-rise multif family use is really consistent with the character of the block um the north side of Glenwood Avenue those properties that are not in the U District are generally are in the R3 midrise multif family District um which is that R3 District um and the R3 District per permits very explicitly mid-rise multif family dwelling dwellings of up to eight stories on lots of at least 6,000 sare fet this project property is over 17,000 square ft so it's well within it's very well sized to allow that mid-rise multif family use that would be permitted Elsewhere on the Block in that R3 District um so I really think that this project allows for that creative diversity of Housing and I think it's overall appropriate for this this uh this uh block um and um as uh Mr Joseph mentioned you know there is no off street parking being proposed here um but um the existing building is is being is proposed to remain so it really limits and prohibits us from creating a you know parking on this lot um and to to provide it within you know what few areas that are not occupied by building really would not be a best best practice because it would eliminate sort of the um uh imper or the the impervious coverage the the Landscaping that is really uh what creates a a wonderful character to this particular building style um so I I think that overall this site is very particularly suitable for the proposed multi family use um and that overall that that it meets those standards for that use variance um I mentioned there's one other small bulk variant that's relates to that U District um and that is for the minimum buffer adjacent uh adjacent to a residential use or District so the U District requires that there be a 10-ft buffer between University uses and residential districts or uses um we require relief from that requirement on the western side Lot line and the northern rear lot line um providing such a buffer particularly on the western side Lot line would be a hardship um as the building maintains the existing 5 and 1/2 foot step back um so there there is no there's not even 10 ft between the existing building and the adjacent property line um so really would be a hardship because you'd actually have to demolish the building in order to create a 10-ft buffer within the rear um we request we're requesting the um the buffer um because there is uh like the dog run and the um uh bicycle parking are both within that buffer area um so they they don't really meet the quite the definition of a buffer which would be uh just Landscaping um but I do think they still further the intent uh because they're still you know helping to provide um distance between both the residential uses on the adjacent properties and the existing structure and I think overall um while we're requesting the the the buffer the variants for the buffer um I'm not you know the project itself is changing the use you know we're going to be providing a residential use so really the intent or intent of the buffer which is to create distance between high-intensity University uses such as meeting halls or classrooms and residential uses that there's no longer that need because we're now putting a residential use next to a residential use so I think you know this this um that the variants can be granted in both that there are hardships related to um the existing structure itself but also that there really is no longer a real need for such a buffer um because of the change in the use um and then finally uh we are requesting a variance for the bicycle parking um and this is for the location of the parking only uh we are providing the U necessary number of parking spaces uh but instead of providing them interior to the structure we are providing them um exterior to the structure in that um covered uh parking area at the rear um and and uh we just think that that the location of the bicycle parking outside mitigate some concerns regarding electric bicycle storage indoors which was another concern that was I believe raised by the local community at one point or another um but uh we just found that this location would be um the best fit for this application given uh the the existing structure and uh and Caroline if we were to locate them inside we would have to go up or downstairs whatever location correct um yeah it it's it's an unusual layout so really providing it in the rear yard was really the best uh possible fit uh for providing the bicycle parking um and I think overall um this project promotes the various purposes of the municipal land use law um it's an appropriate use uh consistent with purpose a we're providing residential uses in a block that is primarily residential um and is consistent with the R3 District which uh is up and down uh this block um it is uh consistent with purpose c um where it's providing adequate light air and open space um so this this project has um will have no impacts on light and air to jent properties we're providing no exterior changes to the building um that would create um additional uh light or Shadow impacts on adjacent properties and then I think it promotes a desirable visual environment consistent with purpose eye um so obviously it's you know the building itself is going to be um cleaned and repointed and the new windows um so I think those are all um you know positives for the the building itself and then you know new Landscaping is going to be uh provided within the Courtyard area reinvigorating the Landscaping um and New Street trees will be provided along the sidewalks so I think overall it will present a much more um desirable visual environment uh to the to the public from the the sidewalk in the street uh looking at the negative criteria um I don't believe that granting the requested variances would result in a substantial detriment to the general welfare um this project is an Adaptive reuse of existing structure uh which was formerly a dormatory for use as a mid-rise multif family dwelling um so it's it's uh creating a a as I said a residential use on what is otherwise a residential block um and the essence to use to House people does not change um you know it is a dormatory and it's going to be uh still housing for people as a residential use uh but the renovations itself do provide benefits such as building bringing the building up to Modern modern uh building and fire code standards which I think is is a benefit um as well as the improvements along the sidewalks in the new Street trees so I think overall there's no substantial detriment there to the public welfare and then granting requested variances likewise will not result in a substantial impairment to the intent Ander of the Zone plan and zoning ordinance um this project is in University District but it no longer serves a university use um so we are trying to adaptively reuse the project consistent with the R3 District which is the other Zone that's along this block um and uh permits multif family midrise multif family housing um so uh I don't believe that this would impair the intent of the zoning ordinance or the Zone plan um so I think overall the the project both meets both the the positive and the negative criteria for the variances requested um and could be granted so if you have any questions I'm I'm happy to answer them Mr Joseph do you think it's uh maybe it's prudent at this time since the board has just heard both of these testimonies if they want to ask questions of these Witnesses maybe they can absolutely at this stage right sure they can always ask questions of course as well in two weeks from now but if any of the board has questions for either wild fresh absolutely yeah Mr deino or Miss W sure Mr alen uh I guess this would be for Mr deino uh good evening um the affordable H housing do you have any idea where it would be would it be in one block or would it be spread out all over the building that actually is probably best for Mr Joseph so we work with the the affordable housing Administration on the location of those units um they're typically spread throughout the building um they're they're usually not the best units in the building or the worst units in the building they're spread out throughout the okay okay I have a question I'll just add that there's or three-bedroom units have been incorporated into the into the project so uh an affordable can be a three-bedroom component so okay yeah I think this question is from Mr dinino you talked about replanting the tree that's right in the or the the different trees that are in front of the building the existing building not necessarily those trees um and you said they were going to be replanted somewhere in the neighborhood or on the Block who's going to be responsible to remove those trees and put them somewhere well I think that's probably something that should be um hopefully if the board finds it um to approve the application that put it in in the um resolution that that uh the contractor or the developer would be responsible for working with the community and exactly where they would want those trees and of course the cost would be the developers to do that yeah so we did assess it there's a dogwood there's a I think a two red Maples and a plum so they're the four mature trees that can be relocated of course they have to be done at the right time of the year so um that's that that's been uh mentioned to the uh to the community board and I think that the developer I can't speak for the developer but um the they're four trees and I'm sure they can be relocated without a problem yeah I I can speak for the developer and and the developer has no problem okay Francisco this might be a question for you will the Department of Forestry be involved in this because of the trees or not NE necessarily yes that is a standard condition the city planning does but okay mhm and uh we have um I put the required number of Street trees in there was one taken out because um at one point the community board wanted um a location for a package um deliveries so we actually and I don't know if we can still do that because they're probably two separate owners at this time but we actually made us an area between 140 and 146 for trucks small trucks to pull in for for package drop off yeah and and Dennis also previously testified that really the reason why the trees in Courtyard are getting removed is for to not block off the street during construction um it's it's a balance if if we're not able to use the courtyard for staging more of the street needs to get blocked off for a longer period of time and it's a narrow Street to begin with do any other Commissioners have any questions I'm just looking for uh Maggie's report because I don't want to guess on the age of the building yeah approximately 1926 uh as as we know with you know records this old everything is approximate but approximately 1926 is this time running by no uh so I think you heard some testimony from carollyn this evening that it was previously used as an apartment building as residential Apartments um the university took it over at some point in the past they they purchased the building I'm not sure exactly uh when they purchased it but they purchased the building and began using it for University use I have no idea what was the question when when the university purchased the property uh those records are also very old I imagine it would be around the same time as it was rezoned as University I can find out for the next time we could meeting I can probably find out we could dig into that the uh you know again the the some of the records are not incredibly clear so I may have missed this but how many bike spaces or uh racks are being provided Dennis and a comment was made by I don't know if it was Carolyn that made the comment that it was for electrical they wanted to make sure that electrical bikes were not inside the units so were these spaces being designated just for electrical bikes no so one of the concerns at at one of the community meetings that we had is that more and more people have these electric bikes or electric scooters and there some concerns because of some stuff in the new news about the batteries overheating and fires starting within the building and because it's an old building um so how are we mitigating that that's not the only reason why the bikes are in the backyard but it helps to satisfy that okay um 20 yeah 27 bike spots and I'm I'm sure we could fit more if that's something the board would like well yeah we use the half 1 half based on yeah the college requirement is 1 half per per um per unit so one half per unit one half a bike per unit so 27 was what we that that's what the requirement was but like I said I'm sure we could fit more okay all right does anyone else have any other questions okay um so we were not voting tonight so we'll see you in two weeks I guess whatever um and everyone will be here to present and make yourselves available for the community AB will be more questions possibly by all of us as well as the community members yes we uh greatly appreciate your time this evening thank you so much okay thank you all right okay do we have any other business tonight uh no there were no resolutions we have any resolutions nothing okay so then can I get a h motion to adjourn the [Laughter] meeting yeah second all in favor hi hi