Meeting Information

PRESENT: President John McInerney, Vice-President Arnold Chin, Commissioner Carole Cullum, Commissioner Allam El Qadah, and Commissioner Sabrina Saunders.

Robert H. Feldman, Executive Secretary; Judith Boyajian, Deputy City Attorney; Larry Badiner, Chief of Neighborhood Planning, Planning Department; and Rafael Torres-Gil, Senior Building Inspector, Department of Building Inspection.

ACTION: Upon motion by Commissioner El Qadah, the Board voted 5-0 to elect Vice-President Arnold Chin as the new President, and to elect Commissioner Sabrina Saunders as the new Vice-President.

SPEAKERS: President Chin thanked the Board for its confidence in him and asked that Commissioner McInerney chair this meeting.

(2) PUBLIC COMMENT: At this time, members of the public may address the Board on items of interest to the public that are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Board except agenda items. With respect to agenda items, your opportunity to address the Board will be afforded when the item is reached in the meeting with one exception. When the agenda item has already been reviewed in a public hearing at which members of the public were allowed to testify and the Board has closed the public hearing, your opportunity to address the Board must be exercised during the Public Comment portion of the calendar. Each member of the public may address the Board for up to three minutes. If it is demonstrated that comments by the public will exceed 15 minutes, the President may continue Public Comment to another time during the meeting.

SPEAKERS: None.

ITEM A: Request by Commissioner Cullum for the Board to suspend its rules and set aside its October 13, 1999 decision not to grant a rehearing for Appeal No. 99-073 for the property at 470 25^th Avenue, owned by Hugo Villavicensio, and to consider again the Request for Rehearing filed by Raquel Fox, attorney for appellant/tenant Frank Daijo. This appeal was heard on July 14, 1999 when by a vote of 4-0 the Board recused Vice President Chin from participating, and on Commissioner Cullum's motion to disapprove, the Board voted 3-1 (President McInerney dissenting), and the permit was upheld, four votes being necessary to disapprove a permit.

ACTION: Upon motion by Commissioner Cullum, the Board voted 4-0 to RECUSE President Chin. Afterwards, upon motion by Commissioner Cullum, the Board voted 3-1 (Commissioner McInerney dissenting) to SUSPEND THE RULES and set aside its October 13, 1999 decision not to grant a rehearing for Appeal No. 99-073, thus giving the appellant/tenant in the case another 10 day period to file a Request for Rehearing.

SPEAKERS: 1. Jonathan Bornstein, attorney for permit holder, and Raquel Fox, attorney for appellant, both announced that they were present. There was no public testimony.

ITEM A: Letter from Wael Qahhaz requesting that the Board take jurisdiction over Taxicab Commission Resolution No. 74-99, a suspension of taxicab permit 50850 for 6 months commencing January 5, 2000, as well as the imposition of probation on said permit for a period of 2 years.

Date of Taxicab Commission Decision December 16, 1999

Last day to appeal December 31, 1999

Request for jurisdiction January 11, 2000

ACTION: Upon motion by Commissioner El Qadah, the Board voted 4-1 (Commissioner McInerney dissenting) to GRANT the Request for Jurisdiction, thus giving Mr. Qahhaz a new 15-day period to file his appeal.

SPEAKERS: 1. Wael Qahhaz, requestor, said he hadn't filed on time because of a neck injury and a lack of appeal fee at the time. 2. Thomas Owen, Deputy City Attorney, opposed allowing a late filing of the appeal since there were not any good reasons for waiving the appeal period.

(5) APPEAL NO. 99-126

ACTION: Upon motion by Commissioner Cullum, the Board voted 5-0 to UPHOLD the Taxicab Commission's resolution revoking Taxicab Medallion No. 654. Afterwards, upon motion by Commissioner Cullum, the Board voted 5-0 to ADOPT the findings prepared for this case by Thomas Owen, Deputy City Attorney.

SPEAKERS: 1. Thomas Owen, Deputy City Attorney, explained that the appellant had no waybills and hadn't come close to following the rules for medallion holders, and that he was relying on the death of his father in 1997 to explain failure to comply with rules in 1998 and 1999. 2. John Stringer, attorney for appellant, argued that the appellant had acted without benefit of counsel and had not been aware of his ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) rights after he was injured. He admitted there had been some technical violations, but none that warranted revocation. 3. Ron Walter of the United Taxicab Workers urged the Board to uphold the revocation which would free a medallion for one of the 2000 people on the waiting list. 4. Ralph Jacobson, a medallion owner at Yellow Cab said he's known the appellant thirteen years and he is sure the appellant was familiar with all the rules even before he obtained a medallion.

(6A) APPEAL NO. 98-136

(6B) APPEAL NO. 98-137

SPEAKERS: 1. Larry Badiner, Chief of Neighborhood Planning, PD, reported that the appellant had begun to file a variance application and he expected it to be completed soon. 2. Andrew Zacks, attorney for permit holders, urged the Board to uphold the permit since no variance could be considered without the owner's permission and the property has been "Ellised" and the tenant is no longer a lawful tenant.

(8) APPEAL NO. 99-156

ACTION: Upon motion by Commissioner McInerney, the Board voted 4-0 to RECUSE President Chin. Afterwards, upon motion by Commissioner Cullum, the Board voted 4-0 to GRANT the permit on CONDITION that the top 3 feet of the 8 foot fence be trellis/lattice work.

SPEAKERS: 1. Audrey Montana, attorney for appellant, explained her client's opposition to the subject fence and showed photos. 2. Claire Pilcher, also an attorney for appellant, explained how the fence is a nuisance and a hazard to the safety of the tenants of the apartment whose window faces the fence. She said it was a spite fence maliciously installed and it serves no useful purpose. 3. Paul Koski, permit holder, explained the purpose of the fence and the wall is to protect his privacy from the tenant next door whose window is at the level of his yard, and that it was not a spite fence. He also said that he felt the window should have been covered over when the apartment was created so that the problems would not have arisen. 4. Mark Bordonaro, the tenant of the apartment, testified that there had been no vandalism or trespassing on the Koski's property. 5. Rafael Torres-Gil, Senior Building Inspector, DBI, testified as to the Code provisions regarding property line windows. 6. Jonathan Doskow, appellant, reviewed the history of the apartment and the fence over the years, and the changing use of the yard and the malicious intent of the permit holder.

ACTION: Upon motion by President Chin, the Board voted 4-0 to RECUSE Commissioner McInerney. Afterwards, upon motion by Commissioner El Qadah, the Board voted 4-0 to OVERRULE the Zoning Administrator's Determination, and ALLOW the building permit applications to go forward on CONDITION that no more than 4 layers of ad print be placed on the sign at one time, and on CONDITION that appellant Eller Media purchase an insurance policy on behalf of Craig Rowland, the abutting property owner, with FINDINGS as stated into the record by Commissioner Cullum.

SPEAKERS: 1. Larry Badiner, Chief of Neighborhood Planning, PD, explained the provisions of Planning Code Section 183 as they applied to the subject sign, a discontinued non-comforming use, which cannot be reestablished. 2. Joel Yodowitz, attorney for the appellant sign company, said he was convinced the Zoning Administrator is wrong and that the permit was properly issued for the existing sign. 3. Craig Rowland, owner of the abutting property, urged the Board to uphold the department and described his problems with the sign over the years. 4. David Sweeney, an employee of the sign company, responded to a Board question about how the sign was constructed.