Zba - Regular Meeting

I didn't know that.

No, no, no.

OK.

Check.

It's 6.05 and the Bridgeport-Sony Board of Appeals is now in session. I will... To my left, I will tell you that this is Ernie Johnson. I'm just totally out of it, go ahead.

Good evening, as she said, the meeting will now be in session. I'll let the board members introduce themselves.

Greg Regan.

Eric Johnson, Vice Chair.

David Bollinger.

Robert Shepard. I apologize, I've had deaf in a family and it's been a lot, so.

Item of business today is 49 Roosevelt Street seeking a variance of section 13.30.2 to permit the change of the existing non-conforming use to another non-conforming use and seeking a certificate of location approval pursuant to section 11.120 to establish a motor vehicle detailing facility within the former contractor storage building in the NX2 zone.

Mr. Councilman and the district. I'm just here trying to help him out, interpret what he's trying to do at the location. Okay, my name is Alfredo Castillo, the councilman in the 136. I'm just here trying to help establish business in the area. He has a car wash on Knowlton and he's trying to use that place for a detail to bring the cars inside and detail the cars and then bring them back to the client on the other side of Knowlton. It used to be a storage, so he just, but these cars are not going to be, you know, I know the residents are concerned that they're going to take parking, but these cars are going in there. He's going to do what he's had to do, and then he'll leave. There won't be no parking of cars. It's just everything is going to be inside, in and out. That's what he wants to do at the location.

Okay, so whenever you're ready.

He wants to open another business to make it better for his family. It's a family business.

He wants to do more projects in Bridgeport to help people get, who hire people in the neighborhood to work for him. So he wants to be an entrepreneur on detailing and hiring people to do the work. I wanted to know if you could give him the opportunity so he could prosper in the city of Bridgeport.

Well, I don't know if you know this Councilman, but to grant a variance, we need to hear a hardship. What about this property creates a hardship that you're coming here asking us to change the rules? What's the hardship?

But the hardship is it used to be a storage. So he thought he could put the detail in place because it's in the commercial zone area. So he thought he would be able to put that. But it's a zoning said, no, you have to come back to the zoning to change it for that specific detail in place. And that's what he's looking for, because he can't do it if you guys don't approve it. That's just hardship. He's asking permission to do that there because it wasn't recorded at the city. So he wants to do it so he could be certified that that's what he does there in the city.

David, do we have a picture of that property? Can you put it on the screen? It's not working.

Right. Yeah, I went.

I saw it too. So there's room in front of the front door to park. Looks like two or three cars. Are you familiar with the property?

But he's not using it to park. Cars are going in and no parking in the front.

How many cars can go in there at one time to work? How many cars can go in that building at one time?

Six cars.

Oh, so it's deep.

Yeah, it's in. So everything will be inside. These are his responsibilities, the cars, so he don't want to park them outside. It happens. So as soon as he finishes them, the customer will come and pick them up.

I'm going to have three parking lots outside. What are you saying there?

Yes, in this picture, there's several cars. Half of them are in the front yard and half of the car is on the sidewalk.

Cars there during the week being parked out in front.

Everything's going to be inside.

Everything's going to be inside.

Big enough to, he doesn't even need, it's just going to be, it's a driveway, so he'd be in and out, but no cars. He has parking there, but he's not going to use it as parking because he don't want to be responsible. It's a neighborhood that they break in, break windows, so he don't want to be, so everything's going to be inside.

No, no, no overnight.

For this, or is there anybody against, opposed? Okay.

Hi, my name is Saibel Torres. I am actually a resident of Roosevelt Street. I live directly across the street from the establishment. And I have been in the neighborhood for 30 plus years. So I have seen businesses come and go. And our neighborhood, I recently discovered, is not zoned for any type of mechanical or any type of automotive business to be run through that establishment, which I am sure that you are aware. Now, our street is already congested. I consistently come home and have to wait for someone to move their vehicle so I can park in my driveway. We are already congested because of the store as well as there's a little ice cream establishment that just popped up on the corner that is causing a lot of traffic. Now, in the past, every establishment that has moved across the street has always made promises not to bring their vehicles and park them on the resident street. But as they conduct business, as things become a little bit more popular or something, they always park. directly across the street, they park in front of our home, they park in front of our neighbors. I have already spoken to all of the neighbors in the neighborhood and I believe you have on file all of the emails that were sent opposing This there should have been two other neighbors they live they work out of New York, so they could not be here in time for this hearing. But I just wanted to say that I was opposed and i'm opposed out of experience from this neighborhood that we just don't have the flow. as it is, like it's adding insult to injury by adding another establishment that's gonna add more traffic. Everyone says they're gonna keep it indoors, but the reality is is that once they have all the vehicles inside, they have to move cars around. What will happen is that they will move out into the street. And I did call the establishment, They already have a car wash that I already am affected by their traffic on Huntington, where it turns into Knowlton. Every time I turn that corner, there's traffic because of that car wash. So it's already alarming to know that the same establishment that's already causing traffic within our neighborhood is opening a secondary business that's only gonna cause more traffic. It's just horrendous already to add another business there. And I'm not against anyone establishing a business and establishing their livelihood. I am an entrepreneur myself, I am for it, but that's not what the neighborhood was zoned for so I just want to make sure that you are well aware that all of I Did speak to most of my neighbors and they are pretty much all against I can't speak for them They told me that they sent emails There at the moment At the moment, no, which has been God sent because at least, so the establishment that was there before, they were installing stereos and so they played loud music all day. They were there till all hours of the night and they pretty much used our entire street like a parking lot. Even though they denied that that wasn't the case, what they did was they removed the license plates off of the vehicles and then parked them on the street. So that's the history that our neighborhood has already endured for all this time. So you can imagine when we saw, like we were excited to see that something would open up there, but we were not excited to see something that would take away parking and cause more traffic. Like I do wish the business well, I just wish them well in another place that would be better suited for them to work out of. I own the house 56 and 54 Roosevelt Street.

Do you have those emails? I didn't see them.

I don't have those.

Are they in the packet? Okay. Are they in the packet?

These are what you just brought.

Also, the tenant who resides in 54 Roosevelt Street, who happens to be my mother, who is handicapped, is also here. And she has had issues where she's had to park around the street just to get into her house. And we have a very long driveway. We can fit four vehicles in our driveway, and we can't get into our driveway because of already the businesses that are already established there.

But not from this business?

Not from this place, no. Obviously, because they're not there. But every establishment there before, we've always had an issue. And now it's a little lighter, but it's still congested. Like to say that because they've been empty, we're not dealing with a problem. We're still dealing with a problem ongoing because of the store next door and the little ice cream shop. So... Thank you.

You're welcome.

Hello, my name is Saida Corby. I live at 54 Roseboro Street, and the problem is The business that they have there, sometimes I have to park across the street, going up on William or the other side of the street because we didn't have parking in front of my house and I couldn't go inside my driveway because they park that they leave just a little tiny space to go in. And with the problem that I have in my hip, to be walking is terrible. So that's why I'm against that because before it was terrible the way that the business that they have there was terrible, terrible, terrible. And everybody complained but I think nobody said anything until my daughter said no, this cannot continue like this. So I'm not against of business that they don't have that much traffic, but when they have that much traffic, one car coming, one car going, if they don't have space, they have to park on the other street. Sometimes we have company and they don't have a place to park because we was not parking in our street, so they have to walk about one block to come to visit us. And now this is terrible. That's the only thing unopposed because I have my problem on my leg. I'm sorry, but I'm against that. Okay.

How you doing? My name is Jose Torres, also a resident of Reservoir Street. You know, it's gonna be the same. I'm gonna talk about the same stuff. There's already rules in place to protect the quality of a residential neighborhood there, right? There's already rules there, right? To protect the quality of a residential neighborhood. Well, during, The same period that these regulations are in, we've already gone through two auto mechanic places in this same spot. And I'm sure you guys are familiar with the guy that died right in front of that garage door because one of the cars crushed him. That happened, I don't know, eight months ago? I don't know if you guys are familiar with that, but that's a side product. It's not like we're trying to come against businesses. It's not like we're like, oh, you know, we're against businesses. The problem is businesses have come, you know, and they've made promises. And it's business, you can't control customers, you can't control, so you can say, we come in with the biggest heart, we come in with the best, we wanna keep the quality of this neighborhood perfect. And I'm sure that's where his heart is. I'm sure he sincerely believes what he's saying. The problem is it's a business. You know, you have customers coming in. You have you can't control customers. You know, I mean, you can you can try. But no one has has been able to do it since the the the water company owned it many moons ago and it was just storage. All right. They were fine. You know, you get one car in there, load up and leave. All right. Since then. We've had nothing but problems. We had people that, I mean, my wife, she works from home. She's on the phone. And I can't tell you how many times we'd had to go across the street and tell them to lower their music. Because it's, you know, it's just not professional music. And, you know, given. It's a free country, but, you know, that's what we're fighting for. We're fighting for the quality of life in our residential area. So he gets to shut down, close the door, and he gets to go to his neighborhood. He gets to go home. You know? It's not like I'm chopping wood in the back of his house. I'm sure he wouldn't like that. It's not like I'm parking cars on his driveway. He wouldn't like that, you know? And he's successful. That's fantastic. He's got a great business. He's making money. I'm all for that. I'm all for that. The problem is he doesn't have to feel the repercussions of when things don't go right. He's a businessman. He's looking at that bottom line. So you know, the cares of the neighborhood, the quality of the neighborhood, they just get pulled to the side. There's already laws on the books to prevent this. You guys already have laws to prevent this. This is a residential neighborhood. There's already books. He's asking to change laws that already didn't work twice before. Somebody died right there in the front, right there where the garage door was. Somebody had to die there. And there was some other stuff that was going on, some legal stuff. The cops raided the last people that were in there. They literally bull guarded the whole place, ran in there with guns and everything. This was supposed to be a business. This was supposed to be a good... We're not against business. We live right next to the corner store. We understand a little bit of inconvenience. We understand a little bit of inconvenience. We're talking about a quality of life thing. They own businesses. They get to go home. They get to live peacefully in their own house, but they want to... So we're asking that these laws that... have failed us in the past. I mean, I'm not saying you guys failed us. I'm saying, you know, something fell behind. I don't even think those businesses were actually legal. But if those businesses did this process, they probably wouldn't have been there. And that guy that died in the front probably still be alive today because that was an illegal business anyway, right? It just makes a little bit of sense. If they would have went through these channels, so now we're going through these property channels and we're trying to say that in our neighborhood, It just doesn't, there's not enough surface area in the front of that business to retain as many cars as gonna be there. It's a car detailing place. I mean, and same thing with the mechanics, you know, oh, you know, people aren't dropping their cars off. It's, you know, it's by appointment, but things happen. And it is what it is. It is what it is. You know, you can't have a perfect life in a business. You know, you're going to have your good days. You're going to have your bad days. All right. We're talking about what we're fighting right now is for quality of a neighborhood. You know, when you get home and people are blocking your driveway and, you know, and everyone says, and this, if I had a nickel for every time somebody said, two minutes, two minutes. Two minutes. So I got to wait in the middle of the street for two minutes causing traffic myself because I can't get into my own driveway? This is a neighborhood. This is supposed to be a peaceful place. This is where families live. You know what I mean? Kids ride their bike up and down. Unfortunately, we just don't need the extra traffic. And I would love to see a way where he can have a business there and be successful. But up the street where he has his business, he has like a quarter acre of land, and there's still traffic on that street. That's congested, and now you're promising me that, oh, well, if a car, we can move it up the street. And what you gonna do, cause more traffic up the street? You already have traffic up that street. I can't sit here and talk about that neighborhood. I'm sitting here and pleading with you about our neighborhood. There's already laws in the books. I'm just asking you to uphold the laws in the books. to try and keep the small liver of peace that we have in that neighborhood. I mean, that neighborhood has changed. You heard my wife. She's been there for 30-some-odd years. It went from what it was, you know, over the years. I mean, whoever's been in Bridgeport this long, they know the changes that Bridgeport's been in, you know? There's already laws in the books, you know? There are businesses that are more appropriate for the spot, is what I'm saying. I'm not for, you know, I'm a capitalist. I believe in a capitalist system. But if it's gonna cause undue uncomfort, you know, in the neighborhood, then we're kind of saying, you're kind of sending the message that, well, no, you know, capitalism is more important than, you know, all we want is our, you know, our tree and the vine, right? Everybody just wants their peace. Everyone just wants to go home. I don't want to go to any of your house and inconvenience you, park in front of your driveway. We're just asking that there's already laws in the books. This is a residential neighborhood. Just consider that. That's all we're asking.

Let's see if we have this one, Jake.

Good evening. My name is Maria Ines Valle. I am Councilwoman for the 137th District, and if I am correct, Roosevelt divides to one district and the other one. They are my constituents, and I am here to ask, to plead with you to please reject this act. proposal that is before you. I'm very aware of that little section of Roosevelt School, Roosevelt School, I was gonna say, Roosevelt Street. It is small, right? But again, they have beautiful homes that they've worked hard to maintain and to even purchase way back then, and it does disrupt their quality of life. You wanna come home? After a hard day of work, you want to come home, sit down, make dinner and sit, but yet you have to deal with what's going on outdoors. So again, I hope that you guys have had an opportunity to drive by there and see what happens. is happening again i'm not against a business i am against the fact that sometimes we come with certain uh ideas and then they forget about the people that have been living there for more than 20 years and disrupt their lives and again it is a very very small street very congested and i think that the residents in that area, as a matter of fact, I looked up, there's 16 different, I guess, homes and businesses, or not so much businesses, but residents, and I'm wondering how many of them received that letter that said this is what we're going to be planning for this section. And again, some of them are coming from work later on, so that's why some of them are not here. But again, Please consider giving an opportunity to the residents there that we stop putting businesses where they do not belong. Thank you.

Any rebuttals?

He just wants to say that this is all by appointments. And the owner that is renting the place, he does towing, bus diesel on the street. So if he needs to park the cars, he could park them in the lot, the owner that he rents from. So it's down the street, so he could park the car. It won't be in the street. So that's what the owner, he just told me to tell you that that's what the owner said. So it won't be no problem with the cars. And I understand what they're saying. It is congested there, but his responsibility is to not block that neighborhood. He lives around the corner too. He lives on the other side of the street, but he said to me that just to tell him that he will not have his cars parked in the street. If he have to move them up down the street at the other lot that the owner is letting them park cars there, so that would be his, at least satisfied, the owners or the people that live there. He doesn't want to disturb the neighborhood. He just wants to go in there, do his business, and... He wants to be a good business with the neighborhood. So, and like they said, if they need to park, if they need parking, he has three parking lots there, but he's not going to use it. But if they need, you know, like she said, I come home, there's no parking. He's willing to at least, hey, you can park your car here, you know, just until you find some parking. So he's willing to be a good neighbor. So that's what he said to tell you guys.

Thank you.

good evening honorable board my name is david coddingham the design review coordinator with oped the applicant is seeking the zoning board of appeals approval for the variance of section 13.30.2 to permit the change of an existing non-conform use to another non-conforming use and a certificate of location approval pursuant to section 11.120 to establish a motor vehicle detailing facility within the existing commercial building at 49 roosevelt street The subject property is located within the NX-2 neighborhood mix zone and totals approximately .09 acres. The surrounding area is zoned NX-2 along both sides of Roosevelt Street for approximately two blocks. The NX-2 zone is intended to accommodate neighborhood scale residential development and permits row buildings, small general buildings, double house A, house A building types. The existing workshop building was constructed in 1968. It predates the adoption of the current zoning regulations and exists as a lawful non-conforming structure and use. The proposal represents an adaptive reuse of an existing commercial building. The applicant proposes to repurpose the existing building from contractor storage to a motor vehicle detailing facility pursuant to section 13.30.2 of the zoning regs. A change from one non-conforming use to another requires approval from the ZBA. No additions or exterior building modifications are proposed as part of this application. As such, the proposal maintains the existing building footprint and does not increase the extent of the property's existing nonconforming conditions. This is consistent with section 13.40.3 of the zoning regs, which prohibits alterations or expansions that increase the extent of an existing nonconformity. The applicant is also seeking certificate of location approval for the proposed motor vehicle detailing facility pursuant to section 11.120 of the zoning regs. Review and approval criteria. Per section 11.90.6, in order to approve a variance application, the Zoning Board of Appeals must make the following findings on the record. One, literal enforcement of applicable zoning regulations would result in exceptional difficulty or unusual hardship because of the unique physical conditions of the subject property. The exceptional difficulty or unusual hardship claim results from conditions that are unique to the subject property and not generally applicable to other properties in the neighborhood or zone in which the property is located. The exceptional difficulty or unusual hardship has not been created by the owner or previous owner. The variance to be granted is the least deviation from the applicable regulations that is sufficient to reduce the exceptional difficulty or unusual hardship and that will allow the owner to make reasonable use of the subject property. And the variance granted will not adversely impact the neighborhood, will not impair the appropriate use or development of the adjacent property, will maintain public welfare, and will be consistent with the general intent of the zoning code and the master plan of conservation and development. Per Section 11.120.2.B.2, the Zoning Board of Appeals must review certificates of proposed location approval in accordance with the applicable provisions of Section 14-54 and Section 14-321 of the general statutes. OPED feedback, should the board determine that the application satisfies the applicable review criteria, staff recommends the consideration of the following conditions of approval. Installation of a public sidewalk in accordance with section 7.60 of the zoning regs. Installation of a landscaping strip and street trees in accordance with section 7.70 and 7.80 of the zoning regs. The applicant should consider improvements to the primary facade, including at minimum repainting the front facade and garage doors with colors that are complimentary to the surrounding neighborhood. And lastly, the customer vehicles should be parked and managed entirely onsite, with parking limited to the garage, driveway, and existing apron. Parking on the sidewalk is prohibited pursuant to Section 8.20.3.A. And customer vehicle storage should be managed to prevent overflow parking and address historical parking concerns associated with the site. That is all from me. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. Identify the hardship. I'm not to defend that hardship. That is up to the applicant. but the proposal does represent an adaptive reuse case in this situation. Okay, thank you.

Okay, item number two, 381 Bishop Avenue. Seeking a certificate of location approval pursuant to section 11.120 to establish a motor vehicle upholstery workshop within a former tire storage building in the industrial zone.

So he's the owner of Post Street, but his language is English? Oh, yeah. There's another person that I'm trying to help establish business. Robinson Cruz Pava. So I know it's been a little difficult for him out there because they've been blaming him for a lot of stuff that's been happening over there, that it's not his fault. They thought he was painting cars, he was doing mechanics, but he's strictly upholstery. He's upholstery for cars, seats, sofas, That's his business. He doesn't do nothing else. And he does radios. He install radios. But no body work, no mechanic, just strictly upholstery and radios.

Excuse me? What's his hardship? His hardship?

Okay.

So then what is he coming here for? Just a certificate? He just came for a certificate? Just here for a certificate.

I'm completely off. Completely off.

So he hasn't finished talking. Go ahead.

Yeah, so his hardship is just because he, what is it? We don't need to know that. Oh, he's good?

Yeah.

Okay. He did Councilman Ernie Newton in the district and Anita. Ernie just wants to go look at the place. just to see if what he said he's gonna do, but he's gotta go look at it. But we did speak to Anita and that's the district. I messed up. I should have talked to the NRZ because it was, they were getting complaints. That's what happened. And he, cause he didn't really know that he thought he could just go in there and do his business. So now he just wants to follow the rules and do it right. So that's what he's here for.

So what do you mean?

There's just strictly upholstery. That's what he's doing in there.

Okay.

Okay.

There used to be a motorcycle club in there.

What's on either side? There used to be a motorcycle club.

My name is Edwin Soto and I am in their favors, okay. We know I live on the same street but down at the end of the street of Bishop Avenue and I pass by there every single day. At one time, we saw there was a lot of traffic, a lot of cars parking between the three stores that are there. And then the police came by and, you know, make everybody move out of the area because there were, there's two other spaces that are doing mechanical work. And cars were there, you know, like eight, seven, eight o'clock at night when I come out from my office on East Main Street, go down Bishop. And I used to see all the commercial that was there at that time. Ever since the police went by and started moving cars out of the way, the place has been a lot better. Also, the place used to be used as a tire shop. According to what he's doing, and I know him for a while, he does a beautiful kind of work that is not done in too many places in Bridgeport. and therefore I'm in favor of him getting this place open. I also do his books, you know, and I'm an accountant, and I do businesses in the area, and that's why I'm talking in his favor. Okay?

Okay, thank you.

Anyone oppose?

Councilwoman Anita Martinez, 819 Connecticut Avenue, Bridgeport. Let me just state that I love how people come here and speak for our district. I've been on the East End since 1986 on Edwin Street and now I'm on Connecticut Avenue. Let me just clarify for the record, this was never a tire shop. It was just recently a motorcycle club. It was rented by the president's motorcycle club and they were there for a period of time. Sean Massey, our building director, along with Zoni, along with health, visited this establishment on multiple occasions. And I do have emails from Sean Massey. I believe that Zoni may have some emails as well. And the health inspector went out because This place was wide open after the motorcycle establishment closed, and we were trying to figure out what was going on there. When Sean visited, Sean identified that they were doing body work in the establishment. Sergeant Carey, who is now the assigned appointed designee individual to handle the towing in the area, tagged multiple cars that were parked outside in front of the establishment which after possibly I think two or three weeks ago, Alfredo connected me with the renter who stated that the cars belonged to the tenant next door. After that conversation, I visit the tenant next door who denied that those cars belonged to him. He stated that the cars were being worked on by the tenant of 381 and they were being parked outside of the establishment. Bishop Avenue is a very tight street. very busy. There is absolutely no parking there to build cars on the street to be worked on. There were multiple cars and I could pull all the records and I have some of the emails. I have no problem sending them to you, Madam Chair. From Sergeant Carey, I believe he tagged nine vehicles and they were told the next day. So my concern is not only is that a small space, the mere fact that they disrespected the building department, the zoning department, and the health department after they were shut down, they continued to operate. They did not post the signage until we reported it. Zoni went out, a letter was posted, a letter was sent to the landlord with fines. The landlord didn't care. So here's my concern. My concern is that we have individuals who come into our district that we cleaned up, that we work very hard, quality of life, and they come in to move to build, but they don't keep the area upkeep or clean. It's commercial and it's residential, but it's more residential there than it is commercial, and that's a problem for the constituents. I've stopped by and spoke to a few of them. I don't know if any showed up, but I left letters in their mailbox to come to the zoning hearing and give their input on it. That's my concern. I just wanted to clarify, and more importantly, if the city violates you, respect that. fulfill your due diligence, come before zoning, go before a building, do what you have to do. Not only that, they also made repairs in there that they did not pull permits for. So thank you.

Councilman Ernie Newton, resident of the East End for a long time. I did say to them that we need to take a look at what they're going to do. They said they're going to do upholstery and radios. I need to take a look to see if enough cars can fit over there, which my council partner already told you when the motorcycle club was there, they had motorcycles, they had everything. It's a residential neighborhood. And we want to keep it like that. We're not against businesses, but we want respectful businesses to come in. that respect the neighborhood. So I would ask that, you know, you allow. Are you saying he's doing other than the upholstery? I don't know, but I want to see for myself. Okay. I'm too old now to just take people at their word.

Our director of building identified it as an auto body shop.

Right.

And I don't know if Nick, do you have any email? I'll send it to you, Madam Chair. Okay.

What notice did you post? What kind of notice did you post? So you gave them a violation?

So not a cease and just for them to call? Oh, okay. But they didn't call you?

They did.

So I would ask this committee to table this so we could take, I want to take a look with my own eyes because like I said to you before, I don't trust a lot of folk. They say one thing, you give them something and they do something different. I need to see for myself and how many cars can fit in there to do the upholstery and to do the radios, because you know what happens, they park on the street. We don't need that, okay? So let us take a look at it and see, understand how many cars you're going to be bringing in here. Are you going to be pulling them on the street, you know, working on another car? So we need to see that before I'll say okay to it.

And Madam Chair, they should also come before our NRZ. The East End is very tight with businesses coming into our district and not presenting to the NRZ. We usually have them try to come, as many as possible come and speak to the NRZ and give us the steps and the draft of what it is that you're going to be opening in the district.

Okay. Thank you.

Any rebuttals?

Do you have a rebuttal?

He doesn't mind having it until the councilman could come look at his business to assure him that what he's doing is what he's going to be doing there.

He has no problem.

Okay.

Item number three, Habitat for Humanity of Coastal Fairfield County. 115 Clifford Street, north side of the street. Seeking a variance of section 3.90.60 to permit the construction of a one story single family dwelling in the NX2 zone.

Chair, members of the commission, Chris Russo with Russo and Rizzio, LLC, offices at 10 Sasko Hill Road in Fairfield, here on behalf of the applicant. Chair, I was recently retained by the applicant and came to the hearing tonight and there were a couple council people here who asked and members of the NRZ who asked to speak with my client and discuss. So with that, we'd respectfully request a deferral to the next meeting. Always happy to meet with them and would like that time to speak with them and discuss the application with them. Don't have to hear from me tonight.

Thank you.

And just so you know, too, Chair, because I see it on the agenda, I know it was posted, but we also requested a deferral for Knowlton Street, which is number five. I don't know if I heard that sound, but that was stated, but we requested a deferral on that as well.

883 also known as 887 Connecticut Avenue seeking use variance pursuant to section 3.60.9 to permit the change from a social club to a restaurant on the ground floor of the existing building located in the RX1 zone.

State your name. Do you have your mailing?

Antonio Perez.

Your mailing, the mailing, the certified mailing. Certified mailing, the certified letter you got.

Do you have that? I turned in everything to those in zoning. Yes sir.

Not sure.

Motion. Did you send letters out to the neighbors?

Did you send letters out to the neighbors?

This is Connecticut Avenue.

Okay, so.

Back in May, yeah.

Wow. I'll tell you too, I didn't get nothing from the man.

Like he has over there, you would get those. RECEIPTS.

THE OTHER PART OF THE RECEIPTS.

THE OTHER PART OF THE RECEIPTS. THE OTHER PART OF THE RECEIPTS. THE OTHER PART OF THE RECEIPTS.

Paul's retired.

Paul, Paul. You should have been here.

You said, oh, we don't need to do this because this is the SBA or something like that?

A public hearing has to have that because you have to notify your neighbors.

You have to notify your neighbors. Yeah, the neighbors, I'm known in the, I'm just nervous.

Don't be nervous. We just are letting you know exactly what you need.

There's a sign in front of my door. Everybody knows. Everybody's waiting for me to open. They don't want me to open. It's been closed. It's been closed.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

And so that the NRDC could tell them that any illegal or anything that we see, which I just told them, I'm a few feet away, I'm at 819 Bend Avenue, I will have them shut down. So I understand he needs a certified letter, but he has, he did his due diligence to come to us. And when he first started painting the establishment, Fire Mars Ovega told him to stop. He could feel it. He had to feel it when the zoning did his application process. So he obeyed all the policies of the city. So we stand in support of him because he did follow the law.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Councilman Ernie Newton again.

My name's Jose Perez. Jose Perez?

Antonio Perez.

Okay. I'm nervous, man. I ain't gonna lie to you, man. I don't even know what to say, man. Oh, I always, I cooked, I've been cooking for years. I have a great recipe. I want the whole East End to taste my food. And I know I'll be very proud. I'll be, I'll do good there. I want you to come by too and taste it. Don't take my word for it. I want you to handle it.

So the only thing is the kitchen.

The kitchen's been there since the 70s.

You know, I've never seen it. I've been in there many times.

It's past the special and everything.

Okay.

I'm not adding anything. There was tiles on the floor and paint. That's it. Just to buff it up, make it look brand new. OK.

So what will you be doing to the inside of the building?

Well, there'll be a restaurant. I don't get it. I'm sorry. It's a social club now? It was a social club years ago.

It was. It was the small games club.

So are you going to add tables, chairs, chandeliers?

It's in the blueprints. They made me do blueprints. I did the blueprints. It's seating up to 40 people. Yes, yes, sir.

Me too.

Okay. Can I just say, it was a social club for over 50 years. Yeah. And they had chairs where people come in and socialize. It was the, I think the VFW was the, which one? Small Games Club.

Small Games, yeah.

And it was there, they had parties, they did everything. Now it wants to turn into a restaurant, which makes sense. And it meets the standards of everything that's going on there. And we need another nice restaurant where people can sit down and enjoy a meal. So I'm in favor of it. It's not changing anything other to a restaurant instead of a social club. Am I correct? Yes, sir. So I think that's even better. So they won't be partying like we used to. I mean, used to.

all types of night, 1 and 2 in the morning, so that's good.

Thank you.

Thank you. What's the hardship, sir, that you're asking for variance?

I'm sorry. Yeah, I would have been.

Yeah, I went down.

I went down almost every couple of weeks. Oh, what would I need to do? Talk to Paul plenty of times. I'm going the right way. This is what I need to do. OK, boom.

Yeah, that's what

Appreciate it.

Is there anybody else that is in favor?

Hi, my name is Joel Colon and I'm in favor of the restaurant. I've known Jose Perez for over 40 years and I also lived on Hewitt Street which is three blocks away during my high school years going to Harding. So I've seen from the 90s all the type of stuff that went at that location. He took it over, he painted it, he remodeled it inside. It looks way much better than what it was. And all he's trying to do is just open a restaurant. It's been tough for him the last three, four months coming to the meetings and they got postponed for inspections and stuff like that. And when you're trying to open a business in Bridgeport, you know, real estate is expensive and the rent is high. And he's been paying for over four months without being able to open the place or serve a plate of food. And when you count the money that he's been putting into that place, and when you have to pay electricity bill too without being able to use it, and you have to keep the AC on to make sure stuff inside is good and the glues doesn't come out and stuff like that, that has to be a little bit consideration on it. And it's also tough when you're trying to open a business on a one way street. You know, Stratford Ave goes up, Connecticut Ave comes down. So you don't have the full traffic of a two way street like East Main Street or Main Street or downtown Bridgeport. So he's also taking a chance at that place. and I wish him the best and I'm pretty sure he's gonna do a great job and there's gonna be great food. Like he said, he's gonna have tables and seats there and there's not a lot of restaurants with that type of capacity on Connecticut Ave to serve food. So I'm in favor for him and I hope you guys give him an opportunity and maybe you could come by and enjoy the food yourself. Thank you.

Thank you.

Anyone else in favor? Anyone oppose? Okay, this matter is closed. open.

Thank you, honorable board. My name is David Cottingham with OPED. I just wanted to provide one suggestion for condition of approval and historical imagery that shows that there's trash receptacles that are not properly screened. So in accordance with section 7.130.5, we just ask that their dumpster area be screened from the public right of way. That is all, thank you.

We're closed again. Bridgeport Zoning Board of Appeals is closed.

when they recommend something to be done, what the enforcement is, that the person who's asking for the variance will actually do it. If it's recommended, it's just an example.

Because it's two of them, not just one.

What was it?

so that nobody sits around and waits for anything. Item three and item five are being deferred until next month.

Item 149 Roosevelt Street.

This is the detailing shop. I was confused. He's doing the upholstery?

No, no, no. He's doing it. He has the car wash down at the end of the street.

This is D. Perry's. Oh, yeah.

This is D. Perry's. Yes. Again, yeah, yeah. He has the D. Perry shop. And the water company owned it at one time.

That's the existing site at the moment?

Or that's down the street?

That's the one in question. That's the one he wants to make. 26.

Well, there seems to be considerable opposition to this from the residents. the no matter how much yeah like i said last week applicant um says he's going to do this he's going to do that the past history it's unfortunate the past history's not born that to be uh to come out and to have some uh compassion for the residents um it's hard to have a favorable opinion toward this application. I think that's my first impression of this. Do you guys have other opinion or other thoughts?

Are you saying that a business that looks like it's gonna have a lot of cars there shouldn't be there?

I'm saying that a business that has a site that has a history of a lot of cars there definitely prejudices me toward wanting to continue that. If you look at the number five, the variance granted will not adversely impact the neighborhood. That's the reason for denying the variance. Right. The neighborhood has been impacted.

But we're talking about a new operator. And why are you penalizing him for the actions of the other prior people?

Because we have no way to enforce his protestations, his goodwill, his speaking up.

I'm not disagreeing with you, but I would say it a little differently. A business that's going to bring cars is more likely to cause problems that have historically happened than a business that's not going to bring cars.

Yeah, a storage facility would be, I think, a better use, higher and better use for this piece of property. Also, when you ask for the hardship, they were mute.

Yeah, there's no hardship.

So they didn't, so.

Yeah, the hardship is they have to come here.

Yeah.

So let's vote on this one. I have a motion.

I have a motion that we vote on this. You have to have a motion to deny or accept. Oh, yeah. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

I'm looking at that now. I make a motion that we deny this. Second. And I agree. Any discussion?

But she doesn't have to vote unless it's a tie.

Yeah. No hardship.

So Nick, this one doesn't require hardship.

Is that what I'm understanding?

So they're gonna send me, NRZ is gonna send me information that they're gonna go and see about.

Yeah.

To make sure that he was doing exactly what he said he was doing.

Yeah, but is that how it was going?

So do we have to continue?

Okay.

That's my thought. That's my thought.

Which is the motion you're making? We're going to make a motion that we continue 381. To do what? For what purpose?

Because the NRC is going to go and make sure he's doing it.

Oh, the NRC is going to check.

And I want to see it. The NRC is going to get a letter.

Second.

Aye.

I am, I am, I was just about to say. I move that item number 3 be deferred. Second.

To defer. To defer. To defer. To defer. And to September's meeting?

Yes, to September.

To September's meeting. Okay. Make sure you say to September's meeting.

Okay, number four. I want to just do number five. Number five. Yeah, just defer.

I move that we defer number five, 650-670 Knowlton Street to next time.

OK. Second.

Aye.

Till September. Okay, so number four.

I make a motion.

The conditions.

I make a motion that we approve number 4883 AKA 887 Connecticut Avenue. On the conditions that they take care of the garbage situation.

The dumpster. Dumpster, screen the dumpster. Screen and dumpsters.

Screen and dumpsters.

OK. Previous, yeah. Yeah, so either that has to be screened in or that this could be moved to the side and then if they put a dumpster, the dumpster has to be screened in. Screened in, okay. Yeah, because I believe, if I'm not mistaken, these are most likely for the residential unit. Okay, that's what I'm saying. If they don't, whatever they use has to be screened in.

Even if it's residential.

Okay. All right. Also, David suggested a new sidewalk, landscaping, street trees, reconstructed driveway apron, existing brick paving should be replaced. All of these things need to be included.

Mm-hmm.

I don't think there's many street trees. It wouldn't necessarily be out of the ordinary to leave it out of this, is what I'm trying to say.

But we're not going to see trash in the street.

Aye.

Yeah, we have June.

I make a motion we approve the minutes from June 2026. I make a motion that we adjourn the meeting.

at 7.33.