2023 meeting of the City of Frederick Zoning Board of Appeals.

Before I get started tonight, I'll give a little bit of brief background on the zoning board of appeals, kind of about our procedures and processes tonight.

So it's the responsibility of the zoning board of appeals to authorize on appeal specific cases, variants from the terms of the city's regulations to hear and decide special exemptions to the terms of the zoning regulations.

Members of the board here are all volunteers.

We're all residents of the city.

Board is comprised of uh five voting members tonight.

And we have uh everybody here with us uh this evening.

Um procedure for tonight's cases.

Um I'll call the case by the number.

Um and uh I have a feeling you guys are here for the case tonight.

So usually I say give me a wave, but I have a feeling that that's what you're here for.

Um I'll then ask for the staff report.

Um uh the staff will summarize or read the staff report into the record, and then at the end of the staff report, they'll give a recommendation uh regarding the case.

Um that recommendation is one element that we'll use in our decision making, but it's not the only one.

Um so following the staff report, we're gonna ask if the applicants have any additional information that they'd like to share with us uh to help us with our decision making.

Members of the board might ask you questions related uh to the case and you know any specifics that they might have.

Um under normal circumstances, I would say um after that part, we will ask if anybody would like to give public comment because the public can also give some input, but at least so far, we don't have anybody else with us uh this evening.

Um and then following any public comment, we'll see if uh you all as applicants have any last words uh for us as a member of the board.

Um we'll then close the public testimony uh portion of the meeting and I'll call for a vote from uh uh for uh or I'll call for a motion on the case from the board members.

Um uh we need a simple majority to pass any motion.

So three out of the five um members who are present here tonight um will constitute um uh a um uh majority and pass any particular motion.

Any questions about the procedures?

When um we do uh ask um for you to have testimony, we'll ask your name and your address for the record um just so that it goes um into the official record.

Uh the reason for that is that anybody who is uh aggrieved or disagrees with a decision that uh we make here on the zoning board of appeals, they all have the right to appeal that decision uh to the Maryland Circuit Court.

And so that way the judge has a complete record, and when they're listening back to the tape, it helps them figure out who's speaking at any one time from that perspective.

So we've got a couple of housekeeping matters on the appin on the um uh on the agenda for us to hit um here before we get started.

Um uh number two is general public comment about zoning in the city of Frederick.

So if somebody happens to be here, not about uh one of tonight's cases.

Um uh this is an opportunity for them to give some general comment if they have any input about zoning, but I'm uh uh not seeing anybody here that's not associated with a case.

Uh so then we'll get to item number three, um, approval of the minutes.

Um members of the board, you have before you the GNU 24th, 2022 meeting minutes.

I will uh that should be January 24th, 2023 meeting minutes.

Um, and I'll entertain a motion.

We have a motion to approve.

Do we have a second?

Second.

We have a second.

Uh any further discussion of the motion.

Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Any abstained?

And the meeting minutes from January 24th, 2023 are approved as written.

Item number four on our agenda is swearing in of witnesses.

Um so just like we see on TV, um, we all are gonna um uh anybody who is planning on speaking tonight, we're gonna ask them uh to go ahead and take uh an oath um uh as a witness.

So if anybody who's planning on speaking could please raise your right hand.

Um do you solemnly swear or affirm that the responses given in the statements made in this hearing before the zoning port of appeals will be the whole truth and nothing but the truth, if so, answer I do.

Thank you all.

All right, uh for anyone following at home, that brings us to item number five, which is our continuances.

Um previous cases that might have been continued to this month, but we don't have any of those.

And then item number six is old business.

We don't have any old business uh before us as well.

And that brings us to item number seven.

Uh new business.

Uh we have one case this evening, case CBA 23-103CU, conditional use at 1315 West Patrick Street.

Ms.

Robbins, do you have the staff report?

I do, thank you.

Um I'm not gonna read the whole thing, but I would like to enter the whole staff report into the record.

The applicant is um Jose Domingo Lopez.