Set a Public Hearing to discuss the Motor Vehicle Class I and II license for Cesar Cars Auto Sales Corp d/b/a Melrose Auto Gallery

Transcript (~1 h 22 min @ 20:40)

Speakers identified by voice; unnamed voices are numbered within this recording. Auto-caption text — verify against the video.

▶ 20:32 Bradley Freeman: The time is now eight fifteen, so we are going to move into the public hearing for ID 2026175. At this point, I will seek a motion to open the public hearing.

▶ 20:44 Speaker 3: Make a motion to open the public hearing.

▶ 20:46 Bradley Freeman: Second. Motion made to open the public hearing by Councilor Finocchiaro, seconded by Councilor Karamcheti. Madam Clerk.

▶ 20:52 Speaker 3: Councilor Chen? Yes. Councilor Finocchiaro? Yes. Councilor Jamaleddine? Yes. Councilor Karamcheti? Yes. Councilor Kowal? Yes. Councilor Obremski? Yes. Councilor Park? Yes. Councilor Romanul? Yes. Councilor Vandiver? Yes. President Freeman? Yes. That motion passes.

▶ 21:10 Bradley Freeman: Thank you. So the hearing for ID 2026175 is now open. Just to give folks an idea how this is gonna work, we're gonna invite Mr. Serrano up, to speak to the council first, answer any questions, at which point, Director Talerico will come up and available to answer any questions from the council, followed by public comment. Following the public comment, Mr. Serrano will have an opportunity to come back up and, you know, provide any additional contents, context or clarifying questions for the council, at which point we'll close the public hearing and deliberate as a council. So at this time, I'd like to invite Mr. Serrano to the microphone.

▶ 21:56 Speaker 2: Good evening, and thanks for joining us.

▶ 22:02 Speaker 5: Good evening. My name is John Huxsom. I represent Mr. Serrano regarding his Class 2 license for the Melrose Auto Gallery at 303 Lebanon Street. Mr. Serrano has owned and operated this business at that property for about 13 years. Uh, back in two, 2013, the city issued a certificate of occupancy granting Mr. Serrano permission to operate the auto sales use at that property. Um, Mr. Serrano has cooperated with the building commissioner, concerning the number of vehicles, parked at the property, the configuration of the parking spaces at the property, and, and to minimize the impact on, on the neighbors. We had a very positive meeting with the building commissioner, and, one of the councilors, at which we discussed the property, and we reviewed a revised, site plan at that time, which was developed to address the concerns about the number of vehicles at the property, and, preventing parking on the sidewalk, which has been an issue. Uh, as I think you know, and I think you received in your packets, the building commissioner issued a letter as a result of that meeting, and he, stated, just briefly, "The revised plan limits the number of vehicles to the permitted 13, eliminates ex-excess vehicle storage, and provides clearly defined parking spaces, including customer parking and no parking signs. The plan also includes installing bollards to prevent vehicle storage in restricted areas and installing vehicle barriers. In addition, the layout improves the overall organization and imp- appearance of the site."Uh, the building commissioner's letter also states, "Based on my review, the plan addresses concerns related to the, to vehicle count, site organization, and compliance with the occupancy permit. Once the licensing board approves the conditions associated with this plan, I will issue a new certificate of occupancy reflecting these changes." So there was a very positive result that came out of that meeting. Uh, also, Mr. Serrano is committed s- to strict compliance with the hours of operation of the business, which is Monday through, Saturday between the hours of 9 and 6 PM, and, with no activity at all on Sundays. And Mr. Serrano will also take action to minimize noise from the property, including by keeping the garage door closed while repair work is occurring. We wanna note that Mr. Serrano has established a second location outside of Melrose, which will reduce the traffic at the Melrose location. So we, we feel that we've, we've worked hard to address the issues at the site, and we respectfully request that you renew the Class 2 license of the

▶ 25:43 Bradley Freeman: property. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Do any councilors have any question for, questions for Mr. Serrano or Mr. Huxham?

▶ 25:52 Bradley Freeman: Uh, Councilor Romanul.

▶ 25:56 Devin Romanul: Good evening. Um, thank you so much for the information and the presentation, and, for the supporting materials. And, and I just wanna say, you know, I'm a small business owner myself. Uh, I have a lot of respect for what it takes to run a small business, particularly one in person. Um, and, a- and I appreciate the, the meeting that our, that Mr. Talarico, took with you all and, and the information that came out of that. But, as the person who represents, this particular neighborhood, this is primarily a residential neighborhood, and we wanna welcome any and all commercial operations to, to operate here. Um, and I'm fully in support. I want everything-- We wanna do everything that we can as a community and as a city to help y'all thrive. But I've received a ton of correspondence and testimony from people living in the neighborhood about, you know, the hours of operation in years past, about the number of cars, about where they're parked up and down Appleton and, Lynwood Avenue, about noise, about parking on sidewalks, you know. And I, and I, I know I'm sound like I'm complaining a lot, but I just, I have to say, after receiving kind of a deluge of some of that information, if the past is prologue, if we authorize this today, what... You know, just candidly, I hope you all succeed, but what's gonna change based on that past set of behaviors? Um, and ha- happy to have a conversation about this, but I'm, I'm really genuinely curious.

▶ 27:30 Speaker 5: May, may I respond? Please. Yes. We're very concerned about addressing the neighbors', concerns. Uh, and the, the revised plot plan that we discussed and, and appears to have been approved by the building commissioner addresses those, those very, concerns. Um, that there's, uh-- The configuration for parking will limit the number of, of cars that can be parked on the site, including, having bollards to prevent parking in un- in restricted areas where parking is-- of vehicles will not be allowed. And also, there, there will be barriers along Appleton Street to prevent parking along there because we know that's one of the concerns of the neighbors. So the, the, this revised site plan is, is really specifically, intended to address, those issues.

▶ 28:25 Devin Romanul: Do we feel like, uh... Just, thank you for that answer. But as a quick follow-up, do you feel like the rules in the past applications were markedly different? Um, meaning like, if these were the rules and regs under past applications, and they weren't respected, do we feel like they're different enough this time that they will be?

▶ 28:47 Speaker 5: Well, again, we're, we're committed to, you know, complying with these, and, and we really feel that the, this revised site plan, imposes, you know, a configuration that will really lead to, to addressing those issues.

▶ 29:02 Devin Romanul: Thank you for the answer. I, I just wanna make sure that all, you know, that, we live in harmony, the, the social contract between the city and the business and the neighbors therein, are respected moving forward. So, appreciate the comment.

▶ 29:17 Bradley Freeman: Thank you, Councilor Romanul. We'll go to Councilor Finocchiaro and then Councilor Karamcheti.

▶ 29:20 Cal Finocchiaro: Yep. Thank you for, being here tonight and for, you know, the presentation. Um, what is your timeframe as far as installing the barriers, installing, you know, getting this kind of site plan set? Is it a week? You know.

▶ 29:36 Speaker 5: Um, I know Mr. Serrano has already communicated with his contractor, and so they're already discussing this. Um, my understanding is that the contractor needed to wait until the snow got out of there so he can get on the site. But, but, my understanding is that he, that, he'll get to work on this, quickly.

▶ 29:54 Speaker 1: As soon as possible. Yes.

▶ 29:57 Speaker 5: So he already has the contractor lined up. Okay.

▶ 30:03 Manjula Karamcheti: Oh. Councilor Karamcheti. Yeah. Thank you so much. Really appreciate hearing about the meeting and the plans that have ensued. Um, and just, I think, building off of some of the questions that Councilor Romanul was asking, just, um- Is there an enforcement plan on the side of the owner? Meaning the intention is there, but the execution of that plan to make sure that everything is being followed, that parking isn't an issue, will the owner be relying on the city to enforce? So just it really takes, I think, everybody doing their part in terms of a plan, so I'm just curious that what sort of responsibility the owner will take for the plan.

▶ 30:47 Speaker 5: Well, he's committed to, to complying with this, but my understanding is, is that the, um... And, and Mr. Talarico obviously can speak to this directly, but is that he plans to issue a new certificate of occupancy that would be conditioned upon compliance with this. So, I mean, I, I think that would provide, an enforcement mechanism.

▶ 31:10 Bradley Freeman: Do any other councilors have any questions at this time? Councilor Finocchiaro?

▶ 31:15 Cal Finocchiaro: Sorry. I just wanna come back to my initial question about the timeframe, and maybe Mr. Talarico can talk to me. I don't... But that's sort of a sticking point for me. Um, you know, I wanna ap- approve this on good faith, but I, I feel like I just want a little bit more information, like is this gonna be done in a week or two, a month? Just so the residents have kind of an idea too.

▶ 31:39 Speaker 1: Hopefully within the next, few weeks. Like I said, we were just waiting for the snow to, be clear out and then we'll move forward with the plan. Okay.

▶ 31:49 Speaker 3: Yes.

▶ 31:50 Speaker 2: Thank you. Um, Councilor Jamaleddine.

▶ 31:54 Maya Jamaleddine: Thank you, President. Uh, I'm, I'm going to, add to Councilor Finocchiaro question, and, I think in order for me to, to, approve and, and, this, and support this ordinance, I would like to, have an, a very clear and explicit, timeline, and a promise for the neighborhood and neighbors to let them know that this will be done by that time, and if not, what are the consequences? So, I would like to ask to get an exact date in order for me to comfortably, support that.

▶ 32:45 Speaker 5: So, is it a few weeks, you said?

▶ 32:48 Speaker 1: Yeah. Let's see, hopefully by, by the beginning of, June.

▶ 32:52 Speaker 5: By April 1st. April 1st. Yeah. You can, really you can say that. That's on the 16th.

▶ 32:57 Speaker 1: Yes.

▶ 32:57 Speaker 5: Okay. Um, we'll, we'll commit to April 1st.

▶ 33:05 Maya Jamaleddine: Okay. April 1st. Um, another question, you know, if, not, not to bring the past, but have the neighbors, approached you, in the past and asked you, and to address those concerns, or were these concerns a surprise to you?

▶ 33:27 Speaker 5: What's the question? Um, have, have the neighbors approached you? Have you communicated with the neighbors about these issues in the past? Um,

▶ 33:35 Speaker 1: not that I remember directly. No.

▶ 33:37 Speaker 5: Not directly?

▶ 33:38 Speaker 1: Not directly, no. Every time there's an issue, they've been calling the city instead of approaching me directly.

▶ 33:43 Speaker 5: Okay. Um, there, there has not been direct communication with the neighbors.

▶ 33:53 Speaker 3: By these concerns? Is that what it is?

▶ 33:55 Speaker 5: Mr. Serrano has been made aware of her, of his concerns, but not through direct communication.

▶ 34:06 Maya Jamaleddine: So through staff? Uh, it just seems that there is lack of, um... Like there is a gap or missing, information here. So, was he receiving those concerns from his staff?

▶ 34:23 Speaker 5: how did you learn about the concerns of the neighbors?

▶ 34:25 Speaker 1: From a, from a- The complaints from the, from the city.

▶ 34:27 Speaker 5: In, from... And so it's representatives of the city informed. The city. Um, representatives of the city informed Mr. Serrano about the neighbor's concerns.

▶ 34:38 Maya Jamaleddine: Okay. And, and, and do you mind to let us know when, what were you informed by that,

▶ 34:45 Speaker 6: by the concerns?

▶ 34:50 Speaker 1: We had a couple of, maybe a couple of visits through the years from, from, city representatives, uh- ... to check that this took place. So.

▶ 34:58 Speaker 5: Um, in past years there have been some, site visits, visits to the site by city representatives and, and they've spoken with Mr. Serrano.

▶ 35:08 Maya Jamaleddine: So it's been a year. So he, he's been aware of these concerns for about a year?

▶ 35:14 Speaker 5: I believe over the years, you said? Yeah. Several years?

▶ 35:17 Speaker 1: Yeah, two over the years. Couple of times over the years

▶ 35:21 Speaker 5: it's been about. A couple of times at least over the years.

▶ 35:24 Speaker 3: Okay. Okay, thank you.

▶ 35:28 Speaker 2: Any other councilors have questions at this time?

▶ 35:31 Bradley Freeman: Seeing none. Thank you, gentlemen. Um, we'll move on to Mr. Talarico on the public comment, and then you'll be able to come back up to, to address anything else you'd like to.

▶ 35:38 Speaker 5: Thank you.

▶ 35:39 Speaker 2: Thank you very much.

▶ 35:49 Speaker 1: Good evening, everyone. Good evening. Good evening. Um, so I can answer any questions you may have. Um...

▶ 35:57 Speaker 2: Councilor Finocchiaro.

▶ 35:58 Cal Finocchiaro: Yeah. Thanks for being here tonight. Um, so as far as like the oversight of implementing like re- well, like as mentioned before, the barriers and other work that he's gonna do on the site plan, is that something that your office will follow up with? Or how do we, how does that work?

▶ 36:13 Speaker 1: Um, as far as enforcement or- Mm-hmm ... so I just want, I w- Kinda wanna take it back a little bit- Mm-hmm ... because there's been a lot of, not enforcement, but a, a lot of inspections by my predecessor, and complaints kinda going on throughout the years. Um, so our initial, idea of contacting Mr. Serrano was just to kinda mitigate those issues moving forward. I know that there was some, some people, complaining, not to my office, but to other, city officials, and, kinda communicated those back to me. So we felt that we needed to have a meeting with Mr. Serrano just to go through those items. I really don't want to, you know, look back. I'm, I'm trying to move this thing forward. Um, I think that enforcement w- we're definitely gon- you know, we, our department is more, um... you know, w- we generate, enforcement orders through someone calling us. We don't just typically go by the property and just inspect it on our own. So we do, we do need complaints to come in to kinda investigate those. Um, so we will do, we will inspect the property off and on if, if there is any violations to, any of the conditions that are set forth, through the licensing board or through, the council. Um, you know, I, I don't wanna focus on that ba- back right now. Um, I know that there has been issues in the past. I think in good faith, the owner and his attorney and, city councilor, I'm sorry, Elizabeth Uh-huh. Um, we did have a, a pretty productive meeting, and, some of the things that initially, that Mr. Serrano submitted were not, were not conducive to, to, the neighborhood. So we did get together and we fine-tuned that, and I think this is a pretty good plan for what was there before. Uh, I mean, looking at it from... even if you go on Google Maps, there's a lot of cars there. Um, I think this plan works. I think it's, it's doable. Uh, I think it limits the amount of cars that can go in there just because of the way that the, the barriers are set up, and the bollards are there so you can't slide vehicles and all these other things into these areas where, they would kinda store things. Um, I think it's a pretty good plan. It's, it's... honestly, we, we put a lot of time into this, and I feel like it's, it, it'll work. Um,

▶ 39:08 Speaker 1: there was some suggestions maybe because one of the things that Mr. Serrano can't control, and I, I wanna highlight that, is, is registered vehicles or customers coming in. He has no control of that. Um, and I just want, if complaints do come in, that there's too many cars on that site, I mean, we have to be reasonable with that. Uh, if people are going there to visit the site and there isn't enough parking, that's, that's the issue that we kinda run into, but if they're registered vehicles, there's really nothing that my department can do or the police department can do. Any registered vehicles are allowed to park in, in, in, in, on streets. Um, so we did discuss that a little bit. We did provide some additional customer parking in there to kind, to accommodate that. Um, but other than that, the only thing I can say is in good faith we're allow- you know, w- we had this discussion. I think that we have to give Mr. Serrano a chance to kinda go through this. If he doesn't, my office will be there. We'll, we'll document it, we'll ticket it, and we'll bring it back to the council, for, for their review.

▶ 40:22 Speaker 3: Okay, great.

▶ 40:22 Speaker 1: I hope I answered everything.

▶ 40:23 Cal Finocchiaro: Yeah. I mean, clearly I think we all wanna move forward, and we want Mr. Serrano to continue with his, his business, but, you know, it's gotten to the point where, you know, he's up to get his license, and it's, now we're doing a public hearing because it's been so many issues. So I just, you know, for the residents, for everybody, just wanna make sure that it's gonna get done, and we're gonna move forward, and if there's some oversight, I think that's great.

▶ 40:45 Speaker 1: It's just a tough situation because you have a commercial property in the middle of- ... residential. Mm-hmm. And there's nothing... I mean, granted there's been some violations on the property, but it's really tough to keep something like this without having some sort of, quality of life issues. Mm-hmm. Um, so I, I, I, you know, we tried our best and, to come up with, some good ideas. I, I think some of the ideas will, will beautify that area a little bit by le- you know, like putting in some, some... I, I think some of the suggestions I made, I can't require them, but maybe putting some planters out in some areas so people can't park on top of the curb. Um, but, you know, that's up to the owner to do that.

▶ 41:32 Speaker 3: Thank you.

▶ 41:35 Speaker 2: Council Park. Thank you. Uh, Mr. Tallarico, question about... I, I know that you haven't been here for the full context of when these complaints started coming in, but can you give me an idea or sense of what specifically the complaints are? Is it violation of too many cars that are obstructing the sidewalks, or is it the noise complaint where it c- maintenance and work is being done beyond business hours and on Sundays?

▶ 42:04 Speaker 1: So the complaints that I received, and again, they weren't directly, sent to my office, but what I've, I've heard were... And some of them are, are pretty, you know, easy to spot. Uh, you just go to, you know, drive by there on a Saturday sometimes, and this is prior to us, um-You know, having our meeting with Mrs. Serrano. Um, but there is too many cars on the lot. So there was too many vehicles on the lot. Uh, customers would park on the curb. Um, there was work being done on, Sundays, I believe. And then, then there was some dis- some complaints about maybe, detailing shops or something having to do with details being inside the garage. I never saw them. Um, you know, those, those violations can be, called into the police department. They have the same enforcement, mechanism, citations that I do. Um, I haven't seen one, but those were the complaints that we were getting. So hopefully this plan addresses those concerns because now, there's a little more delineation in the, in, in the, in the, plan. Um, there's barriers, so you can't have cars just moving around all over the place there. And there is some, some bollards in other areas where you just can't move... Um, you just can't park equipment anymore. So this is definitely gonna be better than what was there before. Um, whether, you know, it improves the customer base that goes in there and where they park, I... That's, you know, I, I don't know. They, they can park anywhere they want.

▶ 43:50 Speaker 2: So, so the plan that you've outlined has a- has addressed the, has addressed the potential parking and the obstruction of the sidewalks, but not necessarily the work that's done outside business hours. Is that correct?

▶ 44:05 Speaker 1: We... I did, prior, from me getting involved in this, there was no work hours or hours of operations anywhere, and Mrs... I had Mrs. Serrano put the work hours right on the window now. So people, it's visible. If someone walks by and someone's working on a Sunday, and it states that it is no work on a Sunday, anybody can pick up the phone and complain and, and kind of document that, that, violation. Okay. Very good. Councillor Shen.

▶ 44:39 Speaker 2: Thanks. So

▶ 44:41 Jason Chen: it's clear it's gotten contentious with the neighborhood, and it's clear that many chances were given, or at least chances to resolve this. Let's say we're here three months from now, and we get-- we start seeing the same complaints again, noise on a Sunday, parking, maybe it's unsightly by some people's judgment. What do you recommend?

▶ 45:07 Speaker 1: Well, I mean, the council can, you know, request another hearing if they want or- More- That's something that m- might be-- you might refer to the city solicitor. Um, but, you know, once we approve this plan and I issue, the occupancy with the conditions that you set, put, on the plan, then if they-- there's a violation there, typically what happens is I'll go down there if there's a violation. I'll visually cite them, write a ticket, put a letter in. Public documents, it could come to you, or we can come back here again, and then you can have another discussion about the license.

▶ 45:48 Jason Chen: Do the fines increase to the point of pulling the license?

▶ 45:52 Speaker 1: No. No, the fines are daily fines. So if the violation happens where there's two cars or three cars or they're working on a Saturday, we would fine them for that day. Once the violation is gone, um... That's how my predecessor was going about these, is daily, fines for... Once those violations are cleared up, there's no more fines.

▶ 46:16 Speaker 2: Thank you. You're welcome. Are there any other questions for Mr. Tallerico?

▶ 46:21 Kimberly Vandiver: Councillor Vandiver. Thank you. I just wanted to appreciate the work that you've done on this and taking the time to really go through all of the circumstances, all the different ways to mitigate them, both the, the owner as well as Mr. Tallerico and Councillor Kowal. I think, it's, it's, it's a lot of work, and, I know there's... I've heard that there's been a lot of frustration around the site. Um, at the same time, you know, I'm looking at the Google Maps, there's like seventeen cars on there. And so I, I also understand the perspective of, you know, if seventeen cars fit, why can't you put seventeen cars fit, you know? And like it... This really is a step back, I think, for the business owner, the, the bollards physically restricting what can go there and, and a commitment to that, the posting of the hours that you're mentioning. Um, I mean, it says in, i- in here that, you know, closing the garage door when doing work. I mean, that's gonna be loud in the garage, right? If that-- if you close the door. So I mean, there... It seems like some... I, I consider some significant steps are being outlined here, and so I, I appreciate the work that was done and, and the concessions that are being made to be a better neighbor. So I just wanted to thank you for that.

▶ 47:28 Speaker 4: You're welcome. Thank you.

▶ 47:30 Bradley Freeman: Thank you, Councillor Vandiver. Uh, seeing no other questions, thank you very much, Mr. Tallerico. All right. At this point, we're gonna open it up for public comment. So if anyone is here from the public, you're welcome to come forward. Please state your name and your address, and we'll, we look forward to hearing your comments.

▶ 47:49 Speaker 7: Go get it, John.

▶ 47:52 Speaker 8: Hi, ladies and gentlemen. My name is John Finley. I'm an old timer. I'm an old timer. I've been living at the same address for forty years. I raised three daughters at that location, and, I served as a liquor commissioner for fifteen years. I gave back. I've started a special needs program, golf program up at Mount Hood. I am what makes Melrose Melrose, okay? Not the money, the spirit, okay? This complaint went in in July. I approached the building, department. I don't know the building commissioner. I knew the former one. Whenever there was a problem with the parking or anything, the complaint often didn't come from me. It came from one of the abutting neighbors. It's my understanding that he has sent a letter into this committee, and my question to you is, where is that letter? Because he spells out, or so I'm told, very specifically what his concerns were. He put up with this for many years as I have put up with the noises coming out of this place, okay? I wanna give you a little history here, okay? The original owner of, of that property bought it. He was a retired, policeman from Reading. He bought it to put his son in there to keep him off the streets, okay? Nice people, nice-- But their idea of being considerate of the other-- of the neighbors in the neighborhood lacked a lot of

▶ 49:33 Speaker 8: spit spot, okay? They had an alarm system in there that would go off at three clock in the morning in the dead of winter, okay? After that happened, it woke up my kids n-numerous times with the neighbors going over there to protect his property for fear that he was gonna get broken into and his thousands of dollars of tools. The neighbors stepped up, and they made sure that he, he was safe. And when we complained to him, his response to us, "Well, my alarm guy told us, 'Let it s--'" Uh, the longest an alarm can be programmed to alarm at three o'clock in the morning is twenty minutes, okay? So we a-as a neighborhood, we had to put up with twenty minutes of an alarm going off, okay? Call the police, they put the call in, noth-nothing ever happened, okay, until the neighborhood got together and they went after him and they told him, "If it continues, you're not gonna like what's gonna happen. Somebody's gonna rip that siren off the wall because that's the only thing you seem to understood." It turned out that we went in... Uh, I went in, I'm an alarm electrician, and I troubleshot it for him. The-- He had paper towels hanging down, and when the heat would come on in the dead of winter, the towels would sway, the motion detector would go off, and I-- my kids would wake up and start crying, okay? There's a lot of history behind here. The previous owner, the retired Reading, policeman, decided to make some more money. He approached the council at that time and wanted-- He bought the house next door on Appleton Street. He wanted to use the driveway in a residential area and put in a milk store at part of the repair station, okay, to make, to make money. Well, we had one of the largest turnouts ever in Melrose. People from the other side of Melrose were coming out to, to complain about it. He ended up selling the property in disgust, to the previous owner that, that's there now, okay? We had a meeting, and they decided that it would go to the lowest denomination of, of what would be allowed with the, with the approval of the, of the neighbors on a, on a commercial basis. And there was-- It was presented a glass repair shop that a lot of people didn't want because they were afraid they'd listen to glass breaking, which was, you know, totally, I think, a little bit off to one side. But everybody agreed to, and it was set up that it would be a used car lot, okay? The, the owner had, another piece of property that was a used car that, that he ran. So we all agreed, and we had ten years of, u-uh, of a, of two guys that were in there doing cars. And they-- It was put in that license that the hours would be from nine till five, that they would be, you know, they were allowed to detail cars in there for their cars, okay? And, also, that after five o'clock at night, the only thing that would be allowed would be, paperwork, quiet paperwork. That was fine. We all agreed to it. The hours were set up nine to five because it was a residential area. The building commissioner came in, and he laid out no more than ten cars. He did it by whatever formula that they have to do it. And he said ten cars. And then when it became a problem with cars parking out on the street and, the noise that was generated, we had some bad apples that were in there selling cars, he would come down and enforce it. And it was through the fines that we got it straightened out, okay? I made it a... I grew up with Mr. Longmeadow, the owner of the property right now, and, and we go back a long way. And I respect him, and I respect... But I got tired of, of calling him up and complaining about some of the stuff that was going on over

▶ 53:57 Speaker 8: there. When, when, Chris, I don't remember his last name, when, when Chris came into the picture, we had an occasion where the doors were open, and he had a-another entity, as far as I know, come in there. And they were detailing cars supposedly for his car lot, which was not exactly the truth. They were, they were taking cars in, and they were flipping them, and they were doing it, and they were going all over the place. He had a, he had a compressor in there, a gasoline compressor thatFor eight hours a day, we had to listen to it. It was a, one used for a high pressure wash that they were using, okay? Very noisy. That building, i-if you think of the sh- the hat shell, that building just reflects all the noise coming across. It goes all the way over. Two blocks over, you can hear whatever was going on over there, okay? Getting tired of dealing with Mr. Longmire because he didn't really wanna hear it. I approached Chris. He very nice. We had a nice understanding, and he took care of the problem. They got an electric one that doesn't make any noise, okay? He got what he needed, and I didn't have to listen to it anymore. What we have here now, is a repair shop, a, a repair shop in there, in this, in the part that he doesn't use, okay? That is the noise, the hours, they're parking cars over on Linwood Avenue, upsetting another neighbor. I don't know whether he sent the letter in or not. But all in all, it went against what we all agreed to. It was not supposed to be a repair shop. It wasn't zoned for a repair shop. And I'm hearing now that, well, it's in part for, for doing cars, okay? I see nothing but licensed vehicles going in and out of there. I see commercial trucks with their engines being pulled out underneath the kitchen window of another neighbor at all hours of the day and night. And I'm seeing, the noise level just, just back to where we had the problem at first, okay? Now,

▶ 56:29 Speaker 8: bear with me for a second here.

▶ 56:49 Speaker 8: Okay. Oh, wait a minute. I got it. Technology. I'm not good with technology.

▶ 56:56 Speaker 8: That's what I heard tonight at six thirty at night while I'm sitting down for my supper. Can you hear it? Can you see it? The door is open. There's something wrong with the engine. Okay. We're being bombarded with this all the time now, okay? Uh, that's what I had to listen to for over half an hour from, from about six fifteen to quarter to seven, okay? So the hours don't mean anything here. The hours were set up previously for that location and for that, for that industry that was in there, nine to five, i-i-in reflecting the problems that the neighborhood had before.

▶ 57:35 Bradley Freeman: W- was that-- You said you mentioned- Can't hear. Chris. Chris. Chris LeBlanc. Sorry. We're gonna let him finish.

▶ 57:40 Speaker 8: Mm-hmm. Yeah. I approached the, the building department with the complaint originally back in July and August, okay? I got, I won't say pushback, but I, I could see a little panic here that, "Oh, you got-- this has all gotta be writing, and we gotta do this above board." My, ward alderman happened to come by one day, and he asked me how things were going, and I told him. He insisted that he wanted to deal with the building inspector, and I said, "Fine," you know. A-and he gave me all the reasons why he should be talking. I gave him all the information that he needed, okay? He came by, and he saw what was going on here, okay? And he assured me that he would, he would handle my problem with the city, okay? I... That's no... And after three months of not hearing anything, I found out that we're gonna wait until the, the, uh... They postponed it until this meeting tonight, okay? Uh, I gave him some paperwork that blew across the street that I picked up that has a location and the name of another location of, of these people that, that... And they're using this address under a different business address. And the other location is in Duxbury. I don't know what happened to the paperwork. I think the alderman might have it. Uh,

▶ 59:11 Speaker 8: Mr. Devin experienced, and he went by, and he documented all the noise that was going on, the parking, the, the cars, the extra cars parked over on Linwood Avenue. Uh, he was aware of the noise that was going on, the constant revving of engines going on over there. The car issue, which seems to be the issue that was addressed and, and, and the noise issue is kinda like gone off into the, the atmosphere. Uh, it is, it's just one part of the problem. The part that I have a problem with is the noise that's generated out of there with no consideration for the, the rest of the neighborhood, okay? Up to this point, I've had a nice relationship with the, with the, with the used car lot. And even to the point where he requested to have a meeting with me, and I went over and I talked to him. I said, "I'm getting tired of talking about this because I'm not, I'm not being paid to come in here and enforce what you're supposed to be doing," okay? Uh, and he said, well, he considers repairing cars as part of what is allowed, under his, his license, which we all agreed and was voted on, the hours and all that. And, and that's, that's not what we agreed to. Uh-The

▶ 1:00:36 Speaker 8: vehicles. I don't have any problems at all with, with the, the plan that's come up with the parking and all that, but the noise issue has been kinda like pushed aside somewhere. And, and that is the problem, and that is foremost, and I don't wanna see this revert back by sleight of hand into being a repair shop because it's my inte- it, it, it's my impression that Mr. Chris has, has outgrown that, that particular area. And I'm not sure how the license really works 'cause I never get a straight answer. I don't know whether the owner of the property owns the license and he's, he's a subtenant. Uh, so I, I... If I suspect, a lot of things, but I, I don't wanna go out on a limb. My problem is the noise. It's not addressed, it's not... In, in this whole-- all these meetings that we had, I don't hear anything about the noise. Okay? So thank you, ladies and gentlemen. I'm sorry I had to vent, but I'm, I'm old school.

▶ 1:01:47 Bradley Freeman: Thank you very much, sir. Do we have anyone else from the public who wishes to add comments tonight? Please.

▶ 1:01:59 Bradley Freeman: Hi. My name is Elaine Coles. Just come up, come up to the microphone, please. I'm sorry. Thank you.

▶ 1:02:03 Speaker 5: And you all have to speak up 'cause I have a bad cold. Okay. I'm here because I think there's a very important issue that Mr. Finley just raised about the noise. I moved in in September, the first week in September, after a major operation. I was in a lot of pain, and I was on painkillers, and I was very uncomfortable. I had a knee replacement. I'm gonna live. Everything's fine. Uh, but I thought I was-- I live at three hundred, and it's right across the street from what I thought was a used car place. And the 2nd of September on, through all the warm weather months, not nine o'clock in the morning, but more like seven fifteen, seven thirty, bang, bang, bang. Took me a while to figure out what it was I was hearing. Couldn't sleep. That was the end of that. And the noise, I'm not kidding, the noise really travels at least a block behind me, okay? The noise is the biggest issue. The other thing is, I find it hard to believe that they're gonna be model neighbors after this because I haven't seen that happen yet. I have no problem with the parking. I, I get off the street, so it's not a problem to me. I grew up in Malden. I lived there and owned a house for forty-five years. I moved up here in September, as I say, because of my knee, and I'm looking to buy the house, but I'm a little worried about it because of the noise. The other thing is, the reason I don't think they're good neighbors is after this last snowstorm, uh... And again, maybe this is picky, but still, it was my understanding that you don't throw snow in the street because that's a major highway out there on Lebanon Street, where all the police, fire, and emergency equipment have to go by. And what I observed, and I have pictures on my phone, I couldn't believe it, was one of the people that works there, and I'm not sure if it's the gentleman behind me or not, but he got in the black truck that's there and used the snow plow and cleared the lot, which is fine, and then he came out onto Lebanon Street, and he moved... The street was bare. This is the day after the city had done a good job plowing. The street was bare on Lebanon Street, and the salt was down. And he went out and plowed and left it in the middle of the street, directly opposite my driveway, the guy beside me, and the people across the street. And then I thought, "Well, give him a break. Maybe he's gonna go back in and back out and then push it to one side." No, he did not. He went back in the lot, and he cleared again, and he cleared a little more, and then he came out on Appleton Street, which is that side street, came back onto Lebanon Street, went the opposite direction towards the hospital, dumped another load in the middle of the street. A full load, okay? Then he went back, and he did a little more cleaning in the, in the lot, got that all nice and shipshape, came back out on the street and decided to clear the, the, the, the entrance into their place, on Appleton Street, went up the road, went around the corner, and I don't know what happened. I got pictures on my phone, but I couldn't see up the street. But I assume the same thing happened, okay? Now, maybe that's not a big deal to a lot of things, but that street is used for safety for all the fire and, and the, and all the traffic and all the thousands of ambulances that go by every day. I'm used to that kinda noise. I lived in Malden on a street that was, shared by two cities, a border street, and both their facilities went up and down the street all day. That noise doesn't bother me, okay? But all I'm saying is the noise is definitely a factor. It's intolerable. And I doubt very much because they haven't done it yet that they're gonna stick to the hours that they say they're gonna stick to. Uh, and I, and I think it's kind of unreasonable to expect someone to keep the doors closed on a hot summer day, but I have to live with the noise. And, and I, and I don't think that's fair, and I don't think it's fair to the other neighbors either. And as I said, I don't think-- Maybe because they don't live here- I'm a blue collar worker, and I'm all for, for people working. That's fine. But they don't live here, and they don't have to put up with the aftermath of what they left. So that's all I have to say. Thank you. Thank you very much. Anybody got questions for me?

▶ 1:07:00 Speaker 2: I think we'll save the questions for when Mr. Serrano comes back up. Oh, okay. Thank you very much.

▶ 1:07:05 Speaker 5: Brad.

▶ 1:07:06 Bradley Freeman: Okay. All right. Thank you. I'm sorry, ma'am, we didn't catch your name. Could you just say your name again for the record? I'm sorry. Your name. Could you just repeat your name? Elaine DeCola. Thank you very much. Thank you. Do we have anyone else here for public comment? Yes, sir.

▶ 1:07:23 Speaker 9: Yeah, how you doing? Uh, David Griffin.

▶ 1:07:24 Speaker 8: I live at, Lynnewood Ave.

▶ 1:07:28 Speaker 9: And, I mean, I've... Trying to, trying to get by Lebanon Street when they're doing stuff over there is crazy. The traffic around there is absolutely crazy. I mean, adding any type of additional traffic to that area, I, I think is just, is, is something else. Um, and like Mr. Finley said, I mean, I've lived on Lynnewood Ave since, you know, since the '70s. I think I got him a little bit. But the traffic is, it's just... Me, me pulling out my driveway, it's taking my life in my hands, never mind pulling onto Lebanon Street from Park Street. It's a very busy street. Now you're gonna be adding trucks or whatever, tow trucks or ramp trucks, whatever, stopping in front of that gas station. Uh, the other thing I'm concerned about is the gas station, that's also owned by Mr. Lamia, which is directly behind me, where if we set a precedent here to give this gentleman here who's have, has a terrible track record, I've stopped in there a few times to complain and, and I can't speak what they're speaking, but I don't think they're saying anything nice about me. But I don't, I don't get any help when I go in there and stop. But if we end up doing this with this gas station here at this location, then the location behind me, I'm gonna be having the same problem with Mr. Mr. Finley with the noise. So my, my main concern is the traffic. I mean, Lebanon Street is, it's, it's, it's crazy as it is. They use Lynnewood Ave now as a bypass. I'm hoping at some point we might be able to make it a one way, but you, you can't even get down the street, there's cars parked on both sides of the street, so I... We get cars from that lot all the time dumped on Lynnewood Ave. You, you just don't know who's, who's doing what with cars. They're just sitting there. They sit in front of the cemetery. They sit on Park Street. They sit, you know, I mean, the- the- the name is the Finleys, and I've got construction going, you know, across the street from me that's going on as well. So, like I said, the noise, to be honest with you, I really don't hear too much of the noise. I have heard it, but I guess maybe just used to it. But I'm concerned that if this comes, is allowed, that the gas station behind me, which right now Steven just uses to store his vehicles, that will turn into what this gentleman here is getting. And now we have two gas stations and two garages and two auto repair places within, you know, maybe 100 yards of each other i- in a very, a very congested area. So that's, that's all I got. Thank you.

▶ 1:09:33 Bradley Freeman: Thank you very much. Seeing no one else here for public comment, is there anyone on- online for public comment? No one online. No one online. At this point, Mr. Serrano and Mr. Huxman, you're welcome to come back forward if you'd like to clarify anything, and allow the councilors to ask additional questions.

▶ 1:09:56 Speaker 5: We very much respect the concerns that the neighbors have raised. Um, again, as we've said, we're committed to, to, to lessening the impact however we can, especially on the noise and keeping that, the, garage door closed when repairs are being made. Mr. Serrano has mentioned to me, not the first time tonight, that he plans to put in, air conditioning in there, so he's able, really able to keep the, the, the door closed when people are working in there. In terms of, of vehicle, registered vehicles being repaired, that's repair of vehicles under warranty, which, which a Class II licensee is required by law to, to be able, have the capacity to do. So we're, we're committed to the hours of operation and limiting, the noise that emanates from the property.

▶ 1:10:46 Speaker 2: Thank you. Do any councilors have any questions? Councilor Covelle.

▶ 1:10:49 Elizabeth Kowal: Um, I have a, a couple of questions. One is, how often are you on the property? Um, you now have a second location, so, you're hearing all of this tonight. You're hearing all the concerns. You're hearing all of our questions. Um, but are you on that property? Are you gonna be at the other property? How are you, how do you intend to supervise- The, there- ... and make sure that this is all happening?

▶ 1:11:10 Speaker 1: Yeah, there are other, employees at the second location already as we speak. So I'm, I'm personally at the, that location every day, Monday through Saturday. Okay.

▶ 1:11:20 Elizabeth Kowal: So... Um, and I guess my other question is sort of we heard tonight that there was noise after 6:00. Um, you know, I was in that meeting with you. You know what the hours are. So I don't, I, I actually would like that addressed because it's really hard to sit here, quite frankly, and hear you say all these things, which I think I'm gonna assume positive intent, and then we have someone come in with a recording from tonight where you're, it's clearly in violation of the hours that you've

▶ 1:11:47 Speaker 1: posted. Yeah. That must, that must have been, something that doesn't happen, like, on a regular basis. You know, it-- like I said, sometimes it's out of our control. However, we do our best to, to, comply with the, with the hours that the city, that, that we have to the public.

▶ 1:12:04 Elizabeth Kowal: Okay. But the hours that you, you're, work... This, if this ordinance passes, it's going in with strict hours, and you heard tonight, and I, I was sitting in that meeting, and we don't wanna hear about this anymore. We want you to comply with what you are being asked to do. And already tonight, you didn't. And now you're saying, "We try to." We don't want you to try to, we want you to do it. Yes, ma'am. That's, that's what we're, that's what we're here-- We don't want to be sitting back here again. Right. And I think I, again, I... It was very disheartening, quite frankly, to hear that tonight. Um, whereas I thought we had come out of a very positive meeting, and I still will believe that, but that was very disheartening to hear tonight.

▶ 1:12:47 Speaker 2: Councillor Finocchiaro, then Councillor Vandergrift

▶ 1:12:50 Speaker 3: Um, yes. Thank you. Um, the license that

▶ 1:12:53 Cal Finocchiaro: you hold, I probably should know this, but is it for just the story or the selling of vehicles, or do you... Is this a license allow, like, work done on vehicles?

▶ 1:13:06 Speaker 5: It-it's a Class 2 license- Okay ... to sell, to sell used automobiles. But the repair of, of vehicles that are sold there, like warranty repair, it's required by law to, for a Class 2 licensee to have that capacity.

▶ 1:13:21 Speaker 3: Okay. So that's part of the license? Yes. Okay. Thank you.

▶ 1:13:26 Speaker 2: Council Vandergrift.

▶ 1:13:27 Kimberly Vandiver: Thank you. Uh, so I'm just looking at our city noise ordinance, and I believe the applicable section here is about repairing, rebuilding, modifying, or testing any motor vehicle, motorcycle, or motorboat. Uh, so it, if I'm reading this correctly, it should not be audible at a distance beyond fifty feet from the lot line, according to our noise ordinance. So I wonder if there's anything,

▶ 1:13:58 Kimberly Vandiver: that we can do to make that true. I think w- other sections of the noise ordinance, I think they're not applicable because it's covered here. Talk about specific decibel readings, which I know we could get, you know, a meter out there and measure decibels. But I, I guess I'm just wondering how, if we've looked at this, if Mr. Talarico and, and you have looked at this together as far as how to make sure that the noise can be brought into compliance with, with the noise ordinance. And I know it's a tough ch- problem because some of these tools are very loud, and that's kind of inherently how they are. But is there anything that... Can you speak to that at all?

▶ 1:14:40 Speaker 5: Um, I have not had an opportunity to review the noise ordinance, so it's hard for me to address it specifically. We... I mean, we are committing to, to limit the noise on the property, and I think it is-- It sounds like it's primarily from the garage, and we are committing to keep the door closed, and to, and to strictly adhere to the hours and days of operation.

▶ 1:15:02 Kimberly Vandiver: Okay. Yeah, I appreciate that. And like I said, I, I, I mean, it's a tough problem and, and at the same time, what, what we heard from people tonight is, you know, it's tough on both sides. It's tough to keep it quiet, and it's tough to experience it. So I think, that seems like, to me, seems like the biggest kind of question mark right now is the noise more so than the parking. I think the parking sounds very well covered. Um, so thank you.

▶ 1:15:29 Bradley Freeman: Do any other councilors have questions for Mr. Serrano?

▶ 1:15:35 Bradley Freeman: Okay. Seeing none. Thank you, gentlemen. Thank you. Dave, before we move on, do any councilors have que- clarifying questions for Mr. Talarico?

▶ 1:15:44 Speaker 2: Councillor Chen.

▶ 1:15:47 Jason Chen: Is there a class of license that doesn't allow heavy equipment repair, pulling engines-

▶ 1:15:57 Speaker 1: I don't know enough about these- ... Class 2 licenses, I'll be honest with you. It, the license issues are dictated through, the licensing board. Um, I know that there's some legislation regarding Class 2 licenses that, require, you know, the small repairs or warranties to be valid for so many years, so they do fix their cars. Um, but, you know, that, that's not really under my authority. I, what I look at is more the plan. Um, so the set of conditions that you, dictate kind of guide me to put together the plan. As far as noise, those other issues, they fall under the police department and the, the board of health. And I mean, y- we all know that that noise ordinance is a little tough to,

▶ 1:16:57 Speaker 1: not enforce, but it, it's hard. You know, a noise is happening, someone calls and complains, and then you go down there with a meter. Unless it's happening, you really can't take those kind of, noise levels. Uh, and I'm not even sure how the health department does that. Um, but from my purview, that's not really what I'm looking for. I'm looking for the amount of cars that they have there, that, the hours of operations are being adhered to. Th-those are the things that I'm looking at.

▶ 1:17:31 Speaker 2: Uh, Councillor Jamaleddine.

▶ 1:17:36 Maya Jamaleddine: Thank you. Um,

▶ 1:17:39 Speaker 3: would it be possible to,

▶ 1:17:42 Maya Jamaleddine: suggest, the holding off on the renewal until this new, plan is implemented? It does seem that even after the, meeting, there hasn't been any changes and as if tonight the residents have, s-still have those concerns, like noise and, and all the other, concerns. So I was wondering to be able to balance it and be fair to both sides if we can, hold off on the, on the, renewal until this new plan is implemented.

▶ 1:18:33 Bradley Freeman: Um, thank you, Councillor Jamaleddine. That's something we can certainly discuss in the deliberation process.

▶ 1:18:40 Speaker 2: Any-

▶ 1:18:41 Bradley Freeman: Councillor Jamaleddine, we cannot hear you.

▶ 1:18:44 Speaker 2: No, no, I'm...

▶ 1:18:46 Maya Jamaleddine: That's a question for Director, Talarico

▶ 1:18:53 Bradley Freeman: I think Councilor Jamaleddine is wondering if you could respond to the ability to withhold permit.

▶ 1:18:59 Speaker 1: Um, I don't... That's really not under my purview. Um, what I can tell you is that we reviewed the plan. The plan works with the conditions, and it, you know, it, it, it works for, from what... under, u-under my authority as far as the licensing, goes.

▶ 1:19:19 Bradley Freeman: Thank you. Any other questions from Mr. Tallarico? Seeing none. At this point, I'll entertain a motion to close the public hearing to allow for deliberation.

▶ 1:19:26 Speaker 3: Motion to close the public hearing. Second.

▶ 1:19:28 Bradley Freeman: Motion to close the public hearing by Councilor Karamcheti, seconded by Councilor Kowal. Madam Clerk.

▶ 1:19:33 Speaker 3: Councilor Chen. Yes. Councilor Finocchiaro. Yes. Councilor Jamaleddine. Yes. Councilor Karamcheti. Yes. Councilor Kowal. Yes. Councilor Bremst. Councilor Park. Yes. Councilor Romanul. Yes. Councilor Vandiver. Yes. President Freeman. Yes. That motion passes.

▶ 1:19:49 Bradley Freeman: Thank you. So the public hearing is now closed. At this point, I'll open up discussion on ID number two zero two six one seven five.

▶ 1:20:01 Speaker 2: Councilor Kowal.

▶ 1:20:02 Elizabeth Kowal: Look, I said it. I, I've got issues with this now. I didn't coming in. Um, I thought-- I think the plan from Al's perspective is great. The parking, the, the bout- like, all of that. I think we've got a, I think we've got a sliding understanding of what hours are. Um, and so I, I think if there's a way to do a probationary period, I think we need it at this point. I think there's a lot of chances having been given. There's been a lot of discussion over the years. Um, and then we hear tonight that there continues to be a problem with hours. Um, so I, I... That raises concerns for me whether or not that this is actually being taken seriously.

▶ 1:20:51 Elizabeth Kowal: So I d- I don't know what the... I don't know if there's a way to do that, but I would certainly be in favor of putting, of putting this off and putting in some sort of X number of months probationary period.

▶ 1:21:01 Speaker 2: All right. Councilor Jamaleddine, Councilor Vandiver beer, and Councilor Karamcheti.

▶ 1:21:06 Maya Jamaleddine: Thank you. Thank you. I, I would second that, and I would, recommend to, postpone the vo- if, if we can postpone the voting until the, plan is implemented, which is by the owner, per the owner, he said, I think April first.

▶ 1:21:35 Bradley Freeman: Councilor Jamaleddine, is that a motion or something-

▶ 1:21:37 Speaker 3: It i- it is a motion.

▶ 1:21:39 Bradley Freeman: There's a motion on the floor to postpone until the recommendations are made on April first. Do we have a second to that motion? Second. On discussion, Councilor Finocchiaro.

▶ 1:21:55 Cal Finocchiaro: Sorry. Is that, is that a motion that we can make to postpone? Um, who-

▶ 1:22:01 Bradley Freeman: I, I... You know, I will-- I'll answer this and I'll defer to my colleagues. I believe it's a motion we can make if we will have a business operating without a license. Um, so that's a consideration. Or, you know, we could discuss alternative paths to some sort of probationary period after we vote on this motion.

▶ 1:22:22 Kimberly Vandiver: Councilor Vandiver. Uh, so, two comments, I guess, about that. One is that I, I believe the way that they've set it up, it, it's like there's a promotion-- probationary period because this new license that we would be giving if we give it is conditioned on these things. And so I think in theory, there are the fines that Mr. Tallarico mentioned, but I think in theory, if the conditions are not being met, then the license could be taken back, right? Or could be declared to not- Mm-hmm. So I, I, I believe if, if... And I, you know, I don't know the legalities, but the way it's been described, it sounds like that essentially is a probationary license in that it's, it's conditioned, and it could be deemed to not be, valid. And, the other question I have about that is, if anybody knows and can clarify, has the existing license expired, or are they still on that for some amount of time?

▶ 1:23:22 Bradley Freeman: Cons- I will, I will clarify that, then I'll move on to Councilor Karamcheti for her, her comments. Um, the current license had expired at the end of the calendar year, so they are currently operating without a twenty twenty-six license. Councilor Karamcheti.

▶ 1:23:35 Manjula Karamcheti: Um, so what I was gonna say was just I wasn't ready to vote on postponing 'cause I felt like there was more discussion to be had. And I guess I'm just trying to understand from the business owner's perspective, was the plan in conjunction with the new license, so just deeming what happened this evening, was it sort of not understood that, like, that was supposed to be immediately from when the meeting happened, or sort of it was happening here, and then sort of those things would go into a place? I, I understand the frustration, but I also am willing to consider that the license and the plan came together. So once the license was approved, that was when the plan was also approved, and perhaps communication wasn't as tight as it should have been in terms of we're done at work at five, starting the day the meeting happened. So I'm just willing to consider that a little bit in terms of, like, good faith and wanting to move forward, and giving someone a chance to remedy mistakes that they've made in the past. That is generally, like, an approach that I like to take, so I'm just kind of thinking about that in terms of It is very clear what the issues are with the noise, with the parking, and at this point, there's no confusion. So if we grant this license, we move forward, a violation happens again, we have a lot of ways to move forward, take back the license, fine. Um, I am also newer to this case, really just hearing about it now, so I understand there's a lot of work that has been done and a lot of frustration. But I'm just trying to think about how to support the residents and also support the business in a way that feels reasonable and fair. That's just what I'm thinking about.

▶ 1:25:41 Bradley Freeman: I have Councilor Kowal and Councilor DiCarlo. I want to remind members, so there is a motion on the floor. So if you're speaking to the motion, we can do that, or if not, we can take care of the motion and then move forward.

▶ 1:25:53 Elizabeth Kowal: I'm not speaking to the motion. I was gonna make a point of clarification. Please. I, I believe, through you, what, Al said tonight was the hours are posted. So he had them-- he had the a- he asked them to post the hours on the shop so that there was a clear understanding.

▶ 1:26:10 Speaker 2: Thank you. Councilor DiCarlo?

▶ 1:26:13 Cal Finocchiaro: Um, like Councilor Karamcheti, I'm sort of, not unsure of how I wanna proceed, but I do know that yes, we are a regulatory body. We can vote a certain way, but Mr. Tallerico has set aside a site plan, and an action plan. Um, we heard from Mr. Serrano that good faith that he would take care of this by April first. Um, Mr. Tallerico is going to follow up, and if it's not, or if he gets complaints or things are not done the way that... It's sort of, I feel like in, in Mr. Tallerico's hands now, I'm not saying that we don't have the ability to withhold or deny. Um, and

▶ 1:26:58 Cal Finocchiaro: I, I just feel like at this point, that kinda needs to happen to see, you know... This site plan was put in place. Like I said, a lot of work was put into it, and see how that kind of c-comes to fruition or if it doesn't, or whatever happens with that. Um, so that's kind of where I'm thinking because I, I also wanna support the residents that nearby 'cause I know I've heard of... Obviously listening to you speak, sounds very frustrating to live there and feel like, you know, you've been ignored for so long. Um, but at this time, I feel like I would like to see this site plan come, into action and-

▶ 1:27:39 Speaker 3: Thank you, Councilor DiCarlo ... give them an, an opportunity. So.

▶ 1:27:41 Bradley Freeman: Is there any other discussion on the motion to postpone? I'm sorry, sir, public comment has been closed. Jamie- I'm sor- I'm sor- I'm sorry, sir. I respectfully request- I'm sor- sir ... that you open this back up- Sir. Sir ... because I could solve- Sir ... this problem very easily. Sir. Sir, I'm sorry, public comment has been closed. Okay. Councilor Vandiver.

▶ 1:27:57 Kimberly Vandiver: Uh, I... Well, s- similar to, Councilor Karamcheti, I, I feel like I, I'd like to discuss a little bit more before we say yes or no to postponing to April first because I believe once we vote on that, the yes or no has to stick. And so I, I would ask my colleagues to withdraw the motion for a few minutes so we can have a little additional discussion before we take that vote.

▶ 1:28:22 Bradley Freeman: All right, so there still is a motion on the floor. Um, does anyone else wanna be recognized on the motion? Councilor Jamaleddine.

▶ 1:28:31 Maya Jamaleddine: Um, if for the purpose of further discussion and clarification, I'll-- I can withdraw

▶ 1:28:38 Bradley Freeman: my motion. Thank you. The motion is withdrawn. Is the second withdrawn? Sure. Thank you. All right. The floor is back open for discussion on the ID 2026175. Councilor Vandiver.

▶ 1:28:50 Kimberly Vandiver: Thank you. So it, it seems just listening to the different, pieces tonight, it seems like maybe a step... A lot of really good work was done with the building commissioner and the owner, on defining some aspects of this plan. But it seems like maybe we sh- also need the health department in here if they're the ones who are able to speak to the noise ordinance and how that's enforced because it sounded like that wasn't quite in Mr. Tallerico's purview, and that's why it wasn't... maybe didn't have as much teeth in it. Um, so I, I wonder if, I mean, regardless of if we approve this now with conditions and then come back and amend it or, or hold it off because it's already been a couple months into the year and, and then approve it. But I wonder if there's a way we could bring in health to the discussion and get them to feel comfortable with maybe have a plan around monitoring periodically the noise, something like that, to, to make it a little bit fuller.

▶ 1:29:50 Speaker 2: Thank you, Councilor Vandiver. Councilor DiCarlo, then Council Park.

▶ 1:29:52 Cal Finocchiaro: Um, I agree with that statement, Councilor Vandiver. I think that would be a great i-idea. Um, in addition, in the meantime, they're gonna be operating without-- with an expired license and kind of doing everything the same. Correct? I mean, I'm assuming. So I don't know how it kinda solves going forward, kind of delaying it. Um, part of these things like once you have a site, the site plan in action, they're under like a probationary period at that point. And so, if there is noise, it's after certain hours. If there is stuff going on, people parking certain, then, then we can really hold them to that and say, "Okay, now your license is gone. You didn't follow the rules." If we delay it, it's giving them more time to, you know, operate under expired license and not adhere to maybe any rules because they don't have to, you know. So I don't-- I'm, I'm still thinking this through as everybody else is, but that's kind of my-- what I'm thinking right now.

▶ 1:30:57 Bradley Freeman: Thank you. We have Councilor Park and then Councilor Romanul and Jamaleddine. Do I have that right, Councilor Romanul?

▶ 1:31:07 Speaker 8: So

▶ 1:31:09 Speaker 2: right now, I, I still think I'm at the point where I need more time and more information. Um, but I have serious reservation of moving forward with providing a license to this business. Uh, in this letter, that was provided to us, it specifically sa- says, point 12, "I am also committed to strict compliance of the operation of business only on Monday through Saturday between the hours of 9:00 AM and 6:00 PM." Today we have a recording of heavy machinery being used after the discussion with Mr. Talerico and our city council here, and the Mr., Soliman had basically said, "Well, we try our best." That is not committed to strict compliance. That is blatant just disregarding of, of what was set forth as precedent. And, you know, I would ask, you know, City c- City Councilor, Romanul what type of complaints he was r- receiving at this point. When I asked Mr. Talerico, you know, it's important to understand what type of complaints we're getting from the constituents. We have two here that were presented their case that it's not about necessarily the parking, it's about the noise control. And while this plan that is presented, which was funded by taxpayers' dollars to put forth, a plan that is because of the fact that they were disregarding what they should be doing in the first place, you know, we're not addressing the main issue here or one of the biggest issues, which is the noise, which we heard again tonight at 6:30. That's heavy machinery. That sounded like, to me, an engine being mounted. Um, so to my fellow city councilors, you know, I would like to know a little bit more information about this. Um, and to Devin, to City Councilor Devin Romanul, what ki- what exactly are you hearing about, and how long has this been going on? Thank you, Councilor Park. Councilor Romanul, then Councilor Jamaleddine.

▶ 1:33:26 Devin Romanul: Yeah. Thank you so much. Um, and I appreciate all the, the conversation amongst my colleagues and, and folks testifying here and, and to my, fellow neighbors who took the time out of their, their day to come down. Um, to just one point of clarification on things that were discussed earlier about the expired license, I think this is more or less a vestigial tale of our, our license authorization process. So, as the person who was formerly the chair of the Licensing and Protection Committee, we do all of our license renewals in a batch, usually at the start of the year. Um, and certainly our clerk can speak to this. But we, if you remember in December, chose this license to, to set aside for a hearing. And because of just the s- getting the new council year up and started, getting the committees assigned, getting, we had a snow delay, and so I think that's why we're hearing the renewal now. So that's certainly no fault of the, you know, of the owner, of the property manager. Um, certainly that's just a, a function of our, our processes. So, I, I wouldn't begrudge that of the property owner. Um, to, to speak to, Councilor Park questions, I had, fielded since, I'd say the beginning of 2025, um... I mean, I only started in the, in 2024, but, certainly for a little over half that time had received complaints from folks in the neighborhood about, you know, it's all the same things that we've heard tonight. Seeing hours, activities, and noise outside the stated hours of operation. Seeing, you know, a bunch of cars in the lot, on the street. Um, certainly some noise complaints. Um, I personally have observed, all of those things myself just over the course of, you know... I live two blocks away from that location, so I drive by it s- several times a day or run by it several times a day. Um, so to the, my, to Councilor Park, question through the chair, I'll say that, you know, those are the pretty consistent complaints I've se- received from both myself and neighbors. Um, so, so yeah, I, I appreciate the, the idea about a probationary period, but I, honestly, if I'm... I don't begrudge my colleagues for voting how they wanna vote. I, I have to say, for my own, you know, opinion based on what I've heard tonight, I, I would say I'm a no on the underlying measure. Thank you.

▶ 1:35:45 Speaker 2: Thank you, Councilor Romanul. Councilor Jamaleddine.

▶ 1:35:51 Speaker 3: Thank you. Uh-

▶ 1:35:53 Manjula Karamcheti: Through the chair, can Councilor Romanul just repeat what he said at the end? He's a no, what he was... A no to what?

▶ 1:35:58 Bradley Freeman: Yeah. Councilor Romanul, can you just repeat your f- your final statement, please?

▶ 1:36:00 Devin Romanul: Yeah, sure. I know the Wi-Fi is wonky. I'd say, just for my, colleagues' background, I'm a no on, on the underlying measure to, to license.

▶ 1:36:12 Bradley Freeman: So for, for clarification, you would be opposed to granting a license. Is that what you're saying?

▶ 1:36:17 Speaker 9: That's correct, yes.

▶ 1:36:19 Speaker 2: Thank, thank you. Thank you. Councilor Jamaleddine.

▶ 1:36:23 Maya Jamaleddine: Thank you, president. And also, I would like to comment on my, colleagues' com- questions and comments, here. Uh, my suggestion to, hold off till or postpone the voting till April 1st, is to be more, gracious with the, with the owner since we're still hearing those concerns and we still, and, a- and no, we haven't seen any improvement technically, even after the meeting. Um, so instead of opposing, um-... the renewal, I suggested to postpone it to get a chance, from now till April 1st to see if they would

▶ 1:37:21 Maya Jamaleddine: abide to that, to... and, and, to this new plan. And if after April 1st we revisit and we still, receive those complaints, then, the decision would be very clear for us.

▶ 1:37:36 Bradley Freeman: Thank you, Councilor Jamaleddine. Um, just quick point of clarification before we move on. Um, our next meeting, post April 1st, should that be a considered motion, would be April 6th. Does any other councilors have any points on discussion? Seeing none, what is the will of the body?

▶ 1:37:59 Maya Jamaleddine: I will... I would like to, make a motion to, postpone the voting till April 6, for the renewal of the license.

▶ 1:38:13 Bradley Freeman: There's a motion to postpone, ID 2026-175 until the council meets on April 6th. Do we have a second to that motion? Second. Second. Seconded by Councilor Kowal. Um, on

▶ 1:38:30 Speaker 2: discussion. Councilor Karamcheti.

▶ 1:38:31 Manjula Karamcheti: I just think it'll be important for us to clarify what we expect between now and when we reconvene on April 6th so it is clear to the applicant, it is clear to Mr. Talerico's office. And if we need to bring in the Board of Health for the noise piece, I think we just wanna be very clear on what that is. So I'm hoping those who have particulars, can share them now. And I guess I would just say on discussion, those would sort of be that the, hours were being followed, that the noise was in- enacted in a way between... in the hours, and also paying attention to, the loudness, that the doors are closed, and that the... I'm gonna use the wrong terminology, I apologize, but the ballards and those other pieces of the parking lot plan are put into place, and that the Board of Health is looped in in some way, shape, or form.

▶ 1:39:33 Bradley Freeman: Thank you, Councilor Karamcheti. Any other councilors on discussion?

▶ 1:39:38 Kimberly Vandiver: Councilor Vanderberg. Thank you. Um, I, I really appreciate, through the chair, that, clarity that Councilor Karamcheti wants to add to make sure that there's a path forward that they can take to be successful. Um, and I, on the, I, I think on the topic of looping in the Board of Health, I'm still a little unclear who might do that. Um, but one thing I just, as I've been kind of looking online for what could one possibly do in that direction, I, I think... I don't know if I wanna say right now that it's a condition because I'm just thinking about this, but there are, there are monitors that you can mount that just continuously monitor decibels, and some of them, you know, some of them record that data. And I, I don't think we've ever done anything like that. I'm not sure the Board of Health has done something like that. But I, I mean, for me as a data person, what, what would make me feel comfortable, that, you know, there are not loud noises after 5:00 PM is if there was a monitor. It costs maybe, somewhere, like a couple of hundred dollars or something. Like a monitor that the business could just show us that says there's not loud noise after 5:00 PM. I don't know if that's in the realm of possibility or if... I... For me, that would definitely satisfy me. I don't know if it's a requirement. I don't know if any- anyone else wants to comment on that, but I think that would move us in that direction.

▶ 1:41:02 Speaker 2: Councilor Finocchiaro.

▶ 1:41:03 Cal Finocchiaro: I was gonna say, I don't know if there's a way to have Mr. Talerico or s- or maybe the Board of Health get involved and s- revise a site plan with some noise ordinance information, so that they can follow that and that can be, like sort of part of the site plan. I don't know how we would do that. But, I feel like that needs to be added so it's part, because it seems like the noise is the issue.

▶ 1:41:30 Speaker 2: Councilor Karamcheti.

▶ 1:41:31 Manjula Karamcheti: Yeah, just to build on that, I think an approach the, the business owner could take would be to proactively reach out to Mr. Talerico based on our concerns about noise and decibels, and work together to incorporate that into the plan

▶ 1:41:46 Speaker 4: for April 6th.

▶ 1:41:48 Bradley Freeman: Thank you, Councilor Karamcheti. Any other councilors on discussion? All right. There is a motion on the floor to postpone ID 2026-175 until April 6th. Madam Clerk, can you please call the roll?

▶ 1:42:05 Speaker 3: Councilor Chen? No. Councilor Finocchiaro. Yes. Councilor Jamaleddine. Yes.

▶ 1:42:14 Speaker 3: Councilor Karamcheti. Yes. Councilor Kowal. Yes. Council Obremski. Oh, sorry. Councilor

▶ 1:42:24 Speaker 3: Park. Yes. Councilor Romanul.

▶ 1:42:25 Speaker 9: No.