[0:04] Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the July 8 meeting of the City of Newer Shell Department of Development Historical Landmark Review Board. We have so much shortened agenda because we have some adjourned items. But tonight, we have a couple of items beforehand. Local, I think is probably first.

[0:27] First.

[0:27] Sure.

[0:29] Rose Bofemante.

[0:31] Here.

[0:31] Lucia Elliott is out.

[0:33] Jim Fleming.

[0:34] Here.

[0:35] Leanne Merchant.

[0:36] Here.

[0:36] Belkis Rae's CUNY.

[0:37] Here.

[0:38] Don Richards is out.

[0:40] And staff members with us today.

[0:42] Saraya Behambi.

[0:43] Deputy Building Official.

[0:44] Kevin Kane, Director of Planning and Sustainability.

[0:47] And myself, Benito Sahas, Senior Project Manager.

[0:51] Okay.

[0:52] I mean, we do have a forum tonight.

[0:56] So we can vote if necessary.

[1:01] We're just going to jump into the approval of minutes.

[1:05] We have none tonight, so we can go right over item 1, 1.19, then we'll go into the public hearings.

[1:13] I'll read out the adjourned ones just so they're on the television record.

[1:18] Public hearing, item number two, public hearing, 2.1.

[1:21] One application, HLRB 4-2026 by Mario Canteros, for a certificate of appropriateness to

[1:28] legalize existing improvements, including a porch enclosure, pool, outdoor kitchen detached

[1:36] open porch, fire pit, pizza oven, generator, HVAC unit for foot, IPE driveway gates, and

[1:45] a four foot cable rail fence along the side yard as well as to construct a new garage

[2:00] We are adjourned to the September meeting.

[2:03] We can jump to 2.2, HLRB, 5-2026 by Nishal Arjuni for certificate of appropriateness to construct a raised patio and detached garage in the front yard for an existing one fan.

[2:20] family dwelling at 14, the Boulevard, block 827,

[2:23] lot 42 in R1 historic zone district,

[2:26] adjourn until further notice,

[2:29] and 2.3 application HLRB7-2026

[2:35] by Josh Lucina Picardo for a certificate of appropriateness

[2:39] to legalize a wooden enclosed fence

[2:42] at the site and rear yard at 40 Earl Place,

[2:45] block 879, lot 35,

[2:47] in an R1 historic zone district adjourned to the September meeting.

[2:52] Those are all adjourned, so we can go right to 2.4 in ways here for it.

[2:58] Okay, let me just read it.

[3:00] Application HLRB, 9-2026 by Cameron Christensen, momentum solar.

[3:08] We're a certificate of appropriateness to install solar panels at 250 the boulevard in

[3:14] This is the last block 878, block 45 and in R1 Historic Zone's district, please come up.

[3:19] Thank you.

[3:20] The

[3:29] vice-chair, I'll be presenting the project for 250 boulevardes.

[3:37] Apologies, this is my first time attending one of your historic meetings.

[3:40] So I'll just navigate us through the plans.

[3:43] So we'll approximately have four rays and a ray is a panel set.

[3:49] We have three rays in the front.

[3:50] one large in the back. Sorry, I need to go so fast. That's a front of the house.

[4:02] Up.

[4:05] What am I doing?

[4:16] This is what the few looks like. And this also show the distance where the

[4:24] house is approximately 50 feet away from sidewalk.

[4:32] Back of the yard.

[4:37] This is what the street view looks

[4:38] like,

[4:41] and the surrounding properties,

[4:47] and then we also have what it would look like if

[4:50] we removed the front, I apologize. We have three raised in the back, the one large

[4:57] one in the front. This is what would happen.

[5:00] The production would basically cut in half if we get rid of the array in the front. But these are the two hypotheticals.

[5:12] It would decrease by like 56.76%.

[5:16] I can say it again.

[5:18] Yeah, the reduction, 56.76% if you get rid of the front panels.

[5:25] Yeah, I think, I mean, I can tell why we may just want to point out I see the north arrow

[5:29] there.

[5:29] So the exposure and yeah, it's pretty obvious but for anyone who hasn't seen it, you know,

[5:37] the southern facing is on the front, right?

[5:38] So yeah, that's why you got to put the panels.

[5:41] No, we try to make sure it's as aesthetic as possible, and we do try to make sure if panels

[5:47] can go solely the back, we do aim for that, but unfortunately with this system and the

[5:53] amount of power they use, this is what was designed.

[6:02] How does it?

[6:03] Okay.

[6:03] In the back to the roof picture with both roofs.

[6:07] Yes, here you go.

[6:10] Obviously, that's what they want and what you would recommend as getting the power that

[6:15] you want.

[6:16] Yes.

[6:17] It would meet their production and best suit their utility usage.

[6:21] In New York State, you can't go over 110% of your annual usage, so it's also nothing

[6:29] egregious of, like, they're putting panels on so they can get a bunch of money on the

[6:35] grid.

[6:35] it. And can we see the front elevation again? Of course.

[6:41] Straight on photo.

[6:44] Okay, no, no, just go one more actual photo. Oh, the actual photo? Okay. Right back one.

[6:51] Sorry. That's the back there, right there. Awesome.

[6:58] Okay.

[7:03] It's one of those houses with the

[7:06] lower pitched upper roof because of the gable. And we've looked at them before.

[7:14] And I think what we've decided, I mean, that's what I remember is that the lower pitch

[7:20] takes the panels out of your view a little bit better than a steep pitch roof.

[7:29] And that's what I related to past approvals like that.

[7:35] And it's symmetrical about that roof that we see right there is that on the plan.

[7:41] Yes, I can go back to the plan if you'd like.

[7:46] Yeah, if you can, you know, just a.

[7:48] Yeah, so you said like.

[7:50] Right from the corner of the hip.

[7:53] A value, I should say.

[7:57] And since it is that length,

[8:01] I'm what I'm aiming at was just,

[8:03] is it related to the, just the window arrangement below?

[8:06] I don't think it is.

[8:07] But it's just a straightforward required walkway

[8:10] And then. Yeah, those are the fire access points. Just in case got for bed. Um, any fine there there's fire access points.

[8:30] The field here. Anybody have any comments on the proposal? Any neighbors or anybody here?

[8:37] Uh, if that's the case and no, with that, uh, with someone like to make a motion that'd be approved or denied.

[8:48] motion because of its similarity to other low pitched roofs and distance from the street,

[8:55] which is pretty good for front yards. I would say that we may make a motion that we approve.

[9:04] This one is presented. Do we have a second?

[9:08] I'll second in just one point. Yes, of course.

[9:12] It's black, right? Yes, of course. It matches. Okay. I'll second. I'm black.

[9:17] any opposed? Sorry, all in favor? Any opposed? Motion passes? Great, awesome. Okay, thank you. Thank you so much, guys, have a very good evening.

[9:43] Okay, our 2.5 application, HLRB 10-2026 by Trinity Episcopal Church, for a certificate of appropriateness for installation of clear glass panel in front of the

[9:59] exterior.

[10:00] Side of existing glass, clear story, windows, at 311, you cannot street block 417, law 24, and a DB zone district, although it is a historic building, it's here. So. Hello, board. My name is Thomas Monarsky, architect for the church. So we're proposing to replace deteriorated, clear story, window units and glazing.

[10:28] about the NAV. The existing wood frames and glazing are damaged, deteriorated and no longer

[10:35] performing. The proposed replacement will improve the weather resilience durability and energy

[10:43] performance of the church, and we hope we'll address some of the concerns from our last presentation

[10:53] about the cathedral glass.

[10:58] So the scope of the work is to install clear glazing on the clear story of the nave

[11:09] and install the existing cathedral glass behind the new glazing thereby improving the energy

[11:23] performance of the building. So this is some of the existing windows. And our intent

[11:31] here, just so while I have these pictures up, is to maintain the existing profiles

[11:39] of this facade. The plane at which the cathedral glass is, that would be the plane where the

[11:50] The new clear glass would go and the cathedral glass would then sit back about an inch and

[11:57] a half behind that clear glazing.

[12:01] This is the plan and again the elevation showing the two vans that we intend to work on

[12:10] and a schematic detail showing how we intend to do this.

[12:16] So the existing windows, the frames will be rebuilt completely because they're too deteriorated to reuse.

[12:27] We would insert that new clear glazing at that plane of the existing cathedral glass.

[12:35] And then the cathedral glass would sit behind there.

[12:41] And there'd be like a double rabbit on the frame so that the cathedral glass can be installed from the back.

[12:52] And this is important because one of the things I asked the board is that we get some kind of accommodation for how long this is going to take.

[13:04] We would like to install the clear glazing and we can install at least partially some

[13:12] of the cathedral glass, but the church is not financially able to restore all the cathedral

[13:20] glass at this time to what it needs to be.

[13:27] A lot of the, I would say, half of the work that is being done is being funded by NYSERDA

[13:34] as part of clean energy incentives that we're getting because the church that transitioned

[13:44] off of, I think it was either gas or oil and is now completely electric.

[13:50] So that's important to note, I think, just, and so the new window units will be custom

[14:01] fabricated.

[14:02] Would all the exterior profiles are going to match?

[14:07] We will maintain the same glass size and everything.

[14:16] and intent to match the exterior at exactly paint and everything.

[14:26] And just a quick note on the glazing units we intend to use, so there'll be .32 to .36

[14:42] and that's

[14:50] a solar heat gain value as well, sorry.

[15:01] Just the summary, okay, additionally a summary of the window performance. And our ask is to allow us to continue with the work, essentially. All right. Just to clarify, your detail, you have a new window and then the vintage, so to speak, what's the distance?

[15:31] between that. It didn't look like it was great, but it's going to be about an inch to an

[15:36] inch and a half. Very close. Okay. Yes. It looks like it's a large gap there, but that's just the

[15:44] scale you're drawing at. Yeah. Okay. Can I just say yes? Yeah. So I'm 100% clear. So what we're saying is

[15:52] Is the existing stained glass remaining?

[15:57] Re-installed.

[15:58] Re-installed.

[16:00] But as you can see, the existing cathedral glasses

[16:05] in really bad shape.

[16:07] Totally understood.

[16:07] But I just want to know the scope of this project.

[16:11] All the stained glass that's there now.

[16:13] The intent is eventually for it all to be there.

[16:15] The intent is eventually for it.

[16:17] Lightly moved back.

[16:18] Yes.

[16:19] Okay.

[16:19] Thank you.

[16:20] So you could actually I'm I'm sure you could see it with the new glazing in front of it.

[16:26] Yes, that's the intent and on the person on the inside will get the effect of the old.

[16:31] Yeah, on the inside. Yes. Yes, and then also on the outside, I think

[16:37] you see a lot of churches install. I've seen this happen before, where the

[16:43] Yes, just a lading piece goes on the outside to protect specifically to protect the

[16:48] The let it glass. That's right, but it also has the benefit of sick now just just in one thing you mentioned because you mentioned it

[16:54] The the energy code the building department will look at that

[16:59] but and whatever qualifications you have to do to meet the the glazing as you know

[17:05] Just I just wanted to because you mentioned it. I thought I'd just bring it on the HLRB table that way, okay

[17:11] And then the other question I have is, you mentioned timing, which obviously is an important

[17:20] aspect with your finances, the church's finances.

[17:25] I think probably because sometimes projects, just anecdotal projects can drift on into years

[17:35] and then everybody forgets what's supposed to happen, I'm hoping the church would be

[17:40] to some kind of agreement in the permit,

[17:43] if that's legally possible or a condition.

[17:48] I think that the permit would not be closed out.

[17:51] Right, okay, some mechanism to make sure

[17:53] that the project keeps going on,

[17:55] especially with putting the old glass back in,

[17:58] which is the most important part of the proposal.

[18:02] So I just wanna bring that out.

[18:04] It's gonna be under a permit,

[18:06] so they're gonna be watching it.

[18:08] Yes, yes.

[18:09] I think that's reasonable.

[18:12] I just want to say one thing about the permit on the hand.

[18:14] Microphone's right.

[18:15] Mike.

[18:17] People use their permit open for 30 years.

[18:20] You know, so that's not really an enforcement of a condition.

[18:25] If you want that condition.

[18:27] However, it can happen.

[18:28] That's all I'm saying.

[18:29] In Kevin brought up the point.

[18:30] It's under a permit.

[18:31] It's under a permit, but doesn't force them to finish their work.

[18:37] So just quick so in relation to what Zaria said and the fact that we know a permit will be open.

[18:44] Is there any way that we can stipulate like a timeline?

[18:48] I'm not saying three months, you know, a year, and then we reevaluate to see where they're at.

[18:55] Yeah, yeah, time check.

[18:57] So, okay, that's what I'd like to do.

[19:00] Yeah, we're happy to come back in front of the board.

[19:03] I would imagine when the first phase of the project is done at least some of these would be installed as a mock-up for the board to look at.

[19:17] Because I'm sure at least some of them, we haven't been able to really get up there properly without scaffolding, but we should be able to reuse at least some of them.

[19:30] So, you know, I definitely appreciate the fact that you're taking this step versus initially

[19:37] I believe it was just removing them all.

[19:39] So we definitely appreciate maintaining the historic aspects of the church.

[19:44] So in reevaluating, let's just say in a year's time, like the status, how it's going, the

[19:50] only other thing that I would ask is if, for some reason, if you find that any of the current

[19:54] stained glass cannot be put back that you let us know where

[20:00] Contact the department so that we can evaluate what's happening, you know, before the year's time, you know, as you go along. Yeah, I, I think that's good. I think that should be noted. And however, in fairness, I think to the applicant and in following what, you know, we typically do, like, say, with the planning board, you know, usually you have a year to pull the building permit to, to do the work. And then from that point, you have a year to finalize the work. So I think.

[20:29] I think maybe we should just keep that in mind that they haven't been given the permit yet.

[20:38] We're deciding and then they would get the permit so let's just say they get the permit in September.

[20:44] So what I was suggesting and I don't exactly know exactly how the planning board, you know what you're saying?

[20:49] So if they get it in September, I'm looking to see them to come back to us next September and let us know how they're doing.

[20:56] Okay, so when you're from the issuance of building permit, what happens with the rotted wood

[21:03] that's exposed now?

[21:04] What are you taking care of that?

[21:06] It's fair to say that all of the rotted wood that is comprising the existing window frames

[21:14] is too far gone to use, so we would replace that in kind.

[21:18] And the soft trim, that big ground piece, that's still not determined exactly what we

[21:26] can do.

[21:26] We want to see if we can use consultants to stabilize that and possibly keep it in place

[21:32] and refinish it, but that might need to be replaced as well.

[21:36] We don't quite know how badly deteriorated it is because the church in general also needs

[21:42] a new roof that's kind of like the next thing down the road but is it copper

[21:48] towards the bottom there or just yes I think a lot of it is copper some of it

[21:54] seems like it was yeah it's all copper I'm trying to see if maybe some of it

[22:00] was replaced with aluminum along the years but probably not but anyway we would

[22:07] to come back with copper or anything that goes back, we'd go back with copper.

[22:11] Can I ask a question?

[22:13] I'm just for clarification.

[22:14] So we're, say on that picture, you've got the plywood that's actually in place of

[22:20] where the stain, so there's some stain left on it.

[22:22] Yeah, some of it just fell out.

[22:24] Yeah.

[22:25] So in that case, I know you're going to repair the, the lead in the Disney scene, will those

[22:32] be, is there going to be a replica of the, uh, yeah,

[22:37] Yeah, eventually when these get, I guess, restored, because you'd have to restore the

[22:49] panels of leaded glass before you put them in.

[22:55] You can fabricate a new piece.

[22:59] That will be very similar to what they were already.

[23:02] Yeah.

[23:02] Yeah, this type of glass, we've done it on a previous project, and surprisingly enough,

[23:10] it's fairly easy for them to get good matches with what you see there as kind of,

[23:19] you know,

[23:20] I don't know how you describe that ocean-colored glass or something.

[23:28] Well described and I think it's good solution because I've seen similar things like that

[23:35] done and I'm so glad that you're keeping that sting glass in there in proximity to the

[23:40] other glass so you can see it. Thank you. With this whole thing and I love the way it looks

[23:47] albeit up like that except for the damaged piece but it's I'm glad you're doing it the way

[23:52] you are personally. Thank you. Any comments from the board further?

[24:03] Any comments from

[24:04] the audience?

[24:10] That's good enough.

[24:13] I think they like to see it done.

[24:20] Anybody want to

[24:21] make a motion on this one? We close the public hearing and make a motion. Jim, before we

[24:27] We do that, I think we started to craft a couple.

[24:31] Oh, of course, thank you so much.

[24:38] My name is the Reverend Eliza Davis,

[24:41] I'm the priest, Trinity Church.

[24:45] We've been going back and forth on this for a very long time.

[24:49] And we have a small fund raised for this.

[24:53] And we are trying to hold onto the fund

[24:59] that we...

[25:00] They lose if we don't proceed with this as soon as possible. And we really appreciate if you could look into this a little bit more in our favor. Not only that because if this thing is left alone, it will get worse than it is. So thank you very much. I think we're there as quickly as we can tonight.

[25:29] Okay, so let's see if we can go even faster.

[25:41] Yeah, I think we had a couple conditions.

[25:43] Maybe I'll kind of go through what I have and then we need to kind of correct me and keep me correct.

[25:52] So one year from the issuance of a building permit, the applicant shall return to the board

[25:57] for a review of the timing of completion of the project as necessary, the applicant shall request

[26:01] and extension, subsequent to any extensions that may be granted if the scope of work is

[26:06] not complete, the applicant shall be in violation of this approval. Additionally, updates

[26:13] on any issues with the removal and storage of windows during the course of the work shall

[26:19] be provided to the board as necessary that speak to the comment earlier, that if there's any

[26:23] issues with the removal, any damage, any issues that come up, you know, you need to update

[26:29] the board, so it's not given to us, you know, last minute.

[26:36] That's all I had been

[26:36] needed. Do you have anything else? Okay. So we are drafting those conditions, they may

[26:41] be modified a little bit, but are those acceptable to you? Yes.

[26:46] Perfect.

[26:52] Are we back to it? Do we have a motion? So moved. I'd like to move that we approve

[26:59] the Trinity Peaceful Church for the certificate of appropriateness, for the insulation of the clear glass panel in the front of the exterior side of the existing clear-story glass clear-story windows at 3.11 Eugenut Street, and then subject to the timeline specifications that you will.

[27:18] Do we have a second?

[27:19] I second.

[27:20] All in favor?

[27:21] Aye.

[27:22] Aye.

[27:23] Any opposed?

[27:25] Motion passes.

[27:26] Thank you very much.

[27:26] Thank you.

[27:28] Thanks for bringing it back.

[27:33] Thank you.

[27:35] We have no other businesses evening.

[27:38] Unless there's anything else?

[27:39] Is there a motion to adjourn?

[27:41] So moved.

[27:42] Second.

[27:42] I motion.

[27:44] I motion.

[27:45] I motion.

[27:48] Meeting's adjourned.

[27:49] Thank you everyone.

[27:50] Thank you.

HLRB Meeting - Jul 8th, 2026

Transcript