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. >> that permit expired on august 12. so right now we have no permit active on this property. meanwhile, the neighbor, in good faith a year ago came to a hearing, were willing it accept an order of abatement and here we are with the other neighbor, still not cooperating. i would really hope you don't back this rehearing. thank you. >> we have to resolve the

request for a continuance of the rehearing request before you reach -- am i correct that she asked for a continuance? and we need to know does the department concur, are they okay with that request for a continuance? i think no is what i'm hearing but we need to clarify that and if the department were to agree to a continuance, then the president and secretary could grant it beforehand. but you haven't ruled on the continuance request yet. >> my understanding is this is a request for a rehearing. you already at the last hearing rendered a decision. >> yesterday her firm sent a letter requesting a continuance as she has another matter. >> on the agenda today what i read is a rehearing request. >> yes, my understanding is she's requested a continuance of the rehearing request.

>> before we discuss the request for a rehearing and a continuance, may i ask what is the status of the abatement order now that a request for a rehearing has been requested, so to speak? i mean, does that abatement process stop or does it continue on? >> once we received the rehearing request, we held off on recalling the order. >> recalled the order? >> yes, because the rehearing request came in within the required number of days so we're --. >> the clock stopped, in other words. >> we're stopped again, yeah, and you were good to actually give an additional 6 months. since that, furthermore now the only active permit has expired so we are regressing rather

than progressing. >> so what's before the commission initially, then, is the request for a continuance. >> hear public comment first or the appellant. >> i may address members of the board. i am the owner of this property, 1743 12th avenue. i came here alone today with the request from my attorney that she had conflict between the clients and was not able to come here today to present me. so i came asking to postpone this rehearing. i am asking, i am pleading, to please let me be represented by an attorney and it does make sense to postpone the hearing and i will tell you why. i am person who came in 2005 in

april to the building department asking to bring my neighbors, who are represented by an attorney, to the table to negotiate or talk how to fix the problem on the property line. i have plans here dated 2005, then dated 2006, 2008, filed permit 2010, which was suspended, then i have application dated 2011, november, and i have new request for yet another permit to be reviewed. and what i learned yesterday that i cannot have my permit reviewed by the planning or building department

because my neighbor very creatively requested discretionary review on one of my permits for this project and now it holds absolutely everything claiming -- planning is not able to comment or review my application because there is open discretionary review. so they are doing it for 7 1/2 years. i am pleading that you please postpone this hearing so that my lawyer can argue for me because i am too emotionally devastated, i can't argue, i can only plead. i understand the intent of abatement process is to enforce owners of properties to do the right thing. i am the one who came in 2005 with plans, with

engineers' work, all this 7 years i paid out of my pocket for all the engineers' work. one permit design for another. i have absolutely nothing because attorney for my neighbor is very creative and he works the system really well. >> thank you. can you just state your name? >> my name is alla dubrovsky and i am owner of record. >> i just wanted to confirm. thank you. >> commissioners. >> so your attorney couldn't make it today?

>> the hearing was scheduled on very short notice and she has conflict between clients, so --. >> didn't you request the rehearing? >> yes. >> but she couldn't make it. >> she couldn't make it because another hearing, she has to appear in court where it's impossible to cancel. she has more than one client. >> you understand, have you attended any of the past hearings? >> not all of them but, yes, i attended some of them. >> commissioners, i see here that the request for rehearing was received on october 5th and i was just checking my emails right now and it seems it me that we discussed rescheduling this meeting to today on

october 3rd. so when you submitted it, i'm sure we must have told you that the date of the hearing was today. isn't that correct? would that be --. >> no, when we submitted the request for rehearing we didn't know when the rehearing will be scheduled for. i understand the process we ask for a hearing and whenever it's possible to put my case into this is where it goes. i don't know the process. >> one of the questions why, you know, i asked, you know, had you attended the hearings, can you tell me so i can understand basically last hearing that we had here what a lot of the commissioners' comments were about this? >> i believe i attended hearing in april or in may and

it was posted because during this time, since 2008, 2008, this is when my attorney filed lawsuit against the neighbors to be able to bring them to some kind of talk to have a decision made how to fix the problem. after that we had settlement in august 2010 where they agreed to set of plans, which is here. they caused to suspend it later. then we had two more mediations after settlement and we had arbitration in january, 2012 and another arbitration is scheduled for next monday the 29th. you can see i am trying

out of my mind anything and everything to have this fixed. my license is suspended, i can't work, and it goes nowhere and as i learned yesterday, i can't even have my plans reviewed. they are here. i would be happy if we can build it. i can give the city my plans from my engineer. build it. and then assess the costs to the properties. >> i think it's most unfortunate that somebody did file a discretionary review given the history of animosity between the two parties. i thought we were told last meeting that there was going to be some progress on this. so unfortunately we don't have anybody here from the neighbor's property to discuss

this, these -- he opted not to speak. so that's unfortunate but that doesn't change the fact i thought we gave a very, in fact we debated up here a month ago about giving 3 months or 6 months and we all agreed 6 months was appropriate and should still be enough. i don't quite follow from the letter why the decision we made was somehow detrimental to you as opposed to the other property owner. >> because the intent of abatement process, intent of this, it's a penalty for the home owner who doesn't want to do the right thing. i am trying to do the right thing for 7 1/2 years with plans, with reviews, with communications with building department constant. they all know my face. and i can't do anything. so why penalty would

be --. >> what is the penalty? i don't follow. i want to follow, but i can't. >> well, that's why i'm asking for my attorney to be here because i am not a proper judge, i can't argue, i can only cry here. >> so the matter before us is to --. >> well, i guess the first thing is to whether we should debate the request for a continuance. i have a feeling we shouldn't, simply that the appellant is here. she is here. she appealed this or she requested the rehearing and she is here. i don't think it's our responsibility that her support staff or her representative, her attorney, is not here. it's not our problem. >> i'm sorry. if i understand it correctly, janet, we would have to rule on the continuance

issue first. >> that's correct. >> before we can take up whether or not we should be rehearing this matter, because we may not -- so we, by definition, have to tackle that if we want to get to the real issue, which is whether or not we want to rehear it. >> right. and the difficulty is going to be if you deny the request for continuance. >> uh-huh. >> then the party, then there is no continuance, then the rehearing is on for today and then the appellant is going to have to present the grounds for rehearing without council. and i think that might be a problem. i mean, i completely understand the predicament that puts you in, but she is represented by council. unfortunately you have the request for continuance 24 hours ago. how much notice did she have

that it was happening today and we get the request yesterday? i think that's very problematic. on the other hand, you are going to force her to present her case without her lawyer and i think that's difficult. >> i have another question. how could she have requested this on such short notice for us because i thought we were very clear at our last meeting that we gave them an extension until december, and that was last month. >> i'm sorry, can i interrupt one second? sonia has corrected me. still, she would have to present her case for why she should get rehearing. it's still the same problem that you are putting her in a position of having to present a case without her chosen counsel. >> she requested this a long time ago, this hearing, not 24

hours. is that what you are correcting? that's what i'm confused about. >> she requested rehearing. >> in october, early october. >> i'm saying she requested this continuance of this matter, of the rehearing request, yesterday is my understanding. >> so basically if we are to understand the testimony that's been offered to us here, her lawyer just told her 72 hours ago that she could not appear here today because of conflicting issues, even though she would have known since october 27. >> 5th. >> 5th, excuse me. >> i'm sorry, we're just trying to get our dates straight here. then no problem. >> so we're not exactly sure when she got the notice that the hearing was today, but it would have been at least 10 days ago.

>> good job. >> on october 9th. >> may i? my understanding is that my attorney was trying to communicate with the department that she has timing conflict between the clients and can't attend today. last week she was in the building department and also i know she was in the building department on monday, two days ago, and yesterday. she was trying to communicate to this board that we would -- she can't represent me today and she started doing it a week ago, at least last week. >> i would like to put a motion that we do not continue

this. six months is quite enough time. and if we find the discretionary review is holding things up after 6 months we re-evaluate it at that time, but i agree with the department this has taken up a lot of our time already and we just move on. anybody want to offer --. >> i second that. >> call the question. >> is there public comment on the motion? if you have public comment you can come forward. >> i'm catherine roberts, i don't need 3 minutes. i don't know if it's appropriate for me to be saying that right now, but that brief notice for rescheduling a month earlier when the hearing was originally scheduled at the end of november, has been

unbelievablely problematic for me. >> i thought on the decision whether to give her a continuance because i think, did her hearing just get bumped up from december 21st to today ?oo . >> no, it did not. >> okay, i retract that. >> is there any additional public comment? seeing none, there is a motion on the floor to not grant the continuance, and a second. call the roll call vote. (roll called). >> the motion passes 5-1. next