is the rear of the property Hope Street looking north looking south again the
rear of the property this is the front of the properties you can see it's right
here in the shadows of the L, you know, the Market Frankfurt Street line.
So, and then finally, we had submitted a copy of our contract with Ziente, which is here.
and so so what's what's important here is um what my client has done is they've spent about
twenty thousand dollars and the real concerns here with the um with just the use in general
my client wants to be a good name they they spent a lot of time here um on insulating the building
for sound. So they spent about $17,000 on a roll-up door. There's a garage door in the back,
but that was a special door that would be used in something like a sound studio
so that noise wouldn't be going to the rear. They also upgraded all the windows for another $10,000.
And so there's been really no expense spared here with making sure that noise isn't leaving
the property. And then the second issue was traffic. What are you going to do here if you're
having a wedding? And as I said before, the client's initial response was, we'll use the
valet vendor we use. And we've worked to rent this lot, which is just, again, it's about a block
northeast, or I'm sorry, northwest, so that we can have off-street parking. We can also use valet.
But with that, I believe that we meet all of the legal requirements here for a special exception, because this use will not impact the neighborhood beyond what would normally be expected by this use.
Here, we're right in the shadows of the L.
We happen to be on the same block as a station here.
So public transit will be very, very easy.
Yeah, my client has found pretty much anyone is either in the neighborhood walking or they're taking the L anyway.
There isn't an issue here with overcrowding of the land.
We already have a CO here for about 265 people.
And the other issues just don't apply here.
There's no issue with impairing the flow of light and air to adjacent properties.
There's no issue with burdening the water sewer park, et cetera.
And this is not going to harm any of the adjacent properties.
And again, we come here with the RCO support.
I just want to call my client.
If he can raise his hand, please, Craig McBain.
Craig McBain, please accept the promotion to panelists.
Good morning.
Good morning, sir.
Could you please, Craig, could you turn your video on?
How do I do?
Oh, here we go.
Yeah, I got it.
All right.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Could you please state your name is spelled for the sonographer?
Yes. My name is Craig McBain, C-R-A-I-G-M-A-C-B-A-I-N.
My name is Craig McBain.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Craig, just very briefly, what's your connection to the property?
So we own the property and we have a restaurant there, Starbolt, and I'm a third owner of Starbolt.
Terrific.
And did you hear my testimony today?
And was it true, correct, and accurate?
Yes, it was.
And you adopted as your own?
I do, yes.
And that's all I have.
I know you're probably behind schedule, so I'm trying to move as quickly as I can, Mr.
All right.
Questions from the board.
Question.
You said that you had put in all this soundproofing, but you're up against the L.
So why are we doing the soundproofing and how does music, who is complaining about the noise?
Thank you.
Thank you for the question.
So initially in the build out, it was important to me.
It was the back end of it.
It wasn't the front under Front Street.
I was on Hope Street.
And this is before we even opened.
it was really important to be good neighbors and i did not want any any complaints or anything
you know and if i could it's easier to do it before when you're planning and you're building
it out then doing it after so it was investment that that we um that we thought it was not only
appropriate but was the right thing to do and i actually personally i actually live right there
two blocks away so i'm part of the community there and i know all the neighbors so that's
another reason why it was a good idea okay and so then you said i i thought you said you have a
co for like 265 people what are you what are you doing there now is it a restaurant
yeah it's a restaurant yeah we have you know we'll do some eagles games and we'll do some you
know um just some parties or whatever you know during the the weekends but we'd like to do
occasional weddings and bar mitzvahs or you know graduation parties so that's what the uh special
exception is for so you can have events if you will correct okay and you okay all right thank
you other questions questions or comments from our attorney not at this time mr chair comments
from the virtual audience? Yes, Chair, we have one hand up. Nilda Pimento will be promoted
to panelists. Sure. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning.
Hi, could you please, Nilda, could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer?
Good morning, all.
N-I-L-D-A.
The last name is Pimentel.
P-I-M-E-N-T-E-L.
Nilda, could you turn your video on?
Is that possible?
Hold on.
Let me see.
Okay, great.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Are you a neighbor?
I'm a neighbor, but I also chair the NASCAN RCO, the coordinating RCO on the zoning committee.
Please start your testimony.
Yes. As it was mentioned by the attorney, this application was actually originally considered back in March of 2024.
And at that time, the application was not endorsed, and we did send a letter to the zoning board on, I believe it was in April of 2004, stating that although at the moment we were not able to approve the application or support the application,
application uh nevertheless we were open willing to reconsider the application provided that the
applicant uh produce a parking plan and secure a parking plan as a matter of fact we in good faith
continued conversations with the applicant and connected them to a local not-for-profit that
has a parking space that could accommodate more than 50 cars finally after negotiations they were
cars. Finally, after negotiations, they were able to enter into an agreement. Once they
able to enter into an agreement
submitted to us proof that the agreement was executed, we scheduled another Sony meeting
that was held this past June. Before doing that, we went back to the neighbors on the block
because there is at least four senior citizens that have been living in the block for
over 35 years, so we wanted to consult with them, and none of them
stated any opposition to supporting their application. We also asked them whether
they've had any complaints, issues regarding the noise or double parking in that very narrow street,
and they stated that at that time
that they didn't have any problems
and we scheduled a Sunday meeting
and it was approved
and all the documents were submitted to you
I think at the beginning of July.
All right, Nilda, thank you very much
for your detailed testimony
and we appreciate you getting on the phone.
Is there anyone else in the audience?
I see no hands.
planning commission thank you chairman and board members good morning david fecto with the city
planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the cmx 2.5 commercial
mixed use zoning at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 2021 and a community
supported map change the appellant has shown that the proposed use will not cause detrimental
impacts to the neighborhood beyond what might be expected the city planning commission
recommends the board grant a proposed special exception for assembly and entertainment.
Thank you. MI 2024, 00502, 1936 North Front Street, I vote yes.
Bill Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tinetto Graham, my vote is yes.
Brian McAdams, my vote is yes.
Iowa, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
Number three, MI 2024, 002-617-3230 Belgrade Street.
David Orfanides is the attorney.
This is a resumptive hearing.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Good morning.
Good morning, counsel. Could you please state your name and spell it for our court reporter? I'm sorry.
Certainly, certainly. David Orfanides, last name is spelled O-R-P-H-A-N-I-D-E-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, told the truth, nothing but the truth?
Mr. Orfanides, this is a resumptive hearing, but could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
Certainly. My client is Best Choice Ventures, V-E-N-T-U-R-E-S, LLC, the owner of the subject property, 3230 Belgrade Street.
Right. And my understanding is, as a resumptive hearing, what we're going to do with this is you will give us an update on the last hearing.
We'll have questions from the board and the council. We'll have public testimony limited to the information you provide today and planning commission.
But we are going to hold the vote on this. Am I correct, Hillary?
So, actually, Mr. Chair, we did receive the amended refusal, so Mr. Orphanides can go through that as part of his presentation, and we are able to vote today based on that. Thank you.
Thank you. So, start your presentation, please.
Certainly. Let me, if I may share my screen.
and last this okay um again uh the property in question is uh 3230 belgrade street um the
property was once part of the nativity blessed virgin mary roman catholic church property which
included a church, a rectory, a convent, um, and a school. The school was, uh, demolished some time
ago. Um, and you can see here is the property. So you have the church, the rectory, here's the
convent. This is, uh, well, the convent and then where the school was, uh, was just a gravel parking
area parking lot my client the property was subdivided my client purchased the convent
property which had a garage a one-story garage with access off of the street here along up along this
with access off of the street here along this way, and then had a smokestack on it.
And then also acquired this property where the school used to be, that was the parking area.
Our property here is 3230.
My client has gone ahead and secured by right approval for a number of single-family dwellings
that front on this back street, East Madison Street, that have a common driveway.
And I'll show you on a plan that kind of come along the back of the properties along this property line of the property that we're here for today, 3230 Belgrade Street.
Well, this application is to utilize or repurpose the convent that you see here again.
And that's shown and you can see the front of the picture right here.
And then convert that convent into a 12-unit multifamily dwelling with some minor alterations to this structure, enclosing some open areas at the ground floor and some egress ways.
The other part of the project, again, going back to the aerial images, was to take down the one-story garage and build a four-story two-family dwelling.
So when we went to the community group ProPAC, we were presenting four units, reusing two off-street parking spaces, and the community wanted us to provide one-to-one parking.
And luckily, and I'll show you the original plans, here are the original zoning plans.
and here you can see the single family dwellings on east madison street to the side
and here you can see the existing convent the garage that was being converted into the two
family dwelling with the two car parking and luckily um with since my client owned all of
these and they're presently under construction the single family dwellings that had to share drive
And because of, we were fortunate enough, because of the distance between the rectory and the common property line, we were able to put in and squeeze 12 off-street parking spaces that you'll see here.
And these are the plans that have been reviewed and approved by the Planning Commission, meeting the landscape requirements with certain waivers being granted.
And you can see here that we've put in 12 parking spaces, including one ADA space.
That was the one condition that ProPAC wanted to see in order to gain their support.
We do have a letter of support from them as well as a letter of support from Councilmember Driscoll's office that you either have received or I've forwarded along through the portal.
And it's included in my exhibits today, which I'll submit the full package after our hearing.
So with that, you know, we were able to secure their support or at least comply with the criteria, the provisos that they wanted to see met in order to have their support.
But in putting the parking along this side, it triggered a number of refusals.
And I can show you those.
And those are right here.
Well, here's the original notice of refusal.
The original notice of refusal was using this RSA, this very large RSA 5 property with this existing older structure.
The church itself is designated historic, but the rectory is not.
But it is it's a beautiful building. Again, you can see it in the pictures here.
And it's my client. And we mentioned at the last hearing has experience in taking these beautiful convent buildings and restoring them.
and adaptively reusing them as multifamily dwellings.
He has one on, I showed pictures the last time at the last hearing of,
oops, that's not the one.