It's adjoining to this building on the left, which is a separate structure fronting on Oxford.
And this vacant lot to the right in the photo is also a separate property, separate from this.
So we're just talking about this single-story structure.
And then there's the inside of the garage, pretty straightforward.
He's got his Lyft in there, and he services cars there.
This is the signage we posted, zoning notice.
And this is the letter of support from Brewery Town Shoreswood Community Association that we met with.
um and they just asked that no vehicles on the sidewalk obstructing the pedestrian walkway which
is not something we were doing and not something we will do that's not a problem at all
to add that in and here's the support and the vote count um so i think it's pretty straightforward
that you know ongoing use of a of a existing long existing uh auto garage at this address
seeking a variance
to continue that use
with the support of the RCO
and if I may
Mr. Johnson
be elevated
and escalated to adopt
my testimony and
see if there's any other questions from the board
he told me he was on his phone
and I explained to
hit star 9 to raise his hand
I think is that the way they do it
the client's name Mr. Johnson yes yes Keith Johnson he's on a spell
you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair thank you
Mr. Johnson could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
keith johnson k-e-i-t-h-j-o-h-n-s-o-n right do you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth and nothing but the truth yes i do thank you mr johnson were you able to hear the testimony
i offered today to the board yes and was it correct and accurate and would you adopt it as
your own yes thank you sir mr chair that's that's the presentation we're just asking for variance
questions from the board no mr chair no mr chairman from the virtual
i see bill he is at this time chair planning commission
planning commission ron betnar city planning this property is indicated for residential
use on the city plan our adopted district plan recommends no change to the existing
residential multi-family zoning dislocation the applicant's hardship is not supported with
evidence of unique physical circumstances or conditions of the property that would prevent
it from being used in conformity with the code this part of brewery town is trending residential
with at least 14 row houses built within the last several years within 200 feet of this site
an auto repair shop is incompatible with the surrounding development use pattern
Therefore, we recommend the Quest for Variance to not be granted.
If I may, just briefly, if I'm still sharing my screen,
this end of the block towards Oxford is actually more industrial in nature.
That's the rear of a large project with this access,
and this is a large electrical liquidator.
electrical liquidator um so uh and this is that large uh lot next door to this property so
um the fact that this garage has been in existence for uh over over two decades from what i can tell
is a bit of a hardship in that uh mr johnson would have to knock down his garage and build
residential to comply with the code thank you for that okay mi 2021 002904 1535 north stillman street
um i vote yes and council parking on a payment is not an enforceable proviso am i right
I'm here, sorry. I was trying to get to my unmute button.
Okay, good. So it's just I vote yes, period.
My vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
ishmael shaheed my vote is yes as well mi 2021 zero zero three seven six three
2402 north marston street darlene threat
rco on north penn community action community meeting zero to eight opposed
chair miss three is coming back in now as a panelist
Ms. Treek, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
commissioner can you hear me yeah i i hear you i hear you now you were you're muted could you
state your name and spell for the court reporter please sure darlene three darlene three and
Associates, LLC, D-A-R-L-E-N-E, T as in Thomas, H-R-E-A-T-T as in Thomas.
Right.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Hi, Ms. Thurich.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
It appears that you've submitted all the required documents.
Is that correct?
Yes, it is.
you may proceed. Thank you. Thank you.
Can you see my screen? Yes. Thank you.
Sorry about that.
Here we go.
My screen seems to be frozen.
it's moving slow
commissioners uh i submitted a presentation a package which can uh has several exhibits the
first i won't go over them all but the first one is the refusal uh we were refused um because this
is the rsa 5 zoning district district and the rsa 5 zoning district only allows for a single family
Our application is to legalize an existing multifamily dwelling. It is currently a two-family dwelling.
Commissioners, I'm going to scan down very quickly. I'm going to start off with the pictures.
I'd like you to take a look at the structure. This is the two-family dwelling that we like to
use as a two-family dwelling. I'd like you to note by looking at the picture how there are,
This is 2402 Marston.
We probably have about three or four parcels to this side, which are vacant.
We have three or four parcels to this side, which is also vacant.
I just want to show you a bevy of pictures so you can understand how this is a very unpopulated housing block.
You can see this area is fenced, and over here also, it's just vacant lots.
You can see this area is fenced, and over here also, it's just a vacant lot.
I'm going to scan down a little to additional pictures.
You can see on the same side of this block here, there's another four or five vacant parcels.
There has been no new construction on this block.
I confirmed it with a near neighbor who I actually have a letter from for at least 10 years.
There are many, many, many missing houses on this block. Here's another large parcel across
the street. It has to be maybe six or eight units that were previous there that were knocked down
and never redeveloped. I'm just going to scan down a little more and show you some additional areas
of the block. Here we go again further down on the same side of the street here where you have a large
empty vacant lot here. This is a block that hasn't had any new development in many many years. I'm
going to show you an overhead picture of the block so you can see all the vacancies, all the
empty lots on the block. This is actually my client structure here. You can see empty lots,
empty lots, empty lots, huge empty lots, empty lots, huge empty lots here on this block.
This block is uniquely filled with just mainly two family dwellings. There hasn't been any new
construction for a three family dwelling or a new house in this area in many, many
many, many years. And I would submit to the board here is the area is really no longer
suitable for single family houses here, which is why there are no two-story single family
houses which have been built here in many, many years. Mr. Coulter purchased this property
in 2019, he indicated to me that it was already set out as a two-family dwelling, and he finished
the completion of a two-family dwelling, and he rented it out to either students or individuals
in the neighborhood at what we call lower than market rate. There are two one-bedroom apartments
in here, and they rent for $750 and $850, which we all know is out of the range in these areas
these days, which effectively means that persons in the neighborhood can't really live in the newer
developments in the area. I'm going to scan down to the plan now, and I'm just going to reduce it
a little so you can see the whole plan. But as you can see, it's a very simple structure.
It's just a two-story dwelling. We didn't try to put a third story on it that if we had a setback,
of course we could do as a matter of right. We didn't try to jam many bedrooms in here
or many people in here. The rear of the property has a deck and this is just the site plan for the
property as it exists currently. If I scroll down a little further, I'd like to just show you the
floor plan. It's a very, very simple floor plan here. No use of the basement, just utility zone.
The first floor is a simple, nice size between about 450, 480.
It's just a one bedroom apartment, a one bathroom apartment, which allows a single person from this community to still stay a part of this community.
The second floor is pretty much a similar layout.
You have the one bedroom in the back. You have the bathroom. You have the living room, a kitchen area here.
um there weren't many many um residents on this block but we did circulate a petition and
I'm gonna just slow it up a little bit there are only two houses near this property one is
adjacent to it which is 24 08 Marston and one is across the street which is 24
17 Marston those are the only two houses that are near this property and neither of the uh
residents there have a problem with the use of the property or how the property has been used.
We did notice the neighborhood. We did have a community meeting. Again, we attended the
community meeting. And here is the, of course, the certificate of mailing for that meeting.
I also just wanted to show you an additional piece of information that wasn't in my package.
I actually did canvass the neighborhood, and I did talk to some of the neighbors.
In particular, I spoke to Ms. Joyce Weathers, who really gave me...
In particular, I spoke to Ms. Joyce Weathers, who really gave me some background on the community.
She said she lived in the area for 30 years, that that property that Mr. Coulter renovated had been an ISO in the community for 10 years or more.
Her letter also indicates there's been no new development on that block in the 15 years, in at least the past 15 years.
She did indicate that some houses have been renovated and that there were illegal two-family dwellings in this block.
Commissioners, I would submit to you, Mr. Coulter came to the board on his own.
He didn't have any violations.
He's not trying to put 10 pounds of sugar in a five-pound bag.
He's only asking for one additional unit.
And with that, Mr. Coulter, I'm sure, is on the line and can answer any questions.
And I'd be more than happy to answer any questions about the project and or the plan.
Mr. Coulter, if you're on the line, please raise your virtual hand.
Mr. Coulter you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair
Mr. Coulter could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
first name William last name Coulter C-O-U-L-T-E-R right Mr. Coulter I'm sorry do you swear
to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes Mr. Coulter have you heard
my testimony as I presented it here today? Yes. Do you consider it to be true? Yes. Mr. Coulter,
are you actually from this neighborhood? Yes. And what was your purpose and point in buying
the property and developing it? A lot of these neighborhoods are being redeveloped and gentrified
and a lot of people in the neighborhoods are being priced out of the neighborhoods.
So I wanted to provide a place where people have the chance to stay in the neighborhood, not be priced out, and still be a part of the new regentrification that's going on in the neighborhood.
And Mr. Colter, did you have an opportunity to talk to your near neighbors of 2402 North Marston?
And did they all support your project?
Yes, they did.
They was actually very happy that somebody came into the neighborhood and was helping fix it up.
And as a result, a lot of them actually started also fixing their properties up, which they were going to do, but, you know, just gave them a little incentive to move a little faster.
Thank you, Mr. Colton.
Board, I have no additional information and more than happy to answer any questions that you may have at this time.
Thank you.
Questions from the board.
Yes, Mr. Chairman.
Councilor, do you have any comments on why the RCA voted zero and eight opposed?
Yes, I do. I really do.
In these neighborhoods, and I go to the neighborhoods now all over the city with these RSA 5 designation and the community,
Some of them insist on all the new development or the redevelopment being single-family residences.
As I stated earlier, it's like an old thought.
They think the neighborhood's really going to come back, that it's just going to be a single-family neighborhood.
But if you look at the actual facts, you look at the pictures, you look at the circumstances of development on Marston Street, there is no new development.
There hasn't been any new development, and nobody's building new houses.
there has to be 20 vacant plots or more on that block. And most of the houses that no longer
exist there were in such disrepair that they were actually demolished and they haven't been
replaced. So just as a community thought, they're used to the single families. They want the single
families to return. And it was a matter of principle, not necessarily our particular
development. Our development is a good development. It's the shining star on the block. It's a
well-maintained, and it's encouraged others on that particular block to spruce up and maybe put
out planters, et cetera, as my client did when he developed that. It was the community's thought
that they just want single family or nothing, and that's why they were proposed.
Thank you.
Other questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Chair, we have someone by the name of Odessa Tate.
Chair, we have someone by the name of Odessa Tate.
Ms. Tate, you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Ms. Tate, you can unmute yourself.
Hi, Ms. Tate.
Ms. Tate, could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please?
Ms. Tate, unmute yourself, please.
Hi, could you state your name, please?
Ms. Tate, do you have a mute button on your device?
There you go.
She's ready for you, Chair.
State your name, please, and spell it for the court reporter.