I want to go to.
All right.
Well, it comes up.
it hasn't come up yet
you got something
on the bottom
you click on there
open it up now
your exhibits right yes yes sir
start scrolling now okay
do you want me to comment about the exhibits or this we know what that is we will tell you
okay okay the application for appeal
We have that?
I have your tax clearance.
We see that.
This is the mailings you did before the hearing, right?
Yes, sir.
the ring was continued proceed
hold on right there so that's your drawings why do you why do you comment on this
yes that's that's the um that's the inside and outside of what the restaurant looks like
do you have photos too yes i have photos i think let's see the photos
okay i should be on part two let me scroll down this is the deed here probably last year
okay i was operation some of the photos from last year from sending the letters the letters out
um some of the some of the people some of the neighbors i got to sign this time around okay
um receipt from the letters i sent again for the second time for the rco meeting
all right open up part uh two
should have photos
okay here right here that's the original listing when i bought the property
um it used to be a daycare
here is how it looks now
which is basically the same
for the most part
the sign has changed
posted zoning
notice on the door
this photo here
is from across the street
from the side view
of the building
another side view
from across the street
from the side
the side one of the cleaning rooms
this is the front door when you first walk in
this is a better picture
this is the front door here
this is like what would be the takeout area
here, and the window where people would order their food would be there.
and the window where people would order their food would be there.
Another clear picture of
the front entrance.
This is behind the entrance, where the window would be.
This is the key area.
Two bathrooms, back office, kitchen area here.
Another area of the kitchen, same area, prep area there, back door from the kitchen, inside the kitchen.
Mr. Haley, what happened when you went to the RCO meeting?
Twice no neighbors participated, came to the meetings.
No one came to the meeting, you're saying?
Yes, sir.
did you get a letter from them no i did get some signatures um no did you get a letter from the
community meeting i get a letter from them yeah no it says letters of opposition came from oakland
western community coalition no i never received a letter from them okay how about the council
person's office you have a letter from them no okay
so i i guess the issue is you fitted the place out before you had the zoning is that right you
changed the sign that's the only thing i changed with the sign everything else was there okay but
i mean there was a kitchen there before when there was a yes yes it was um that's what made
you buy the property actually it was um they redid the kitchen in 2020 okay all right um
okay um also um would i be able to speak on my behalf or yeah yeah you can speak right now oh
okay okay and i had another person uh tonio hatch that wanted to speak on my behalf someone that
was helping me out as well with this process well when i i'm i'm going to open it up to the audience
later he can talk okay i'm sorry why don't you give it give me your rest of what what you want
to tell us okay um well what attracted me to the property was it was in the community um it already
had basically everything i needed i just had to change paint um things of that nature um when i
looked up the property when i bought it it stated that um at one time on the paperwork it was a food
place that serves hot and cold food. It also serves, it was a barbershop at one time and most
recently it was a daycare. So I figured I'd be able to turn it over to a family-friendly takeout
restaurant because it's a commercial building. It's basically there for business. And so when
I saw the property, I liked the vibe. I talked to a lot of people in the neighborhood and they
said it was a good thing, you know, for a takeout restaurant. It's basically a macaroni and cheese
shop that I'm trying to open up, family-friendly for, you know, different types of food, baked
foods, macaroni and cheese, things of that nature. And I thought it would be a great opportunity,
not only for myself and my family, but for the neighborhood to bring something
that's basically new and fresh to the neighborhood. And also, I want to say,
it's not a bar, it's not selling any alcohol beverages, it's not a club or anything like that,
It's just a macaroni and cheese shop that want to help them in the neighborhood, not only for myself and for to bring money to the city as well.
All right.
Questions or comments from the board?
Say it again.
No, I'm talking to the board.
I'm sorry.
Comments from the board.
questions or comments from the virtual audience
mr chair i have charles richardson with their hand raised i would love them to speak
good morning mr richardson please state your name and spell for the court stenographer
good morning mr chair charles richardson office of councilwoman cindy bass from 508 city hall
Richardson is spelled R-I-C-H-A-R-D-S-O-N. Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth? I do. Proceed, sir. Okay. So with clearing this up a
bit, there were two RCO meetings. The first RCO meeting was attended by two RCOs as well as
representatives of the a few representatives of the community at the culmination of that of that
At the culmination of that meeting, they decided to vote in opposition to opening the property up for retail, or for not so much retail, but for the restaurant.
meeting they decided to vote
uh citing the fact that across the street there is a another property that is a restaurant
that opens up on the weekends primarily and it already causes uh a lot of confusion in the area
with regard to parking and things along those lines uh that street is is is congested lime
kiln pike i myself travel that street practically every day uh on my way home in order to be
traffic from Ogons Avenue, and it's always congested, always having to zigzag and things
along those lines. The traffic is very heavy on the other portion of Lobkown Pike that it meets
up with, and they use similar to a speedway to a certain extent. It's just a little crazy around
that area. Mr. Haley had written to me after the RCO meeting because he had somebody that stayed
in the meeting saying that he didn't think he should be held accountable for another business.
But the problem is, you know, I don't think that he did the research in the community prior to
buying the property. The kitchen is a commercial kitchen now. It was not a commercial kitchen while
it was a daycare. So just to be plain, that is not the case. And we've had a second RCO meeting
Last week, unfortunately, as second RCO meetings often go, and, you know, especially in that area of the community, we got nobody there.
And we did ask that, well, we let him inform Mr. Haley that, you know, it being the 17th Ward's RCO, they were going to speak to the community, the committee people that represented that area as well.
That has occurred, and nobody seems to think that that's a good idea.
Mr. Haley presented to us, we asked him to present a petition to prove that he had community support.
And the petition that he submitted had 29 names, 19 of which had no addresses attached to it.
We asked him to go back and to get the addresses for these individuals.
He indicated that he had gotten the petition or circulated the petition a while ago, so he had no idea of who was actually there.
You know, who lived at what locations, you know, suggesting that we should research it using street lists and things along those lines, which, you know, we were going to do had he, you know, submitted a petition that had been a valid petition.
There are two names also that were disqualified because of the fact that they're not near neighbors, they don't live in the neighborhood.
So it's just a culmination of everything. The RCO felt that it would stick by its initial thought, which was to deny the variance, and the councilwoman supports that.
Thank you for your taking the time to call us in. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, Mr. Chair, I have Antonio Rich.
okay hi could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer
mr rich
hello good morning hi could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer
oh yes good morning my name is antonio last name is hatch h-a-t-c-h
swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing about the truth
Yes, I do.
Are you a neighbor?
No, I'm not.
Okay, proceed with your testimony.
Okay, I am one of the persons that assisted Mr. Haley with this petition, with his appeal, with the entire process, because I myself went through this process in its entirety from December 19 until I was approved through my hearing to open up my restaurant.
um what mr richardson just stated um along the lines is number one is that this bill as mr haley
clearly stated this building was only was specifically designed as a structure for
uh you know for commercial um use however um it was an incorrect statement that mr richardson made
that all the information all equipment that was in that building came along with the purchase
And if you look at the documents, it says commercial use building, which is zoned primarily for a daycare, a beauty center, et cetera, et cetera.
However, Mr. Penal, I'm sorry, Mr. Haley right now is indirectly being penalized because of another business across the street when his building is it's not a residential building.
But to speak, it's a lot of other things that that took place during this past year that Mr. Haley was not didn't have.
That Mr. Haley was not didn't have adequate assistance from the RCOs moving forward.
And every time he made efforts to try and reach out to the RCOs, no one gave him any assistance.
And it became very frustrating because for him to have to go back and do recertified males for 156 properties two times, two times.
and if you know um if we go back in the record and see that in jill in january when prior to
the only error that was made was that he failed to uh send the zoning board you guys the packet
within five days so it was delayed until today mr haley agreed to have a second meeting and go
through this whole entire process twice and right now but we never received any opposition letter
from Cindy Bass. We never received
any oppositional letters from
any neighbors. And when you give
a neighbor neighbors two times
the option to come and
appear at a hearing and
support or opposition,
he gave them two.
So, sir, sir, let me tell you where I
think we should be. Your testimony
should be telling us, do you
support this project?
Yes, I do. Absolutely, sir.
Yes, sir. Right. And you've
been working with Mr. Haley, you're saying?
Yes, I have.
And is your restaurant across the street?
No, my restaurant is in the northeast across from Father Judge High School.
All right.
All right.
Thank you very much for your testimony.
We appreciate you taking the time.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Chair, am I able to speak again?
Pardon me?
I'll give you.
Let me go.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
There are no further hands, sir.
Mr. Haley, you can address us.
Proceed.
For starters, to Mr. Richardson's point, that restaurant across the street is closed.
I ride past there at night all the time, on the weekends, and I have talked to neighbors about the restaurant across the street.
Mine is directly on the corner, which on the side is a whole lot of parking where there's no homes at.
And I stated, if I'm granted my variance, I'll be able to put an arrow to tell people to park on the side.
It's not a sit-in restaurant. It's a quick, almost like a fast food to a certain extent, restaurant that I'm trying to do.
As far as with the first RCO meeting we had, there was no vote ever taken, which I have to email here from Mr. Richardson.
And it pretty much stated that they wanted more, they wanted to garner more neighbor participation to consider.
That's why they said we asked them to do a continuance.
but my case got continued because it was my error I didn't send in the proper paperwork
to you to you guys so that's why my case got continued all right all right thank you um
planning commission excuse me Mr. Chair yeah I'm sorry to interrupt but Mr. Richardson has
his hand raised do you um want him to um another opportunity to speak sure understood
all right mr richardson proceed i am back again mr chair mr haley should check his email we