oh you're on mute
girl i hate it when i do that do you agree to wait the reading of the refusal and stipulate
to its accuracy yes i do have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax
compliance a copy of the refusal or referral photos under plans of the property five days in
advance of this meeting and have you met with the RCO and do you have a letter? Yes, with one small
caveat. With respect to the RCO, we did reach out to them. They did have a meeting which they held
without our attendance. However, they did issue a letter of support which was submitted with my
exhibit packet. Okay, great. You may proceed and begin by sharing your screen.
can you see my screen yes yes we're fine let's see here here it is okay all right so um i've uh
as i indicated i submitted my exhibit packet uh which includes a notice of refusal of our
application of appeal to this board completed project information deed confirming ownership
tax clearance certificate, as well as the notice to the RCO surrounding neighbors,
our letter of support from the RCO, as well as photographs of the zoning notice that was
posted on the property. This property is located at 4002 Ridge Avenue. It is bordered by the
train tracks on the south and is also located adjacent to laura hill cemetery
and across from the dobson hill apartments just bring up an aerial for you
just to give you okay here so here's the property just uh outlining it here
it runs down. This is Ridge Avenue. This over here is the Dobson Hill Apartment Building.
Property runs to the south, cuts across to the east, back down, and then is in this somewhat
triangular shape along the corner. Here's the rail line that is bordered to the south of it.
As you can see, this property was previously improved with an existing building. This
existing building has since been demolished. It was previously used as a warehouse. We did submit
We did submit photographs of the property itself. However, I will put those up as well. I apologize. Here they are. Just due to the unique configuration of the property, it is somewhat hard to get photographs of the site itself.
photographs of the property itself.
but this gives you a general sense of the street network around it.
This photograph shows the property to the left.
This property was actually previously approved back in February of 2020
to be used as a self-storage facility.
We did receive a zoning permit, which was issued in February of 2020.
um what is shown in front of you here is a copy of the site plan that was approved as you can see
the self-storage facility actually encompassed the entire property except for a small strip of
land that ran to the back along the railroad tracks and what was proposed as you can see in
the uh renderings here is they actually had along the entire first floor the ground floor
level was actually going to be parking spaces. So we were required to have 45 parking spaces,
which we did provide all 45. The gross floor area of the entire building was 90,000 square feet. We
had five bloating spaces and 10 bicycle spaces. So subsequent to obtaining the approvals,
an issue came to light which resulted in revising the floor plan. There were two things. One is
there's an undocumented PWD eight foot in diameter sewer line located on the property
which required a change in the foundation plan, which ran along the railroad tracks back in this
area. But then also looking at this particular use, it was really identified that 45 spaces
was excessive for this type of use, given the daily traffic that you see for a self-storage
facility. So self-storage facilities such as this typically see approximately eight to 10 visitors
per day and really has a limited amount of traffic that comes in. What the owner is proposing to do
at this time, I'm going to zoom in here for you. We are maintaining the exact same footprint of
the building that was previously proposed on the site so it would still encompass the entire
property except for a small strip of land back in here. I'm actually going to show you the next
slide. It's a little bit easier to see in a colored rendering here. So here you'll see
the yellow is actually a new concrete sidewalk that's being installed, a small strip of green
space in the back, and then the colored area is the building footprint. What they're proposing
is the area here that is speckled which was previously approved as the 45 parking spaces
is now being converted in this area to the right it's going to be a fitness center and to the left
this area here will be additional storage spaces we will maintain parking along the front in this
area there's also an office area and then here what we're having what we're proposing is
seven parking spaces where 45 would be required. We are also proposing four loading spaces at this
time, and we've also increased the number of bicycle parking spaces. 10 is required. We're
actually increasing that to 20. Just a little bit of a background here. The fitness center,
the operator of that actually was previously a tenant of this building prior to it being
demolished. He was relocated to another location within the community and has expressed an interest
in moving back to this location. So it is a fitness center that has continued to operate in
this community and serves the community. We've increased the number of bicycle parkings or
bicycle racks to accommodate users of that fitness center.
So we are requesting a variance. Because of the conversion of this area, the gross floor area has
increased to approximately 96,667 square feet. Due to that increase, 49 parking spaces are required.
Due to that increase, 49 parking spaces are required.
However, we do receive a credit for the number of bike spaces being provided, which brings
it down to a requirement of 45.
As indicated, we are proposing seven based on this type of use and our experience with
this type of use in similar areas.
We're also asking for a variance to allow one compact parking space.
The zoning code requires that a certain number of parking spaces be provided before you can propose compact parking spaces.
The previously approved site plan actually had nine compact spaces that were proposed, so we are still proposing to keep one.
And then we're also asking for a variance to reduce the number of loading spaces from five down to four.
So in our experience, based on this type of use, and I'm actually going to show you a floor plan
here. Here's the floor plan of what it would look like here. Here's the parking spaces
that we're proposing. This would be the storage. As I indicated, this would be the fitness center.
Again, previously, this entire area was proposed as parking. And having excessive parking in this
type of building. Again, it's covered. This type of use does not require this number of parking.
It creates a very large underutilized area that could create potential for trespassers
or other nuisances having this area remain vacant. By revising the footprint, we're now
still allowing to have sufficient number of parking spaces to accommodate this type of use,
as well as allow for a reasonable use of the property.
We don't believe that this would have an adverse impact on the surrounding area.
In fact, we think that this conversion will benefit the community by bringing the gym back in here,
allowing for additional storage space while still meeting the demands of this use.
You just want to bring it down just so you can see.
Here's the revised elevations.
So, again, this is, here's the entrance into the garage, the front door area, and then over here would be the gym.
And then we also have the, let's see if I can make this larger for you.
And then this is also a rendering of what the building would look like.
so again we do believe that hardship exists due to the characteristics of the property
and the location of the undocumented sewer line which did require a revision to the foundation
plan as well as the excessive requirement in parking for this type of use which generates a
very low traffic volume each day so we are requesting the variants that are before you
this afternoon. I do have two witnesses here. Matt Witters, who is the engineer on the project
that I'd like to call, as well as John Manley, who is a representative of the owner.
Okay, start with the engineer first.
Matt, can you raise your hand so you can be admitted?
Mr. Witters, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
hi could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
sure my name is matt whiters it is m-a-t-t-h-e-w-w-i-t-t-e-r-s all right do you swear
affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do proceed
uh mr whiters you were here uh during the statements that i just presented
that's correct and were you personally involved in the preparation of the zoning plans that were
shown to the board today i was yes and had you uh testified today yourself would you agree to accept
my statements as your own testimony yes i would i have no further questions for mr widders thank you
And were you here this afternoon during the statements I just presented?
I was.
And have you been involved in this project since it was previously approved in 2020 and now with the proposed revisions to the plan?
That's correct.
And had you testified today, would you adopt the statements I made as your own testimony?
I would.
I have no further questions for Mr.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Chair, I see no hands at this time.
Planning Commission.
Good afternoon, Chair.
Peter Bernard for the Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning to CMX 2.5 commercial mixed use
and has not yet been remapped.
We feel the applicant has failed to demonstrate a hardship as any hardships were removed
when the previous building was demolished.
Accordingly, the Planning Commission recommends the Board to manage the variance.
MI 2022-003-458-4002-22 Ridge Avenue.
At 4002-22 Ridge Avenue, I vote yes.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
thank you counsel thank you very much
so so why don't we take a five minute break give our court reporter a little break we'll come back
in five o'clock and then we'll go through the 3 30 list okay thank you everyone mr chair can we
just make sure that there's no one here we didn't miss anybody on the two o'clock list anyone is
Is there anyone left from the 2 p.m. schedule?
That case has not been heard.
I see no hands at this time, Chair.
Thank you, everybody.
See you shortly.
Thank you, Chair.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Okay, Chair, we're ready when you are.
Thank you.
I'm going to mute here.
everyone good
no i i don't know
miss sunket this is john kelly uh you your voice is very faint for some reason it is
um that's better he sounds better better okay lakeisha
Okay, LaKeisha? Oh, okay. Bill? I'm ready. Okay. Sounds good, Pauline. You can record. Thank you all.
oh okay
Okay, you're ready to go, Chair. Okay, thank you.
Good afternoon. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this afternoon's ZBA hearings.
With me is Carol Tenere, our vice chair.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Ismail Shahid, our board secretary.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Thomas Holliman, our board member.
He should be on shortly.
And James Snell, our board member.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Excuse me, Mr. Chairman.
I'm present.
Sure, that's fine.
I have you, Thomas.
Thank you.
Also, our Executive Director, Tanya Sunkit, and our Board Attorney, Hilary Emerson, is here.
Here's our virtual format.
Be advised that proceedings are being recorded by participating in a knowledge agreement to be recorded.
A video will be available by contacting tanyasunkit at phil.gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you are participating by phone, if you wish to testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548.
Leave your email and the address of the property in question.
And finally, the question and answer box on the screen is not for comments or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sunken.
Let's look at continuances that we have on this afternoon's list.
Number three, MI 2022-002-344-400 East Allegheny Avenue.
That case is continued.
Number four, MI 2022-003-880-5015 Cedar Avenue, that case is continued.
Number five, MI 2021-003-878-6019-35 North 5th Street, that case is continued.
And number nine, MI-2022-002851-2328 West Natrona Street, that case is continued.
Does anyone have any comments about those four cases that I've just listed for continuance?
here we have someone with the telephone number ending in looks like nine two three five okay
caller with the telephone number ending in nine two three five please unmute yourself and wait
for the chair hi could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
hi i was uh my name is stewart levin i was coming on for the meeting mi2022
wait one minute do you swear firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth