a rather large size lot. It was not single family to begin with. It was like a meeting hall of some
sorts. It's not out of character in the neighborhood. Again, on that street, there's a 47 unit senior
living facility there. The next refusal has to do with the positioning of the, or the size of
the roof deck. Again, the community wants outdoor space, and we gave it to them by way of a nice
outdoor area on the roof deck, which they appreciated. By the way, the other thing that
we did, which I failed to mention, is they wanted a community center in the apartment building
itself, which we did, again, for the occupants of the apartment building. But that was another
requests which we did as well um but here they wanted outdoor space as well we said you know we
we enlarged the outdoor area instead of having in the back where we originally had it that's where
we put the parking we instead had it on the roof uh there was no objection to that and then finally
is the rear yard setback where nine feet is required and we're only doing seven again to
accommodate the accessibility of the building. We had to push the building back, which made it a
shorter rear yard. Also, the fact that that's the history of the property, the building structure
to be set back. So it's not out of character and that's a de minimis zoning variance request.
So the letter of support from the community organization, the coordinating RCO, kind of sets forth exactly what I said. They wanted a number of three bedroom units. We gave that to them. They wanted a garbage room with a responsible trash storage or removal plan. We gave that to them. They asked for an elevator. We gave that to them.
They want the brick on the side of the building. We gave that to them. They want the community room. We gave that to them. They want the off-street parking. We gave that to them. And we gave them also the accessibility of the building for their aging population in the neighborhood.
So, according to the vote that they tabulated, it was unanimous support.
and then there was some discussion about what happened with solo there i don't want to get in
the middle of it i just know that this was what was asked of us we did the community was supportive
of that my understanding is then solo sent a separate letter in opposition they claimed that
there were some community members that opposed the project again i'm just taking i'm not there
when the vote happens I'm just I just collect this the letters and I can tell you the temperature
of the room when I was in there was very positive people were appreciative of all the changes we
made over the and this project has been you know being baked for well over a year like we had a
whole nother zoning appeal which we discontinued to like start from scratch and you know to give
them everything that they asked for. But this is, you know, Solo's letter. I don't know if the unit
count's correct. I wasn't there. I mean, not the unit count, but the count of the votes. Well, I
can tell you from the temperature of the room, it seemed positive. And then revised plans here,
simple. We're just changing it from 19 to 21 units. Just made that one small change. That
was what was presented. So if the board feels so inclined to grant this variance request,
I would ask that they do it by way of proviso with revised plans. Also, if they want, they
can say maximum 21 units. Not out of character to have multifamily here. In addition, there's
77 East Worcester, which is multifamily, in addition to what I stated at 3755 East Worcester.
And that's 3755, which is the 47 units.
Maps of the area, again, we're not the traditional RSA 5 lot, even the neighborhood.
We're near CMX 2.5 and RM 2 and RM 1.
There's a lot going on.
We're near a public bus route.
But, you know, down here, which looks like there's a commercial border.
But, you know, down here, which looks like there's a commercial quarter to help them support that commercial quarter, it's always helpful to have density created as well, which we hope by way of this project.
maps of the area so as i was stating like you see here here's the stone wall you see the steps that
leading to the stone wall so you can see that the setback that that we're asking for this which is
one of our refusals it's not out of character based on how the property has been configured
in the past we're also again to respect the neighborhood's wishes where we're taking hopefully
that stone wall and repurpose it for the uh the new construction project this property has been
the vacant lot, basically as far back as you can see on Google Earth or Street View since 2008.
We took, you know, we put orange noise posters all around just to make sure everyone knew that
there was going to be a hearing today. This is East Worcester to the right of the property
and to the left of the property. Our plans and drawings, again, Chris Johnson of 24-7 Design,
I think did an excellent job here.
He even added to it by putting brick on the sides.
That was requested of him.
But you can see there's a ramp here,
which allows for accessibility for this property.
Also kind of replicating the stone facade that's there.
We're going to hopefully repurpose that stone for this stone facade.
Also landscaping here.
And most importantly, a two-way drive aisle that was at the request of the community.
this is where you can see the roof deck it's an ample roof deck even the height of the building
you know again we were 38 feet high while it is higher than the surrounding buildings it's not
out of scale to what's around there either but you can see the ramp here from from this perspective
which is also what was asked of us because you know in order to provide accessibility
for this property. We needed that ramp, so we needed to have setback the building, which is
one of our refusals. The other refusal then is by sending the building back, now we have a rear
yard setback refusal, again, at the request of the community. And then this is just our site plan.
And then these are our floor plans. Again, you can see a two-way drive aisle. We have 11 parking
spots, two handicap accessible spots. You can see here is our community space, ample lobby.
Here's where our elevator is. This is our mail room here. This is our trash room. And again,
thoughtfully, what we want to do is be able to have double doors here and to have the ability
to roll the trash out, obviously with commercial trash pickup, which will be on our property
where the trash trucks would be.
So we're not blocking traffic either.
And then our floor plans are the same from two through four.
We have, and we try to put furniture in here
just to kind of show you how they would lay out.
I think Chris Johnson of 24-7 Design did a really good job.
But we have three three bedrooms
because the community said,
we want people in our community to have good housing
and new housing and families to have that so there's three three bedrooms two uh nine two
bedrooms and nine one bedrooms so to provide a diversity of housing options for this uh
proposed apartment building oh and then each of the floors
oops i think that's the wrong page
Each of the floors have a separate trash chute area so where trash can then be shot down to the trash room so they don't have to take it in the elevator or walk it down the steps either.
Oh, another thing that was asked of us is to have a separate egress out the rear as well.
So this staircase was created specifically at the Red Cross in the community so everyone would have access to the rear as well.
straight into the parking lot
and then this is our roof deck
these are the heritage trees
this is the diagram prepared by 24-7 design
as you can see the heritage trees are where the building is
the heritage trees are where the parking lot is
so we really can't escape that
but we respect it as well
so we have again landscaping in the front
landscaping in the back and you know based on the letter prepared by Chris Johnson we're asking
And, you know, based on the letter prepared by Chris Johnson, we're asking for a waiver.
And in that letter, we're asking to plant 18 new trees of three different species.
Our RCO meeting notice, we met with the community on September 24th.
We sent out the notice two weeks in advance.
We emailed that notice along with proof of mailing of that notice to those, you know,
coordinating rco and other rcos um showed that we mailed it to 155 addresses so these are a list
of the addresses blog addresses proof of mailing to those addresses our application for appeal
that we filed on behalf of my clients or individuals they're not hiding behind any
corporate entity you know they bought this property in their personal names and they
plan to develop, hopefully, in their personal names.
The deeds of property showing that they personally own it.
And the certificate of tax clearance.
I'm going to stop sharing my screen for now. I would ask that
Mahmoud virtually raise his hand and be sworn in.
Mark, could you please state your name as spelled for the stenographer?
My name is Mahmoud Yeter, M-A-H-M-U-T, last name is Y-E-T-E-R.
Fair or affirmed. Tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Yes, I do.
Counsel, please proceed.
Yes, Mahmoud, you heard everything I had to state today about your zoning matter.
And is it true and correct what I stated?
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Yes, and specifically, like, you know, again, we originally presented or envisioned this project to be 28 units with with no off-street parking.
Right. Is that correct? Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There was a list of requests that the community made of us.
And over time, we were able to change our project dramatically at their request. Right.
yes all right thank you questions from the board
questions from the board or questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
um just briefly mr share um alan i i was corresponding with with alex while you were
speaking so i checked the application to see if there was an error um and it looks like
unfortunately this was filed as a 19 unit building both the verbiage and the plans show 19 units so
we need to amend the application needs to be amended to get the 21 units on there that you're
requesting and presented to the community all right so can we do that by way of an authorization
letter and then I don't need to represent, right?
No, you do not. You presented 21 today. The community letter
was very clear that you presented 21 to them.
There was some sort of mix-up with the initial application that was filed
as a 19 instead of a 21.
We'll send a letter today or tomorrow and if you just give us
authorization, then I guess we'll just make a resubmission for
21 units.
Yes, you'll just, if you had submitted, if you had submitted plans, you need to submit updated plans to Alan and I.
We will.
Other than that.
Hillary, we're going to hold the vote?
Yeah, so we'll hold it.
Yeah, this is kind of like a correction, but unfortunately the documentation was for 19 units, so we have to do an authorization to amend.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair. I have a phone number ending in 1232. They have been allowed to speak.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Good evening. Good afternoon. The name is Pamela Bracey, B-R-A-C-E-Y.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
I did attend the meeting that was just stated.
There were several members of the community that were against this project.
We did hear these items that the lawyer just spoke about.
We did talk about the trees.
We did talk about the trees.
There was a question about the...
There was a question about the roof deck and children being up there.
That was a concern of safety.
And we asked about any land on the ground being utilized for children to play.
I understand we're getting landscaping front and back.
I understand that.
I understand it was stated we have a playground a couple blocks away,
but individuals are a little hesitant sometimes to travel with their children to a playground.
And also, Worcester Street has very limited parking during the day,
so there's going to be an issue of individuals.
You have the parking spaces, the 11 parking spaces, but that's about half of the units.
So there was a question from individuals at the meeting about where individuals were going to park.
And there was a concern about the two-way coming into this space and also about the trash truck.
So these were some of the things that were mentioned.
Yes, I am a member of Solo Germantown Civic Association.
I'm not saying that we didn't hear some good things, but these were some of the things that were raised.
So thank you very much for listening.
Thank you, ma'am. We appreciate your interest. Anyone else?
Mr. Chair, why don't I wait until I see who it is. Anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair. I have a hand up by the name of Charles Richardson. They have been allowed to speak.
Mr. Richardson, just state your name, please. You've already been sworn.
Yes, Mr. Chair, Charles Richardson, R-I-C-H-A-R-D-S-O-N, Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass, Room 508 City Hall.
Thank you, sir. I was at the meeting for the first half of the meeting. I had to go to another RCO meeting that evening.
uh and i had so therefore i logged off understand i heard that that things went very south after i
left the meeting um and that there were points raised that had nothing to do with variances or
anything along those lines um the vote count that solo has is incorrect and um you know i really
don't know where they got their their vote count from but uh rosamund mckelvey of the wakefield
49ers submitted her letter and summary, and I've spoken with the other two RCOs that were involved
as well. There were four RCOs all together, Wakefield 49ers, the 12th Ward Democratic RCO,
and the Faith CDC RCO, as well as Solo. The other three RCOs all voted, had the same conclusion,
and voted in favor of the project.
The Councilwoman supports those three RCOs
and rejects SOLO's characterization of the meeting.
And we are supporting the project today.
Thank you very much for taking time to calls.
Is there anyone else in the first audience?
Yes, Chair.
I have a hand up by the name of Rosalind McKelvey.
They have been allowed to speak.
Could you please state your name
and spell for the court stenographer?
Good evening. My name is Rosalind McKelvey, R-O-S-A-L-I-N-D, last name McKelvey, M as in Mary, C-K-E-L, V as in Victor, E-Y.