Yeah, Tiffany Green
Tiffany
T-I-F-S-A-N-Y, Green
T-I-F-S-A-N-Y, Green
T-I-F-S-A-N-Y, Green
T-I-F-S-A-N-Y, Green
Hold on, hold on, hold on
I'm sorry, go ahead
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth
And nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Please proceed, Tiffany.
We have a concern here in terms of the testimony, a real concern.
And so first I want to start off with Sean mentioned about the 11-11 vote.
I'm not familiar with that vote.
I have a letter here from Point Pre-CDC dated June 5th that states that the community did not support it.
Point Pre-CDC did not support it, and we're not supporting the project.
And so I don't know where that other vote came in at specifically.
And even so, this is the official letter from Point Breast CDC coordinating RCO.
I'd say all that to say that the community definitely was opposed to this,
if you look at the comments on the letter.
And we're saying that because, one, is that we've had quite a few already somewhat in the area,
they said, and breakfast shops, and it seems to be an overusage of the breakfast cafe piece
within this small residential area. You have one at 17th and Reed, going to be a breakfast place.
20th and Reed is already a breakfast place called Eagle. You have 1300 South 18th Street,
which is a by-right, something that they could not really stop. They weren't interested really
there, but it's a by-right corner property. And so Garrick Street is a very small, small block.
And so to want to build this out on Gabbard Street, this is not a main street, is one of the other concerns of the community.
And the fact that they did not want no cafe or type of store at the bottom, they want to keep it RSA 5 residential at this time.
And so therefore there's no real hardship for that.
He could build to code and still have a property that is viable at this point.
have a property that is viable at this point.
And so we don't feel that every corner in the community
and so we don't feel that every corner
has to be a first-floor commercial with a residential on top.
And so basically we are opposing this property,
and we're asking the board not to because we don't really even know
all about these proviso plans that he has proposed.
And talking about 100% lot coverage, he's asking for provisos
that I don't remember really being discussed at the meeting.
And so I guess he's taking his chances down here at the ZBA. And so this is not fair to the community. So we're asking you to oppose this project. And at this point, we're not having the support of the community or the RCOs. Thank you, Chair.
Hello? Hello? Can you hear me?
Chairman, you're muted.
I know. Thank you. Thank you.
Okay. All right.
Okay, Chair. I was wondering what happened.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Chair, we have a caller with the last four digits, 3780.
Caller, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the court's sonography?
Gail Ratt, C-A-I-L-M-A-T-T.
I'm a resident at 18th and Reed.
And I'm opposing this.
Hold on one minute, one minute.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
All right.
And are you in favor of this project or against?
I'm opposed.
Do you want to tell us why?
Yes, I can tell you why.
because we have enough cafes in our area.
We overpopulated with the cafes.
We overpopulated with the parking.
As far as I'm concerned,
it should be a single family dwelling.
All right.
Thank you very much.
No, thank you very much
for taking the time to calls.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Chair, we have a Stephanie Ostrov.
i could you please state and allow to speak i could you state your name is spelled for the
court stenographer hi yes uh stephanie s-t-e-p-h-a-n-i-e ostroff o-s-t-r-o-f-f
all right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes are you in favor or against this project i'm against this project and could is there other
reasons why you're against it than what we've already heard? Yes. Specifically the 10 PM closure
for the business. I'm over on 18th and Garrett, just a few houses down from the project. And I'm
concerned about noise in the evenings, if they're going to be hosting classes. And I also concur
with others who've spoken about sort of the oversaturation of coffee shops. I'd prefer that
it were just residential. Thank you very much for taking the time to calls. Is there anyone else in
the virtual audience. Chair, I see no further hands at this time. Before I go to Planning
Commission, Mr. Whalen, do you want to respond? Certainly. Thank you, Chair. So I guess globally,
I re-shared my screen just to make clear. We had two RCO meetings and two RCO letters.
Both of them referenced the votes that were taken at those meetings. Both of them referenced
the specific requirements, not requirements, specific issues raised. Point Breeze CDC actually
does quite a nice job with that. So the first meeting was held back in March. There's an April
3rd, 2024 letter that I'm showing now. They had 22 votes. It was very well attended. And the meeting
was 11 yes and 11 no. I have it highlighted here on the screen. It essentially goes down through
each and every, excuse me, each and every issue here. Most of the issues, as I described them
before, and we could go one by one if the board is interested, revolves around it's too big of
an overbuild. And Mr. Lai was at that meeting, but it's actually Sin Su, who I also have on this call
in order to address any issues, who's going to be operating the restaurant and the cafe rather.
And so people were concerned that they didn't get enough information with regard to that cafe.
So again, we went back to Point Breeze CDC. This is when we presented at the second meeting,
we presented the scaled down plan. We told them specifically we are going to go to
the scaled down plan. We told them specifically, we are going to go from four stories to three
Thank you.
stories. We were going to go from two units to one unit above the cafe use and have the full
build out on the first floor. This was actually widely received well because we were working with
the community and they appreciated that. They ultimately voted, no, there were only eight votes
at that second meeting. And again, they go into the main reasons that you hear today,
which we've already gone through, which are they would prefer to be strictly residential because
there are too many cafes in the neighborhood, too many of these similar uses that they're stating
in the neighborhood. Again, what you see here, going to the east, there are a lot of CMX1
uses. Going to the West, where we are, there are almost no corner uses for CMX1 smaller shops.
So again, we offered all of the provisos that I stated today on the meeting. We offered to
include as provisos at the second RCO meeting. They were not offered at the first RCO meeting,
just to be clear again. And again, this is a smaller shop. This is not going to be generating
vehicular traffic. This is going to be a small corner shop cafe with limited offerings for food
for breakfast and lunch. And we would even be open to a proviso that there is no dinner service here
with a limited number of, you know, days a week that we could offer those nighttime or evening
classes. Those are not intended to be extensive. Those are just offerings that sort of Miss Sue,
who can, I would actually, I guess, because I've testified so much more, I would ask that she be
called to adopt my testimony as it is. She'll be operating personally the cafe and what she has
heard and worked with the community is that um they are missing a community space and uh have
artists come in and do some small cooking classes and things of that sort that's not a use that is
anywhere else in the community um so that was something she was hoping after the main business
which is breakfast and lunch and having people you know sitting and working at the cafe uh to
then allow for uh this you know evening use um okay so so i guess because i went so far
beyond what i originally did i i would uh respectfully request that i can call sin
sue to adopt my test why don't we bring her on just to adopt your testimony thank you
do we share her hand sin sue has been unmuted and allowed to speak chair hi could you please
state your name and spell for the court stenographer? Hi, Sin Su, S-I-N-S-U. Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes. Please
proceed, counsel. Thank you. Ms. Su, if this project is approved, you will be part of the
ownership group, correct? Yes. And you will personally be operating the first floor cafe
as I've described it, correct? Yes. And did you hear all the prior testimony that I presented in
this case? Yes. Do you believe it to be true and correct to the best of your information and
belief? Yes. And do you agree with all of the provisos that I've set forth already? Yes. Okay.
And would you adopt that testimony as your own? Yes. Okay. Thank you very much. Chair,
I often miss you for any questions. Right. Planning Commission.
Amy Board for the Planning Commission. The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing single-family RSA 5 zoning at this location. The applicant's hardship is not supported with evidence of unique physical circumstances or conditions of the property that would prevent them from being used in conformance with the use requirements of the zoning code, as well as dimensional requirements.
The board denied the requested variances for multifamily living, eating and drink in an establishment, open space, and rear yard setback.
Thank you.
Mr. Watt, what we're going to do with this, and I'm going to hold this for two weeks.
We will vote on this two weeks on Wednesday, which is, what's that date, guys?
Today is the 12th, 19th, 26th?
Yes, the 26th, Mr. Chair.
We will vote on this at 930.
the case is closed
and I just want a time to
go into executive section and try to
go into executive section and try to work through this okay thank you certainly uh chairman if if i
work through this
may um i appreciate the board's consideration of this uh i did just confirm with my client
given some of the concerns of the community my client would accept a three-year temporary
variance in order to get this approved and show show what a good use this will be for
the neighborhood and for the community um well we'll take that into consideration when we talk
about that thank you very much chair thank you thank you very much uh is mr holliman on
okay is there mr chairman can you hear me i i can i can um hillary what i want to do is
handle those add-ons?
Yes, Mr. Chair.
Tom, what we're going to do
is the issue we talked about later, I'll do it
at 2 o'clock, but I have two or three
add-ons I want to do right now.
No problem, Mr. Chairman. Okay, thank you. So, number
one is MI2024
101 Bethlehem
Avenue. I vote
yes, proviso.
Her supplemental findings of fact and conclusions of law adopted by the ZBA on June 12, 2024.
Thomas Halvin, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Thank you.
Number two, MI 2024-000637-105 Bethlehem, Pike, I vote yes with proviso per supplemental findings of fact and conclusions of law adopted by the ZBA on June 12, 2024.
Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso.
And number four, MI 2024, 00317, 2400 Oakdale Street.
I vote yes with provisos.
Interior trash stores, maximum two dwelling units.
Thomas Howellman, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience whose case has not been called?
I see no hands at this time, Chair.
Thank you, everyone. See everyone at 2 p.m.
Good job, everyone.
Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this afternoon's meeting.
With me is our Vice Chair, Ismael Shahid.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also here is LeBaron Leonard Palmer from the Division of Development Services, who will be serving as our alternate board member.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And also Thomas Holloman is here, our board member.
So everyone knows, today is Mr. Holloman's last day on the zoning board.
he's been on the board for eight years and if you think about what this board has accomplished in
the last eight years is just unbelievable I mean there's literally parts of the city has been
really just remade so Tom we want to thank you for your service thank you for your advice thank