ZBA Hearing - March 4, 2026

basement because it's a much bigger area, and there's also a full bathroom in the basement.

The bathroom right here in the living room, that has a half bath with just a toilet bowl

and a wash bowl, and then the bathroom upstairs has a tub, shower, toilet bowl, and a vanity.

And I guess the other question I have, when you went to the ZBA, when you went to the RCO meeting,

right yes what was your sense of the way that went so I think that the RCO and my surrounding

neighbors they presented a lot of fear and concern about what a group home with six young men could

bring one of my neighbors in particular stated that she had a young daughter and

she was concerned about the young daughter and my response to that was my

home will be totally supervised with at least two staff at all times with me

overseeing the staff as well and we have a lot of experience my staff will be

trained there will be no loitering this will pretty much be run exactly like a

large household all right questions from the board what's what's the age groups

so range the children would be 17 and down so most likely 12 to 17

that's good teenagers um and and where were the where were they come from how were you

just surrounded i'm sorry referrals from surrounding agencies as i stated i have a lot

of um experience and connections with social workers and as i stated i worked at a shelter

and at the shelter what happens is when this when the youth leave the shelter they either go to a

group home they go back to their families um or uh foster care and unfortunately data shows that a

lot of times foster families aren't really accepting of older teenagers so uh so is your

goal so it's your goal if you get the 17 year olds how long would they stay with you they would stay

with me up until they are 18 years old and then we would refer them to outside agencies

that could help. But my goal is once my boys graduate high school that they would either

go into the military, that they would get in a training program, like a vocational program,

um go off to college i i have my vision for these boys is that they will become productive

taxpaying citizens the same way my mother raised me and there's no difference in just female these

are you know young men um so yeah that that that's my vision for them so at 18 if they're

not going off to college they're entering some type of program what's your what what's your plan

And if issues arise, behavioral issues, et cetera, and will you have any young adults that have any medical or substance abuse issues or require medication from mental issues?

Thank you for that question. So we plan to contract with social workers, psychologists, and mental health therapists. So my young men will receive ongoing therapy.

And what's your plan if issues arise?

Issues such as acting out in the community.

Issues such as acting out in the community, acting out in the community, whatever, any kind of behavioral issues that, you know, would would would bother other surrounding neighbors and their right to, you know, safety, privacy and quiet, etc.

Acting out in the community.

Okay. So as far as quiet, we will have a, um, we will have a curfew from, uh, 10 PM to 8 AM every day. Um, so that would limit the noise. We, we will not have any loitering on the property. Um, if a, uh, our staff will be trained to handle certain situations and, um, trained in deescalation, if it gets beyond our control.

Obviously, we would have to reach out to the closest police department, but I would hope

that we could handle everything in-house with our therapists, with our psychologists, with

our social workers, and with our trained staff, because all of our staff will be trained.

Thank you.

Other questions?

Yes, question.

so um you're saying you had three large bedrooms is that what you said yes ma'am okay and that you

were planning to try to have two of the uh young men per bedroom yes however i i will not house

more than six boys so up to six boys and as i stated the the um the basement is fully equipped

with a uh full bathroom or a window and an exterior door so uh depending on the ages so

for example if i get a two young men that are i'm sorry yeah you're you're going beyond me a little

bit okay at this point so i guess my uh concern is um you're gonna it's however many uh of these

a young menner house upstairs so there's one bathroom for those three bedrooms

there there's one that's upstairs there's one bathroom upstairs okay and then on the uh first

floor where the living space is in the kitchen there's a half bath you said yes and then in the

basement there's another bathroom there's another full bathroom in the basement yes ma'am okay so

you've got the plan is dependent on ages yes you have you know it seems a little bit

okay I think it's a little bit too many folks for the number of bathrooms but that's

that's not something we get to determine but um I'm concerned about that aspect of things okay

um yeah go ahead i'm willing to modify or make provisions absolutely because i you know i want

the best uh the bet the best possible situation or living condition for these young men so i'm

certainly willing to uh make modifications so if if if six boys are too much i'm certainly willing

to cap it at five okay but um and then this is 24 hours a day there these young men will live

there that is correct so they'll have their schooling programming yep and then you said

that you were going to have staff so where is the staff going to be and will the staff be will there

be staff like 24 hours a day too and how are you going to work that out yeah yes there will be

staff 24 hours a day we'll either have three eight hour shifts or two 12 hour shifts okay

all right and then where will the staff members kind of you know be I mean that are they I didn't

see where there was a space but you didn't do a layout so i'm not sure but oh where would i do

have a floor plan oh you do okay yes yes i'm sorry yeah you didn't show that so i'm sorry that would

be yeah ah okay there it is oh thank you okay thank you i'm sorry thank you for bringing that up

Yeah. I mean, yeah. Where would the staff kind of be as opposed to, you know, the.

So the staff would be in the in the living room in the living area. And then once I get the authorization, I get the approval. My plan was to build a small office for privacy. So a small office that so that when the just pretty much put up some sheetrock, build a wall and make a small office.

So the staff would be in the in the living room and the living.

So that when the therapists come in, the students, the young men, the residents will have a place to meet in private with the different with the social workers or with the therapist or with the psychologist.

And that will take place in the living room. Our living room is definitely big enough to create an office in the living room.

Okay. And then you were saying that you're going to have staff, but you're also going to have other therapists and things like that that are going to come in to provide support services for these young men, right?

Yes. Yes, ma'am. That is correct. So that will happen during the day, right? So there will be two staff members on duty at all times, two staff members on duty to monitor the children, to monitor the residents at all times.

If a social worker has to come in, that will be something that's scheduled. So for example, let's just say it's 4 p.m. The young men are out of school. They have a visit with the social worker. They'll come in, do their job, and then they'll go.

okay thank you thank you questions yes so where so i know you just talked about the meetings with

the social worker is the thought that that singular office is now going to be the only private

location in the building either for your staff or for outside clinicians to come in and meet with

the men the young men so as of now yes the office in the living room would be the uh only singular

space. However, I'm certainly open to modifications. So if I am instructed to build two offices,

that's something I can do as well. Like right now, I'm in the dining room area. There's more

than enough space in here to have a large table so that we can have family-style dinners as well

as build the office so i mean i question the ability to build i think these spaces are

are comfortable spaces for what's going to be eight people in this house at all times

i do think that's going to be tight once you start trying to add walls to divide

out uh an office i do have a small concern about that i also think that this current plan

and the way the basement is depicted is not going to work for uh egress right that that fourth

bedroom that you've added on this plan does it right now doesn't look like it has an egress

window um or or well um which means that like that's already a safety hazard and that common

area is really tight so i do feel like at this point i don't i don't see how this is going to

like functionally work without really limiting sort of um space with two people in the bedrooms

upstairs i think there's like not a lot of space for common area right this you have a garage so

this walks out onto a backyard i mean there's no backyard there's like it kind of goes out into an

alleyway and so i do wonder like where they're going to have downtime and also what's going to

be provided in the house for them to like use during the downtime um but those are all not

necessarily zoning issues but just comments about the floor plan okay any other questions

i'd have a real quick question so you said you live there um you used to live at the house as

a single family um house before prior to this plan yes okay and and could you just what is the

hardship of keep not keeping it as a single family um if there are are are there any other

uh group living homes on that block that you know of not that i know of

there are there are no other group uh group living homes on on this uh street

can i can i go back and address uh the question regarding office space

i i i i i think you'll have a hard time i mean i mean the issue is if you disagree with that

if you start cutting the place up it'll be a little tough i mean so i why don't you do it but

could you speed it up just a little bit okay so i i'm willing to make uh office spaces in in my

garage the garage is not used for anything other than storage so that could certainly be a space

for offices yeah okay all right can i just what so so you said early and you're

Yeah. OK. So you said early in your testimony presentation, rather, that you'd be willing to reduce the amount of students that you'd have.

And I think by right, you can have three. Unrelated. Right. Right.

Is that a thought or possibility that you could do that for a period of a couple years and then see how the neighbors sort of feel about you managing this facility?

Because I think that seems to be the issue is that you're new, you're coming to the neighborhood, you're talking about six young men, people get skeptical and leery.

but if you were to do it for a period of time with a small number and get the get the support

and buy-in from the neighbors it might be is that something you would be willing to consider

that is something that i would be willing to consider yes okay okay all right thank you

questions from our attorney not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual

audience yes chair i have a hand up by the name of osborne i'm going to allow them to speak sure

good morning good morning could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer

pat osborne o s b o r n e you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the

truth i do are you a neighbor yes please proceed yes i would like to express my opinion because

we had basically we heard the same presentation in january it was about 20 something over 20

community members on the call i think there would have been more but the communication was sent out

in the in the form of a flyer just stuck in the door so most people who would like to have

attended didn't attend um but the people on the call there was one person who voted for

the rest of the people gave many many valid reasons for why they didn't want this in the

in the community it's a valiant effort i applaud her her need to want to give back

However, this a community filled with people in this area are mainly retirees.

They don't feel comfortable.

They don't feel safe.

They express that opinion.

And it's like she disregarded our opinions and just took it directly to the Board of Appeals.

People, you know, in the area, we have to live here.

She doesn't plan on living in the areas.

if anything happens we're talking you know you brought up a question about uh if there's some

type of situation that goes on that would require possibly police intervention on the outside we

have she's talking about six boys i understand sibling rivalry there might be tension going on

within the house you know we just don't we don't want it and i think you know the fact that

she hasn't said anything that we haven't already heard she's concerned about the welfare of these

six young men but she is disregarding the feelings of the hundreds of homeowners

who have to live here with she's not going to be living in the house she won't have to deal

with any of the interactions if they hopefully there won't be any but we don't want to take a

chance in case they are this should be done in a commercial area not a residential area

okay and there's some other people on the call who would like to okay ask questions but there

was no way of um we didn't hear that they didn't hear the directions on how to ask a question

we have other hands raised okay okay all right could it next hand please how many hands do we

have chair i currently have two hands raised all right thank you very much no problem

Laylita Blackwell has been allowed to speak.

Good morning.

Good morning.

My name is Letitia Blackwell.

I am an affected neighbor.

I reside in...

Hold on, Ms. Blackwell, could you spell your name, please, for this stenographer?

Sure.

L-E-T-I-T-I-A.

Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

I do.

And I know you're an affected neighbor.

are you in favor of this project or against i am against okay we we do appreciate you is there

anything you can tell us that hasn't already been said um my concern among other things i was on the

first one is in regards to the layout our house is nearly identical um if you look up my address

Look up my address. It was fully renovated as well. I bought this house in 2017, which has a very almost identical layout. Six people in a house along with two staff members and also office space is very concerned. I'm in my home right now. I have three people in my home, two adults, one child, and I can't see six people.

it was fully renovated as well i bought this house in 2017 which has a

Well, we have a lot of concerns in regards to what's being proposed.

We do think it's a valid effort.

We do think this could be a positive thing.

However, with the space in which she has and the location, I'm one of the younger neighbors

at 40 years old.

There's a lot of older people, a lot of retired people here in this neighborhood in which

I feel like they value their peace and quiet.

I think that this, while I think her efforts are violent, I think it would be better suited

in a bigger space and also in not in a residential neighborhood um miss blackwell we appreciate you

taking the time the calls we've heard we're listening to everything you said next hand please

we see you next hand

next hand please ginger rudolph has been allowed to speak

good morning morning good morning could you please state your name is spelled for this

stenographer yes ginger rudolph g-i-n-g-e-r-r-u-d-o-l-p-h all right do you swear or affirm

to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do miss rudolph are you a neighbor

i'm four doors down from the proposed place okay so let me let me ask this are you in

in favor of this project or against i'm against thank you so much for calling in is there any

other hands no chair i see no more hands at this time uh comments from planning commission

yes um i'll read the comments of the planning commission into the record

the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the RSA 5 residential single-family zoning at

this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 1977 in a council-supported map change

the appellant has shown that the proposed group living will have no detrimental impacts beyond

what might be expected the city planning commission recommends that the board grant

the proposed special exception um mi 2025 005 546 1809 73rd avenue i vote no michael johns my vote

is no cheryl gaston my vote is no tenetta graham my vote is no ryan mcadams my vote is no tyowyn my

vote is no. Thank you. Number 17 MI 2025-005-854-8129-31 Stanton Avenue.

Brea Wilson is the attorney for the owner.

There's a letter of support from the 50th Ward. The vote was six in support, three in opposition.

chair bria wilson will be joining us as a panelist right and there's a letter of opposition

from council member phillips

good morning chairman and members of the board good morning could you please state your name

and spell for the stenographer bria wilson b r i a w i l s o n council for the applicant and

property owner at 8129 31 stenton avenue rashin williams and phase 4 llc you swear or affirm to

tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do our voice chair has a few questions

good morning have you uh submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing

yes we did but we did receive an email on march 2nd that everything was not received

um since then we did um submit everything except for the deed as my client inserted into a purchase

money mortgage so he does not have the deed yet um but we do have the mortgage and the settlement

statement yes that should be fine thank you okay thank you and do you waive the reading of the

referral and stipulate to its accuracy yes i do all right thank you can share your screen