ZBA Hearing - October 5, 2021

side. This is the elevation on the Tacoma Street side again

showing lintels of brick, sills of brick, a bay with hardy

wood siding and again trying to include some detail of the cornice line all throughout the building.

And this is the rear. We've put the meters on the rear of the building so they're not

showing on the front. And in the egress well in the rear we have actually steps even though they're

indicated here as planter to really use the steps to access the outside if anyone in the

basement would near need to exit the building and that's my zoning plan the remaining of the

The remaining of the documents are the pro forma documents that we see at each presentation, tax certification, deed, our application for appeal, zoning map, and all the other documents that are typically presented in a matter such as this.

documents are the pro forma documents that we see at each presentation tax certification

So we have a situation with a long vacant lot that's surrounded in part by multifamily, not all multifamily, but some multifamily.

we've tried to reach out to the community and we have met with them on three occasions

we believe that this application is in conformity with the code the physical circumstances of the

lot are unique in that it's a corner lot and that typically corner lots are perhaps commercial with

one or commercial with two we think that use is consistent we're not impairing the use of the

adjoining properties we've lowered the height to accommodate for that we don't believe that this

is detrimental to the public interest, and it is in harmony with what the coordinating RCO agrees

with. And with that, I would rest and take any questions from the board and also ask that my

client adopt the testimony if there are no questions. Any questions from the board? No,

Mr. Chairman. No. Mr. Clinton, you want to get your client on? Well, sure. John Baleu, B-E-A-U-L-I-E is on the call.

Mr. Baleu, you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair.

Yes, I'm here. Thank you.

Thank you. Please spell your full name, sir.

J-O-N-A-T-H-A-N Baleu, B-E-A-U-L-I-E.

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

I do.

Thank you. Mr. Clinton?

Mr. Bilyeu, were you on the call when I presented this project?

Yes.

Okay. And if you had the opportunity to testify, would you adopt my testimony as your own and as true and correct?

Yes.

Thank you very much.

Thank you. Anyone else would like to testify in this case? If so, please raise your hand.

here we have an earnest garfield with his hand up

mr garfield you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair

good morning mr garfield please spell your full name and i'll swear you in yes e-r-n-e-s-t g-a-r-f-i-e-l-d

do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth

i do and good morning to you thank you sir please proceed

uh i don't know if they cued me in uh in line correctly i do not have an issue or any questions

in regards to this property i have been submitting uh chat questions to the board and the panel

in reference to i'm sorry chair we can move on please please meet them thank you

uh anyone else to testify in this case

Hi, Mr. Chair, it's Charles Richardson from the Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass, room 312 City Hall.

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

I do.

Thank you, sir. Please proceed.

Councilwoman has no opposition to granting this variance.

Thank you very much. Anyone else?

Chair, we have Allison Weiss with her hand up.

Ms. Weiss, you can unmute yourself or wait for the chair.

Ms. Weiss, please spell your full name. You've already been sworn in. You're still under oath.

A-L-L-I-S-O-N-W-E-I-S-S.

And I would just like to say that none of what was presented shows a hardship of why that property cannot be used as it is designated single family.

And also, that block of Tacoma Street that this property corners on is all two-story buildings, and this building is completely out of place.

So, thank you.

Thank you.

Anyone else to testify in this case?

Chair, we have an Arlene Presley.

Ms. Presley, you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair.

Thank you. Good morning, Ms. Bresley. Please spell your full name, and I'll swear you in.

A-R-L-E-N-E-P-R-E-S-L-E-Y.

You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.

I affirm to, yes, sir.

Please proceed.

Okay, on that corner, I'm the pastor of the church there.

Okay, on that corner, I'm the pastor of the church there, 5058 Wayne Avenue.

We have no issue with the building, anything being built there, because certainly it would enhance the community.

But my position is the parking in that area is nil as it is.

I would love to see a one unit, one family dwelling. That's really the position that I have there.

Anyone else?

Chair, I see no other hands at this time.

Thank you.

Planning Commission.

Morning Chair, Peter Bernard for the Planning Commission.

This property is indicated for single family residential use

in the comprehensive plan.

We feel the proposal represents an overuse of the property

and the applicant has not demonstrated a hardship.

the application is not supported with evidence of unique physical conditions present on this

rectilinear property accordingly the planning commission recommends that the board deny the

requested variance thank you my 2021 does 000 868 212 mannheim street mr clinton is there revised

their realized plans is one page

it appears as though we lost mr clinton we know tanya if it's a one page revision

um chair this is sharon i did review the plans and it was one page thank you

So MI 2021-000868, 212 Mannheim Street.

My vote is yes with the proviso revised plan.

One page approved today.

Professor Plaza, yes with proviso.

James Snell, yes with proviso.

Thomas Holloman, yes with proviso.

Thank you. We now go to case number 5, MI 2021-001721, 3842 Fairmount Avenue.

Mr. Notkinson is the attorney of record.

Manchua Civic Association, RCO, sent a letter of support.

chair we have clementa amazon coming in as a panelist now okay ms amazon good morning

please spell your full name i'll swear you win good afternoon chairman

good morning please spell your full name oh good morning a little ahead of myself

Comenta Amazon, C-L-E-M-E-N-T-A, last name is A-M-A-Z-A-N, 123 South Broad Street, Suite 1600-191-09.

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

I do.

We get a little bit of an echo.

I don't know if it's the distance from your mic or something else.

We can try to clear that.

Try that again.

Is that better?

A little bit better.

Anyway, Ms. Tenere has some questions for you.

Hi, do you swear a firm to tell, no, strike 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 the required documents consisting of proof of ownership, tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral, photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing,

and have you met with your co and do you have a letter yes and we have a letter support okay

great you may proceed thank you i'll just share my screen

can i want to my screen yes perfect so good good morning today i'll be presenting 3842

fairmont avenue and we are requesting to have four dwelling units in this particular structure

as you'll see through my presentation that's not an uncommon use for this area or specifically for

properties of this lot size miss amazon pardon the interruption is it just me or are we getting

is it hard to to decipher what miss amazon is saying it sounds almost like an echo to me

i don't know um yes if you want i can keep talking and you can let me know

if it's better worse that's better right there better right there yes okay I will not move and

I'll go through this presentation so yes we are requesting for dwelling units the property is

So, yes, we are requesting four dwelling units. The property is currently zoned as single family. Within the context of this neighborhood, that is not uncommon. Also, we did meet with the community and we added a front porch so that it would fit into the fabric of this particular neighborhood.

currently zoned as single family

During my presentation, I will go through the deed, certificate of tax clearance.

We do have two notices of refusal as a result of us making changes to the initial design and adding the front porch.

So our most recent refusal was issued on September 14th.

Also, our application for appeal, maps of the area, photographs of the property, our proposed plans and drawings.

And again, we do have a letter of support from Mantua Civic.

here we have the deed to the property our certificate of tax clearance the initial

refusal that was issued on march 31st 2021 our letter of authorization that we requested to make

changes to include that front porch at the request of the community and here we have our second

refusal that was issued on september 14th so the refusals that we have are for the rear balconies

that we included in the, excuse me, the balconies that we have in the front of the property as well

as the front porch because the community requested such this is a porch block. We also have a refusal

for the open area and that is a direct result of the porch that we included at the bequest of the

community and a refusal for the use of poor dwelling units which again is not uncommon for

this neighborhood. And here we just have several properties in this area. As you can see, front

porches throughout, and these are all multifamily and also similar in lot size to our property,

which is just above 1,300 square feet. Our application for appeal, the project information

form, map of the area. So we are along Fermont Avenue. All the properties that you saw prior

are also multifamily, although sewn single family on Fairmont Avenue as well. Here we have a view of

the front of the property. We do have two other vacant lots to the left of us. The view to the

right of the property, as you can see, porches throughout, brick facade throughout. So we wanted

to make sure we create a design that was thoughtful and fit into the fabric of this neighborhood.

Here we have our proposed plans and drawings. We are requesting, excuse me, our elevations.

So we are requesting four units. They are bi-level units. They range from 654 square feet at the smallest and 856 square feet at the largest.

We are looking for one bedrooms for units one, two, and four, and unit three is a two-bedroom.

We also have a designated trash area. Again, we wanted to make sure that we had a very responsible design for this particular project.

we did meet with the community on august 26 it was a well-attended meeting and we did receive

a letter of support and the refusal that we the notice that we sent out to the community for that

meeting on august 26 which include the refusal the properties that were notified as well as

our certificate of mailing so with that if i could have my client adopt my testimony

if he's unavailable i would be happy to stipulate to his accuracy as an officer

being an officer of the court to stipulate that your client would have adopted your testimony

any questions from the board no mr chairman no no no mr chair anyone else would like to testify

in this matter please raise your hand i see no hands at this time chair thank you uh planning

commission good morning chair peter bernard for the planning commission this property is indicated

for single family residential in the comprehensive plan was remapped in 2017 at the community's

request we feel the applicant has not demonstrated a hardship for the use there is no hardship for

vacant land or having a large property accordingly the planning commission recommends the board

denied the use variance by 2021. That's zero. Excuse me chair I'm sorry to interrupt this

is Sharon but if you should vote to approve this could you please um refer to the amended

application number which is zp 2021 00306

0306 okay um mi 2021-001721 3842 fairmount avenue my vote is yes uh with the proviso

So what was that?

Administrative number, ZP201?

As per application number, ZP2021-00306.

So noted.

So noted, thank you.

Thank you.

Carol Tenere, my vote is yes with proviso.

Carol Tenere, my vote is yes.

I will provide.

Professor Plaza, yes with proviso.

James Snell, yes with proviso.

Thomas Holman, my vote is no.

Okay, we're going to move now to case number seven.

MI 2021, that's 002583.

3959

Lancaster Avenue

Richard Pressman

is the attorney of record for the

applicant Mr. Richard DeMarco

is the attorney

and correct me if I'm wrong for

SAM Development LLC

neighbor who

opposes this is a

resumption hearing

the RCO

Democratic Ward

24th Democratic Ward

initially sent a letter of support they are now taking a position of opposition

uh the rco west pountain saunders park rco initially sent a letter of support they are

now in opposition lancaster avenue business association cdc slash rco opposes councilwoman

gautier uh sent a letter of support which i will read into the record uh but let's get started and

i guess mr pressman you're up first morning mr chairman can you hear me yes please spell your

full name and i'll swear you in richard pressman p is in peter r-e-s-s-m-a-n is my last name

Do you swear if I'm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?

I do.

Please proceed.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.