we are maintaining all the existing parking area.
That's where the landscape refusal comes in.
In order to remove the refusal,
we would have to decrease parking count.
While parking is not required here,
it was a major ask of the community
and in its existing non-conforming condition.
The other primary variance that we're asking for is height.
So if we just go back to the front,
the height of the building is driven by the existing height of the building.
And we made the upper stories as minimal as possible
while keeping with today's industry standards
in order to lower that as much as we could
while maintaining the required viable program for the project.
i'll leave it at that for now thank you roston i think with that we can turn it over if there's
any questions thank you questions from the board no mr vice chairman no vice chair questions from
our attorney hillary emerson i just wanted to verify with miss mcgania you said two pages of
revised plans correct all right thank you uh any questions from the virtual audience
i see no heads at this time vice chair planning commission thank you vice chair and good afternoon
or good evening david effecta with the city planning commission uh chairman and board members
the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from commercial mixed
use two to commercial mixed use three cmx three would allow an increase in height on the proposed
parcel and the proposed equipment and materials storage yards and buildings is incidental to the
proposed use of the property. Regarding the landscaping and screening variances, the appellant
has not taken advantage of a waiver that the Planning Commission can provide in lieu of the
proposed landscaping and screening variances. So those variances are not strictly necessary.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant their proposed use variants for
equipment and materials storage yards and buildings and the proposed variance for maximum height
but denied the proposed variances from the landscaping and screening requirements in the
zoning code okay if i can very quickly just respond to that so the screening requirement
specifically relates to a landscaping buffer along carlisle street it was very important to
the community in the situation that we maintain the existing parking that is accessory to this
project as we move forward they are expecting that parking becomes a demand and parking is not required
with development um the the other landscaping waiver variance relates to a tree within the
existing courtyard of the property we have taken care to make sure that we are providing the
required number of street trees while also maintaining parking conditions along carlisle
street thank you uh hillary do we need anything in green minnesota or we have everything um we
we now have everything um mr reyster thank you thank you okay i'm going to vote on this
uh mi-2023-004813 1200 south broad street uh my vote is yes with provisos
revised plans two pages stand by zba on february 28th 2024
my vote is yes with proviso
james snell my vote is yes with proviso
thank you thank you number 12 mi-2023-006-946-800 south 12th street
Vern Anastasio.
Vern Anastasio is coming back in as a panelist now, Vice Chair.
Thank you.
Good evening, Mr. Chair.
Good evening.
Vern, you've already been sworn in.
Just state your name for the record and then.
Vern Anastasio.
2016 Spruce Street on behalf of
Ms. Melanie Dupree
you swear to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes sir uh mr holliman
Is this the way to tell the truth, the whole truth?
Nothing but the truth
Yes sir
has a few questions to ask good afternoon council do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to his accuracy yes sir did you email all of the exhibits and documents as required
five days in advance to this hearing yes sir thank you please proceed and share your screen
800 south 12th street the application is for our coffee house cafe sort of a prepared food shop on
the first floor of an existing structure uh this is a referral which as the board knows but for
the record our proposal is considered consistent with the code so long as we can demonstrate that
the use will not cause an impact any more than a similarly situated uh cafe would uh and in this
particular case this is in the hawthorne neighborhood my client owns the property
here's uh let's get down to um the layout here is the um uh corner entrance we've got three or four
tables this is a coffee shop like any other coffee shop in in many neighborhoods strangely enough
Hawthorne doesn't really have any coffee shops for the most part, and this is at the corner of 12th and Catherine Street, right across the street from Hawthorne Park, which is a large green space that was installed after the revitalization of that particular neighborhood by Universal and Kenny Gamble with the residential development there.
This property is not part of that development, but it is adjacent and across the street from that park.
This is the front of the property with the entrance on the corner to the cafe.
On the side, you have the space for the residential units.
units. This is the Catherine Street frontage and the rear elevation where there's a parking
pad and trash storage. I'm going to pull out a little bit here and share with you some
photos. That's a brand new rehab. This used to be a vacant lot. The property was built
from the ground up and that's where the trash goes here's the interior of the first floor
everything is brand new all new fixtures we met with the neighbors all of these addresses were
mailed here's the two-page letter that went out to everybody uh the hawthorne empowerment
coalition, HEC, conducted the meeting, 123 individual households were mailed, and they
have, I'm going to stop sharing this, and they've already sent over a letter of support,
and I have that here.
If you give me a minute, I'll be able to show you.
Hathorn Empowerment Coalition gave a letter of support for the coffeehouse.
They also sent a letter for the outdoor seating, which is not part of this proposal.
But with that, I'm going to ask my client, Melanie Dupree, to raise her virtual hand.
If she's still with us.
She did log on at two o'clock.
What's your client's name, Mr. Anastasio?
Last name is Dupree.
First name, Melanie.
dupree has been unmuted and allowed to speak great good afternoon good afternoon ma'am can
you please state your name and spell it for the uh record
mr pre it looks like
it looks like she's disappeared vice chair
melody dupree can you raise your hand again please
there she is she's been unmuted and allowed to speak vice chair
mr pre can you please state your name and spell it for the court reporter please
Melanie Dupree please unmute yourself
sorry Melanie Dupree m-e-l-a-n-i-e d-u-p-r-e-e thank you do you swear to tell the truth the
whole truth and nothing but the truth I do proceed counsel thank you Mr. Chair Ms. Dupree did you hear
my presentation to the board this evening yes i did is it true and accurate to the best of your
knowledge yes it is and do you adopt it as your own testimony yes i do thank you i have nothing
further mr chair thank you uh council questions report no mr vice chairman no vice chair questions
from our uh attorney hillary forson not at this time mr vice chair questions from the virtual
audience vice chair we have a wu bet halu they have been abuted and allowed to speak okay
good afternoon oh no no just saying thank you i was trying to get um miss melanie's uh
attention but that was never mind okay no problem thank you anybody else in a virtual audience
we have no other hands at this time chair thank you commission thank you vice chair and good
evening david effecto with the city planning commission vice chairman and board members the
comprehensive plan recommends no change to the commercial mixed use zoning at this location
the appellant has shown that the proposed prepared food shop will have no detrimental impacts beyond
what might be expected the city planning commission recommends the board grant their
proposed special exception for a prepared food shop okay
in my dash 2023-006-946-800 south 12th street my vote is yes
Thomas Holloman
my vote is yes
James Snell
my vote is yes
thank you
number 15
MI-2023-006
3105 North 16th Street
Allen-Occamson
Vice Chair Alex Goldberg
has been promoted to panelists
good evening mr vice chairman is this going to be goldberg or knockamson i have knockamson on my
paperwork uh it's going to be me tonight okay no problem uh so uh do you can you please state
your name and spell it for the report reporter please sure alex goldberg of knockamson pc a-l-e-x
g-o-l-d-b-e-r-g and you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do uh can you please identify a client sure my client is s-l-c real estate llc and its
representatives shati and stacy cooks are in the virtual audience thank you counsel uh do you agree
to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy i agree to waive the reading i
would stipulate to its accuracy we are submitting proviso plans and agreeing to reduce the density
that's proposed but i can go over that when we get to that exhibit all right have you emailed
in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to proceed with this case five days in
advance of this hearing? I have. Thank you. Please repeat and share your screen. Okay.
All right. Again, my name is Alex Goldberg of the law firm Nockamson, D.C. I'm here presenting for
3105 North 16th Street. My client, Mr. Cooks, grew up at 16th and Allegheny, right around the
corner from this property. As you can see on your screen, it's in pretty bad disrepair
at this point. We're hoping to significantly improve this property and for use as a two-unit
dwelling. When we initially applied for this zoning permit application, it was for a three-unit
it was for a three-unit dwelling as you'll see on the refusal after discussing with the owners
dwelling as you'll see on the refusal
after discussing
and the architect we we decided to to lower the density to lessen any any impact on parking or
trash or just general density in the area and further the the density that we're asking for
is not out of character as you'll see in my presentation materials so here's the table
of contents we have a notice of refusal we received support from the coordinating rco
allegheny west civic association exhibit three is those revised proviso form and i'll note that
there aren't any specific changes to the building structure but there was reference to a triplex on
the initial submission to l and i that reference has now been changed to a duplex so just to make
sure that this was tidy we've included those revised plans exhibit four is some nearby
multi-family variances this is an rsa3 property but there are many multi-family properties
on our block including a a multi-family structure attached to us right next door
exhibit five is a zoning map six is photos of the property and the surrounding area seven is
architectural materials and eight is the rco meeting notice which we mailed in compliance
with the city's requirements and then the application for appeal the deed to the property
and the certificate of tax clearance so here's the refusal you can see in the middle of the page
in addition to the proposed use here which we are agreeing to reduce to two units this
application includes in addition to the second and third floor rear of the property the first
floor rear wall will remain where it is and we're seeking to square it off with the first floor
So you'll see two refusals, the first one being for the use.
Again, we are agreeing to reduce the density, which was supported by the RCO, to two units.
That second refusal changes subsequently, as there's a one-to-one parking ratio in RSA 3.
So going down to two units would lessen the requirement to two parking spaces.
I'll note that only one property on this block has accessory off-street parking,
so it would be out of character to have that additionally when you see the photos you'll
notice that we are attached on both sides the the only you know real opportunity for
off-street parking I guess would be in the existing front yard that would remove green
space it would also require the addition of a curb cut taking away public parking and
a massive tree that's at the front of our property that sort of sits right in front
um here's our letter of support we met with allegheny west civic association on february
20th there were about a dozen people there the conversation was positive there were requests
for specific provisos which are on the next page which i will go over and you can see that
essentially eight to one was voted in support of this project here is a letter sort of recapping
the meeting, what we discussed. And further here, I'll note that specifically, we agreed to
commercial trash pickup. We agreed to garbage disposals in the units, as well as the installation
of Jacob's Ladders in the upper level unit. Here is the proviso plan form, referencing again the
reduction in unit count from three to two while keeping the building structure the same.
This is that site plan. You'll see it again later in my presentation. I would just direct
your attention to the side. That was previously a reference to a triplex, change it to a
duplex, and that's the sort of gist of these revised plans. Okay, here's exhibit four. It's
a list of screenshots of nearby multifamily variances in the last few years, the majority
of which are on North 16th Street.
You'll see threes and fours, some larger.
Again, we're just seeking two units.
This is our next door neighbor at 3103, which obtained relief from this board in 2021 for
a four-unit dwelling and so on.
so there is a mixed character of uses on this block as well as closer up on allegheny ave
and other parts of 16th street nearby here's a zoning map we have quite a large parcel here
we abut a public park at the rear here's a google maps perspective you know we're close to bus route
60 and two and you know of course close to the allegheny um broad street line which is a you
which is a you know a great transportation asset for those that live in walking distance which
a great transportation asset for those that live in walking distance, which
future tenants of this building hopefully will here's some photographs this is the front of the
property you know we're it's a it's actually a beautiful structure it's got a nice mansard roof
classic red brick some interesting brick work so we're hoping to kind of restore this property to
its former glory our notice posting here's to the right of the property i'll note that there is
parking available on both sides of the street our architectural plans and drawings so what you see