So I should start by giving some context.
This is 204 North 52nd Street.
This is a property located on 52nd Street. I referenced the refusal. It notes the base zoning is RSA 5. The zoning history of this property goes all the way back to 1973, where there's multiple entries, multiple permits, multiple approvals for what is a three-unit property.
back in 1973 was split into multiple units with approval.
The owners, my client has owned this only since 2021.
He purchased it in his current state as three residential units,
but the prior owners have been before L&I back in 1973.
Like I said, it was approved as a mixed-use building.
Retail on the first floor and two living units above.
They were back in 1979, and I can pull up these archives.
1979 with a store and two apartments.
1986, a florist and two apartments.
2010, a clothing store and two apartments.
Getting approval for some signage.
And I'll just show you the last permit to streamline this.
And you can see that where we are at 204 North 52nd Street, where it notes that the approval
is for two warning signs accessory to the clothing and jewelry store as shown on the
permits, whereas the use registration is for the retail on the first floor and two family
dwellings in the existing structure. Are you able to see that, Mr. Chairman?
Okay. So the history of this building has been a mixed-use, multi-unit building. The application
here today is for Mr. Patton through his LLC to bring what he feels is a more socially impactful
use. He wants to use this as a residential home for youths placed by the Department of Health
Department of Human Services, DHS. The building in total comprises about 2,000 square feet,
just under 2,000 square feet. Like I said, it is made up of three units presently. The layouts are
two two-bedroom units, and the downstairs unit, which was converted at some time to a residential
unit, is a one-bedroom unit. And I can continue showing these photos, but the application is
to Hal's youths placed by DHS
and have full-time supervision.
And sorry for the clunkiness.
There we go.
My exhibits are loaded individually.
So there's a bathroom on the third unit.
Here's the deck.
It's actually right-side up when you're present, but here we're looking at it sideways.
Bedroom of the third unit. You can see the building is nicely
pointed and in good shape. Kitchen of the third unit.
laundry in the third unit i'm sorry you laundry in the this is unit a first unit
kitchen of the first unit
bedroom on the first unit
on the first unit
this is the exterior of the building
apologize for the orientation but you see we have a separate
entrance on the side we have separate mailboxes
presently
front of the property with another entrance here
see the zoning notices
and this I should note next to this
so this is a walkway or a breezeway to access the
entrances on the side for the
separate units
there's a common area inside the property
It's turned around, same space, different view.
Downstairs in the basement, we have just utilities and mechanicals.
Here's the multiple water heaters for the multiple units.
I think I have meters.
So yeah, here's electrical for the separate units.
Mr. Patton did present this to the RCO on three separate occasions.
There were three meetings.
Here's also a petition.
Let's go back to the presentation of the RCOs.
So after the first RCO, there was a letter of opposition.
You had two more meetings after that. What happened with those meetings?
I was not present. Mr. Patton can speak more informatively about that, but my understanding, there were votes in his favor.
um and the the question i had for for you mr chairman of the board is the rco meeting
letter that you have was that resulting from the february 27th meeting or i believe that there was
the initial meeting was months before i think the meeting we have is 6 2023 okay so that's the first
meeting um okay so if there's no uh subsequent so there were two more meetings and i i i didn't
receive a follow-up letter my client hasn't and i wasn't sure if the board had okay thank you we do
not okay so uh but this is um this is signatures in support uh you'll note many if not the vast
majority of these are on the 200 block of north 52nd street supporting um this and the uh name
of the business, Mr. Patton is using as bright children of the future for this residential
home. This is a presentation he put together that's really helpful to sort of show his
level of commitment, what he's planning, and talks about the bright children of the future
program and the impact of his proposal. And he has several partners with lots of experience
running these types of residential homes.
And I believe some are on the call
to speak about how this will operate.
But I want to get,
there's of most relevance right now,
there are some plans here.
Here's a schedule of how the youths
will be monitored and maintained
throughout the school days and the weekend days,
getting them to different activities,
getting them to school and supervising them.
The full-time staff on site around the clock, they talked at the neighborhood meetings about storing the trash in the back, not taking up additional any parking on the block where staff is actually using public transportation and not parking on the block to take spots away from neighbors, having cameras and lighting on site.
having different professionals accessible to the residents as well.
And here's the plans with an oversight view of the roof.
I think this is the roof view.
minute one
bring your client on oh sure Mr. Patton if you can get it back to your testimony then we can
figure out what happened with these meetings okay very good while he's doing that um
there's that permit i also wanted to just show
all right they've been allowed to speak
sir could you please state your name
and spell for the court stenographer
did we see him jason
can you guys hear me
Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Okay, yes.
My name is Joseph Patton.
My first name is Joseph.
That's spelled J-O-S-E-P-H.
And my last name is Patton.
P-A-T-T-O-N.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
You see it, counsel?
Mr. Patton, did you hear my testimony?
Yes. And do you agree and agree to adopt it as your own?
Yes. OK, thank you. Mr. Patton, let me ask you this, Mr. Patton.
You had two other meetings with the RCO. How those meetings go?
Yes. So both meetings went in my favor.
My lawyer, Mr. Cornweiser, have the results of the last meeting.
If you can pull that up for him, because I emailed that to him.
You're talking about the survey? Yeah, it was when it would say 15 percent said yes.
8% said yes with conditions, and then 23% said no, and then it was 54% people who wasn't ready
to vote, and I can explain that part. I had sent you two emails yesterday.
Okay, I can look for that. Just tell them, Mr. Chairman, what happened. I'll look for that.
Okay, no problem. So at the second meeting, the results, the reason why it was the way it was,
once I got done, my testimony and my presentation answered the questions, I was told to leave the
meeting when i left the meeting uh a lot of the community members they assumed that the meeting
was over so they had got off so then they realized that it wasn't over and they tried to get back in
when they tried to get back in the host uh noticed that they were trying to get back in
he just didn't let them back in um and that's how that ended so we never got nothing from there
Now, this meeting that we recently just had, which was February 27th, 2024 at 6 p.m., that meeting went in my favor.
What ended up happening was when the meeting went in my favor and it was time to they did the votes, the votes came out in my favor.
It was a lady. She was opposition of it. And she said, I don't think there's fear.
I don't know if these people are from the community. Now, remind you, chairman, this is our third time doing this.
And the results already came out.
When the lady said that, the RCO leader started smiling and said, yes, yes, yes, we're going to have to figure something out.
I'm going to call Mr. Joseph tomorrow.
I never received no phone call from him.
I reached out to their office asking for results.
That didn't happen.
And I informed my attorney.
And my attorney, we went over it.
And this is why we're here at a third meeting.
That was it.
Is this what you're referring to, Mr. Patton? Can you see my screen?
Yes. Yes. Yep.
And can I say one thing, one more thing, Chair, if you don't mind?
Hold on. Is this the meeting from 227?
No. This meeting was from, it's on there. I forgot the date, but Mr. Corrin, can you pull up the date?
It was. It was on there.
Easier said than done. I'll try.
yeah in your email you say it there you go it was september 28th okay september 23 at 6 p.m
okay well that that that was pretty much you you didn't get that vote either right
no so the thing no i didn't get that rope eva but people so it was evenly 23 said yes 23 said no
no so the thing no i didn't get that vote either but people so it was
but it was additional 54 of people who was not ready to vote and the reason why that happened
they were ready to vote when they tried to get back on the rco leader did not allow them to come
back on and they are the person who controls the zoom and could determine who can be in or out
so that's why about a week ago you had another meeting and never got a letter yes and i can
And I can explain that, too, as well. So the results came out. I wasn't there. It was in my favor.
And when it was in my favor, a lady who was opposition spoke against it and said, hey, I don't think this is fair.
I don't think that these people are not from this community. And the RCO leader had a smirk on his face.
He said, yes, yes, yes. We're going to figure something out. We're going to do this over. I'm going to call Mr. Patton.
I never received a letter. I never received nothing from them. I reached out, didn't hear.
So I let my lawyer know. And not only that, I have several neighbors who are on the call who can speak highly of what happened in the meeting who are in favor of this happening.
All right. All right. Thank you. Are you done, Mr. Weiss?
Just a few a few seconds more. I just do want to mention that as far as a hardship where this is zoned as a single family,
clearly would be a hardship to bring this back to a single family since it is approved as a
multifamily structure. The nature of the block is a mix of residential, multifamily, and commercial
structures. And should the board deem it necessary, provisos regarding trash and no parking on the
block and cameras and lighting or a variance temporary in nature are all agreeable. And Mr.
patten you know you can hear his passion this is uh his view of what is a more socially impactful
use to benefit the community the use of the community um and and give something back other
than just you know be be a landlord and rent out three units um and that's all i have at the moment
thank you thank you questions from the board no questions no chair questions or comments for our
attorney hillary emerson um just briefly mr chair um i think it would be helpful if i spoke to
lni about the use because i'm not sure the use on here is the appropriate use it says a single
room residence and this sounds more like group living um like the broader category of group
living so i don't think the use is listed correctly on the refusal so that's based on
what i've heard today so i'm i'm going to check into ellen i with ellen i on that
let's go let's we'll try to figure what we'll what we'll do is we'll continue
where we stand we won't vote today but what what's let's see questions or comments from
the virtual audience i'm yes mr chair i have a peter mitchell with their hand raised i've
allowed them to speak at this time mr mitchell could you state your name please and spell for
the court stenographer i sure will uh my name is can you hear me yes sir oh i don't get just
shit my uh my first name is peter p-e-t-e-r last name mitchell m-i-t-c-h-e-l-l right do you swear
or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes sir just shit are you a neighbor
Yes, I am.
Please proceed.
This will be an excellent vision for this young man because it really will help our neighborhood.
It really will help the youth that is in our neighborhood.
And a lot of people don't understand all the crime that's going on because this young man is really putting something positive
in the neighborhood, you know, to decrease the crime, to decrease
everything that's happening. And I feel like
being as though he's trying to do something positive
will enable our neighborhood and make it better. You know what I'm saying?
So this is a great thing
and I stand behind him, I stand behind him 100%
10 toes down with this, you know,
especially with all that's going on