ZBA Hearing - May 20, 2026

no hands at this time chair any commission

thank you chairman and good morning David Vecto with the city planning commission

chairman of board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the RSA 5 residential

single-family zoning at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 2014 in

accord with recommendations in the comprehensive plan at that time this block face was zoned RM1

one residential multi-family the city granted a use permit for two dwelling units in 2011.

the appellant is seeking to legalize an unlicensed third unit if the property was still zoned RM1

their lot would be 10 square feet shy of allowing the third unit this is de minimis the City Planning

Commission recommends the board grant a proposed use variance for a third dwelling unit

and my 2025 007 374 1452 north 29th street i vote yes with proviso second and third floor

trash to be stored inside michael johns my vote is a yes with proviso

michael johns my vote is a yes with proviso

cheryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso tenetta graham my vote is yes with proviso

ryan mcadams my vote is yes with proviso hi i went my vote is yes with proviso

thank you you you have your vote sir all right thank you so much sure yep you did good all

with those four plans thank you tried my best i did notice he studied the films too before he

did a good job all right thank you guys so much all right number seven mi 2025 004 811

5149 brown street brian

britney hoggins is the owner applicant

um unanimous support from mill creek

advisories

good morning is that one mike one

hey how are you oh good morning morning could you please state your name and spell it for

the stenographer b-r-i-t-t-a-n-y h-o-g-a-n-s do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the

whole truth nothing but the truth um this is the reporter pardon me chair could i ask the

witness to pull the microphone closer here you go try it now do i sound better now yeah okay

Okay, why don't you state your name one more time? Brittany Hogan, B-R-I-T-T-A-N-Y. And do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes. And I notice here that there's unanimous support from Mill Creek for you, and our vice chair has a couple questions for you, okay? Okay, thank you. Good morning. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing? Yes, ma'am.

Thank you. And your refusal is for multifamily living in an existing structure.

Do you waive the reason of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?

Yes, ma'am. Okay. You can share your screen and proceed with the case.

hi how are you my name is brittany hogan's i live at 5149 brown street this home was inherited

it from my mom. She passed away in 2013 and I have been doing my best to maintain it since.

Over time I have wanted to grow and learn and realize that it might be best to renovate this

home and I decided to come to you guys to see if I could renovate it into a triplex.

I did meet with the RCO, we did have a unanimous decision to move forward, they did ask to

see what the utility boxes would look like on the side of the home as opposed to having

them in a way so that you had to go to two different apartments to see them so we when the

plans we did put them on the side of the home so why don't we do this why don't we um why don't you

just start with your plans and then go to the photos because we have every piece of paperwork

for you so start with that and and I understand the whole issue with the side with the utility

but why don't you show us what the building is what you want to do your plans and then photos

of what it is now okay sure okay so that's its location yes this is the front of the home

it's a two-story it's a two-story home yes and you won three units correct

one in the basement one on the first floor and one on the top floor okay

This is just the full side, proposing what we would do with the bed differently here

as opposed to what it is now.

This is what the home currently looks like, the 4 p.m.

And this is the proposed war plan.

Can we make it a little bigger? Larger. Yeah, a little larger so we can see. Yeah. Yeah, we want to see it. Okay. That's better.

Can we make it a little bigger?

Larger.

Yeah, a little larger.

Why don't you move it up so we can see the basement? Can you just move that up? You go.

So the entrance is in the front there in the basement? Is that what I'm saying?

It would be in the front.

So you step down and go into the basement?

Yes, you'll go right into the basement from the street.

Okay.

All right, questions from the board.

What is your trash plan for three units for the three units?

My trash plan would be on a picture of...

You're moving away from the mic.

Okay, I'm sorry.

No, okay.

My trash plan would be on the side of the home.

And I want to pull this up so I can show you guys.

So this area is gated.

So we could put the trash, we could all put the trash on the side here or directly on

the side of the home because it's elevated up, it's not on the street.

And are there any other triplexes on the block that you know of?

Yes.

my the property adjacent to me

that's right next door to you this is the property adjacent to me it's a try it's

a duplex and they this part i believe is made for zone for storage they uh dug this part up

like so that's where the

idea came from

for me so this is the house next door to me

so you'll be doing the same then

you got to dig that front up and put

an entrance in there for the basement

that's right

other questions

yeah I guess a couple comments

the basement

unit doesn't work, right? There's no natural ventilation or windows. And if you are going

to put bedrooms down there and have egress wells, that was a good picture you showed

of the side breezeway. Because if you put bedrooms down and you have to put egress wells,

you will have no room to walk on your property and get from the backyard to the front yard

because the window wells have to be three foot deep

and you appear to have only about three feet.

So there's no way you could really access through that area.

So I think it's problematic to try to do

a living in the basement for this house.

Okay.

How's your observations?

Yeah, I was going to say the same

because right now the trash plan would also be to keep the trash cans on that same walkway

and that is as soon as you do the egress wells for the basement and it's still going to be very

dark down there because just to clarify though, your breezeway is elevated, right?

It's sort of in line with the porch because you have to walk upstairs to get to that breezeway

where the trash would be stored correct correct it doesn't have to be on the um

in the actual area i'm gonna i'm gonna share again so i can show you

what i mean and then is there is there a shared alleyway between you and the houses at the rear

the houses at the back no no so there's no way like you couldn't

pull the trash cans around to the front.

You'd have to bring them down the steps.

Yes, you'd have to bring the trash can down the steps.

Other questions?

Questions or comments from our attorney?

Not at this time, Mr. Chair.

Questions or comments from the virtual audience?

No hands at this time.

Planning Commission.

Thank you, Chairman, and good morning.

David Fecto with the City Planning Commission.

chairman of board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa 5 residential

single family zoning at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 1969 and a council

supported map change there is no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property that

there is no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property that would

and prevent it from being used in control.

prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning code this is a majority single family

block base the city planning commission recommends the board deny the proposed use variance for three

dwelling units in my 2025 004 811 5149 brown street i vote yes with proviso maximum two units

no household living in basement michael johns my vote is yes with proviso

cheryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso tenetta graham my vote is yes with proviso

ryan mcadams my vote is yes with proviso i am when my vote is yes with proviso thank you thank you

Number one, MI 2024-001-949-2900 Steiner Avenue.

Devin Upta is the attorney.

They're being promoted to panelist.

Thank you.

hello can you hear me i can counsel could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer

yes um i apologize i thought i wasn't going to be called to 10 54 based on the email received

are you able to go to the next case and then come back to me um we we can do that okay thank you i

appreciate it number eight

number eight

MI 2025

007

219

829 Brown Street

Vern Anastasio is the attorney

Brooklyn Street

828 Brooklyn Street

Vern Anastasio is the attorney

they're being promoted to panelists here

morning mr chair good morning counsel could you please state your name and spell for this

Yes, it's Verne Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O, on behalf of FOAC Investments and Herbert Blackwood.

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

I do.

I see you have a letter of support from West Belmont Civic Association, or vice chair has a few questions.

Thank you.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?

I have.

And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?

I do.

All right, thank you.

You can show your screen and proceed with the case.

Thank you.

First, I'm going to share this photo, aerial photo, apologize for being a little blurry.

This property is a currently boarded up property here.

On this side of the street, we've count currently five vacant lots.

It's a significant historical disinvestment on this block.

There is new construction here on the opposite side of the block on multifamily.

This block was originally and historically an RM1 block, Zone of Residential Multifamily.

I'm going to pull up the rest of my exhibit binder.

In fact, when my client purchased the property in middle of 2022, he purchased it as an RM1 lot

and had every intention of putting a duplex here. So he engaged in an engineer, he engaged in an

architect, and he began the process. And then sometime in 2023, the zoning changed. We're here

because my client, of course, was not responsible for that change in classification,

and he would like to pursue the two-family dwelling.

After meeting with the RCO and the neighbors, several things came out.

A, that side of the block has experienced major disinvestment.

B, there are already properties on the block that have been converted to two-family dwellings.

And C, there's new construction that is multifamily right down the block.

This is the rendering of what we're looking to do.

This is the rendering of what we're looking to do.

Let's take a look at the interior.

Let's take

Here's the letter that went out to.

Here we are.

Apologies.

Start with the interior layouts.

Here's the first floor.

We have a living room.

Here's unit one.

Open concept living room and kitchen, dining, full bath.

There is a bedroom in the rear currently.

with access to the rear yard of the basement would have access wells to

additional bedrooms and a full bath with mechanicals and laundry then the top two

floors would be again large living open area space open concept with a rear

bedroom and the top floor being the primary with a suite linen closet walk-in closet additional

laundry and mechanicals no roof deck it's as i said that currently the property is uh has been

abandoned for boarded up for quite some time and my client would like to get in the process of

rehabbing it. This is the letter that went out to all individual households. 202 households were

mailed, as you say, as you've already put on the record and we've already submitted a letter of

non-opposition from the RCO, given the conditions of the block and other factors, including but not

limited to the fact that my client purchased this as an RM1 lot, had every intention and began

investing in and as an or in one or in one lot and was surprised to find out that he could no longer

have the duplex that he had planned with that i'd like to call miss lorraine davidson she's also a