last name barnes b as in boy a-r-n-e-s you sure affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth yes sir please proceed cynthia yes i am the um co-director of the
nice town tiger improvement team and this um ish zona issue was brought to us in may
with only a turnout of five people and at the time the the folks in attendance i was in attendance
were not sure about what was actually going on and when one of the neighbors brought out that
she never got a flyer and she lives on the block down the street from where this all was happening
on hilton street so we said that since the community that was the near
on hilton street so we said that since the community that was the near neighbors weren't
there we would host another meeting to get the input and that's when the 25 people came
but the other thing is it was a lot of um negative uh um texas back and forth and um from the lawyer
that was very
unpleased that the community
didn't want this
in the neighborhood, saying that
this is why we don't have
anything, because everybody
always votes no against it.
I'm sorry, I'm going to object.
It's not accurate.
Can she object to me?
Why don't we do that?
That's slander.
I didn't say nothing to her.
Listen to me.
Let her finish her testimony.
I'll give you a chance at the end to respond to orders.
i have copies of her texts and her emails so the problem is when they just kept saying
um sober gym which put up alarms is like why like planet fitness do you go in there and say i'm going
to a sober gym you know and then offering all these other things to the community just for us
to approve it this is a very high drug area and this always has been i live two blocks down the
street so i already know that not only two blocks away is bethune elementary school that it has
children and also be a jump crossing which is a new apartment with like 42 residents in it and
that's where the meeting was actually held there is i haven't had one person in our community that
that was for this gym.
And it is close to Kensington
because of the way they're moving Kensington,
that people are moving up to like Lehigh
and we're not that far from Lehigh Avenue.
Okay, all right.
Thank you, Cynthia.
We appreciate your comments.
Next hand, please.
I have a hand up from Casey Cahoe.
I've allowed them to speak.
Could you please state your name
and spell for the stenographer. Yes. Hi. Can you hear me? I can. Yes. My name is, sorry about the
picture there. My name is Casey Kehoe, C-A-S-E-Y, latest name Kehoe, K-E-H-O-E. Do you swear or
affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes. Please proceed. Are you a
neighbor? I am not a neighbor. No, I am a Phoenix member now volunteer for the Phoenix. I just
wanted to come on and just say that um you know this program uh is is very near and dear to my
heart um you know i originally started as a member and then through the phoenix i was able to be
sponsored to obtain my athletic training certification and i'm now able to um volunteer
and train classes so um i definitely support this community this building and um yeah that's pretty
much all i wanted thank you very much for your comments how many more hands do you have
not sure i've got uh six left six okay um first is brian rothbart i've got them to speak
all right i could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer yes hi my name
is brian rothbart b-r-i-a-n-r-o-t-h-b-a-r-t you should i refer him to tell the truth told
truth nothing but the truth yes i do are you a neighbor i'm not a neighbor uh i run a business
catering to the sober community okay and i have work hold on a moment are you in favor of this
project or against i'm in favor yes all right thank you very much for taking the time to calls
next hand please next hand is suzy payne i've allowed them to speak hi suzy could you please
state your name and spell for the stenographer hi there we uh we have a group here so i it's
actually meek is gonna state his name we're just all on a all together on the zoom here
okay could you state your name and spell it humble meek re that's h-u-m-b-l-e middle name is m-e-e-k
last name is r-e-i-d right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth? I do. Are you in favor of this project or against? In favor. Are you a neighbor? I am.
All right, next person, please.
Susie, do you have more people there? Yes, my name is Joseph DeMilto.
I can spell your name, please, for the stenographer. Yes, it's J-O-S-E-P-H-B-E-M-I-L-T-O.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes. Are you a neighbor? No, I work in the community. Okay. Could you, uh, are you in
yes are you a neighbor no i work in the community okay
favor of this project or against? In favor. Thank you very much. Next person, please.
Good morning. How are you doing? Good afternoon. Thank you. Hi, could you please state your name
and spell for the stenographer? This is Najee Faison. It's spelled N-I-Z-J-A, last name F-A-I-S-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, told the truth, nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
A neighbor, yes, sir.
Are you in favor of this proctor or against?
In favor.
Thank you very much for taking the time to call.
Next person, please.
Hi, my name is Jennifer Carroll, J-E-N-N-I-F-E-R-C-A-R-R-O-L-L.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, told the truth, nothing but the truth?
Do you?
Are you a neighbor?
No, I work in the neighborhood.
are you in favor of the project or against in favor miss pain how many more people do you have
there two more we have two more folks okay please next person yeah good afternoon louis soto
could you say your name again and spell for the stenographer uh louis l-u-i-s soto s-o-t-o
right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth told truth nothing but the truth
Yes, I do.
Are you in favor of this project or against?
Yes, I do. I'm in favor.
And are you a neighbor?
Community member.
Thank you very much. Next hand, please.
You're welcome.
All right, good afternoon.
My name is Thaddeus Parker.
My name is Thaddeus Parker, T-H-A-D-D-E-U-S, Parker, P-A-R-K-E-R.
All right, do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Are you in favor of this project or against?
I am in favor. I'm a neighbor and a community worker.
All right. Thank you very much. Is that your list, Ms. Payne?
Yes, that's our list. Thank you.
Next hand in the virtual audience.
I'm Mr. Ava, Ty Jones. I've allowed them to speak.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Hi, my name is Tyra Jones, T-Y-R-A-J-O-N-E-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
I'm a community partner.
Are you a favor of this practice or against?
I'm in favor.
Thank you very much for calling.
Next hand, please.
Yes, Tito Capa, I've allowed them to speak.
Could you please state your name as Bell for the stenographer?
Yes, my name is Tito Capa, T-I-T-O-C-A-B-A.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
I am a community partner.
Are you in favor of this project or against?
I am in favor.
All right.
How many more hands do you have there, Chase?
I've got at least two more hands, Mr. Chair.
I got a barrel cold with their hand raised.
I've allowed them to speak.
All right.
Please state your name and spell for the stenographer.
Oh, wait.
I'm sorry.
They put their hand down.
Last hand is...
oh wait i'm sorry they put their hand up again a barrel cohen okay thank you um
army yeah i'll call him please uh wait to be sworn in okay what what's what's state your
name and spell for the stenographer my name is beryl cohen b-e-r-y-l-c-o-h-e-n do you swear
we're referring to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do are you a neighbor
uh no i'm a phoenix volunteer i could do um are you in favor of this project or against
i am in favor all right thank you very much for taking time to calls
uh council before i go to uh planning could you have any comments yeah so i'll say this i don't
think in 10 years of doing this i would ever say to any organization this is why you have what you
have or whatever i don't speak like that so it's offensive to me um that anybody would say that
about me, number one. So I have to address that. Number two, I left out a lot of what went on
in out of respect for the organization and some of the ways that they decided to handle this.
And there was things that went on early on before we even got to address the formal community
where there were emails and things about what this was that was not coming from our organization.
I left that out because we want to move on from these things and work together with people.
So I'll leave that there. I also want to make sure that we made it clear that these are a group of people that are ADA protected. And the only opposition to this project from that organization was because we're trying to help people with substance abuse disorder.
It had nothing to do with the size of the building, the dimensions of the building, the lighting, the color, anything. It all had to do with we don't want you servicing those people, which is completely federally illegal. And so let's just.
you servicing those people which is completely federally illegal and so let's just make that
plainly clear okay um last thing i just want to mention when i that i didn't get to was
if you look at the comprehensive plan for this area and i'm sure the planning commission will
address this it's suggested that this be rezoned icmx and if that was the case we wouldn't even be
here so we are proposing something that makes sense for for this area and i think that over
time people will actually really appreciate that this is thank you very much planning commission
Excuse me, Mr. Chair. I'm sorry to interrupt you again, but there's two more hands raised. They're both named Clayton Pickens. I'm going to allow the first one to speak, if you must.
Please state your name as Bell for the stenographer.
Hello? My name is Clayton Pickens. I am living in the neighborhood.
Do me a favor, Clayton, spell your name for the stenographer.
And I'm speaking because they voted no for that project.
Clayton, Clayton, please spell your name for the stenographer.
My name is spelled C-L-A-Y-T-O-N.
Last name is Pickens, P-I-C-K-E-N-S.
Thank you.
Do you swear or affirm the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
And Clayton, you're a neighbor.
Yes, I am.
Please proceed.
Are you in favor or against?
Against.
All right.
Thank you very much.
we appreciate you taking the time the calls next last hand please
okay that's all mr chair planning commission
thank you chairman and good afternoon dave defecto f-e-c-t-e-a-u with the city planning commission
do you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes sir i do please
proceed thank you sir uh chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends a
change in zoning at this location from rm1 residential multifamily to icmx industrial
and commercial mixed use the proposed use would be allowed in the recommended zoning district
so the city planning commission recommends of the board grant a proposed use variance for a gymnasium
thank you um council we've had a lot of testimony on this we'll go to this next wednesday at 2 p.m
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much for your testimony.
Number 12, MI 2024-007-375-2024 R Street.
Robert Careless is the attorney.
My counsel, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?