next Wednesday morning. Do I need to be
Next Wednesday morning, do I need to be present?
present? You don't have to be present, but you
You don't have to be present, but you can listen in.
can listen in.
The case is closed
and we'll just vote on it next
Wednesday at 930. And then we'll figure out
where we stand, okay?
Thank you. Number 15.
2024-007-223-2858
North 26th Street.
John's is the owner applicant.
Mr. Chair, they have been promoted to Panama City. We'll be rejoining shortly.
Could you please state your name and spell for the sonographer?
Can you hear me?
I can.
Hi, I'm going to...
State your name as Bell for the stenographer.
My name is De'Ara Johns, D-I-E-R-A-H, last name J-O-H-N-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
So this application is for uses of two-family household living in an existing structure.
The proposed use, two-family household living, is prohibited in the RSA 5 zoning district.
Have you submitted all your appropriate exhibits?
Yes. Share your screen to start your presentation, please.
How do I?
There could be a green button on the bottom.
i think it's asking me to update my settings okay
it says zoom will not be able to record the content on your screen and until it isn't quit
let me see do we have a tech person can give her some advice
miss johns could you repeat the the message that came up for you
it was asking me to put something in quick okay you know how to make this bigger oh my goodness
that's all right that's no problem um do you have the documents that you want to share already open
on your computer i do can you see it okay so no not yet but um if you click that green share button
at the bottom of the screen it should ask you if you want to share a window or an application yeah
there you go beautiful thank you okay so the refusal um the permit we have your refusal we
see that okay so why don't you explain to us what you're trying to do so basically um 28 58 north
26th street um previously as of last year it was um it had a zoning um
usage that allowed it to be used as a multi-family however um i i was receiving
bills from the trash department and i couldn't understand why i was receiving the bill so when
I went to court to have the, to eliminate the bills. I received, I won the case. However,
I kept receiving bills. So when I reached out to my OP guy, I explained to him that the house was
zoned as a single family and that no one was living in a home and it continued to stand as
a single family. I didn't know that when I stated those things to him, that that was going to
interrupt my usage code I do have proof of those emails
and so he emailed me back and let me know that the usage
would be updated to 050
050 so that actually
interrupted my
the variance that I did have on there this was
the messages that I had from him and I
Could you show us photos of your property, please?
Oh, yeah, I can show you the photos of the property.
Let me reset.
So this is the front of the property.
I recently had the porch redone because there were some violations that I needed to get cleared up.
As you can see, on this side, there is an entrance to the first floor and then there is a basement.
As you can see on this side, there is an entrance to the first floor and then there's...
And then on this side, there is an entrance to the second floor and then third floor.
So that's why I said it already stands as a multifamily because it has two separate entrances, two separate electric water and all of that.
This is a side view of the property.
Another side view.
Another side view.
So, this is the first apartment. It was demoed last year when I was trying to get everything reconstructed. I'm still trying to get the funding to have this completed. So, this is the first floor. Towards the back, there was a bathroom back there, and then you see the door. That door leads out to the backyard.
Or, and on the side here where you can't, where like the refrigerator is, there's a stairwell that leads down to the basement and the basement also has a door as well.
This is the bathroom that I was talking about that's towards the back here.
This is the bathroom.
And this is like the forward facing.
So this would be the living room of the first floor apartment.
and this is the same thing the first floor this is just undemo same thing the first floor just
not demo and then you can see the entrance to the basement right here this is the entrance
of the second apartment this is the stairwell leads up to this right here is a bedroom and
here would be the kitchen and dining room area. This side is also the same floor, the living room
area. This is the bedroom I was referring to in this picture. This is the bedroom on the
second apartment, first, second floor. This is the stairwell that leads up to the third floor.
and this is the third floor hallway this is the bedroom within the third floor
this is the bathroom on the third floor
um i wasn't able to obtain pictures of the backyard because this door
um on the first floor apartment that leads to the backyard is nailed shut and then the gate
that leads to the boards the alleyway is also um locked up but i was for um given a picture by my
oh wait how long have you owned the property um so my father purchased it for me back in 2016
16, I didn't come into actually owning it and taking over until 2023.
Right.
I was too young to.
And it's been vacant since 16?
No, it hasn't been vacant since 16.
It's been vacant since I want to say 2020.
I received, I had to go through the board where I had to learn,
I learned that I had to get a vacant property license.
and then when I let him know that I was getting work done to it he told me that I would be okay
that I wouldn't need the vacant property license because I am getting permits to have the work done
for it but when I reached out to him because I was receiving a trash fees I didn't know that I
I couldn't find on the website anywhere that it was on for multifamily so when I did get a chance
to actually go through this process and speak to my rcl she explained to me well it's not going to
change the zoning it's going to change the zoning usage because to change the zoning i guess she said
that would be more work i had to go to before the city council so the usage was already prior to me
reaching out to the guy and explaining no a single family it was already um granted as a
as a um as a use for multi-family which is why i was receiving the trash bills there's also a um
so this was granted back in 1951 and i believe it was standing within that usage from 1951
but me being unaware that the usage code was what it was i kind of interrupted that
questions from the board I have a quick question so the RCO asks for interior trash storage
am I going to assume that the trash storage would be in the basement
um the trash storage um maybe it could be in a backyard um okay so the um one of the provisals
the trash storage maybe it could be in the backyard
that the rco said was that they wanted interior trash storage so do you have anywhere in the
interior that you could store the trash um yeah i can store it in the basement i'm i'm confused
by what you mean by trash storage um so the rco swamp poodle neighborhood parcels and she may be
here to back that up but they asked for a provision in order for your for them to support
this project and they said they wanted interior trash stores so that means they looking for you
to store the trash somewhere within the unit and i was just asking you do you have a place within
the unit to store the trash right i'm i'm i'm guess i'm not really understanding your question
if the purpose would be for them to rent it out so i would assume that they would have trash cans
and then they would take... So you would put
trash cans in the basement for the first
floor unit and
for each of your units?
Oh, yeah. They have some space in the basement for them to
store the trash before they take it out
to the curb? Oh, yeah.
That's fine. Is that something you're okay with?
Yes, that's fine. Okay. Does the second
floor unit have access to the basement?
Does the second unit?
Yeah. No, the second
unit doesn't have access to the basement or
the first floor. So the second unit,
I can go back to the picture
if you'd like me to do you have plans of what you're proposing to put back in yes
um second and then do you know roughly what's the square footage of the first and the second
floors um i have it all outlined here okay yeah this is the um basement um
okay so yeah this is the basement and then this is i guess the backyard because there is a door
here and steps up yep right so then this is the first first floor you come in this is the living
room you go downstairs that's the bed that's the um basement you come into the kitchen
and then bathroom and then a bedroom right here and then out the backyard
this is the second floor for the second apartment um
where's the okay so you go up the steps and then you have the living room here
i guess a washroom here the kitchen and then the bedroom
and then you come up the steps again you have the second bedroom the bathroom then that's just
open there's no um there's no room here there's like a door here there's no room okay
other questions from the board so do both uh units have access to the backyard
do both units have access to the backyard so one of the units currently have access to the backyard
with the back door which would be the first unit the second unit will not have access to the
backyard okay so just to help satisfy the rcl where would the second unit store their trash
because it seems like the first unit can do it stored in the basement or the backyard but the
second unit where would they store their trash basically you need a closet a vented closet or
something okay so yeah on the second floor there is like so before you go out well you can't go
out there is like a little closet here um i can show you go to the pictures it's fairly it's like
a good size so i can make that a storage but i'm i just never under i don't understand the idea
because i need to take your you got to put your trash somewhere you can't put it in front of the
house and they don't have access to the yard or access to the basement so where in your second
floor apartment would you store trash so there is this um closet right here on the third floor
that i could possibly put a trash can or some type of trash bins in there for them to store it in
there um is that a doorway on the third floor right here yes that is a doorway but it's going
will be closed off because let me see if I can go to the picture. I'm not sure why that
it was just like that when it was given to me.
And while you're pulling up the pictures I would just suggestion to
put all the permits on file because it does look like there were no permits on this when it was
put all the permits on file
because it does look like there were
converted. But if it was converted in 1951, that would make sense. Yeah, that's what it was. It
was converted long ago. Yeah, but even your demo currently, I would make sure you get permits.
Okay, no problem. This is that door on the third floor that goes out. So that's going to be
completely sealed off it's not going to be access to the roof unless the con the um architects
comes around and find a way to put a to make that an actual part of the third floor i was thinking
about that but right now then you'd be coming back the zoning right
one thing about your plan on the first floor having uh having to go through a
bedroom to go to a yard is horrible so if you're if you're in the process of looking at a plan you
should talk to your architect to make sure you don't have to walk through a bedroom to go to the
backyard to go to a bedroom to go to the backyard okay yeah all right yeah right
other questions um no but i will say that this board questions for this oh i will say the basement
also goes to the backyard as well.
There's a door in the basement that goes to...
I just don't have pictures of the basement because
there's a lot of stuff there.
Questions or comments from our attorney?
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from the audience?
I do not see any hands raised for this matter, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commission.
Ron Bednar, City Planning.
Well, the comprehensive plan recommends
no change to existing zoning
at this location,
Given the documented history and its physical condition of the site, I recommend the request of variance to be granted. Thank you.
Hello, Mr. Chair. I'm very sorry to interrupt you, but I have a hand up from a number ending in 3552, Mr. Fernandez, Ms. Adrian Fernandez.
Good morning, Adrian.
Hello?
adrian adrian you've already been sworn just for the record state your name
okay adrian fernandez swample to rco please proceed with your presentation
okay i just wanted to request um that the three provisos if they would be permitted
with this letter of support which are limit of two units fashion recycling stored indoors except
on collection days and no basement living no bedrooms in the basement thank you is there
anyone else in a virtual audience? Planning Commission, do you? Good. Okay. So MI 2024-007-223-2858
North 26th Street, I vote yes with proviso. Maximum two dwelling units, interior trash storage,