and they came in nine in favor
They're not in favor. They are in favor. Nine. Yeah. Majority. Three times as many folks are in favor. They wanted us to set back the third floor. Right. Which we did, which eliminated the primary refusal.
The only other refusal is the fact that it's a duplex and it's zoned for single-family because it's brand-new construction.
I believe even the neighbors agreed building a single-family home here would be just economically not viable,
not only for my client, but for anyone who wanted to occupy the space.
Aaron, could you show the basement again?
both with access wells in the front and the rear
and this is the first floor here okay um council this is lynn reidel huber board council that
letter of support that you showed was that the original letter of support or is that the letter
of support pursuing to your revised plans this was the this is an email wasn't necessarily a letter
it was email of uh initially uh but it was uh recommended by the rco that we revise the plan
to set back uh eight feet okay i just wanted to be clear because um i believe that was the original
one i i thought it indicated that you would you went back to them so you did not get another
letter from the rco no that's the that's the original uh email of support uh in our discussion
they had asked that we set that third floor back uh to eliminate that uh that refusal and we did so
bernie do you want to bring your client on and yes your
mr herbert blackwell if you're in the audience please raise your virtual hand
i do not see herbert blackwell the only hand i have is a lorraine davidson would that be
that's yep that's yep lorraine's fine as well okay yep
lorraine should be able to speak
good morning good morning how are you good morning could you please state and spell your name for
the stenographer lorraine davidson l-o-r-r-a-i-n-e d-a-v-i-d-s-o-n
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Thank you. Ms. Davidson, you are a business partner with Mr. Blackwell. Is that correct?
Yes. Yes, I am.
Thank you very much. And you heard my presentation to the board this morning?
True and accurate to the best of your knowledge?
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Yes, I do.
Thank you very much. I have nothing further.
Questions from the board.
you know the one comment i have and you know i say this all the time is you know on the first
floor you've got this bedroom uh you're forcing the three family dwelling to have to go through
someone's bedroom to utilize an outdoor space uh the backyard it absolutely is bad bad bad i can't
support it i just can't support i can't support we have to go through having to go through a
bedroom to go to a backyard i understand trash is stored out there the dog is stored out there
the barbecues are out there you're forcing families to go through someone's most private
space to utilize an outdoor space it's just bad because we have two bedrooms in the lower level
if this board is so inclined to as a proviso no bedrooms on the first floor we can turn that back
room into a shared living space but we still would have two viable bedrooms for the unit
other questions
is this the first third story on this block
is this the first third story on this block
miss davidson are there other three-story buildings on the block
yeah there are a lot of apartments on this block um not apartment stories three stories are there
are there any with third floors i'm not sure actually um i'm not sure according to
Our third floor will be compliant now with the revised plan, though.
So it's no longer.
It looks like there are some three stories.
Because from my Google Maps, it's not showing any.
All right.
That's my other question.
Questions from our attorney.
I think that answers it, but you indicated that the proviso form would be forthcoming.
Yes, it would be.
and again if there was a if the board is inclined also say it again i was talking to the chairman
okay and if the board is inclined to uh eliminate any bedrooms on the first floor we would be
amenable to that as well okay if we can provide so that i don't know that we can but i would be
amenable to that i think i think the board has said no basement bedrooms in the past so i
I think, I don't think that the floor would matter here.
Is this ready to go now?
Is that what you're saying?
I mean, you could, but I mean, I don't know if you want to discuss it because of the bedroom issue.
That's me.
I don't want to step on it.
So questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Good morning, Chairman.
david fecto f-e-c-t-e-a-u with the city planning commission you swear or firm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth yes sir i do um please proceed sir thank you sir uh chairman
and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa5 residential
single-family zoning at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 2023 in a community
supported map change at that time this property was zoned rm1 residential multifamily this is a
majority single family block face the single the city planning commission recommends the board
deny the proposed use variance for two dwelling units okay so verne i'm going to hold this till
next uh wednesday and we'll vote at 9 30 a.m i just want to go over a couple issues with it okay
thank you and uh just and although i appreciate the planning commission's input uh this would
be a ground-up, brand-new construction. If we were required to build a single-family home here,
it would be neither economically or practically viable. The neighbors agree. So, thank you.
All right. All right. So, Vern, why don't you stay on, too? Why don't I go to number 10?
Oh, yeah.
Right? So, MI 2026-002-563-164 East Stafford Street. Vern, could you just state your name for
record yep it's verna anastasio anastasio on behalf of mr vincent douglas okay um our vice
chair has a few questions good morning have you submitted your documents and exhibits 14 days in
advance of this hearing yes and do you weigh the reading of your refusals and stipulate to their
accuracy i do okay thank you you can share your screen and proceed with your case and ver before
you start counsel um do we we need anything on this case i think you said amended refusal there
might be let's see how the testimony okay all right good thank you all right go ahead
this is just for the relocation of lot lines and for the use uh for equipment and material storage
yard um and commercial vehicle repair and maintenance uh on this property this long
associated property that has never been a single-family home, at least in recent memory.
So we've been refused for use.
And let me...
So, the consolidation plan, you have these several lots here that we'd like to consolidate here.
Council, we don't see anything yet. It looks like now it does. Okay.
yeah it says i'm it says i'm sharing
you can
you can see that yes we see that yep okay so this is the proposed lot
you're not sharing it oh now you're sharing again yeah there's the layout
We have an office here, building and storage.
It's roughly 18 by 20 feet.
We have an air compressor next to it.
We have a garage and storage that is 30 feet wide.
There's space for construction debris, as well as additional storage and parking.
We went door to door on the block and got everyone who lives on the block to support the appeal, as my client is a well-known member of the community and has served these folks as well as others in the neighborhood with commercial vehicle repair and maintenance.
and by the way this has been going on for quite some time he believed that this was already
legalized i'll bring up the layout again of the site in question and of course it's all secured
with a front gate 16 foot wide right along stafford street with that i like to call mr
vincent douglas to the stand
mr douglas he's coming in now chair sure thank you
you're welcome
let me try it again
there he is he's been promoted okay thank you
okay can you hear me i can could you please state and spell your name for this stenographer
vincent douglas v-i-n-c-e-n-t last name douglas d-o-u-g-l-a-s-s
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Counsel.
Mr. Douglas, did you hear my presentation to the board?
Is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge?
Absolutely, yes.
And do you adopt it as your own?
Very well.
Please stay tuned for any questions about the use.
Thank you.
Questions from the board.
what kind of business are we doing here oh it's um well we do cement work
and um so we service the community in germantown mount airy and uh um west oak lane
okay so you're actually uh uh making a cement there no no we what are we doing well when they
call us and they need um work um we pretty much we uh go to their job site and um uh we you know
repair any kind of cement needs that they that they need ah okay so the trucks go out those are
those trucks where you can make those cement in the in the little back there well we really we
don't make any cement really there we we basically go to this job site we take our equipment and our
tools and we go there and um we perform our duties as patching grip pointing things like that
so we load our trucks in the morning with our tools and um and we go to the job sites
okay so this is more for like storage of the trucks and the equipment and that kind of thing
is that yeah yes because we bring in our um like we have some lumber you know for setting forms
um we have a lot of tools and air compressors for like breaking the concrete the dump trailers for
like um uh you know haul hauling the uh broken concrete onto the trailer to the dump site
uh to the dump site okay all right and mr douglas you also um repair and maintain these the the
okay all right and mr douglas you
trucks on site is that correct yeah only my equipment that's it yeah yeah okay all right
thank you um how many trucks how many trucks are being stored here four four and then have you
talked to any of the neighbors i know that like stafford street is a very neural street
you i see from the google earth that like you've got cars that are parked sort of half on the
sidewalk really even right outside your fence and so i think my question is more about the quality
of life for neighbors as you're kind of pulling heavy machinery and trucks and materials out to
go to construction jobs yeah so we pull out in the morning and um and i live across the street
so i own the properties across right across immediately across the street um there's one
neighbor our neighbor uh next door and she's you know very happy with with um um you know like
the way i've taken care of the community and the way i handle helping her around her house
to be pairing things and things like that so and there's not that many neighbors on the block it's
only just us yeah it's really the four of you it looks like yeah we have uh half a dozen neighbors
uh of the six households on the block uh we were able to get ask them all for support and they
uh they are uh actually a big fan of uh what mr uh douglas does here okay firm what about
the rco meeting what happened there we had the rco there wasn't a whole lot of opposition
we had immediate neighbors show up but i did not get a letter from the rco we we did not either
correct okay um okay um questions for our attorney yes uh i have a couple questions um with regard
to you mentioned uh parking um are you creating parking spaces what's happening with the parking
well that's just it's places for their trucks to go into okay uh to do work uh parking is not um
as part of your application so you would need to get an amended refusal for that
um what about your gate um i don't see that mentioned anywhere in the application
there is mention about the fencing but i don't believe that the gate is mentioned
well it it it exists okay that would most likely need an amended refusal also
because the fencing is mentioning refusal which i believe would be the um the four feet in height
i believe the fencing concerning the lot line i don't believe it's concerning the gate itself
but not the it's the same height as the fence so i'm just wondering what the how high is the fence
how high is the you got a refusal for the fence so then right and the gate and the
fence are exactly the same height but the gate is not mentioned understood okay um
thirdly i just want to clarify uh because there was an email that was attached in your application
your submission that indicated that um there would be light for uh fabrication excuse me
of concrete forms and related prep work that was to be done at the property is that not being done
at the property but my client has clarified that that will not be done at the property
okay because it was mentioned on the email because that would that would entail another
you know reason for an amended refusal understood so there is not going to be any making of anything
if i can use the correct word that's correct that's his anything that's what he just testified
to yes i just want to make sure we're clear on that so okay but like i said if regard to the
gate and the parking you would need to um um have an amended refusal with regard to that
so so for the fence there's the you said the fence is four feet but there's it sits on top
of like a like a four foot wall so does that matter
or do you need something for that wall too like it takes into your it takes into your gate there's
a four foot wall and then like four or five foot wall and then on top of that is a four foot gate
a four foot fence so just want to make sure you got the the correct refusal you know what i mean
once it's amended yeah i mean you also when you're going to back for an amended i don't know why the
description the fencing wasn't indicated in your description it's part of refusal but it also
should be in the application itself with regard to a description of the fencing and the gate itself
as well as the parking yeah I do believe it was submitted in Eclipse thus the refusal for it but
but I can make I can get clarity on that
our questions from the virtual audience
questions from the virtual audience