be able to show a little bit better than I with the project.
the first refusal is for a fence at the side you'll see it's not really a fence it's a gate
that we've built into the structure for access a safe access point to get into i think it's
five out of the six units there's a door at the front as well and then as mentioned the only other
refusal is for use because the property is owned rsa5 even though it doesn't have a history of
single family for this particular parcel. Hello, Mr. Chair and members of the board.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer? My name is Alex Duller,
A-L-E-X, D as in David, U-L-L-E-R. You swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth? I do. Counsel, please proceed.
um alex could you share your screen and go through the plans please um
i i think you have to stop sharing for me to be allowed to share
sorry about that no problem
all right i think everyone can see we do okay
um so as rachel pointed out the owner owns the neighboring building so it was our goal to kind
of develop a building to kind of match and tie into that um so the building here we would be
demolishing the existing warehouse building um the corner building was also at one time a warehouse
building that he added two new floors to and redeveloped um so what we've done here we
made a very similar building. I don't think Rachel kind of went into it, but although it's
zoned single-family homes, we did kind of explore single-family homes. If we subdivided the lots,
we would once again be in front of the board. We only would have been able to fit
two single-family homes due to the nature of the lot and the square footage requirements
and things like that so ultimately to you know justify the investment we the owner asked us to
explore kind of this route and considering it was similar to the neighboring building
we went in this direction um so we have our zoning plan here uh what we're doing is we're
creating an alleyway between the the existing buildings and this new
building the alleyway aligns with the rear yards of all the buildings on
Emerald Street that way less impact on multiple properties and so the way it
works out is we pretty much and we have we have two units on every floor they
are all two-bedroom units. We have a partial cellar to provide some additional tenant storage
and also be able to bring in all of our utilities. We have a trash area in the rear yard for the
commercial trash pickup to be done and come out in and out without going into the building.
A common entry kind of in that little center courtyard.
And then the first floor front unit, we have its own entry to basically provide that interaction on the sidewalk.
Here are elevations.
That was kind of what the side entryway would be.
the entryway is oversized we have a five foot setback we didn't do like a minimum three foot
The entryway is oversized.
We have a five-foot setback.
We didn't do like a minimum.
setback that way more light would be able to be brought in and also it's a more comfortable
you know daily entrance and also moving in moving out all those kind of things
rachel already presented a similar one there kind of in the context the
But the neighborhood is a very mixed neighborhood.
So across the street from this property, we have a Verizon building, which is pretty much just all switchboards.
Down the street is a school.
So there isn't any parking kind of on that whole block.
Both of those buildings, I believe, are zoned.
Well, the school is all zoned, RSA 5, even though it's a school.
the Verizon
building is a CMX2 building
so that's kind of
the existing building
along with the building
he developed a few years back
how many units
in the building he already developed
two units
that's a duplex
it's a two unit
two commercial units
we came to the zoning board to ask for
an additional unit because it was zoned
cmx one um and the commercial first floor uh has a um uh cycling studio okay business located on it
and then basically i have a few photos of similar mixed like apartment buildings all within
one, two blocks of this project
along with the view of the school
and the view of the Verizon building
and mixed-use convenience store
kind of catty-corder.
Not sure if anyone has any questions.
What's the square footage of each apartment?
Each apartment is
Brain just blanked
I looked at that earlier
They're I believe about 800 square feet
They're each about
700 square feet
So 690
And the upper floors
Are 715 and also 690
Rachel do you want to bring your owner on?
Please
It should be Andres Rollon.
They should be coming back in as a panel shortly.
Thank you.
Hello?
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Andres Brolin, A-N-D-R-E-S-R-O-L-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Andres, have you heard my testimony today?
Do you believe it to be true and accurate, and do you adopt it as your own?
Thank you.
Questions from the board.
Can you go back to the site plan?
Is the trash located in the yard everyone has access to the dumpsters?
or trash location yes can you guys can you see yeah okay so right here is the common entryway
off of sergeant street and just straight back in this rear area of the yard we have the common
trash area and they fenced off secure locations and then the rear unit also has a small backyard
Other questions?
Questions from our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the audience or the virtual audience?
I did have one more question.
This is your first question.
Oh, it is.
I had many in my head.
Sorry.
I've answered many in my head, I guess.
one of your refusals is for a 12-foot fence and I just wanted to walk through why is there a need
for a 12-foot fence and I wanted to confirm that it'd have to do at all with the grade change
yeah so Alex can explain this better than me but the it relates to the actual gate in the front
so it's not the rear fence that it's referring to it's the entryway
So it's not the rear fence that it's referring to.
It's the entryway.
And they're considering it a fence instead of the gateway.
But if you can see, Alex, if you can see that, like, opening that allows people to get to the lobby.
Exactly right.
And we basically made it 12 foot high so that it tied in with the neighboring building.
Yeah, I get it.
And they considered it a fence instead of a wall and part of the structure.
the other fence though is at the
required height
correct yes
because that's how it was rendered
but I was like let me make sure
questions or comments from the
planning commission
Amy Boyd with the planning commission
the planning commission
recommends no change in zoning at this
location from an existing RSA
5 residential single family
This area was remapped in 2017 and the parcel was left unchanged.
While a previous building on this property had a history of use other than single family,
the proposal is for a new building.
While there are no unique physical circumstances or conditions of the property that would prevent
it from being used in conformance to the zoning code, and this is not the least minimum,
the Planning Commission recommends the board deny the requested variance for multifamily
and fence.
Someone say something.
No. Okay. MI-2025-000-543-1939-43 East Sargent Street, I vote yes.
Michael Jones, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Taya Nguyen, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
let's go back to christian street please mi 2025 000 538 817 christian street
sean rexford rexford is the attorney they're coming back in as a panelist now sir okay thank
Mr. Chair, we appreciate your patience on that.
Sure, sure. Did I already swear you in or did we?
No, you did not, Mr. Chair.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yeah, it's Sean, S-H-A-W-N, Rexroad, R-E-X-R-O-A-D.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Counsel, could you identify your client and the relationship to the property?
Yeah, my client is Mild Mustard LLC.
They're the owner of 817 Christian Street.
And I noticed that there's a letter of non-opposition from Bella Vista Neighbors Association and a letter of non-opposition from Council Member Squilla.
That is correct.
I understand you've been authorized by both properties to file and pursue the appeal. Is that correct?
That is correct, Mr. Chair.
And our vice chair has a few questions.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to his accuracy?
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that's needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, we have.
Thank you, counsel. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you. Mr. Chair, members of the board, can you see my screen? I am sharing.
We can. We can.
Okay, great. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the board. My name is Sean Rexroad. I'm an attorney with Warder Cooper Cohen-Bronfeld.
I'm here on behalf of my client, Mild Mustard LLC, owner of 817 Christian Street, the parcel which Fiorello Restaurant sits on, and Colin Cleary, owner of 825 South Baring Street, residential properties adjacent to my client's property.
Both properties are zoned CMX2.
We're here this afternoon seeking a variance to Table 14-701-3 of the zoning code, which requires minimum rear yard depth of 9 feet.
As can be seen in the photos that I'll show you, 825 South Dariant Street, 817 Christian Street,
share a covered alleyway, which was only recently a fact known to my client.
Indeed, my client has always been under the belief that its property line encompassed the entire alleyway between the two properties
and only discovered it when it was applying for its street intermediary permit, which required it to plot the property line on survey.
It was only then that they, in fact, realized that the alleyway was, in fact, shared partially with 825 South Daring Street.
My client, however, believing prior to this, believing that the entire alleyway was within its property line,
occupied the alleyway and has always occupied the alleyway,
way, which is why making the lot line adjustment is one of necessity and also practicality.
which is why making the lot line adjustment is one of the...
Without the lot line adjustment, my client is otherwise encroaching onto 825 South Darien
Street.
To rectify this, both owners, 825 Darien Street and 817, entered into an agreement of sale