And then certificates of mailing. We sent out mailing to 166 nearby neighbors and four affected RCOs as well as the council person's office.
And then, again, for the sake of clarity and the pictures that weren't originally included, so this is the subject property here.
You can see that the neighboring property has a nearly identical rear yard that's also not in conformity.
And then if the board can see it here, this kind of shaded area right there that I'm trying to cursor, that is the second floor deck.
So it's about a two-foot, maybe like a Juliet balcony, if that's familiar to the board, where somebody can just step out from their bedroom, open the slider windows, and have some fresh air.
And then you will see that the characteristics of the block, here are two properties here that have identical kind of second floor decks, as well as rear yards that are certainly not seven feet.
Here are the properties, which I had previously mentioned, the 1308 to 1312 properties, which also have even less of a setback from the rear yard.
And then once again, you can see these are the three properties I mentioned as being built at the same time.
Also with roof decks.
Also with they don't have the second floor balcony.
that our refusal is subject to, but they do have the five-foot yards, if not less than five-foot
yards. And then, so this is a view from that second floor out over the balcony, which we're
discussing. You can see it's a slider door. The only thing missing from this picture as a result
of the stop work order being issued is the railing that will hopefully, with the board's approval of
this variance inevitably go on this balcony. This is a view down from the roof. And you can see that
there's still ample space for a backyard. There is a alley, a trash alley of sorts or another type
of opening. So there is a separation between the subject property and the property immediately
to its back abutting it to its back okay so here here is what we're talking about this
structure here is the non-conformity of five feet this if the board can imagine will have a railing
it's hard to do this on the diagonal but right
in that area and we hope to use it as the second floor balcony
And you can see that the structure directly adjacent to it also is further into the rear
yard than the subject property.
At this time, if I may bring Ms. Dana Dugan on to adopt my testimony and just add a little
context to her, how she acquired ownership and her involvement in the neighborhood,
please Dana Dugan has been allowed to speak Dugan could you please state your name and spell for the
court stenographer yes my name is Dana Dugan first name uh d-a-n-a last name Dugan d-u-g-g-a-n
you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Yes, sir.
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Chair.
Good afternoon, Ms. Dugan.
Is it correct to say that you're the sole member of Bull Real Estate Ventures LLC?
Yes, sir.
And have you heard my testimony or presentation to the board today?
And would you adopt my testimony as your own?
Yes, sir.
Could you just give the board a little context on, you live in the neighborhood as well,
correct?
Yes, I live about three blocks from this property, same zip code, 19146.
Okay, and at the time of purchasing this property, you weren't aware of any kind of nonconformities existing or any kind of zoning issues?
Correct, sir. I was not aware prior to purchasing.
And as soon as you received the stop work order, you ceased all construction work there and undertook this zoning appeal?
Yes, sir.
could you give the board just some context on on the kind of work that was required at the property
Could you give the board just some context on the kind of work that was required at the property and the state of the property at the time that you purchased it?
Yes, sir.
So, yes, there was a lot of work required and work that still needs to be done.
We purchased it.
I purchased it in a shell condition.
I replaced, I put a new roof there, put a new roof, fixed the damaged framing on the inside, and then put new windows as well.
okay and that and that's as far as you got before you you receive the stop work order
yes sir okay um i know for the questions if it pleases the board i'd be happy to bring on
mr myers to to answer any technical questions about the plans the board wants it so so you
have two zoning refusals right rear yard depth right and the other one the deck is encroaching
into the yard over the yard that's correct as well yes questions from the board
and these we had what was the support from the rco
it was it was a letter of unanimous support okay thank you
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson not at this time mr chair
questions or comments from the virtual audience
I see no hints at this time, Chair.
Planning Commission?
Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning at this location from the existing residential single-family RSA 5.
The proposal is seeking legalization of a roof tag fully within the building's footprint.
The rear yard setback is an existing condition of the building.
The Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the proposed variance for rear yard setback.
MI 2024-005-840-1314 Darn Street, I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Eowyn, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you, Council.
Thank you, Members of the Board. Have a good evening.
Number 15, MI 2024-005-846-2101 South Lambert Street.
Rachel Pritzker is the attorney.
Letter of unanimous support from the Point Breeze Community Development Coalition.
Alpican also provided eight form letters of support.
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, Rachel, R-A-C-H-A-E-L, Pritzker, P-R-I-T-Z-K-E-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Do you identify your client and the relationship to the property?
Yes, my client is Clarissa Caponera. She is the tenant of the property.
And our vice chair has a few questions.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to read another refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits as needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Thank you, counsel. Please proceed.
Thank you.
Okay. Can you see my screen?
We can.
Okay. This is the refusal for 2101 South Lambert.
The property is zoned CMX2, and as you can see, this is a referral, not a refusal, so
we are seeking a special exception.
This is for the change of use to public services, body art services, a tattoo shop on the first
floor, no changes to anything else that is previously approved in this building.
This property is zoned CMX2, so body art services is only permitted via special exception
in CMX2. This was our appeal. I'm just going to quickly on Atlas show the board the site.
If you can see, it's a corner property. It has a vacant commercial space. It has had other uses
for commercial in its past, so it is not out of character, and we will be just putting a low-impact
tattoo shop at the corner. It's also worth noting that uniquely the tenant, who's my client,
actually also lives on this block. So she is an integrated member of the neighborhood and
the community here. She lives here as well. So she'll be able to have the tattoo shop right on
the same street in which she lives. This was the lease, as again, she's the tenant of the property.
This is an aerial view just showing the zoning maps.
this is an aerial view just showing the zoning maps most of the
Most of the area is RM1, although they're small lots.
And this is on the corner of Lambert Street and Snyder Avenue,
this CMX2 property here at the corner.
Another aerial view, more aerial views.
And this is just the zoning posters on the property.
As you can see, the ground floor vacant commercial space,
which is where we're looking to put the tattoo shop.
Just a better front view, another view with the zoning posters down the street.
Same thing on this end. This is just where in the code we're required to have a special exception.
As you can see under personal services, body art service requires a special exception.
we met with the community um on monday the 28th um and as mentioned we got a letter of support we
met with um point breeze community development coalition i believe let me just double check
on my notices. Sorry, it's been a long day.
Community Development Coalition?
Yes, I believe so.
We have the mailers that we sent, certified mail,
and then we have our letter of non-opposition.
We had 15 votes total, 9 yes, 0 no.
3 out of the 15 were from near neighbors.
and they kind of provided details about people voting in the same house, et cetera.
But again, we had five yeses, 15 total votes, five yeses, zero noes.
This is just how they do the breakdown.
And we also, the client also did some door knocking to make sure that she informed her
near neighbors about the property, and she submitted letters of support that she got
signed from near neighbors as well.
This one is blank on the address, so we'll ignore that one.
This just shows the history of the property that has had other commercial uses on the ground floor, just so it has had a long standing history of ground floor commercial.
We did put together just some loose floor plans.
We wanted to make sure that we met with the community, kind of show them an idea of the breakdown of the space.
So this is provided to the board as well.
and just some interior photos.
It's a pretty small but nice space.
So it won't require a whole ton of construction, things like that.
Just also wanted to provide the client's CV.
She's been tattooing for many years at this point.
She's going to be having her own spot, which is very exciting for a small business.
And just wanted to show the board some examples of her tattoos and her art as well.
That concludes my presentation.
Again, we're just asking for a special exception for Tattoo Shop Body Art Services.
And if we can bring on Clarissa, if she's still on, to adopt my testimony.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Clarissa Caponera.
That's C-L-A-R-I-S-S-A-C-A-P-O-N-E-R-A.
we're referring to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do please proceed counsel larissa have you heard my testimony today in front of the board
do you believe it to be true and accurate and do you adopt it as your own yes thank you also
chairman i believe someone might be here from councilman johnson's office um as they didn't
submit a letter questions or comments from the virtual uh from the board questions
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair. I have a hand up.
Yes, sir. I have a hand up by the name of Chris Lynn. They have been allowed to speak.
Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, good afternoon, Chairman. My name is Christopher Lynn, C-H-R-I-S-T-O-P-H-E-R, last name Lynn, L-I-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, sir.
Sure. Thank you. I'm an attorney from Council President Johnson's office, and we're just here to state our support for the project. Thank you.
Thank you very much for taking the time to call us. We appreciate it.
Chairman, sorry to interrupt. I just want to make note, and maybe this is more for Ms. Emerson. The referral says public services, body art services. It's personal services, body art services. I just want to make sure that won't cause an issue.
yes i did i did notice that in the in the description it says public services
in the where it describes the referral it does say personal services so um yeah so when you get
the permit just make sure it has personal services instead of public services on it so yes thank you
thank you mr lynn by the way um is there anyone else in the virtual audience
No, Chair. I see no more hints at this time.
Planning Commission.
I am your Board with the Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning at this location
from the existing commercial residential mixed-use CMX2.
The appellant has shown that the proposed use would not cause detrimental impacts
beyond what would normally be expected.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant their proposed
special exemption for personal services, body art service.
Thank you. MI 2024-005-846-2101 South Lambert Street, I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Iowan, my vote is yes.
Ms. Merrill Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
So, number 16, MI 2024, 005-849-4800 Bingham Street.
Nixon Canet is the attorney.