Some of the existing floor joists are kind of failing there,
so we wanted to break the span up and not use the existing steel that's in there so i think that
wall would have to stay but maybe the other wall to the stair portion we could remove and then
that whole space is open that's the part i was yeah okay questions from our attorney hillary
emerson not at this time mr chair questions from the audience coordinating rco
I see no hands, Mr. Chair.
Effective RCOs?
No hands, Mr. Chair.
District Council Member's Office?
No hands, Mr. Chair.
Anyone else?
Once more, no hands.
Planning Commission.
Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing RSA 5 residential single family.
the proposal for off-street parking access is an existing condition otherwise the appellant
has not demonstrated that there are unique physical conditions or circumstances of the
property that would prevent it from being used in conformance of the zoning code the planning
commission recommends that the board grant the requested variance for off-street parking access
but deny the requested variances for multiple principal buildings roof tech setback and two
family household living mi-2025-004-379-1938 to 40 east hasard street i vote yes michael johns
my vote is yes cheryl gaston my vote is yes tanetta graham my vote is yes ryan mcadams my
vote is yes i win my vote is yes so alex your firm had four cases today i understand you're
going to handle three because you got a legal arrangement and that he's going to do all four
If I can't get them all in, then Allen's available virtually, so I don't want to disturb the order.
You're going to get the four in.
Number nine, MI-2025-004-390-3730 North 19th Street.
Alex Goldberg is the attorney.
I'll just state your name for the record.
Alex Goldberg.
um mr goldberg could you identify your client a relationship to this property
sure my client sitting to my left is mark rollins and he is the owner of the property
vice chair has a few questions for you but there is a letter of unanimous support
from the 13th ward rco also the applicant has 18 signatures from neighbors
three from the media block and two are adjacent to the property good afternoon have you submitted
your documents five days in advance of this
hearing? I have. And do you
waive the read, know the refusal, and stipulate
to its accuracy? I have. All right, thank you.
You can proceed. Okay.
this application is
about an owner-occupied triplex that has
been in the Rollins family since
Legally, a triplex. He's
the sole occupant of it now.
The units above are not occupied.
And Mr. Rollins wants to
do some interior
renovation work and obviously can't get those renovation permits because the rental license
that was active until 2012 for the three units was not uh was not revived he has not had tenants in
there for about 10 years um but now is the time for him to be able to do that to want to do that
work so this is step one in in terms of getting the zoning in order so moving to the refusal we
just have one refusal we're not proposing to do any modifications to the building structure itself
so it's just a use application and this is zoned rsa5 i would imagine at some point this lot was
not zoned rsa5 because as you'll see in the presentation materials most of the properties
on his portion of north 19th street are also triplexes and have been that
On his portion of North 19th Street are also triplexes and have been that way since, you know, Mark has lived here all his life.
I'm not going to ask him how old he is today, but, you know, he could give you more on the history of the neighborhood, and he's lived there.
All right.
We met with the 13th Ward RCO, and they were in unanimous support.
There's reference here that the project is consistent with the structure.
Mark's lived here for over 40 years, so maybe 40 years old.
The trash plant, snow removal, he takes great care of the exterior of his property,
has great relationships with his neighbors.
And so the RCO meeting went very well.
Seven RCO members in full support and zero opposition.
he also had signatures from from many near neighbors especially on north 19th street
here's the property history so this was his rental license it was active from 04 to 2012
would have expired in 2015 presumably at which point he had no more tenants
here is an application that was filed in 1968 by William Rollins which I assume is
his father to legalize three apartments which have existed for many years prior here too
fire escape in the rear of the premises which is still there that you'll see on the plans
multiple triplexes in the neighborhood so long history of these here we're just seeking to
legalize here's a triplex at 3732 which is one neighbor 3728 another neighbor also a triplex
37 uh 34 also a triplex so as i mentioned not out of character whatsoever i assume there was
some sort of zoning change here at some point there is rm1 also across the street along north
19th street here's the photograph this is the front of the property it's sort of built up pretty
well above grade that first floor is six feet two inches above grade um mr rollins's unit is the
first floor and lower lower level which has its own separate egress into the rear breezeway which
you'll see a photo of and then on the second floor it's split between uh you know a unit b and a unit
c which because of the large size of this lot which is over 2 000 square feet those units are
rather large about 700 and 900 feet respectively his unit is enormous about 3 000 square feet you
know when you combine the two floors there's the notice posting there's to the right of the property
into the left interior photos um you know we can sort of when when mr rollins adopts my testimony
i'm sure if the board has questions about these spaces he'd be happy to speak about them but
the building is existing the units are existing um he has his family stay with him often
as you can see you know we definitely need some work here and that's the goal
This is the egress out of the lower level with the staircase, which is the unit that he lives in and has lived in his entire life.
Plans and drawings.
Here's a site plan.
Floor plans.
I'll zoom in for you.
So moving up this sort of extra-wide staircase here, which is shared with the adjacent neighbor,
you have the first floor which has you know a bedroom and a bathroom in the front a large
living space and the tv room in the middle and a bedroom and a bathroom in the rear with the
kitchen the staircase takes you down to the lower level where there's a home office more living
space and another bedroom and open space in the back for storage all of this is existing we're
just seeking to legalize the existing layout and do cosmetic improvements from there here's a
staircase that's that image that you saw that leads into the breezeway that goes directly up
right here which the neighbor as you saw there's a matching door for the adjacent property which
is laid out the exact same way going up the stairs you have units b and unit c unit b is the front
facing unit about 700 square feet which is a one bed one bath sizable one bed one bath with an
office and to the left in that hallway you have a two a one bed or sorry a two bed one bath excuse
me again sizable about 900 square feet and there's an existing fire escape out of that out of that
unit and you can see that on the elevation right here there's also trash closets in units b and c
and mark will store his trash and does store his trash in the rear
we had that meeting rco meeting in september
application for appeal
application for appeal deed to the property
and the tax clearance i can call my client to adopt my testimony
mr rollins could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer my name my name is mark
m-a-r-k last name robins r-o-l-l-i-n-s you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth sir i do proceed counsel okay mark did you hear my testimony today i did
and was it true and correct yes and do you adopt it as your own yes
alex what's the rest of the block look like so both of our adjacent neighbors are triplexes
and one down is also a triplex so out of the six out of the six on our stretch of north 19th street
four of them are triplexes including questions from the board
no no questions just a comment that that bedroom in the basement didn't have an egress well
so i guess if we um do a co or whatever they'll have to address that but other than that i have
no questions sure um utilities where are they in the where are the utilities are utilities are
inside in the rear in the rear in the basement is it is there's the electrical boxes on the outside
of the structure okay okay in the rear the the gas comes in in the front but it's in the inside
okay and so the breaker boxes are are on the inside wall the electrical meters are on the
outside wall so the wires run in.
So the service comes down
to the electrical
meters
and then into the house
on the inside.
That's how they exist
The breaker boxes exist now.
Hot water heaters?
One hot water heater in the
building.
That's how it exists now.
It's a central heating unit in the building now.
The new construction will change
all that. Each unit will have its own
utility.
Okay. All right. Thank you.
You're welcome.
Questions or comments from our attorney?
Not at this time,
Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the
public? Coordinating RCO?
No answer for coordinating
Other effective
No answer.
district council members yes we have a hand up from charles richardson i will promote
shortly all right let's be going back again shortly sure
good afternoon mr chair and board good afternoon could you please state your name and spell for
the stenographer certainly charles richardson r-i-c-h-a-r-d-s-o-n office of councilwoman
cindy bass room 508 city hall do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
but the truth i do and charles just for a point of information the um we have a new policy of uh
testimony will be limited to two minutes but i've never known you to go past the minute so
please this is true uh and it won't be a go that far right now councilwoman has no opposition to
granting the variance thank you very much for taking time to call so is there anyone else in
the audience no further hands mr chair planning commission amy boy with the planning commission
this property was remapped from r1 residential multifamily to rsa 5 residential single family
in 2021 in alignment with the comprehensive plan recommendation the property has a documented
history of the requested three units and the interior configuration continues to reflect that
The proposed use is also in character with the surrounding neighborhood.
The Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the requested variance for three dwelling units.
MI 2025-004-390-3730 North 19th Street, I vote yes.
Certificate of occupancy to be obtained.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Ryan Wynn, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Thank you, sir, for coming in.
We appreciate it.
Thank you.
You have your votes.
Thank you, Jeff.
And your last one of the day, MI 2025 004779, 443 Poplar Street.
Mr. Goldberg, just for the record, state your name.
Alex Goldberg.
Could you identify your client and relationship to the property?
Could you identify your client and relationship with the property?
My clients are Whitney.
My clients are Whitney and Alex Bim, and they're the owners of the property.
There is a letter of support from the RCO with the provisos.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good afternoon.
Have you submitted your documents five days in advance of this hearing?
I have, yes.
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?