it sounds like the plan you all showed us
that shows a three-point turn and it shows a shared curb cut for in and out it sounds like you
actually okay right that's what that's this is helpful that's what i wanted to see this
This shows the turning radius, right? So this so when you come in, you do a three point to back into the space and then you can pull out.
this shows the turning radius right so this so when you come in you
That's what I want to say. I want to make sure that there was enough room around the building and the rear.
Correct. Correct. Yeah. All right.
Any other questions?
Questions? Hilary, by the way, thanks for putting that up. Any questions from our attorney?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Two-minute responses from Coordinating RCO.
I see no hands, Chair.
I see no hands, Chair.
Council member or their representative?
I see no hands, Chair.
Anyone else?
No, Chair.
I see no hands at this time.
Thank you very much.
Planning Commission.
Nina Solomonic with the Planning Commission.
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing commercial mixed use cmx1 zoning
there is no space for the proposed ada van parking space in the required front yard
furthermore the ada space proposed does not meet the icc and c accessibility standards therefore
the city planning commission recommends that the board deny the requested variance for one
ADA van parking space?
Vern, do you want to respond?
We make the space, obviously, in our plan that was approved by the streets department.
And the IBC analysis is after zoning.
We first have to get the front yard approval for parking, and then we would need to get
through the IBC analysis with the board examiner.
But that wouldn't be for here.
Thank you.
All right, Vern, we're going to vote on this next Wednesday at 9.30 a.m.
Thank you very much.
Discuss it at the executive session.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Number 11, MI 2025-003-568-3445 Melville Street.
Alexander Perry is the attorney.
Inanimous support from Port Richmond, Home Patrol and Civic Association.
21 votes.
good morning mr chairman good morning could you please state your name and spell for the
stenographer yes sir my name is alexander perry a-l-e-x-a-n-d-e-r-p-e-r-r-y
and i'm the attorney for the petition nothing but the truth yes sir could you identify your
client the relationship to the property our client is the owner of 3445 melville street
represented by y'all greenberg who's here today our vice chair has a few questions for you sir
good morning um have you submitted uh your documents uh five days in advance of this
hearing we resubmitted them on monday after waiting for the uh rco letter okay thank you
and do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy yes ma'am okay thank
you you can put you with your keys thank you mr chairman if i may share my screen sure
can you see that mr chairman you are yep thank you uh this is the refusal the refusal is for um
So, personal service are not provided for in an I-2 zoning district.
This is a warehouse building, and we're asking for a permission to put a personal gym.
It's a three-staff gym that does one or two individual personal training in a 1,000-square-foot garage space.
the application for appeal was filed once the the tenant and owner realized that they couldn't
operate it legally there was a violation which has been cured with the city as well
it's not making any structural changes and it does have support from the community
here is the project information stating nothing is changing other than the use
This is our resolution with the city over the use violation, so subject to this hearing that will be cured as well.
Here's the deed to Port Richmond warehousing LLC and the owner's representative Eyal Greenberg is also here today.
and we have a clear taxes of record for the property as a whole and here is a picture
And here is a picture of the corner property.
of the corner
As you can see, it's a large warehouse space.
It's underutilized currently in the neighborhood, and there are residential properties to the west of this unit.
So it's a mixed-use neighborhood while the warehouse itself is zoned I-2.
The actual space will be used in this back area.
it's approximately 1,000 square feet. We have posted the property at least 30 days in advance
and before the RCO meeting. We had 21 members attend the meeting and they asked all sorts of
questions. The owner appeared and he did give testimony and we did get unanimous support for
this project. Here's one more posting of the other side of the building. This is a
picture of the the space, I'm sorry, this is a picture of the space before it was
changed. There's no structural changes, it's making use of the existing space on
the first floor. You can see the streets outside the windows and this is as as
set up. Again, there was a violation. The owner and tenant didn't know this wasn't permitted,
and that's been cured at this point. It's an open concept space. There's two trainers and
one part-time trainer who operated about 10 to 12 hours a day, and it provides services for
individuals in the community, the neighborhood, and a lot of middle schoolers who don't have
access to the high school gyms yet, but are trying to do strength and speed training.
here's our notice it went out to the direct neighbors and proof of notice
mr chairman if if i can just provide a few details about the project this is a small gym
it's not going to be a commercial gym it's not going to be filled with dozens or hundreds of
individuals at a time. It's a personal training for one or two people at a time. And it does
have the community support. We do have the tenant, the gym owner here today, if there's
any questions. And we have Mr. Greenberg, who can adopt my testimony, if desired.
y'all are you on on the zoom
yes eel greenberg is coming in as a panelist okay
mr greenberg hello
Mr. Greenberg, could you please state your name and spell it as a stenographer?
E-Y-A-L-G-R-E-E-N-B-E-R-G.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Mr. Greenberg, did you hear my testimony?
I did.
And to your knowledge and information, is it true and accurate?
Yes, it is.
And can you adopt that testimony as if it were your own?
Okay. Members of the board and Mr. Chairman, any questions?
Sure. Questions from the board.
What's the hours of operations, you say?
The hours of operation are about 6.30 in the morning to approximately 6 p.m.,
and that provides for some individuals before work being able to use the gym.
But again, it's usually one or two people at a time.
so how does this um okay so are you saying this isn't like a commercial enterprise in
that sense or i'm sorry yes it's a commercial business but it's not a large-scale gym
it would be as if one person uh is going to a training personal training at a time okay um and
you have three trainers there there are two trainers it's uh uh two brothers and then there's
a part-time trainer who has uh some private clients who make use of the space uh occasional
okay all right is this happening in a specific condo or space because this is a rather large
building so i'm trying to understand like exactly where in the building this is happening yes miss
when um there is a small about 1 000 square foot garage and i can share my screen again
yeah i think you showed the inside of it but i was trying to
um yes it's it's approximately one-third of the ground floor
and again there's no structural changes it is from our Google map image bear
and again there's no structural changes it is
with me it is this a corner of the property in the back so if I zoom in
it's this back uh half of the property right here so you'd enter here
yes yes ma'am through the stairwell what's that there's stairs that lead like up half of half a
floor so yeah the the rest of the building is also used and i believe there's going to be a
a separate zoning appeal for a third floor use, but I'm not handling that.
Okay. Questions for our attorney?
Just a quick clarification. Are you representing the owner in this matter or the, like the owner
of the building or the business owner, the tenant? Yes, I represent the owner of the building.
okay okay great and um other than this being part of the ground floor is there like a designated
suite number unit number anything with for this space i'll direct that to mr greenberg if he can
answer yeah there is a there's a unit number hold on i'm here with my business partner he can give
you the unit number if that helps especially if they're going to be um if there are going to be
multiple matters regarding this building might be helpful to specify what use is going in what
yeah it's 100 so it's it's unit 101 sorry okay thank you very much questions from the public
um representatives from the coordinating rco i see no handshare then is from any other rco
i see no handshare is your council member or their representative
of i see no hands here anyone else i see no hands at this time planning commission
nina solomonic with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change
the i2 medium industrial zoning at this location the river words district planned recommendation
12 calls to preserve industrial zoning in areas with active industrial users and to oppose zoning
changes or variances in the lower north industrial district where this property lies. The planning
commission recommends the board deny the requested variances for personal services use. MI 2025 003
568 3445 Melville Street. I vote yes. Proviso. Unit 101 only. Michael Johns. My vote is yes with
proviso. Darrell Gaston, my vote is yes, with proviso. Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes, with proviso. Tywin, my vote is yes, with proviso. Thank you,
counsel. Thank you. Number 15, MI 2025-005-166-800 South Dairian Street.
Sean Whalen is the attorney.
What's going on here, Sean?
I heard.
Yeah, I broke my hand.
I had a full cast surgery yesterday.
You didn't take the cast off for us to come here, did you?
Although it's the only reason why you get to see me.
I took that surgery yesterday.
I was going to say, well, you only just take it up.
You only wait a few days.
Hillary, are we going to try to do – we'll vote separately,
but he can make comments for both at the same time.
So I think it might be easier actually to do them separately because the second, just so Mr. Charles, where Mr. Whalen and I have been in conversation this morning, and we do not need an amended refusal for the second one, but there will be a different proviso to address one of the changes.
Sure, okay. Mr. Whalen, state your name, please, and spell for the sonographer.
Certainly.
Sean Whalen, W-H-A-L-E-N, here from Vintage Law, on behalf of the owner, 824 Catherine, LLC.
Excuse me.
This is the court reporter.
Could I ask everyone to get closer to the microphone?
Thank you.
I feel like I'm going to be swallowing it.
Is that better?
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Our vice chair has a few questions for you, sir.
Good morning.
Have you submitted your documents five days in advance of this hearing?
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Okay, thank you.
And we share your screen and proceed with your case.
Thank you.
Thank you.
For a point of information, there's a letter of non-opposition from Council Member Squilla
and non-opposition from Bella Vista Neighbors Association.
Hopefully you can see my screen.
Yeah, I will start by saying, based on the letters that you have that you just referenced, Chairman,
uh this public process worked i think exactly the way city council intended it to when they passed
this uh can you can you speak can you get closer to the mic please is that better yeah much better
yeah much better i've never had anybody not be able to hear me before um yeah this public process
worked exactly the way city council intended it to we attended an october 7th meeting for both
properties at the same time uh both 800 south darien and 801 south 9th street that'll be coming
up next and that was attended by over 70 people and i would be lying if i said there wasn't a lot
of opposition in the room and that meeting went over three hours they that was for informational
purposes only we then the developer or if i bush is here uh and he can adopt my testimony later
but he then went door to door with all the concerned neighbors in the neighborhood we
walked through all of their issues all of their concerns about a month later in november we went
in front of a voting meeting that had over 60 people at it and received virtually unanimous
support so i think the the process here played out exactly how city council and hopefully all of us