each dog having 70 square feet of area. It's pretty luxurious to do that. We think something
in the vicinity of 20 or 25 dogs in the back is even 30. My client had mentioned he's spoken with
the owner of Groove Hound, which is one of the establishments we outlined in our exhibit book
that I mentioned and they typically have 25 or 30 um dogs um out in the back and in fact
in our in our photos um Groove Hounds is actually my client took a picture
we're not sure that the amount of dogs is enforceable anyway okay thank you but here's
a picture of Groove Hound and you can see it's surrounded by residents I can go in and count
dog. So if you want that, can I have my clients? Yes. Great. So first, Tim Karsten.
Tim, raise your hand. I'm about to speak. Hello. Hi. Could you state your name and spell for the
court reporter? My name is Timothy Karsten, T-I-M-O-T-H-Y-K-A-R-S-T-E-N. Do you swear
for him to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do proceed and tim uh
this is david orphanetes uh did you hear the statements that i made to the board today
yes are they true and correct to the best of your knowledge yes and would you adopt them as your own
yes okay thank you and then the other is alex duller who prepared the plans and attended one
of the or both of the meetings one in person one remotely i think or both remotely uh do you think
we don't need for him to adopt your test money do we i don't think well he i mean i spoke to the
the plans and the square footage and the layout so maybe just real quick okay all right state
your name please and spell for the court reporter hello can you hear me yes state your name please
and spell for the court reporter alex dollar alex d as in david ull er right do you swear
affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do thank you i'm sorry
beg your pardon alex uh did you hear the statements i made to the board today yes i did
are they true and correct to the best of your knowledge yes they are would you adopt them as
your own yes i would thank you questions from the board no mr chairman questions or comments
from the virtual audience mr chair i have a hand raised by mr larry friedman i have allowed him to
Good afternoon, Mr. Friedman. Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Larry, L-A-R-R-Y, Friedman, F-R-E-E-D, M-A-N.
Right. Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I sure do.
Proceed.
Okay. I'm the zoning chair for Northern Lundquist.
Yeah. At the beginning of every one of our presentations, I state the refusal, what type of refusal it is, the difference between a special exception and so on and so forth.
The difference between a special exception and so on and so forth. For special exception, of course, I say that we don't really oppose these, but they're sent to us, so we're going to review it, and real life kind of enters into the situation.
I'm not going to sit there and say, here's the definition of special exception, therefore we can all go home.
Basically what we got and what we do in Northern Liberties is try to figure out a compromise.
That is how to make a TIMSS project, how to make a successful operation, at the same time protect any neighbors who happen to show up and raise concerns.
In this particular case, we have two families in the cigar factory that directly overlook the backyard there.
They are home because they work at home now since COVID.
They're used to whatever it is, the sounds of the city, and they know they're not living in Gladwin.
So we all are starting from a place of a reasonable space.
Um, the idea of, uh, this rear yard, uh, open to the unlimited amounts of dogs, depending on, on what they're proposing, uh, didn't seem to work for us.
Our job, and it was very difficult, was to try to figure out a compromise, uh, and the compromise was, uh, the amount of dogs.
um and even though you just said it might not be enforceable uh look we see a lot of special
assembly assembly restaurants come through because of our overlay we work things out we
compromise and uh we're able to have successful restaurants and neighbors that aren't driven crazy
by rear yard use and things like that so we're used to doing this type of thing um if we don't
do anything here and don't have any provisos then the neighbors uh are going to you know i mean yeah
we all understand dogs bark but you know there's there's a there's a line here um and you know
what we figured out at the meeting was and again we're happy when everybody's sort of unhappy
both sides because we know we're doing well um if we one of the neighbors was there and said if
I was going to take my dog someplace I would want them to be able to go out and we said
how long do you think you would be happy if they went out they said maybe 30 minutes so we we kind
of did the math you have eight dogs going out at any one time for a half hour and come back in
over an eight hour 12 hour period of time if they're talking about seven to seven they're out
several times throughout the day which is a lot better than if you go to work and you have a dog
walk or come to your house once or maybe twice. That would work perfectly. Tim would have a
successful business. Our neighbors would be protected. And that's our job. That's what we
do. We don't get overly technical. We're trying to figure something out that would work for both
sides. So we feel our provisos make total sense. We had two meetings. We really work hard. We have
a great committee we have neighbors everybody was there to compromise i know tim wasn't totally
happy at the end but this is what we do so i'm just that that's that's our whole reason to meet
or else there wouldn't be any reason to meet there you know our job is to figure out ways
to make things work in our neighborhood and we've been really successful at that over the years
okay thank you okay this is tanya sunken yep yep if i could make a request special
um we have mr o'neill who's on the phone if we could allow him to speak next because i'm sure
he's busy mr who brian o'neill so that's councilman o'neill for what would he be for gerard avenue
he has his hand raised sir yeah but i but i'm i i don't all right put him on i i i know he's
got a couple cases coming up but i don't i don't see draw to avenue well put put him on i'll talk
to him i'm happy to speak with the council old sir councilman
you're trying to allow him to speak at this time sir all right councilman
Unless he wants to be heard sooner.
It's kind of hard to...
Councilman?
You're having trouble getting them to speak for some reason.
yeah so for some reason i'm having problems too maybe it was a mistake okay all right let's let's
Yeah, for some reason I'm having problems too.
Maybe it was a mistake.
finish this because i i know he's not for gerard avenue um um anyone else in the virtual audience
for gerard avenue i see no one else no other hands planning commission thank you mr chairman and
members of the board david effecto city planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no
changed the commercial mixed use zoning at this location the applicant has shown that the proposed
animal services will have no more of an impact than such a use would be expected to have and so
the city planning commission recommends the board grant the special exception um hillary this special
exception do we we put a timeline on this you can mr chair yes just indicate an ending date
five years you can do whatever whatever you would like as long as there's an ending date
i would suggest july 1st of whatever year since we're in june right okay
okay um mi 2022 001 492 and mi 2022 001 531 336 west rod and 338 west rod i vote yes with a
special exception. Ending 7-1-27, what commercial trash pickup?
Carol Tenere, I'm a dog lover. My vote is no on both cases.
Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes with proviso on both cases.
James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso on both cases.
my vote is no
thank you you have your three votes okay thank you
MI 2022 002 766 5843 North 2nd street
no exhibits this is the first listing is there anyone in the audience for 5843 North 2nd street
i'm sorry mr dylan maloney has his mahoney has his hand raised i can allow him to speak
um thank you mr chair dylan mahoney uh d-i-l-l-o-n-m-a-h-o-n-e-y uh for the office
of councilwoman parker um interested party sorry do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth and nothing but the truth yes sir okay so no one's the owner this has not came forward yet
this is the first listing okay um uh no issues with the continuance if you need to continue the
case so this is going to be continued must be tried thank you sir number seven excuse me mr
chairman i know thomas holliman i will recuse myself thank you thomas mi 2022-001-569
6215 west rod avenue melanie lacy is the attorney
letter of support with provisos from hmc squared community association
hi could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please
good afternoon members of the board melanie lacey m-e-l-a-n-i-e-l-a-c-e-y i'm with
harrison harvey in bratsburg hi do you swear firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth? I do. Could you identify your client and the relationship to the property? Yes, I'm
accompanied by Adam Singer, who is a member of the owner entity, iHeat 6215 West Howard Avenue.
Thank you. Our vice chair has a few questions. Hi, Melanie. Do you agree to wave the reading
of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? I do. Have you emailed the exhibit packet with
proof of ownership, tax compliance, photos and or plans of the property, a copy of the refusal or
referral. And have you done this five days in advance of this hearing? Have you also met with
the RCO? And do you have a letter? Yes, to all of the above. Okay, great. You may proceed and share
your screen, which is already up. Great. Thank you. As mentioned, I represent the owner of 6215
West Gerard Avenue, and the applicant is seeking a variance to allow four dwelling units in an
existing multifamily building. So the applicant, as mentioned, received a letter of support.
So the applicant, as mentioned, received a letter of support from the coordinating RCO, which is HMC Squared.
We met with them on April 14th, and it was largely supported, as you can see here, and we worked through all of the issues that they raised at that time as memorialized.
So the reason why we're here is that the zoning changed and the building has been a multifamily building for quite some time, but it was, the use has been discontinued.
It's been vacant for about 10 years now, and therefore we have to seek ZBA approval.
But as you can see here, the zoning is RSA 5.
We're seeking four dwelling units.
And historically, there have been approvals for both four units and five family.
So here we have a five-family approval back in 1989, as well as a four-family approval.
some other time that year. I'll keep this very brief. There are a number of surrounding
properties with mixed use and commercial uses, as you can see here. I've listed them out.
I have approximately six here for your reference. And with that being the case, we would argue
that the property fits the character of the surrounding area and would not pose any impacts
that the board would find concerning. So here are some photos of the property. I've identified the
subject unit. It's one in the middle. There are actually two entrances on the corner,
uh near the corner as you can see here um here's a close-up of the property and i can zoom in if
need be um the one on the right with the satellite dish is also a multi-unit uh a multi-family
building that is um 6213 it's currently occupied and i believe there are five units in that
building. The one on the left, or at least my left, is currently vacant, and it has an approval for
that 11 office spaces, as you saw earlier, but to my knowledge, it was last used as a multi-family
building as well. And here are some additional views of the street for your reference, so you
can see the multi the mixed uses um that are on the street there's a church that which i'm hovering
over here with the red door um this is also a commercial property and so it's a it's a mixture
of single family with commercial and mixed use as well as some industrial which you'll see in the
next this is um actually which i'm hovering over next to the white building on the corner um a
cement factory, I believe.
And this is a garage, which I'm hovering over below.
So zoning notices were posted in compliance
with the rules 21 days before the hearing.
And here are the floor plans.
I'm happy to walk through these if need be,
but essentially there are two units on each floor.
Yeah, I'm happy to revisit any of the exhibits if you'd like to look at any of them.
But in conclusion, I will just underscore the fact that the zoning history of the property, the surrounding area and the uses that are around it.
And I also will mention the fact that the blighting conditions of the property, the fact that it's been vacant and the current owner seeks to put it back in productive use, all support the variance that we are requesting.
And it is consistent with the character of the surrounding area and would enhance the area, probably encouraging additional redevelopment in this community.
So that summarizes my testimony. I'll have my client, Adam Singer, adopt my testimony, if you would raise your hand, Adam.
Hi, Mr. Singer, could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter?
It's Adam Singer, A-D-A-M-S-I-N-G-E-R.
Right. Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed.
Great. Adam, did you hear the testimony that I provided to the board this afternoon?
Yes, I did.
and do you affirm that my presentation was accurate absolutely and do you adopt the testimony
And do you affirm that my presentation was accurate?
Absolutely.
And do you adopt?
as your own i do great thank you questions from the board no mrs no mr chairman
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see a miss elise young with her hand raised i will honor to speak at this time
okay hi could you state your name please and spell for the court reporter yes my name is
eloise young e-l-o-i-s-e y-o-u-n-g do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth yes i do proceed i wanted to just reiterate on behalf of the r the convening
RCO HMC Squared that the property owner, Adam Singer, agreed to the following terms via email
through his attorney, Melanie Lacey. One, that one unit will be wheelchair accessible. Two,
that each unit will have an owner supplied trash container in the rear yard. And three,
that rents for all units will be consistent with market for this area. And so I just wanted to
actually articulate those three provisos that were agreed to by the owner and based on those
we agreed to support this project thank you very much thank you for calling in thank you mr chair
this is hillary i just wanted to um briefly note the the proviso um that requests the wheelchair
accessible unit that is not something that we can add because it's a building code issue and there
are multiple and there are multiple types of accessibility or there are two types of accessible
units and if we put a proviso on the the yeah permit that it may they may not be able to
enforce it based on what the building code says um with the existing building so i just want to
clarify for the rco thank you okay thank you um may i chime in um so we uh we discussed the fact
that some of the provisos that you know she was requesting aren't necessarily enforceable by the
CBA. And, you know, my client has voluntarily agreed to comply with those wishes. So I'll just
thank you very much. Anyone else in the virtual audience? Planning Commission.
Thank you, sir. David Fecto, City Planning Commission. Mr. Chairman, members of the board,
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single-family zoning at this
location. The zoning archive shows that licenses and inspections issued a permit in 1989 for five
dwelling units. The proposed four dwelling units is consistent with the previous use of this property.
So the City Planning Commission recommends the board grant the use of variance. Thank you. MI
2022-001-569-6215 West Gerrard Avenue. I vote yes. Proviso, trash stored in rear.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes with Proviso.
James Snell, yes with Proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, yes with Proviso.
Thank you very much.
We're going to jump to Case 9, MI 2021-004-815.
wait a minute
it's hoffnagel street
hillary wanted which one do we want to do
um i think um well i don't know about if um councilman o'neill is on i'm not sure about his