one bedroom, one bath again.
And then in the rear here,
we have another two bedroom, one bath,
and then another one bedroom, one bath here.
Again, that duplicates up to the fourth floor.
And then just some quick facade elevations.
You can see a brick to match the adjacent homes
on the lower levels,
and then a fiber cement siding on the upper floors above
since brick is a little heavy to carry in that setback wall.
any questions any questions for the architect no mr chairman board okay brandon no mr chairman
sorry sorry there i didn't mean to talk over board members now um jimmy just to confirm for
the board despite the fact that the refusal says 13 units our proviso plans uh uh propose 11 units
Is that correct? That's correct. Yeah. We removed two units on the ground floor when we removed the basement.
OK. And that was my second question. So there is no basement to this building, correct? Correct. Everything is a slab on grid.
OK. And also there's no roof deck. Is that correct? Also correct.
OK. Thank you. So, Jimmy, if you could stop sharing your screen. I just wanted to show the board a couple additional exhibits here.
uh mr chairman this will be very quick and then i'll i'll uh i'll end my presentation so um in
uh our exhibit packet um i have um letters of support i believe we had 45 total um 30 of which
were within the 250 foot radius that's drawn by the planning commission's tool for to determine
affected neighbors um as i believe you mentioned at the outset here a number of those letters of
support. Probably about a dozen of them are on this block. Here again is the subject property.
We have a number of letters of support that were collected from folks who live on this 200 block
of North Grove Street. In addition, oh, I'm sorry. And this is, this is, there we go. This is the
letter of support that was issued by the coordinating RCO. I won't walk you through it
read it. And finally, there is context here for multifamily. So I have a list here that summarizes
nearby zoning permits that I put in our exhibit packet. And just to graphically show you this
list of properties on a map, on our corner, so this may be one or two doors down from us on the
corner of North Gross and Vine is a multifamily building. There are a number of others here on
the adjacent block of Vine Street around the corner. And then 63rd Street is probably mostly
small multifamily buildings here. That is my presentation. I was contacted by Miss Harley,
who is the block captain for the North Grove Street block so just wanted to see if she happens
to be on I know she wanted to testify but otherwise that concludes my presentation
thank you I'll call her one questions from the board
no I see three no Mr. Chairman no Mr. Chairman right questions or comments from the virtual
floor it ends. Hi, I see four hands up. The first one is a Ms. Darlene Booker-Jones.
Okay. Can I allow her to speak? Please. Thank you.
Okay. Can I allow her to speak? Please. Thank you.
Ms. Jones, can you unmute yourself? Yes. Hello. Hi. Could you state your name and spell it,
please, for the court reporter? Okay. Darlene Booker Jones, D-A-R-L-E-N-E-B-O-O-K-E-R hyphen
J-O-N-E-S
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
Yes, my property is right
on the same line as this property.
Proceed.
Thank you very much, Chairperson
and the board. I just wanted to
end up bringing the diagrams
that he did show. It's
shown on the road side
not on the opposite side
where I'm a single family dwelling.
Great. I just wanted to end up reading some information. When I purchased this property
in 1995, there were no such property with the address 247 North Grove Street. The original
blueprint shows a green space and lot leading to 2228 North 63rd Street behind the back of the
houses of Grove Street to an opening next to my property. While attending the RCO meeting in July
2021, I learned that 228 North 63rd Street was divided to include subdivision 247 North Grove
Street. The developer, Mr. Love, did not contact me to discuss the property during the process.
It was not until November 10th, 2022, that Mr. Love met with the group to hear how we could
effectively move on with the project making some changes to the original plans. Since the time of
the first meeting and up to now this project has disrupted my livelihood. First mentally thinking
about how this gigantic three or four story condo building will affect the infrastructure of my 80
year old house. Blocking the sunlight in my backyard and the front porch entrance to put in
car traffic at my front door when the project is completed and when people move in how how it's
going to be the SS trash which I clean up already has my head spinning. Secondly physically thinking
how much cleaning the area would need due to additional people. Finally thinking of the green
space that was will be saved and used for the neighborhood and help the environment. I have
seen cardinals and blue jays eating the berries off my front bush, woodpeckers, butterflies,
and pollinators in my sunny backyard. I have seen what the lot beside my home could look like.
One of my neighbors provided beauty in the space with flowers and bird feeders.
This is such a peace and tranquility in the space. During the years, I have developed a
relationship with the neighbors and their families. Since moving on Grove Street, the
residents became friends. We look out for one another, help with snow removal, keep the
area and alleyway clean from weeds, trees, trash, and on our families blended. We feel
safe and have mutual respect for one another. Be mindful, please be mindful that this area
has some historical impact for most that have been able to move into this peaceful mindset,
comfort, and vigilant and watchful neighbors. Most enjoy and respect each other's space
as we see the evolving of the block beautification. Moreover, with the addition of this green space
environment, we'll present a gathering place for peaceful morale. This urban renewal can set the
standards of how we choose our quality of life for our seniors and kids. This is the first investment
in the area of my childhood. I have witnessed issues of prostitution, drug, unruly gang kids
hanging on the block, and give thanks to God for those longtime residents and neighboring PSA's
community who banded together to get issues resolved i made the right investment in this
block because of the like-minded people who believe in security investing in their homes
investing in the neighborhood all right miss booker yes thank you very much all right but i
wanted to finish this i have asked mr love to make an offer for the process purchase of this section
now established as 247 North Grove Street.
He has not responded.
Well, listen to me.
Listen, Ms. Booker, look, this is not about making offers.
This is not about making offers. The issue is plain and simple. Are you for the property or
The issue is, plain and simple, are you for the...
against it? I'm against it. And thank you very much for your time and your letter. I appreciate
it. Who else is in the audience that wants to testify? Chair, I see a person with the name of
Drew, with his hand up, shall I allow you to speak?
Drew, can you unmute?
Yes, I did.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Andrew Robinson, A-N-D-R-E-W-R-O-B-I-N-S-O-N.
Right, right.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Are you for this property or against the development?
I'm against this property.
i'm against this uh development all right i think i'm your neighbor right yes all right thank you
very much for your call and we understand what what your position can i go can i go through the
reasons why i'm against it uh if it's different than what we've already heard you can yes well
this area right they want to put up 13 multifamily units we yield 39 people 39 units i think they
said 11 right well originally they said 11 but everything is changing now so we'll just you do
you do the math 39 uh family units two people per unit yield 78 residents question how many
apartments does this project totally one bedroom would be two people would be 26 all right mr
robinson here here it's safe to say that you think this is too much density is that right
Too much density, too many cars in the neighborhood, too much trash, too many automobiles.
If they weren't college student, you can have anywhere between 177 college students.
Move-in parties, loud music, fraternity and sorority parties, rush week, cookouts, final exam parties, graduation parties.
Mr. Robinson, I understand where you are.
Thank you much for calling in, and we understand your position.
Who else in the virtual audience?
care i have a chris harley with the hand up hi good could you state your name and spell
please for the court reporter
hi my name is phyllis harley i live at 209 north could you do me a favor spell your name please
for the court reporter? P-H-Y-L-L-I-S. Last name Harley, H-A-R-L-E-Y. Do you swear or affirm to
tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. Are you in favor of this
project or against it? In favor of it. Okay, thank you very much. Do you want to give a short reason
why? Yes, I do. I have three children. I'm the block captain of the 200th block of Grove Street.
I communicate with all the neighbors. I'm for it because there are a lot of negativity
in our neighborhood that I believe this will fix. We have children that walk past that empty space.
it gets dark at
5 o'clock
and I believe
that the more
people in the neighborhood
and more people to watch our
children I think it would be
safer because we have elderly
people on our block also
that my children go out and
Ms. Harley we understand where you
stand and we appreciate you calling
in and thank you very much
is there anyone else in a virtual audience
yes chair I see two more hands up one is from Eloise Young
hi Eloise Jones could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
my name is Eloise Young
E-L-O-I-S-E Young is 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
are you a neighbor i am representing one of the impacted rcos hmc square and we are
wait wait wait wait wait wait answer my question are you a neighbor no okay all right could you uh
are you for the project or against the project against okay thank you very much if you have a
reason other than what's already been stated stated but if it's the same as what we've heard
Please, thank you very much.
I do have a reason that's different from what's been said.
Go ahead, ma'am.
First of all, there's no unnecessary hardship that would not be self-created.
In fact, in framing the situation at a recent meeting with members of the community, neighbors who oppose the project,
In fact, in framing the situation at a recent meeting with members of the community,
Attorney Brandon Saverin described the core question as being whether the community wanted a McMansion, as he called it, or an apartment building on the site.
He did not argue that it would be impossible to build a single family dwelling because it is possible.
That said, all right.
Thank you, ma'am.
Thank you very much.
We understand your position, and we understand the point you're against.
Thank you.
Is there anyone else left in the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair.
I see a Chris Harley with his hand up.
Miss Harley.
Well, unless that's another thing.
That's the same family.
Is there anyone else beside Harley?
No, Chair.
Oh, yes.
There it is.
Yes, there's a Stacey McCoy.
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Hi, my name is Stacey McCoy.
And as in Nancy D, as in David, I-A-Y-E.
Right.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Absolutely, yes.
Are you in favor of the project or against it?
uh i'm against the project okay if do you have a reason other than what we've already heard
stated absolutely uh so uh mr uh mr brandon had mentioned that he had a uh letter of support from
the rco right um i actually have a letter uh my question to mr brandon if i can ask well you
don't ask the question. Okay, no problem. Just state your position. My position is I received
a letter of non-support from Achievability in August. Okay. Thank you very much. No,
my question is if we have a new letter, why aren't the residents, why don't we have this
information? We didn't receive the new letter. Ma'am, I'm not sure of that, but I understand
in your position, and we'll have to figure out what happened with the achievability, okay?
It just seems unfair. Okay, thank you. Mr. Chairman, wait one more minute. Is there anyone
else in the virtual audience? I see no more hands, Chair. Brandon, proceed. Yeah, just to address
that specific, there were three official RCO meetings, all of which, you know, my firm did