Good morning, we are recording.
Okay, we're going to take two minutes to let everybody in the virtual room, and then you
can start as you wish, Chair.
Are you okay, Tom?
Are we okay?
Yes, sir.
We can start.
Good morning, everyone.
My name is Bill Bergman, and I'll be chairing this morning's zoning board hearings.
With me is Carol Tenere, our vice chair, Confessor Plaza, our secretary, Thomas Holman, our board member.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also with me is Tanya Sunkett, our board administrator, and Sharon Saleta, our board attorney.
Before we begin, here is our virtual format.
First, be advised this proceeding will be recorded.
By participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded.
The video of the hearing will be available by contacting Tanya Sunkett at phil.gov.
Second, for the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves prior to speaking or testify.
Third, if you're participating by phone, if you wish to testify, raise your hand by hitting star nine, then star six to unmute.
To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548. Leave your email address and the
address of the property in question. Phone number again, 267-270-5548. And fourth,
please be advised the question and answer box on the screen is not for comments. Should you have
any comments at all, address them to our board administrator, Tanya Sunken.
We're going to now look at continuances. And our first continuance would be
here it is here. Now our number seven.
Sorry, here it is.
Number seven.
MI 2021-002917, 2327 Aspen Street.
Is there anyone here who objected that being continued?
Chair, we have Corinne Wise.
Please state your name and spell for the court reporter.
I'm sorry.
Thank you.
I see no other hands, Chair.
Thank you.
We're also going to continue one of our add-ons, MI 2021-001584-2100, I apologize.
Since I asked that you put this on the afternoon list, I learned that Ms. Tenere is going to be leaving at 2, so it is going to remain on this morning's.
Thank you.
That's fine. Thank you. Any other requests for continuities?
Chair, we have Coran Wise again. Did you want to hear from this person?
Sure. Please unmute yourself and please wait for the chair.
could you please state your name and spell it for the court reporter
yes sir my name is corin wise c-o-r-e-n-o-u-i-s-e attorney for apple
hold on do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
Yes, sir.
I'm the attorney for the applicant on 1535 North Stillman. From my account, it looks like number four. It's MI 2021-2904.
I'm the attorney for the applicant on 1535 North Stillman.
Yep. Out of an abundance of caution, I just wanted to raise my hand. We sent documents under the ZBA Zoom rules. We sent them on Thursday, but due to some technical difficulty. My office has been going in flux due to multiple COVID scares, so we're trying to kind of avoid each other and alternate.
do you want to continue it do you want to continue mr wise rather i'd like to be heard today but i
just out of an abundance question documents uh were sent thursday but it turns out i uh we realized
uh they were still in our outbox on monday so they have been sent i believe they've been received
they confirmed with this aletta but um i i know that the there's a lot of cases a lot of documents
And so if we can be heard subject to that situation, I'm happy to move forward.
But if it has to be continued, I understand.
All right, we'll continue the case.
Is there anybody in the audience who objects to that being continued?
Here we have Charles Richardson.
He just put his hand down.
There are no other hands here.
Okay, thank you.
No other continuances then.
Okay, we're going to start with our add-ons.
MI 2021, 001566, 1541 South 24th Street, I vote yes.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes.
Professor Plaza, yes.
James Snell yes
Thomas Holloman my vote is yes
Thank you
MI 2021-002888
4337 North 5th Street
my vote is yes
Carol Tenere my vote is yes
Professor Plaza yes
James Snell yes
Thomas Holloman my vote is yes
our vice chair will be presenting number three i was not here when this happened okay thank you
mr chair calendar number mi-2020-0015685039 worth street my vote is yes with amended refusal
dated March 17. Confessor Plaza yes with proviso. James Snell yes with proviso. Thomas Holliman
yes with proviso. Calendar number MI 2021-001584 2100 South 61st Street. My vote is yes. This is
on remand from common police court and my vote is yes to adopting supplement to adopting supplemental
findings of fact and conclusions of law stamped today. Professor Plaza yes with proviso. James
a series of 14 different cases i've taken the first one separately mi 2021 003660
215 south 60 street parcel b we are recommending that this case be continued
to sometime in the future for a future date hearing
and now I'm going to do 13 cases I'll read them all in a row MI 2021 00364 215 South 60 Street
parcel C. MI 2021 003642 215 South 60th Street parcel D. MI 2021 003643 215 16th Street parcel E.
MI 2021, 03644, 215 South 60th Street, Parcel F. MI 2021, 0030645, 215 South 60th Street, Parcel G. MI 2021.
215 South 60th Street, Parcel G. MI 2021 00346, 215 South 60th Street, Parcel H. MI 2021 003647,
215 South 60th Street, Parcel I. MI 2021 003648, 215 South 60th Street, Parcel J. MI 2021 003651,
215 South 60th Street, Parcel K. MI 2021 003652, 215 South 60th Street, Parcel L. MI 2021 003654,
215 South 60th Street. MI 2021 003656 227 South 60th Street. MI 2021 00365 225 South 60th Street.
To those parcels, I vote yes.
I vote yes. Carol Tenere.
Professor Plaza, yes to all.
James Snell, yes to all.
Thomas Holloman, yes to all.
Okay. A regular list.
Excuse me, Chair.
I'm sorry, Chair. We have Charles Richardson who put his hand back up to speak to a continuance.
mr richardson please unmute yourself good morning mr chair charles richardson from the office of
councilwoman cindy bass room 312 city hall yes could you spell your last name for the court
reporter sure r-i-c-h-a-r-d-s-o-n do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
but the truth? I do. Go ahead, sir. Questioning 4841 North 6th Street, we received a correspondence
from the attorney, and I think that Ms. Saleta also received it and others on November the 29th
requesting a continuance for the case today. And I was just trying to make sure that that
might still be the case. What number is this case? It's MI 2021 003057. Number 17, Madam
Vice Chair. Thank you, Ms. Sunkett. Got it. We don't have that as a continuance yet.
um chair this is sharon um i'm i'm looking for the letter but in any case it is
first listing so okay it's fine to announce that it's continued
all right we'll continue that sir thank you sir
all right case one number one mi 2021 002906 134 west loray street no exhibits first listing
mr diaz
i see no hands chair okay case continued
mi 2021 zero zero two army i'm sorry chair this is tanya sunk of the administrator
may i request that be a must be heard sure thank you so much
MI-2021-002907, 1345 Robin Street. Leo Mulvihill is the attorney. No RCO letter from the 53rd Ward.
Excuse me, Chair. We have Leo Mulvihill with his hand up now.
Mr. Mulvihill, please unmute yourself and please wait for the chair.
Did you promote him to panelists?
Yes, I've been promoted.
Thank you.
Mr. Mulvihill, state your name and spell for the court reporter.
Certainly.
Good morning, Chair.
Leo Mulvihill, M as in Michael, U-L, V as in Victor, I-H-I-L-L.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Our vice chair has a few questions for you.
you agree to wave the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
i do have you emailed the exhibit packet wait let me check this um with every
Have you emailed the exhibit packet? Wait, let me check this. With everything required, and it seems that you've met with the RCO?
Okay, you may proceed.
Yes. Good morning, members of the board. Leo Mulvihill on behalf of Shakira Abdullah, principal of Beauty and Zen Salon and Spa for 1345 Robbins Street.
So I have my exhibit packet in front of the board at this point, showing the refusal appeal and project information form at page one.
Area zoning map at page eight.
My client's lease at nine.
Landlord permission letter to seek this variance at 22.
My client's commercial activity license at 23.
Tax clearance at 24.
The zoning notification letter and proof of mailing is at 25.
We do not have an RCO letter at this point.
And photos of the property beginning at 28.
I've also supplemented the record with a floor plan that I received this morning from my client, and I've been in contact with Hillary Emerson from the Councilwoman's office.
My understanding is she's asking for a hearing hold for this case based on some concerns that were brought up by another RCO in the immediate area, but not the coordinating RCO.
I'll let her speak to that if she's currently on the line.
Good morning. This is Hillary Emerson from Councilwoman Sherelle Parker's office.
My name is spelled H-I-L-A-R-Y, last name E-M-E-R-S-O-N.
You swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
So by way of explanation, there was an RCO meeting held, our office attended,
and it was our understanding that there would be a site visit that would be initiated by the
applicant that did not occur so the RCO the coordinating RCO was waiting for that to happen
to do the letter in the interim another RCO reached out and expressed concerns about parking
in the area because there is some blocked off parking, some xed out parking right in that area
that would limit the ability of customers and employees to park. So we, and we had just got
the floor plan this morning to get a sense of the size of the building. So we hadn't seen the inside
or seen the floor plan until today. So I just spoke with the head of the coordinating RCO,
the 53rd Democratic Ward, and they just asked if they could do a hear and hold. We have no problem
with the case. They didn't and we didn't. Our office does not have a problem with the case
moving forward today. We just asked for two weeks to then put the RCO's letter on the record
once they've finished reviewing the materials and spoken with this other RCO to address their
concerns. And our office will put our position on the record at that time as well.
Okay. We'll go on with the case, and then we'll wait for the RCO letter before we approve it.
Certainly. So, chair and members of the board, what we have today is an application for a personal services salon.
I have the application for appeal showing right now at page one.
And what this was essentially was my client more or less took over business in the basement level of this existing structure.
The basement level is essentially set up as a separate, completely different entrance from the residential structure above.
It's one of the buildings that you would recognize as having a basement level that's essentially out of the ground.
There's a separate entrance for it from along the street as well.
And that's where my client moved in.
Once she took over the business, she recognized that the zoning was not proper for this and then closed.
And here we are today seeking the legalization of this business.
This business used to be a doctor's office years ago, and the layout of the building has not changed, so that we have a separate basement area that's essentially a commercial space, and then an above residential unit.
What I'm showing now is page four is a refusal that we received. One moment, please.
And essentially, we're asking for personal services salon and the basement level of an existing structure.
This is an RSA-5 zoning district, and so that's not allowed.
Here's our project information form.
This is my client's lease, showing that she has interest in the property.
One moment, please.
I'm just paging through that for purposes of the board.
At page 22, which is also the right-hand side, we have the letter of permission from the landlord itself stating my client does have the blessing.
from the landlord itself stating my client does have the blessing of the landlord to proceed
with this zoning application my client's commercial activity license is here page 23
page 24 is our tax clearance here's our notice of community meeting which is a two-page document
front and back page 27 we see the certificate of mailing page 28 we see photographs of the
property you can see how the property is essentially has the basement out of the
ground with a separate entrance. Here are some more photographs of the posting of the property.
This is looking northbound and you can see we're on a large thoroughfare.
The x-dot area that was discussed I believe is for bus zone only which is why there's no parking
allowed in that specific area. You can see the gentleman here waiting for the bus actually as
I took these photos. What I'll do now is view some page. These are photographs of the interior