access to those fences are they managed by the by the are the gates sorry not fences gates because
it does look like there's two actress access control gates um from the street before you get
to the front of your property or yes i have i have access to the gates to open the gates and
close the gates yes and then okay so for drop-offs are parents pulling all the way up to sort of your
front door yes yes right at the door they could pull right up okay and then I think my like just
I heard you guys refer to the different floors but this appears to be a one-story building
so is the first floor the basement no it's one floor it's a loft a little loft like a little
room just for um staff and have yeah i didn't really take a good picture but let me just show
you uh or could you bring up the floor plans yeah here we go let me enlarge it a little bit
so okay so this is really the ground floor here and then there's just a little area where you
walk up and it's like a loft area right here and it has those two chairs and the computer
uh that i showed you and i apologize i didn't take a great picture of it but this is
that I showed you and I apologize.
I didn't take a great picture of it,
but this is.
the little upstairs area uh for the staff okay and then i mean just you know stating the obvious
it does look like this already exists and so are we are we legalizing and no um they've been vacant
um they've been vacant for almost two years uh we've been waiting uh to get the zone and it's
all fit out it's all fixed but there has been no child care center operating in there um we're
waiting on the zoning okay and then um has the state already come through and done all their
inspections of the spaces for the child care i'm gonna let miss bridges i'll speak to that
excuse me so the the health department came out the state says actually say how many kids and that
we can open did not come out because that's where I got stopped at. When I went for a certificate of
occupancy, that's when they advised me that it wasn't zoned and advised me of the steps that I
needed to take to get the building zoned. So I didn't go any further with the state. I started
dealing with the zoning. And then have you run or worked at a facility similar to this before?
Yes, I owned two child care centers previously. Okay. And then I guess my sort of last question
is for these outdoor play spaces because it does look like on your plans there's there's two one
that's not been uh put in yet and then the one that I guess is the fenced in area is there any
other things that you're doing to those spaces to get like to make them no I only have one outdoor
play space and it was already there already existed I don't have two it's only one gate for
play okay and so is is that the plan is like how it is currently is that how it's going to be
operated yes your plan to do like more things to it i'm going to put more toys and things out there
um per the city i the mulch that's approved for child care i'm going to put that down stuff like
that but no construction okay any other questions just a just a quick quick oh yep go ahead i'm
sorry okay um well that was my question about the play area so where is that exactly you're
pointing to like within this
i believe miss tana her question is what additionally will be done to the uh play area
uh on the side over here what materials will be used uh on the for the floor and i think you said
something this is um is a certain mulch that the state requires for child care centers i will put
that down and that's basically safety so when the kids fall it's not like the wooden march is rubber
mulch or I would get like the rubber play mats to go out there so if the kids fall they'll fall on
rubber mats okay and then this building has this is my questions I was asked about child care
centers okay so this is one floor so we don't have to worry about stairs this is great there's the
whole thing with the fire code issues which are not technically zoning but which I care about for
So there needs to be a sufficient means of ingress and egress, particularly for the children who are three and under and are not capable of self-preservation.
So we need to have that, panic bars on doors, the strobe lighting, and that shrill sound that we have when the fire alarm system goes off.
we need to have emergency lighting and the signs for that. So, presumably, and just, you know,
because, again, you've been working on this, you have all of these things in place for the center.
Yes. Yes, the building is and will be co-compliant.
Okay. All right. Thank you.
other questions just just last last questions are you are there any plans to do something with the
exterior of the building it is ugly um just in terms of having kids i mean it's for real you
know you come down the street you've got this constantina wire and to have little kids kind
of look down this thing it looks like it's like it's abandoned cars are going to be there is are
Are there any plans to do anything with at least the facade of the, to make it look that
at least the facade of the to make it look better i just yes again i stopped everything because i
got stopped in my trip whereas though they said it wasn't zoned so i didn't continue to do the
painting outside i didn't continue to put the things on the windows on the side i stopped
because i was told it wasn't zoned so it's like don't put out any more money until you get zoned
i i can understand that but but because the inside looks good um just in terms of you know the amount
of work and effort that you put into it it's just you know driving up to the parents driving up to
the the kids coming up to this it just you know you'll work on that because i think you've got
the spirit to do it but god knows it needs something outside and uh i'm just my only comment
when you spoke on the abandoned cars like the picture that's showing now where you see that
white truck at um that is the gate that i'm going to put like i don't know what it's called but
you've probably seen it where it's just like the it's not a sheet but it's a gate to cover where
the car is back there and paint outside i'm gonna work on it it's just i stopped okay
good good so so darlene could you let us know what's the actual building number of the address
there the actual uh address for the building is 5324 yeah no i'm sorry it's 5314 well on the
refusal here i've been having because it's 5314-24 yeah but the point is there's there's
several buildings on that block i mean does this have a particular number 5314 i'm just figuring
that out dealing with utilities it's 5314 dash they told me to just don't use the dash 24
because it's confusing our attorney may have something about yeah i think i think the lease
said sweet b yes it is it's sweet b is b as a boy okay
oh boy all right questions from the virtual audience
chair I do not see any hands raised for the matter planning commission thank you chairman
and good morning David Vecto with the city planning commission chairman of board members
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the I1 light industrial and CA1 auto-oriented
commercial split zoning at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 1975 and a council
supported map change this property has a documented history as a lumber yard dating to at least the
1950s and a history of commercial use dating to at least the 1990s the proposed child care center
matches the character of the other businesses on this block face which includes a child care center
across north 5th street the city planning commission recommends the board grant their
proposed use variants for a child care center in my 2025 001 556 53 14 to 24 north this street
i vote yes with proviso suite b only michael johns my vote is yes with proviso and curb appeal
cheryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso it's another gram my vote is yes with proviso
And McAdams, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ty Owen, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you very much, commissioners.
So number 10, MI 2025, 005-852-2505 North 12th Street.
Zen Jin is the attorney.
There's a letter of support from the 37th Ward RCO, 15 in favor, 2 in opposition,
and a letter of non-opposition from Council Member Young.
Good morning.
Good morning, counsel.
Could you please state your name
and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, Zhenjin, Z-H-E-N-J-I-N,
here on behalf of the applicant,
Olympia Holdings, LLC.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Hold on one minute.
Do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth, the whole truth,
nothing but the truth, then?
Thank you.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good morning.
Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
And do you waive the read and know the refusals and stipulate to their accuracy?
Okay, thank you.
Share your screen.
Proceed with the case.
Thank you.
I'm going to share with the board what was previously submitted as exhibits in this case.
Give me one second.
I'm sorry.
He's doing something.
He's doing something.
okay the uh my document should be coming up on the screen they are sir we have them great
My documents should be coming up on the screen.
They are, sir. We have them.
Great. Thank you.
So this is an application for a use of this construction of a new property at the location of 2505 North 12th Street.
My client specifically is asking for a variance change in a dimensional format to permit the property to be built as a three dwelling unit property.
This property is located in the RM1 multifamily district.
The refusals are dimensional in nature due to the size of the lot, as well as a sub-area B overlay, which increases the requirement of square footage per unit that's being proposed.
We have met with the RCO, which is 37th Ward RCO, who has the jurisdiction over the area.
As the board can see, we received strong support from the RCO and the people attending the meeting.
The main reason that we're requesting the particular three-family dwelling rather than a by right two-family dwelling is because the area buildings and the area apartments that are generally available from a size standpoint tend to be closer to what we can propose based on the three-family.
we have buildings in the area that are already multifamily, including older buildings that are
actually more dense with smaller units than the newer buildings that are being put onto the block.
Essentially, some of our neighbors have five units or very dense small units in the area.
We're proposing a three-unit building based on the size of the new building and the layout of
new building being three stories given that the community supported our request particularly given
that it's the new building and it has a rather large lot and footprint compared to even the
existing even denser buildings down the block what we're proposing is a new structure which
is currently a vacant lot as you can see on the pictures here on the plan these are slightly older
pictures from google which didn't show an existing new building that is now up next to our lot at
this point our building would just be filling a gap between an older building and the new building
that has already been built next door so the building will be a three-story structure
i'm going to zoom into the elevation plan because i want to
show that the elevation for the basement is primarily above grade. It's 3.5 feet below grade
and 5.5 feet above grade. The proposed layout for the property is to have essentially first
floor and basement as one unit, second floor is one unit, and third floor is one unit.
These units will be about somewhere between 600, around 600 square feet each.
The first floor unit would also have a basement, which will be HVAC, washer, dryer, open finish space for whether they want to use it as a rec room or if they want to set up part of their living space down in the basement.
We have no issue with that.
the first floor would be the kitchen living room and bedroom in the back with full bath
the design here is to have a full bath with the bedroom and a separate bath outside in the upper
floors it'll be two bedrooms one front one back with a full bath and kitchen and living the living
will be smaller however the uh each of the upper floor and the lower floor will all have their own
trash closet uh which will permit storage of trash before pickup uh by the uh the trash
company drew in weekly pickups given that it is three units uh if needed my client would actually
uh pay the city addition for an additional pickup uh as a as it is a commercial type use rental
type use which would permit them to pay for additional pickups under the commercial use
type property and the community is okay with the design of the trash room being available as well
as having the pickup if needed additional pickup the upper floor has a access to the to a roof
deck i'm sorry let me uh actually so there is a roof access uh which the roof itself
access which the roof itself will be fiberglass so essentially it could be a deck there's no
will be fiberglass so essentially it could be
specific decking that's proposed as part of that but it does third floor does have roof access
first floor also has a access to the entire rear yard the second floor would primarily
be the one relying on the trash room for their trash until such time that it is brought out
Again, we are permitted to place a two-unit setup at this location, which most likely design would be to combine the second and third floor.
Again, it would produce a much larger overall unit with probably the same level of bedroom density with a slightly different layout for living room location.
again the community understands that most of the units that are in the area are either this size
or sometimes even smaller so having a triplex layout with this room size actually does make
sense as compared to what is in the area so certainly moving forward having the unit sizes
not being too large would also put it into a better value within the market that is available
So that is the primary reason we're asking for a dimensional variance from the board to permit
three units in this RM1 location rather than two. My client should be here to verify my testimony,
and I'm certainly happy to answer any questions from the board. What's his name, please?
It's Mr. Bader, Shagai Bader. Mr. Bader, can you raise your hand virtually to be identified?
Counselors will be coming back in shortly. Thank you.
hello hi sir could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer
yeah my name is chagai bader c-h-a-g-a-i my last name bader b-a-d-e-r all right do you swear or
affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes counsel thank you uh mr bader
uh did you see my presentation before the zoning board and hear my testimony
yes can you uh verify what i have represented is true and correct and adopt it as your own testimony
yes thank you what questions from the board yeah can you come again yes
Please. I didn't ask nicely. Please.
Thank you.
Mike, you can go ahead.
Oh, yeah. So, one and two.
Thank you for not having the basement
so low below grade that it will flood
and people will feel like they're living in a grave one so appreciate that's much appreciated
and two thank you for not having access to the rear yard through a bedroom um so i am i think
this works as a plan for the first and basement level that basement is huge they could use it for
anything um i'm surprised you just did one bedroom um for this unit clearly it could be more
particularly since you have the access above grade the way that it the way that it's set up
i just think it's a something that that that more developers should look at
um just in terms of the way it's laid out well other folks will have some comments about the