so uh we're going to have a commercial on the first floor as required there will also be one
uh uh what do you call it um i'm sorry uh uh studio unit uh behind the uh commercial use
which is proposed for the first floor and then we're going to have the other units which will be
on the second third and fourth floors and this is the um elevation drawing which just shows
the property. And then this is the floor plan. So the ground floor, we're planning to put in two
commercial units here in the front, the studio apartment in the back. And then on the second
floor, there'll be two one-bedroom, one-bath apartments, and the same for the third and
fourth floors. This is the pictures of the posting. This is the letter of support from what
they used to be the People's Emergency Center, CDC. They're now called Hopeful. That's how it's
pronounced, it's spelled H-O-P-E-P-H-L, but they pronounce it as hopeful. And this is our letter
of support from them. This is the email from the Planning Commission concerning sending out the
letters to the community. This is the address list. This is our letter that we sent out
concerning the RCO meeting, and then the notice of refusal that we put on the back of that.
And then we have our certificates of mailing here. And what I'll say is that this is a commercial
corridor. We are proposing to do what would be consistent with the uses on that corridor,
including adding commercial space and residential units. It's
close to transportation, so we're not concerned about parking issues. And I would just note that,
and again, if I were, I guess, a bit more, I had more facility with respect to this.
I had another client who asked for and obtained permission to do two similar uses on this same corridor at 4408 through 4410 Lancaster Avenue, where we obtained variances for nine units.
The height was 38, we got 50.
The height was 38. We got 56 feet, nine inches for that. And the occupied area was 75 max. And the board granted 100. And we had no rear yard depth for that one.
And then we did one in September of 22 concerning 43-31 through 33 Lancaster Avenue, where six units were allowed.
We were given permission to have 14.
The height was 38 feet.
Again, we were granted 75 feet, 5 inches, and the, again, occupied area was 75%, and it was 100% that was granted.
And that's not to say that just because it was granted in those cases, I'm just saying that compared to those that are adjacent to this property with the same kind of zoning requirements,
This is minor in terms of the difference in the height, 38 feet versus 45 feet, and occupied area, 75 percent versus 85 percent.
And again, the number of units where four are permitted and we're asking for seven.
So we would ask that the variances be granted.
Could you bring your client home, please, and have your testimony adopted?
I'm not sure if she's here.
If she is, she may be on the phone.
Why don't we see if she's here?
Ms. Gaffney, what's the W client?
It's Liliana Diplin, D-I-P-L-A-N, L-I-L-I-A-N-A.
Liliana Diplin, if you're in the virtual audience, please raise your hand.
I see no hands, Chair.
She may be on the phone.
Well, I think that's what she's looking for on the phone.
So, Counsel, you're an officer of the court.
We will take your testimony.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
no mr chairman no mr chairman questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands share planning commission
comprehensive plan recommends no change the commercial mixed use zoning at this location
There's no unique physical circumstances or condition of the property or prevent it from being used in conformity with the zoning code. The applicant could actually earn a dwelling unit by using our mixed income housing bonus. However, the City Planning Commission recommends that the board deny the proposed use and dimensional variances.
Thank you.
Ms. Gaston, do you have any comments for that?
Yes. I'm not sure why this is not a property that's currently usable. And again, we're not asking for anything that is beyond that which is allowed ordinarily in a CMX2 zone.
And, again, we have already asked for and received permission to have a much greater density and height for this same type of property.
Thank you.
MI 2023, 004-795-4402, Lancaster Avenue.
I vote yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
LeBaron Leonard Palmer, my vote is yes.
Counselor, you have your votes.
Thank you.
And just if you disindulge me for just a minute, this is my last zoning board case before I retire from practicing.
Well, Ms. Gaston, we all wish you a happy retirement.
And thank you for your support.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
All right.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
is there anyone in the virtual audience
who had
a 930 case that has not been
called
I see no hands chair
okay thank you everyone see everyone
Okay. Thank you, everyone. See everyone at 2 p.m.
at 2pm
thank you chair
Thank you, Chair. And a farewell to Ms. Gaston as well.
We're ready to go. Am I correct?
Yes, sir.
Okay. Thank you.
Good afternoon. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this afternoon's meetings.
With me is James Snell, our board member.
Present, Chair.
LeBaron Leonard Palmer from the Division of Development Services is our alternate board member.
Present, Mr. Chair.
Our attorney is also here, Hillary Emerson, and our Executive Director, Tanya Sunkett.
Be advised, the proceedings are being recorded.
The video will be available by contacting tanyasunkett at phil.gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you're participating by phone and you wish to testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548.
Leave your email and the address of the property in question.
And finally, the question-answer box on the screen is now for comments or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sunken.
Let's look at our schedule for this afternoon.
Number 11, MI 2023-006-333-2025 South 5th Street.
That case is continued.
At number 13, MI 2023, 006-413-1338 North Franklin Street, that case is continued.
Are there any other requests for continuances?
Good afternoon, Chair.
This is Javette Benton.
I'll be your co-host for today.
Alan Nockelson has his hand up.
He's been unmuted, and I'll allow her to speak.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the board, Alan Ockamson.
And just for the record, do you spell your name, Mr. Ockamson?
Alan, A-L-A-N, last name Ockamson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
What case do you want to talk about?
Yeah, 1338 North Franklin Street.
We're not only seeking a continuance, we're asking that this is a must-be-heard, the next listing.
Okay. All right. I continue that, and I'll mention that right now. Okay, thank you. So MI 2023-006-413-1338, North Franklin Street. This was the first listing, but the next case is a request that it must be heard. Thank you.
Any other requests for continuance?
I see no hands, Chair.
And number five, MI 2023-006-598-9504 Rising Sun Avenue, the case has been withdrawn.
We're going to go to our add-on list.
Number one, MI 2023-003-510-2809-13 Master Street.
The vote in this matter has been rescheduled to Wednesday, February 14th at 2 p.m.
Number two, MI 2023-004-533-832 South Front Street.
The vote in this matter has been rescheduled to Wednesday, February 14th at 2 p.m.
We're going to go to our regular list.
We're going to start with number nine.
MI 2023-006-285-43 Maplewood Mall. Marja Kasla is the owner applicant. This is a pro se.
Marja Kasla, if you're in the audience, please raise your hand.
Marja Casler is coming back as a panelist now, Chair.
Okay, thank you.
let me see can you can everybody yes could you please state your name and spell it for
the court stenographer sure my first name is maria and last name is kaisla and my first name
is spelled m-a-r-j-a and last name is k-a-i-s-l-a you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth and nothing but the truth i do so this application is for use as a visitor accommodations
on the first and third floors of an existing structure with other existing uses in the same
structure as previously approved correct use visitor accommodation is prohibited in the c
2.5 zoning
district. Correct.
And I will note that
there's a letter of non-opposition from
Solo Germantown.
There's a letter of support from
FAIF CDC and
Councilperson Bass has taken a
position of support.
Has all your paperwork
and your
been submitted within five
days? Yes. I
submitted it last week.
Yes. Okay.
So why don't you share your screen and present your presentation?
Oh, okay.
Just one second.
So let me see.
There should be a green button there somewhere.
Just one second.
No, I don't think that came up.
Just a second.
um i have to bring you guys back sorry about that um okay share screen i don't know why that
is not showing let me see um okay now here um it's coming everybody can everybody see this now
we we we can see it thank you okay so here is um yeah this is the same presentation as i gave to
the uh community meeting we had actually uh yeah um and so here is a picture of my property and
uh maplewood mall uh looking in both directions um of the of the mall that's a pedestrian street
uh there and um this is this shows where my property is there in the middle of this block
um and next one here is an aerial picture of it and there you can see my property it's a twin
the adjacent building is 41 maplewood mall and there's a little five foot alleyway and then on
the other side there's a building the 45 maplewood mall which is a um i think it's called prince lodge
They have occasional meetings. It's some type of a men's club. They have a meeting there every now and then. So that's where my property is. And there's Maplewood Mall, the pedestrian street right here.
And here is, you know, just shows the rectangular lot and how the building is situated there, 17 feet wide building and the alleyway there on the side.
I'm proposing no changes whatsoever to the building inside or outside at all.
um and here's to show the downstairs the first um floor it's a one open space studio space
at the bottom uh the bottom face is maplewood mall and uh so it's one long rectangular space
with the little kitchenette at the at the end of it uh utility closet there bathroom
on the right. And on the right side, you see the third floor, which is one bedroom, same size,
but one bedroom apartment and bedroom in the front, living room connected with the
little kitchenette and bathroom in the back there. So those are the two spaces that we're
talking about. And so the variants that I'm seeking, like you mentioned, is from CMX 2.5 to
CMX 3, or whatever is needed to be able to host short-term visitor accommodations, such as Airbnb
on the first and third floors. And currently only 31-day or longer visits are permitted on the third
And currently only 31 day or longer visits are permitted on the third floor as mandated by the city.
And as I just mentioned in the where you saw the floor plan, there's one one bedroom apartment on the third floor and also on the second floor, which I'm keeping as a lot with a long term tenant on the second floor.
and that open studio space on the first floor.
And I don't know of what activity was on the first floor
before I bought the property in 2016.
And I've owned it ever since.
And so, as I mentioned before, it's a twin building
and it's altogether three stories.
and in 2016 when I bought the building I was unable to secure a commercial tenant on the
first floor the first floor sat empty from 2016 until 2020 about mid-2020 and during the height
of when COVID started, during the height of COVID, I opened up the first floor studio space
as Airbnb, thinking that maybe, you know, people as they were not able to go anywhere or live
really normally at all, I thought maybe visitors would want to come there. And from the first day
when I opened it up, it was an immense success. It never stopped. I was extremely happy with
running the Airbnb for short-term guests and then longer term also. It varied. Some wanted
to stay longer term and some short term. And it was all like what they call touchless check-in
and check-out. Nobody ever had to meet anybody. And it seemed very, very secure and easy for
everyone and I was very very happy with how how things um moved forward and um and especially