the beginning well maybe yeah why don't you get your your your things will be up but just tell
us what you tell us what you want to do um it was a um it was zoned as a four unit apartment
building with a with a retail store many many years ago and about i think maybe
uh six years ago or so it reverted back to a one unit um building we don't understand how it was
done why it was done but we knew that we had to get the zoning corrected and so it's been a long
process with the zoning for the building. So we wanted to, when I say we, I'm talking
about my husband, Bob Merritt. I don't know if he's able to come up and also speak with
me, but we want the building to go back to the original zoning, which was for four units
with a retail space, but we don't need the retail space for the candy store. So we asked
that it be apartments only so how many units do you want it's five okay um excuse me this is the
court recorder mr chair thank you i'm sorry how long have you owned it um since 2000 and
2008 i believe and it was zoned then for four units in commercial yes and then at some point
you lost his own yes okay ian are you how you make it out bringing them up now chair thank you
so what i have um what i downloaded was the that's the okay so why don't we do this why don't you
start testifying off what you see okay that's the front of the apartment building um with the um
posting for this hearing today so that's um the steps that lead up to and inside the building okay
How many photos did you send?
A lot.
I did.
Over a period of...
Oh, here we go.
Now, what apartment is that?
This one is apartment number four.
four yeah keep going in so they all have hardwood floors um new kitchens that's the bathroom
in what floor four apartment four okay keep going in
and this is the main hallway where you see the posting on the door so the door when you come in
you can see this is uh apartment number two and one is right there okay and there is that's your
fire yes box right okay keep going and that's apartment number five that apartment was the
candy store right right many many years you converted it yes and you converted that many
years ago yes okay so that's apartment number five and how many how many bedrooms are in that
It's a one-bedroom apartment.
So what you're looking at right now is the living room.
And then that's the living room.
And that door opening right there, that's the bedroom.
It's leading to the bedroom.
That's apartment number five.
And that's the bedroom.
the bathroom for five yes still number five
For 5, yes, still number 5.
So, those are all the photos we have to bring up the floor plans that were submitted. Why don't we do that? Why don't we do that?
and the 10th ward gave you a unanimous right yes vote yes i sent that letter over as well yep
so those are the floor plans for the building
now i would probably ask my husband to come up and explain the floor plans
is there is there any way you can get that clear sorry board member john
oh submissions there's a clearer copy of the floor plans so why don't you sit at that mic
turn the mic on if you would
state your name and spell for the stenographer robert merit m-e-r-r-i-t-t you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do all right so now we're going
to get you straight with this and so on the we're trying to get a better view of this one here and
then we'll get started i mean if you want to you can give us an overview before yes the photo on
the extreme left is the the uh basement the middle is the first floor and the one on the uh right is
the second floor okay here we go yeah that's back so why don't you start at my left right okay that's
that's the ground floor right there you saw pictures of that living room the bedroom
right the bedroom and the uh bathroom in the kitchen right behind that you see a laundry
room that's in the basement as well but it's not you can't get to it from unit five you have to go
in the other way first apartment is in the basement this is the ground level not in the
i shouldn't say basement but that's the i just want to clarify that's ground level yeah yeah
it is at ground level so you can see that there's a laundry room on the other side of that first for
everyone that's for every everyone's use of coin op uh and you can see how to get there but you
have to go in uh from the stairs that you saw an early picture of and then you can see if you walk
straight through that hallway that had the security system you can go down those steps
into the laundry room okay next one the next the next picture is the actual uh first floor
where you see on your right the actual door that you have to go into these units
um when you go in that door there to the to the uh right is unit number one you can see a living
room, all of the units are pretty much modern, just like the photos that you saw. You see the
living room, and then there's a kitchen section. You walk down the hall, there's a bathroom to the
right, and then there's a bedroom. So that's a one-bedroom unit there, which is unit number one.
Again, if we go back into the hallway, we can see to the right, just before you go up the stairs to
the second floor, there's a door. And when you go in that door, I think it's labeled unit number
two. That living room, you can see when you go in the door. And then to the right of that, there's
one bedroom. If you continue to go straight, you'll go into the kitchen first. And then from
there, you can go up some steps, a couple steps right there. It takes you into another bedroom,
a second bedroom on the right and then you can see the bathroom there that's a two-bedroom apartment
could that go on yeah all right then we can move on to the uh the other picture which is the far
right one but I don't see somebody somebody
I don't see somebody, somebody, um, it's something in the way.
There's some, there's some people right there on the, on the, on the third picture.
That's our advertisement.
That is the second floor.
Um, the way up.
Oh, look at that handsome guy there.
Who's that?
Yeah, that's my guy.
Did you do that on purpose?
You had your picture put up there?
I'll tell you.
So if we go back, we're on the one on the far right here.
This is when you get to the top of the stairs.
The top of the stairs is almost in the middle of the picture where you see stairs going up.
Yep. At the top of those steps there, you can see unit number. I'm going to go to the bottom unit, which says number four. You can see that on the actual diagram.
And then you go right into the living room. And if you are in the living room, you have an option to go into the first bedroom, which is on the right of the diagram.
You also have the option to go up a couple of steps there into another bedroom, which is right underneath the first bedroom that I pointed out to you.
Once you're in the living room as well, you can go into the kitchen from the living room.
That's on the left of the diagram from the living room, and you can see the layout.
We did show you the pictures of unit number four, by the way.
This is, in fact, that unit.
uh where you can see the kitchen and now you can go up a couple of steps there at the bottom of
your diagram and there's a bathroom at the end you can see that that's uh that's a uh two bedroom uh
let me see let me make sure two one two two bedroom unit yes so number of fives on the ground level
Is that below grade?
Number six?
What do you mean, low?
Is that below grade?
Do you step down into that?
Well, we're not on five.
What's up there?
This should be number three over there.
Yeah, but I'm going back.
Oh, you're going all the way back to the left picture.
When you did five, that was five, right?
I did four.
I was just on four.
Yeah, but you did five first.
Yes, I did.
Is that below ground?
No, it's not.
It's ground level.
it's ground level and there's no basement below that no there's no basement well when you go into
the other apartment there because that's where you got to go up steps um that's where you go in
not number five that's the ground level there um when you go into the laundry room you got to go
down a few steps yeah yeah and that's where the candy store was this is where the candy store yes
Yes, five people have questions trash where where are folks storing the trash trash is trash is stored on the on the if you're facing the buildings on the left hand side we have containers there outdoors outdoors absolutely out on the front is the back pavement on the backyard is the rear yes it is enclosed that is closed off with the gate.
And do everybody has access to that?
Absolutely, yes.
And is there any other rear space, like common outdoor space for residents to enjoy?
There's a parking lot next to that.
So that's owned by us as well.
So some of the tenants can have off-street parking.
Any other questions?
so the um the if you go back to the floor plans the um the ground floor unit it's like a step
down into the unit um that the windows don't comply particularly for the bedroom so that
you'll have if you know if this is approved you'll need a co and that window will need to be
made compliant that's in the bedroom a lot of your bedrooms don't have closets in them
and the three-bedroom unit that you have really kind of just doesn't work for a three-bedroom
unit again some of the bedrooms don't have closets and the space is just just really small
now how does the the unit on the in the lower level uh access the laundry room they have to
come out of their unit go yeah that's a again it's a coin op but they do have to go in through
Yeah, that's again, it's a coin up, but they do have to go in through the main door if you. Okay. So they have to come up to the laundry room. Yes. Okay. So they have to come up and then go, go back down and a laundry room.
Yeah. Okay. Okay. Okay. Other questions. Okay. All the questions.
No questions right now. Okay. Questions or comments from the virtual audience.
No hands raised. Mr. chair, any commission, Nina, Solomon of the planning commission, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing RSA 5 residential single family zoning.
The proposed use is consistent with documented prior use of this property for 4 dwelling units and ground floor retail going back back to 1953.
1553. The City Planning Commission recommends that the Zoning Board grant the variance for
multifamily housing for five dwelling units. So, MI 2024-003-407, 2020 North 65th Street,
I vote yes with proviso. Certificate of occupancy do be obtained.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tenetta Graham, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Thank you.
Thank you, both.
Hallelujah.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
I appreciate it.
It's been a long process.
Thank you.
number two mi 2025 003-864-3317-41 gall street sean sherman toppin is the attorney
we'll be back and as a panel of short thank you
uh good afternoon how are you for the record state your name as bell for the stenographer
yes my name is sherman toppen s-h-e-r-m-a-n last name toppen t-o-p-p-i-n
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
I do. Counselor, could you identify your client, the relationship to the property?
Yes, my client is Exotic Automotive, LLC. They are the tenants of the property. Owner of records is 3317-14 Gull Street, LLC. So I represent the tenant.
Our vice chair has just a few questions, sir.
Good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
I have submitted the documents. I did some additional documents a couple, two days ago on Monday, which was the commercial lease and updated pictures.
Thank you. Appreciate that. And you have a refusal and referral. So do you stipulate to their reading and their accuracy?
All right. Thank you. You can share your screen up again.
Yes, I believe my screen is shared at this point. Again, I'm pleased to represent Exotica Automotive, LLC.
tenants of the space that you see in the picture in front of you. It has historically been a garage
space and also prior to the previous owner also purchased and stored vehicles in the rear of the
property. My client simply operates an automotive garage and is seeking to use in the referral
pieces, seeking to use the space for a paint booth and to do paintings there as well. So in our
typical submission package which is before you you have the refusal which
we've already stipulated the commercial lease which we amended and sent in most
recently I think the clay this case was continued for the presentation of that
commercial lease showing that the lease is extended through next year as well as
the application for peel project information those simple things we have
photographs of the property plans and all of the other items with relating to
the RCO, proof of mailing, and pictures of the posted zoning notice and the tax clearance
certificate. And I believe the RCO letter of support is already with the board. So going
through this, I'll move through some of the exhibits which are already there, but this
is the commercial lease that's coming up as Exhibit 2, Commercial Lease Renewal Addendum.
and you can see our client is there the owners of the llc exotic automotive and they have a lease
that is valid through january 31 2020 well the date of that is january 31 2026 and it continues