So this is the zoning map, as you can see, the property is here.
It's a large CMX2 property on the corner, a bit of a faraway aerial, North Marshall
Street, West Luzerne Street, and North 7th Street.
And if I zoom in, more easily see, oops, the aerial.
So there's an existing church here, which is an active church.
It's active with the Philadelphia Hispanic One SDA church.
And then this is a service parking lot.
And then this is the building that we're talking about here.
it's an existing building that has been previously used by the church for different
you know multiple clergy and staff to live and it's been vacant for a while but it always has
had residential multi-person use I wouldn't say it was multi-family until it's been built out but
it was never like a single family home or a commercial mixed-use property but that's the
building we're talking about and all other uses the parking lot and the active church are staying
the same. Sewing posters. Some photos of the properties. So before, I guess this is the,
I guess these are more of the posters on the church.
and on the so this is the structure that we're talking about as you can see just by looking at
it'd be pretty difficult to put commercial on the ground floor here it has existed as I said
as a residential property was in use by the church many years ago and then it's it sat
vacant for a while and so the relief that we're asking for and the hardship that we have is that
the cmx2 base zoning requires ground floor commercial and so i just given it's sort of an
intermediary building on the corner lot next to mostly residential it's just not suitable for
commercial the amount of construction you'd have to do and then to you know try to operate a
commercial entity um with within the church property just um sort of add a character would
would be unique so the thought of the church was to you know reuse this this property converted to
five multifamily dwellings and be able to use this to support, you know, the operations of
the church, generate revenue for the church and to, you know, bring the property up to
um you know bring the property up to sort of a viable condition um these are just some of the
sort of a viable condition.
exterior photos of the building um and then i'll show you the the interior you'll see it was fully
renovated um prior to my involvement with with the church um and they didn't realize that they had to
go get zoning permits um and so there's no violations or anything on the property but
just in order to get rental license and to handle this you know correctly obviously we're bringing
it through um the process it's vacant as well there's nobody living in it they did a sort of
very nice renovation um of the space and rachel the renovation is for five units yes it's for five
units kind of similar layouts similar finishes
for all five units
um we did uh here's the part in the code where we're seeking relief again cmx2 requires 100%
of the first 30 feet from the property line be commercial obviously we believe that presents
a hardship and would be quite difficult to achieve we did meet with as mentioned esperanza
and they gave us a letter of support for application. We sent out all the proper
mailing. Again, here's the letter of support from Esperanza. We also at the RCO's request
got a petition of support. There was like maybe five or six people at the meeting, four or five
people at the meeting. So they had asked us to get a petition of support just to make sure that
the directly adjacent near neighbors were aware of it and were in support of it as well. So we
we did provide them with this petition,
but also included it in our packet.
Lastly, I just wanna bring on Eric Quick from Harmon Deutsch.
As the board well knows,
when you do these illegal conversions,
you need to make sure that from a building code perspective
that you can meet all the requirements
for egress life safety.
So we always make sure that the client gets engaged
with an architect so that they walk through the building
and make sure that obviously prior to
and I coming through that is they're aware of those rules so if Eric can be
promoted just want to make sure he can go through the plans the floor plans and
then if there's any questions that the board has from a building code
perspective it's a bit above my pay grade I'll be back in as a panel shortly
Rachel how long have they had a church there
um they've had a church there so long that I had to get a title report to pull the deed
um we literally did not have it in the archives so um and uh Hillary tried to help us but um
if I look at the deed
they got a variance i think for like the parking back and i want to say it was like
oh eight i have to look on the refusal but this has been there
quite a long time let me just look at the refusal
they got yeah 18 i guess they got parking and then the deed
1975 so the seventh i think that's a seventh of 17th of october 1975 yeah and for a while
there you you didn't have to have a zone just like you don't have to have a zoning permit for
your single family dwelling you didn't have to have zoning permits for churches for a while
until they made the change which was a few years ago it makes sense um so if eric can just go
through sorry i'm just going to bring up the plan could you please state your name as bell for the
stenographer yes it's eric quick e-r-i-c-q-u-i-c-k here representing harman deutsch older architecture
you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do council eric if
you can just go through this um what i have on the screen the plans and site contacts and then
What I have on the screen, the plans and site context, and then just want to discuss egress and any of the life safety considerations as well.
just want to just discuss each
Sure, no problem.
So this first page is just a site context page.
Upper left-hand corner, you'll see the site denoted in blue.
There's three subsequent images that show the building in question outlined in white.
um you can see it's zone cmx uh sorry two as rachel put it um and you can go to the next page
um so these are the floor plans um there's a utility only basement um the first floor
has two units the first uh the front unit number one is a one bed it's about 256 square feet
the rear unit 456 yeah i'm sorry 456 uh the rear unit is in blue it's number two it's uh 518
square feet and that is a studio um at the upper floor or the second floor there are another two
units unit three and unit four unit three is also a studio 438 square feet and unit number four is
384 square feet and then there is a third floor unit uh which is a one bedroom unit and that's
417 square feet um our office was retained we surveyed the building we did a building code review
uh once we secure the zoning permit we would then need to secure a building permit for this
and the building would be upgraded with a sprinkler system a monitored fired alarm
um this meets all the requirements for egress windows include and um uh the travel distance
for a single means egress building um and it has a fire escape even though that is not required by
the code so that's an additional level of protection thank you eric nothing further
from uh us chairman and board members if anyone has questions or if i need to go back through
anything all right questions from the board
you refer to some of these as one bedrooms but i don't see doors on the bedrooms is that just an
oversight or no they they don't have doors uh to the rooms themselves but they do have a dedicated
bedroom space um we can call them studios if you want to but it has a dedicated bedroom
okay a bedroom space but doesn't have a door can't be a bedroom without a door that locks
okay then they're all cds right yep
are there any other questions well um you're probably you're gonna need um
well, there's the whole question about the stairs and the fire rating for the stairs
as well as the sprinkler system. So, that's another consideration here. And I guess that
is my other question. I mean, did we do anything to try and deal with the whole issue of accessibility?
no uh this building is not required to be accessible and the existing building is out
of grade so that would be difficult to do all right and what was it used for before like what
did the church do with it before they made it into this apartment building in effect
so my understanding and i think eric uh rustin from your team had looked at my
understanding was they had uh like i don't know if it's clergy i don't want to i'm jewish sorry
i don't know the right terminology the clergy or a pastor or a uh you know a minister what do they
call it a um rectory i can't think about yeah a rectory exactly so there were yes so there were
multiple individuals from the church that were living in the building and then the there was
like one remaining individual who was living there who moved out and so it was vacant for a while
is what the the client had shared with us and shared with the RCO when when they asked the
same question and and then it was vacant for a while and they had a hard time trying to figure
out how to generate any sort of income or use it in a viable manner given sort of the the lack of
need from anybody from the church to like live there anymore so I think it was vacant and Raphael
who's on from the church can correct me if I'm wrong for a year or so maybe more than that and
and then they started doing this construction.
So it was used as a rectory for the church staff.
Yeah, okay.
And the basement is just for storage.
And the basement is just for storage. And what about trash? How is the trash handled?
And what about trash house, trash handle?
Leave the trash is either in the rear yard or handled within each unit. But yes, the basement is storage only in utilities. There's no residential living in the basement.
I'm trying to see if we have a rear attorney.
Oh, yeah. If we could bring Raphael on.
Okay, sure.
that would be great yeah i confirmed on my note the trash is in the rear okay
counsel what is the name of the other individual um rafael rodriguez
thank you yes he's in the church
rafael rodriguez please raise your virtual hand
it thank you
see him jace um yes i see him okay they'll be coming back in as a panel thank you
hi sir could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer
my name is rafael rodriguez i spell it as r-a-f-a-e-l-r-o-d-r-i-g-u-e-z
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
I do counsel Raphael have you heard my testimony today do you believe it to be true and accurate
and do you adopt it as your own I do thank you um
um questions from the board wait more no questions from our attorney no questions
at this time questions or comments from the virtual audience
i do not see any hands raised mr chair planning commission
in the solomonic with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change
the existing commercial mixed use cmx2 zoning the proposed use will fit in with the existing
neighborhood context and repurpose an existing building the city planning commission recommends
the zoning board grant variants for five dwelling units mi 2026 000 872 39 49 to 63
north 7th street i vote yes with proviso certificate certificate of occupancy to be obtained
michael johns my vote is yes
with proviso right yeah mike mike
Mike, with proviso.
Yeah, I thought I said that with proviso.
Sorry about that.
Cheryl Gaster, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Sonetta Graham, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
Number 12, MI 2026-001-144-424 Rector Street.
Gabriel Fellis is the attorney.
There's a letter of support from Central Roxburgh and a letter from Roxburgh Development Corporation.
Also, 86 people signed a petition.
I'm back in as a panelist now sir
good afternoon council could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
my name is Gabriel fellas g-a-v-r-i-e-l last name f-e-l-l-u-s right do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do um could you identify your client
your relationship to this property sure uh my client is john cavish uh he's the owner and
operator of a tice service center which is the tenant of the property okay our vice chair has
a few questions good evening have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance
of this hearing yes and do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
i do okay thank you you can show your screen and begin
can you guys see that title page
yes great thank you jaren uh so we're here today seeking approval for use of the property for
Thank you, Chair. So we're here today seeking approval for use of the property for personal vehicle repair and maintenance.
personal vehicle repair
So just a bit of context. This property has been continuously operated as a mechanic and auto body shop at this location for over 60 years.
My client himself has worked in the shop for 40 years before taking over as the operator last January.
Before then, the property owner was John Tice. He was the main operator of the shop until he passed away.
unfortunately my client then took over and started a new entity which is now
the current tenant the application is not proposing any exterior alterations or
construction we just be legalizing the non-conforming use the property that's
been the same condition since at least the 60s so this here is the refusal
issued by L&I for the use for personal vehicle repair and maintenance which is
prohibited in the RSA 5 zoning district these are the existing floor plans and
dimensions of the garage with the drive-in here we have some photos of
the exterior of the shop from the street and inside of the garage as well again
And it's been mostly in the same condition since we would leave around 1963.
Here a little background on the service center itself.
Like I mentioned, it's been in operation since at least 1963.
And it's become pretty much a cornerstone business in the community.
I'm going to get to some of our community engagement in a little bit.
But it's very clear that the shop and John by extension have become a really trusted
staple and pillar in the neighborhood.
Here we have some aerial views of the property in relation to other properties.
So here we have our zoning map, the property is on RSA 5, but it's located directly next
to other RSA5 properties that are currently being used for commercial activity, including
this actually right here is a warehouse for a plumbing and heating contractor at 422 Rector.
So turning now to our community outreach efforts, as I mentioned before, the business has been a
community institution for over 60 years. John's worked with multiple generations of neighbors,