inside of the gate he uses it for storage driveway and there's another view of it
there's the house right here but the problem is is that when the fence
wasn't there people were loitering in the back which created a and they were
dumping things it it just created a uh security problem uh a safety issue for my client and his
family so that's the reason why it was uh that's the reason why this gate was erected right here um
here's a plan of it. Uh, again, seven feet tall, 11 feet, 11 feet, uh, for the roll up, uh,
portion of it. And, uh, we had a community meeting with the Harrogate Civic Association
on six four and there were 18 eligible members uh there to vote and well 19 and 18 uh supported it
there was one that was a non-opposition uh they didn't have any problems they understood the
reason why this was erected this is in kensington so the area is a is a is is a bit rough there um
but that's really what that was let's go back to the
we have here is the refusal uh it's more than six feet that's the reason for the uh refusal
it's the proof of the mailing evidence of no tax obligation and my client has been
a standing member within this community for over 10 years since April, uh, April, April
of 2015.
And, uh, let's see here.
That is the extent of the testimony that I'm going to give at this point, I'd like to have
my client mr uh mr rivera uh promoted so i could ask him a few questions
hello the dead person raised their hand
Jermaine what happened with the RCO with this what happened uh we had yeah we had the yeah
germaine what happened with the rco with this
it was it was support right it was 18 uh again it was 18 members that supported it there was one
uh member that had no opposition uh they wanted photo they wanted security cameras
um there uh which my client i believe my i think my client already has that okay uh
bring your client on sure
oh there he is come on up there you go come on up he's sitting here right here jermaine oh wow okay
okay yeah yeah yeah where have you i wasn't sure what to do okay pull the mic and i should close
here right okay could you please state your name as bell for the stenographer uh my name is aguardo
rivera that's e-d-g-a-r-d-o rivera r-i-v-e-r-a right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i do counsel so mr rivera did you hear the testimony
that I just gave, uh, in front of this board? Yes, I did. Okay. And do you, if you were called
to testify, do you adopt the testimony that I just stated? Do you agree with the testimony
that I just stated? A hundred percent. And, uh, is there anything that you would like to add?
You don't have to add anything, but if there's anything you would like to add, is there anything
else you'd like to add um just basically i just got robbed two days ago what's that i just got
robbed from the yard two days ago from the front of the house took my air condition okay all right
all right um out of the window all right all right okay questions from the board
yep i have a question so the the curb cut is already existing on the cup cut is there
and that's how long long time ago okay never cut it down so how long I'm
looking at this image here on the screen can you see it does it go far back I
mean how do you know how far 14 feet why what's the gate okay and you said it
already existed it was already there it was there because when I first bought
the house used to have wooden gates was all rotted out I replaced the wooden
gates it was like on the sixth foot and they kept on climbing over and then i kept on replacing it
because they broke it and then finally end up doing this okay thank you all the questions
so even with this kind of height it's not the deterrent that you have i guess you put it up for
correct if you were just rubbed yesterday around in the front oh you were robbed no i was talking
in the front ah they're still coming up from the front and the front uh you know i don't want to
go no higher but um i got eight cameras around my property and the back get if you look up the
wall the corner right there on that built on the house next door there's two cameras there
they cut the wires on it and those are not working now the wires are cut i gotta replace them wiring
all right see the front defense right there they'll be climbing over it and i got that um
addition to the house went about the house and my grandson lives there and i even noticed until
my grandson comes over the weekends and i know that when he came in yeah i can go after the
air condition when i looked it was gone right and and and how tall is that yeah i want to stand
their home depot sizes i think it's what six foot i think i think it's six foot for home people five
point something and they they climbed over there oh yeah they've been coming all the time i've been
bikes going stuff going out of there all right thank you i have one more question so are there
um a lot of uh i mean do you see this this high gate like they're often in the neighborhood
for the neighborhood they're all even in the corner of the block there's a lot that they
just went up about two or three weeks ago around the corner same thing two or three weeks ago and
then before way before that i'm just seeing what's going on so that's why you thought you could just
put it up without having any I had some company came put it up I asked them all kinds of questions
they say they do it all the time never have an issue so I said okay I've seen that up already
they got paid they went a couple days later and I mean a couple weeks later I end up okay in this
situation okay thank you okay uh questions or comments from our attorney yes um it's a comment
really for Mr. Harris um can you please submit the RCO letter by the close of business tomorrow
so that it can be included in the record.
so that it can be included in the record i don't believe we have it so okay i i thought i saw i
I don't believe we have it, so.
thought i saw them submit it to you guys because we just got the letter we got cc'd on the letter
about two days ago and i know they were asking you guys on how to submit it so i think they were
having trouble with submitting it but yeah i can uh sure i can include it thank you questions or
comments from the virtual audience no hands at this time chair planning commission thank you
chair the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing rsa5 residential single family
zoning the gate maximum height allowed is six feet whereas the applicant shows an 11-foot fence along
a seven-foot wall the dimensional requirements of the zoning code do not create an economic
detriment for the appellant the city planning commission recommends that the zoning board
deny the variance for the 11-foot-tall offense. Thank you. MI 2025, 007-932-3616, which street?
I vote yes. Michael Johns, my vote is yes. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes. Tanetta Graham,
my vote is yes. Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes. Thank you, sir. Thank you. May I be excused?
all right take care all right number 15 mi2026 000 194 5612 haverford avenue zen jin is the attorney
they're being promoted to panelists okay
good morning good morning counsel good afternoon state your name and well i guess it is the
afternoon we're still in the morning group could you please state your name and spell
for the stenographer yes uh my name is zen jen z-h-e-n last name j-i-n here on behalf
of the applicant do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing
but the truth? I do. Could you identify your client, their relationship
to the property? Yes, my client is Hamid Alunimi,
who is the tenant of the property. Okay, our vice chair has a few
questions. Good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents
and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing? Yes.
And this is a referral, so do you waive the reading of the referral and stipulate
to its accuracy? I do. Okay, all right, thank you. You can show your screen at the beginning.
counsel, we do have a letter of opposition from the RCO. Yes, and I will address that during my
presentation. Thank you. I'm putting up the exhibit on the screen. Great. Thank you. So this is an
application which was applied for 5612 Haverford Avenue. This is a CMX one zone district. However,
However, there is an overlay, the fourth district overlay commercial review areas that requires
that retail sales of food, beverages, and groceries and similar stores undergo a special
exception review.
The special exception in this case, particularly with the overlay itself, the overlay specifically
says that any special exceptions granted under this overlay would not permit operation hours
between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. I think the intent there is to prevent 24-hour operations that may
cause safety issues for the neighborhood. For our application, the community group did meet with us
and HMC Squared RCO issued a letter in opposition. Their justification for the opposition is that
it was a split vote situation among the attendees, two in support, one in support with proviso,
which was never addressed to me what they wanted proviso-wise, three opposed, and six total
attendees voted. And I was told that where the vote is equaled, it would be an opposition.
And again, if you know, the letter of explanation was not attached. They have not given an actual
reason for their opposition. This, again, is a special exception, not a refusal. And the special
exception, again, is meant to make sure that the use itself is not going to cause a greater harm
to the neighborhood than a use typical of this nature. Now, this property has a history of
commercial use. It was last used as a daycare. It's kind of a unique property in that it's
semi-triangular in shape it is uh on the corner uh on a point which is a corner to multiple streets
semi-triangular in shape. It is on the corner on a point.
on the one side of the uh behind and on the one side of the property there are residential
properties however majority of the other side of the property is actually zone c81 and it's
a shopping center across on the point is also a commercial zoned property so this is not an
inconsistent proposal to what is in the area the property does have a single family residence above
already that will remain the way it is we do have that in the plans the entrance to the single family
property is seen here on the side of the building versus the commercial property would be entered
through the front this is the existing condition of the interior as you can see it's kind of again
it's kind of a unique layout due to the way the point the building comes to a point
here is the actual site plan as you can see it's not a large proposed convenience store slash
grocery it's a small operation we don't anticipate a lot of traffic caused by this
the anticipation is actually that the local neighbors and local residents would be using this
particular space. I'm going to zoom into the floor plan here because it's easier to see clearly when
it's zoomed in. So again, the travel distances is here, about 60 feet. Again, this is the entry side
with the counter set back a little bit from the entry area because of the narrowness of the area
in the front. There are going to be six-door refrigerators here and generally shelves along
the side of the store itself because of the way the building is situated my client is not looking
to put shelves in the middle that would make it rather dense and very hard to navigate when people
come into the store they do have access to a basement there will be a handicap accessible
restroom uh per cold and the there's an exit to the rear yard which would be available to store
trash the basement is an open space for storage and utility trash will be stored in the rear yard
i see i can show the photo again of the rear yard which you can see here
this is the rear area that is a part of part of the property itself so typically for a special
exception use. It's our burden to show the board that the use itself doesn't negatively impact
the neighbors in light and air. There's no change in the size of the building or the use itself
that would affect their light and air. Again, this is not a restaurant proposal. There's no venting.
There's no fumes. It is basically a small grocery convenience store operation. We don't believe
we would generate additional parking issues. It certainly shouldn't generate traffic like a larger
restaurant operation of any type. And we don't believe there will be any safety issues caused
if a daycare was able to operate here safely. We believe that a store here would not cause
additional harm. The operating hours anticipated would be from about 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days
a week. My client expects to only really have one or two people working in the store, primarily
himself and then one additional assistant. There's not going to be a lot of deliveries or trash
generated from this however there would be obviously deliveries brought in uh it's worth
noting that the the side of the street allows parking but not large trucks to park because of
commercial trucks accessing the shopping center on the other side that particular
street actually has a sign for no commercial trash parking i mean i'm sorry commercial truck parking
but on Haverford avenue the trucks could stop for delivery uh for that purpose
with regard to the community's opposition again they didn't actually raise specific opposition
to me at our meeting there was very few questions asked other than our hours and what we're
proposing to do there is a again a single residence unit above which is an existing and
stays that way it it really would not have any impact on the operation downstairs and again
fitting out the space, my client would need to meet all the building codes required for fire
fitting out the space my client would need to meet all the building codes required for fire
safety and other reasons. So without the community actually giving us what hardships we may be
causing them, I would submit to the board that in the case of a special exception, we have met our
burden for a grant in this situation. And that is my presentation before the board. I'm happy
to answer any questions i do believe my client should be on although i was not able to reach
him this morning trying to confirm so why don't we call your client his name please sure my client
is uh mr one second
it should be hamid um yeah yes
There is currently no Hamid in the attendees list.
Could that person please raise their hand if they're on virtually?
There are no hands raised at this time, Chair.
So, Counsel, you know, so the court will take your testimony.
Questions from the Board.
yeah do they plan on making sandwiches and stuff like that you said there was no no no no there's
no cooking no there's no cooking there's no preparation preparation of sandwiches or food
it's actually just it's going to be shelved and refrigerated items only so there's no food
preparation on site and just I know just in terms of impact to the community you said this was a
close to a shopping center? Does that shopping center have a grocery store?
When I looked on Google Maps and looked at the shopping center, it's actually a laundromat
that is across the street from us. No, no, no, no, no, no. I know that they put it very well.
It's a supermarket that stays open 24 hours. That's right across the street. There is a
corner store right up the street there's a corner store across the street right up the street there's
a corner store directly across the street that's under renovation oh it's a lot of corner stores
right yeah and there's a supermarket and there's the dollar general that's at the shopping center
and the supermarket stays open 24 hours so i don't know that there's a need for another
convenience store when a supermarket is right across the street that stays open 24 hours.
I don't see it.
So again, I don't think, while I understand the competition situation, that's certainly
something my client would have to address himself if he were to open the business.
He is under a lease for five years.
I believe a copy of the lease was given to the board.
If the board were so inclined to approve this, we can certainly take it conditioned upon a temporary approval.
Other questions from the board?
Where was his trash? Did you mention anything about the trash storage?
Yes, he has an enclosed back area behind the building that trash can can be placed.
And it will be taken out by commercial pickup.
And what about any plans on keeping that corner clear and clean of debris?
Yes, he would be responsible for that.
There will be work done in the property.
Right now, again, as you can see, it's a vacant former daycare.