Understood.
Thank you. I'm going to share first the posting, the proof of posting.
So, this is the picture of the posting that was put out by my client at the property.
There are other photos which we will share with the board as we present.
So, the application itself is for a use of a retail consumer goods store, essentially bedding sheets and pillowcases.
This property is zoned RTA-1 and in the past had a long-term prior variance for use as essentially a nail or beauty shop.
The beauty shop itself is no longer active at this point.
In fact, the landlord let the beauty shop out of their lease a little bit early due to the pandemic and then subsequent drop in business.
the beauty shop could not continue at this location. Once the space was vacant, my client,
Ms. Lynn, entered into a lease with the landlord to open this shop here as a consumer goods
to sell the bedding and sheets. Because the space was already set up as commercial,
they were under the impression, of course, that they would be able to get this over-the-counter,
which wasn't the case, as the prior use was itself a variance, and therefore a new use triggered another refusal for the current use.
My client actually has met with Mayfair Civic multiple times, including once with myself.
And the feedback from Mayfair is that they do not wish to have a commercial space at this location.
The issue that was somewhat argued over at the meeting was whether this space should continue to be allowed to be a commercial space.
The neighborhood's position is they wanted back to being part of the residential property.
The prior variants notwithstanding, they also raised concerns that this beauty shop, I mean this
also raised concerns that this beauty shop i mean this consumer goods shop would cause
additional safety issues on that corner my client indicated to them that she would be willing to
not make commercial deliveries to the property it's a very small operation i'm going to show
the board some pictures of the space and the layout so essentially there will be a display
here, and then this is the entire space. It's a very small space, a few hundred square feet.
It is separate from the other part of the building, which is actually residential,
but they're rented out to separate tenants. The neighbors indicated that they have concern with
trash, that the space itself, the tenants above, sometimes would repair their car in front of the
property. There were other issues that were unrelated to our particular space that were
brought up at the meeting. However, in the end, their position is they just don't want a commercial
use at all at this space, and that they feel this will be better used as storage, essentially,
as part of the other spaces above. While we're asking for another variance here,
This variance here is a de minimis variance in the sense that the prior variance is for a beauty shop.
This is going to be for a small display and consumer sale of bedding.
This is all existing in the space.
This is what they're selling.
So my client's actually going to be selling predominantly Chinese branded products of bedding sheets, covers.
As you can see, they have unique designs, and they're from brands that are more recognized by the Asian community in the area than maybe by some of the other residents in the area.
But her target market would be those residents who are interested in these products from Asia because they recognize the brands and they're comfortable with the product.
So that is essentially why we're seeking a variance for this use.
There is a small petition in support.
As you can see, they're mostly Asian residents in the area that are aware of the products and are actually interested in purchasing the products.
And that's really the reason why my client even wanted to enter into a lease for the space in the first place.
We're okay, and we propose this as well to the RCO, to limit the permit if given as a temporary permit for the duration of the lease, rather than doing a long-term permit if they have concerns with the safety and trash.
Again, this kind of a use would not produce trash.
It's not a restaurant.
It's not even selling any kind of prepared goods or anything that would actually generate
a ton of trash.
They did mention that they are concerned about the delivery.
Again, my client actually offered to not have the commercial delivery even come to the site
and have it delivered to her house.
Because the size of the operation, she could just bring the products over in her private
vehicle without much of an issue.
So nonetheless, the final position, to my knowledge, is that Darcio still voted against our proposal.
And that's, as far as I know, would be their final position before the board when they issue a letter in this case.
So that is why we're here before the board today.
We're asking for the opportunity to continue to use this space, which has been long term used as, again, a beauty shop.
It was never really a residential space, nor is it connected to the residential space.
And a conversion at this point to a residential space would still be its own variance because
it would make the property greater than two units, which is itself a variance and would
be at a substantial cost to the owner.
And the owner, obviously, my client is a tenant, not the owner.
But the owner, from my understanding, also is not interested in having to invest that
kind of change into the property.
So I'm happy to try to answer any questions from the board or any or redirect any part of the exhibits that we did submit.
Why don't you, why don't you, Jen, why don't you bring your client on, please?
Sure. Miss Lin, can you raise your hand virtually to be identified?
slide. Sally, can you raise your hand. Hi. Hi. Could you please state your name as
Hi, could you please state your name
and spell for the court stenographer?
spell for the quartz stenographer.
Hong Xiu Lin.
Tangshu Ling.
Could you spell it, please?
Yeah, H-O-N-G-X-U-E, last name L-I-N.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Ms. Lin, did you see my presentation,
hear my representation before the zoning board?
Can you verify what I have said
is true and correct and adopted as your own testimony. Yes. Thank you. Counsel, how long is
the lease? One second, Chair. Sally, do you happen to know how long the lease is off the top of your
head? I'm looking at the lease itself. I believe it is for two years. I believe it's three. Three
years. Yeah, there's an option on there, too. Right, there's one renewal option as well for
additional, for additional, let's see, two years, two years. So total, Chair, with, with the option,
the total would be around five years, four to five years, but the base lease is at least three years.
Questions from the board.
My questions are, how are you using this space?
Are people going to come in to actually inspect these products?
Or how is this going to work?
Is it going to really be like a retail operation?
Like people would actually come there, buy the products and leave with them?
or how is this going to work?
So the essential use of the room,
the space itself is more like a,
almost like a showroom, show product.
There will be a small amount of products
that people could in fact pick up and take away.
They will also have an online presence
and maybe sometimes local residents
may come and pick up their product
rather than have it delivered.
The product itself, again,
is originally from overseas.
it will come to my client and then my client would then have that for the customers who are
interested so yes there will be some people coming in to pick up so it is a retail there is a retail
aspect to this okay and the products would come to this location you said or to your client at
another location. So the original idea was to have it delivered to the location. However,
the RCO objected to that saying that there is a school diagonally across the intersection,
and therefore they do not want UPS trucks coming. And again, we're not talking about big trucks
here. It will be delivered by UPS. The quantity is not big enough to justify commercial size
vehicles. But again, the RCO objected. So my client did offer to have the product simply
delivered to her property and then just carry it over in her private vehicle because, again,
it's not going to be heavy quantities of deliveries at one time. So we are okay with
a proviso saying that delivery, no commercial delivery made to the property because she can't
make arrangements without having to have it done there.
Then I guess my ultimate question is, you did mention that there would be some kind
of online presence.
I guess I don't understand why this just couldn't be done online as opposed to having a physical
location of some sort.
If you're saying there will be a limited amount of showroom space provided for this and you're not going to really have, I'm assuming if the RCO is not happy with the idea of products being delivered there, they would be just as opposed to people coming in and out to purchase the products.
Right. So the RCO's essential position is they don't want any commercial use of the property, which I understand.
However, the property's been a beauty shop used as a variant since, I believe, the 60s.
So it's not a new variant. We are asking for a change.
So obviously that is a new variant for the purpose of this hearing.
However, they're taking the hardline stance that essentially they want this property to not be used.
which, given its structure, given its nature, even if we were to go back to a beauty shop,
the level of traffic would be similar.
the level of traffic would be similar. So we're not going to cause an increase.
So we're not going to cause an increase in negative impact in that sense.
And the use itself is actually much more minor, say, even a coffee shop,
which would generate food waste and smells.
We have nothing much in way of waste.
There's almost no trash.
But the level of, again, the level of traffic would be somewhat similar
to if a beauty shop were to go back in there.
And that's why we feel it's not a it's not an increase in impact in a negative form to the community.
OK, thank you. Other questions from the board?
I have a quick question about commercial trash. Would she need a commercial trash pickup?
She she would need a commercial trash because of the commercial business.
But the the most likely thing that would be trash would be maybe some wrappings and most likely recycling the boxes of products coming in.
And would she have storage area for that? Yes, there's a small there's a picture that shows where the washer and other things are.
That's a small storage room where she can put them.
Thank you. Other questions from the board.
questions from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
yes chair i have a hand up by the name of pete mcdermott he has been allowed to speak
morning mr mcdermott could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer
Mr. McDiarmid
we see his hand
yes chair he's been allowed to speak
and he's on mute
could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
Mr. McDiarmid
do we think he has a problem yes he may be having technical difficulties
is there anyone else in the virtual audience
i just want to note for the record mr mcdermott is here on behalf of mayfair civic yep yep yep
i'm trying to find a way to get him on
i have a hand up by the name of joe marina okay
Good morning. Could you please state your name and spell for the court sonographer?
Hello?
Hi. Could you please state your name and spell for the court sonographer?
Yes. My name is Joe Marino. J-O-E-M-A-R-I-N-O.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Mr. Marino, are you a neighbor?
No, I'm sorry. I don't even know what I'm doing. I was supposed to be on at 930 for my, the 5702042 Avenue property.
We'll get back to you later. We're going to call you shortly. Okay. Thank you. Do we see Mr. McDermott at all?
Not at the timeshare.
okay all right so um all right so mr mcdermott's with the rco anyone else in the virtual audience
i see no hands at this time chair planning commission
good morning john levacar planning commission uh my name is spelled j-o-h-n-l-a-v-a-c-c-a-r-e
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, John.
This property is indicated for residential use on the city plan.
Given the documented use history and the physical circumstances of the site, we recommend that the requested variances be granted provided all past trash storage violations are resolved.
So MI 2023-005-623-3031 St. Vincent Street, I vote yes with proviso. Temporary variance expires 7-17-27.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes, with provisos.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes, with provisos.
My own, my vote is yes, with provisos.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Pete McDermott is back.
I'm not sure if you want to give him a chance to speak.
speak. I think the case is over. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Number seven, MI 2023, 004-870-5702-04-Chew
I think the case is over.
Avenue. Mr. Marino. Mr. Chair, this case actually has an attorney, Deneen Wilkerson.
okay so it's not a person has been promoted to panelists okay yes we were we were not aware of
that prior to this morning thank you good morning mr chairman good morning council uh could you
state your name as spelled please for the court sonographer yes my name is denean wilcerson d-e-n
E-E-N, Wilkerson, W-I-L-K-E-R-S-O-N.
Right.