No, no. I do have a question about this whole idea of the wholesale distribution and storage, which I guess I'm thinking, you know, large scale items, but you're saying this is mainly for just things that might be used in the event space like linens and flowers, utensils, chandeliers.
It doesn't look like there's much space in there for any storage of anything like that.
So where where is that in the space?
Is that is that did I hear correctly that?
Correct. So she does rent items, chairs, throne chairs, all those type of things.
All of those big ticket items do not, are not stored at the premises.
They're at a separate facility.
She does, she keeps 30 chairs, 30 to 35 chairs and requisite number of tables, like five to seven tables for use at the location.
She does also lease candelabras, those type of things.
Those small things are stored in the basement.
And if somebody wants to, if they're not being used for an event, those things can also be rented by somebody who's having an event not at the space.
And if that's the case, she then takes those items from the basement into her truck and she delivers them.
into her truck and she delivers them. So it's not a question of there's going to be
So it's not a question of there's going.
any sort of backup or problem in front of the facility with people jumping out and trying to
collect their things. Anything that gets leased that's not going to be used there is delivered.
No, no, no, no, no. That wasn't the point of my question. The only thing I was concerned about is
that part of this application it says here is for wholesale distribution and storage warehouse
and that's usually what you're talking about like large scale items i would think and instead what
you were saying is that these smaller items that you are going to have there are not going to be
in this event space they're going to be in the basement you're saying correct she's going to
have storage space in the basement that allows her um to keep these other items and the reason
i had to apply preparing the event space and i understand that but it looks like
what is being asked for here is kind of a little overkill if you will
in terms of what is being done here that's that's my question no no i i don't disagree
but there wasn't you know there was no in between that said well i'm going to be leasing
and storing linens and and small items that i'm going to lease so when i checked with
l and i you know their that's the category recommendation was apply under this because
that covers because i didn't want to apply just for the event space and then end up with a problem
so they said apply under this broad umbrella of warehouse distribution storage and
you could explain it to the board right and then the so then the application
Did that include the space where the event space is going to be?
And I think you said this storage is in the basement.
Was that part of the application?
Or how are we getting to approval for that?
I guess, again.
I guess I don't know that I, I mean, in my application,
i don't know that i specifically referenced the basement uh i think i just uh i think i just
identified the address i don't know that i said specifically the location to be honest
and do you have any pictures of the uh basement or the space where this other
use is gonna actually take place if you will
I do not.
All right.
Thank you.
Any other questions?
Questions from our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
So, just clarification.
So, this use is proposed, or these uses, I should say, are proposed for the first floor and basement only.
You said there's dwelling units above.
All right.
Thank you.
Correct.
Each floor has two dwelling units.
All right.
Thank you.
thank you questions or comments from the virtual audience I'm done yeah the virtual audience
there are no issues planning commission
Amy Boyd with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change
to the commercial mixed use cmx2 zoning at this location the appellant has demonstrated that the
proposed use will not cause detrimental impacts beyond what will be reasonably expected for
assembly and entertainment. The proposal for wholesale distribution is accessory to that
proposed assembly and entertainment use. Therefore, the Planning Commission recommends that the board
grant the requested special exemption for assembly and entertainment and the requested
variance for wholesale distribution. All right. So, Council, here's what I think we should do.
As far as that, the case is now closed. But if you would, have them take some pictures of the
basement, just showing how the things are stored down there. Submit it and we will
vote on this next Wednesday at 2 p.m. Chair, can I add pictures of that sink, the
other room, that prep area too? Pictures of the back and also pictures of the
basement. Just the pictures the basement should show, I mean I understand exactly
how you got to this point with their refusals, but you know just show how
refusals but you know just show how they're stored and then if you would debate the back
they're stored and then if you would the basement
room show the kitchen where or the little sink that he has and things like that it's closed
there's no need for anything else give send it to um hillary and we'll vote on it next week at 2
p.m okay okay will do thank you very much sir thank you everyone for your time
MI-2024-007-559-2270 East Butler Street.
Eric Bodson is the attorney.
Eric Bodson has been promoted.
There's a letter of unanimous support from Impact RCO.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair.
Councilman, how are you, sir?
Could you please, were you one earlier today?
Yes, for a withdrawal earlier.
Okay, all right, great, great.
Did I swear you then?
Yes, you did.
Okay, so just for the record, state your name.
Sure, Eric Bods in a blank room, E-R-I-C-B-O-D-Z-I-N.
All right, could you identify your client,
a relationship to the property?
Yes, I can.
My client is Matt Canale,
as well as Michael Luna of Spark Car Wash.
on behalf of the equitable owner
of the property, 2270 East Butler Street.
Do you waive the reading of the refusal
and do you agree with its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Why don't you share your screen
and start your presentation?
Wonderful.
Wonderful.
Is my screen show up, Mr. Chair?
All right. Well, thank you for your time this afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the board. I am here with Matt Canale and Michael Luna of Spark Car Wash. I'm also joined in the audience by engineer Nick Lewis of Bowler and our architect Oliver Young of GK&A.
And I also understand that Rolando Sanchez of Impact RCO may also be in attendance here this afternoon.
Impact RCO has been unanimously supportive of this application.
As you can see here, Spark brings a clean, green, and sleek approach to the modern car wash.
a self-contained self-serve 90 to 120 second experience where you never leave your car except
if you choose to vacuum at the parking stalls that far exceed the code requirement.
So the zoning application here, here we go, is for a lot line relocation where one lot,
I'll bring up the flat so you can see remains this existing vital grocery store and the other
lot is the activation of this long vacant and underutilized irregular space here for the
proposed car wash. The base zoning district is CA2, which is an auto-oriented district but
requires a variance to permit vehicle maintenance of this nature. I should note that as you can see
on the map here, this parcel is located at the edge of the CA2 district surrounded by
I-2 industrial right off the I-95 highway. So the hope is that this modern car wash concept will
draw vehicles off the highway to activate the commercial corridor, which has a lot of vacancy,
vacant lots and vacant buildings. And I'm glad to share has brought Impact RCO to support this
proposal. I'll just go back to the refusal for a moment. The other element of the refusal here is
for specific to the car wash use for the minimum stacking lane width and the minimum setback for
stacking lanes from the property line. This relates to the very deliberate placement of the
car wash, which I'll share the designs in a moment, to the rear of the lot here, adjacent to
the railroad tracks. And that design was deliberately put together by Bowler and GK&A
to preserve the existing intersection, to utilize the existing curb cut and driveway
in a minimally modifying manner. I will run through the design slides in a moment.
in a minimally modifying manner.
Here's another aerial of the property. Here you can see the existing Lytle grocery store. No
changes are proposed to that grocery store. And here you can see the vacant lot proposed
for this modern car wash concept. I should also note, if I may go back to the aerial of the area,
A lot of the adjacent properties I mentioned are in this I-2 district are recycling centers, some vacant warehouse space.
And so the hope is that, you know, in addition to bringing folks off the I-95 highway into the commercial corridor,
this is a nice buffer use and certainly appropriate and contextual for the space.
so uh i'll quickly go through the design uh renderings this is an aerial from
east butler street from the southwest this is the superimposed image of where the spark
car wash will be located next to as you can see the existing thrifty irishman store
Same thing here, just another angle off East Butler Street.
And you can see to the rear is the existing Lytle grocery store building and the intersection that we, you know, in working with planning, wanted to make sure we preserved at this location.
Here is the site plan.
As you can see, the rest of this lot is the Lidl grocery store and parking as previously
approved.
The proposal here is highlighting green and yellow is for about 47,000 square foot portion
of the lot to be used as this car wash concept.
You can see the railroad tracks in the rear, as well as Tulip Street, which borders only the Lido lot to the rear.
Here is another zoning plan showing the two distinct lots and the shared driveway through a cross easement here, fronting on Butler Street.
And here is the zoomed in lot A.
So here you can see the traffic flow coming from the street and the reason why we're seeking this setback just for the rear adjacent to the railroad track so that the existing curb cut can be preserved and traffic can be kept off the street here in the rear.
Again, the bound here is the existing railroad track.
And then to the south side here is the existing Lyle store and its parking lot.
And Eric, that's a separate parking lot for the car wash?
That is a separate parking lot for the car wash, yes.
29 parking spaces.
The code requirement is 18, which I doubt you can see on the student end screen.
That's correct.
um this is uh a rendering um from bird's eye view actually the rendering should be rotated so the
entrance and exit to the car wash are perpendicular as well as a third lane of traffic but this gives
you an idea of the landscape design and attention to detail in this very modern off street parking
concept. Here is another rendering, again, showing the modern kiosks that get you through
the car wash in 120 seconds or less, and the deliberate choice of landscaping materials on
site. Here's a rendering of the building, which I'll describe the layout in just a moment.
And if necessary, again, our design professionals are on hand that can go over the
material palette that was carefully chosen.
So the parking lot is where you clean the inside of your car.
Exactly, exactly. It's got these backing stalls.
I believe 23 of the 29 spaces of backing stalls.
Other spaces presumably are for anyone, but particularly
employees of the Spark Car Wash.
These are some more renderings of the building and the
materials used for the building. I should note, signage
is the subject of a separate application which i understand was recently submitted but this
is a rendering of the signage the building height is should actually be 18 feet except for the signage
It should actually be 18 feet, except for the signage, which is 30 feet tall, 30-foot blade sign here.
The building itself, here we go, consists of an electrical room, an equipment room, storage, break room, restroom, and office.
You know, all of these things are for employee use.
This is a design that's supposed to be and is, in practice, has been very successful at being automated in practice so that a customer stays in their car the whole time, except when they get through the stacking lanes into the car wash and over to the vacuum spaces where they have the option to use the vacuum materials.
SPART plans to keep this site active seven days a week, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., focus on hiring its 12 employees from the local community, and really glad to have Impact RCO as a resource for local workforce development and general business stewardship.
They've been a wonderful partner. We met with the RCO. There's one more slide about the eco cleaning agents that the car wash utilizes for the benefit of the environment.
And here's the letter from Impact RCO. As Orlando Sanchez notes, the project will contribute to the growth and revitalization of a neighborhood with historic impoverishment and changing vacant buildings and lots from ISERs and tax burdens is what Kensington and the surrounding area needs.
We certainly heard how important it was at the meeting to make sure this is an active round-the-clock use.
And that is the goal here from the impact team, who is here and available to answer any questions.
Just to conclude, this proposal is designed to be consistent with prior support from this board,
spirit of the code, which it minimally modifies by activating this underutilized lot with the
use permitted by the neighboring I-2 districts with setbacks located in the rear, again, in order
to preserve the existing intersection, verb cuts, and driveway shared with Lytle. It's operated in
a clean, green, and modern manner that will benefit, not detriment, this business corridor
or as underscored by unanimous support from Impact RCO.
That concludes my presentation, Mr. Chair.
Matt Canale is here with me to adopt my testimony.
Counsel, just the other building is part of this presentation too?
The other building, there are no existing changes,
no changes proposed to the Lytle grocery store building.
But that's become the maintenance center for the grocery store?
this center is is is uh standalone it doesn't provide any kind of maintenance or
operations related to the grocery store yeah thank you bring it bring your own room please
matt canally can you raise your hand
good evening mr chair this is jason hand i will be costing for the rest of the
evening thank you mr cannelly has been promoted to panelists he should be coming back in shortly