ZBA Hearing - September 27, 2023

uh you can see there's parking on both sides of the street right it would be impossible to

do anything but bring a single car down down here but is that that left side here is that

the front or the back of the house oh um this this okay so right here uh where my cursor is

these are the these are the lots this is 1931 right but what i'm saying so the other side of

the street that's the rear of the other side is the back of the house so george street george

street only has one side correct yes okay okay thank you yes and here you can see the frontage

of these uh homes that are uh immediately adjacent to these properties okay um you want to bring your

client on? One of your clients? Yes. Mr. Frankie, are you here? And if you are, if you could

raise your virtual hand. Mr. Frankie, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.

Hi. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?

Yes, Alejandro Franke, A-L-E-J-A-N-D-R-O-F-R-A-N-Q-U-I.

Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

Yes.

Receive counsel.

Mr. Franke, did you hear the factual statements that I made on the record?

Yes.

And do you adopt them as your testimony?

I do.

Thank you.

Questions from the board?

No, Chair.

no mr chairman thank you questions or comments from the virtual audience

i see no hands chair planning commission thank you chair bergman and good afternoon david vecto

with the city planning commission we'll give our testimony for both 1931 and 1933 west george at

the same time uh for um the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single

family zoning for these two parcels. These are 531 square foot lots with a depth of approximately

35 feet. This lot size and lot depth creates a clear hardship to the property's use within the

standards of the residential single family five zoning district. And off-street parking is common

on this block as no parking is allowed on either the north side or the south side of the street.

So the City Planning Commission recommends the board grant the proposed dimensional and parking

variances for 1931 and 1933 West George Street. Thank you. MI 2023-002-699-1931 West George Street

and MI 2023-002-698-1933 West George Street. I vote yes with revised plans,

one page stamped by zba september 27 2023 for both thomas holliman my vote for both is yes

with proviso ishmael shahi my vote is just with proviso on both cases thank you thank you

The next case is number eight.

I'm going to hear that with case number 12.

So MI 2023-002-583-908-14 North 3rd Street.

908-14 North 3rd Street, and also MI2023-003-712-908-14 North 3rd Street.

Darwin Beauvais is the attorney. Letter of support from Northern Liberties Association with Provisos. Mr. Beauvais.

Yes. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. My name is Darwin Beauvais, 1500 Market Street, West Tower, 34th floor.

I represent the owner of the property and as well as the tenants who are here and present to answer any questions.

And also, just to let the board know that the same community group, Northern Liberties, Neighbors Association, did look at both matters and did give individual provisals for both.

So we are willing to accept those provisals as part of our approval, should the board see it fair.

um with with that said could i did i swear you yet yes okay do you swear to tell the truth the

whole truth nothing but the truth i do and our vice chair has just a few questions for you sir

good afternoon counsel do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his

accuracy yes i do have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed

and required.

Perceive it as case,

in advance of this hearing?

Yes, we have.

Thank you,

and share your screen.

Okay.

And while I'm trying

to share my screen,

if we can also,

I want to identify

an audience,

Meredith Fazio

and April Nett.

Okay.

And

And if the board, I just want to start off with, this is Google Maps.

This is an actual view of the property, 908 North 3rd Street.

This front door here will be Unit B, the physical therapy shop.

And just going down the block, this is Unit A, which will be the coffee shop.

Now, we did receive a refusal because this is an RSA 5 zoning classification, and we're hoping that the board approves our application simply because when you look at the neighborhood, we're looking at a park across the street as well as commercial activity along the street.

So, and let me just go to my exhibit packet.

and can the board see my exhibit package we can okay great so just and i will talk

yes and i will toggle between the coffee shop as well as the the therapy the physical therapy shop

um but just to let the board know that our refusal if we look here the therapy

oh that's what

tax clearance. Our refusal, as I mentioned, is RSA 5 for group medical practitioner that's not

allowed in RSA 5. Similar, we are looking at

a similar use refusal for a coffee shop, right?

Prepared food in a building is not allowed in a RSA 5 district.

So just to talk about the coffee shop for right now, let me go to our exhibit 5.

Let me go to our Exhibit 5.

The Menagerie Cafe.

The cafe itself, it's a coffee shop.

The owner is April Nett.

She has, this will be, I believe, her third location.

If I'm incorrect, she will correct me.

And what she plans on doing.

Oh, and her other locations are also in the area, which I'll deal with later on, because Northern Liberties, our experience has been that it's always in a first councilman district, but there's a little nuance that I'll discuss at the end.

So nonetheless, April Nett has had other two coffee shops.

She plans on building one here using that tenant space.

Here's a synopsis of what she plans on serving.

This is a sense of how she's going to do her fit out.

Loading and delivery will be in the front door because if you could see,

North 3rd Street is a tight area, but it's a coffee shop.

It's only prepared food that will be there.

There will be a kitchen to heat up, but this is not a restaurant in the classic sense.

Trash and recycling will also be dealt with via commercial trash pickup.

And this is the menu.

And I myself will be going for the chai latte.

Having said that, here's a rendering of what she plans on doing, and this is a layout of what circulation should look like.

So where my cursor is, our entrance, tables and chairs, lounge area.

Here's the bar where employees will make and serve customers.

Here's backroom operations.

Here's a nicer rendering of that as well.

and this this is the april nets flagship store which just goes to show the kind of product

that she's delivering

like i mentioned before it's rsa5 and let me just go straight to the letter of support

which is here, because we can discuss the provisos at this point.

So we met with Northern Liberties, and they agreed to give us hours of operation of 6 to 10,

which is more than enough, but they were very satisfied with having a coffee shop in that area,

and we too were very excited on coming there.

no all electric cooking in the kitchen we're okay with that no the we don't need ventilation so

there's there's um there's that issue and we have a maximum of 35 seats and we promise to keep the

trash indoors and have commercial trash pickup so that in essence is what the community has decided

We are taking the position that because they've given these provisos, that there's no real negative impact to our request for the use variant.

Now, if I can just jump to the physical therapist.

Again, let me just give the board a quick description.

and money.

Okay.

So this is a basic narrative, and the board can read along as I'm just highlighting.

This is a unique physical therapist's office, right?

The doctor who's in the audience, Samantha, she is focusing on the pelvic floor.

So this, why?

Because it is a unique practice and it will serve the community.

And I think it will also draw people in because of the uniqueness of this practice.

of the uniqueness of this practice it's perfect for pregnancy pre-birth post-birth and and all

It's perfect for pregnancy.

kinds of pains that people will will suffer when there are issues with their pelvis again

we're looking at this tenant space here

They intend on having several doctor offices in which patients can come in.

Here's a better description of what the practice intends on doing.

As you can see from the brochure, it does highlight and promote birthing issues.

the issues. But nonetheless, I'm pretty sure anyone with any type of pelvic issues could

benefit from our practice. Let me just go to the Northern Liberties letter of support.

Again, they gave us hours of operations from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., which is more than enough.

We have a total of four cubicles, four areas for doctors to see patients, and we've agreed that we wouldn't exceed 15 patients or 15 individuals at any given moment.

Those are all acceptable to us, and we look forward to being there, to serving the community.

Now, I just want to give the board photos that we've taken, but what will probably be more unique will be the photos, the interiors, just so you can see what it looks like now.

That is empty space that we intend on fitting out for the physical therapist's office.

And if we can go to the coffee, this is what it looks like now for the coffee shop.

Having said that, we will like to bring up both Samantha Fazio, Meredith Fazio, the owner, as well as April Tennant, if I can just have them address the board for a moment.

Just to adopt your testimony, Garvin?

Yes.

Okay.

I'm sorry, Chair. Meredith Fazio, please unmute yourself.

hi could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer yes my name is meredith

fazio m-e-r-e-d-i-t-h fazio f-a-z-i-o right do you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole

truth and nothing but the truth yes i do proceed counsel miss miss fazio apologize for mispronouncing

your name again um the did you hear the statements that i made before the board today yes and would

you adopt that as your own testimony yes definitely thank you mr chairman if we can

promote or identify april net okay april net please unmute yourself please

good afternoon could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer please

Absolutely. My name is April Nett, A-P-R-I-L-N-E-T-T.

Okay. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

I do.

Proceed, counsel.

Ms. Nett, how are you today?

I am well, thank you.

Good. Did you hear everything that I, all the statements I made to the board today?

Yes, I did.

And would you adopt those statements as your testimony?

Yes, I do.

Okay, that concludes my presentation, Mr. Chairman.

I'll open ourselves up to any questions.

Questions from the board?

No, Mr. Chairman.

Questions or comments from the virtual audience?

I see no hands, Chair.

Planning Commission.

Thank you, Chair Bergman.

David Fechta with the City Planning Commission and Chair.

as I've done with the last couple of cases, I'll give my testimony for both of the

zp numbers that we're dealing with sure um so chairman and members of the board the

ZP numbers that we're dealing with. Sure. So, Chairman and Member.

comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single family zoning at this location

this property appears to have a history of use as ground floor commercial um however that history

is not documented in the zoning archive the appellant has shown that the property cannot

be used for the intended use which is single family so the city planning commission recommends

that the board grant to propose these variances for a group medical practitioner and for a prepared

food shop. Thank you. I'm going to vote these separately so we can keep the proviso straight.

So number eight, MI 2023, 002583, 908 to 14 North 3rd Street. I vote yes with proviso. Hours

of operation 8A to 6P, and use limited to unit 908B.

Then I'm going to go to...

Go ahead, Tom.

I'm sorry.

Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes, with proviso.

Ishmael Shahi, my vote is yes, with proviso.

So I'm going to go now to number 11, MI 2023, 003712, 908 to 14 North 3rd Street.

I vote yes with proviso.

Hours of operation, 6am to 10p, seven days a week, interior trash storage, commercial pickup, and use limited to suite 908A.

Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes, with proviso.

Ishmael Shahi, my vote is yes, with proviso.

Thank you, counsel.

Thank you.

Okay, number nine, MI 2023, 00276611 Scherz Lane.

There was a meeting held on 9623, but at this point, we do not have a letter from

the rco there is a letter of non-opposition from council member jones

ryan bolin is the attorney for the purchaser

mr bolin is coming back in as a panelist okay

good afternoon hi council could you state your name and spell it please for the

sonographer. Yes, my name is Ryan Boland, R-Y-A-N-B-O-L-A-N-D. Do you swear or affirm to tell

the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. Could you identify your client