um my client bought it and has been unable to find a commercial tenant um you know for for
reference the uh surrounding area is all rm1 including uh the majority of the corners uh
two other corners here are rm1 the next block um there the similar size property is uh zoned rm1
on the corner and so we're you know effectively seeking to to use the property as such with no
commercial use on the first floor. Again, there's our letter of support. 176 pieces of mail were
sent out for our RCO meeting. Here's plans or here's photos of the property, how it looks now.
This is the entrance to the unit on 23rd Street that we're hoping to have approval to use as a
residential space. Here's the space itself. My client did not fit this space out because he was
going to fit it out for a commercial tenant should he be able to find one and thus far has had no
leads as again he'll testify to. So that space is not rehabilitated.
He'll testify to. So that space is not rehabilitated. However, the remainder of the property is rehabilitated and is functioning as living space.
And I can show you that. Here's more photos of the outside. Here's a photo of the property from across the street that would show the entrance to the second floor unit on the right and the entrance to the downstairs unit on the left.
There's a property looking down Mifflin Street towards 22nd.
And again, another side angle.
So here's some of the work that was done on the interior of the property.
Just to show my client does a nice job.
I think principally one of the problems in finding a commercial tenant is the layout of the property.
And again, my client will testify to this, but it has a stairwell running that bisects the first floor and creates an approximate 464 square foot area.
In the front there, that's an unfinished space that I showed you.
He's unable to, in any kind of reasonable fashion, move the staircase such that he'd be able to create a larger commercial space.
And at that size, it's, you know, not even half the size that would be required for something like a retail space or, you know, a restaurant or other potential uses.
We included the floor plan of the second floor, showing the space as it exists now.
And also included our other documentation that's required, deeds, and the tax clearance.
again, as everyone mentioned, now lists the 2023 taxes as being due, but everything else
is zeroed out. So my client is compliant in that. So let's see. I'm going to, so we believe
the hardship is, my clients were unable to find a tenant for this space, and the space
just simply isn't isn't large enough uh and to continue to uh have to do that is going to we
believe force him to just keep the space as an unfinished space uh whereas the community came
out and said that they they wanted uh some action in in that area and they agreed with um the
variants that we were seeking so if i could call my client and have him testify quickly about his
after council can i have a quick question the second floor how many units one unit on the
second floor and how about the first floor well uh it's one full unit now and we're seeking a second
okay so it'll be total three units yes sir and the okay all right which is one one three three so
appropriate uh i'm gonna pull up his commercial listing and i'll have him uh testify to his
efforts here. James, could you raise your hand? He's been allowed to speak, sir. Hi, could you
state your name and spell, please, for the court reporter? Yes, my name is James Brand, last name
B-R-A-N-D. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes. Proceed, counsel. Good afternoon, James. Did you hear my testimony just now?
thus far? I did. Do you agree with it and adopt it as your own? Yes. I'd like you to just very
briefly speak to the board about your efforts in locating a commercial tenant in this space on the
first floor here. Certainly. So I've owned this property for about three years over that time
when I was renovating it. In that time, I have listed it for rent for several months. But before
that just between my contractor talking to neighbors and myself reaching out to the local
businesses just to see would there be any interest in relocating or if they had any other businesses
that were looking to locate into that area. My contractor even showed a few people locally that
were there just kind of what the dimensions of the space were. Like Joe mentioned, unfortunately
just given the dimensions of it, it's not a huge space so it rolls on a lot of options.
The goal was to find something like possibly a daycare or an office or a salon even or a convenience store.
A lot of those businesses already are in that area within a block or two radius.
So it's really hard to find anybody who wanted to move into that space.
So it's really been I mean, the listing has been up for quite some time and it's just it's garnered no traction.
and any attempts to find businesses that are already local to have someone move in there
to have someone move in there have also been unsuccessful um so it's it's really just been
have also been unsuccessful um so it's it's really just
it's been a tough go of trying to find a tenant that could use that space um so hopefully a lot
of the feedback that we have gotten um and certainly from the uh the people who have seen
the other apartments that were completed was that you know it would provide very usable housing as
a residential space which is certainly in line with what else is on that block um so that's
what we're hoping to accomplish here so hopefully fingers crossed we can make that happen so we can
provide that extra unit okay all right thank you mr brandon hi questions from the board no mr
chairman no mr chairman all right questions or comments from the virtual audience mr chair
Okay, I have a hand up from a number ending in 33552. Do I allow them to speak?
Please.
Understood.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Hi, yes. Yes, hi. Tiffany Green, concerned citizens, Point Breeze.
Ms. Green, spell your last name just for the purpose of the court reporter.
Yes, G-R-E-E-N
Alright, do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
The whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do
Proceed
I'm calling up on the RCO
And we're opposing this project
Initially
I knew something
Went on with this project
Back in
March the 4th
This case was
denied the the applicant went for three up three apartments then and I believe
we opposed it then and at that time we had some resident support and so he was
denied the variance and he was approved for the two units and a commercial
because we wanted to keep the commercial on that floor at that time so the
initially then he came and asked he sent a letter for a reconsideration sometime around uh look like
around march 19 right before the city shut down for the pandemic my concern is that when he came
back this time he's never mentioned this he's never mentioned that this was a re this is a
reconsideration or he's coming through like this is a new project it is not and the reality is
there's no real hardship here uh he's already getting two apartments and the commercial piece
we have a lot of he could put a daycare there with that particular um uh it's right of course
from the school he could put like a daycare there uh that school closed down also there's other
professional offices needed in that area and we're asking the zb or dba board i'm sorry because i'm
out right now I got a mask on not prove this and maintain the not rezone this
there's no hardship here he state that he advertised but it was right before the
pandemic and we feel that the commercial piece at this area should remain the
same along with the two apartments and as the under the old under the other VBA
commissioner but i think the other commissioners were still there and they did not um they turned
him down for the variance and i'm asking if you could maintain the zoning in this area
were you at the rco meeting i was at the rco meeting and when he presented he never presented
this as um as the pro the project had been there before and i asked i asked him about it
and about this commercial piece and I was trying to remember so I thought he
came through before but I found the letter and information in my history in
my history and how he tried he tried to come back after being denied from the
board for a reconsideration but it was right before the committee dinner so I'm
seeing this point I would we would like to maintain the commercial in this area
We don't have a lot of commercial.
All right.
I'm sorry.
Thank you very much.
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
There are no further hands, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Counsel, you want to respond?
Yes, please.
I was not the attorney on the previous application, which was withdrawn at that time, which was two years ago.
He was unable to get a commercial tenant in the space.
He was unable to get a commercial tenant in the space, and I think that if anything, the two years that have elapsed since that time, over two years, two and a half years, since they withdrew the application, it was not denied.
That's even further evidence that this space is not viable as a commercial space.
We appreciate the position. That was the ancillary RCO that was in opposition then, and they still are now. But we feel like that's a reason to push forward.
again it wasn't a denial uh at that time um i was not i was not the attorney uh and uh it it was
with withdrawn and um attempts were made to to fill it and that has not been successful and
here we are attempting to to make it happen again so planning commission
thank you mr chairman and board members david fechtow city planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends a change in the zoning at this location from commercial mixed use
use 2 to commercial mixed use 1. This would relieve the applicant of their obligation
to provide commercial space on their ground floor. The proposed use is consistent with
the proposed zoning and so the City Planning Commission recommends the Board grant the
use variance. So MI 2022 004 538 1839 South 23rd Street I vote yes.
Thomas Holliman, my vote is no
James Snell, my vote is yes
Ismail Shahid, my vote is yes
Carol, you have your vote, the votes are there, thank you
Thank you board, happy holidays
Is there anyone from the 2 p.m. list whose case has not been called?
Sir, I have a hand up from Ms. Sandy Carter.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Wait a minute.
Hold on, sir.
Hold on, sir.
That person was using an older version of Zoom.
Hello?
Can you hear me?
yeah could you state your name please and spell for the court reporter
sandy carter c-a-r-t-e-r do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing
but the truth yes what case the case of 1220 to 22 north 41st street
mr chair those there's two those two cases are coming up on the 3 30 list yeah 3 30
we're taking a short break for the two o'clock list we're going to take a five minute break
and we'll be right back in those cases we'll be called okay okay thank you all right sure
sure okay let's take a five minute break give our court reporter a chance and then we'll come back
and we'll get through the list. Thank you.
Good afternoon. My name is Bill Bergman and I will be chairing this afternoon's 3.30
ZBA hearings. With me is Ishmael Shaheed, our board secretary. Present, Mr. Chairman.
Thomas Holliman, our board member. Present, Mr. Chairman. And James Snell, our board member.
Present, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Also here is Hillary Emerson, our attorney,
and Lakeisha Dandy, our ZBA hearing supervisor. Before we begin, here is our virtual format.
Proceedings are being recorded.
By participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded.
The video will be available by contacting the Board Administrator, Tanya Sunkett, at phil.gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you're participating by phone, if you wish to testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
you. To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548. Leave your email address and the
address of the property in question. And finally, the question answer box on the screen is not for
comments or testimony. Any comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sunkett.
to our Executive Director, Tanya Selkin. Let's look at our continuations on this afternoon's list.
Let's look at our continuations.
Number three, MI 2022 004 386 4067 North 3 Street. This case is continued.
Is there anyone has any comments relative to that case?
Good evening, Mr. Chair. This is Jason Hand. I do not see any hands.
Is there any other requests for continuance?
Once again, sir, I do not see any hands.
Okay. So on case number seven, I have no exhibits. This is the first listing.
MI 2022, 004-682-530 West Cambria Street.
Jose Cajas is the owner.
That is a first listing.
MI 2022-004-682, 530 West Cambria Street.
That case is continued.
And I also have a withdrawal.
Number two, MI-2022-004-387-1513-North 27th Street.
This is a request for withdrawal.
This case has been withdrawn.
We're going to go to our regular list.
MI-2022-004-388-5039-Spruce Street.
Cheryl Gasset is the attorney.
We have a letter from the Garden Court Community Association.
The vote at the meeting was 10-0-2.
Cheryl Gaston.
I'm on, Mr. Chairman, hold on, I'm trying to, when I was promoted analyst,
Bump me out a little bit. Hold on. I am going to start a video here. Good afternoon.
For the record, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Okay. My name is Cheryl Gaston. It's C-H-E-R-Y-L. My last name is Gaston. G-A-S as in Sam. T-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
i do uh mr hallman when you want to ask their answer ask a few questions
good afternoon counselor do you agree to read the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his
accuracy yes did you email all of the exhibits and documents as required such as proof of ownership
tax clearance copy of the refusal referral pictures of drawings of the property five days in advance
to this hearing? Did you meet with the RNCO and do you have a letter?
Yes, except for what was that you said, Mr. Chairman about the RCO?