I could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer.
Chair, we don't have Ava Domi.
We have Elisabetta Domi.
that that would be her yeah okay they are unbuttoned and allowed to speak
hi could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer
yes it's eva domi eva last name d-o-m-i right do you swear or affirm tell the truth the whole
truth nothing but the truth yes proceed counsel thank you chair uh eva you've heard my representations
to the board today yes are they true and correct to the best of your knowledge information and
belief yes and on behalf of yourself and your mother would you adopt them as your own testimony
correct yep thank you questions from the board no chair no mr chairman no chair questions or
comments from the virtual audience i see no hands chair planning commission
i'll take that as support ron
there he is no david oh no
just identify we're all all a little together you're all together over there go ahead good
afternoon chair my name is peter bernard i will be representing the planning commission
for the betterment of the stenographer.
My name is spelled B as in boy, A as in apple,
R as in Roger, A as in apple, sorry,
B as in boy, A as in apple, R as in Roger,
N as in Nancy, A as in apple, R as in Roger,
D as in dog.
Do you swear to affirm to tell the truth,
told truth, nothing but the truth?
I do, Chair.
Please proceed.
This property is indicated for neighborhood commercial
mixed use on the city plan.
Our adoptive plan recommended no change to the existing zoning at this location.
The applicant's hardship is not supported with evidence of unique physical circumstances that would have prevented it from being used in conformance with the code.
The applicant could have applied for a by-right permit under MIHB program, and therefore we recommend that the requested variance not be granted.
Mr. Ward, you're shaking your head. Do you have comments?
uh no uh you know mr chair we we stand by the application and the presentation to the board
the community supports it as does the councilman okay thank you mi2023 000 775 297
walkall street i vote yes thomas holliman my vote is yes james snell my vote is yes
thank you counsel thank you chair all right we're going to go to number two
mi 2023 000 773 539 moore street henry clinton is the attorney recommendation of support from
dickinson square west civic association and a letter of non-opposition from council member squilla
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Clinton, you've already been sworn, just for the record, state your name.
Sure. Henry Clinton, C-L-I-N-T-O-N.
Sure, Henry Clinton, C-L-I-N-T-O-N.
And could you identify your client, the relationship to this property?
And could you identify your client?
Sure. My client is Kathleen O'Banion. She's on the call.
Even though the property is in the name of an LLC, she is the sole member and has owned the property since 2006.
Our vice chair has just a few questions, sir.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I do, Mr. Shahid.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
We have, except the tax certification came in within the last couple of days.
Okay, please get that over to Hillary and let's proceed and share your screen.
And I wasn't clear. My tax certification is part of the package. I just didn't get it to her five days. I only got it to her two days ago.
Understood.
Thank you, Mr. Sheehy.
Thank you, Hillary.
May I share my screen?
Please.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman. Is this visible?
Yeah, it is. Thank you.
So this concerns 539 Moore Street.
The owner currently is South Work Properties, LLC.
My client, Kathleen O'Banion, on the call has owned the property since 2006.
In 2013, she transferred it to an LLC based on the advice of her accountant, but she's the sole member of the LLC.
said. These are my exhibit contents, table of contents, A1 through A11, which I ASB admitted
into evidence. It's a pretty straightforward matter, Mr. Chairman. The refusal is, this is
an RSA 5 zoning district, and this has been a two-family dwelling since 2006. So we're asking
for the legalization of this two-family dwelling. And as I walk through the presentation, I'll show
the board that since 2006, my client has had a rental license in good stead and active for two
units, because when she purchased it, it was represented as a two-unit property.
This is a letter of support from the RCO, Dickinson, as well as we also have a letter,
as you mentioned, from the councilman's office in non-opposition. The community group is in full
support as are members of the neighborhood on the block, a number 7 or 8 to 10 on the 500 block of
Moore Street, which my client obtained. Photographs, this is the property to the right as you're looking
west on Moore Street. Again, this is looking east. There's a two-family use here, retail on the
first, single family above. Same thing on this corner, retail use on the first, and one or two
families above. We have some of the zoning records at the end. And also during the community meeting,
we learned that there was one other duplex on the block at 528 Moore Street. One of the
the women in the audience revealed that to everyone.
This is the listing that appeared.
My client happened to retain it from 2006.
We printed this out in July.
So it says 2003, but it's 539 more.
And it's represented as a duplex, a two family dwelling.
There are two one bedroom units in the property in 2006.
And it's continued that way up until the present time.
The front of the building with our postings, just one or two photographs of the inside.
This is a doorway leading into the property with the door leading to the first floor.
And then the steps are in the foreground leading up to the second floor.
Again, it's just a two-story structure, not three stories in any way.
These are the meters that are in the basement.
Again, this has been in play since 2006.
There's a meter for the first floor unit, one for the second floor unit.
and one for the common areas, the hallway, as well as the lights in the front and rear yard.
Floor plans, basic, Mr. Chairman.
Again, one bedroom on the first floor, kitchen, living, bath,
and one bedroom on the second floor,
repeating what we have on the first floor as kitchen, living, and bath.
The remaining documents are the application documents.
Here's our tax certification. As I said, we just we just got this recently on August 1st.
Zoning map indicating an RSA designation. And these are the deeds. Again, as I said to the chair at the outset, in 2006, my client purchased the property, has had it continuously since that time.
And then for recommendation of her accountant in 2013, she just transferred it to her.
recommendation of her accountant in 2013, she just transferred it to herself. And we do represent,
and my client will adopt my testimony, that she is the sole member of South Work LLC.
Next is our notice letter to the neighborhood. And then we have the zoning records just to show
the board that at the corner 1800 south 6th this is a retail on the first and an apartment on the
second floor these are the accompanying zoning documents indicating take out on the first and
one apartment above. This is the use permit for the one family, as well as the retail on the
first floor. And then this is a key document, Mr. Chairman. This is an active rental license
issued to Kathleen O'Banion in September of 2006, shortly after she purchased it
as two units, and she's been paying this rental license for well over 15 years.
So with that, I'd like to suggest to the board that this warrants consideration for a long standing use of a property.
My client was not aware that it was not a duplex.
And interestingly, the way she came about knowing it is she decided to do some work in the rear of the property.
And when she applied for a permit, the L&I examiner told her this is not a duplex.
She said it's been a duplex all these years. So she did the right thing.
She approached me. She went through the application process and she wants to legalize what has happened in actuality, as I said, since 2006.
We're not altering the essential character of the neighborhood. There's other duplexes on the block.
We're not expanding the footprint or the use. We are in harmony, basically, with what the neighbors agree to and in harmony with the code.
And we're not impacting anyone's or any adjacent property's development or late in error.
Why don't you bring Ms. O'Banion on, please?
Ms. O'Banion, can you unmute yourself?
Chair Kathleen, O'Banion has been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Kathleen, you're muted.
Am I still muted?
No, you're fine.
Could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Kathleen, K-A-T-H-L-E-E-N, O'Banion.
capital O apostrophe capital B A N I O N. Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the truth? I do. Proceed, counsel. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Ms. O'Banion, have you heard my testimony during the Zoom call? Yes, sir. If you had the opportunity
to testify, would you adopt my testimony as your own and as true and correct? Yes. And just one
other question. Have you owned the property continuously since 2006? Yes. Thank you,
Mr. O'Bannon. Questions from the board? No, Chair. Ish? No, Mr. Chairman. Thanks, Tom. Ish? No, Chair.
Thank you. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
chair i see no hands at this time planning commission uh ron bednar i'm back
the property is indicated for residential use on the city plan given its
documented use history and physical condition of the site recommend the quest variance be granted
Thank you. MI 2023-000-773-539 Moore Street, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Okay, number six, MI 2023-009-10905 Diamond Street.
Vernon Anastasio is the attorney.
We were waiting on an RCO letter.
This Anastasio is coming back as a panelist now, Chair.
Mr. Anastasio, just for the record, state your name.
You've been sworn several times.
It's Vern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O.
I represent Mahmoud Yamin.
Okay. Our vice chair has a few questions for you, sir.
Our vice chair has a few questions for you, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, counsel. Please use me to read the reading of the refusal and stipulate it with accuracy.
I've emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing.
Yes, sir.
Thanks, sir. Please proceed and share your screen.
right 905 diamond street
uh it's zone cmx2 my client literally bought this just at the beginning of the year
um it was brand new triplex three family dwelling one unit per floor and
it's this property here where my cursor is and um i want to show you i mean it's just
really nice property
and when he looked at the property this is what he found
fully rehabbed
triplex
four electric meters, one for each of the units and a house meter.
So prior to settlement, he thought he was doing his due diligence and went through the city's sites and page 24 of my exhibit packet.
he sees that zoning and use registration permits, as of last year, in fact, just about a year ago,
complied. And in order to make this a compliant issue, Ellen and I would have had to go out
to the site and inspect the property itself. So relying on this, he proceeded to go ahead and
purchased it in January for just about a half a million dollars. And then he finds out subsequent
to the purchase that it's not zoned for three family dwelling and that it's CMX2. RM1 adjacent,
but still CMX2. So this is the layout of the property. Each unit pictures really do it justice,
But here's the first floor. Here's the second floor. And that's the basement. There's the third floor. Basement's just mechanicals.
so he's in this predicament now where he spent about a half a million dollars on a property
even after checking to make sure lni had uh it was used marked that use complied
uh just to find out that in fact it's not the corridor itself although it's cmx2 there's no
there's no real commercial on this block right next door is a triplex
on the other side of the property is a boarded up commercial space four units above
there appears to be a beer deli on the corner and the beer deli is the extent
unfortunately of the commercial activity on the block 909 and 911 is a church
907, of course, is our prop, 907 is a triplex next door.
905 is our property.
The adjacent property, as I said, is vacant with four units.
And I believe this is the beer joint.
This property was multifamily zoned, got the zoning for it,
but that now is just boarded up
it with a gate around it and overgrown leaves, weeds. There's a vacant lot here. And then these
two properties are older single-family homes. And then one large multifamily apartment building is
being built. So save the beer deli if it's still open. There's absolutely no commercial activity
on this block right across the street is a basketball court so for those reasons because