Yeah, but we thought at least if we could do sort of the type of dry vial and space that you can have grass come through it,
that at least it wouldn't be sort of asphalt or tall.
It's more pervious at that point.
Exactly.
And then just lastly, to kind of address, there was a mischaracterization about it being four stories.
We've already kind of agreed to knock it down to three stories to the 38 feet.
So just wanted everyone to be able to hear that.
here we have andrew miller you can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in
please identify yourself name and my name is andrew miller uh a-n-d-r-e-w-m-i-l-l-e-r
my address is 1405 east columbia avenue i'll make this really quick i think all the
firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes yes i do i'll make
this really quick because i feel like all the issues have been put out there already
I just simply wanted to have my voice heard here because I wasn't able to vote at the FNA RCO meeting
and I was one of the 80 plus people that was there.
So just simply, I oppose the project for many of the safety reasons that have been mentioned
and I hope you uphold the neighborhood's opinion of that.
Thank you.
Here we have James Thomas.
James, you can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in.
Hello, are you able to hear me? Yes, please identify yourself, sir, for the record, name and address.
Sure, my name is James Thomas, J-A-M-E-S-T-H-O-M-A-S. My address is 1305 East Montgomery Avenue.
We're in front of tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
I do. In the interest of expediency, I wish to simply have my name registered in opposition to this project.
in opposition to this project. I echo the sentiments raised by Ms. Whitaker, Ms. Gallagher,
I echo the sentiments raised by Ms.
Mr. O'Neill and others who have testified on this call earlier. I would simply reiterate the fact
that I believe while I respect the presentations that were delivered, I believe that Ms. Pritzker
misrepresented the neighborhood's reception to the carriage house at the front of the property
And further, I believe that the massing rendering misrepresents the scale in terms of the feel that this project would achieve with relationship to the houses that are adjacent to this proposed development on both Thompson and East Montgomery.
Thank you.
Okay, Chair, we have Dave.
Can I just, I don't want to be called mischaracterized.
Just if you can see on your screen, it says the community members were receptive and supportive of the Caratel style that was being utilized for the duplex.
I just want to put that out there.
Got that. Thank you.
Yep, thank you.
Here we have Danielle.
You can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in.
This is actually Robert Wright and Danielle Dubois.
We're together.
We're married.
So if you're testifying, sir, give us your full name and address.
Robert Wright, 1314 East Bourke Street.
I have the connecting.
You swear in front to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Please proceed.
I have the connecting property on the back at Wild Street.
One of the things they haven't brought up at all, and I don't even know if this is important to them,
but it's important to us and our three properties here that connect directly to that.
we have serious water issues already um that come down from will street and i don't know if you know
this but that thompson street lot is the lowest um area right now so if they build back there and
they build that up they're gonna greatly flood our yards make it uh you know probably unlivable
um and it's it's something that's not burned up been brought up at all yet we did bring it up in
the zoning meeting um and they said you know basically yeah we'll take care of it uh so that's
a big big issue for us and then you know obviously everybody else talked about the fire trucks the
fire i have the video of that there's people that park on wilt street all the time i don't know how
you're going to police that and get them to move that's just what they do they've been doing it
forever we try to get them to move they don't i don't know what your plan is for that so those
are two things that haven't really brought up that i just wanted to um you know put on the record
I vote no, obviously, to this project, along with everybody else in the community.
Here we have one last person.
Jennifer, you can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in.
Sure, thank you.
Jennifer, please spell your name, first and last name.
Give us your address.
My name is Jennifer Romanew.
Last name is R-O-M-A-N-I-W.
My address is 840 East Thompson Street.
and I'm actually speaking on behalf of my
grandmother whose house is directly next door
to this at 635 East Thompson
She can't give testimony
She can't give testimony for someone else
So I can appreciate that but I am
part power of attorney and her house was collapsed
by a developer
and I only live a block and a half
away. Alright, so then
testify on your behalf. Sure
Do you need to swear to me again?
Do you swear to the firm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Yes
Thank you.
So I am representing both myself and my grandmother in opposition to this.
And the reasons are for multiple reasons that have probably already have been stated.
Number one, there's an actual misrepresentation of the house next door as commercial.
It absolutely is not and never was commercial.
What happened in the early 1980s was the person that lived there requested a variance for his personal vehicles.
That's it.
It was never a commercial trucking warehouse.
else. The other reasons have already been stated, I believe. So fire and emergency access, which has
already been revealed. The fire trucks could not get down there when a car was on fire last week.
I have video of that as well. Traffic going in and out of there. And they mentioned in the community
meeting that there would be commercial trash pickup. That is something we absolutely do not
want next to our house and the community voted rezoning for a purpose and the community is
overwhelmingly against development behind these houses so i just want to state opposition along
with all my other community members thank you here that's all you can proceed thank you uh
thank you uh again i'll ask the board if there's any questions
again I'll ask the board if there's any questions
okay planning commission mr chairman and members of the board this property is indicated for
single-family use in the city's comprehensive plan we believe that the applicant has not
provided an adequate hardship argument for the property we believe this proposal represents
an overuse of a flag lot and we have concerns about emergency vehicle access to the units of
back of the site accordingly we recommend that the requested variants not be granted thank you
uh before i case my vote i'm just i think the project the way it was presented really looks
like an interesting project i don't know what someone does with a lot that size and when
miss pritchett you pointed that out earlier i do understand some of the concerns many of the
concerns raised by the community in terms of public safety I don't know if
there hadn't been any discussion about any revisions I understand it wants it
to remain single-family although they're supporting a multifamily which is the
one that fronts Thompson Street I don't want to be all over the place on this
one I mean before I vote I didn't know I don't know if there's anything other
that was discussed at the community meeting about then lowering the density the number of units
uh even if that occurred i assume there's still going to be opposition to the curb cut
so if you're going to have parking on the new development you're obviously going to
need the curb cut to get back there i've seen projects in in my district this district i
represent especially in society hill that have homes that are in the rear of the front properties
without parking then that puts more pressure on the on-street parking issue so it's it's a mixed
bag and i'm i'm gonna call for a vote uh but i just didn't know if there was any window of
opportunity on behalf of the developer to maybe go back and have a conversation with the community
um i think that your honor may i say something oh yeah i wanted to just quickly i gotta give um
give Allie and Robert a chance to address the drainage concerns because that was something that
they uh yeah I I think that that necessarily but obviously we addressed because they're going to
build houses with cellars and you can't have flow I mean so something will something would have to
be done with the elevation and that would be taken care of through the building permits issues
issues yes Mr. Chair just want to make sure that was clear sorry God I didn't mean to cut you off
no no no it's okay if i can make um if i can make a um a suggestion of how
the accessibility to the site could be handled um i would like to share the screen real quick
uh since and please let me know if you can see um my screen yes okay um since average fire truck
is about 11 feet in height. We had proposed a building that is approximately 36 and a half feet
for the carriage house, which is still basically a foot and a half below the allowable height.
We would like to propose to diminish the height of the ceiling to nine feet and raise the
roof slightly still to be within the allowable height to provide access for
the fire department to be able to drive through the carriage house and access
the buildings in the back and I would like to point out also that our homes
are only 35 foot deep. Homes on Thompson Street there's no rear access they're
about the same depth of the proposed home so they would be the fire would be
fought in exact same way as if Thompson's as if they were fought from Thompson Street if the board
could take that under consideration for us to make that revision to make this development
more secure we would really appreciate it. Thank you.
Calendar number, let's see, it's MI-2020-000856, 627 East Thompson Street.
My vote is no.
My vote is no.
My vote is no.
My vote is no.
Tanya and or Sharon we have any unfinished business no all done cheer
yeah that's it thank you and and Sharon
Sharon are you still there
Sharon, are you still there?
I'll call her offline because she sent us a list of changes.
Yes, I have another change, too.
So why don't we do this?
Could you just give us a clean sheet that identifies whatever the changes are?
on the continuances and uh asked i think cup one or two the district council person asked us to
hold the vote my list is from last night and i assume it's no longer accurate
but i i will up to i will update the afternoon cases
and send them to you okay that works thank you see you all two o'clock
I'm going over Sharon the recent changes to the two o'clock list give me a minute
just try to print them out
Hi, Frank.
Just the most important thing is that number four on the list, Bud Street, should now be
announced as withdrawn.
and the councilwoman got to a was asking for 45 day well that's on the 3 30 list
any other changes to the two o'clock list um i think that's it everything else should be in the
um the summaries okay i i have a feeling i may be somehow got things mixed up if i do just
please you and or tanya jump in all right um this is tomorrow's list
okay uh abby um hey we're ready and tanya perfect you're good to go yes we're ready
good good afternoon everyone my name is frank de chico i'm the chair of the zoning board of
adjustment i'll be participating in today's hearing along with our board secretary mr
confessor plaza and board members mr thomas holloman and mr james snell board administrator
administrator tanya sunken and board attorney sharon saletta will also be in attendance for
those of you who haven't yet participated in one of our virtual hearings i'll go through some of
the basics of what you can expect first we'll begin this afternoon session by reading a list
of cases to be continued if you believe any case announced is being continued in error
we will give you an opportunity to respond after reading the continuance list and receiving any
feedback we will take any additional continuance request then once we've confirmed which hearings
are being continued mr plaza will begin calling the remaining cases listed for this session
sorry about that when a case is called we ask that attorneys representing applicants or other
interested parties in the matter identify themselves for the record we'll then hear
the appellant's presentation followed by any presentation by attorneys representing other
parties interested parties and members of the public not represented by council will then be
given an opportunity to testify we will finally hear the recommendation of the planning commission
At the hearing's conclusion, we will either vote the matter immediately or hold it for discussion in an executive session.
Any case held for discussion will be voted at the next scheduled executive session or the next Wednesday morning session.
Please note the following changes related to the virtual format.
First, we will be administering oaths to individuals prior to their testimony.
Second, for the benefit of anyone participating by phone, we ask that attorneys and witnesses identify themselves prior to speaking or testimony.
we ask that attorneys and witnesses identify themselves prior to speaking or testifying.
Third, we'd like to advise everyone that this proceeding is being recorded
and that by participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded.
Fourth, for anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify,
you must raise your hand by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself.
I'll repeat. For anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand
by hitting star 9 and then star 6 to unmute yourself. Finally, to enter an appearance
statement, call Google 267-270-5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property