thank you
good morning everyone my name is bill bergman and i will be chairing the meeting
of the Philadelphia Zoning Board this morning.
With me is our Vice Chair, Tanetta Graham.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Ryan McAdams.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our alternate Board Member, Emily Persico.
Present, Mr. Chair.
Also here is the Board Attorney, Hillary Emerson,
our Zoning Board Director, Ian Haggerty,
and the Board Administrator, Burstrator, Lakeisha Dandy.
Recording of the hearing will be posted on the ZBA website.
By participating, you consent to be recorded.
it. This is an in -person meeting with remote capabilities. Whether remote or in -person,
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Once you've been sworn in, please state your name each time before beginning your testimony.
Any person may enter their appearance to become an interested party to a case.
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Let's look at our schedule for today.
number one mi 2024 001 941 53 15 to 17 chancellor street this case has been continued until 12 16 25
at 9 30 a .m number two mi 2025 000 476 1625 north marshall street this case has been continued to
12 16 25
at 9 30 at 9 30 a .m. thank you
number four mi 2025
004 233 5900
202 north 13th street this case is continued
to 3426 at 2 p .m.
Number 8, MI 2025, 005 -235 -700 South 2nd Street.
This case is continued to 113 -26 at 9 .30 a .m.
And number 9, MI 2025, 005 -237 -700 South 2nd Street.
This case is continued to 113 .26 at 9 .30 a .m.
Are there any other requests for continuances?
Good morning, Chair.
This is Jeff Benton.
I'll be your co -host for today.
I see no hands at this time.
Thank you very much.
Number three, MI 2025 -003 -689 -3135 South Juniper Street.
Vincent DeFino is the attorney.
Chair Vincent Dufino is coming back in as a panelist now.
Thank you.
Good morning, Chairman, members of the panel.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, Vincent Anthony DeFino, and that's the last name spelled D -E -F as in Frank, I -N -O.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
So, as you know, counsel, this is a reconsideration hearing.
The evidence and testimony presented at the February 26, 2025 hearing in this matter are incorporated into the record for this hearing.
The evidence and testimony presented at the February 26, 2025 hearing.
The scope of today's reconsideration of hearing will be the presentation of supplemental written and photographic evidence that was not presented at the original hearing.
So this is how we'll do it.
You give us a presentation of supplemental evidence.
There'll be questions from the board.
will be public testimony only limited to the additional evidence you give today,
and then we'll have updates from the Planning Commission.
So, Counsel, why don't you start?
Basically, just a little background on this.
This is a rear deck in East Packer Park area, Stadium District,
Veterans Stadium District handled the hearing.
and um the uh refusal was basically for two reasons three foot setback is required one foot
is what we were looking for and a staircase leading to the deck which we would believe
would be okay a good thing because it's an egress in case god forbid there's a fire there's
something that happens so we presented this case uh back february 26 and there was some concern
about the adjoining neighbors and the councilman um so what i do have now is i have um letters from
the adjoining neighbors if you could uh allow me to okay i could share and um
I could go
into here.
Should be that green dot at the bottom
of the shared documents.
Yeah, I got the, I think, okay, share.
Yep, it's coming up now. It'll be up in a minute.
and here we have the request that was in right it was all submitted um to you
can you make it just a little bit larger just a little bit okay i'm going to try
i'm having a problem okay we'll we'll uh we'll find a way to see this here's a letter from the
councilman they were concerned about what the councilman thought so the could the council
president has sent a letter of support council president sent a letter of support they were
concerned also about the adjoining neighbors the adjoining neighbors both send a letter of support
okay and then there is also um a letter from my client but there's another letter from
veteran stadium neighbors civic association okay supporting the request for reconsideration
they supported the original zoning there was no opposition whatsoever from the neighborhood
so that's basically it i mean if you need some pictures okay so the only the only other thing
that i think you listed that i haven't you have a picture of other and another deck is that am i
correct yes i do have pictures just for the record why don't you put that on there there's one okay
right here with a staircase going down okay here's one that are actually a little bit larger this one
here is a little
this one here
and they're on the
alleyway so it's like
and there's another couple
there's another one
another one
why don't you bring your client on
and have your testimony adopted
yeah he's in the audience somewhere
so he can raise his hand
you will get him
Mr. DeFino what's your client's name
it's Phil
Philip Crenitti.
Philip Crenitti is coming back in as a panelist now.
Good morning, Mr. Crenitti.
hi everyone good morning sir could you please state your name and spell for the sonographer
yes my name is philip criniti that's p -h -i -l -l -i -p last name is criniti c -r -i -n -i -t -i
do you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
Please proceed, counsel.
Yes, Mr. Crenitti, you heard my testimony here today.
Is that correct?
I did.
You didn't hear my testimony?
I did.
Yes, he did.
Oh, you did.
And do you find it to be true and accurate?
And would you adopt it as your own testimony?
Yes, I am.
Okay, thank you.
Okay, questions from the board.
i have a question how many of the other properties
on your block already have stairs coming from the rear decks
um there is a the pictures that we have here is just a one of them i believe there is two or three
that's in the immediate neighborhood where i live not not specifically maybe on my block but within
within the East Packer Bark area.
Other questions?
Questions from our attorney?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Comments from the virtual audience?
I've seen no hands, Chair.
Planny, do you want to change your testimony or update?
Do you want to swear me in first?
Oh, sure.
Hey, why not?
Go ahead.
state your name oh thank you chairman good morning david effecto f -e -c -t -e -a -u with the
city planning commission do you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth yes sir i do please proceed all right thank you sir uh chairman we would uh um request to be
able to stand on our prior recommendation thank you very much um mr if you know what we're going
to do with this is um a couple of board members have not seen the original um uh hearing and we
have it on video so we're going to hold this and we're going to vote on this on the 29th of february
of uh october at 9 30 a .m okay okay thank you thank you thank you for your presentation and
thank you for coming in mr kennedy you got it thank you appreciate your time have a great day
And Mr. Chair, I just want to note for the record, board member Wynne has now.
Yeah, well, we have her and I guess our other board member can leave.
And Emily, as usual, we thank you for your always quick response when we call.
Thank you, Emily.
A meeting that ran over.
I appreciate you.
All right. So number five, MI -2025 -004 -486 -3935 Ogna Street.
Myrda Felderker is the attorney. This is a remained hearing.
It's coming back in as a panelist now, Chair.
Good morning.
Good morning, counsel.
Could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer?
Meredith Ferliger, F -E -R -L -E -G -E -R.
So this is a case that's been remanded from the courts.
Correct.
The evidence and testimony presented at the July 24th, 2024 hearing in this matter are incorporated into the record for this hearing.
The scope of today's remand hearing will be limited to the presentation of supplemental evidence that was not presented at the original hearing.
So you'll have a chance to present supplemental evidence.
There'll be questions from the board.
There'll be public testimony only limited to the supplemental evidence, and we'll see if planning has to change their update.
So, counsel, could you please proceed?
Sure thing.
Give me one moment to get my exhibits up.
All right. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. By way of reminder, my client
is Haverford Square by Metropolitan 7, represented today by German Yakubov.
As Mr. Chairman mentioned, the case is before the board on remand from the Court of Common
Pleas. What I'd like to do is just give the board a brief progression in terms of procedure,
What I'd like to do is just give the board a brief progression in terms of procedure just to refresh your memory as to how this case is back before you today, and then I can once again refresh your memory as to some of the changed circumstances that have occurred since you heard this case quite some time ago at this point.
So as you might recall, the case was first heard by the board on July 24, 2024.
That hearing followed two rounds of civic design review meetings, where, in a fairly rare move, the project was entirely redesigned in response to the committee's feedback.
Unfortunately, at the time of the July 2024 hearing, there were some outstanding concerns which prevented the project from receiving support from the council office.
This board denied the requested relief.
An appeal to the Court of Common Pleas followed.
Even though the council office was not a direct party to the appeal, for over half a year until February 2025, my client continued to work directly with the councilwoman's office, seeking to address any outstanding concerns.
On February 19, 2025, and I will bring this up here, my client recorded a voluntary declaration of affordable housing covenants with the recorder of deeds that is of the same format of the declarations used by the law department.
My client voluntarily agreed to restrict 20 % of the units, or 18 units, at 40 % AMI, which would mimic the obligations imposed under the MIN overlay that became effective in this area just slightly too late to bind this particular project.
I did, as you can see, include a copy of that recorded declaration at new exhibit 21.
I did also, just for record -keeping purposes, include photographs of the updated posters that were timely posted as well, and that's at Exhibit 20.
Consequently, the Councilwoman did send a letter to this board, which is in the packet at Exhibit 22, expressing support for the project.
In light of the considerably changed circumstances stemming from the councilwoman's support of the project and in respect of judicial resources, we filed an uncontested motion to have the case remanded back to the board for another look at the merits of the project.
That request was granted, which brings the project back before this board this morning.
uh since mr chairman mentioned that the original case is is still fully before the board i did have
a five minute sort of refresher as to the details of the case i'm happy to go through it uh but i
i think i think we understand that we okay yeah and again just listen to me we spent some time
this morning going over this understood and and again the significant change circumstances before
the board today are reflected in the councilwoman's letter. Absolutely. Do you want to bring your
client on? Is there anything else besides the council person? Anything else you need to give us?
No, Mr. Chairman. Everything that was reflected in the councilwoman's letter in terms of changes
to the project, those changes had been made by that second CDR meeting and had also been presented
in front of this board. So we are confident that the details of the project that have ultimately
led to this letter of support were still very much in front of the board at the last hearing.
So why don't we do this? Bring your client on, have your testimony adopted, and then we'll open
it up. Understood. If the administrator could look for German Yakubov. Good morning. I have to
apologize. My camera is not working this morning, but my audio is. Sir, could you please state your
name and spell for the stenographer? German Jakubov, G -E -R -M -A -N -Y -A -K -U -B -O -V. Okay, thank you. Do you
swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? I do. Okay, counsel?
Thank you. German, have you heard all of the testimony and evidence that was offered in front
of the board this morning? I did. Do you agree that testimony was true and accurate, and would
you adopt it as if you had given it yourself? I do. And just to confirm, you personally worked
with the councilwoman's office over a fairly extensive period of time seeking to address
all outstanding concerns for the project. Is that correct? That is correct. We went through
That is correct. We went through great lengths to make sure that this was a win for everybody. And I think we've accomplished just that.
great lengths to make sure that this was a win for everybody.
Thank you.
Questions from the board.
Yes, it looks like in this letter that there's some references to changes in the project. Are these the same as the project that came before us? Or are there changes that we have not been privy to?
No, board member, those are changes that had already been made. And in fact, just to sort of reference, you can see in the letter that resulted from the final CDR meeting, you can see some of those changes had been reflected by the time the project came to the board.
So, for example, you'll see the design was well thought out, including incorporation of larger units, balconies, ample natural light.
I believe it also mentions the appreciation for the incorporation of the Mantua Greenway.
And you can see those exact changes that are now incorporated into the Councilwoman's letter.
So it was just sort of bringing everything back together.
Okay, but just to be clear, because you said we saw most of them, we saw all of the changes that are reflected in the letter.
so what they're okay yes yes you did are the questions from the board
questions or comments from our attorney not at this time mr chair questions or comments from
the virtual audience chair we have justin foster with their hand up they have been promoted to
panelists. Okay. Good morning. Hello, chair and panel. I'm sorry. It took me a minute to actually
Good morning, Justin. Could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer?
Sure. It's Justin, J -U -S -T -I -N, Foster, F -O -S -T -E -R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Please proceed, sir.
Yeah, sorry. I'm having trouble with my camera at the moment. I'm sitting at work.
But I did just wanted to ask whether or not the parking was addressed recently in this particular new proposal.
I don't see it, but as a neighbor, I was just wondering with 87 units and the requirement for 44 parking spaces and zero being proposed, is that something that has been addressed in the latest rendition?
Meredith, do you want to respond to that? I mean, we're only looking at, hello?
Do you want to respond to that?
Mr. Chairman, I'm happy to respond to that.
That particular facet of this particular project was something that was removed in response to the feedback that had been received during the civic design review process.
So just to sort of refresh the board's memory on this, originally, the original design of this project had 80 spaces.
Those spaces would have been underground and accessed from Ogden Street.
That was considerably objected to by many, many parties because of the intrusion into the planned Manchua Greenway that it would cause.
So as a result of that, the project was redesigned and brought back to CDR with a revised design that had just a few spots in the back with access from a now stricken portion of Sloan Street.
but again that particular access would have intruded into the greenway okay so so the planning
commission had strongly recommended to take advantage of having additional open space in
the back and the parking was removed as a result so that was really something that directly went
to feedback that had been received through the process thank you mr foster do you have any other
questions relative to the testimony today thank you mr foster is there anyone else in the virtual
audience i see no hands here planning commission do you want to change your uh position sure we
uh had a good uh good morning chairman and board members david effecto with the city planning
commission chairman and board members yes we had previously uh submitted a recommendation of denial
and i'd like to revise that if that's okay you're standing with that uh no i'd like to revise all
right go ahead okay uh so thank you so the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the
i2 medium industrial zoning at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 2017 and a
the city rezoned this neighborhood in 2017 and a community requested map change the appellant
community requested.
completed their civic design review in march of 2024 this property is split zoned between i2 and
rsa5 residential single family while the comprehensive plan does not recommend a zoning
change this parcel is not within one of the city's industrial preservation areas this is a 21 000
square foot lot if it were zoned rm1 like the adjacent block face the appellant would be
allowed 44 dwelling units but they would not be allowed ground floor commercial space which we
believe would not be appropriate and would be unnecessary in this residential block face so
the city planning commission recommends the board grant the proposed use variants for multi -family
residential dwellings with a maximum of 44 dwelling units grant the proposed dimensional
variance for maximum occupied area but deny the dimensional variances for height and floor area
ratio and deny the proposed use variance for vacant commercial space we also note that the
for the board the absent participation in a city state or federal program or a city zoning
incentive affordability mentioned in the appellant's testimony cannot be enforced by any city agency
mr chairman may i just briefly address this um if if you if you can do it briefly yes
i i can and i think it's extremely important here for a couple reasons number one i believe
the planning commission is not referring to the correct refusal there was an original refusal
that had many of the refusals that mr facto mentions floor area ratio occupied area things
of that nature that refusal had been amended by the time the project came before the board
so there is no refusal having to do with commercial space floor area ratio occupied
area or anything like that there are three refusals in this case multi -family use height
for 50 feet not 80 feet as it was originally proposed and then the parking spaces
And then second of all, and most importantly, this project is now in the MIN overlay. So the unit calculation that Mr. Fecteau has suggested is not accurate. Under the MIN, without the use of bonuses, this project would have been entitled to 66 units. And with bonuses, this project would be entitled to well over 100 units.
So this is still far less than would be permitted if this property were zoned RM1, as the Planning Commission has suggested.
Thank you.
This case dates back to July of 24.
So what we want to do is I want to make sure that board members who were not, we're going to show the video to the board members, and we're going to vote on this on 229 at 930 a .m.
understood thank you very much clarify 10 29 and 9 30 did i say that i'm sorry two 29
wow and she agreed it's a long delay i mean maridith you agreed to that all right thank you
i did thank you all right so thank you number six mi 2025 004 506 5969 ogons avenue
So, Samaj Johnson is the owner applicant.
This is a pro se.
Samaj Johnson is coming back in as a panelist now, Chair.
Hi, everyone.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Could you turn your video in, please?
There we go.
Good morning.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Samaj Johnson, S -E -M -A -J, Johnson, J -O -H -N -S -O -N.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Our vice chair, Tanetta Graham, has a few questions for you.
Good morning.
have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing yes so
i submitted it i submitted through the portal but the portal was um it was like
giving me an error message so i called in and i emailed them to the email that was given to me
through zba but when i called today i spoke to someone and she told me that i was supposed to
send them to um a different email address but she forwarded over to that email address but um she
just told me to say that in the meeting to make sure i let you guys know that i submitted it
okay all right thank you and do you uh waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate
All right. Thank you. And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes. I also have the, I can share my screen and show you.
Just for one point, this application is for change of use to a group child care in an existing attached structure, no change to height or area of structure, whereas the proposed use group child care is prohibited in the RM1 zoning district as the structure is not as attached.
building okay okay so you can start your presentation okay i'm going to share my screen
it's up it's not it's working now yeah okay so the daycare is called magnificent minds children's
academy mmca for short um so the goal is to i already got approved for a family daycare
so um i got the the permit for the family daycare i passed with the health department um but uh
when ellen i came they told me that um i couldn't be approved for a family daycare because it's
a commercial space, but it wasn't listed as commercial. So it was something that was
with zoning that I needed to go through this process to get it zoned properly.
This is just basically what I just said. So it's no construction or anything that needs to be done
to the property. Um, there's already a bathroom in unit with, uh, two stalls. Um, there's a sink
with, um, cabinets, a refrigerator, a microwave. Um, so, so I think you should start showing that
what you have inside so that when you're talking about it, we can see it. Okay. Okay. So this is
just the poster that I posted and here is the video. I'll be right down.
Stone. You know what I mean. It has a front and a back. That's it.
oh would you guys guys like to see my deed as well uh we we have a i believe we have a copy
the deed am i correct um i did send it over i sent all this over right so so let me ask you
Do you have plans besides the video?
Do you have plans of how it's laid out?
No, I was told that I didn't need the plans because I wasn't doing any
constructural work or adding anything to the property.
I just needed to take a video or a picture of it.
All right.
Is there anything else you want to show us?
No, that's all.
How was, how did you go to the RCO?
So no one.
What happened at the RCO?
Yeah, no one came.
um i did i extended my hand i um i sent out all the letters i even went and knocked on doors i
gave everybody you know daycare's coming um the posters that i posted um on my uh on the front
of my building i i gave them the letters um my neighbors and surrounding houses and everybody
were happy for me but no one came to the meeting still so all right is this in the middle of the
block no it's at the end of the block so it's it's on the corner yes correct it's a corner
you don't have any pictures of the outside am i correct no just from the video that i've showed
i think i have i can get one from online uh we could probably have questions from the board
yep i have a question so on your video uh could you show two rooms could you tell me what those
two rooms would be used for yeah so let me go i'll go back and show you so this front room right here
would be the entryway um so i would have the cubbies here along with um the like posters for
the families things like that like welcome packets what all would be in the daycare and
then this right here will be the actual daycare so it will be split right there where the wall
It will be split right there where the wall is into two classrooms and like right there between that wall and the sink.
into two classrooms and like
Yeah, so it's only will be two classrooms. It's going to be up to, I want to say, 10 kids.
I don't want to go higher than 10. The age ranges are from one to five.
So we're going to have the classroom for the one to two and a half and then three to five.
all the questions yes is the one bathroom going to service both your
kids or youth that are in your program as well as your teachers
yes so there's a divider there's two there's a bathroom with two um uh two stalls so there's
going to be a divider for um like the big stall and the little stall but the big stall will also
have the uh what is it called the um the stepping stool um potty like for the child this you know
stepping stool then it has the little seat on top so they can use that bathroom as well they can use
that toilet as well i know you mentioned that there's no construction that needs to be done
but it does seem like there's some fixture replacement or fixture modification as well
as walls that need to be built is your plan that all of these are going to be like freestanding
yeah wait walls yeah it's going to be like um so there's not going to be anything that needs
to be built what's going to divide the classrooms are cubbies the cubbies will be um like child
proofed to the wall so that way they can't like rock back and forth or if say if a child climbs
on it they can't tilt over with it and it falls on top of them okay all right i have a question
Is there a basement?
Oh, sorry.
Go ahead, Panetta.
No, I'm sorry.
I thought you were done.
So my other question is, what's your plan for a drop -off and meals?
So drop -off is that the first room that you've seen.
So that's where the security door is.
So parents are only, they can come in to observe, not observe.
They can come in like when they're doing the walkthroughs, they can see the daycare, but
all parents will be stopped at the door.
they'll put the child's things in the cubbies and so I live on top of the property so even
though there's a refrigerator a microwave and everything downstairs I live on top so everything
will be cooked and brought downstairs. I meant more so from the outside of the exterior of the
building because you're you're at an alley and so it's not a corner but it is an alley so what's
What's the plan for how the children are getting to your facility?
I'm assuming some are going to be coming by car.
So we don't have, like, pickup drop -off, if that's what you're asking.
But parents, they can, if they come on the bus, if you come through car.
um the way the house is set up the alley is it is like once you come out it is directly
like right across so this is like the alley right there and then it's right across from
the daycare i don't want to say not across the street it's next to the daycare
yeah not across the street it's like next to the daycare so yeah okay and meals
are they being dropped off are they being prepared on site oh no i'll be preparing so i live i live
upstairs so i'll cook all of those and they'll be brought downstairs so you're cooking all of
the meals off site is that allowed first the state regulations yes so because it's a group daycare
um i went through this with the health department as well because it's a group daycare
and I also have
what is it called
oh my goodness now I can't think of it
it's what you cook food in I'm so sorry it's not
a microwave it's
oh my goodness I can't
think of it right now but it's
also able to be food is able
to be cooked in there as well and it's inside the daycare
okay and using the
kitchenette area that you showed
in the video?
Is it using that kitchenette area that you showed in the video?
And I guess all play is
happening inside.
Because you've got space put into the tomb room.
I have no further questions.
My last question is, is there a basement?
There is a basement which
will not be occupied.
And it won't be used by the daycare for storage
or anything like that? No.
Okay, thank you. You're welcome.
Questions or comments from our attorney?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Questions or comments from the...
Chair, we have Charles Richardson.
He'll be coming back in as a panelist shortly.
Good morning, Mr. Chair and board.
I just want to note, I don't think you've ever missed a day.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Certainly.
Charles Richardson, R -I -C -H -A -R -D -S -O -N, Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass, room 508 City Hall.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, sir.
I have on the phone here Sharon Carter, who is the chair of the Oakland Worcester RCO.
And I was informed by her that Ms. Johnson was supposed to be requesting a continuance today, not trying to go forward with the case, because no one showed up.
And she had informed her of that fact, that she needed to request a continuance.
So what we're going to be requesting is, since this is going forward, that it be a hear and hold, and that they have another meeting.
And, you know, we're attempt at a meeting because from my understanding, Ms. Johnson said, well, what if nobody shows up at the second meeting?
And, you know, and, you know, it was going to be tackled at that point in time.
But, you know, she's moved forward without, you know, against the request of the RCO.
Can I say something?
That was never clearly communicated with me.
we yes we did discuss it me and miss sharon um she told me exactly what she said but she also
said that i could continue with the meeting i even emailed her and text her asked her if she
could send over the meeting summary to me so that i can move forward with the meeting there would
have been no meeting summary if there if it was going to request for a continuance miss johnson
that's what the confusion is because she told me she would send it i have sharon on the if she can
speak to this. She's on the phone. I don't know if you guys are going to be able to hear
exactly. Sharon, can you be sworn in?
Yes. Good morning. Sharon, could you please
state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes. My name is Sharon
Milburn, M -I -L -B -U -R -N
Carter, C -A -R -T -E -R
and I'm the chairman of the...
All right, do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
All right, so what happened at the hearing?
At the hearing, there were only Ms. Samaj and myself
and I waited for almost a half an hour.
When I explained to her, I asked her about the plans
and she said that she didn't have the plans
and she explained it to me.
what she had to do, and she asked me, she said, what happens if nobody comes on?
I said, you would have to ask for a continuance for another hearing.
She wanted to know what would happen if we had another hearing and no one showed up.
I said, at that point, it would probably be at the discretion of the board.
okay um so there was no i didn't know our attorneys our attorneys ready to speak
yes so i just wanted to provide a little clarification into what is what is required
in the code the code requires one meeting with notices sent out it does not require
that there be people in attendance at the meeting um if nobody shows up at the meeting
that that happens um but that does not mean that the applicant cannot give their presentation
and does not mean that they have not met their requirements so in this case a mailing was done
a meeting was held members of the community did not show up but from the perspective of the board
and the zoning code the applicant has met their requirements um a second meeting can be requested
but it is not something that is required under the zoning code.
Thank you. Thank you so much.
Well, we're requesting a second meeting.
Okay. Is that something I can object to?
Mr. Richardson, we hear you. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning and Commission.
thank you chair and good morning David Fecto with the city planning commission
Thank you, Chair, and good morning, David Fecto.
chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the RM1 residential
multi -family zoning at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 2019 in accord with
recommendations in the comprehensive plan in February 2025 the appellant received a zoning
permit for a family daycare facility in this building nothing about the property has changed
since then the appellant has not shown that they cannot continue to derive value from the property
by continuing to use this as a family daycare the city planning commission recommends that
the board deny the proposed use variants for group child care okay um i'm going to um i'm
going to hold this and we're going to vote on this on the 29 on 10 29 at 9 30 but um before we vote
i need some more photos like when you say the bathroom we didn't we didn't see what the bathroom
was you tried to explain it and i'd also like some photos of the outside of the place so the
hearing is closed except for the receipt of photos from you of what the property looks like
okay should i email them or how would try to submit them on the um on the upload tool if you
cannot do that then you can email them to the board council email as well as the rco zba email
and um miss johnson the the presentation um in the video that you showed we had not received
those in advance so if you can please submit those um as well so that we have a complete record for
this case that would be appreciated oh do you want like the slideshow yes oh okay okay yeah
i'll send it thank you so this case is closed except for the receipt of photos etc right and
if the and if the um rco and council office would like to submit any information prior to the vote
on the 29th they can do that as well counsel do you hear that i mean mr richardson i don't think
he's no longer promoted good okay thank you i have one question if i can go ahead so the the
family the um the family daycare license i mean yeah the zoning license that i have that one
is no longer accurate i can't use that one for downstairs correct i would have to get approved
for the group you're gonna i think you're gonna have to figure that out yourself we don't want
to give legal advice that would that would be a question for l and i um and probably and maybe the
state in terms of your licensing um but there these proceedings as of right now they're they're
not invalidating a permit that you have obtained by right okay all right i'm sorry the confusion
is just coming in where because i did bring this up to l and i and they told me that is a question
for you guys because it's not zoned as that, that I would need it zoned for the group daycare.
Well, right. No. So, so, so you got a permit for family daycare and you requested more children
than is permitted in the family daycare. So right now you'd only be able to be allowed under the
city zoning to have six children. You're seeking 10 children and that is considered a group child
care which then requires a variance so that's that's what happened so you could you could have
yours you have a zoning permit now that would allow you up to six children but you are asking
for more so you need you're in it that puts you in a different zoning category understood that's
not what i originally wanted i wanted just up to six kids but ellen i told me i had to go through
you guys because it's not it's not a home it's a oh okay i see what you're saying yes right it's
not yes the fam if the family does need to be in your residence and technically this is a separate
unit so that must be why they were looking at it that way yeah that's why i that's why he told me
i have to go through you guys for the for the family daycare well it's supposed to be a group
daycare now because i didn't want up to 10 i mean it would be preferred i guess but um yeah he said
it would have to be the group daycare, and I would have to go through this process.
Got you.
All right.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
So, number seven, MI2025 -004 -920 -10914, Nandina Court, Fern Anastasia was the attorney.
This is a reconsideration hearing.
Fern Anastasia is coming back in as a panelist now.
good morning mr chair good morning council could you please state your name and spell
for the stenographer yeah it's verne anastasio a -n -a -s -t -a -s -i -o on behalf
Yeah, it's Vern Anastasio, A -N -A -S -T -A -S -I -O.
On behalf of my client, Mr. Sherzad Alamov.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
So this is a reconsideration hearing.
The evidence and testimony presented at the June 4, 2025 hearing in this matter are incorporated into the record for this hearing.
The scope of today's reconsideration of hearing will be the presentation of revised plans that were not presented at the original hearing.
So the way we would run the hearing today, Vern, is you do your presentation of supplemental evidence, questions from the board and council, public testimony limited to your supplemental evidence, and then updates from the planning planning.
So could you please start your presentation?
Understood.
This is a single family home. And just to do a brief recap, single family home,
my client hired a contractor to put on a rear addition. It was done unbeknownst to him without
the benefits of building permits. The sole refusal is for open air. What's required is 20 feet.
Because of this addition, we now have a little over 10 feet. And that's the reason for the
refusal, and we were trying to legalize the addition. When we came before the board initially,
it was a standalone addition attached to the prop, the rear of the house, but doing so
eliminated rear access outside from the first floor. And as such, the board thought that that
was an issue and a problem. And I believe after reviewing the transcript, it was the impetus
for denying the appeal i'm going to stop sharing that for a moment i'm going to show you the new
the new design
updated plan right here's the storage area which by the way is just being used for
yard equipment. So this access from the common area office den was not part of the original
proposal. And when we came before you several months ago, that was a major concern that folks
from here could not access the outside by going through the storage area and outside in the event
of an emergency. This was a complete solid wall here. And upon review of the transcript, it seemed
to be the impetus for the board denying the appeal. As such, we have now proposed that we
put a door from the den through that area so that someone can safely have rear egress in the event
of an emergency. That is the only difference in our proposal, but I believe for health and safety
reasons, it was an important one for this board, and as such, we've made the necessary adjustments.
Otherwise, he would have to be forced to tear down that entire addition, and again, it was put up
without the benefit of permits, but unbeknownst to him, and that would be an incredible burden to
carry. Why don't you have your testimony adopted? Mr. Shurzad Alamov, if you could please raise your
virtual hand to be recognized by the board. Thank you. Shurzad Alamov is coming back in as a panelist now.
no sir could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
first name sherdot s -h -e -r -z -o -d last name olimov o -l -i -m -o -v right counsel
mr olomov did you hear my presentation to the board this morning
yes sir is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Yes, sir.
Thank you very much.
I have nothing further.
Questions from the board.
Yeah, I think there was also some issues about the drainage that had been brought up because it was, you know, built without permits if there was a proper, you know, planning for drainage and water runoff.
It's our intention to put in drainage that will go into the earth.
to put in uh drainage that will go into the earth
and that'll be the from the roof of this edition
okay um other questions from the board
um questions or comments from our attorney not at this time mr chair questions or comments
from the virtual audience i see no hands chair planning commission chairman good morning david
effecto with the city planning commission we're going to stand on our prior testimony thank you
firm we're going to hold this to the 29th 1029 at 9 30 what we want to do is make sure everybody
that is on the board has a chance to look at the original videos okay i understand thank you very
much have a good day thank you for your presentation and sir thank you too is there anyone in the
The virtual one is whose case has not been called.
I see no hands, Chair.
See everybody tomorrow morning, bright and early.