a slight overview of the property um here's just a three view rendering of the property including
the rear second and third floor addition that is compliant to the city's zoning open air
requirements, meaning that the new addition here does not exceed more than 80 percent of the lot
coverage. And then our site plan here, again, Thompson Street, Elkhart, and Mercer, curb cut
coming off of Mercer for access to the parking garage. Going to our floor plans here.
so coming in off of thompson street we walk in and we have a lobby space with our bike parking
and a dedicated mail room for all tenants as well as the elevator to service the floors above
then we are proposing three units here um all one bedroom roughly the same size
circling between about 500 to 600 square feet uh and then in the rear of that build
the rear of that floor is the three standard parking spaces and one ADA accessible space,
along with our curb cut off of Mercer Street. If we move up to the second floor, you can see here
we have the existing footprint. We're designing four units, all again, one bedroom, one bathroom
units in the existing footprint, and then two additional units in the rear, and then a common
access roof deck for all tenants off of the second floor and if we go back up to the third floor
it this area is pretty similar to the footprint below meaning those units are typical and then
in the rear the units get a little bit bigger because we don't have a hallway going out to
the roof deck so again all units are one bedroom cycle between about 500 and 600 square feet
We're providing the bike parking spaces, four parking spaces, well, three parking spaces and one ADA space.
Just looking at our elevations, just replacing a few of the existing window openings with panel material in order to make sure we have the correct fire rating needed for stairs come time for building permits.
and then using a fiber cement panel to kind of keep the industrial look of the existing building
as is and then if you guys have want to see any of the units a little bit larger i can
peer through those or answer any questions you guys may have
any questions for jimmy from the board do you do have have you uh adopted your test money with the
owner yet i have not mr chair why don't why don't we do that then we'll ask the board for questions
then is that okay absolutely um so um he dialed in on a landline um the number he dialed in on
i believe ends in 0245 um his name is steve bentoulis
all right i think i got that i can uh um to speak if you like please
um steve can you hear me
steve you may have to hit star six and star nine to unmute yourself
hello yes state your name please and spell for the court reporter
Sergio Bentulis, S-T-E-R-G-I-O-S-B-E-N-T-O-U-L-I-S.
n-t-o-u-l-i-s you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes proceed counsel thank you mr chair um steve did you hear the full extent of my testimony today
yes uh and was it true and accurate yes and would you adopt it as your own
yes okay thank you questions from the board no mr chairman no
questions or comments from the virtual audience
mr chair i have mr anthony miller with his hand raised i will not speak at this time
mr miller please unmute yes hello hi mr miller could you state your name
for the court reporter? Anthony Miller, M-I-L-L-E-R. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. My address is 3033 Mercer Street. I
live on Mercer Street, just a few... I'm sorry, is this better?
Are you in a school room or? Hello?
He's still here because he may have muted himself for a second. Okay.
Hey, hello. Is that better? A little better. Yep.
I usually state my address at these hearings, 3033 Mercer Street.
I load a couple of houses down on Mercer Street from this proposed development.
I just wanted to state my support for the development and for preserving the historic building.
Thank you very much for calling in, sir.
Any other comments or statements from the virtual audience?
planning commission
good afternoon chair bergman david effecto city planning commission members of the board
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single family zoning at this
location we believe that the existing structure was used as a knitting mill at some point in its
history. This part of Port Richmond was last rezoned in 1973, and so we do believe that the
zoning of the site presents a clear hardship to its reuse. The comprehensive plan recommends
repositioning obsolete industrial sites for new uses, and the proposal for 15 dwelling units
conforms to this recommendation. So the City Planning Commission recommends that the board
grant the use variants. Thank you, David. MI 2021-004-694, 3016-20 East Thompson Street,
I vote yes. Carol Tenere, my vote is yes. Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes. James Snell,
my vote is yes. Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes. Thank you, counsel. Thank you.
MI 2020-001-262-321-East Worcester Street.
No RCO letter yet, but I believe one recently came in.
Mr. Clinton.
He's been promoted to Panama, sir.
Thank you.
Hi, Mr. Clinton, you've already been sworn. Just state your name and then our vice chair
has a few questions.
Henry Clinton, C-L-I-N-T-O-N for the applicant.
Vice chair?
Mr. Clinton, do you agree to avoid the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
It appears that you've submitted all the required documents. Is that correct?
Yes, ma'am.
You may proceed.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
I'm here on behalf of TEVL 249 LLC and Aaron Sitbaum, S-I-T-B-O-H-N, is on the call with me.
This is my presentation package containing the table of contents AA through A11.
Appearance statement, this is the refusal.
So this piece of ground, historically back in the 50s, was used as multifamily.
According to the aerial photographs I was able to review, it's been vacant, a vacant piece of ground for at least 20 years and perhaps even longer.
Our original request was for 32 units, along with 20 parking spaces, and resulted in three refusals.
Our original request was for 32 units.
First refusal, because this is an RSA 2 zoning district.
Refusal was a multifamily household living is prohibited in this zoning district, even though historically it was used as multifamily.
There was a refusal for parking spaces because we requested 32 units and only 20 were proposed.
And also there was a setback requirement in the rear yard, which I'll explain.
We have been able to remove this refusal with regard to parking because we have lowered the number of units from 32 to 21 and then increased the parking from 20 to 21.
So they're basically two refusals facing the board today.
And if the board looks kindly upon this project, we would ask that the proviso form and revised plans be stamped.
We do have the letter of support, as the chairman referenced, from the Wakefield 49ers Community Improvement and Development Association, which is a coordinating RCO.
the RCO went into some detail explaining the number of meetings and number of sit-downs we've had
formally with the RCO and with several RCOs as well as my client Aaron you can see on the
community column Aaron met several times on his own with the neighbors and actually one meeting
took place out at the site with tables and chairs and and refreshments so that the neighbors could
understand exactly what was being proposed. And at that meeting, we really didn't get any
significant opposition. And what's interesting here is that the RCO has even pointed out that,
and this gentleman may be on the call, there was one gentleman who indicated that he would support
the project. And then the applicant was asked at some point to buy his property. And if he
wouldn't buy his property, he would then vote no. And that gentleman, Mr. McFarland, may be on the
call. I just want to point that out for the board. This is one of the letters we sent out indicating
all the things that we were going to do with the project at that outdoor community meeting,
and then people who were in attendance signed indicating they were there. So for perspective
for the board, this is an aerial view. I'll zoom in closer, but you can see that this block,
and as I get closer with the next photograph, you'll see is a combination of some commercial
and institutional uses, as well as single family. The surrounding area is single family homes.
And my hardship here today on behalf of the client is that this is a unique circumstance
and unique condition, unlike any other block in the area.
So this is a closer aerial view.
You can see all four sides, well, three sides,
we have residential structures.
But on Worcester Street, on this particular block,
the 300 block, we have a 15-unit apartment complex
with parking in the rear.
We have a teen T-E-E-N challenge facility,
which is basically a rehabilitation center
for teens 18 years and older.
And then we have my client's property.
It's a large piece of property.
It's 121 by 219.
It's very deep.
And then adjacent is a single family home.
Across the street, you can see that this is not a single family home, while the one on
the corner may be a single family home.
It's really hard to determine.
So it's really a unique section of Worcester Street here, unlike any other block within
walking distance of the proposed project. These are postings of the zoning notices.
And the other thing I wanted to point out to the board that what makes this lot unique is it's
very, very large. It's a little more than a half acre. And some of the other lots on the street
are also between 20,000 and 30,000 square feet. And others are not. Where a single-family home
is, it's a smaller lot. So this is a huge lot for a single family or even for detached
single family. And this is the project. So the project is for 21 apartments.
Originally, we came in with a height of about 34, 35 feet. We have shrunk the height of the
building to 32. It's actually lower in height than some of the surrounding single family homes
on the block. We've basically kept the same footprint, reduced the number of units,
reduce the number of units, increase the number of parking spots by one, and increase the number of
increased the number of parking spots by one, and increased...
outdoor bike parking by about 13 or so. So we have a combination of brick, both traditional red
as well as some lighter gray brick, and you can see some nice detail cornice at the top.
This is not one of your typical box structures here. There's some indentations on the front
elevations along the cornice line as well as with the side and on the side of the building you can
see here there's some nice indented porches that the residents can take advantage of the outdoor
areas. I'm just showing you some of the side elevations. You can see the porches and again
it's a three-story structure with no basement and some nice detail at the corners all four
corners of the structure. This is the zoning plan, the site plan. The idea is to come in
on the side of the building, loop around the rear of the building, parking spots are in
the rear, and then exit back on Worcester Street. This drive aisle here is also going
to be remain open because there's an easement to access the building in the back. This was
the original plan. We basically took this parking spot out and then continued down so
that the gentleman or the family that lives in the back can access out through now a nice
paved area. I can walk through the floor plans for you. Basically, this is the first floor level.
There's going to be two two bedrooms and three one bedrooms on the first floor with a community
meeting space. And also there's a social room for the residents of the building along with the gym.
and our trash situation is going to be stored interior
and then we'll be able to be brought exterior to the rear.
Let me show you that.
And I'll show you that on the site plan again
when I get to the revised plan.
This is the second and third floor plan.
We have six two-bedroom apartments
and then two one-bedroom apartments
on the second floor and the third floor.
This is our proviso sheet.
Again, just pointing out to the board
where we have, let me blow that up a little bit more,
where we have decreased the height,
the units from 32 to 21,
decreased in height from 34 to 32,
increased parking spaces
and increased the bike parking
from 11 to 24, and then we maintained an easement for the rear of the property.
So we'll have ample shrubbery around the property, behind the parking spots,
spaces in the rear, so that there's no problem with screening anyone to the rear of the property.
and then this is where i wanted to show the board that you know the entry again is here we increased
the bike racks on the original plan there weren't as many bike racks as we have now the parking has
been shifted over we added the 21st feet there's a needs been here to go to the rear so again so
the homeowner in the rear of the property instead of now driving over a kind of a dirt road will be
nice and paved from here back will be his property. And certainly if he wants to pay that,
he can do that. So again, I think we have a unique physical circumstance here that warrants
returning this property to its once used as a multifamily property.
And I wanted to show the board, I do have a record from 1956
indicating
that the property was used as multifamily.
I think that is going to be my last exhibit.
This is from 1956.
This was a seven-family property.
And again, referencing it was housekeeping,
non-housekeeping apartments
and used as multifamily way back in the day.
Okay, so we are providing a historical use of the property consistent with what happened in the past.
There's no impairment.
If I show you the aerial photographs again, there's no impairment of light and air to any adjacent properties.
There's no impairment of light and air to any adjacent properties.
The property will be situated here.
There's ample side yard setbacks from any adjoining property.
And this actually is an institutional use to the right where my cursor is.
We're basically in harmony with the code because there was already multifamily on the block.
And as I said several times, the historical use of this property was historical.
There's no significant environmental impact.
And we believe it's in harmony with what the community wants.