commercial order oriented to cmx2 commercial mixed use the upper north district plan identifies this
area as a commercial corridor the proposed use is consistent with documented prior use
additionally the use would be a special exception under the recommended zoning
the appellant has shown that the proposed use would have no detrimental impacts beyond what
would reasonably be expected the planning commission recommends that the board grant
their requested variance for event assembly thank you mi2026-003-482-5416 rising sun avenue
I vote yes with proviso.
Previously approved sit-down restaurant use remains.
Event assembly facility use applies to entire lot.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tywin, my vote is yes with proviso.
Mr. Brooks, I want to tell you, you hired an outstanding lawyer.
thank you sir thank you for your patience i really no no we're fine we're fine sir
believe it i'm not sitting in the middle of rising sun avenue okay thank you very much
we're going to move on thank you very much have a good day everybody bye thank you mi2026
003-665-808 chestnut street joseph consul is deterring
yeah he's been here the whole day hey mr counsel please that is your first time today right yeah
it is yesterday but like uh could you please state and spell your name for the stenographer
yeah it's joseph console j-o-s-e-p-h last name console c-o-n-s-o-l-e do you swear or affirm to
tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes mr counsel could you identify your
client a relationship to the property yeah my client is albert albert zhang he is uh the one
of the members of both the ownership entity um which is 808 chestnut street partners llc
as well as the tenant entity which is washoku uh ogawa llc our board uh secretary has several
questions for you sir yeah uh good afternoon did you submit your documents and exhibits
did you submit your documents and exhibits 14 days in advance of this hearing yes and do you
It's 14 days in advance of this hearing.
waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy referral but yeah i'm sorry referral
and stipulate to its accuracy i do and you can share your screen and begin your presentation
thank you all right good afternoon everyone joe console uh for 808 chestnut like i mentioned
Albert Zhang is on this call and will adopt my testimony his LLC owns the building is and is also the tenant seeking approval here for a special exception application for an eating and drinking establishment.
This property in a chestnut the first floor, which is what we're seeking approval on today has been a donut shop was Dunkin Donuts and maybe something else prior to that.
But most recently, a Dunkin' Donut, the property is now going to be a second outpost of a James Beard-nominated restaurant called Ogawa, Third and Market.
So this will be my client's sort of expansion of that concept onto 808 Chestnut.
There's our referral.
Um, so our notice is owning exterior. Uh, the, the interior, um, has approved permits pulled for it for the work. And you'll see on the photos that he's, um, getting started on the renovation. Um, previously it had only been approved for a takeout restaurant, hence the donuts. Uh, but, uh, now we're seeking a sit down, um, concept.
This is not a rapid turnover kind of place. This is an omakase type of service. It's going to be by reservation mostly, and I'll have to find seatings, and it'll be a long-form service with different, and to the extent you're interested, it was in our packet, and I'll go through just some of the photos, but not really explain the concept, but it's kind of a long-form service that goes through different, you know, iterations as you move through the restaurant.
um he submitted some information about his the safety measures and things like that that he's
taking but obviously he'll have all the appropriate COs and things like that
he's an experienced restaurateur and this will be no different here's our exterior photos
inside of the space
and included is sort of the splash program that describes um
what they're planning to do there's the floor plan kind of shows how the restaurant flows from
the street um and joe where's the mezzanine i see the mezzanine thing
oh uh could i call albert for for that albert could you raise your virtual hand
I know he's on the call.
I should say raise hand, Albert.
yes they'll be coming back in as a panelist now thank you very much
hey hi can you guys hear me yeah i can um could you please state and spell your name for the
stenographer it's albert zhang a-l-b-e-r-t last name zhang z-h-e-n-g do you swear or affirm to
tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes counsel uh albert uh you heard my
testimony so far about about your restaurant correct correct and so far do you adopt what i
said as your own um so pretty much our permit for the first floor is not in progress right now it's
just the apartments um so after this hearing we're gonna submit our first floor plans to the city
okay uh and the the chair the board chair had a question about the mezzanine
oh we're taking that measurement down we don't need it okay meaning we're meaning you're seeking
approval strictly for uh and eating a drink establishment on the first floor yes correct
great that's how i understood it thanks wait all right lynn riddle here we're board council
are you using the basement connected to the restaurant because it's part of the lease
will you be using the basement albert for restaurant use storage or things like that
Yes, the basement will be a part of restaurant storage.
Yes, the basement will be a part of restaurant storage.
I got it.
I got it.
Got it.
Yes, correct.
Basement, the first floor.
Joe, continue with your presentation.
And just moving through the different photos, just showing the concept and the restaurant design.
Again, it's a special exception.
And as you'll see, we have support from the Civic Association, so we don't anticipate this being too difficult.
Approve of mailing and tax clearance certificate, and then the deed to my client's entity.
I met with Washington West Civic and their position support, and that letter is included in my packet.
With that, I'll leave it open to any from the board.
i'm sorry forgive me but what is what is omakasa omakasi albert would you explain to the board
just briefly what the concept of omakasi is so omakasi is pretty much a japanese concept where
it's uh leave it up to the chef that means you know omakasi leave you up you know to the chefs
that's that's pretty much what i mean it's a fixed menu but how does that express itself in
a dining experience exactly how does it express itself it's a fixed menu where you know um chef
picks out whatever dish you know it's a seasonal dish where they uh you know have it different
seasons so would you say it's kind of like a tasting menu yeah pretty similar to a tasting menu
yeah interesting okay thank you yeah questions from our attorney
questions or comments no questions at this time questions or comments with virtual audience
mr chair i do not see any hands um planning commission let me boy with the planning
commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing cmx5 commercial mixed
use zoning at this location the appellant has demonstrated that the proposed use will not
cause detrimental impacts beyond what would reasonably be expected the planning commission
recommends that the board grant the requested special exception for sit-down restaurant mi2026
003665 808 chesson street i vote yes with proviso use limited to basement and first floor only
michael johns my vote is yes with proviso they took it out
cheryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso ryan mcadams my vote is yes with proviso
tywin my vote is yes with proviso thank you cheryl thank you okay and number 12 m
number 12 mi2026-003-685-1254 myrtlewood north myrtlewood street henry clinton is the attorney
Mr. Chair, they will be coming back in as a panel shortly.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members of the board.
Mr. Clinton, could you please state and spell your name for this stenographer?
Sure, Henry Clinton, H-E-N-R-Y, Clinton, C-L-I-N-T-O-N.
Mr. Clinton, could you identify your client and the relationship to the property?
Sure, I have two clients, one of whom I believe is on the call.
Mike Mullen and his daughter, Katie Mullen, M-U-L-L-I-N.
I see Brewery Town, Sharswood, Civic Association, the vote was six in support, four from the community, right?
And six opposed.
Am I right in saying that?
I think it's six to four.
It was a letter of non-opposition, but I'll point it out when I get to that letter.
I think it, okay.
Our board secretary has a few questions. Good afternoon, counsel. Did you submit your
documents and exhibits 14 days in advance of this hearing? We did, Ms. Gaston. Okay,
and do you waive the reading of the refusals and stipulate to their accuracy? Yes, we do.
Okay, so then you can share your screen and begin your presentation. Thank you. Thank you.
I see Councilman Young also sent a letter, non-opposition.
Is that visible, Mr. Chairman?
Yes, sir.
Again, good afternoon, members of the board and Mr. Chairman.
I'm here on behalf of Mr. Mullen and his daughter, Katie Mullen.
I present the table of contents, A1 through A10.
I'll walk through the documents.
This is the refusal. This is a request for a single-family house with a roof deck on one of the few remaining vacant lots on this 1200 block of North Myrtlewood Street.
This is the refusal.
This is a request for a single-family house with a roof deck.
And it's on a block where you'll see there's similar homes with rooftop decks.
And rooftop deck is important because one of the refusals has to do with the overlay, which doesn't allow rooftop decks.
So we're just trying to do a rooftop deck like most of the new construction on the block, and I'll show you aerial photographs.
And it's almost an exact match in terms of structure and layout of the house next door at 1256 North Myrtlewood Street.
RSA 5 zoning district, there's two refusals.
One is, as I mentioned, the roof deck in the overlay district.
and they're listing the height of the building next door is 34 feet 5 inches and our height is
36 inches but we have measurements to show that the house next door is not 34 feet 5 inches whatever
the case may be we've agreed that we're not going to go higher than whatever that height is next
But we've measured it at 40 feet, and I have photographs to show that.
This is the RCO letter, and then I guess where I'm going with this is.
Here it is at the bottom.
So there was four in support, three opposed, one abstained.
The chart is a little bit confusing to me.
I read it the same way you did, but I think they want us to read this column, 431.
And nevertheless, it's a letter of non-opposition.
And here's that height issue that I mentioned.
The zoning relief is required because a proposed 36-foot building exceeds the 34-foot, 5-inch building next door.
But as I said, that building is not 34-5.
The plans indicated it is, but it was actually built a little bit higher.
And we've agreed not to exceed whatever height is next door.
So here are the photographs.
Here is the vacant lot.
There's two additional vacant lots to the south.
To the right at the corner is a large apartment building.
That has a rooftop deck.
And if you just go south, you can see there's three rooftop decks on the west side of the block, as well as to the home, immediately to the north of our proposed project.
Then across the street, there's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12 on the east side of the street.
again vacant lot i'm just trying to show you all the rooftop decks that are already in existence on
the block uh this is a view looking uh southbound on murderwood existing house where my cursor is
a couple other three-story homes directly across the street
now we're looking northbound again there's three lots to the south of our property
this is the house next door and it has nine steps getting up to the first first entrance to the
front door and my client measured from the top down at 34 feet because his tape wasn't long
enough 40 foot tape and then he measured up from the bottom another 36 so that brings it well
beyond the 34 feet 5 inches and again we've agreed not to exceed the height of that house
and if that house happens to be 40 feet which we believe it is we're not going to exceed
our height of our plans which is 36 feet so we're abiding by that notices of the zoning posting
plan. So I'll just start with the site plan on the left-hand side. The lot is almost 57 feet deep.
It's a pretty big rear yard, almost 17 feet, pilot house, rooftop deck, setback,
the typical five feet. So we have no issues with open space, rear yard,
occupancy.
This is not a complete rendering.
This was the original plan.
We do have a window here on the water table, and I'll show you that as I move through it.
So these were the original plans.
These were the original plans.
The only change that we've made from these plans, and I
The only change that we've made from these plans, and I do have revised plans, and the proviso form is in the basement, since we have a bedroom, we have a set of rear steps leading out to the deep rear yard.
That's really the only change.
So a bedroom in the basement, a family room, a bathroom.
You come in the front door to the living area, dining, kitchen with an island in the middle and a door leading to the outside.
Go up the steps to the second floor.
There's two bedrooms on the second floor.
One bathroom, laundry facilities.
And then you would continue up the steps to the third floor where the primary bedroom is with a large bathroom.
switch back steps to get up to the rooftop deck, which again, as I said, is five feet
set back from the front wall and the pilothouse.
This is the rear elevation.
Cutaway framing plans.
These are the same floor plans with a little bit more furniture embedded in the drawing,
just to give everyone perspective.
and this is the revised plan with the proviso form so you can see that the
window in the front in the water table all brick front some panel siding
casement windows this is on the north side siding on the north side and this
is the rear of the property and you can see the revision that we've made not
Not only to the site plan, which is on the top left, with a set of steps out from the
basement, but also on the far right, where you can see a door and steps leading out to
the rear yard.
Again, the floor plan, basically what I showed you the first time around, because we haven't
really changed anything, family room, bedroom in the basement, walk out stairs, kitchen
Dining, living, two bedrooms on the second floor, one on the third, and a rooftop deck.
The other documents are what you typically would see in a presentation, such as this,
chief of which is the proof that no real estate taxes are due, zero balance.
zoning map again as i said at the outset this is a rsa 5 zoning district so we're in conformance