why you have this grippy huge master bedroom here in the front yeah you know where the
you you you really don't have much i'm gonna i'm gonna do a a board member challenge you really
don't have much living space yeah i mean there there may be an opportunity for deanna to do
some renovations if she can get through this process to get through get those proper building
permits i i um you know i i i tend to agree with you the the layout is is odd although it does look
like you pulled permits to do some work since you purchased the property laundry and i think
renovate a bathroom correct i'm sorry can you will you speak you speak into the microphone
to the reporter can make sure thank you okay that's that's my comment i i think that's fair
yeah i think that this is you know a little strange and i'm not sure yeah yeah are you
going to rent this out to somebody you're going to have to really you know okay other questions
or questions or comments from our attorney no questions at this time Mr. Chairman
questions or comments from the virtual audience no hands at this time chair planning commission
thank you chairman and good morning David Bechtow with the city planning commission
chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the RSA 5 residential
potential single-family zoning at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 2014 in
accord with recommendations in the comprehensive plan there is no unique physical condition or
circumstance of this property that will prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning
code the city planning commission recommends that the board deny the proposed use variance for two
dwelling units and I would just quickly respond that I think this building structure is a unique
physical circumstance in that it's enormous if we were dealing with the typical building that had a
nine to twelve foot rear yard like the property next to us i might agree but i don't think that
the size of the existing structure is suitable for a single family right so mi2026002282208
north 29th street i vote yes with proviso trash stored inside certificate vacancy to be obtained
Mr. Chairman, did you want to add a proviso about maximum two units, just so we'll make sure we're at record?
Two units.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with provisos.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with provisos.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with provisos.
Iowen, my vote is yes with provisos.
Thank you.
Next one's, yeah.
Thank you.
Thank you.
So MI 2026-002-352-2523 Wesley High Avenue.
Alex Goldberg is the attorney.
Mr. Goldberg, you've already been sworn to state your name for the record.
Alex Goldberg.
Mr. Goldberg, could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
My client is 2523 ENT Limited, and its member, Elijah Johnson, is sitting to my left.
And our board secretary has a few questions for you.
Good morning, counsel.
Yes. Did you submit your documents and exhibits 21 days in advance of this hearing?
I did.
And do you waive the reading of the referral and stipulate to its accuracy?
Then you can share your screen and begin your presentation.
um okay
okay second and this is i believe it's a refusal so yeah are we doing the right one
and this is
we're on um yeah yeah sorry she has something this council i just want to put on the record
we did get a letter from the rco of um non-opposition correct correct and a letter from
the like an associated rco as well swamp poodle it came in via email this morning i included it
my materials okay you'll see which i submitted but i'll also forward yeah and it was late remember
we talked about yeah when we submit something if it's new that's right that's right and and
not to make matters worse but my client brought me a petition um this morning i added it already
into the presentation it hasn't been resubmitted yet i didn't have time um i can give you the
physical copy if you'd like but i'll i'll submit it just as long as it's submitted to the up tool
you know okay yeah not a problem yeah not right all right so she wants to talk you well sure good
that's okay i was confused for a second i just went along with it
as we all do we all do yeah
Okay, so you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to us.
okay so now you can put okay um this is a cmx one property that has two front doors it has
separate uh entry into the basement which is not used for living which we would agree to
and it's also not connected to the living spaces it has a front door to the basement and a back
door to the basement no internal stairs and we're proposing to use it as two family living cmx one
zoning which would allow a commercial unit and a residential here unit here which we did not think
was appropriate nor did the rco we met with strawberry management community concern they're
not opposed and also swamp poodle is not opposed um so that's you know we appreciate that uh and
this it's an existing duplex my client purchased the property kind of like the last one with a
mostly completed renovation um he finished uh putting in some kitchen cabinetry and paint and
and flooring but it's two units that are existing that are both vacant until you know if and when he
can obtain zoning approval for those two units here's that letter from strawberry mansion
community concern they asked for several provisos the first one being two dwelling units only which
we're agreeable to no basement living or third dwelling unit which we're agreeable to
and a proviso about trash storage this Cummings asks for the first floor unit to keep their trash
in the rear and the second floor unit to keep their trash in the basement I would just ask that
if the first floor tenant so chooses they should be allowed to keep their trash in the basement as
well but they're obviously they have a rear yard so they're open they're able to store their trash
back there if if they wish um and then consistency with the two unit plan so we're pretty much
agreeable to all the provisos that were asked for and then um this morning swan poodle submitted a
letter of support with the proviso limit of two units no basement living which again we're we
are agreeable to uh here's a petition that i just referenced with seven signatures six from
our block of lehigh avenue including some very near neighbors um you know we didn't have any
issues with anyone in opposition at the rco meeting um and the letter in this position
this petition i believe is indicative of that as far as nearby multifamily um you have examples
several examples on the 24 and 2500 block which i have included some photos of that are duplexes
or triplexes including a triplex next door at 2527 west lehigh avenue which is a main road
with lots of public transportation two-way car traffic and we think you know it's zoned one side
cmx1 one side cmx2 we think that the two units here are appropriate and there's that zoning map
there's google maps perspective as well photos this is the front of the property
the door to the right goes upstairs to the top unit the door on the left is for
the first floor unit and there's that basement door here's the notice posting
the right on Lehigh and to the left interior photos
the right on lehigh and to the left interior photos so you can see it's new looking and empty
plastic still on the appliances kind of just in a waiting period here
my client purchased the property a couple years ago
and as i mentioned just sort of put the finishing touches on the property
is the plans and drawings so you know they're a lot of annotations here so i apologize
for that but uh the first floor is this middle this middle um plan right here so you enter on
the porch through the door on the left you have a living space closets and then two bedrooms and
the bathroom between them. Upstairs entering through that second door again you have two
bedrooms one in the front one in the back with a bathroom in between them as well as a kitchen and
a living space and then that basement to the right side of your screen you can see has a staircase
that enters from the outside which you saw an image of and then a staircase that exits in the
backyard with no no internal staircase access to unit one so we would of course be agreeable to
no living in the basement. My client is planning to rent these units through the Housing Choice
Voucher Program and will manage them himself. And he's had positive relationships with his
neighbors. And as far as the history of the property itself, it was last used as a single
family, or it was the last known use was a single family permit, according to the records in 1960.
And prior to that, it was a mixed-use property that had a store on the first floor, an office on the second floor, and an apartment on the third floor.
So with that, I'd like to call my client to adopt my testimony.
Sir, could you please get close to the mic if you would?
Could you please state and spell your name for the stenographer?
My name is Elijah Johnson, E-L-I-J-A-H, Johnson, J-O-H-N-S-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Counsel?
elijah did you hear my testimony today yes was it true and correct yes and you adopted as your own
i do thank questions from the board can you go back to the photos again sure
i think my question for you sir is about trash storage yeah so neither of the units have
ventilated trash closets what is your plan to manage trash on site yeah so um our plan was to
for that basement to just put like a lock code on it that way tenants have access to to their like
like as if it was a build a building and they could just put their trash in there okay don't
trash are you gonna put bins down there for them to do that like is it gonna be a designated area
yeah i would i would put i would supply the bins definitely okay and it seems like both tenants
are gonna have access to the backyard because they can just walk through the basement
to technically that would be the case yeah where is it can you go go to the next picture
go back i mean
are you looking for the front of the property like yeah i'm trying to figure out where
but this picture you have a picture of a stair i'm trying to figure out where that
stair is the stair the stair is the direct entry point to the upstairs no not that one
there's another one keep going that's the same stair same stairs is that the same stairs so this
is so this is okay so this is the stairway that's from the outside this is what is this door the
door on the right side of the porch that gives access to the second unit so this is from the
outside view and then this is sort of from the inside looking down at that same door and so
go back to the floor plans again so so you've got access i heard you say there's access to
the rear yard from the basement there there's a staircase out of the rear of the basement right
here okay um that you know i think it would only most likely be used in the context of
if unit one is storing their trash in the rear yard they might bring it through the
basement rather than through their house um but there's no living down there technically
board member win is right unit two could access the rear yard i i don't know if you're going to
have sort of a rule in their lease that it's for unit one you know and you you can do that if you
wish but they could technically get back there yes i just think being clear about who has access
and what that access is i think also being clear about what they can and cannot do in that basement
is going to be critical in this instance.
But I do think having an open space
that's available tenants is preferred.
is preferred like when we can do that it's always it's always great um and i'm assuming laundry is
When we can do that, it's always great.
going to be in the base oh no it's in the room in unit yeah and you know just tiny i don't know
that that's the right dimension but it's okay yeah i think i think it's the same issue kind of with
a lot of these um these uh row houses that folks have converted they just um they become too dense
um and there's no living space and barely enough windows it's light and air and all that you know
the second floor unit with two bedrooms there's there's no furniture so but i know clearly from
circulation and this layout you couldn't you couldn't put a chair a love seat a tv and the
table to sit for tour a two-bedroom apartment and on the first floor although better laid out
you've still got to go through the bedroom to go to the backyard which is problematic
um for me um so okay those are those are it's tight but it's tight yeah yeah and i i i think
we have my my issue too in i think one of the units where the you know you gotta wander through
part of the house to get to it from the bedroom to get to in the second floor that back bedroom is
yeah the bathroom is in the middle but not as in the middle as it is for the first floor
you exactly yes i understand the questions from how about questions for attorney um i just want
to make sure on the record did you i could have missed it uh did you describe uh your client's
relationship to the owner of the property because it's a corporation my client's a member of of the
or uh yeah an authorized representative of the corporation yes thank you yeah you know what we
don't we what we don't have are pictures of the basement we can get you pictures of the basement
um can you describe the basement for the board the basement is pretty much just an opened
plain field there's nothing down there it's just an open in any way nothing it's not finished at
all it's just cement on the floor it's open and it just has an hvac system down there that's it
roughly how tall are the ceilings down there it's ceilings are probably around seven feet
questions from the virtual audience chair we had a hand up from uh strawberry manson
community concern okay good morning can you hear me morning i can okay good morning could you please
state and spell your name for the stenographer my name is bonita cummings b-o-n-i-t-a c-u-m-m-i-n-g-s
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do please proceed miss cummings good morning everyone chairman of the board um of course you
know we're not we're not opposing this but we do um lehigh avenue's corridor um as part of what
story mansion community concern does is we definitely deal with our environmental issues
trying to make our community more safe from particularly um trash and litter and that corridor
from 22nd street to at least 26 is is often littered so we just want to make sure in the
provisos along with the record that is clarity um that the trash should be stored indoors um
Because a property like that could end up with lots of people in it and that trash situation
can get tricky.
So we just want to make sure that it's really stipulated that the trash should remain indoors.
Of course, no basement living because again, that's a separate entrance and for L&I and
everyone involved, the residents of the community, if a complaint needs to be made, then it's
clear from the record that it was uh two you know a two-family household living with no basement
with no basement living um the yard the first floor tenant and the um second floor i just think
for safety purposes uh the the first floor tenant should be the be the yard usage with no access
because the people in the basement can then access the yard which means you also can access the first
floor tenant's property for whatever reasons um so that would be up to the landlord but i just
think for safety the first floor tenant should use the yard and the second floor tenant should
use the basement storage so we just want to make sure that these things make the record because
this building is very you know interesting it has a separate basement entrance and so we need to
make sure there's no basement living okay on the record thank you miss cummings thanks for calling
and we appreciate it is there anyone else in the audience no hands at this time chair planning
no hands at this time chair leaning commission thank you chairman and good morning david effecto