So this is one of the bedrooms in the
unit? Okay.
Now my understanding,
this is an existing...
This was zoned back in 1973 for two units.
Am I correct?
Correct.
And you've operated this as two units since then?
Yes, correct.
All right.
Proceed.
Show us all your photos of the inside.
That's it.
This is the kitchen.
We're looking outside to the porch.
This is a better look at the kitchen from the outside area looking in.
this is uh the living room this is the front porch
and then and then from there i have uh i don't know if you need to review this the project
information form we had that okay and you also went to the rco yes we had our meeting in october
from my understanding. We're the first
group in Manioc to go through this.
Right. So it took a while
Right. So it took a while to get their their letter.
to get their letter. I don't
I don't think they were 100 percent sure what direction they wanted to do.
think they were...
Because I think once they there's a letter of support they have.
Yeah. So we got their letter of support.
And some of the biggest issues that people have against short term rentals or also known as Airbnb is trash.
We address that. We have someone, one of the neighbors we pay.
they manage our trash to make sure it's going out every week on time and then the trash cans
are brought back up the other big thing is parking we pay for off-site parking off one
of the neighbors that has a big building on the lot and he rents out parking spots to to people
that live on the block or his personal tenants so we've rent two spots for that for both our units
that way we're not our guests are not taking any extra parking off the street for for any of the
nearby neighbors um the other thing is parties um we we don't allow any kind of parties in our
in our units um we give all the neighbors our phone numbers um in the event that there is any
issues they would call us and we would address it and if you know if if we couldn't get it under
control we'd get the police involved um to date we've never had one of the neighbors have to call
We've never had the cops called to our building for any kind of disturbance.
And then we're seeking this.
It's a financial hardship for us.
We bought the building in September 2018 with the intentions of when we bought it, the first unit was vacant.
The second floor had a tenant in there, and we bought it with the intention of turning the first floor into an Airbnb.
So we spent a lot of time and money to get this ready for Airbnb as far as, you know, painting and updating some stuff and the kitchen, the bathroom, all the furniture and stuff like that.
And then when we finished that and launched that and we were live for a little while, we saw that it was working.
So at the same time, our tenant that was upstairs dropped a bombshell on us that they were moving out.
So at this point, she gave us her notice. She bought a home of her own. And then we turned her unit into a short-term rental. But we had to go through the same thing. And it probably took a year of us. I worked full-time as well at a W-2 job. So this is all like nights and weekends, putting our time and energy into this.
But the numbers just don't pan out if we strictly do long-term rental for this.
So, I mean, our hardship really is financially, you know, we were able, when we bought the building, able to do what we wanted to do.
And now, you know, fast forward it, you know, four years later, you know, we're not able to.
And it's such a drastic change to be allowed to do it and then all of a sudden not be allowed to do it.
Thank you, Mr. Klein. I think we understand your situation.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
No, Haines, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chairman, and good morning, David Defecto, F-E-C-T-E-A-U, with the City Planning Commission.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir, I do. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Mr. Chairman and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single-family zoning at this location. There is no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property that would prevent it from continuing to be used as a legally non-conforming two-unit dwelling. The City Planning Commission recommends that the board deny the proposed use variance for visitor accommodations.
Thank you. MI 2023-004-444-4433 Fleming Street. I vote yes with proviso. Temporary variance expires 1-31-26.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you, Mr. Fleming.
Number 13, MI2023-004-497-2201 Tulip Street.
Louis Castro is the owner.
There's a letter of opposition from the Fishtown neighbors.
there's a letter of opposition from council member school
mr castro
Mr. Castro.
Louis Castro has been promoted to panelists.
Morning, Mr. Castro.
Mr. Castro, can you please unmute yourself?
My name is Luis E. Castro.
Thank you.
Could you spell your name, please, for the court stenographer?
L-U-I-S, capital E is the middle name.
The last name is C-A-S-T-R-O, Castro.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Could you turn to your video one?
Thank you, Mr. Castro.
This application for the addition of a service parking space for a compact vehicle at the rear of an existing structure,
Whereas the service parking spaces are prohibited and required front side and rear yards and the RSA five zoning district accessory parking shall be prohibited unless it can be accessed from a shared driveway alley or rear street on which no on street parking is permitted on the side rear street directly abutting lot.
Our vice chair has a few questions, Mr. Castro.
Good morning, Mr. Castro. Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, we have.
Thank you. May proceed and show your screen.
Is that okay if I can invite my architect also to join us, Beth Johnson?
You have to testify.
you can have somebody work the screen for you but you need to testify yourself sir
okay explain it okay okay uh my name is louis c castro and i live on 2201 street since 2005
excuse me um mr castro i'm sorry to interrupt i see your architect has um raised her hand so
why don't we just bring if she's going to be showing the documents why don't we bring her in
as a panelist so she can share
her screen along with
while you give your testimony so we can see
what you're talking about.
Okay, thank you.
Elizabeth Johnson has been promoted.
Ms. Johnson?
Thank you.
I said fine. Thank you.
Mr Castro could you see that yes I am okay please proceed okay um um basically I'm requesting the
bearings to um to um to be able to have a parking space in the in the rear of my house
um there's a there's a small value that I have since I go to the house and I have never
have any use of any kind since I've been here. And I came to the conclusion that the best use
for me to get use of that space is having a parking space, which is big enough for a compact
car. The size of the ladder I have is 11 feet and 6 inches by 16 feet and 4 inches and a compact
car spot requires 8 feet by 16 feet. Since it's a corner house, the space at the rear of the house
is not uh not private and i haven't been able to enjoy it at all since i've been here um
it and it's not it's not really uh something that i have been able to use for anything
besides probably uh if i can be able to park my car in there um um having a parking space will
would make it easy for me to continue to live here.
I moved in here from Collinswood in 2005
and I really enjoy living in Fishtown.
I think it's a great town
and I wanted to be able to stay here for a very long time.
um for a very long time um i also uh uh uh had an incident with my with my car a couple of months
ago i parked my car like two blocks away from here and when i went in the morning the car was
completely burned and that kind of like uh kind of like scared me a little bit so i that's the
reason i'm trying to uh to see if i can be able to park the car close you know right by my house
mr castro what happened when you went to the fishtown neighbors association the rco i'm sorry
can you answer that again did you go to the rco for and make a presentation yes the fishtown
neighbors yes and and tell me what happened there uh i explained uh the story that i yeah that i um
that i i i had that space um since i bought the house the space has been the same i never
did anything uh it's always been the same i explained to them that since i work
in the restaurant business and i go home really late at night uh i never find any parking space
and since I'm getting older I'm 67 years old and I'm on my feet very much all day and when I get
home I'm really tired so it's it's very difficult for me to walk to park my car four or five blocks
away and also in the winter it's kind of difficult for me to to walk basically when the weather is
really bad it snows and everything like that so um i explained to them that i that i that i
i'm trying to seek if i can get a permit because i want to do everything by the book i want to do
anything i want to follow the law and everything and i just wanted to see if i be able to get a
permit so i can park my car thank you um and you were the council member sent a letter of opposition
to yes okay questions from the board no mr chairman no chair
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
there are no answer planning commission thank you chairman and good morning david vector with
the City Planning Commission. Chairman and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no
change to the residential single-family zoning at this location. There is no unique physical
condition or circumstance of this property that would prevent it from being used in conformance
with the zoning code. The City cannot guarantee that a compact car will be parked in the proposed
space. It would be available for any sized vehicle. Any full-size vehicle parked in the rear of this
property will extend over the sidewalk and block the sidewalks use by pedestrians the city planning
commission recommends the board deny the proposed off-street parking variances thank you mi 2023
004-497-221-2201 tulip street i vote no thomas holliman my vote is no
James Snell, my vote is no.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is no.
Thank you, sir.
We're going to go to our regular list and start at number one.
MI 2023-004-393-11 Queen Street.
Stephanie Boggs Magna is the attorney for the owner.
There's a letter of support from the Queen Village Neighbors Association
and a letter of non-opposition from Council Member Squilla.
The applicant also provided a form letter of non-opposition
from the adjacent neighbor at 9 Queen Street.
In addition, this was approved by the Historical Commission.
Good morning, Council.
Could you state your name and spell, please, for the court's sonography?
Yes, Stephanie Magania, M-A-G-A-G-N-A.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Could you identify your client, the relationship to this property?
Sure. My client is Raymond Evers. He's the owner of the property.
Okay. Our vice chair has just a few questions for you.
Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to weigh the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, I have.
Thank you. You may proceed and share your screen.
Thank you.
Okay, but you can see that. So the property at 11 Queen Street is located immediately to the east of the I-95 overpass about a block.
to the east of the I-95 overpass, about a block and a half from Christopher Columbus Boulevard.
The property was built in about 1780, and it was designated historic in the 1960s as an individual
designation. It's about 1,200 square feet as it currently stands, and it's been used as a rental
for the last couple years by the owner. But Ray Evers, who is the owner of the property,
is looking to renovate the property, which hasn't been done in several decades, and to move in and
make this his single-family primary residence. The addition that he's proposing is kind of in
conjunction with the renovation is to remove a portion of the rear and to add an addition
that will be three stories in the rear of the property. Here's an image of the site plan showing
existing conditions in the rear as well as conditions that are proposed in the back.
these are some 3D renderings of what the project will look like when it's completed that we're
prepared in connection with our historic review. As Chairman, you mentioned this project and the
design was presented to the Historical Commission and was approved there prior to us submitting for
zoning approval. We also met with Clean Village Neighbors Association and they have given us