Ms. Walz. Yes, so Ambrose. Yes, Ambrose is on. He's going to present the papers, the documents.
And you'll talk us through it, okay? Yes, sir.
Mr. Ambrose, please raise your virtual hand again so you may be sworn in.
He himself has now been promoted to panelists.
sir you can unmute yourself there you go okay miss waltz proceed
okay i don't see any documents
sir when presenting can do you see this share screen button along the bottom in green share
do i do i push the share screen it would be whoever's presenting once their document is
open they need to um hover along the bottom and they'll see the green share screen button
ambrose this if you click the bottom you just see the green button for share tap the bottom
well i'm going to do this miss walls we're going to come back to you we have one more case on the
930 list uh hopefully we'll be able to have this uh resolved so let's go to case number 14
mi 2021-002-389-5734-38 old 2nd street uh my notes indicate that councilwoman cherelle parker
acted as the coordinating RCO.
There is a petition in support.
I'm certain Ms. Emerson will clarify that for us
when we get to her.
Mr. Knockinson and or Ms. Colomenta-Amazon
is representing the applicant.
Yes, Mr. Chair.
Ms. Colomenta-Amazon has been promoted to panelists.
Morning, Ms. Amazon.
Please spell your full name for the record
and we'll swear you in.
Good morning, Chairman. Clemente Amazon, C-L-E-M-E-N-T-A. Last name is A-M-A-Z-A-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you, Ms. Kamiri has some questions for you.
Hi, good morning. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance, the refusal or referral, photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing?
And have you met with the RCO? And do you have a letter?
Yes, we actually met with the councilman's office as the RCO, and we have a letter of support.
Okay, great. You may proceed.
Thank you.
can everyone see my screen yes perfect so again today i'll be presenting 5734 old second street
Our proposal is for a small event space.
The property is currently zoned as CA1.
During my presentation, I'll be going through the lease, the certificate of tax clearance,
notice of refusal, application for appeal, maps of the area, photographs of the interior
application for appeal, maps of the area, photographs of the interior of the property,
of the property, as well as...
as well as our proposed plans and drawings. We did do significant community outreach,
so we did receive a letter of support from the nearby neighbors, a block captain,
and we did have a meeting with councilwoman Cheryl Parker's office, and they did state the
community supported the project and the councilwoman will be taking a position of non-opposition.
So we are actually requesting a temporary variance for the duration of the lease,
which will be terminating on April 1st, 2024.
And we have that lease here.
The Certificate of Tax Clearance, our refusal, again, as I mentioned prior,
we are looking to have a small event space.
The property is owned as CA1.
We did receive support from the community because they are looking forward
to having the gap built in this area because there are no current locations
for small meetings.
We have the application for a repeal.
Again, the notice of refusal and project information form.
The map of the area, so we are within a shopping complex and we are actually located right
If you can see my cursor along Old Second.
Here's a view of the front of the property.
The entrance is right here.
View to the right of the property, view to the left of the property.
We do have a designated trash area as well, although we do not anticipate there would
be large amounts of trash generated.
there is no cooking on the premises food will be brought to the property itself we have photos of
the interior of the property as well as the proposed plans and drawings so it is an open
space as you can see from the photos we are proposing to have hours of operation from sunday
through thursday closing at 10 p.m and then closing at midnight on friday and saturday
at the request of the community um as i mentioned we need to meet with council montreal parker's
office. The community took a position of support with the provisals of the hours of operation,
again, Sunday through Thursday at 10 p.m. and then Friday and Saturday at midnight.
And the councilwoman took a position of non-opposition, and this is going to be a
temporary variance for the duration of the lease, which will expire on April 1st, 2024.
Again, we did receive significant community support, as you can see. Ivy Lee, who is the
Black Captains to support this project as well. This is a notice we sent out for that September
2nd community meeting at 6 30 and all of the properties that were notified of that particular
meeting. So with that if I could have my client Shante McCoy raise her hand so she can adopt my
testimony. Mrs. McCoy has been allowed to speak. Hi my name is Shante McCoy
shante spelled s-h-a-n-t-e last name m-c-k-o-y or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth yes thank you shante did you hear my presentation today yes i did
and is it accurate yes it is and would you adopt it as your own testimony yes and do you agree to
have the hours operation from sunday to thursday at 10 p.m closing at 10 p.m and friday and saturday
closing at midnight yes can you also agree that this will be a temporary variance for the duration
of the lease yes thank you you're welcome what were the terms of the temporary variance
so we're just requesting that it expires by april 1st 2024 so it expires at the end of the lease
april 1st 2024 okay yes okay thank you any questions from the board
no sir no no anyone else would like to testify in this case please raise your hand
hillary emerson has her hand raised i will allow her to speak at this time sir
thank you good morning hillary please identify yourself and i'll swear you in
good morning mr chair members of the board hillary emerson e-m-e-r-s-o-n on behalf of
Councilwoman Sherelle Parker. You swear to affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth,
nothing but the truth? I do. Thank you. Please proceed. Yes. As you noted, as Ms. Amazon noted,
the council office served as the coordinating RCO in this case, because unfortunately we don't have
any RCOs in this area at the moment. We held a community meeting via Zoom, and the community was
supportive with the provisos that Ms. Amazon stated.
We did also reach out to the 35th Police District
because there have been a lot of safety concerns
in this area and they did have some concerns,
But we are trying to balance their concerns, the community's concerns, but ultimate support, as well as the applicant's willingness to adapt for hours and length of the variance to address these concerns.
but we are trying to balance their concerns.
So weighing all of this together, the councilwoman took a position of non-opposition with the provisos that have been discussed.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, sir.
You already asked that, I'm sorry.
Anyone else to testify in this case?
No further answer this time, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Planning Commission.
Good morning Chair, Peter Bernard
for the Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change
to the auto-oriented commercial zoning for this property. This is an existing shopping center. We
believe the applicant has shown that the proposed event space and nightclub will have no more impact
than a restaurant or nightclub would be expected to have. We recommend that the board approve the
requested special exception. Thank you. MI 2021-002380 5734-38 Old 2nd Street. My vote is yes
with the following provisos temporary variants to expire april 1st 2024 closing hours will be
sunday through thursday 10 p.m friday and saturday closing will be at midnight
carol tenary my vote is yes with provisos
professor plaza yes for provisos james snell yes for proviso
thank you thank you we'll try miss walls thank you
miss walls we're going to give you one more try okay okay ambrose could you
include him. He said
he has it up now.
He just needs to unmute himself.
And he has two devices.
Unmute yourself, Ambrose.
No, he doesn't need to unmute. He just needs to present
the plans, the presentation. That's it. He doesn't speak.
And you'll walk us through them. As you speak, he'll move
the exhibits around. Okay.
Ambrose, tap on the bottom and click share.
Okay, so this is my great grandmother's home. She was one of the first African Americans to move in
this neighborhood when a majority Caucasian. It was inherited down to my family. My mother
recently got really sick, so I took over the home, but the house is in really bad condition right now.
And I would like to, and my mother doesn't want to live in a neighborhood, it's still not a good neighborhood, but it's up and coming.
But what I would like to do is to revamp the house and turn it into three apartments for mostly the community, preferable, you know, like a lower income or elderly.
I'm turning it into three apartments, one on the top floor and two apartments, two one-bedroom
apartments on the bottom level. You can go to the next slide. Ambrose. Ambrose.
okay i think he's having some difficulties in moving his slides
yeah i think it's important that we see the configuration yes he has the floor designs i
want to go over the floor designs that's important for us the this this corner house is one of the
biggest houses in that neighborhood on that street. All the corner houses are really huge.
So the top floor apartment, the front door would take you into the top floor where the
two-bedroom apartment would be. And then on the side of the house, there's a door right there on
the side. There would be an apartment. The bottom level would be split in half the two one-bedroom
apartments, one on the left side, one on the right side. The entrance for the apartment on the rear
The entrance for the apartment on the rear will come out of the door.
will come out of the door.
There will be another door placed on that side.
And then the other door will be for the second one-bearing room apartment, which would make it easy for senior accessibility because I would like for those two lower-level one-bearing room apartments to be for seniors.
So I'm just waiting for it.
I'm just telling you about it as we bring up the design.
So here are the designs.
um as you can see this is the the levels of the apartment so you'll have the top floor uh which
would be the two-bedroom apartment it'll go up the steps onto the top floor and then
the the bottom level will be split into the two separate apartments side by side one-bedroom
apartment it'll have the living area down at the bottom and then you'll go up a few steps to the
bedroom and the bathrooms the basement and not to interrupt it the basement and the first floor
would be bi-level two bi-level units correct yes it would be split into a bi-level where um you'll
go up the steps to the bedroom and the bathroom which would be up on the second level um and the
The basement level will have the living area with the kitchen area in that area there.
And they're split in half, so you'll have two apartments, which will be easiest access for anyone that can't do too many steps to get into the apartment.
I would prefer to have them for seniors and then a top level for, you know, a family, a small family.
But I want to keep it in the community because this has been a community home for years.
and it's been in my family for generations so I would like to keep it in my family since my
grandmother purchased it. I'm in the military so I wanted to help my mother out with this
and I also wanted to help generate some income for my mother so I figure if I
renovate the place and change the zoning it used to be rented out into a two
two zoned into two apartments prior but for some reason the zoning had changed and the
neighborhood within the last few years because my mother used to rent the apartment, her house out
for a few years back. But recently they had changed the zoning. So we're in compliance.
I've taken over the taxes and I've paid all the back utility bills on the property. So I'm just
trying to revamp the place and to, you know, make the neighborhood look a little better. You know,
that neighborhood is changing somewhat. There are more people coming into the neighborhood
and starting to fix things up. So I would like to contribute by helping. We did get permission from
the neighbors. We sent out the invites for zoning for a neighborhood meeting and we got
the permission from the neighborhood watch and everybody was in charge of the neighborhood.
um they approved it so as long as um they knew as long as we was keeping it in the family and
we weren't trying to like commercialize the property so but my goal is to just make sure
it stays into the neighborhood and it contributed to help with the neighborhood and also as a
financial income for my mother um as she gets older and and lives into a senior facility
I don't want the place to go into this
Mr. Ambrose, could you scroll down so we can see
two, three, okay, thank you
thank you
any questions from the board?
Anyone else would like to testify in this case?
If so, please raise your hand.
I want to take this time, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commission.
Good morning, Chair.
Peter Bernard for the Planning Commission.
This property is indicated for single-family residential in the comprehensive plan.
the zoning map was amended in 2019 from multi-family to single-family at this location