No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no answer this time, Chair.
Planning Commission.
This is Ron Bednar, City Planning.
the properties indicated for residential use on the city plan 2017 as part of a community
remapping at this location this zoning was changed the applicant's hardship is not supported with
evidence of unique physical circumstances or condition of property that prevent it from being
used in conformity with the use requirements of the code some proposal represents an overuse
Therefore, we recommend request for variance not to be granted.
Thank you.
MI 2023, 003-735-3933 Brown Street, I vote yes with proviso.
Revised plans, one page, stamped by ZBA, January 17th, 2024.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso.
So, Ishmael Shaheen, my vote is yes, we provide zone.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Number 16, MI 2023-003-645-3029 Ridge Avenue.
Jermaine Harris is the attorney.
There was a letter of opposition from Strawberry Mansion CDC.
The applicant also did provide a petition of support by approximately 150 neighbors.
Jermaine Harris, if you're in the audience, please raise your virtual hand.
Chair, I don't see anyone by the name of Jermaine Harris. We have someone by the name of Tyrone Williams with their hand up.
See what that is.
I believe Mr. Williams is from Strawberry Mansion, CDC.
Okay. All right. Thank you.
Good morning, Mr. Chair and the board.
Why don't we wait to see if we can find Mr. Harris, Mr. Williams, okay?
I appreciate that. Thank you.
All right. Thank you. Jermaine Harris.
Chair, his hand just went up. I'm going to promote him to panelists.
Thank you.
good morning mr harris good morning good to see you chair uh i'm sorry i had some inner i had some
internet issues okay good could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer
uh yeah sure jermaine harris that's j-e-r-m-a-i-n-e h-a-r-r-i-s right do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do could you identify your client
relationship to this property sure my client is jlk investments and uh the individual owner
amina perez is here on this call and our vice chair has just a few our vice chair has a few
questions questions sure good morning counsel do you agree to weigh the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to its accuracy i do 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
i did thank you please proceed and share your screen thank you
okay uh i just want to make sure my screen can be uh your screen's up sir okay all right
All right, so this is concerning 3029 Ridge Avenue, and I'd like to briefly go through the exhibit packet, if I may.
So this is concerning 3029 Ridge Avenue.
So we have here first the tax clearance, then we have the deed conveying ownership of the property.
This property was purchased June 14, 2021.
one now this is concerning a lot uh let me get a better picture draw a picture
bear with me
okay this is a this is concerning a vacant lot that is
at the corner of 30th and uh ridge this is a block that is full of uh full of shells
this is the subject property where i have the cursor so this is uh basically a corner property
and what my client is seeking to do is to construct a four-family dwelling
in at this particular area and this is what the proposed this is what the facade and what the
building uh would be this would be the perspective from ridge avenue now what we have here is uh
four families two bedrooms uh one bath on the top three floors and on the ground floor uh we have a
studio with a which is 427 square feet with a rear yard and with a front uh retail space
the amount of square footage is 800 of the top units of the two bedrooms would be
uh 864 863 square feet as we can see
and here is a with the front would look like of this particular uh proposed of this building let's
see here's what we we have the uh posting of the zoning notice that was done 21 days in advance
of this this is another this is the frontage the ridge avenue view right here of it which
shows abandoned buildings uh right there we have significant community support of
nearby neighbors here it's over a hundred uh signatures of the petition where they support
the erection of this particular project. Now, I wanted to talk about, there are four other,
there are three other buildings that are on this particular block of the ones that are active,
that are not shelves. And they are also multi-family dwellings. We have 3006 Ridge Avenue,
and that's a five-family dwelling with a rooftop deck. We also have 3007 Ridge Avenue.
uh that's a three that's a three story with a rooftop uh deck
we also have 3017 which is a three story with a roof deck um all of these are new
a relatively new air new construction uh they were issued these permits they were issued
in 2020 if you look at these uh permits for these uh by this board that was approved by this board
this is the rm1 district by the way um it already has by right three families uh they are seeking
uh four families and also this particular building they were seeking a and they got
approved a height uh increased height of 46 feet now i wanted to talk
46 feet. Now, I wanted to talk briefly about the letter of opposition by the Strawberry Mansion CDC. That's the coordinating RCO. And there's a couple, there's an inaccuracy that I wanted to discuss with regards to the voting.
They're saying that the voting was 12 to zero, but that's not true because there were 12 people in total.
This was a Zoom call. There were 12 people in total at this RCO meeting, this community meeting.
Myself and my client were two of the presenters.
There was another attorney and his client that was there.
So we comprised four of the 12 people that were there. So there wasn't there couldn't have been a 12 to nothing vote because there were four people who were not affected, who weren't part of the community that was there.
And then if you look at the voting tabulation, there's no breakdown whatsoever. All it says is the opposed and it has the coordinating RCO. It doesn't have any affected neighbors that was there. It doesn't have a breakdown at all.
So I just wanted to bring that to this board's attention that I understand that they have the RCO has an opposition to it, but it's not exactly it's not as accurate as they list in their meeting summary with the voting.
Now, they do state that they had an opposition because of that the variance would affect the neighborhood conservation overlay in Strawberry Mansion.
And so in response to that, my client decided to remove the rooftop deck, which is prohibited in that area.
And she also reduced the height from 45 to 43 feet as well.
We also have here, we have the letter of refusal and we have the application for appeal.
So what we're asking for is that in light of the significant community support, in light of the adjacent use of the properties that are on that block of multifamily, that this particular project be granted.
And I do have my client here again, who, if I would be allowed to have them promoted so that the way they could state their testimony.
Okay. Thank you.
Ms. Perez, would you raise your hand, please?
Ms. Perez?
Ms. Perez has been allowed to speak. Please unmute yourself.
Ms. Perez, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court's stenographer?
Good morning, everyone. Amina Perez, A-M-I-N-A-H, last name P, like Paul.
Sorry.
So, Ms. Perez.
Can you have one more time, please?
Sure. Amina, A-M-I-N-A-H, Perez, P-E-R-E-Z.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Okay. Ms. Perez, did you hear my testimony to the board?
I did.
Okay. Do you adopt my testimony as to what was stated?
Okay. Do you have anything that you wanted to add, anything you wanted to add to what I stated to the board?
I would like to state that I did go block to block all in the surrounding area where the building is proposed.
And I door knocked and there's significant community support from the near neighbors.
They would like new development. Most of the sentiment I received was that would be great.
it's been an empty lot people dump trash there i want to see my property values increase
and also they want to have ridge avenue and it's actually written in the underlay that they want
to have ridge avenue be a commercial corridor the other three buildings that are on the same block
which were already approved and are newly built they don't have any commercial space and this
could be a coffee shop it could be something that you know adds value to the community and
could be a coffee shop it could be something that you know adds value to the community and there's
going to be commercial space here which is in line with the overlay i would also like to say that
75 of the initial uh askings in these drawings i acquiesced and removed um
and so what i'm asking for is just one additional unit so we could house more people
in an affordable manner, and also give small business owners an opportunity to operate.
And I initially contacted RCO July 13th at 9.22 a.m.
I contacted them in November.
I contacted them in December asking, could I come in and discuss the project?
So I was pretty proactive about trying to reach out, trying to show what I was doing, trying to garner their support.
Thank you for your time.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Two things, Mr. Chair.
One, Mr. Harris referenced a couple of changes in the plans.
There were no revised plans that were submitted with the application.
So I would suggest that the board's decision in this matter be held so that revised plans can be submitted and reviewed by the board.
In addition, the vacant commercial space that is suggested, if the board does approve this application with that space, it should include a proviso that use registration is required prior to occupancy because any, because it's an RM1 property, any commercial use will likely require additional variance relief.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Hillary, can we take comments from the virtual audience or do we need the revised plan?
Yes, I think we can.
I think because the changes to the plans were presented on the record today, we can take public testimony and planning unless planning wants to wait and then just hold this for a vote.
Thank you.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Chair.
His hand is up again.
Okay, it keeps going up and going down. At this time, I see no handshare.
If I may, I did submit these revised plans to the zoning board in my exhibit packet. The plans that have been submitted in my packet is the revised plans.
okay they weren't they weren't noted as revised plans and there was no proviso plans form
listing the changes from the original plan so the board had no way of knowing that these were
revised plans so they can be resubmitted with a proviso plans form that would be great
sure no problem no problem okay chair we have hands up now okay thank you i was going to say
go back um you're saying the strawberry mansion community okay they've been unmuted and allowed
to speak miss cummings you miss cummings you were already sworn in earlier today could you just
state your name for the record it's bonita cummings affected um rco please proceed i just
wanted to um say that i submitted a correspondence which went to um in my email as well board
Council to receive any revised material or presentation. It was never, that request was
never honored in terms of Strawberry Mansion community concern. Also, I just wanted to indicate
that these signatures are signatures from areas that are not affected. 33rd Street is very far
from where that location is. Also, I just wanted to indicate that many of those developments were
through COVID and many of them got done just, you know, because L&I was not there to do any
violations for some of the developers. So things are in those locations that may not even should
be there as far as development goes. But I also wanted to indicate that that block doesn't just
face Ridge Avenue. So that is like it comes to a triangle. So that height impacts negatively
the persons on that small street in terms of what they're proposing, the height that
they're proposing there.
So there was never any discussion, additional discussion as to any changes that were being
discussion, additional discussion as to any changes that were being considered. So in that
considered.
regard, we only know them to be violating our overlay and things of that nature. So I just
wanted to put on the record that that street is not like you're looking at something that's just
a straight corridor. It actually comes to a point which involves a whole nother block of residence
that would be negatively impacted by the height, even at 43 feet.
So thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Cummings.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Chair, we have a F. Wilson.
They have been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Good morning.
Could you please, good morning, could you please,
could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, Felicia Wilson, F-E-L-I-C-I-A.
last name wilson w-i-l-s-o-n do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
but the truth i do please proceed are you a neighbor are you a neighbor i am a neighbor
and i have a property at 24 50 north 30th street okay and i plan to do the same thing as far as
development so i am in support of this project all right thank you for taking the time to call
us. We appreciate it. Anyone else in the virtual audience? Chair, we have Chanel Jackson. They have
been unmuted and allowed to speak. Good morning. Could you state your name, please, and spell for
the court stenographer? Hello. Hi. Could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Hi, my name is Toni Willis, T-O-N-I-E, Willis, W-I-L-L-I-S. I live in Strawberry Mansion on 33rd Street.
All right. Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Yes, I swear the truth is nothing but the truth. And for them to say that it's a distance from 33rd Street, I walk up and down Ridge Avenue every day, and it's nothing but abandoned property, trash, and everything else. And I think anybody should welcome new construction and to have more activity on Ridge Avenue.
thank you for taking the time to call us we appreciate it is there anyone else in the
virtual audience chair we have kalila reed williams they have been unmuted and allowed to speak
hi could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer
hi again my name is kalila k-h-a-l-e-e-l-a-h reed r-e-e-b williams right do you swear or
to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the
truth? Yes. I am
a neighbor of... Oh, sorry.