They've been hard to speak, but they may be having technical difficulties on her end.
Ms. Gibson?
Could you unmute?
all right they're just been up they're just left okay is there anyone else in the first audience
good morning oh okay janice
good morning good morning could you please state could you please state and spell your name for the
our court reporter. Sure. My name is Janice, J-A-N-I-C-E, Gibson, G-I-B-S-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes. Janice, are you a neighbor? I am a community member. I live right near Parkwood,
and I live right off of Knights Road down the street. That's fine. Give us your testimony.
Yes, I just feel that this is something that's very positive for the community. And I did hear Camilla speak about the gym and going to the gym. I love, but she's correct in saying that it's not very personal.
And I know these classes, these Pilates classes, are a means to help us decrease stress, build connection.
And I just think it would be a great thing for the community to have that in our neighborhood where we don't have to travel very far to get to these classes.
And in looking at her plans, it just looks like it would be amazing for us.
All right. Thank you very much. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
No further hands, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commission.
Madison Matera, Planning Commission staff.
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing rsa4 residential single family
The comprehensive plan recommends no change
to the existing RSA for residential single family.
attached zoning at this location this is a large corner property with a layout unique in this
neighborhood that appears to have been physically configured for the proposed uses and has a
documented history of permitted use for similarly scaled commercial services therefore the city
planning commission recommends the board grant the request of variances for personal services
and multiple principal uses.
Council, we're going to hold this vote until next Wednesday.
We'll talk about it.
We're going to vote at 930, right?
Next Wednesday?
Yes, November 4th.
November 4th.
We just want to kick it around and try to understand all the complexities to this, okay?
Anything else that's needed for me, please let me know.
Oh, sure.
Thank you very much, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Number nine, MI-2025-004-967-2004 West Indiana Avenue.
Sharice Johnson is the applicant.
There's a letter of unanimous support from Allegheny West Civic Association.
They're coming back in as a panelist now, Mr. Chair, I believe.
I think so.
Thank you.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Could you please state and spell your name for this stenographer?
Yes, Sharice, S-H-E-R-R-I-C-E, Johnson, J-O-H-N-S-O-N.
All right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing,
but the truth yes i do our um vice chair has a few questions for you okay good morning
have you submitted your documents and exhibits 14 days in advance of this hearing
yes the only document that was just recently resubmitted was a picture of the notice the
um hearing notice postings okay yes the postings and you and you understand you're here that uh for
group living in the existing structure is that correct yes and you're aware that you are here
because you need a special exception to operate this in your rsa 5 zone and district yes okay
all right thank you you can share your screen and let us know what you're trying to do with the
property okay um can't share my screen i'm sorry i don't i don't know what's going on with my
on my end.
Ian, do we have anything that could be helpful?
Good morning.
I did submit the documents.
Good morning, Ms. Johnson.
This is Ian Eggerty.
You should see a button at the bottom of your screen
by Ray's hand that is like an arrow pointing up
and it says share.
So what you want to do is you want to have your files
open on your screen somewhere and click that button to share yeah and give me one second
i'm sorry i apologize not a problem
Ms. Johnson, why don't we do this?
Yes, I'm sorry.
You don't have to be sorry.
Let me go on to a couple other cases, and I'll come back.
And then you'll come back, and I'll have it up.
I will most certainly come back, okay?
Okay, thank you so much.
Thank you, ma'am.
My apologies.
Number 11.
MI 2026-002-891-4741-Umbria.
Bernard Astagio is the attorney.
They are rejoining as a panelist now, Mr. Chair.
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
Good morning, counsel.
I think you've already been sworn once today, right?
Correct.
Could you just state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Could you just state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yeah, it's Bern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-E-R.
Yeah, it's Vern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O, on behalf of Reuben Bentley.
Let's see what we have here.
I have a letter of opposition received from Ridge Park Civic Association.
Our vice chair has a few questions for you, sir.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Have you submitted your documents and exhibits 14 days in advance of this hearing?
I have.
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Thank you.
You can show your screen and proceed with your case.
Thank you.
It's coming.
Sorry about that.
Technical snafu.
47-41 Umbria.
This is a beautiful single-family home that my clients have first lived there and have been using it with limited lodging, no more than six months out of the year.
And they're doing wonderfully.
There's never been a complaint, never a 3-1-1 call, never a 9-1-1 call.
They are five-star review on Airbnb.
They rank in the top 2% of hosts in the area.
The property is, as I'll show you right here, here's the layout.
you have your living room dining and kitchen back porch and a yard
the basement is just mechanicals washer dryer
upstairs you got a front bedroom back bedroom and a bath
and the top floor is another bedroom.
My clients, this was a labor of love
as far as putting this property together.
My client is an artist.
Much of her work is displayed in the home.
And they vet all of their guests
They only do about 120, 130 visits a year.
They just like to be able to do them over the course of the 12-month calendar year instead of being limited to the six months.
Again, they are in the top 2% of all hosts on Airbnb.
The property is directly adjacent to a bar, which is, of course, a commercial use.
It's a lovely space right across the street is a municipal parking lot.
So the use is not going to tax the parking situation.
As you can see, there's a lot of care gone into the property.
I was a little surprised to hear that the Ridge Park Civic Association sent a letter of opposition because everyone at the meeting was expressed support and no concern whatsoever.
In fact, what we have as well, I'm going to get to it in a minute, is 40 signatures, everyone on the block, nearly everyone on the block, and additional surrounding neighbors.
40 signatures in support.
As you can see, most of them are on Umbria Street.
So I'm not quite sure. I'm not privy to, you know, what the RCO leadership was was doing, but everyone in the immediate neighborhood fully supports it.
And again, we had a very lovely meeting at the time.
With that, because my clients have shown that they manage it themselves, because they have zero evidence of any sort of issues regarding trash or noise, no 311s, no 911s, and given the overwhelming support of immediate neighbors, I respectfully request the granting of this variance.
Even on, I understand the board likes to do this on a temporary basis, but either way, we would like that.
Even on, I understand the board likes to do this on a temporary basis, but.
And with that, I'd like to call my client, Ruben Bentley.
Thank you.
Back, coming back in as a panelist now.
Thank you.
hi there we're both here hi reuben could you please state and spell your name for this
stenographer sure it's reuben bentley that's r-e-u-b-e-n-b-e-n-t-l-e-y right right do you
swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do counsel thank you reuben
did you hear my presentation to the board this morning i did is it true and accurate to the best
of your knowledge yes you adopt it as your own testimony yes thank you did you receive a signature
from the adjacent neighbors at uh was that 40 43 and 39 well um the immediate adjacent is a bar
okay well the other yeah so we we're close with our neighbor al who's on the left side of our
house and he expressed support um and we actually i didn't end up getting a signature from him just
because we couldn't like align our schedules but i am very close to him and we see him regularly and
he has no issues with it our neighbors behind us they both signed the petition and expressed support
and the other home that we border is they are like looking for a tenant right now.
Thank you for going on there.
And across the street is a municipal parking lot.
I think I mentioned that.
So are you planning to do, is this a house that you're doing?
Yes, it's a single family home.
Oh, okay.
all right so then can you show those plans again so the sure how many how many bedrooms
are there three three two on the second floor and i'll bring it right back up
two on the second floor and one on the third okay bathrooms one just one okay and then
And I saw a kitchen, living room, and what have you.
And then there's a, what's that, like a porch space?
Yeah, there's a back porch and then a backyard.
I'll bring it back up for you.
So when you do this, this is for families, correct?
Yes, yeah.
Primarily, yes.
And they're staying in the city.
They're just moving to a different neighborhood.
They put a lot of energy into this house. Like I said, my client, Ruben's wife, is an artist, and much of the house is decorated with her art. They're very careful with whom they put in there. There's dedicated trash and recycling storage on the side yard.
Okay, because that was my next question. I'm stealing the thunder of one of my other board members.
Say it again?
I said stealing the thunder of one of my other board members asking about the trash.
Well, yeah, always.
You always, everyone, someone always gets to it, so.
That's right.
Right?
Other questions?
All right.
Thank you.
I guess I have a question just to understand how long you've been doing the short-term rentals.
Sounds like you've been very successful.
um i mr bentley can you explain how long have you been doing this under the limited lodging
oh yeah we've been doing it for about two years um we bought the house three years ago and we
kind of started doing it two years ago just to like make a little extra money um i'm a chef
and marcel is an artist so we both kind of have unconventional careers so we needed like a little
side hustle
and I guess
I guess as limits and dodging
are you all also still
living in the property or is this