the community for gatherings and those kinds of things. Now, when you look at this, there
is only one street frontage. The property has this little street frontage here. There's
no street frontage in the back. It's a triangular property. So the property really doesn't have
very much street frontage. It's got about 236 linear feet of street frontage, which really
limits the amount of street trees that you can have. So they did manage to squeeze in five,
even though seven are available. If they had street frontage on more than one side and more
than just a small amount, they would have clearly met the required number of street trees. And they
are going from a building that's about 2,700 square feet to one that has a footprint of about
17,000 square feet. It's a lot. It's more than six times the present size. If the variances are
improved and they move to this bigger, they will have a much bigger and friendlier work area for
employees. They will move their business out of its present location, which really doesn't fit in
well anymore, to a more appropriate location in the I-2 zoning district. They presently have 10
employees they will at least double that if they move down here they are going to a six facilities
about six times larger than the one that they're in they operate five days a week 8 30 to 5 p.m
and i just want to just show some additional photographs to see the the context of where
they're going assuming it gets approved and again it's in an industrial area that's the lot this
shows a lot it's an appropriate use for the area again the floor plans the first floor
the second floor and third floor elevations
again the roof deck
renderings
renderings and just some additional photos showing the the lot it's a vacant lot right
now and some of the surrounding uses you have industrial uses all down there and also some
big box retail on the other side of Wekiko Street.
I just want to go back. The RCO letter, like I said, the RCO letter is a unanimous support
letter 15 people attended and all 15 people supported the the application and understand
that it would be a good thing for the city to allow this building this company to expand its
business the variance is requested are due solely to the unique nature of this site having only one
street frontage making it impossible to comply with things like the street tree requirement
the denial of the variances would be an unnecessary hardship it would result in a thriving business
not being able to expand in an appropriate area the variances are least necessary due solely to
the unique lot the limited frontage and the triangular shape the variances are in harmony
with the code they will enable enable the proper appropriate use of the site they will not be
detrimental to public health they'll benefit it by allowing this business to relocate here
again the signage is required as well it only has one street frontage so they need better
signage that you can see passers-by can see so that people can find the business
and the variances are an appropriate use and they will allow this to business to expand
for these reasons we do believe that the requirements for variance are met by this
application and again in addition to the RCO letter of support there is a letter from council
member school a non-opposition as well um what i'd like to do is call on mr nigro
dominic nigro mr chairman sure
sir could you please raise your virtual hand
do we see his hand raised yes i allowed him to speak he has to mute himself
sir could you say state your name and spell it please for the court reporter
dominic
dominic you on yes could you yeah i'm sorry yeah yeah sorry i'm unmuted now i think
so it's dominic nigro it's d-o-m-e-n-i-c last name nigro n-i-g-r-o right do you swear or firm
to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do proceed counsel
thank you mr chairman uh dominic did you hear my statements i did and are they true and correct
they are and uh do you adopt them as your testimony i do mr chairman i have no further
questions for uh mr nigel from the questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman
questions or comments from the virtual audience
I see no hands chair. Planning Commission. Good afternoon Mr. Chairman and board members. David
Fecto, City Planning Commission. Mr. Chairman and members of the board, the comprehensive plan
recommends no change to the medium industrial zoning at this location. The use complies with
the purpose and intent of the zoning code and the recommendations of the comprehensive plan
and although there clearly is no hardship requiring a roof deck to be built on top of an auto repair
shop the remaining variances partially result from the configuration of the property and so the city
planning commission recommends that the board grant the proposed variances at this location
thank you mi 2022 002887 2200 wekiko avenue i vote yes revised plans one page stamped by zba
on August 24th 2022. Thomas Holloman my vote is yes with proviso. James Snell my
vote is yes with proviso. Ishmael Saheed yes with proviso. Thank you counsel. Thank you
Mr. Chairman. Okay. Number three, MI 2022 002 810 616
0-0-2-8-1-0-6-1-6-7-61 Geyer Avenue.
Alan Notkinson is the attorney.
Letter of support, 40th Ward Republican RCO.
Letter of support from Councilman Johnson.
An applicant also submitted a petition of support signed by 13 neighbors in the 6700 block of Geyer.
good afternoon mr chair members of the board alan knockamson a-l-a-n last name knockamson
n-o-c-h-u-m-s-o-n 1-2-3 south broad street suite 1600 llppa 19109 do you swear for him to tell the
truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do could you identify your client in relationship
of the property? Yes, Mr. Chair. My client is J.N.K. Vincent Enterprises, LLC. And the virtual
audience is its member, Jessica Vincent. Okay. Ishmael Shahid has a few questions for you,
our board secretary. You're breaking up, Ish.
yeah we can hear that
do you agree to wave the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
i do all right did you know all the exhibits and documents as required such as the proof of
ownership tax clearance copy of refusal or referral five days in advance of this hearing
Did you meet with the RCO or do you have a left?
Yes, in all respects.
I think I may have left one out.
Pictures of drawings of the property as well.
Please proceed and share it with your screen.
Yes, thank you very much.
So I'm here to present 6761 Dyer Avenue.
In my presentation packet, you'll see the notice of refusal,
the letter of support from the 40th Ward Republicans,
where you'll see that there was unanimous support
by all RCOs pertaining to this property.
A food preparing and service licensed numbers 207435.
The reason why I referenced that
is that this is a CMX2 property.
And what we're trying to do
is merely swap out the commercial unit
with a residential unit to make three units
rather than two residential units and one commercial.
This property, according to the public record,
has not had a commercial use actively since 2006. In addition, you'll see our petition. So not only
did we get unanimous support by all RCOs pertaining to this property, my client also
reached out to the nearby neighbors. And you'll see in the petition that we limited our scope to
the individuals who resided in the properties most adjacent to our property or in support of
our project next you'll see maps of the area photographs of the property in the surrounding
area our plans and drawings of particular note there's no basement so there is a lower level
and because of how the property slopes down there is no below grade living in this property uh
we're taking that commercial space on the first floor and we're looking to really swap that out
to make it a residential space then you'll see our rco meeting notice and proof of that notice
our applications for appeal, our deed to the property, showing that J and K, Vincent M. DePos,
LLC, is the owner of the property, and our certificate of tax clearance. As I indicated
previously, Jessica Vincent is in the virtual audience, and at the conclusion of my presentation,
I'll ask her to adopt my testimony, and then we'll be more than happy to take any questions from the
board. First things first, this is a notice refusal. Again, this is a CMX2 property. What's
allowed as a right is two residential and one commercial and all of our refusals pertain to
the fact that we're merely trying to swap out that commercial unit uh with a residential one
uh so again not out of character of what we're asking for um not out of character for what is
um in the neighborhood um and in in the uh in the letter of support from the 40th award republicans
They actually, in support of our project, they specifically state, it's our belief that the corner store concept is no longer appropriate for such a residential neighborhood as commercial use has adversely impacted the quality of life for near neighbors.
So in this neighborhood, there's not many of the corner properties have commercial use anymore, and it's disfavored within this community.
So this is a residential neighborhood, and they would prefer to have the commercial component eliminated by way of having the residential component in there.
And as you can see, there was unanimous support by way of this letter of support.
uh there was unanimous support by way of this letter of support five to zero all five rcos
Five to.
supported this project and then just a food preparation license again we went based on
the public records but according to atlas there has not been a commercial component here of any
sort of public record since october 13th of 2006. so we're going on almost 16 years of no commercial
use in this property so given the fact that commercial use is probably not supported in
this neighborhood from a financial standpoint from as well as a standpoint of their position
that they want respectively then petition again as you can see all of our addresses are on the
6700 block of dyer street we really try to eliminate our scope to the petition to the
people that would be most directly impacted by this proposed use and then maps of the area as
can see it's all orange we're all rm1 we are cmx2 on the property but typically the properties in
this neighborhood that have cmx2 don't have a commercial component in there so you can see
there's like commercial here and there was nothing showing there there is some commercial sporadically
here but not on these corner properties that are cmx2 and then photographs of the property um
So even before, you know, you know, seeking the ZBA's approval to make this multifamily in nature, my client has done aesthetic improvements to the property that was appreciated by the community, such as painting, you know, the facades to make it like more modern, more up to date.
And here's 6761 Geyer Street to the side of the property where the corner is 68 in Geyer.
As you can see, again, throughout, there is no basement living here.
So there's two ways to get in through this front door here, which will be the first floor
and second floor.
And then this is the lower level, but again, no lower level, no below grade living.
and then here's dyer avenue to the right of the property dyer avenue to left their property again
you can see it's just a residential neighborhood uh south 68 to the right of the property south
68 to the left of the property and then just examples of what my client has done on previous
projects uh again trying to give examples kitchens bathrooms living rooms things like that so the
board has an idea of what you're dealing with in terms of my clients so here's the kitchen
living room and then just again simplistic floor plans that we help our client create
but this is the lower level unit the one that's on 68th street it has its own entrance again
everything is above grade it's simply two bedrooms one bath here's on the guyer street side you saw
that front door you go in the vestibule area go to the left again another two bedroom one bath
on the first floor you go to i guess whether it be the second or third floor depending what your
perspective is you will apply the steps and this is another two bedroom one bath and then our meeting
notice we met with the community earlier this month 164 addresses were notified here is a list
of the addresses that we know the notice to proof of mailing to those addresses our application for
appeal showing that J&K Interprises LLC filed the application for appeal. Our notice of refusal,
our project information form, our deeds of property showing that J&K Interprises LLC is
the owner of the property. Alan, could you get a little closer to the mic? We're having a hard
time hearing you. Oh, I'm sorry. That's good. That's good. I just don't want my head to be
so it's okay it's okay sorry uh and this is j and k enterprises llc uh showing that they're the owner
of the property and then our certificate of tax claims uh with that being said i'm going to stop
sharing my screen for a second i would ask that miss vincent virtually raise her hand
miss vincent you're free to speak hi could you state your name and spell it please for the court
reporter i am jessica vincent that's j-e-s-s-i-c-a vincent capital v-i-n-c-e-n-t do you swear or firm
to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do you see counsel yes uh jessica
you've heard everything i stated today that's correct is it true and correct it is and do you
adopt as your own testimony i do all right thank you very much questions from the board no mr
chairman no mr chairman questions or comments from the virtual audience
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Chair, we have Craig Middleton.
Hi, could you state your name and spell, please, for the court reporter?
Craig, C-R-A-I-G, last name Melidosian, M-E-L-I-D-O-S-I-A-N.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, sir.
Thank you.
I wanted to affirm what council indicated. I'm the coordinating RCO, but I represent the Southwest Consortium of RCOs, multi-RCO group.
We're pleased with the visual and internal upgrades that we believe have occurred at this property.
It's been significant since current owner has taken management.
as we indicated also that the corner use by traditional bodegas in this neighborhood has
had an adverse impact on the residential quality of life. We sit in close proximity to Finnegan
Playground and several of the other bodegas within a two-block area over the course of the last 24
months have been a source of significant disorder in the community, including violence. So regrettably,
simply want to say we're pleased with this proposal. We ask the board to support it. Thank
you very much. Thank you, sir. Thank you for calling in and your input. Is there anyone else
in the virtual audience? I see no hands, Chair. Planning Commission. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
David Fecto, City Planning Commission. The comprehensive plan recommends a change in the
zoning to residential single family at this location. However, we have to judge this by
its current zoning which is cmx2 but the building has a documented history of a commercial ground
floor unit with two rental units above the additional dwelling unit proposed would replace
the former ground floor commercial unit and it appears to be a legalization of an existing
condition so the city planning commission recommends the board grant the use variance
for three dwelling units thank you mi 2022 002 810 67 61 guyer avenue i vote yes
Thomas Solomon, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you very much.
Okay, so I'm going to call number four, and I'm going to go through.
It's going to be a series of nine cases together.
So, number four, MI 2022-003-164-3405 North 19th Street.
Number six, MI 2022-003-160-3403 North 19th Street.