So what we're planning to do with this design, members of the board, just getting now down
to my plans, which are essentially identical for each.
Oh, there we go.
So we are planning on more or less meeting the neighboring structures in terms of the
front facades, both on the first and second story.
We do have a third story as well, which is set back the required amount under the zoning
And that's for both parcels, members of the board.
The proposed floor plan is here.
We're looking to have in the basement a decent sized area, bedroom in the front, bedroom in the rear, access stairs to the rear of the property for emergency egress, and a bedroom to the rear of the first floor as well.
This blue is all the first unit. Living room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, large walk-in closet.
The next unit, which is indicated here in green, you come in through the common area, go up the stairs.
living, dying, kitchen, much like the other unit, one bedroom to the rear, and
then one bedroom to the rear of the third story, one bedroom to the front of the
third story. And that's essentially it, members of the board. As I stated before,
we did have a well-publicized meeting. The hope was that these could be
single-family homes that were owned by residents, and that was repeated both by
the chair of the community group and by several neighbors that were involved. As
my client is going to testify in a moment though it's simply with respect to the costs we cannot
build at least with these parcels homes that will be priced in a way that isn't any way affordable
if these were to be single family homes it'd be upwards of four hundred thousand dollars
uh we simply don't want to do that we're going to have something that is more affordable in an
area that does pride itself on home ownership uh so alan if you would please raise your hands
Before you go in, could you show Councilman Jones' letter?
Yes. One moment, please.
Okay. So this is the letter that's on the screen right now, dated February 3rd, letter of support, which says essentially after careful reconsideration and closer examination, the councilman's in support of the applications because the plan development is appropriate and will be an asset to the
community. And like I said, my client can speak further as to the discussions.
That's fine. Bring your client on.
Sure. Alan, would you please raise your hand?
I'm not to speak.
Could you state your name and spell it for our court reporter?
Yes. Alan Borovitch, A-L-L-E-N, B like boy, O-R-O,
v like victor i ch do you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the
truth yes i do counsel proceed sure so alan let's talk a little bit about the discussions you have
with councilman's office and the other properties that you have in the area that are single family
can you tell the board a little bit about what your discussions with the councilman entailed
uh yeah i built two houses uh very close in proximity to these two lots um we put them for
sale and you know it was to do uh sale homes but it's just the pricing was they're for sale now
we're having a lot of trouble selling them and the pricing is now just gotten worse uh because
of material so we went back and said you know we would rather do these as duplexes um instead of
having it sit vacant and he was in support of that great so alan um with respect to the rest
With respect to the rest of my testimony, have you heard everything I've said today?
of my testimony. Have you heard everything I've said today?
And is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge?
Have you any other questions or anything you'd like to add for the board?
Okay. I have no further questions.
Thank you. Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions from the virtual or comments from the virtual audience?
mr chair i have um a jihad on leave with the hand raised i'll allow them to speak at this time
hello uh commissioner and members could you could you uh state your name please and spell
it for the court reporter my name is jihad j-i-h-a-d my last name is ali i'm a property
owner of uh of a property within that footprint right at the end of the block is 17 okay hold on
one minute hold on one minute mr do you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing
but the truth yes i do proceed so i'm a property owner in the uh in the 1700 block of north
redfield street which is right at the top of the block right through that driveway um i attended
both of the meetings before uh one thing as a community we had had some concerns about the
second floor setback and materiality of it the developer revises plans and do and as you see
now with the second floor setback, I support the project. Thank you very much. Anyone else from the
virtual audience? I see no further hands at this time. Planning Commission, Ron Bednar City Planning.
These two properties on 59th Street are both indicated for residential use on the city plan.
In 2018, the area was remapped to reflect the predominant single-family two-story block
pattern currently in place. The applicant's hardship are not supported with evidence of
unique physical circumstances or conditions of these two properties that would prevent them
from being used in conformity with the code. Therefore, we recommend that the two requested
variances for 1715 and 1720 on 59th Street not be granted. Thank you. MI 2021 002421
17 20 north 59th mi 2020-001856 1750 north 59th street i vote yes to both thomas holliman my vote
is yes to both jane snell yes to both ishmael shaheed yes to both thank you thank you members
the board. Okay. MI 2021 003842 6576 Buma Street, Camilla Daryl, first listing, no exhibits.
Ms. Daryl.
Ms. Daryl, if you're in the audience, please raise your virtual hand.
I do not believe she's in the audience today, sir.
Continued, must be tried. MI 2021 00332 906 East Chelten Avenue, Lynn Nichols, the attorney,
Faith Community Development Corporation, letter of opposition.
They've been promoted, sir. Two panelists.
Thank you.
Counselor, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Yes. Good afternoon. My name is Lynn Nichols, L-Y-N-N, last name N-I-C-H-O-L-S.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Please proceed.
Thank you.
Mr. Holliman has a few questions for you.
Good afternoon, Counselor. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
According to our records, you have submitted all the required documents.
Is that correct?
That is correct.
Please proceed.
Before I proceed, may I ask if there are any parties of interest in the virtual audience
that plan on testifying in this matter today?
By a show of, put your hand up, please, if you're going to intend to testify today.
we have one hand chair we have one hand may i ask if that person can identify themselves
May I ask if that person can identify themselves?
i believe that might be my client
I believe that might be my client.
Could you put-
Another hand has gone up, sir.
Colford Williams?
Yes, that's my client.
Is there another hand?
I thought there was another.
Oh yeah, there was another hand
that Ms. Diana Striplett has gone up as well.
Can we have that person identify themselves
and can I find out if they live on the block
or who they are with regard to this matter?
Ms. Triplett? Ms. Triplett, please unmute. Yes, hello, can you hear me?
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Yes, my name is Diana Triplett, D-I-A-N-A, last name S-T-R-I-T-L-E-T, I do live.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Do you tend to testify today?
Yes, against it, though. I do live on the block.
Okay, fine. Okay, that's fine. Thank you, ma'am.
Can I just ask what her address is, though? Thank you.
908 East Shelton Avenue.
Thank you.
May I proceed with my presentation and testimony?
Absolutely can. Sure.
Thank you. As you can see here, this is our presentation for...
Mr. Holloman, do you have your questions answered?
Yes, I did, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you. Very good. Thanks. I'm sorry, Lynn.
Thank you, Chair. Two other things, just record keeping for the purposes of this hearing. I did present two additional exhibits, which are photographs of a property on that block. And our other witness that I had listed in our packet is not available today. He had an emergency architect, so he's not available today. So we will only be presenting Mr. Williams. Thank you.
With regard to 906 East Shelton Avenue, the property was purchased on March the 10th, 2020. It is currently zoned as a RSA 3 single family property.
The owner who is here, the representative, is asking for a variance to have this property zoned as a two-family unit.
They were able to get a rental license.
They got a license on July 14, 2020.
The license was renewed for a two-unit property on August 31, 2021.
One of our arguments is that this should never have been refused because of the fact that the initial license was granted on July the 13th.
Ms. Nichols, could you start sharing your screen for us?
Oh, I'm sorry. Thank you.
I apologize.
No, no, no.
Are you able to see my screen?
I'm making it bigger.
I see license number, Antonio Williams.
I'll go back. I'm sorry. I apologize.
So the property was initially purchased on March the 10th, 2020. This is the deed. We also had the rental license that the owner received on. It was granted on July the 14th of 2020 for a two unit property at that location.
They then renewed the license on August the 31st, 2021, again for two units at that property.
The tax clearance is here showing that the property is current. Here is a photograph
of the front of the property, 906 East Shelton Avenue, as you can see. There's a property to
the left or to the right of the photo as you're facing it, which is 904 East Shelton Avenue.
This is the front. This next photograph shows other properties on the block. The property
here in front of you where the white van is 904. The property next to that is 902 East Shelton Avenue.
And these houses on the block are all similar. They're all three-story properties. There's
currently a property at 918 East Shelton Avenue, I'll bring that photo up, which was granted a
variance by this board on September 22, 2020, and it is currently a two-family unit. As you can see
here, this is 918 East Shelton right here by this large tree. It's only a few houses away from 906
East Shelton. This is another view of 918 East Shelton Avenue. As you can see, it's a three-story
property similar, just like 9060 Shelton, which has a variance for two units. You can see here
where there are additional meters for that property that have been placed there.
This is a view looking to the left of 9060 Shelton.
This is a view looking to the left of 906 East Shelton down the street. As you can see, there's other buildings in the next block. They are all properties that are zoned for multi-units.
Across the street from 906 East Shelton is a church, and this is a photograph showing that church across the street.
Next, you see here a list of the impacted neighbors that were contacted.
And we did receive some support from those neighbors in terms of their verbal support
of the project.
We also provided a zoning notice for the RCO hearing we had with the RCO group on September
28, 2021. And this is that notice that showed the date of this hearing today. This is the notice of
refusal. And here we have the site plan that was drawn up by our architect. And I'm going to turn
it so that you can see it. As you can see here the site calculations that were done by the architect
indicate that on the lower level here it's only for the meters and utility. That's the only use
that would be of that particular basement. Here we have the first floor which shows that there's
an entrance into the first floor. This is the door into the first floor. This is the door into the
second floor. And there's a kitchen, a bedroom, and a bathroom. On the second floor, as you walk
up, there's the bedroom, there's a kitchen, a living room, and a bedroom. And then the second
floor also contains another bedroom and a bathroom and a den. This is the RCO meeting summary.
Although the RCO did say that they objected to the use variants on this property, the only basis
that they had was because they suspected that this would be a boarding house
or a used for a recovery home. The number of people who were present at the RCO was a total
of 11, according to the notes here. There were only two that opposed it, and one person did
support it. So there was no opposition to the two-unit variance. It was just an opposition
that they think that the property is not going to be used for what the applicant is asking for.
So that completes my presentation with regard to this property.
At this time, I would like to call Mr. Williams.
Mr. Williams has been allowed to speak.
Mr. Williams, state your name, please, and spell it for the court reporter.
Excuse me, sir.
Yeah, you need to unmute yourself.
Okay, my name is Calford Williams.
Can you hear me?
Yeah, could you spell it for the court reporter, please, sir?
C-O-L-F-O-R-D Williams, W-I-L-L-I-A-M-S.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Mr. Williams, do you agree and adopt the testimony of presentation as I've given here today?