time would comply violations if it was done without permits we generally don't
have that happening when when we're handling violation matters um i'm not saying i understand
have that happening when when we're handling violation matters
since having been closed i'm saying most of them right i mean i at this point obviously to clear
these violations if the board requires the co inspections and co and that then it would require
all the engineering and architectural to be verified with the uh with the city as well before
the final co can be issued again i understand um i think the sort of concern i have is that there
are things that have been done on this plan that are not code compliant so there's more construction
that would need to be done to bring both of the units into compliance i am confused because i see
that there's a rental unit license already on one of them and it's also not code compliant so i just
want to make sure that the your clients aware that like there would be now more work that would
require additional costs when she uh when she started this process to legalize the conditions
it was made clear to her through both the person that helped her draw the plans as well as working
her helping her through the violations and myself that this is just a step within the entire process
of complying all the violations that exist with the use now and the current so the plans that
you're showing us is this intended to show us the unit completed or the existing conditions
this is the existing layout inside the property including um there there is a full bath that
exists here in the back that that is already there what is going to be the the new layout
this is the layout um this plan is currently not code compliant understanding this is zoning we
don't need to look at it for code but um i do just want to point that out if you and architect
are helping her like this is not accurate right well i mean the this is again you're correct
these are zoning based uh plans okay she would have to go for building permits and then building
permit complying plants as well okay and then so what so for this storage space the rear of the
first floor this is going to be just like for the owner for the owner yes and are we going to keep
the bathroom and keep access to the basement uh the access to the basement uh yes the bathroom
doesn't have to be kept i actually spoke to her about this and she's willing to remove it if
that's a requirement from the board okay and then i just think just as a general comment i think
having the two tenants have to come around the corner and go through a bill coat door
to have access to laundry uh when there's this whole room in the rear that has a regular door
that no person could walk through does seem like a not very wise decision it has nothing to do with
zoning but i would strongly i mean this is against that it is the current layout um i can certainly
advise her to relocate for like actual people use for actual like functionality like bill code doors
are not easy to operate they're in the middle of the sidewalk they create a hazard for people
walking by on the street to have another clear and like not very well utilized access to the
basement it does seem that that could open up opportunity for people in this building to have
access to both storage and uh or normal access to the yeah i will turn it right here yeah i think i
think um miss win is correct that makes no sense i mean you just look at the plan just practically
it makes no sense it seems as if there's something else that's maybe some alternative here right
because why spend all this money and have this extra space in the back with a full bathroom that
could actually make into part of that one unit my question though is um you there's so the the quest
from the community is that there be a commercial space on the ground floor that was the that was
the that was their request or that's why they are opposing this right yes that's that's their belief
is that a commercial space is viable at this location okay and as with one unit and your
contention it is not is not is not um not viable to have commercial here but two units are viable
but two units only are viable with the layout that you have is that right well i mean two units
two units obviously if the right now the layout is
so so so i'm just trying to get to so your hardship is that okay this layout for the first
floor only kind of makes sense the hardship is if the hardship is would be if we'd have to
or if you'd have to extend this first floor unit in some way that's your right
extend this first floor unit in some way that's your right it would require substantial um changes
to the layout from the for the property I I personally don't agree that that's true right
um that it would be that much of a hardship to make this a legitimate um unit on the first floor
and not go through all these shenanigans to send people down local doors to work their clothes and
blah blah blah blah so so i don't agree with that with that argument um um so that's that's my point
just in general i don't know that um it's not viable or viable as commercial on this corner
we've seen a lot of tiny commercial that you know have worked um so it's interesting that this
community actually wants commercial a lot of communities don't want commercial anymore on the
on the on the on at these locations so so that's interesting um that's kind of just my comments
um so i'll leave it at that but with regard to with regard to the uh commercial i i do want to
point out that you know other corners in this community like this has already and is in fact
are mostly uh duplexes and not not commercial so my client's first time even even in 2023 when she
had to go through the zoning process it was also even at that time it was vacant you can see in
the permit that they only applied as vacant because it was vacant it stayed vacant quite a
long time yeah you know what i don't i don't mean to cut you i don't mean to cut you off and i
understand that and i don't necessarily disagree with you i think that your your argument breaks
down for me um and that you you have this horrible unit that and you didn't take the opportunity to
make it a decent sized unit like the one is not that it's great upstairs but it's a decent more
decent unit right and said oh i can't do anything i got to keep this same configuration that kind
of makes no sense right it just doesn't and so that's that's why that's why i'm getting the
disconnect i just don't agree with what you've done i think also given the history of the
property right there was a point it had to make safe permit on it as recently as 10 years ago
i think the condition that it was in when it was purchased was arguably not great you guys
already said it needed to have a lot of work done that's probably contributes to why it was a vacant
commercial space so all right okay right okay uh questions or comments from our attorney
no questions at this time questions or comments from the virtual audience
no hands chair planning commission thank you chairman and good morning david vecto with the
City Planning Commission, Chairman and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no
change to the CMX1 commercial mixed-use zoning at this location. The city rezoned this neighborhood
in 1985 in a council-supported map change. This property has a documented history as two dwelling
units. The absence of a commercial ground floor is a common condition of the houses on this block
face the city planning commission recommends that the board grant their proposed use variants for two
dwelling units MI 2026-002-138-828 Rittener Street I vote no Michael Johns my voters no
Cheryl Gaston I'm torn on this one I understand the hardship with respect to the commercial
uh part but i i i just i think the unit layout is just horrible um anyway okay uh i'm gonna vote no
sonetta graham my vote is no ryan mcadams my vote is no iowen my vote is no thank you thank you
council um let's go back to uh number uh 17 mi 2026 002 258 549 uh selman selma street uh darlene
treat is the attorney mr chairman the interpreter is on the line too okay and could the interpreter
please come on i'm gonna i'm gonna talk to darlene first to see where we stand with this
INTERPRETER, CAN YOU PLEASE RAISE YOUR VIRTUAL HAND?
THE INTERPRETER'S NAME IS TAYA JOJUA, AND THEY'VE RAISED THEIR HAND NOW.
THANK YOU.
INTERPRETER HAS BEEN PROMOTED ALSO.
INTERPRETER?
Good afternoon.
uh good afternoon uh can you hear me and can you see me this is the interpreter
yes this is the georgian interpreter okay do you think okay uh do you have your uh video on
i do but for some reason it's not turning on even though i see myself here okay i i think it's on
your end something maybe it is okay could you please state and spell your name for the stenographer
um yes my name is tea and i'll be the georgian interpreter
could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer
Okay. My name is Tia Jojua. It's spelled T-E-A-J-O-J-U-A.
All right. Do you swear or affirm that you will interpret accurately, completely, and impartially from Georgian to English and from English to Georgian?
Okay. Let's call Darlene. Are you here? That's the attorney I'm calling.
commissioner i'm here can you hear me yeah yes um okay great could you please state your name
and spell i don't think we ever did that with you because we couldn't get through could you
please state your name and spell for the stenographer sure my name is darlene freak
V-A-R-L-E-N-E, 3P as in Thomas, H-R-E-A-T-T as in Thomas.
Arlene, let me, Darlene, have you been in contact with your clients?
Yes, they're on the line.
And they need interpreter, right?
I see his name highlighted in the group.
Okay. Okay. So let me, let me, let me call for the appellants to come on. Let's see here. Katazia, K-A-T-I-E-A, P-A-N-I-S-H-V-I-L-I.
Interpreter, could you please call for them to come on?
they're on chair they're on dimitri dimitri cartozia is on okay uh could you have him please
state his name and spell for the stenographer uh gamma job at dimitri methargy maniva
20 sakhali dagwari rotquat the spelling it's rotquat gargit sakhali dagwaris
last name is k-a-r-t-o-z-i-a
does he swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Darlene, would you please start?
And I'm part of my interruption chair. This is executive director Ian Haggerty.
Attorney 3, good morning. Thanks for being with us today. I wanted to ask a question,
maybe you've discussed this with your client already, but we basically can offer two sort
of levels of interpretation here one would be for the entire record to be interpreted including all
of your statements for your client or the other would be for you to make your presentation and
then only interpret questions that would need to be asked to the applicant and then interpret the
outcome of the board's disposition which option would you like to take today i'd like i'd like
the second option mr hagerty very good thank you very much interpreter do you understand yes i
understand do you want me to explain it to the uh yes please uh dear dmitry i said he got that
Very good, thank you.
Well, let me, why don't we start by by mentioning your comments or sure. Hi, I'm Lynn Reidel here for board counsel. We reviewed this and it looks like you're going to need to obtain an amended refusal.
we reviewed this and it looks like you're going to need to obtain an amended refusal
given that there were you had submitted revised plans that had facade changes and you now indicated
that there'd be parking in the driveway so we believe that you need to get an amended refusal
with regard to that I believe that the refusal reflects what we're in the front
of the board for today basically we only removed the garage door and closed it up
that parking space I don't know if it's really we're not requesting a legal
a parking space in front of the garage door you need to get a parking space because you're taking
away a parking space you're going to park in front of the uh where the garage was so you're
going to need to get an amended refusal for that we were the uh refusal can we take a look at the
refusal, please? May I be sharing my screen? Yes, you can. Darlene, this is Hillary. Just
to clarify, so the refusal indicates that there's a demolition of a garage. It doesn't
show that you're changing the garage to living space and moving the parking space that is
in the garage into the driveway, which is what you're doing. The refusal says you're
getting a refusal for not having the required parking space but you are you are providing the
required parking space it's just in the driveway now so your refusal should say that you're being
refused for having parking in the required front yard so the refusal does not accurately
explain what you're doing you can go ahead today and present because we understand what's happening
but the refusal needs to be updated so that your permit if this is approved correctly reflects
on what your client is doing.
Ms. Emerson, will I need a new hearing?
If I need a new hearing,
I'm just going to request a continuance.
No, no, you will not.
We can hear it today
because we understand what you're trying to do.
You have revised plans that explain it better,
but we're just going to need to hold the vote
so that you can get an amended refusal
that reflects what you're going to present
to the board today.
But we already understand.
Yeah, we already understand what you're doing.
It's just the refusal, unfortunately.
doesn't reflect what you're doing all right darlene wanting to start or do we want to have
the interpreter explain a little bit to the no the pellet no it's okay it's all right good
good please proceed may i share my screen please
Are you able to see the screen? We see it now. Yep. Thank you. Good afternoon, board members. Darlene, through on behalf of the applicant. Board members, my client has a disabled son. He requires 24 hours care. He wanted to make some space for the caregiver in his home, and he enclosed the garage.
he did receive a violation for enclosing the garage and he filed an application to the zoning
board of adjustment to uh legalize the enclosure uh it's my understanding that prior to my
representation the documentation was uploaded i have presented a package today from that
documentation which includes a refusal and appeal the project information form deed
tax information plans pictures the community letter and a letter of
support I'm going to start with the refusal as you see here we're
requesting it does say demolition of the garage which is kind of incorrect
basically we did remove the garage door and we enclose the garage the garage on
this property is in the front of the house I'm just going to go down we have
all your documents we have all your documents yeah i'm gonna go down to the picture yep
this is the uh property before the work that was done to the property uh it's a two-story property
the garage is in the front and it's under the house uh the client did modify uh this garage
He enclosed it and here is a picture of the enclosed garage. It also contains the coasting
They didn't close the garage
They put two windows on the front and there's a door so you can come into this house from the front of the property
I'm just gonna go back here
I'm going to show you a picture of the deed.
My client has owned this property since 2017.
Again, his son and the caretaker will be living in the bottom of the property.
here is the tax clearance for this property I'm going to scoot down to the
plans now so this is how the property originally looked originally looked
there was a garage door here and this door is still existing we removed this garage door we
sealed it up we put two windows here and a door I'm going to go to the finished
here is a picture of the front of the house you can see the door that was here is existing
this is how we close it up we bricked it in the garage door we put an entry door and there are
two windows here the purpose of enclosing this garage was to actually make a living space for
the caretaker to be able to access come in and out the house and actually able to get
uh the person whom they are taking care of in and out of the house but actually out not having to go
through any stairs so this is the bottom floor this was the garage it was sealed off here to