But I'd like to add that because this is a double lot, and by looking at the plot plan, you can see that the majority of the open space will still be available.
uh the the lot is about uh 65 feet deep and at 3605 Lancaster Avenue the existing building there
only goes back approximately 25 feet so we have all the yard area behind that
uh so we're not using up all of the yard i'm looking at your site plan do you have landscaping
for the parking current currently no but i would be happy to to add landscaping that's not an issue
and if the board would like to request that we put landscaping we'd be happy to
thank you any other questions from the board
mr what you're talking about is what's behind the gate you see the picture right on the front
of the there's the front of the building then the rear of the building is that what the parking
lot's behind the gate or the yard well the the the gate is on 36th street i that's what i'm saying
Well, the gate is on 36th Street.
That's what I'm saying.
I just...
So you want to drive into there?
Yes, from 36th Street.
If you'd like, I could read.
As I said, I got a vote of support from the Powhatan Village Civic Association.
No, we have it.
We have it, sir.
And do you have the letter from my neighbor?
I'm not sure if I've seen that one.
Well, this says, to whom it may concern, I'm writing in support of the petition by Vodek Trust for creation of an accessory parking space in the rear of 3603 Lancaster Avenue, with egress under 36th Street, between 3601 Lancaster and 200 North 36th Street.
My wife, Donna Moratana, and I own 200 North 36th Street, adjacent to the parking space and proposed driveway.
We live at 208 North 36th Street.
He owns the properties on 36th Street and own properties from 200 to 210 North 36th Street.
Our sons, Ian Kerr and Colin Kerr, recently bought and renovated 3601 Lancaster, the rear of which is adjacent to the proposed parking spot and driveway.
They are in favor of the proposed use.
They recently replaced the broken concrete sidewalk next to their property on 36th Street
with new bricks. Hanley-Bodek cooperated on this project, paying for the new bricks on the driveway
section with extra stone underneath to support cars. It looks beautiful. Our neighbor John Mostello
at 3601 Pelton Avenue, although the side of his property is on 36th Street, the other owner on
the block has told me that he also supports the proposed usage. Everyone on this block
supports the new parking spot and driveway. We hope you will approve it. I'd like to add
that I do have a letter, which is not included in the packet, from John Musteller. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. Thank you. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Mr. Chair, I have Blair Bodock here. Do I allow them to speak?
Well, yeah, that. Yeah, I'm sorry. Can you hear me?
Yes. Could you state your name, please? Sorry. I inadvertently raised my hand.
Okay, fine. Fine. We're fine. We're fine. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
is there anyone else in the virtual audience
has a comment
Debra McCarty has her hand raised
so I'll know to speak
Ms. McCarty
thank you
hi could you state your name
and spell for the court reporter
certainly Debra McCarty
D-E-B-R-A
M-C-C-A-R-T-Y
you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
I do proceed. Good afternoon. I represent Pelton Village Civic Association. I'm the co-chair
of the zoning committee and co-chair the RCO meeting for this property zoning request.
I just want to confirm that yes we are supportive. The owner
promised that there should be no short-term leases. The terms of the lease would be a year
or more. And we recognized that he renovated a property that was formerly a garage on Lancaster
Avenue into a really nice retail. And that added a parking space on Lancaster. So technically,
this would take away a parking space on 36th street but it's a it's a you know it's a plus
and a minus so it's it's no less parking spaces for the entrance to this parking space so again
we're supportive thank you thank you thank you very much for calling in are there any other
comments from the virtual audience you know other half was the planning commission
planning commission
ron is it ian ron or mason sorry
if we're having technical difficulties this is mason austin
Could you spell your name for the court reporter?
sure mason m-a-s-o-n a-u-s-t-i-n right do you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth
Mason, M-A-S-O-N-A-U-S-T-I-A.
and nothing but the truth i do proceed please sure thank you uh mr chairman and members of the board
the property is indicated for commercial mixed use on the city plan our adopted district plan
recommended no change the existing zoning at this location the applicant's hardship is not supported
with evidence of unique physical circumstances
or conditions of the property
that would prevent it from being used
in conformance with the code.
The standing policy of the City Planning Commission
is to not support front-loaded garages
on principal commercial quarters,
legalizing the existing private curb code
will negatively impact both vehicular
and pestering safety.
Therefore, we recommend that the requested variance
does not be granted.
Thank you.
Could I respond to that, Mr. Chairman?
Sure. Yeah. The proposed parking spot is not on the commercial corridor. It is not on Lancaster Avenue, which is a commercial corridor. It is on 36th Street, which is not a commercial corridor.
As I said, this is a unique property because though it fronts on a commercial property, it has access from a side street, which is not a commercial corridor.
I totally understand why you don't want parking spots where you want to have businesses.
And this is not the case here.
There are no businesses on 36th Street.
and on 36th street i have the support of all the owners of properties there and i'd be happy to meet
with the planning commission thank you mr bodak we we thank you we appreciate your comments
mi 2021 004841 3603 to 05 langister avenue i vote yes carol cenary my vote is yes
Thomas Holloman my vote is no Ishmael Shaheed my vote is yes thank you you have your votes
Mr. Bodek thank you Mr. Chairman sure right MI 2021 002429 5012 Knox Street at this point
No letter from the RCO.
Rich DeMarco is the attorney.
Mr. DeMarco, I'm going to have you.
You'll be joining us shortly.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, Mr. DeMarco.
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Certainly.
Can you hear me okay, Mr. Chairman?
We can.
We can.
Richard DeMarco, last name D-E-M-A-R-C-O for the applicant. Good afternoon.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Could you identify your applicant and the relationship to the property?
I can. It's Jerry Brown and his wife, Patricia Brown. If it's okay, I'd ask them to be
entered as panelists right away. I would like to have them answer some questions and go through
some testimony they're the owners of the property yes and i represent them all right i vice chair
has a few questions for you you bet i'm mr demarco do you agree to wave the reading of the
refusal and stipulate to its accuracy yes i do okay it appears that you have submitted all the
required documents is that correct i believe i have yes okay you may proceed and share your screen
thank you madam chair members of the board hopefully you can see my screen at this point
you can terrific um this is a a challenging application uh for this applicant mr chairman
and members of the board that we are asking for legalization of an existing duplex in a single
single family zoned area um i'm going to have my my client put on some testimony in a minute and
of course adopt my own the property has been an existing duplex for over 25 years the property
was inherited by my clients from Mr. Brown's mother in that condition. So the existing challenge
posed is that the property is an existing duplex. I'd like to show you some photos.
There are multiple utility counts and multiple meters here. So this is already,
forgive me hit the wrong button so in order to convert the property back to single family
In order to convert the property back to single family, you would have to reroute existing utilities, existing electric accounts, and existing – there's two kitchens.
you would have to
I'll show you floor plans and I'm going to show you some photos.
There is trash storage either in the side alleyway or in the rear yard for both tenants.
Both tenants are currently occupying the units.
One of the tenants has been there for over six years.
Now, forgive me, our floor plans are very rudimentary.
I know you're used to architectural plans.
My clients are of limited means, and this is the floor plan that we have, but it is
accurate, and the dimensions are accurate.
I'll blow it up a bit here.
You can see what we're dealing with.
I'll collapse this.
There's one single unit on the first floor, which is a one-bedroom, and there's a three-bedroom
unit on the second and third floor. And these are the dimensions. So what I'm going to do is
now there's an individual who is the abutting neighbor who is in support of the application.
He lives directly next door, but he's in a call-in situation. He's calling in from
a hospital. He's with his mother at the hospital. His name is Rodney Mingo.
So I've been asked to allow him to potentially testify first so we could get him out of the way, if that's at all possible.
And, of course, Jerry Brown, I would like to be authorized as well.
I'd like to have him verify a few facts.
Can we do both?
We'll start with the one that's in the hospital.
So does he have his hand raised?
I don't see anyone with that name.
Is it Rodney?
His name is Rodney Mingo.
i don't have a phone number handy if that if he if you don't see him we can go to jerry brown and
jerry brown might be able to help with that i don't have him listed either are there phone
numbers they call patricia brown yes we have patricia brown that's them can you please raise
your name your hand patricia patricia raise your use the raise hand function in the zoom so they
see you. I have a lot of Ms. Brown to speak. Thank you. Okay. Ms. Brown can you hear me? Yes I can hear you. Could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter? Patricia Brown P-A-T-R-I-C-I-A Brown B-R-O-W-N. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
yes and my husband is going to state his name as well jerry brown j-e-r-r-y b-r-o-w-n
right do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes proceed jerry uh did you hear the facts and statements that i made uh so far to the board
absolutely are they true and accurate and would you adopt them as your own testimony
they are true okay and mr rodney mingo uh he is your next door neighbor right yes he's my next
door neighbor we i think he was he was trying to call in okay yeah let's let's let's get to that
in a minute maybe patricia while i finish the testimony maybe you could see if rodney can get
on do you have another resident they're asking
uh rotney i'm sorry rotney is on mute can you unmute he said he can hear everything but he's
on a mute okay all right okay i'm sorry if we could proceed oh and if he raises his hand we
can reach him i'm gonna uh patricia you talk to rodney i'm gonna finish with jerry on the record
okay all right mr brown and then they can reach you he has to mute though i'm sorry okay we can't
we so mr demarco mr demarco mr demarco so he's the next door neighbor right right and he's in
favor of this yes okay so we're fine we're fine okay you're fine with that you'll accept that
it's very good i can say that as an officer of the court as well so mr brown yes is this property
did you inherit this property in its current condition as a duplex dwelling yes are there
two kitchens within the dwelling yes are there multiple meters yes multiple utility counts yes
Yes. Are the units occupied? Yes. How long have the tenant when you said one of the tenants a
longtime tenant, right? Yes. Six and a half years. Six and a half years. If you were not to receive
the variances today, what would you have to evict those tenants? Yes, I would. Okay. And
Okay. And would you have to reconfigure the entire house to adopt to a single family dwelling?
would you have to reconfigure the entire house to adopt to a single family?
Yes, basically, it would be a lot of work and I could not afford it.
I was going to say, do you have the funds to be able to make that kind of a conversion?
No, it would be devastating to our family and the tenants because we would have to
evict the tenants and we would have to allocate a lot of resources to get that done.
And you inherited this property in the year 2000 in its current condition as a duplex, correct?
That's correct.
All right.
And is there any room to provide off-street parking on the current property?
Let me show that photo.
No, they've been parking on the front of the house for 20 years, and there's no problem.
That is due to every three houses there are driveways, and the driveways hold three and four cars.
and that's every three houses on the block there's basically a driveway so it's plenty
of parking on the actual street right in front of the house that's where tenants typically park at
but what i'm getting at there's no room for you to create a parking space if you did you'd have
to demolish the existing structure is that right right no room all right and you got some signatures
from your neighbors in this matter correct right forgive me i'm having i'm having technical