that we're trying to help alleviate some of the some of the housing issues going on in the city
any other questions where are the electric panels they're in the basement the electric panels for
all the units are in the basement correct isn't it currently right right now right now it's only
being operated as one unit, the first and second floor. But obviously, assuming that we were to get
this variance, then... I thought you said it was already a duplex.
No, no, no. I never said it was a duplex. A duplex implies that there were two people
living there and they're being used as two separate apartments. What I said was, is that
there's a first and second floor, which is being used as one unit by one individual who lives there.
this is a proposal to to use the basement as the second unit basement in the garage you're saying
well the basement is the garage okay the basement is the garage
um counsel is there some way you can enlarge the uh view of the plan for this sure sure basement
sure let me do that
Sure. Let me do that.
I can zoom in on this view. Here's the basement. And this is just a schematic.
Why do you show the picture what it looks like now? Is there one above that?
No, I did want to see this first, if you don't mind, Mr. Chairman.
So you are going to, the front here is where the garage is now?
The garage is where my mouse is pointing.
Do you see my little mouse circling around?
And then the entrance will be?
There would be two entrances.
there's a doorway here where my mouse is hovering you see that and then another doorway would be
built over here where my mouse is circ is is hovering you see that that's not showing the
doorway that's showing a egress well well that it's a window right now but a new doorway would
be built well this is showing a egress well and your proposed plan it's not showing a doorway
right well going a doorway in the back at the garage entrance well there is a doorway in the
i'm sorry i couldn't hear you mr johns right so currently based on the pictures that you showed
there is a where you where you have your hand thing is right that shows a doorway in the pictures
you're a door you're showing a new door at the garage door where currently there's a garage door
At the front of the building, where you described there would be a stairway, you're showing on the proposed plan that it's a window well, egress.
It is a window well at this point, at this moment.
Not the picture that you showed.
Based on the picture that you showed, it's a front yard.
There's a front yard.
I'll show you the picture again.
There's a front yard.
here's a better view of the front well let me
it shows a basement window but it doesn't show a window well
that's a basement window i don't see a window well
well i don't see an egress well so i'm i'm trying to figure
yeah and i'm trying to figure out how how people would get to this
um you need two means of ingress and egress and i'm not i'm not seeing that here so you're gonna
because it doesn't exist at this point what exists at this point is just a window
but part of our plan to ensure that there are two methods of entering and exiting there would be a
stairwell dug out with a door i think we understand that mr vicaro because you said it
But the plan that you have shown is currently not showing that, and it is showing new construction.
So I think people are just confused because your floor plans do not reflect what you are saying, but are showing changes to the photos.
Now I understand.
Thank you for clarifying that.
But, yes, the plans, they were written up at an earlier time, and then after further discussions with the RCO, that's when we had come up with, you know, obviously no consensus was reached on the overall application.
But any any of the proposed use would include a stair, a stairwell with a door, both in the front as well as the existing door in the back.
OK, and again, going back to your plan here, you need to have what we call habitable rooms, right, which is there needs to be windows in certain of the living spaces.
Where are they on this plan of yours?
They don't exist yet, but the windows, obviously in consultation with the architect, we would put windows in wherever we can, and such space would include where the garage door is now, where my hand is hovering.
We're looking at a photo of the front of the building.
I need to change.
Let me just change that so you can see it.
Can you see the plan now?
It zoomed out a little bit much, but yes.
Okay, I could zoom back in, but where my hand is hovering, this is where the garage door is currently, so we could put windows there, again, in consultation with the architect, as well as in the front area where my hand is hovering, where the door would be.
Okay, I could zoom back in, but where my hand is hovering, this is...
so obviously so mr vicaro let's for a minute put this in perspective there's no one there's no
other legitimate garage conversion on the block is there not that i'm aware of right so this is
the first where you want to take your garage and turn into a third to a second apartment correct
and there's and and the rco could not come to consensus agreement with this correct okay thank
But in our discussions, both with the RCO as well as with this board today, we've mentioned the two doors, we've mentioned the windows, and we'll certainly take that as provisos as part of this application.
I do have one question. I know you mentioned that sort of the hardship with this was really
a desire to support affordable housing, and I'm wondering, one, is this going to be an
income-restricted unit in any type of way? When you say income-restricted, are you talking about
Section 8 housing or something? I'm talking about the government definition of affordable,
which is being rented to individuals and households below 80% of the area median income.
That's probably the intention. That's probably what's going to happen.
But there's nothing right now. It's not deed restricted. There's no intention to say
do housing choice vouchers. So there's no actual affordable housing plan in place.
This would just be your client is setting what they consider to be a reasonable rent?
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Amberson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Sheriff.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chairman, and good morning.
David Fecta with the City Planning Commission.
Chairman and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the RSA-5,
residential single-family zoning at this location. There is no unique physical condition or
circumstance of this property that would prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning
code. This is a primarily single-family block face. We also note for the board that absent
participation in a city, state, or federal program or a city zoning incentive, affordability mentioned
in the appellant's testimony cannot be enforced by any city agency. The City Planning Commission
recommends that the board deny the proposed use variants for two dwelling units and my 2023
007157832 bridge street i vote no michael johns my vote is no carol gaston my vote is no
tennetta graham my vote is no tyo win my vote is no
James Snell, my vote is no
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is no
Thank you, counsel
Thank you, have a good day
Number 13, MI 2024-001-337
304 West Godfrey Avenue
Tameka McCoy is the attorney for the owner
There's a letter of support from Upper North Coalition of Community Councils Attached
57 in support
1 opposed
Do we see Tameka's hand?
Cher, she's coming back in
and is a panelist. Thank you.
Chair Tameka McCoy
is coming back in as a panelist now.
Thank you.
Ms. McCoy?
Yes, thank you. Good afternoon.
Hi, good afternoon. Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the court sonographer?
Sure. Good afternoon, Tamika McCoy. It's spelled T-A-M-I-K-A. Last name is M-C-K-O-Y.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you put your video on, please?
I thought I just did.
Okay, there you go.
That's great.
And our vice chair has just, could you identify your client first and their relationship to the property?
My client is Damon Gamble.
He is the owner of the property.
And our vice chair has a few questions.
good morning council do you agree to wait the reading of the refusal or stipulate to attack
yes i do have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to
proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing yes we have thank you council
please proceed you've already shared your screen thank you um so this is the submission that was
done for 304 West Godfrey Avenue. The property was owner occupied by Damon Gamble, his wife and two
kids. Since September 9th of 2006, it was acquired by deed. A copy of the deed is also attached and
affixed to the property. Prior to his ownership, the property had been used and configured as a
duplex the first floor level was a dental office and the second level was a residential unit
when Mr. Gamble and his family acquired the property he occupied the entire property both
were used as rental units he had lived in both he had now moved and wants to essentially have the
properly zoned for multifamily use as a duplex. It had been longstanding, configured that way,
and it would pose a substantial hardship for him and his family to modify it to a single family
dwelling. I did affix the tax certificate connected with the property. What we have here
essentially is that the real estate taxes have been taken care of. There's no tax obligation.
The notices to impacted neighbors in the community were sent out. We sent the notice to 147
members of the community. A RCO meeting was conducted. 53 people attended. Of the 53 people
that attended, 52 approved, including five board members. We have here pictures of the actual
structure. This is a photograph that depicts the front entrance of the structure. Currently,
Mr. Gamble, as well as many of the other neighbors, utilize the front padding area
to place trash until trash day when it's placed at the curb for pickup.
This is a picture of the rear of the unit. The basement would continue to be a basement.
There's no intention for it to be occupied as a part of the residence in any way. It would
essentially just be a residential unit on the main floor and on the second floor as it was
originally constructed. This is a photograph that shows the entranceway up to the second floor
apartment, and the second floor apartment is essentially configured as a two-bedroom structure
with a kitchen and a bathroom. As I said, it had been owner-occupied since 2006,
and the family now is seeking to have it legally zoned as a duplex. It's my understanding that the
adjoining properties next to him are both duplexes, and many of the homes in the community are used
for that purpose. Godfrey Avenue, these are additional photos of the interior.
And again, this is another photo of the front. If you were to look on the right of 304 West
godfrey this is what you would essentially see and this would be a view across the street it is
a two-way two-lane highway and there is parking on both sides of the roadway as you can see cars
are parked here and there still is a free lane of travel in both directions on godfrey avenue
We did also affix with this the additional pictures of other neighbors that show that it's a common trash plan that they use in the community.
So what he does is very consistent with what many of the neighbors on Godfrey Avenue essentially does in terms of their trash plan.
essentially does in terms of their trash plan this is the configuration of both of the units
This is the.
that currently exist the first floor second floor and as i stated before the basement
is still utilized as a basement
this is a summary of the meeting that was conducted uh for the rco uh it was done june 28th and as i
indicated 52 of the 53 members are in support of having um the property zoned as a duplex
With that, I would like to present Mr. Gamble, who works as a CPA, a certified public accountant.
Mr. Gamble, if you're in the virtual audience, please raise your hand.
I see. There he is, Chair.
Okay, thank you.
Mr. Gamble, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
mr gamble could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
how you doing my name is damon gamble uh my spelling name d-a-m-o-n for the first name
last name gamble g-a-m-b-l-e you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing
but the truth sir yes i do please proceed counsel thank you mr gamble did you hear the presentation
that was made to the board in reference to your property at 304 west godfrey avenue
yes and was the information presented accurate in all respects and would you adopt it as your
own if you were asked those same questions yes i would submit on that
thank you questions from the board can you go back to the floor plans yes sure
is there um any in particular that you wanted to focus on or just no this is this is good i don't
see a kitchen on the second floor unit or am i missing something this let me see
okay you got a kitchenette
yes it is this is small kitchenette here
so what is the is it by level is the by level no there there's a one unit on the third floor
and one unit on the second floor the kitchenette on the second floor would be here sir okay so
unit on the third floor and how many rooms on this on the third floor it's it's a third floor
it's not a third floor it's a second it's actually it's it's a first it's a main level
the second floor and then there's a basement okay so the the big there's a basement of the
second floor is a is it a is that a one-bedroom unit or is it is a one-bedroom unit yes okay
And then on the ground floor, it's just, it's a one bedroom unit.
All right.
No further questions.
Any other questions from the board?
Questions or comments from our attorney?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.