space uh go down and hold on mommy go up right there um if you see um the areas is tall is
around it is all commercial it's um next to aramingo avenue and it's all stores and how
many houses on the block are duplexes it's duplexes right there um none but as of now
it's a couple uh proposals they they want to do the same as uh what you did yeah keep going
some pictures of the uh house the basement uh all the utilities like that well what's in the
basement is the basement just storage storage storage and uh laundry it's not a it's not a
bedroom right uh the first floor is one bedroom uh with the basement uh one storage room um you
can see uh the bathroom right there it's got one bathroom on the side the kitchen uh it
got space for a living room um they could go to the backyard in the first floor but this
access to we got access to the backyard um see the second floor is it rented now both
places rented now no no just the first floor second floor or something uh i got some pictures
here it's right there that's the second floor um i added a lot uh closet to the rooms um i got the
bathroom i got uh two rooms the kitchen and uh and the own entrance for the second floor uh nobody
lift them up right now let me see the print the blueprints right here um like i said it's not
going to be no changes to the to the building no constructions change the building is going
to remain the same uh if you see like uh the fence uh i told you for the trash um i'm gonna add next
to the steps. By doing this, it's not going to affect the neighbors. It's not going to
affect the pedestrians. There's plenty of space for the rooms and the kitchens and
and you know everything else um so this this is the project i i guess the question would be is
how come you did this without throwing it the right way i did not know um about the zoning and
and this is new to me like i said this is new how about permits did you ever get any permits
yeah permits for the uh the electricity and everything uh yeah for both places yes um
but i didn't know i went to get my landlord license and they told me you know i needed
the zoning and stuff like that i i didn't know so now what i'm trying to do is do everything
yeah like it's supposed to be uh leave everything legal everything you know all the taxes i had to
pay for the property. I don't owe no taxes on the property. Um, this is my, uh, my first house
that I ever bought. So, you know, um, do you live there? I lived there for a couple of years. Do
you live there now? No. Okay. All right. All right. Do you have anything else you want to add?
Not at this time. All right. Questions from the board.
Um, how high are you trying to build the fence? And just point of note, that is technically
your property ends at the facade of your building so you're asking to put a fence in the city's
right of way so there are other restrictions and you'd have to get streets approval to do
anything in the sidewalk because uh it's right next to to the property so yeah but you so you
you only own up to your facade your steps are technically encroaching into the city's right
way. So you don't own the space next to your
I would need a permit for that.
stoop. So I might need a
I would need a permit for that. You would need a
You would need a streets approval, which is an additional review that would have to happen.
streets approval which is a
That has to have an engineered drawing.
I wanted to do whatever I need to do to the house.
To do it right.
Other questions?
Sorry, Mike.
At the first floor.
So it's one bedroom on the first floor and a two bedroom on the second floor?
so so the point of this fence is to put the trash there yeah so it'll be uh it won't be on the way
or nobody is going to be her uh the trash is going to be on their own uh place the space
um i have a question about the rco so you said the rco said no um did they tell you that they voted
uh they opposed the project or did you have some support for the project because what happened at
the RCO meeting? No, I present everything. I told them everything I wanted to do. And
they said the reason, because this is a single family area, but there's other zoning around
the area for the same purpose to those uh two family so um and they they was worried about the
trash and like you see the picture everybody had the tracks out outside so i'm trying to change
that and maybe the neighbors will do the same and you know put the trash yeah i don't know that
putting the fence changes the fact that the trash will be sitting in front of the house
you know i don't know just just down the trash is behind a fence in front of the house it's still
trash in front of the house the other there all the rest of the houses and it's a small block
with houses right and all the rest of them are single families so this would be the only house
on the block that would be a duplex of the like 10 houses that are there there are only 10 houses
there there's like eight houses there yeah so all right any other questions questions from our
attorney hillary emerson not at this time questions or comments from the virtual audience
no hands at this time planning commission
thank you chairman and good morning david fecto with the city planning commission
chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa 5 residential
initial single-family zoning at this location the city rezoned this part of the neighborhood in 2017
in accord with recommendations in the comprehensive plan at that time this property had been zoned
single family since a prior map change in 1972. an owner appears to have converted this property to
two dwelling units without the benefit of permits this is a primarily single-family blockface the
city planning commission recommends the board deny the proposed use variants for two dwelling units
Thank you. So MI2025-001-985-3610 Tulip Street, I vote no.
Michael Johns, my vote is no.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is no.
Tsunetagram, my vote is yes.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is no.
Tywin, my vote is no.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you.
number eight mi 2025 002 917 5323 ray street darlene mcbride is the owner applicant
it's a pro se hi chair they're being promoted to panelists thank you
good morning chair and members of the board my name is Darlene McBride just for the record could
you please spell your name for the stenographer? Yes, Darlene, D-A-R-L-E-N-E, McBride, M-C-B-R-I-D-E.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do. All right, so this application is for use as a two-family household living within an
existing attack structure, whereas the proposed use two-family household living is prohibited in
in the RSA 3 zoning district.
Our vice chair has a few questions for you, okay?
Yes. Good morning. Have you seen documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
Good morning.
Have you seen documents and exhibits five days?
Yes, I have. Okay. And you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy.
Yes. Okay. Thank you. You can proceed with your case. Okay. Thank you. I will share my screen.
okay can you see that it's uh
yes you just have to click on each one of your yes i believe okay so i will present the exhibits
please if you have any questions i will certainly take those questions um so i had an art this was
I am the owner of the property. I purchased the property as a single family dwelling
and the RSA 3 is zoned as RSA 3. I had the intentions of using the property as a single
family property. However, there was a fire at the property in February of 2018. It was a pretty bad
fire wasn't at my it didn't originate at my property it originated at the property next door
the properties have a breezeway and the fire came over from the property at 5325 over to my property
and did extensive damage to the property basically it was a total loss at that point
The property then became a nuisance to the neighborhood and it had to make safe on it. I have taken care of all of that. But I will show you the project. Well, I don't need to show you the information form.
um so let me go back I'm sorry um I do have a tax uh clearance certificate we have that we
have all your documents other than what we need now is your photos and your plans okay so these
These are the plans, the existing plans and what I am proposing.
There will be no changes to the structure of the building.
The modifications will be done to the inside, nothing to the exterior, it will be all interior.
area, and what I am proposing is as you go in to the property, I am proposing to put
another door. You will see that in the revised plans, but these were the original plans that
were done for the make-safe. There is a covered porch here. You enter the property. This is the
first floor of the property. There are stairs over here to your right leading up to the second
floor. However, the first floor would have a two-bedroom apartment and as well as the second
floor would also have a two-bedroom apartment, both with bathrooms and water closets in each.
Let me show you those revised plans so it will make more sense to you.
so in the revised plans let's make this a little bigger you will see we have the same
entrance however
you will see here in the um unit one you go in there or there's a coat closet here
You will enter into the kitchen. There are an L shape or cabinets to your right. You still have
that stairway that will lead up to the second floor. You have your living room back here. You
have a bathroom and you have a bed, one bedroom here with a big enough for a queen bed. And then
you have a second bedroom with the queen bed. And then you, this is the back you will enter out the
back so that would be the backyard unit one as well as unit two will both have access to the
backyard that's well trash will be kept in the back and moved out to the front quite naturally
during trash day.
Unit two also has two bedrooms.
It also has two bedrooms. We have a bedroom here. You have your bathroom, closet. You have your stack laundry. By the way, the laundry for the first unit will be in the basement, and the basement will only be for storage as well as the laundry for the first unit.
We have a bedroom here.
Second unit has in-unit laundry. You have your kitchen to your left. To the right, you have a bathroom with your tub. And then in the back there is another bathroom with a bay window. And the front of the unit two also has a bay window.
I had an RCO meeting on December 1st of last year. At that meeting, there was no opposition. However, they wanted to see the revised plans so they could see where everything would be placed. They couldn't see it on the original plans.
So I had updated plans done. I had another RCO meeting on January the 5th. There was no opposition. We had support of the project. I can show you, I do have that report is in the summary as number 10 of my exhibit.
it. Now I will show you some pictures of the property. So as you can see here, because
the property was damaged by fire, it was a total gut job. So as I previously said, this
is your front door. As you come in, you have your steps over to the right. You can go down
to the basement here joists have been replaced because of the fire um so that everything is
brought back up to code as i said it was pretty extensive these are the steps the backyards here
there's a window here in the bay window this is where the kitchen area will be well the back
bedroom will be in this first unit you have your stairs these stairs obviously will be replaced
this is the second floor unit all of this is new because during the fire everything was
the roof and everything was destroyed that bay has been redone the entire um building is being
rehabbed these are the this is a view coming up from the front of the house from the first floor
to the second floor. Again, this is a first floor picture looking from the back to the front.
This is the outside of the building. There are eight to 10, 10 or more actually,
buildings on the block that are duplexes dating back to the 1970s, 80s, 90s, and the 2000s.
um again i am not changing the exterior of the building the um houses next door
is a duplex on the side here there is a breezeway um and that's where the other building that caught
fire the city actually demolished that building last year so there is a vacant lot there um
So what I'm proposing is to keep in line with what's there in the community right now and turn it into a duplex.
It does not create any hardship for the community.
We have the community support.
The council person, they did not oppose this variance.
I spoke with them that they are not opposed to the variance because it is keeping in with the structure of the community.
I am speaking with a couple members from the community and been in contact with them throughout the process.
The building has been made safe.
It was a blighted property with the tree growing out, actually growing through the structure of the building before the fire occurred.
I can show you the neighbor mailings.
We did a mailing back in November of 24 before the first meeting in December.
I also sent out a letter to all of the neighbors telling them of the meetings, both the RCO meetings as well as the zoning board hearing.
The notices have been placed on the building.
The notices have been placed on the building. They've been up as soon as I received it. I
they've been up as soon as I
put it up, so they've been up and the community has been notified about the hearing today.
Again, it would be keeping in line with all of the other duplexes that are on and in the block.
The community is used to having duplexes.
I will make sure that there is ample lighting in the back.
That was one of the questions from the board member of the RCO is how I deal with lighting.
There will be lighting.
There will be fire alarms hardwired in the building as well.
And trash will be collected.
Michael, why don't you start?
Well, I think I don't really have any questions.
You okay?
Yeah, I mean, you know, my one issue is that.
Right, yeah, I was starting.
The rear yard, which is always a big problem for me with that unit.
But you did mention that there is a breezeway on the side so they can have access to the rear yard through that breezeway.
yes there will be no um problems with that second floor tenant getting to my concern
the back my concern is not too much a second floor tenant is i have an issue with having to walk
through a bedroom to get to a backyard if you're having a barbecue are you keeping your trash out
there and you got a dog they've got to come through your bedroom that's a unsanitary and
just a horrible situation but you did say that there was a breezeway so that people could come
out the front door if you're having a barbecue in the backyard or anything and they could go down
the breezeway instead of having to go through someone's bedroom to get to the backyard so
so in this case i don't necessarily have a problem with you know because there is
another alternate route to the rear yard and not through the bedroom necessarily all right other
questions questions or comments from our attorney not at this time mr chair questions or comments
from the virtual audience no hands at this time chair planning commission thank you chairman and
good morning david effecta with the city planning commission chairman and board members the
comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa3 residential single family zoning at this
location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 1971 and a council supported map change
there are no unique physical conditions or circumstances of this property that will
prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning code despite the presence of several
two-family homes this is still a primarily single-family residential block face the city
planning commission recommends the board deny the requested use variants for two dwelling units
MI-2025-002-917-5323 Ray Street. I vote yes. And thank you for doing everything. Your presentation was very good, Darlene.