each of the unit owners or occupants. And there's a trash room down here as well. And then you can
see from the first floor, this is the first floor plan. You know, you come in, unit number one,
one bedroom, one bath. Come in a little further, unit number two, one bedroom, one bath. Unit number
three is one bedroom, one bath. Actually, I want to go through the site plan just quickly. You can
see here that there is a rear yard setback. It's just this portion is not set back. So two of the
refusals, I think one's incorrect saying that we're providing zero percent space in the rear yard
unoccupied. That's not correct. And the other one's more technical in nature because
there's occupied right here, but there is actually a rear yard that's been set up
that's accessible to all of the unit occupants.
for that's accessible to all of the unit occupants
from front to back.
And then second through fourth floors
are the same floor plan.
You have units four, seven, and 10, that's one bedrooms,
five, eight, and 11, one bedrooms,
and then so on, six, nine, and 12.
And you can see there's no roof deck there,
which again, most of these communities in these areas
don't want roof decks because they think it's a nuisance.
that's why we made sure that residents could go from front to back and they all would have access
to that rear yard so in the hero rco meeting notices the one for the january 25th
and the one that's that's going to happen on february 22nd
and then our application for appeal that we filed and then our deeds of property
And then finally, just, you know, the certificates of tax clearance.
My clients actually pay their taxes early for these properties.
With that being said, I would ask that Andre virtually raise his hand and be sworn in.
I don't see a name by Andre, but I do have a phone number ending in 3336.
And that's gone. I have Brian
Stewart. I don't see Andre, Mr.
Nothamson.
Well, I'll text him.
He actually texted me
earlier today, making sure that I
recognized him. So let me just
That might be his phone. Does his phone
number? It could be his phone number. Let me see.
Bring him on. Oh, no, I think
he's there now. I see Andre's
last theme begins with Z.
Yeah, he
just left again.
i see andre he's allowed to speak sir could you state your name please and spell for the court
stenographer do we see him i do see him chair he's muted okay okay he's ready now all right
Sir, could you state your name, please, and spell for the stenographer?
It says Audrey.
No, it's Andre.
I'm sorry.
Andre, unmute yourself.
He's unmuted.
Andre?
They're having technical difficulties.
All right, Mr. Nockamson, we will accept your testimony as an officer of the court.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
Questions from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Two brief questions.
Mr. Nogamson, Andre, was he a representative for both LLCs that own 2108 and 2110 Marshall Street?
That's my understanding.
um and then um in terms of because i know you want to have this resumed because you are meeting
again with the rco um do you think there will there will possibly be any any changes to the
project as a result of the second meeting the reason i ask is because trying to determine
whether we should hold public testimony and planning's recommendation until the resumption
hearing if there could be changes that people may want to testify on so i think uh i can't predict
that right so okay i didn't know there were any discussions going on not assuming no not that i'm
aware of like we did a full presentation and um actually i thought we they were going to vote and
support and it was just a long meeting i think they just voted on nothing that day okay all right
well we can we can um we'll see what planning would like to do um but we can mr chair we can
take public testimony it does look like there are some hands raised so we'll take public testimony
and then um um mr knockamson after the meeting you can contact the office and we'll schedule
the resumption hearing assuming everything you know the meeting's the end of you know discussion
you're ready to move forward contact us we'll put the resumption hearing on the books and we can
just take any updated information from you and public or planning related to any if there are
any changes to anything um otherwise we'll just assume everything stayed the same
thank you questions or comments from the virtual audience yes i have raheem stewart will be allowed
to speak sir could you please state your name it's spelled for the stenographer yes
sir could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer yes brain b-r-y-h-e is an
elephant m as a mother stewart s-t-e-w-a-r-t do you swear affirm tell the truth the whole truth
and nothing but the truth yes are you a neighbor yes i am i'm a resident in this area here all right
all right please please proceed i'm very intrigued this project this project here it actually like
It decreases my anxiety in regards to me being able to stay in this community.
I'm from this community all my life, even my family members.
It allows me to be able to pay for dwelling.
Also, it allows me to witness a transitional beautification of my neighborhood.
I'm all for this project here.
I like how our fellow here, Alon, if I'm saying his name correctly, presented this project to us.
it's very beautiful man I'm very excited in regards to getting it approved if it get approved
I hope it does because you know like I said it helps me stay in my community and that's where
I want to be you know so I appreciate you guys and I do vote yes all right thank Mr. Stewart
thanks for taking the time to call us next hand next hand is phone number and again
three three three six will be allowed to speak okay hi could you state your name please for
the stenographer um that hand is no long yeah no that hand is no longer up chair okay what other
do you have any other hands yes phone number any in one zero two eight will be allowed to speak
hi could you state your name for the stenographer please
hi my name is denise armstrong i support 2108
hold on one moment could you please spell your name for the stenographer
d-e-n-i-s-e last name armstrong a-r-m-s-t-r-o-n-g right do you swear or firm to tell the truth the
whole truth is nothing but the truth yes i do are you a neighbor i'm a resident in the area yes
okay please proceed i support 2108 marshall street okay um thank you very much for taking
the time to call us we appreciate that is there anyone else in the audience
no more handshare planning do you want to hold your vote till they go back to the ap
go back to 8 p.m uh good afternoon chair i i think that um we'd be okay with going forward
with our testimony at this time all right please proceed
uh greg waldman city planning staff the comprehensive plan recommends no change to
the existing residential multi-family zoning the appalling has not shown that the property
a standard row home lot cannot possibly be used in strict conformity with the zoning code
that a variance is therefore necessary to enable the economic the viable economic use of the
property the city planning commission recommends that the zoning board deny the variance
um thank you um i should not gonna see you want to respond to that yeah i think it was part of
my presentation, we've seen time and time again, these duplexes and triplexes that have been tried
in this neighborhood. And there's a huge occupancy rate with all these newly constructed
building structures, and it's just not been successful. For whatever reason, there's no
market for it. So there's actual numbers that support why this 12-unit building is a more
appropriate use of the property. Okay. Thank you very much. We're going to hold to the vote.
We will, you're going to call for the follow-up hearing, am I correct?
That's right, Mr. Chair. All right. Thank you. Thank you.
Number six. MI 2023-006-539-2222 North 20th Street. Joseph Consul is the attorney.
We have no RCO letters of yet, but there was a meeting held on 1-30-24.
Mr. Consul.
Joseph Consul is coming back in as a panelist.
Good afternoon.
Mr. Consul, you've already been sworn for the day.
Just state your name for the record.
Joseph Consul.
That's J-O-S-E-P-H.
Oh, sorry, Joseph Consul.
All right. Could you also identify your clients and their relationship to this property?
Yeah, my client is Charbonne Kennedy and Kenyatta Anderson. They are the owners of the property.
Okay. And Mr. Hallman has a few questions for you.
And Mr. Holman has a few questions for you.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
Did you email all the exhibits and documents as required five days in advance to this hearing?
I did.
Thank you.
Please proceed and share your screen.
Good afternoon, everyone.
Joseph Consul for Charbone Kennedy and Kenyatta Anderson, the owners of 222 North 20th Street.
This appeal is similar to appeals I presented to the court previously. Actually, today,
this property on North 20th Street was purchased by my clients 10 years ago.
So they, as you can see on the refusal, they had the property approved, zoned RM1, but they had it approved as a three-family with an addition in 2019.
In 2021, the property was completed and built out as a triplex, outfitted with Airbnb furniture and accessories and put to market for Airbnb.
However, shortly after that, as everyone knows, the city implemented the laws that limited the ability to use Airbnb in certain zoning codes, RM1 being one of them.
So they had their license revoked and all that, and we're in front of the board today to seek approval to use this three-unit as an Airbnb on 20th Street.
We did go in front of the RCO, as mentioned.
They sent an email about an hour ago.
I am not positive everyone was copied on it.
I would expect that the RCO is here.
Their position was they do not want visitor accommodation permits approved in their district, similar to other cases that I've heard before this board.
Again, we have owners of an Airbnb who have a track record and no safety complaints or other violations against them, and we're hopeful that we can get support from the board to at least see some sort of temporary trial period for them to use this property as a visitor accommodations permit.
it. Here's the property. The block itself needs some love. You can see from my client's photos
and the exterior that they've put a lot of energy and money and time into outfitting this property
in a way that makes it look really nice. I included in my packet photos that they had
submitted with their building permit three years ago so you can see uh the layout of all the units
and that sort of thing and at the end of the packet we have all the other required documentation
the deed uh the tax compliance certificate and project information form um we are expecting the
RCO to speak up at the end of this. And I guess my point is a general denial of the visitor
accommodations permit in the district we're hoping is not something that makes total sense
in this scenario. We believe my clients are bringing some value to a part of the city that's
got nowhere for other folks to say. It is near Temple Hospital. They've had folks stay there that
are nursing students and that sort of thing that can use something near where they are in a part
of the city that doesn't have accommodations to allow them to stay for shorter periods of time
than would be a traditional lease. With that, I'm going to call my client. I believe it should be
Ms. Kennedy?
Ms. Kennedy, can you raise your hand, please?
I don't see a Ms. Kennedy in the audience.
How about a Kenyatta Anderson or a Zakiya Cave?
I see a Charbonne Anderson.
Oh, I'm sorry.
It's Charbonne Kennedy.
I really apologize.
guys. She will be allowed to speak. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the
stenographer? Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Charbonne Anderson, and my spelling of my name
is C-H-A-R-B as in boy, O-N-E-A-N-D-E-R-S-O-N. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes, sir.
Yes, sir.
Proceed, counsel.
Good afternoon, Mrs. Anderson.
I apologize for not using your married name on our packet.
It's okay.
Did you hear my testimony just now regarding your property on 20th Street?
Yes, sir.
Do you adopt what I said as your own?
Is there anything you'd like to add to the zoning board today?
If I just can't have just a little moment just to speak.
And my testimony just basically states that for 10 years, for over 10 years, I've had this property and it's always been a dream of mine to basically, you know, do short term rentals.
And I started, but now the accommodations has changed for Airbnb.
If you could provide any leniency to anything today or accommodations to allow me to do this, I'm a very responsible person and I will take accountability for everything that goes on at this property.
I have taken a necessary the necessary steps that I can as of now without the license and
make sure that the property is safe and that any visitors in the property will always be safe so
I just wanted to just point that out because I just took in I have taken a lot of
of time and energy to put into this property and now I'm at the end and I just really would like
the approval just to try to move forward and build a legacy for my family as well as myself
for years. I've worked doubles. I've worked at the hospital.