uh other questions questions more attorney hillary emerson not at this time mr
question from the virtual audience no but a hand just went up from madeline shakamba sure
she's allowed to speak yep hi good morning
Ms. Shacumba?
Hi, good morning.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Please unmute.
Madeline Shacumba.
Right.
Okay, my name is spelled M-A-D-E-L-I-N-E, Shikumba, S-H-I-K-O-M-B-A.
My name is spelled M-A-D-E-L-I-N-E, Chacumba, S-H-I.
Do you swear to affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Can I, before you start the thing, I have a correction to make concerning my documents, and I'd like to have, can I do that?
What's that?
I didn't hear what you said again.
I have a correction to, it was an error I made in submitting the documents, and I want to make a correction.
Okay, sure. Tell me your correction.
Okay. I submitted the documents, and the other documents said 2234 Montrose, when it should have been 2132 Montrose Street.
But the documents inside are correct in referring to 2132 Montrose Street, okay?
And also, I'd like to, you only give me three minutes, I think, to make this.
I would like to have the same amount of time as the attorney because this is an issue that
needs clarification and I'd like to have that extra time. We have your letter, right? You wrote
us a letter, right? Yeah, but there's also... Listen to me, we have your letter, but we don't
give people who are calling in the same time as the attorney. So what we would want is for you to
give us a sense of outlining more information that you gave in the letter?
Well, I think that the letter I sent as a co-coordinating RCO, we should be given more time.
We are here representing the residents who are fighting this property and properties,
not just this part, but properties that affect their living in the area. And as such,
we represent these residents and we think we should be given the same amount at some of the
time i don't i don't know that we listen to me i don't know that we could do that i guess the
question is we have your letter and would you want to tell us whether you're in favor of this or
you're still against i'm against this and let me say why okay okay one is the reason is that this
pergola has a roof it is called a louvre pergola because the boots are made of wooden slats okay
okay also uh this pergola uh he said that they have a hardship with the weather but everybody
does with the sun okay a shadow study was done by redfin redfin reality on this property and it
shows that there are nine hours of sun in june on this property and 4.3 hours in december placing
this property below the u.s average of solar exposure okay so they're not being that much
exposed to it also the biggest problem we have with this is that the pergola does not protect
you from them what really affects people which is the heat okay now the oh i did this is a lack
of privacy one uh uh two disadvantages of pergola is a lack of privacy okay and which you have uh
people can peep in on you and they can cover this many people cover this probably
this privacy but installing private certain privacy apparatus by installing curtains and
things like that okay and also this disadvantage turns into advantage because it makes it easy for
them to install an air conditioner that you would not even see okay yes this program does not have
have any size but that means there's no privacy but you do have the ability to install curtains
and other things and the heat is not a problem here because i already told you about the uh
shadow study okay and i think that they're using this as an excuse and this probably
is worth 1.3 million dollars there's no property in this area worth that amount of money i i
I understand that, and I have your letter, and I know exactly what you told us, and we appreciate your taking the time to call us, okay?
Well, I think you should look at this as being a lube, a lube, a lube, because the staff's lube.
Well, we're going to take it all into consideration and figure out exactly where we stand, okay?
All right, thank you.
Thank you, and thank you, but thank you for taking the time.
Is there anyone else in the audience?
No hands at this time, Chair.
planning commission chairman if i may just one quick clarification there uh the rendering i
pulled up just now this is the exact product that will be used it's a fixed slat metal right there's
no wood right and this is actually it's a florida company that builds these because they are used
specifically for this purpose in florida to just break up that direct sunlight to reduce the heat
with again without the need for air conditioning or anything like that okay so all right just want
to make that clarification thank you good morning chair david vecto with the city planning commission
good morning chair david vecto with the city planning commission chairman and board members
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa5 residential single family zoning at this
location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 1977 and a council supported map change there is
no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property that would prevent it from being
used in strict conformity with the zoning code and the appellant has not shown that they will
suffer an economic detriment if forced to comply with the height requirement in rsa 5. the city
planning commission recommends the board deny the proposed dimensional variance for additional
thank you council we're going to take this under consideration um we heard all sides of it i
believe and we'll vote next wednesday at 9 30. 9 30. yep thank you very much thank you let's go back
good afternoon mr chair hey you're back ron how are we yep i'm good my computer is sworn in i think
we're ready to go and um why don't you proceed i'll be quick 2439 master street is this property
here that we see long-term uh history is commercial first floor with living quarters above
Since, however, it was converted, reverted to an RSA-5 classification, what we're proposing is real simple, a vacant commercial space on the first floor consistent with CMX-1, as you see here on the left, and a one-family dwelling above, as you see here in the center, and the proposed roof deck.
Because the property is pre-existing and already sits on the envelope that it does, it does not meet any of the open air requirements, which is why that refusal was generated.
In addition, because it's now RSA 5, the multiple uses, commercial and residential, is prohibited.
That's why we're here today for that relief, as is the CMX 1 use prohibited.
As you note, we met with the community.
We got overwhelming support.
And the council office was also kind enough to send a letter of non-opposition.
I move all 70 pages of this exhibit binder into evidence, and I'll run through some more photos for you.
There's the letter that was mailed.
We have the deed.
And we have the long history showing commercial mixed use.
If you'd like to see some interior photos, I believe they're up here somewhere.
They're just, it's a shell, so there's not much to see.
But that's part and parcel of what we're trying to do here.
I'll bring it back up to, this is the rendering, as you can see the cross section.
And again, here's the exterior that shows the property as it now exists.
With that, if Tangela Turner is in the audience, I ask that she raise her virtual hand.
There are no hands at this time.
I asked the board to take my testimony as an officer of the court, thank you so the court will take your testimony questions from the board.
Can you show the demolition plan again.
Can you zoom in a little please can we do a little bit more yep all right trying to
see the demolition plan so okay that's who did so essentially we're taking a portion of the rear
of the building off and then we're rebuilding it with the addition that's correct okay
okay I think these these two renderings here on the left are probably the best ones
i think these uh these two renderings
okay and then I guess I see that you're trying to do a vacant commercial space
is that and that's an existing commercial space where's the is there going to be a separate
entrance or are they going to still share the primary door no there's a there's a corner
entrance for the for the commercial and there'll be a side entrance for the for the residential
okay as indicated here
got it all the questions and then is there a floor plan for what's happening with the extension
I saw the framing yeah there we go okay so essentially the extension is allowing
us to do this back egress there the stairs yeah yeah
and does the commercial have access to the basement yes and only just the commercial the basement
Correct.
Well, technically, they both have access to the basement, don't they?
Because they can all walk down.
Well, for those rear stairs.
But the tenant and the first floor tenant will.
It'll be included in their lease.
That's correct.
That's correct.
So is the apartment above, are they going to have to store everything in their unit?
No garbage, no bikes or anything allowed in the basement?
that's correct there'll be trash storage in the unit itself okay is there a dedicated trash closet
and i'm assuming there's laundry that is tucked in somewhere
yep okay yeah there's a laundry room for sure and they're typically i typically ask for
dedicated trash uh space as well but i'm not sure i see a dedicated trash cloth like a ventilated
trash closet i do see the laundry yep closet but not the fixture the fixture is just not drawn
the board wanted to make the vented trash closet a proviso you know that's perfectly fine on our end
yeah i think that's you know advisable even though they have access to the basement it's
just a strange setup that they have a full bathroom and then they have a powder room and
a one-bedroom unit it just kind of just just interesting doesn't make sense there's nowhere
to put any furniture but you've got a powder room and you've got a full bathroom for one bedroom
it's it's like is the intent at some point to do a third floor addition no the intent is is to have
a you know this really serve one or two people period you know period that's about it so that
it's a pretty nice size living dining area sort of no it's no no no it's not it's not it's not
it's not don't say that it's not it's not it's not it's not not gracious it's not at all but
it's a one-bedroom so i can kind of say it's your two people they can live with what they want to
live with but it's just you know for you know for a powder room and a full bathroom and a one-bedroom
just it just doesn't make sense
logistically and you've got this huge stairway and you want to and you want a roof deck
yeah just so the roof deck was before i guess well never mind it is a for the for the for the
tenant on the on the second floor sure that's their outdoor space anybody has i mean similarly
lead to the basement anybody has access to the roof access right also utilized by the commercial
space in the future the roof deck will be part of the lease for the residential tenant
that's their outdoor space i got it got it got it because you remember the commercial space
can only be cmx one level commercial anyway so it's not there would be no need for a roof deck
for that yeah other questions questions from our attorney hillary emerson um yeah i'm just a little
confused about the vacant commercial space because so the property is zoned rsa5 there is not a
request to permit cmx1 uses in that commercial space all there is the the proviso that's listed
on there is not act i mean a refusal that's listed on there is actually not something the
board can grant vacant commercial space is prohibited in the rsa5 zoning district that's
not a that's not a variance i'm sorry i can't hear you hillary could you speak sorry yes so the
you either i'm sorry i can't hear you hillary could you speak sorry yes so the what's listed
on the refusal is not a variance like the vacant commercial space is prohibited in the rsa5 zoning
district that that's not a variance like we're not unless there's a specific request for a
particular use or uses within a certain zoning district that's what we can grant so there's no
request on here for cmx1 uses so there's yeah so that we're not there's nothing for us to grant
related to the commercial space with this application the way it's written
so are you saying that the uh the the refusal is not accurate because the application was for
vacant commercial space yes so that's fine but it doesn't that doesn't mean that cmx1 uses are
allowed there's nothing about cmx1 uses here any commercial that you go to get a permit for
later will require you to come back to the zoning board for a variance
typically how it's worked my experience is that when we ask for a vacant commercial space
it's all it's all uses consistent with cmx1 no there's no set vacant commercial space is not
a use category in the zoning code so it all it should not have been listed as a refusal item on
here we have a very clear understanding with l and i about that and unfortunately this one
was not done correctly vacant commercial space literally means there's no use there and you need
to get a use permit to establish a use if you would like uses within a certain use category
you can request that but that is not how this refusal is written so you would be that's how
the request was written okay well then that means the refusal was done incorrectly so we should get
a corrected refusal before we vote on this because otherwise based on this there would be no approved
commercial uses as part of this application yeah yeah then i'm going to ask the board respectfully
i i to to hold the vote i i it seems like it'll be granted but i want to make sure that my client
has the vacant commercial space consistent with cmx1 use which is historically the how i brought
these to the board and been approved so we will hold the vote on this but we're going to go through
Yeah, and I will ask the L&I examiner to just, I may need to, I may need to have a letter from the zoning board granting me leave to ask the L&I examiner to do so.
So if there is a correction needed, they will do that without a letter.
Oops, sorry.
If they tell you that they don't believe it's a correction and that it's an amendment, then you will need a letter of authorization.
Understood.
Thank you so much.
let's let's see what the audience the virtual audience questions or comments in the virtual
audience no hands at this time chair you have one more question yep um so uh at the rco um
to the support did you guys discuss the uh roof deck i know there's an overlay uh for no roof
decks in that area and that was that an issue at the rco meeting or not it was not an issue
no they realized that it uh it's limited space on the second floor there's no outdoor space for
the tenant and it's on a corner uh because and that latter point was i think uh why it was um
acceptable
plenty do you want to take your position now or we certainly will okay uh thank you chairman and
good afternoon david factor with the city planning commission chairman and board members the
comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa5 residential single family zoning at this
location the city rezoned this section of the neighborhood in 2020 and a community requested
map change at that time this property was zoned cmx2 commercial mixed use the approvals for
two dwelling units and ground floor commercial use predate this zoning change however roof decks are
not needed for the appellant to derive value from their property so the city planning commission
recommends the board deny the proposed use variance for a roof deck and grant all other variances
so hillary we'll we'll close we'll close and just till we get the proper yes well yes we'll
close the record and um except for a corrected or amended refusal and and we and the response
from the attorney can we can we set up can we set a resumption hearing date please do we need a
resumption hearing i don't know that i don't know that we need a reason you don't need that okay
good that's even better i think what we should he'll get a hold of us when he's yes i'll just