ZBA Hearing - May 1, 2024

and the ground level is this is the assembly area where you would have the audience sit and the

stage. And then the second floor of the building has office and storage on one side. And then of

course, the space is open to the stage on the other. And with that, I want to share with you

our application. So it's for integrated play theater in an existing structure.

This generated a referral, which, as you know, means that our proposed use is, in fact,

consistent with the code. And we just need to ensure that our use won't impact the community

any more than a similarly situated integrated play theater would. And after meeting with the

community, it was determined that we would not have a negative impact on the community. In fact,

We would be a positive place for young people to assemble and entertain and learn performing arts.

So here are some of the pictures.

So here are some of the pictures. Here's the structure in the rear. We have a 56-page evidence exhibit that we're submitting today. As you can see, the structure is very old.

We have a 50, and here's the structure in the rear.

This is the front of the front property where it's, in fact, occupied by residents.

Those immediate residents do, in fact, support this application for the appeal of the referral.

We have some photos as well that we can share with you.

Here's the assembly step space in the stage.

and we have additional plans as well i'm going to go down to some more relevant documents

we did meet with the community and we mailed out a two-page letter detailing

what we plan to do and inviting them to both the community meeting and today's hearing to 61

individual households. And as a result of that meeting, we have received a letter of support

for the use. And with that, I'd like to bring on Mr. Joseph Thomas to adopt my testimony and my

presentation.

Joseph Thomas

has been unmuted and allowed to speak.

Counsel, before we go on,

did you attend the RCO meeting?

I did.

We don't have a letter yet.

Am I correct? We have one from

Solo Germantown, but we don't have one from

the coordinating

RCO. Is that right? I thought they

were all coordinating, but

it's my understanding that there was

unanimous support.

Okay.

And then before we go on, have you seen the provisors?

I have.

And all of those were agreed to at the time.

Good.

Thank you.

Yep.

I don't know how many are enforceable by this board, but regardless, we're willing to adhere to them.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Is the client on?

Yes.

Joseph Thomas.

Hi. Mr. Thomas, could you spell your name, please, for the stenographer?

Sure. J-O-S-E-P-H-T-H-O-M-A-S.

You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?

Yes, sir.

Please proceed, sir.

Thank you. Mr. Thomas, did you hear my presentation to the board this morning?

I did.

Is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge?

Yes, it is.

And do you adopt it as your own testimony?

I do.

thank you mr chair with that my client's testimony and the 56 page exhibit packet i move into

evidence thank you what uh questions from the board no chair

no chair questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson

um just briefly um mr anastasio the refusal wasn't clear on this but the proposed

assembling entertainment use that is only for the rear structure is that correct

yeah it integrated theater uh and it is right yeah it's for the okay and then all other previously

approved uses of the property are going to remain there's nothing changing i think that's a safe way

to cover all our bases.

Okay, sounds good.

Mr. Chair, I would just suggest

in addition to the provide those mentioned,

that we specify the uses for the rear structure

with the other previously approved uses to remain.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Questions or comments from the virtual audience?

Chair, we have Rosalind McKelvey.

They have been abuted and allowed to speak.

Good morning.

Could you please state your name

and spell for the stenographer?

Good morning.

My name is Rosalind McKelvey, R-O-S-A-L-I-N-D McKelvey, M as in Mary, C-K-E-L-V as in Victor, E-Y.

You should wear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.

Yes, sir.

Are you a neighbor?

I am the head of the RCO.

Thank you.

I had it in the four overlapping RCOs that all convened at the beginning.

Thank you.

Please proceed.

We proceeded, we had a very good meeting, a good turnout, and I sent on April 26th a second copy with, maybe we had the wrong address for RCO zoning, RCO notification, but I know Mr. Anastasio got it and the city councilwoman got it and all our RCOs have it.

OK, it was very good meeting. We had no negative feedback, positive feedback from the neighbors whose property on Logan Street, Germantown Avenue, those that meet up to it.

Okay.

It was a very good meeting.

We had no negative.

Historic wise, we had support from an audience member that was attending that knows about the historical history.

So and also so I'm not sure why you don't have it. I just sent it again this morning.

OK, we're fine. We're fine. And as far as there was a question about a time limit and the other three RCOs felt that this is a historic property and we didn't need to have any provisos.

So we approved it with unanimously.

Thank you very much. We appreciate it. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?

Chair, we have Charles Richardson. They have been abuted and allowed to speak.

Good morning, Mr. Richardson.

Good morning, Mr. Chair.

Please name your name and spell it.

Yes, sir.

Charles Richardson, R-I-C-H-A-R-D-S-O-N, Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass, Room 508 City Hall.

Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?

I do.

Please proceed, sir.

The Councilwoman is not opposed to granting this variance.

the property has been vacant for so long and this would be something that would bring new life to

that area uh we're not supporting any provisos on this um you know the only individual that was

requesting provisos is one rco which uh you know was it was opposed to every to in opposition to

all the other rcos that were present so uh we are uh not opposed to granting the variance with no

provisos. Thank you, sir. Anyone else in the virtual audience? Chair, we have Pabla Bracey.

They have been unmuted and allowed to speak. Good morning. Could you please state your name

and spell for the stenographer? Have I been unmuted? Yes. Could you state your name,

Yes, Pamela, P-A-M-E-L-A, Ray C-B as in boy, R-A-C-E-Y.

Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?

I do.

Are you a neighbor?

I'm a part of Solo Germantown Civic Association, and I'm not that far away from this property.

All right, Shay, please proceed.

I do agree that we did have a great meeting.

I disagree with the part about not having the proviso because we do have an event center just next door that neighbors have complained about.

It's a different kind of facility.

And I really thank Mr. Thompson for moving forward to rehab this building that was sitting there vacant for a very long time.

This was an early integrated theater here with the lady that was there for a number of years.

So we thank him for that. We thank him for the program that he recently had and brought young people in.

I think this would be a great facility to move forward.

But I do think that we need to think about placing, unfortunately, some some restraints or constraints of three to five years.

things do change. Thank you. Thank you. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?

Chair, we have Allison Weiss. They have been unmuted and allowed to speak.

Good morning, Ms. Weiss. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?

Allison Weiss, A-double-L-I-S-O-N-W-E-I-S-S, Solo Germantown Civic Association.

Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?

Yes. Please proceed. Yes. We, again, thank Mr. Thomas. We initially helped Mr. Thomas to go through and acquire that building because it had been vacant. And we very much appreciate that he has restored this historic property on our historic Germantown Avenue, a national landmark.

um what the concern is and there were three ear neighbors that were unfortunately unable to attend

the meeting and their concern is of the future use because we know that this exception would

follow to the next owner who may not be as diligent and as community-minded as Mr. Thomas's

So therefore, they're very concerned. They have an event space just across the driveway.

event space just across the driveway and it has become a nightmare for them and we thought we had

provisos at that time which apparently are not enforceable so we would like to

see if there could not be these temporary provisos

just per chance that in the future

this property is sold and becomes

a different type of event space.

So we would appreciate that the provisos, which the attorney has said

they have no issue with.

I do object to that point, Mr. Chair, but

why don't we let her finish, Vernon, and I'm going to give you a chance.

Alice, do you have anything else?

no so we would appreciate the support and consideration consideration for the temporary

proviso okay thank you very much is there anyone else in the virtual audience chair we have calvin

williams they have been unmuted and allowed to speak mr chair i think i need to clarify

my client's position for what i what i what i thought about doing was trying to get through

it all to see if there's anything else you clarify clarify one time okay thank you all right

Please, sir, please proceed, sir, and state your name and spell for a stenographer.

My name is Calvin Williams, C-A-L-V-I-N-W-I-L-L-I-A-M-S.

Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?

Yes, I do.

Mr. Williams, are you a neighbor?

In essence, yes.

My daughter is in the 3200 block of Logan Street, living in the family house that's been there for 50 years.

Please proceed.

Yes, I wanted to say that I do support the effort and wanted to add that I remember as a teenager being inside of that facility at the Germantown Friends Theater Guild and trained as a little young teenager.

And if that is going to be repurposed to be back what it was then, it would be an asset to the community with that kind of proviso that someone mentioned a five year so that we can guarantee that it does not change its purpose and its focus.

Thank you very much. Thank you for calling. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?

I see no further here, Chair.

Mr. Anastasia, do you want to comment?

Yeah, again, my client was perfectly fine with the provisos as it relates to the operation.

But we are not seeking a temporary special exception.

And I think it was agreed upon by not only the city council office, but the majority of the RCOs, is that what we've applied for is an integrated play theater.

If you look at the application, it's very specific and it's specific for a reason.

It does not permit assembly and entertainment in a larger scale.

So those concerns are misplaced because all we can do here and all anyone could ever do here, not that my client is interested in selling the property that he just completely restored, is integrated play for youth as the last witness testified.

to bring that back. And it's a youth program in a part of a neighborhood that we all know

is suffering from terrible violence and gun violence and homicide, primarily because of

the issues and untreated trauma of young people. So what Mr. Thomas is trying to do here is treat

those kids. And to put constraints on that would just limit the amount of time that he could do

that for the children and for those reasons that's why the overwhelming majority of the folks in

attendance and the council office do not want to see a temporary uh special exception here thank

you planning commission thank you chair bergman and good morning david vector with the city

planning commission chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to

the commercial mixed use zoning at this location the appellant has shown that the proposed assembly

and entertainment will have no detrimental impacts to the neighborhood beyond what might

be expected. The City Planning Commission recommends the board grant a proposed special

exception for assembly and entertainment. Thank you. MI 2023-006-934-4821 Germantown Avenue.

I vote yes with proviso. Use for rear building only with other previously approved uses on the

property to remain. James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso.

James Snell, my vote is yes, with proviso.

Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes, with proviso.

Thank you, counsel.

Thank you.

Number 13, MI 2023, 006-941-3643, Richmond Street.

Alan Notkinson is the attorney.

There's a letter of support from Pro-PAC.

Vote was unanimous, 19.

in support. There's also a provider that we've been provided with a petition of support signed