 And guests, we asked for your patience during this meeting. Multiple staff members are behind the scenes to make sure all applicants and citizens are able to communicate with the board at the appropriate times. Board members and applicants are participating via zoom summer using video and all are using audio. Please make sure that you remain muted. And applicants you don't need to have your video on until your case is called. And just everyone please be aware of your audio and be mindful of anything in the background of your video just to eliminate distraction. The public has the opportunity to participate in a number of ways today so they can watch via city TV. They can participate via email phone or by logging into public input calm. To stream the meeting you can do it through city TV which is accessed at YouTube calm slash user slash Columbia SC government. The public can submit letters and statements via email to COC board meeting at Columbia SC dot gov leading up to and or during the meeting. They count will be monitored during the meeting for each case until such time the board goes into discussion to participate via phone you can call at 1-855-925-2801 and when prompted enter the meeting code to 775. Once you enter the meeting code you have three options so you can hit star one which allows you to listen to the audio of the meeting. If unable to stay on the line you can hit star two, which allows you to record a voice message that will be read into the record or played into the record. Please make sure you speak clearly and leave your name and the case for which you are calling. And star three allows you to be placed in a queue to speak live when prompted. You can hit star three at any time during the call we ask that you please wait until your specific cases call so that we know which case you're in the queue to speak for. You can also stream at public input.com slash coc boza March. And if participating by phone while also streaming on your computer. Please make sure to mute the audio on your computer. So that you don't have those audio playback issues. There is an audio delay between zoom and the live recording on city TV and public input.com. So if you notice that we're pausing at certain times it's to allow that audio to catch up and give citizens time to submit any comments or to call in. I'll go ahead and do role. Mr. Dinkins here. Mr. Gregory just saw him in the waiting room. Mr. Gregory. He's there but he's muted. Mr. Primus. Miss Stevens. I am here. Great. Mr. Spinner. Here. Mr. Gignard. Here. And Mr. Gregory if you can unmute yourself. Just so I can make sure that you are connected through audio. Mr. Ryan. Since you don't have video. Hopefully he can get himself unmuted. But we have a quorum either way. Okay applicants with requests before the Board of Zoning Appeals for a lot of the presentation time of 10 minutes. This time should include but is not limited to an overview of the project case history in any pertinent meetings held regarding the request. such as attorneys, engineers, and architects. This time limit does not include any questions asked by the Board of Zoning Appeals or staff regarding requests. Any member of the general public may address the board in intervals of three minutes, or five minutes if by a spokesperson for an established body or for a group of three or more. The applicant will then have five minutes for a buttle. The board reserves the right to amend these procedures on a case-by-case basis. The board uses the consent agenda to approve non-controversial or routine matters by a single motion in vote. The member of the board or the general public wishes to discuss an item on the consent agenda, that item is removed and placed on the regular agenda. The board then approves the remaining consent agenda items. On the consent agenda today we have the approval of the February 4th, 2021 minutes. Case 2021-0010, a special exception for 919 True Street Unit S to permit a beauty shop. Case 2021-0014, a special exception on Coon Road to establish a religious organization. Case 2021-0015, a variance for 804 Kiwana Road. Variance to the maximum lot coverage requirement to permit an open-sided carport. Case 2021-0016, a variance for 804 Kiwana Road to the side yard setback requirement for the open carport. Case 2021-0022, for 3,500 and 3452 North Main Street, 1209 Avondale Drive and 1217 Sunset Drive for variance to the maximum front yard setback requirement for mixed use development. Case 2021-0023, a special exception for 3,500 and 3452 North Main, 1209 Avondale and 1217 Sunset Drive, a special exception to permit a shared parking arrangement for mixed use development. Case 2021-0024, a special exception again for 3,500 and 3452 North Main, 1209 Avondale and 1217 Sunset for a special exception to permit an alternative parking service surface. Case 2021-0026, for 3,509 Phillip Street, special exception to permit an alternative parking surface. And I'm going to pause for one minute. I'm sorry. I'm getting messages on here and via text. I'm going to make sure something's not happening with the audio. Board members, please note it's hard for me to see if you chat me questions about audio. So please just note that. All right. In case 2021-0028, for 919 True Street, Unit K, this is a special exception to permit a barber shop. Case 2021-0029, for 1,600 St. Julian Place, a special exception to permit miscellaneous personal services. In case 2021-0031, a special exception at 919 True Street, Unit T, for miscellaneous personal service, a day spa. That completes the consent agenda. If anyone wishes to have a case removed from the consent agenda prior to the board vote, please let us know. We will pause and check the COC board meeting at Columbia SC.gov email as well as with public input to see if anything on the line. Hey, Rachel, John here. Sorry, I'm late. Thank you. Can I just say one thing about a couple of the cases? Sure. Just want to disclose for the board, for the record, a client of mine who I helped buy the land back in September 2019. I am no longer involved in the project whatsoever. But just for the record, I did help the North Main Street and Phillips Avenue. I helped them buy that land, but have not been involved in that whatsoever and are no longer financially involved. So just want to make that for the record. And if anyone has any issue with it, then that's fine. I just want to make that clear. Thank you. Thank you, John. I don't see a problem with that. Staff on public input. Is there anyone on the line? I didn't see any new emails come through. We have no one. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Could we get a motion for the consent agenda, please? Through the consent agenda with staff comments. I'll second. Okay. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. You want to pose? Okay. Motion passes. The following outline for the regular agenda items. Staff will introduce the case. Applicant will have 10 minutes to make a presentation. The board may ask questions during that time. The public will be allowed to participate via email, voicemail, or phone comment. And the applicant will have a chance for rebuttal. And then the action by board, the board will go into discussion. So the first matter on the regular agenda is case 2020-0086. This is a variance for 1307 Mason Road. It's a variance to the maximum height requirement for a multifamily development. And if the applicant is on the line, he's welcome to unmute himself and give us some background on the request. Good afternoon. This is Anthony Lawrence. Thank you. I appreciate it. This project is a multifamily affordable workforce housing project. And the roof pitch puts us at 46 feet. And the requirement is 40 feet. And we work with the architect to come up with a variety of elevations. And the one that was the most appealing because we wanted this one to be appealing to the community, North 21 Terrace I've been working with to make sure a lot of their concerns were addressed. They're very passionate about their neighborhood as all of us should be. And the objective was to have outside of just quality construction architecture and aesthetics that would compliment their neighborhood, number one, number two, be durable materials, of course, and then three aesthetics. And so when we were looking at lower pitch roofs, it made the apartments look cheap. And that's something that we did not and the community did not want to go with. So with a 6 and 12 on the end and an 8 and 12 in the top elevation you see, that rear line is at 8 and 12. That was more appealing aesthetically. And so that's the request for the variance is to allow us to go to 46 feet so we can keep the aesthetics where it would be very appropriate and uncomfortable for the community, make the units, the apartment homes, feel as if they are of quality. They're not some inexpensive and sort of not well thought out. And in the elevations of this facility would be one that would be comfortable for those individuals who live in there. Thank you, Mr. Lawrence. Does that conclude your presentation? Yeah, that concludes my presentation. I did have a rendering. I didn't get it to you guys, but I do have a rendering of what they look like. But these 2D drawings communicate the height requested we're making. Do you have a site plan yet? Yes, I do have a site plan. If I could, there's a way, I don't know if you can share my screen or if I can email to someone I can. Not sure if necessary. I was kind of, this is not a site plan review, so it's really not necessary. I was just sort of asking the question to gauge how far along you are with the project. So, yeah. Yes, we have one building or several. I'm a little bit. I know there's a total of 13 buildings. Two of the 13 are ones a clubhouse and one is actually a mail station. Okay. So, this is a big project. I guess it, yeah. Yes. Okay. Yeah, it's a total of 288 apartment homes. Wow. Wow. Something probably needed for the area too. This looks like a really good project. We're very excited about it. It's definitely, again, been received well by the community after I helped them understand what this was going to be. They were very involved in creating the elevations you see here. We did several discussions and presentations because we're going to be neighbors and so they needed to chime in on it. And there is some excitement. I mean, you can't make everybody happy, but there is some excitement about this project. That is a good way to go about it. Well, are you familiar with the six specific criteria that were asked to judge this request on, meaning there's six that they should have been in your application? They're really, when we look at a variance or something like this, there's really only six things we're supposed to be judging this on. I'm looking now. I think I have my application in your application. And the reason I want to ask is I want to give you an opportunity to tell us a little bit more about this because I'll be honest with you. Reading these criteria, I find them lacking really your answers to these questions don't really answer the questions and we need to be able to get on the record answers to these questions that can help us grant this variance for you. I see them now. So I guess I would ask you to help us here. Please describe the extraordinary and exceptional conditions that pertain to the subject property. That would, I'll pass my answer to you. You're saying my answer is not really addressing. Yeah, I mean, this is what we're legally asked to do. We're asked to judge this request based on these criteria. And I think this is a good project and I'd like to help you get there. But based on these answers, we'll talk more about later. But now is your opportunity to help us help you. Oh, correct. Well, for one, up until there was there was information provided that that that was, you know, I understood that the the ordinance, the changing in the ordinance was imminent, but then it's got pushed back. So we felt that after we had already submitted this that we would be okay. But I recognize now that it's going to be pushed off with the new ordinance whereby 46 feet wouldn't even be an issue. But in terms of number one, you know, this, I guess I was trying to explain in that the geometry of the apartments, the roof, the previous roof geometry at a three and 12 pitch, it was not appealing. I can't get any more specific than that other than getting very flowery in my words. But what we're, what you are doing a project like this in a community that hasn't had any development in the past 40 years, you know, having their input or having them as a part of this process was very important. And so we wanted to present some architecture that would that would be comfortable to them. Again, this is, you know, it's pretty substantial 288 units. And you want something that's going to go in, even though this is private property, even though you can go in and just do what you want. But, you know, we went the extra step. I went the extra step to make sure that they were able to, you know, be a part of chiming in and giving us their input. And so that was one of the the feedbacks was what it looked cheap. So, you know, we decided, okay, well, you know, we need to add more brick, you know, add more of your hearty plank siding. And then the roof pitch really made that aesthetic in terms of the shape of the building, it made that really sing. Understood. And then, and so, you know, this is a precedent in terms of other other properties in the vicinity outside of Hastings Point neighborhood, which is the newest, but still old. And Hastings Point has been around for about 15, 17 years. You know, there isn't any new architecture in this side of town. And so that alone, sort of number two for us, that's why I was explaining that, you know, there hasn't been anything like this in over 25 years. Actually, it's been about 40 years since there's been anything new after doing some more research. So there was nothing to balance against this. This is a 64-acre site whereby, you know, we're carving out a total of 30, you know, 39 plus to do this project and to include the green space and expanding our current quote unquote fishing hole. It's being expanded. And so, you know, and having a precedent, we didn't have one. We are setting the precedent. I'm looking at number three right now. Yeah, and there, you know, to make this feasible for this demographic, as well as with it being an opportunity zone, and as well as working with state housing in order to make the math work and still have green space, which I'm very keen on. Three stories was what we needed to go with in order to make them all work. And that literally, that's the math side of a kind of process. You have the design side and you have the math side or the financing side. And in order to make that work to answer number three, I'm just embellishing more than what I've already mentioned here is that that that is something that we needed to make happen. The other thing is so that these apartment homes, you know, don't feel like your typical hinting in where the roof where the ceiling inside the inside the room is at seven, six, because they're trying to, you know, do as less as possible in order to get the, you know, get the hotel constructed for, you know, for, you know, maximizing dollars, you know, we went with some decent ceiling heights in these in each of these units. And so that's what predicated the the height to be where it is. I'm reading number four. Give me a second. I apologize. I know I got 10 minutes. I know I got 10 minutes. I'm sorry. I'm getting close to that. So, again, you're answering a board members question. You're not on the clock. Don't worry. Okay. All right. Okay. Okay. For number four, again, you know, there is no precedent. We are establishing sort of a new, we will be establishing a new aesthetic. The only feature of these apartment homes, you know, with the addition, we increased the amount of brick. A lot of the homes in the neighborhood are your ranch style homes, you know, 1960s built 1970s and their brick, some of them have vinyl, but a lot of them are brick homes. That's the, that's the compliment to the existing community. And then I lean heavily on, because that was just part of the conversation of what these look like and will they be some, there be something that we're attract. And this was very, very important to the existing community who are in their 60s, 70s and 80s. We don't want a facility constructed that would attract individuals that wouldn't be sensitive to having seniors in the adjacent neighborhood. So, so the aesthetic of this needs to be one where it will attract those individuals who are carrying a full-time job, taking care of their family, doing the same things that we did when we were in our 20s and 30s and 20s and 30s and just buying these, these ranch style houses. And so, you know, giving us approval on a 46 foot eave height, we felt that very, very passionately about it. Otherwise, we would have made it 40 feet. We would have just, but giving us this will help with strengthening, you know, our approach to attract a market base who can appreciate being here and who can appreciate taking care of the property and respecting the property. And again, we didn't want to go with the flat roof, which is what is common, but a lot of multifamily housing now because the neighborhood is not full of flat roofs. The neighborhood are, again, are filled with your ranch style houses, which are five and 12, six and 12, seven and 12 roof pitches. There are some that are three and 12. I'm not going to be remiss by, you know, I'm not saying that, but we felt that that, that steeper roof pitch would give us the ability to help the community, you know, make sure this property was, was handsome. All right. And I'm, I'm, I'm going to have to switch your pieces here. My AirPods are starting to, the battery just started. I just got the chimes. Give me a second. I may have to switch to my, my laptop's audio. So I may just give me a second here while these charge. While he's doing that, Gene, just to let, you know, Marcellus was able to join us. He came on about after through the space. So he'll be jumping in on the next message. Good, good. Fantastic. And Jenna had some audio issues too, but she's back and has been on this whole page. She had issues during the consent agenda, but she's back now too. Right. Can everyone hear me now? We can. We can hear you well. Be perfect. Okay, good. All right. Yeah, switch over. To add more to what I provided for number five. I think I understand what you're with number five. I was, I was taking number five as a question about the, you know, the financial implications of this project. Am I incorrect in that assumption? Or is It's not necessarily incorrect, but we really, we can't, the fact that financial really is, is not something that we can use to grant someone a variance. That's just, that's really not what we look at. We're not, we're supposed to look at, but Yeah, got it. Got it. Got it. Okay. That one's more, Mr. Lawrence, that one's more asking, you're asking for 46 feet. What would be the impact? Is there a reason why it can't be 45 feet or 44 feet or closer to the actual requirement? Are you as close to it as you can possibly get? I understand. Okay. Thank you. That helped a whole lot. Got it. And recognize this too. So, you know, in, in my outside of the aesthetics, you know, the next most important thing is, okay, can you really do the project? So the financial part is sort of always the second thought in making sure these kinds of, you know, these, this, this type of community project can work. So can we reduce the height down? Yes. It's not more complicated than that. We can look at a, you know, a six and a six and 12 pitch, which would if you, if you did six and 12, then the peaks of the ridge lines would all line up and the center ridge line would not, you know, wouldn't be higher. That is something that, that would not be a, it wouldn't be a debating factor on our end. You know, wouldn't be a problem. And in, in going back to the community, if, you know, they, they, and they will see these, these, I say young ladies and men are very keen. They know, they know what they're looking at. You know, we'll just explain to them that, hey, this is something that was, you know, a requirement in order for us to get the, you know, border zoning appeals approval. But, but that wouldn't, that wouldn't kill the project. So could we go 44 feet? Yes. Could we go 45? Yes. Yes. We would not go higher. I mean, again, because at that point, it, you know, it's not necessary. So what we were only asking for was what is absolutely necessary. Thank you for clarifying what number five means. Number six. Yeah, that I packaged number six, similar to the earlier question and that, you know, there is no precedent. Well, there is a precedent. It's, you know, over 30 years old and it's the neighborhoods. It's the shopping, there's a little strip mall across the street, which is somewhat deteriorated and it, you know, the roofs over there are not, they're not pitched through. There's just all, you know, parapets in storefront. And so the fire station across the street, you know, does not have a pitched roof. Again, we were focused specifically on the residents' homes and what their eye was comfortable with seeing in North 21 Terrace. And so we felt that because those homes have been there and at some point in time, you know, were approved to be constructed many, many, many, many, many years ago that we would be in line. The aesthetics of this building would be in line with the aesthetics of those homes. And that was the guiding light. Studying the zoning ordinance, that was not the guiding light. Making sure that the people in the Greenview North 21 Terrace area were comfortable with this, that's, that's, that was our guiding light. Unless I am misreading or misunderstanding number six, please correct me. No, I think we, we understand you. You've gone over the project in detail with us and thank you. So at this time, Mr. Lawrence, we'd like to ask other board members, do you have any questions for the output that he hasn't already addressed in this presentation? I don't, Jane. We've got a brief one, Mr. Lawrence. Is this something, the same design you've built in other locations or is this specific to this? And in other locations, did you stick with the same roof pitch? For every, you know, the answer to the question, no, this is, this is specific to this, this location. We cater the aesthetics, you know, to the, to the residents first, and then to the municipality that we have to get approvals by. And so, no, this, this is not a, you know, sort of pick it up and plop it somewhere else. This was specifically, again, with the additional brick being added and the vertical siding, you know, hard of playing siding, that, that was, you know, based off of getting input from the, from the community. And the roof, specifically, let me, let me, the roof pitch was, was literally came out of discussions of what makes the, what makes the residents, what makes, you know, everyone feel comfortable about, you know, how this is going to look and who it's going to attract. That's really the big issue is, you know, we don't want to attract anyone to this community that's not going to appreciate and take care of it. And the architecture needs to speak to that. All right. Thank you. Yes, sir. If I sort of picked up around, you're sort of talking around a lot, but it sounded like what you're sort of trying to say is that younger buyers would like a higher ceiling and the older buyer, the older residents prefer or would like the higher roof pitch from an aesthetic perspective. So you're trying to harmonize those two desires. Is that sort of what you're saying? That you want the individual apartments to feel, you know, apartment homes to feel comfortable. Right. And so, and so can you go to eight foot ceiling? Sure. Yeah. Yeah. But to, to really make it attractive and make people, because one of the, you know, the challenges that we're, you know, faced with is, and I feel very, I feel very optimistic about what the North Main area can be, particularly after reading Richland County's plan for that area as a part of that master plan. And it being a gateway into downtown Columbia, I can definitely envision what it can be. And so the challenge is when someone walks inside this apartment home, they feel, yes, I can live here. And so, you know, a higher ceiling would appeal to, you know, not necessarily, you know, younger or older, but you, you know, you're wanting working class individuals, you know, in these apartments. And there were some young, I mean, the, the neighborhood is a mix. A majority of neighborhood are your 60, 70, 80 year olds, but there are younger people in the, in the existing neighborhoods. And so we were, you know, taking it all that input into consideration, we felt that it would one, you want an apartment home that feel comfortable when someone walks in the door, I'm repeating myself, but I'm just, you know, trying to drive home the point. And then two, when you're walking away from this and you're driving away from this, or you're driving down North Main, and you see this, you know, you think to yourself, okay, those are handsome looking apartment homes. Okay. Okay. That's, I think you, I think you've answered my question. I do have a quick question. This PDIA, they, they, they must do these, specializing these. We just had a, two months ago, we had someone come through for a similar request. And looks very similar. You mentioned, and they wanted the nine foot ceilings to, but their roof pitch wasn't, or their roof height wasn't quite as high. You mentioned you might be okay, still be able to get the nine foot, what you want. If we just maybe brought that down a couple feet. Yes, sir. Okay. That might be sort of what I suggest once we get the board discussion, but we'll just, just because there's, since we just recently did, did something for that. Understand. Yeah. And you can, you know, eight, six ceiling, it's not, it's not going to, it's not going to, you know, it's not going to kill the project again. I think they had, because I, I went back, yeah, I went back and looked for it, just why they had a, I think 12, five. Yeah, 12, five. Yeah. They're only, they're a handful of architecture firms in the state that are that quote unquote qualified for these kinds of funded projects. So that's, it's no different than the city having a preferred list of plumbing contractors to do repair work on city, you know, city water lines. The same applies. I'm gonna, you, you, you may already know that, but there's only a handful of firms that are qualified to do this type of project. Rachel, I have a quick question for you. The applicant stated that in the new rewrite of the city zoning ordinance that this height would be allowed at 46 feet. Do you know if that's accurate? I know some districts, it does increase, but that ordinance, I can't say for certain when it will be effective. Yeah. We have a proposed map right now because this is a property that's being newly annexed. We have not assigned a zoning district to it. There are a couple zoning districts that are comparable to the RG2 that it's being annexed in as. So I can't say for certain what district it is going to end up being. Understood. Understood. Okay. Well, do any other board members have any questions for the applicant? Okay. I don't hear any. Rachel, do we have any anyone on the line wishing to speak about this matter? I don't see any new emails, but I think there was one person with their hand raised. I'll see if Erica still has them on the line. There's one person that wishes to speak. I'll connect them now. Okay. Thank you. Is someone connected? A little caller at 518-4702. You are connected, so please feel free to speak. I'm sorry, I was on the wrong one. My fault. Sorry, I was on the wrong one. My fault. Okay, thank you. We can end your speaking session. What case are you calling about? We'll make sure that you're connected to the right one. Go ahead and end this session. While that's underway, again, making the reducing the height is something that, you know, again, it would not kill the project. We've had to make some a lot of different changes on this project to appeal the appease the neighborhood. And so that's something that we wouldn't go against. Just what we would, you know, we would just need to know what your final decision would be in terms of do we need to stay at be at 40 or if we'll be allowed to do 42, 43. Thank you, Mr. Lawrence. We'll get to that, but we're trying to see if there's a public input. You'll have more opportunity in a minute. I think we're good, Gene. I think that was the only one who had indicated that the hand raised. I don't believe there's anybody else on the line. Okay. All right. Well, thank you. Okay. Well, at this point then, let's enter into forward discussion and see what everyone thinks. I'm curious what everyone thinks. Who wants to start? Catherine? I was, I'm very pleased that this is seems to have been done with a great deal of neighborhood input. I think that's, that's really nice. And I wish we had letters to that effect, but okay. I think that's good. I think also that allowing them to raise the ceilings, ceiling heights will make it much better if nice people want to live there. And I think that those are valid concerns to me. I wish we had had more boxes checked with the presentation as you were trying to get, but I still, I think that he's done an awful lot of good things that will make this a much more valuable if we allow the height increase, we'll make it a more valuable property for the neighborhood. And this neighborhood needs all the help it can get. Yeah, Gene, I kind of agree with that. And, you know, seeing a similar request a couple of months ago and to get the nine foot ceilings, my suggestion would be to drop it down to something similar in line to what that guy was requesting, which was 43 and some change. So maybe drop it down to 44. But that would be my suggestion, make a motion to approve it, subject to the top line height being 44 feet. That's what I think I would want to suggest. What's the difference? I mean, you know, they got to go redesign these things. And I mean, nobody knows what it's 44, 46 feet. Did you go back and look was it a five and 12 pitch? Yeah, I mean, it's just, you know, next person might ask for 48 and 50. I don't know, just try to keep it consistent, I guess. Appreciate that point. I don't think precedent is as big a deal overall. I don't think we have to be consistent citywide as much as saying, well, gosh, within the context here, this seems to make some sense. And given that this is an affordable housing project, I think, you know, I don't want to have them have to pay to read that redesign, the go through all the redesign expenses to make it two feet lower. I don't think that we can. I don't think the difference to us is going to be that much or to anybody else is going to be that great two feet one way or the other. But I think to the cost of the value of the project, it will. So I'd like to keep it. I'd like to approve the project as as proposed. But I guess if you've made a motion to otherwise, then we have a procedural thing. You said he would make a motion. So I'm with you, Catherine. I think it's okay. I mean, it's cheaper to build a shorter building. But it sounds like the local residents have requested this. Style roof, because they like the way it looks better. And that's, you know, kind of the point of maximizing the height and putting a limit on there. So if that's what makes them happy and the developers willing to do it, I'd lean towards approving it as it's submitted as well. I move that we approve it as submitted subject to board subject to staff comments. I'll second it. Okay. All right. Well, we have a motion to a second. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? No. May I speak quickly? Your motion passed. So you're good. Okay. I just want to let know. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. I just want to let know Ms. Finner. No, we do have a letter that I submitted to the neighborhood association president. I can't provide that information. We're good. Okay. All right. Okay. Yes, ma'am. Okay. Thank you, everyone. I also just want to let people know I saw a couple emails come in. If you're on the line from the consent agenda, you're good. You're welcome to log off. You do not have to stay on for the entire meeting. So the consent agenda was approved. But you're welcome to listen in if you have nothing to do. You're welcome to, but you have not. Democracy in action. All right. The next item on the agenda is case 2021-0011. This is a special exception for 2939 Truman Street. This is a special exception to establish an automotive towing facility. If the applicant is on the line, they are welcome to unmute themselves and present their case. One second, please. Board members, can you hear me? Yes. Hi, my name is Chad Washington. And this is my first time doing one of these. So I believe at this time we would just explain to you what it is that we're trying to do here at this address. That was good. Okay. Well, myself and my business partner, Kenneth Myers, we're the owners of Imperial towing. And the 2939 Truman Street, we didn't say it in our application, but it's a family-owned property. My father has owned this property for about roughly 20, maybe 22 years now. And it's located in the Belvedere neighborhood of West Belt Line. I guess you can say the two-notch area, the two-notch West Belt Line. But it's located off of Truman Street, excuse me, Truman Street in West Belt Line. We put in for a special exemption back in October and to house our towing company here. And we were met with some opposition then from the neighborhood. And due to the time, we went ahead and withdrew our request because we just bought or made a sizable investment in the trucks. And we had payments to make an X, Y, and Z. So we found another property that was already permitted as far as zoning goes for a tow trucking company, maybe less than a quarter mile away at 2725 Brady Street. And we were there. We were set up there. It had everything that was fine for us to have a tow trucking company, as far as the Finchston area, the lighting and office space. But what we could not foresee is what weather would do as far as where our parking Finchst area was. This is a grass area. And what was happening is whether the rain or what not, you know, our trucks are kind of heavy so that we could bog down in the mud because the area wasn't paid. So that area wasn't conducive for what it is that we were trying to do and basically what I'm saying what we're trying to do is house our trucks in that area. It wasn't more so about the cars being housed, but our trucks, you know, having our trucks being able to be locked up at night in the safe area, what not secured. But it wasn't conducive for us because of, you know, wet conditions. So we doubled back to 2939 Truman Street, where you can see in the pictures the majority of the areas, well, I'm going to say majority, all of the areas paid on the inside of the lot. And that's where we want to be able to, you know, house our tow trucking company. I've had a chance to meet with, I guess, even say community leaders and other people in the community and have them express why it is, you know, why they're for or why it is that they are against us having a towing company house there. And the majority of it, you know, I think that the opposition was against us having a towing company there based off of what they thought it might become in the future. Like I said, it's been in our family for 22 years. And I wholeheartedly honestly say the property is an eyesore. And it's probably been an eyesore because it's been abandoned for, I want to say abandoned, but it really hasn't had a tenant there to man that property, to keep it clean and to be there day to day to make sure things on that property are functioning. And that's where we were expressing to the neighborhood is that, you know, I don't want to be in a situation where you're holding me accountable or our future business accountable for, you know, what a family member did in the past or how they kept the property in the past. Because we want to make that commitment to the neighborhood to clean up the property if we were afforded a chance to. And also being able to move to that property will legitimize our business. Because right now we're, I guess we're homeless that we left that property on 2027 and 25 Brady Street. My business partner is online if you want to. Hey, yes. You guys hearing? Oh, yeah. Yeah, go ahead. Hey, well, my name is Kenneth Myers. I'm sorry I was late to the call. But just like Chad said, like we're a growing business and at no point, you know, speaking to the community, are we not on the same page? I think the community and us want similar things. We want that property to be better than what it is right now. And for us to have that opportunity, we need to get this on. And I think there has been kind of misinformation on, you know, what we're trying to do. But we actually did a community event recently. We did a fish fry for everybody. We let them come in, do a drop in to kind of talk to us, meet with us, to know the faces. And there were a lot of familiar faces as we are from the community. I currently live about a half a mile from that location. And I think all parties will benefit from us being over there. In order for us to be in there, we can't have junk. We're running a business. It has to be appeasing to both the neighbors to us and our customers. And so, and just to piggyback on what Chad said, that's pretty much our focus here. We are very much so community oriented people being that we grew up around this area. We're willing to work with the community leaders, the neighborhood association, on making improvements and doing things along their goals as well. So this isn't something that, you know, we're taking lightly by any means. And you might interject one second. I wanted to make this point. When people here tow yard, they automatically assume that it's going to be like, you know, 50 cars over there or scrap cars or whatnot. And we said from the very offset, we want to, if you tow or house cars, we only want to house operable cars. And we've been in business now maybe six months, and we towed over 850 cars. And our last lot and that 850 guys got a chance to read the notes. We've only housed three cars. And we didn't house those three cars for over 24 hours. Our business, we're not mechanics, we're not scrap yard. Our business on the day to day is, you know, we're getting our trucks, we go out in service, insurance costs, so people are broken down the side of the road or whatnot or somebody needs to get from A to point B. So in essence, we want somewhere where we can house our trucks and meet and have an actual address where, you know, it legitimizes our business. I don't intend or, and Kenna doesn't intend for this to be a scrap yard or junk yard or a place that houses broken down in abandoned vehicles. And I would understand because when you hear tow yard, if you're familiar with San Fernando Sun, I'm thinking they're probably think this is going to be a Wally Washington Sun's rendition of San Fernando Sun. And that's, that's not what we intend this to be at all. The current owner of the property has not any penny invested in what it is that me and Kenny have said before. So this should be under different leadership. And if you got a chance to read our bios or whatnot and see our backgrounds, we are from the community, we did attend the, excuse me, the elementary schools, the middle schools, and the high schools that this neighborhood services. So we are familiar with the services that are needed here in our community and the faces that are needed to be served in that community. So that's just a spiel on what it is that we're trying to do. We hope if there is opposition on the phone or whatnot that they heard us and hear us out. Well, thank you. I think, I think you did a very good job with your application answering our questions of these eight criteria to judge. And I think you did a really good job with your presentation, giving us some background about yourselves. So I think that was a very good presentation. At this time, I'd like to ask the board or even have any questions for that. I have a quick question. Were you not housing cars in the old property because it wasn't paved and it was potentially muddy? Or will you continue to not house cars even when you have a paved, nice surface to park on? Well, so the majority of our business right now, we work for insurance companies like, we're only seven insurance companies. We work for a dispatcher named Majero. And the majority of those calls are motorists who are out and about and happen to break down or whatnot, right? So we're just out in the trucks all day. Basically taking a car from point A to where we're going. And point B is usually either their house or a service place or whatnot. But to answer your question, I'm not saying that we haven't house cars or won't house cars. I'm just saying we don't want to house cars that aren't harmful. And John, just to further answer your question, we stored cars. So cars weren't the issue at the tow yard. The cars were light enough that the soil didn't matter. It was only when our trucks were there and sit there for overnight and it rained. In the next morning, we tried to crank them up. They just, we were stuck in the mud. So we didn't, we only store three cars because that was just how our scope of business goes. We were not asked to storm. And when they do as rare, but we can, it was just, the lot previously was just for our trucks, not customers vehicles. They were light enough to be able to go in and out. If there were a restriction on your storing any cars at the site, because it sounds to me like mostly what you're using this as, if I understand what you're saying, you're using this as a transit, as a dispatch center for your towing trucks. And then you're merely taking, as you say, vehicles from point A to point B and that point B doesn't have, isn't supposed to be your site. Is that correct? Well, point B can be our site. So let's say someone calls in and they're from Florida. And so they just want their car off the side of the highway. They may not have the resources or the coverage to get that car towed back to Florida. So what they'll do is they'll will pick it up and house it until they can coordinate however, finance or make an extra payment to the insurance company so that they can transport or they call a different company come get it from us. So we will, as a functioning business, we want to have that ability to have a car there just to take it back to life just in case. Let's say we're supposed to deliver it to caliber collision or John Harris body shop and we get there and that body shop is closed and doesn't have a drop box. We would have to hold on to that car until the next morning when they're open, because those body shop is the one to be held liable for anything to happen to that vehicle outside of their gates. Okay, so what happens if the if the car, the person who's car who can't afford to get their car back down to Florida, never can afford to get their car back to Florida? Well, then we'll just follow the steps in the South Carolina law book where it was, we'll send a certified letter to the owner. And then after half of the law stipulates, I believe is a maximum 30 days, if they don't respond, then we go through the master's office and auction that vehicle off. Okay. In essence, though, we've never had to do that yet, because most of the cars we tow for the insurance companies that we've been working with, these cars are well insured. And then the next morning, they'll find somebody like another tow company will come and pick that car up, at least from our experience. That's what has happened. Okay. Does that seem to be something that the neighborhood was pretty upset about overall was the idea that, you know, there were going to be junk cars there? And I understand it. To be honest, we've had that property since I was in sixth grade. I'm matriculated through a BS program, a master's program and a PhD. So it's been a long time since we've had that property. I just remember in the sixth grade, I would get picked up, would go there, could work on that property. And it's probably been an eyesore for the majority of my life. And that's because the guy who owns it, which is my father, he was a collegiate, where he still is a collegiate athletic director, but he doesn't really necessarily have the time to put in over at that property. Being that me and Kenny have made the decision to leave our chosen career paths before now and put in 100% towards our current business, I know that we have and we also have the resources in order to clean it up and make it look, you know, presentable for the neighborhood. I agree. And to that point, and we've talked with people in the community and that issue is they first turn to that neighborhood, this is the property they see. And it's probably the largest property on that Truman Street side. And so for us, we plan on cleaning all that because I, for one, don't want to be sitting in the office, come outside and have to look at it. I mean, Chad knows I've been around Chad's family since we were younger. We just want to do something with it. And we can't even really, if we wanted to store cars, we couldn't because of the amount of stuff over there. So first things first is if we can get this past is to start piece by piece, knocking that thing down. And it'll take a while because of the amount of things in it. And the aerial photos, I mean, this one we're looking at here is pretty old. You can't even, there's more stuff there than that. And so we will have to just walk it down piece by piece and get that stuff out of there. Mainly because we need space to operate. We don't want to be driving over nails and putting holes and tires that cost $350 to replace. I mean, I'm feeling, I guess I'm sort of feeling a little sympathy for the folks across the street on Truman Street who've had to look at that for forever and ever. And I don't have a lot of sympathy for people, for property owners who don't maintain their properties and want to push it off that the tenants didn't do it or whatever. You just got to maintain your property so that it's not an eyesore. And it sounds like it has been nice not on you. That's your daddy. And that's fair enough. But what kind of assurances can you give these people across the street that it's not going to end up an eyesore or continue to be an eyesore? All we can give is verbal assurances. And with that being said, I mean, I've read in your past notes where you guys have given, I guess, you've allowed businesses to continue with the contingency of working within the scope of the passing, I guess passing them for zoning. I would ask for several days or a certain amount of days to start cleaning up on the property and making steps towards it not being an eyesore. It's not the type of thing where you can go in there overnight and it'll be clean tomorrow. That's for sure. And I suppose code enforcement would ultimately come after you if you kept on not doing it. So correct. All right. Me and Chad spoke briefly about this. We were out there trying to just wrap our arms around how much work that is. And so we had planned a few things. We wanted to put one of those wraps around the fence so that it would look more uniform. We planned on painting the buildings. And like I said, we just need time if the community can work with us and say, hey look, okay, 30 days, what happened? 60 days, what happened? And we can put together before and after pictures to kind of show that progression. I really think that'll go a long way and us, you know, building trust in that community going forward. You know, part of the staff comments talks about proper screening. Can you guys talk about what y'all might do from a landscaping perspective just to provide some sort of buffer or to help provide a more visual appealing entrance to that business or front there? Initially, what we want to do is I believe the gate on that property goes all the way around. It's a Houston property. And initially what we want to do is put like a black screen around or whatnot all the way around the property starting from the front gate that backs up to two other car locks. But where it doesn't back up to the car lock, I guess from the Truman Street side and going down, I believe that street is called, it's on the side of Truman, that faces the other houses. We want to put a screen all the way around there. But I've talked with Kenny this summer. I really want to take that gate down. And I want to put up another fence, a type of fence that is a curved side of pilling to the neighborhood. And it looks very, very uniform outside of like an industrial size, excuse me, industrial look bobwire fence is currently up there now. We've had a chance to go out and scout some other yards and that are somewhat in neighborhoods. I guess there were just grandfathered people would have you and see what it looks like for their curb appeal. And we know that, you know, they're housing X amount of cars behind those walls, but you don't know the cars back there. I don't even look like they don't look like tow truck companies at all. Because of the type of gates that they have put up, or excuse me, fencing that they have put up. But immediately, we would like to put up a screen, a black screen going around, or whatnot, on the current fencing that we have. And like I said, around the summertime, because it's going to take time to pull permits to have somebody come in and put brick down the fence that we want to put up, or like to put up, and I think very appeasing to the eye. It would, that fencing would mean, you know... Hey, don't mean to, Rachel, what a black screen, would that suffice as proper screening? I know in Tarte materials are not permitted fence materials. I would have to see images of what they're talking about for what would be implemented as this black screening to stay for certain. I mean, you see some of those opaque fences with chain length becoming that, but certain materials we would just have to see in code enforcement as well to make sure it meets the coordinate. Is it like the porous material that you see with holes in it that I see in like ball fields sometimes and stuff? Correct. Something I'd be in the back, out in the outfield of a baseball. Yeah. Yes. Okay. But of course, it'll still be on the chain fence until we can get the, kind of like the brick design that Chad was speaking about. That would be all right. Okay. Do any of the board members have any questions for that? Can we see some kind of, can we put some kind of time outside time limit for this brick? Because I think that would go a long way to making me feel a lot better about it. That's right. What do you think the adequate time would be? Are you asking me? Yes, ma'am. Oh, I don't know. I mean, I would like to know what you think it is. How soon could you get it done by? I'm thinking about this, honestly, this summer. September 1st. Awesome. Yeah. You'd be done by September 1st. I think we can make strikes. We can make strong strikes for September 1st. How about completion by December 31st? Oh, yes. I know we can do that. Okay. Well, that sounds, that would be much more appealing to me. That would, to me, that would resolve an awful lot of my concerns. Yes, ma'am. Okay. Any other board members have any questions before we move on to the public comment here? Okay, good. Well, Rachel, I would assume that we're going to have quite a few callers or at least some. So let's get started. And I have sent you all some letters ahead of time. One came from the applicant, their response and some information. And then there were some letters in your packet. I sent you one today from Ms. Jenkins just so that you could see her attached images, but I'll read the letter into the record. And then we'll, we have some voicemails to be played in. All right. Dear Board of Zoning Appeals, Mr. Washington states that if this special exception is granted, the neighborhood will receive a good steward of the property which sits defunct and neglected in the neighborhood. And the area will be kept up to city codes and property grounds will be cleaned and manicured. I feel it would be different for Mr. Washington as a property keeper if he did not know the history of 2939 Truman Street, then he could be informed. However, as a relative of the property owner, he has had firsthand knowledge of this defunct and dilapidated property. It has been this way for over 25 years. This is not Chad Washington's first visit to this site. The conditions of the establishment have remained the same even though he desires this site for his towing and refer service business. The property owner, Willie Washington and former resident of Belvedere would occasionally speak in community news. He would pay his $12 community dues and would often furnish Belvedere community activities with a tent or two for a few chairs or maybe even paper supplies. He would share stories of his prior residents in Belvedere to the community members. He also communicated how he would donate things to the less fortunate. These donated items were discarded things from a local HBCU which were stored at 2939 Truman Street. Mr. Washington gives knowledge that he purchased this building, one for his son who was in law school in hopes that upon graduation he would return to Columbia and set up a law practice at 2939. Two, in thinking this building was in the empowerment zone, which would provide incentives. Neither of those materialized nor did any cleaning or manicuring on a consistent basis take place. City codes, city violations, a lot. Through all those wonderful 25 plus year stories, 2939 Truman continued to be an eyesore. Mr. Chad Washington mentioned that things are for C3 as other commercial businesses in the industrial area and that the property fits in with the current surrounding area. The businesses on Truman are the former NICS use cars, the gas station and the car connection manning. There is a distinct difference and no comparison aesthetically. They upkeep and have maintained their properties. Mr. Washington also mentions they would not house inoperable vehicles on premises. If the said vehicles are operational then they would have no necessity for towing a record service unless he picks up vehicles that are parked in unauthorized areas only. How many towing and record services are located directly in residential neighborhoods in our food and TBI? The area Dodge, Curry, Cox, Carnegie and Brady are all walking distance from 2939 Truman. All are in the city in an area which has businesses of the light with with tow direct cars. We do not want this in Belvedere. Imperial towing service is quickly located on Brady Street. How many of the six members on the board visited the area? Does anyone on the zoning board visited or inspected the premises? Does anyone of the six zoning board members live in Belvedere or travel the obstacle course and damage roads on Truman? If you did you would understand why not only me but others have a negative demeanor for the property at 2939. You would understand the request not to approve a special exception for towing and record service at this location. Washington's are no longer residents of the Belvedere community. If they were they would understand why not only me but others have a disturbing disposition for the property at 2939. I am a homeowner in Belvedere. I'm opposed to this request for special exception. He's blessings and mascot Sylvia Jenkins and then she had attachments of images which were provided to the board. At this time I will turn it over to public input to Erica and Andrew to see if there are any voicemails or followers on the line. Okay. Well Rachel you want to try another one and give him an opportunity. Hello. Hello. Can you hear me? Yes. Okay. This is Denise Mitchell Jenkins Mitchell and Corey Jenkins and we want to wish you all a very good evening. The issue of the zoning and code enforcement has come up concerning the implementation of the towing service in the Belvedere community. Now I don't have to tell any of you how wrong this is on many many fronts. There was a meeting or an event to meet the neighbors. You may have hit mute. I think we just lost you. So what I was saying is my question is what is value of the tow yard to the community? Let's say the same towing service was applying for a permit to be placed at the core of let's say Cheney Street in the interest of a very well large known predominantly Black neighborhood in Columbia. They wouldn't like that or let's say this was being near Maxi Gregg Park or maybe on Trinum Road in Farsacus. I'm certain a few of you wouldn't like not like that as well and if it was placed in Shandon or maybe five points or maybe somewhere between Assembly and let's say Laurel we wouldn't be having this conversation at all no we wouldn't because that would not be an option. How would you feel to walk out your door and drive past this soon-to-be monstrosity daily going to and from work that's with or without the Black fence? How would you feel to have your children playing outside? Would you deem this safe an environment for your children? It would seem to me as Colombians we have lost our way. We have gotten our priorities mixed up. We want to be looked at a progressive city with the medical university, USC, the state capital, and other achievements but we've forgotten how to get there. We don't want to take the hard line steps to which require to put us where we need to be. Instead of citing people for tall grass and boarded up houses for more than six months, which I understand that I get it. We should be after folk who want to leave junk vehicles and I realize he said they're not going to be there for a long time. I heard that in the neighborhood. Well if they are and there are some that are there now across the street where mosquitoes and snakes and rodents and vagrants and folk who are living there with animals and anybody else who wants to take up a residence which is surrounded by homes where people live and have lived for years on end. These are neighborhoods. These are people. We should be about zoning and code enforcement to make our neighborhood look better, to be better. We should be about enhancing the city's appearance whether in a predominantly black neighborhood or white neighborhood. It doesn't matter. It's all Colombia. It's our home. It's our city. We should be about prohibiting new businesses which have an appearance of junk and not added value to our living space on a main corridor. Everything about how much you pay attention to when you enter into a city or drive through the impression it makes on you. Have you thought about Beltline, two-notch road, fair road. Although these are in black communities, they are all roads that lead to downtown Colombia. There are the most important roads that we have. Some of the most important roads in that corridor where people exit off the highway which lead into downtown Colombia. The folks who travel this road are going to USC games and our newly built baseball field. What thought do those folks have about traveling through a bed and buildings and junk yards and tow yards? Ma'am, let me interrupt. Thank you. This is a very heartfelt testimony, but please wrap it up. You exceeded your time and we've got to keep the meeting moving. Thank you. I will. Lastly, it's time to do the right thing. It's time to clean up Beltline, two-notch road. This is your gateway to the city of Colombia. What will it say about us? What will it say about you who allowed it to happen when good people allow bad things to happen? They're just as bad as those that committed the crime. And to the young man who's trying to do this, you guys have had 20, 25 years. You could have cleaned it up. And what makes us think that you're going to do it by December 31st? If I had to vote, I'd vote no. Thank you. Thank you for your call. Okay. Do we have anyone else? Hi, this is Andrew. Yes, this is Andrew. Erica is having some issues with her technology. So we do have a caller that is unable to speak. If you're calling in on 381, phone number is 31381. Please do go ahead and speak. Hi, my name is Florence Butler, and I am a resident of the Belvedere community. I've been here over 45 years, and I just want to comment that this is an old neighborhood. But with being an old neighborhood, we have many amenities now. We're close to healthcare, entertainment, shopping, religious experience. We have seen over the last year or more the increase of our property value. And we have seen new businesses come into the area with the closing of the Pigley Wigley, the roses dollar store came in. We have not all tired to move. We have a family dollar. And we will have soon a dollar tree coming to the area, as well as the Murphy gas on the corner of Beltline and Toonach. We are not against a free enterprise for anyone, but we just feel that the impact of this towing service or storage service would be detrimental to our community. I checked the assessor's office and the building on Mr. Washington's property was built back in 1950, and it was a place for fleet management for the Bell South AT&T. So if they had many cars there, then there's probably an underground storage tank. So for 25 years, there's an underground storage tank that was never, area was never cleaned up. So not only are they doing damage to in the ground, they will be bringing damaged cars that will leak oil and transmission fluid, whatever, that will have other environmental deficit to the property. They showed you aerial view, but the Belvedere community organization submitted to you actual photos of the recent photos of the ground to show you how much junk there, the torn tarp or whatever around the fence. And they also included all of the cold violations that this site had received over the year. So we're not in need of another towing service. There are three towing service within the five mile radius. I just want you all to know that I'm very proud to live in Belvedere. The community is thriving. We have a lot of residents that are renting. So we do have an influx of younger people. But as a senior citizen of the Belvedere community, we would love for it to remain with a city, a country like atmosphere in the city. Thank you. Miss Butler, before you hang up, I'd like to ask you a question. Are you still on? Yes. Okay. Miss Butler, thank you for your call. I feel your passion and that's really important. But let me ask you, so you testified and you mentioned the code violations and I saw those horrible looking photos of the current conditions of the site. Do you not think and do some of your neighbors not believe that this may be the opportunity that you're looking for to clean this site up? Sir, I believe if you intended to do right by yourself and other people prior to coming in to make this request, they should have been an effort to try to remove some of the junk from the site. If you're going to sell your house, you're not going to bring people in without trying to do some kind of improvement. I don't disagree. That's a good point. Let me follow up with one more question then we'll let you go. I know you're busy too, but all right, let's say that as a board, we denied this request. Then if we do, I want the neighborhood to realize you're almost certainly guaranteed for the current situations to stay the way it is. Have you thought about that? Yes, sir. Sometimes it's better to remain as you are than to advance and be led down the path of worse resistance. The neighbor, the lady that lives across the street, that's a familiar sight to her. She's used to seeing that, but then when you take away that and start bringing other things, the improvement should start with demolition of the building taking away the junk. Okay. Thank you for your call, Ms. Butler. It's very helpful. We appreciate you calling in in your testimony. We will certainly take what all you said into account. Thank you very much. And I think there might have been some voice messages left ahead of time if Andrew or Erica are able to play those in. Yes, I'll begin playing the voicemails. Here you go. Hi, my name is Patricia Johnson. I'm calling from the Belvedere community about the tour and service at on Truman Street. I called to oppose that because that place right now is a dump and they're not going to do anything but bring more cars there and we more have it in this community. We're sick and tired of dump, that dump owner. If I saw him day one, thank you and have a great day. Okay. And there's a few more voicemails. I'll play them all in a row and then I'll let you know when I'm done. Thank you. My name is Belma James and I live in the Belvedere community and I'm calling in reference to the towing service that they want to put at 2939 Truman Street. I am totally against that. I've been out here since 1982 and I don't think that's something that our community needs or wants. So I am not in favor of putting a towing service where I can stand on my front porch and look at every day. That is not something I think our community needs. Thank you. My name is Anita Brown. I'm calling about the Belvedere community this towing service. I'm calling to say that I opposed a towing service being put on Truman Street. Yes, my name is Ms. Buff and I'd like to call and make a comment about the zoning meeting for the towing service is going to be at 2939 Truman Street. I would like to object to that because I already stay across the street from the building and it is not cleaned up and I think this would just be a bigger mess and I don't think we need records towing cars in that may be left over there for a long period of time and I would like to say that I am against it. Thank you. Okay, so this is Andrew again. It looks like there's actually one more voicemail but it's from a caller who already played a voicemail. That would be Ms. Patricia Johnson. So I can play that if you wish. I think it's materially the same. Go ahead and play it, Andrew. Let's hear it real quick and we'll move on. Good afternoon. This is Patricia Johnson. I'm a resident of the Belvedere community and I want to let the zoning board know that I and other residents towing service on Truman Street. Mr. Washington wrote that probably 20 years ago and he found out that he wasn't getting any money through a grant or whatever with the Empowerment Zone. He did nothing. That's a junkyard for Benedict College and any other scraps or whatever he wants to put there. I sure wish you all could have went by there or did you all go by there and take a look at that place yourself. It's an eyesore, been an eyesore for over 20 years. Please do not grant him a towing service because we have junk cars and more junk. Thank you very much and have a great day. Okay and that concludes the voicemails that have been left and I currently do not have any callers that have indicated they wish to speak. No new emails have come in either. Okay thank you very much. Okay Mr. Washington and the other applicant are you obviously you're still on? Yes sir. Okay so now we're going to give you the opportunity for some rebuttal. You clearly heard the neighborhood's frustrations. Let's call it. So what do you what do you have to say as a response? Well as a response, first I would like to say I've had a chance to read their letters. I've had the chance to meet with some of the concern community members face to face and it seems to be a collective agreement that the property since it was purchased over 20 years ago has has been defunct. It was defunct for several years before my father purchased it but it was clean at the time. He purchased it 20 years ago and they said nobody has done anything with this since then and I'm not here to argue that point at all because I know there hasn't been a business there and it has been somewhat a I guess a place he's put in abandon or or extra things that he comes across. He's just laid there or has been there for a while. I'm not here to argue any of those things. I've agreed with every every member I've met in the community that had opposition and those things are eyesawing those things that you don't want to see when you walk out your doors or driving to school or coming from school or going to work or coming from work and you don't want that to be your greeting point in your neighborhood. But as I expressed before and I expressed to the members face to face the ones that allowed me to meet with them and talk with them, I am not my father by any means and I think that by you guys granting us or possibly granting us a tow yard I think this is going to be a Willie Washington owned business and it's not by any means. He has nothing to do with what it is that me and Kenny have set for to do and more importantly as you asked Ms. Butler you know I wouldn't say a rebuttal on our behalf but as you asked Ms. Butler you know if you allow us the opportunity to come in and clean up and do as we say we're going to do I think both parties would be happy if you don't allow us to come in it was just like when we got the opposition before yes we would have to go and find another place and that would be that but the property would still look the same as today. So after I said to other community members what do you really have to lose here? Let me and my partner come in and attempt to do what it is that we say we're going to do and if it doesn't happen I believe in black and white if we don't do what we said we're going to do please kick us out by all means take back your exemption but we're just asking for the chance clearly we've made the investment in our business we've made an investment. I've worked as a professor for eight years in the college college athletic director for another eight years Kenny was a full-time patrolman for eight years he said we wanted to get into something that we can do ourselves we didn't have to pay somebody else to do we wanted to try our hand in entrepreneurship we chose towing and it's it's been very lucrative for us and it's been well we've been doing well with it we're tedious guys we're people who set goals and hit them okay so yes sir yeah so and just to respond and I'll make it quick we understand the community's desires to not have one based on previous behaviors you know they said that hey look it's still a dump you know what it is it's still a dump because we haven't been given permission to operate over yet so my deal is for 25 years it's been that um I'm 31 years old Chad is 32 when that property was purchased I was at Watkins Elementary before it was even Watkins next I we we can't control adults at that age to go clean up a property that's that's out of place it's not how we were raised to go tell our parents what to do so now we have an opportunity now we're adults we're educated we understand business we understand people if I'm not a betting man but I would always battle myself and so we talked about a December deadline to get a fence up I'm ready to put up a show so we can get that fence up we can get their property clean like Chad said we just need opportunity and we also just and it only seems like and not to take shots anymore it only seems like the community we just need them to understand just for a little bit just give us the opportunity just to step back and let us work so let us show them what we're about and not Chad's father and I think if we get that opportunity everybody will be happy they want to improve the community they want to have opportunities come in for other businesses they want to increase the value of their property if we don't get this property it'll stay the same for the next 20 years and and that's all we're saying is you know we respect the members of the community we know them we see them on a daily like I said I live a half a mile from there I know that community is going through we drive down those roads all the time we have friends that went to high school with us that lived there so um we just want an opportunity and that that's all and if that community can can work with us for a few months until we can get things that we promised then we'll be so grateful for that opportunity well thank you for your rebuttal and response thank you very much okay so um at this time we would like to move into board discussion then so um um board members we certainly have a interesting um interesting request here I'd like to hear what what everyone thinks about this who wants to start if someone who lives a block away from maxi greg park I certainly wouldn't like to see a towing company there because I use the park but I would say that I'd probably rather see a towing company down in five points than some of the businesses that are down there now I think that um I think I hear what people are saying but I jean I think that you made a very good comment which is that if we turn these guys down then it's going to stay the same as it is and a subject to whatever code enforcement makes them do to clean it up um and I would like to see building in like he said he could build that brick wall not a fence a brick wall by the end of december if we could put in that kind of a requirement I'd be golden with that I think that's that would be a dramatic improvement um let them put their money where their mouth is well rachel can can we I know we're commonly you know inserting things into motions what would be the legality of something like that um what what do you what do you think I mean you can put a condition that they have to have that by the end of the year but all that would do would be if it wasn't there it'd be a zoning violation I mean you can't put a time limit on the actual special exception right be able to say like it reverts back if they don't have the wall by december all it would be is if the wall's not there we would issue a zoning violation and then what happens if they don't remedy the zoning violation then summons would be issued and they would get fined for each offense so I mean that's not correct it right it seems like that would be a good solution to to the neighborhood concerns while improving the property yeah I mean I kind of I I'm trying I'm trying to understand what the neighborhoods are trying to be empathetic towards that and I struggle with it um because that property is sat there not being used to any potential for so long and I feel like these guys sincerely want a chance to do something with it um well seems like it's been worse than not being used it's been a dump yeah yeah and for someone who's entrepreneurial like I want to give folks who want to be entrepreneurial a chance um so I'm inclined to try to give them a chance if we want to put a condition on it I'm hopeful for that to try to make the neighborhood feel a little bit better I guess but I'm with I agree with Catherine and John and that the other part of it is it's zone C3 so it's not they're trying to put um this business in a residential zone right near a residential zone but the property itself is zone C3 so um it truly is a commercial zone and I know they have to come to the board for approval um but they've come on here and they've said that you know this is an entrepreneurial opportunity for them I think it's fantastic I think that um you know they're saying the right stuff and I agree with the fact that if they don't get the opportunity to move in there what's gonna happen I mean it's just gonna remain and be more the same and I like the idea of imposing the requirement of a fence which they said they're open to um and then you know with the timeline and I know that it would you know it's not that it would revert the decision of this board but you know it's got penalties applied to it which will motivate them to do it which may not be necessary because they've already said they would so I think we've got an improvement of the property uh in front of us the opportunity to improve it I also think the neighbors raised some of the environmental concerns about underground potential underground storage tanks and other environmental issues I mean that's beyond the purview of this commute this committee um I would invite them if they believe there's an issue to get DHEC involved um and if that's if that is a concern I would just suggest that well I um I hate to kind of uh repeat what everybody else has said but like we've heard reports that it's been an eyesore for over 20 years uh and if we don't you know there's not some some change it'll continue to be an eyesore uh if these guys are giving a given a period of time to do some of the things and clean it up I I too think that uh you know especially if we give them a time frame and their legal remedies if they don't comply uh some remedies if they don't comply I think we we should uh I would be inclined to vote in favor of giving them a chance yeah I mean you know all we all we have is their testimony so we have to take them for their word you know my personal opinion is is we've got two very sincere sounding um applicants that I believe I believe what they're saying and um you know it is located across the street from a residential area but John you brought up a good point or Catherine or one of y'all you know I mean it is done commercial um and some of the callers or some of the the passionate callers and I understand and I appreciate their concerns some of the stuff they said is it's just not true I mean you know you're not going to put one of these in Shandon or if you may but it's going to be on a commercially zoned adjacent parcel so you know it's just sometimes there's some commercial areas that um are you know are right beside residential areas and this is one of them so anyway um you know just based on the applicants testimony and based on the the responses to the criteria for the special exception I I would agree with the rest of you that I think we need to give them a chance to improve this area so with that being said if there's not anyone else in the board that would like to um to weigh in here um if there's not we'd like to ask for a motion can I add something real quick please perspective just looking through the code violations that are still active at the site I mean to apply for a business license just because the board approves a special exception and this is more directed to neighborhoods does not automatically mean the business can come in scott free um there are inspections that are done and there are land development requirements that must be met that I mean if those buildings are not safe for occupancy there's going to have to be work done so there will have to be improvements done through those reviews as well so I just want to make sure that's known to that fire building inspections are done before a business license is even issued with some of those cleanups and corrections thank you Rachel thank you for clarifying that for us okay so if no one else wants to uh Mr. Chair this is uh this is Andrew Livington I did want to mention that I I I do want to mention there is a caller with with their hand raised it is one of the callers I think that uh did leave a voicemail if we have already played the voicemail correct oh and actually uh take it back it was it's just a no I'm looking at transcription of of them speaking um let me and actually I just refreshed and it looks like they no longer have their hands raised okay all right good thank you thank you Andrew all right okay so well the public period for public comment is closed so we've had plenty of public comment we're we're moving on so thank you Andrew but we're not taking okay at this point we'd like to ask for a motion I move that we approve the application subject to staff comments and with the additional proviso that screening um that screening satisfactory to the zoning administrator be completed and be put in place um prior to December 31st 2021 second I'm gonna ask that you be a little more specific about that that's pretty open-ended as to oh okay satisfactory to me all right how about they said they said they said brick wall that a a permanent brick a brick wall um in compliance otherwise in compliance with zoning or that would meet the approval of the zoning administrator administrator um be completed along the Truman street um frontage thank you does that work for you Rachel that's better yes thank you okay now before we get a second captain good motion and I like your thought there that that would help but just as a just as a real quick point of discussion for us I mean that that's going to be really expensive they said they do it they did they did I'm just just making sure that we don't I mean I heard you and I heard them and they did but gosh I mean they got to tow a lot of cars to pay for that one wall and I just I just want to make sure we don't kill this business because I know that's not what you're trying to do well but they're talking about that one wall I we're talking about bricks along the Truman street frontage that's right I mean I may interject I'm sorry can yeah yes good time good time thank you so um I guess in pictures of the walls that we're thinking about well not thinking what we'll like to build uh to the committee well just I mean I don't know that that's necessary here here's the question miss miss Finner has brought up a motion for approval and she wants to write in about constructing a wall which you said you would do I'm just making sure you realize how expensive it's going to be to construct a 400 foot brick wall or whatever this is so so like the wall we were seeing it's it's a mix between brick um I don't I don't want to call the gating or whatever aluminum because I don't know the material right now but it's not like one the entire wall is not all brick if that makes sense what is it brick and what yeah it is brick aluminum and there's another material um I believe they use it for it's like a new deck material oh like prex is it is it prex is that what it's called like that I believe that's what it is it's not wood okay well let let me interject quickly then what what about this why does it really matter to the neighborhood or us or anyone what sort of a wall they um the material of the wall why don't you what would you what would you think about amending your motion same thing just to say a wall okay okay all right well good very good we've got a motion I forget is there a second second okay motion is second all those in favor please say aye aye aye aye anyone oppose okay very good motion passes good luck um applicants I think you can do it and we we're trusting you we'll do it so good luck thank you thank you board members we appreciate your time the cars there I need to step away for just a second so what what Rachel why don't we take about a three-minute uh board recess here stretch your legs for just a second all right all right so the next matter is case 2021 dash zero zero one two for 2025 and 22 23 rimbert street this is a variance to the maximum fence height requirement in the front yard setback um I do want to just know this is kind of step one in the process they are within a design preservation district so they will be going to ddrc as well um but I believe the applicant is on the line and he is welcome to give us a review of his request can you hear me yes yes we can okay you know what I like when one of you said let's rock and I'm going to say let's roll so basically um you know we moved here to rember street April the first and we soon realized that we had come into a very unique situation because everyone here has welcomed us as family and so that said after purchasing 2225 rember street in April we decided to purchase the adjacent lot 2223 in hopes of having a larger yard for the dog and secondly to eventually build a pool uh we had contracted uh Viking contractors to go ahead and build the first fence which surrounded 2225 but then when purchasing 2223 we realized let's go ahead and move the fence from 225 to 2223 which is now between 2223 and 222 my rember street that said we went with a six foot high fence primarily for privacy and security purposes and so as we all know we received a letter of violation which you know I assured whoever I spoke we will work with you because we are community members and we're part of the Elmwood community family so our request is to go ahead and see what can be done so that we can keep the six foot high fence um if not you know what are some other things that we can do without having to spend a lot of money okay understood pull up your application quickly and our contractor was kind enough to go ahead and complete the application for us one thing I did want to add folks is that the the side yard if you will you know 2225 2223 it slopes down towards the backyard and so I know that you know the the stipulations that the fence has to be no higher than four feet um that becomes problematic in terms of privacy number one and number two security for the dog not getting out how do you pronounce your first name I don't want oh you know what it's Egon I go by Frank Frank okay Frank I appreciate that um just for clarification I may have missed it what side again or is the fence or where is it on the three sides the sides in the back it is the side of the house if you're facing the house it would be to the left side um and uh it's parallel to Rembrandt Street it's probably about 20 feet away from the sidewalk and we did put in the plant material in in hopes of putting in some more landscaping so the fence isn't as much in your face if you will yeah you know and then one thing I was thinking you know I'm six feet tall if I get on my knees I'm maybe four feet tall and I thought because the land slopes when you go beyond the fence there to come into the yard itself you know by appearance we could actually add some more soil to the front part of that yard bring it up two feet and if you bring it up two feet there we go bring it up two feet now you've got a four foot high fence on the side facing Rembrandt but we still have that six foot high fence for privacy and security reasons okay any other members have any questions for the applicant okay Rachel did we receive any public input on this one I believe I sent you all a letter ahead of time from a neighbor no new emails have come in I'll turn to Erica and Andrew to see if anyone has called in on the matter we don't have any callers on the line no emails or voicemails all right thank you okay thank you very much is there any board discussion regarding this matter folks just one thing I'm sorry can I interject one comment when we look at this picture go ahead we haven't had a little break it's been a long day for you I'm sure so coincidentally we received yard of the month award for the month of February and then if you face the wall there's a big citation with with a Zorro if you will that you know there there's going to be a hearing so I thought how coincidental they hear we are yard of the month for Elmwood and we get the poster as well I must say that is kind of funny honestly you know and so I bring to you a gratitude for for being here we move down here for the DC metro area I'm a retired school principal and it's one of the best things I did aside from retiring five years ago as a principal is moving to Columbia and being a family member of Elmwood committee community I should say excuse me you have a you have a beautiful home okay do we have any board discussion regarding this matter this is Jenna can y'all hear me yes Jenna I'm sorry okay I'm back I had some technical difficulties I was trying to speak on the last application um nothing nothing would have changed it's fine my vote would have been the same um but this is my first time on the iphone and I had to do something I didn't know so thank you Mr. Kaplan for your application this looks pretty straightforward to me Jane can we make a motion absolutely how about how about it John go ahead I move that we make a motion to approve this uh variance subject for staff comments second second third okay we've got a motion to second all those in favor please say aye aye all right can you want to pose okay motion passes very good all right moving on we have item 2021 0013 this is a variance for seven Heathwood circle this is a variance for the maximum height requirement for a wall I believe the applicant is on the line um they can unmute themselves and give us a brief overview of their application hear me okay yes yes I'm uh Jay Rooney owner of uh seven Heathwood circle I purchased uh the house in October of 2018 and as you can see uh number three Heathwood or five Heathwood circle to the right of my house has a white brick wall that is eight feet in height which uh separates our two yards in the backyard and the house to my rear which is 820 Albion also has a eight foot brick wall that covers half of my backyard um you can see where it stops there and the house at 818 Albion does not have a wall so for privacy and for the sake of pets we're simply asking to extend the wall in the rear of our backyard to the corner of our property to adjoin another brick wall and we're requesting the uh the variance be accepted so that we can make it um aesthetically like the two walls that exist to our rear and to the right of our house they're both eight feet and having a lower wall we feel like we just look on and uh you know not not as pleasing to us as well as the neighbors to our rear and and on the sides of our house so it's really just as simple as that we just want to pick up where the wall stops in the backyard tie it in into the you know the left side there and and make it the same height certainly certainly a very reasonable request do any board members have any questions for the applicant okay wouldn't think so Rachel do we have any public input regarding this matter I don't see any new emails we had a couple of calls but I think it was more just asking about what the request was I'll see if Erica has anyone on the line who would just speak for origins and we have no callers no email okay thank you okay do we have any board discussion okay well like to ask for a motion please I move that we approve the request subject to staff comments okay have a motion in a second all those in favor please say aye hi hi hi anyone opposed motion passes okay thank you very much mr rooney thank you all right the next item is case 2021.0019 for 2420 shop road this is special exception to permit a scrap yard I believe the applicant is on the line and they are welcome to review their case okay applicant are you there yes we are can you hear us yes we can go over um our engineering uh uh is going to speak first okay are you there Laura is my audio not on yeah we can hear you can y'all hear me I'm sorry yes okay thank you well um um good evening mr chairman board and staff thank you for your time uh I am Laura Dukes a licensed landscape architect and was hired to assist the dickensheet with this board of zoning appeals review of the proposed land used for 2420 shop road property this property is currently zoned into heavy industrial districts and quoting from your ordinance it is intended to accommodate primarily those uses of a manufacturing and industrial nature and secondarily those uses which are functionally related there too such as distribution storage and processing the allowable uses are identified by classification codes taken from the standard industrial code which is six codes for short which identify the primary line of business of a company the columbia city code m2 zoning allows outright wholesale trade durable goods 501 categories 501 categories classified motor vehicles and automotive parts and supplies the standard industry code 5015 motor vehicle parts used which of which american operates under is defined as establishments primarily engaged in the distribution of used motor vehicle parts this industry includes establishments primarily engaged in dismantling motor vehicles for the purpose of selling parts establishments primarily engaged in dismantling for scrap or classified in industry 5093 apologize for giving y'all lesson 101 and sick codes but it's very relevant um previous onsite activity since 2011 we're operating a business under sick codes 5093 oil waste health and sales a use permitted upon review by this board oil waste is however a different scrap material but still industry code 5093 with those oil waste operations in place the dick and sheet did not believe any of their intended primary nor secondary uses would be prevented to operate onsite so no dishonesty in their actions should be assumed by the city or any other associations the business americans primary industry 5015 is allowed by city ordinance and should continue to be allowed by the city and the board as a direct interpretation of city ordinance the secondary use of scrap codes 5093 and 7399 recycle center upon this request should also be allowed as a use permitted on review by this board the business owner is prepared to comply with all city and state ordinances and federal regulations that apply to the site and to their operations they are willing to properly screen inoperable or untagged vehicles they are also willing to preserve the appropriate buffers identified in the city of columbia storm water management water quality stream buffer requirements no new site disturbance construction or paving will take place at the current time and if in the future development plans change they will comply with site development regulations in place to obtain those necessary development permits recycling is necessary and a public obligation american is doing their part to ensure materials are actually being processed for recycling which often does not occur today items are often collected but not actually recycled this site is perfect for their operation with proximity to rail and interstate as well as being convenient to the public they are willing to be a good neighbor and a good community member and with that i'd like um tim dickensheath senior of american metal is going to speak toward their experience uh with operating this type of business thank you laura uh thank you mr chair uh board members and staff my name is tim dickensheath senior uh i carry over 40 years experience in the health safety security environmental quality and regulatory compliance uh from international and us regulations uh my objective here is to help this business get up and running in compliance with uh all city local state federal regulations the staff training programs in place and adhere to all environmental and permitting requirements for this property and this business operation thank you i would like to say that um you know given the opportunity we we want to bring something to the community we want to make something you know out of this property that's that's been sitting for some time in the surrounding properties um you know give jobs give money to the city you know um and that's what we're here we're going to follow all the all the rules and regulations that that are set forth um we're surrounded by industrial and we're going to you know stick to the same same uh the same thing so that's basically all i have to say to thank you for your presentation let's let's back up just a bit i had a lot of detail at the very beginning i'm not familiar with this type of business i see your name here give us a just a 30-second overview of what it is you do to who your clients are sort of what what this is i'm not sure myself so so american recycling is is basically a family-owned business um we are we are statewide you know we we've done recycling for the fort we've done other other means of recycling for counties you know Florence county and stuff like that you know for the drop-off sites um this facility is just really you know going to be used for the wholesale parts you know the distribution of parts um to streamline you know the procedures in doing so and making more more effort in taking you know smaller parts out of the vehicles for for for for sale and or for recycling at that at that means so so we're statewide um you know we have a good background you know like i said we've done a lot of the four jackson uh recycling here locally um we've done waste management you know drop off sites for for counties so so that's about the 30 seconds of it we employ 50 people you know um so so we're good mid-sized business you know family operated family owned so can a can a contractor for example would you try to get a feel for your day-to-day operations would a contractor be able to bring you 200 feet of chain link fence there's no longer in use no no we're not we're not doing that here at this facility so your clients so is the public can the general public bring you stuff or you know so so mostly our our clients would be you know um local tow yards uh insurance companies and um therefore so it wouldn't be you know we're not really using this for a general public facility no sir yes specific to vehicles is that right yes sir let me interject just a minute here this is more again there's there's kind of two issues here um we have an m2 zoning classification which allows outright use of the 501 category and that is what i um read as um the industry code primarily engaged in dismantling motor vehicles for the purpose of selling parts which is what they're operating now um there are two requests included in this that will allow a future recycle center should that opportunity be needed in the area as well as um um scrap now i believe there was some controversy when going for business license and zoning of what the actual business appeared to be and without further investigation um in detailed conversations with the owners and the on-site management it was just deemed let's go ahead for this busy uh uh bozo request to have these additional uses so the dismantling of vehicle parts is allowed by your current zoning okay thank you for clarifying that i was not aware of that so this request then is for a potential future portion of the business you can operate as is but you're requesting in case you wish to expand is that is that right that is our interpretation of your zoning ordinance um racial can probably speak for differently i know y'all had inspectors go out and view and whether or not they were looking for an alpha auto parts um center or not but definition for what it is you're asking us unless any other board member what what are you asking us for that's well number one which i don't think that we have to be asking it's a difference in zoning's opinion of how the business is operating or what is operating so that is included that's the dismantling of the auto parts that may or may not be your purview to decide right second figure this out here i'm i'm really lost in i i am too well hang on hang on i want to make it clear Laura this is not an administrative appeal this is not your first review yeah do you request a special exception from the board to operate your facility i have determined that it falls under 5093 for american scrap iron and metal through your name as well as through investigations of my inspectors from the stacks of cars that are on the site i understand that there is some dismantling and sales of parts but through investigation of other locations of your business and through discussions with stormwater it is determined that there are some other scrap materials on your site for recycling i mean is your website an accurate depiction of your business so so Laura you could you could address that in yeah i don't i mean i don't think the website even includes the shop for our facility and that's the difference of having the different facilities but if that is Rachel's interpretation of the business operations that are going on there then yes we're asking to be able to operate a business that dismantles cars and sells used auto parts as well as let me look at the exact application and i think that probably clarifies verbiage request to expand uses to include 5093 scrap and waste materials as described by 5093 and 7399 recycle center my ears glaze over when you throw lots of numbers in so words so you're trying you're operating Rachel your interpretation is that they're essentially operating a junkyard for which they would need a special exception at the yard yeah right okay so that is yes so wholesale distribution of scrap materials as well as i mean there may be some wholesale distribution of auto parts occurring as well which they are correct distribution of engines and specific auto parts does fall under 501 but there are other parts and this so the delta the delta is the the junk aspect of it the scrap metal part of it correct so and i think that in previous discussions there were some concerns about the fact that it's a scrap and waste i'm not saying that they are a waste i want to make sure that they're just different categories that fall under both s i c code so i don't want them to be too hung up on that but that is what you all are reviewing is the scrap side and now the cycling of the scrap so rachel if we let's just say i have no idea where this is going to go what if we do not approve this request is their business not able to operate period have to break it down quite specifically as to what entails the sale of the wholesale distribution of auto parts versus having stacks of cars on the property for long periods of time okay well enough for the applicant are you so you are in business day at this location is that correct we know we are we are just um taking a dismantling the vehicles that are on the premises right now not taking in any new vehicles okay so you're hoping to to to get in business to do what it is you do with the grant of this request well yes there's no like the issue that that's okay what they're well sure i'll tell later but certainly get it at least as our as the engineer stated is is that the premise of when we did begin operation here uh uh we were under the under what we felt was an acceptable uh business permit to allow the the taking in material and parting and taking the cars into wholesale the parts uh that's when this all all came about is okay the the declaration of 501 and 5093 discrepancies i believe came in in the play and that's when they asked me to get involved from the stormwater permit the environmental impact aspects and so forth to make sure that to go forward with the the viability of the business and possible future business model which the codes and and neighboring industrial environments are currently operating that we do it the right way i think the i think everyone has heard throughout the night good good citizenships good neighbor making sure that we're doing uh during an operation in a safe and environmental uh continuity to the regulations that are under our code basically okay thank you okay well now i think we've got an idea of what is um board members questions for the advocates i do um so it sounds like you're dismantling cars using them for scrap that sort of thing are you um obtaining a permit uh from the us epa office of water to do that right next to the gills creek watershed i believe the requirement of a stormwater permit uh an sw ppp uh within the city uh is is a requirement and that yes we would comply with that requirement so that john um i spoke with the stormwater manager of the city this afternoon um because it is industrial it's actually above us um it's through d heck and sled okay no problem so is it the intent to operate a true scrap yard is that this because for me that's different than dismantling vehicles like gene was getting matters do you someday want to have the public come in and bring in um metal scrap that you could recycle in that manner i mean we want to leave all doors open but no our intent is to sell wholesale parts i mean you know maximize every piece of a vehicle that that is is able to be you know maximized um that's the intent of this facility um you know five years from now or whatever i mean you know the intent is you know wholesale parts you know but but you know you don't want to leave any any door uh closed and you know and actually i think zoni's the one who really really wanted us to to go forth with this anyways thank you okay oh this is jenna hey gene um you can hear me yes okay so i just want to clarify uh any any um permits they're required to get by from d heck we have no that doesn't kind of into um into account when we're making our decisions right i mean this is not even that we can consider as to storm water that's a storm water right okay right yeah um there are that comes through their review they will review and determine if their product and storage area can be located where it's shown on that plan and if they're able to operate in the manner that they wish to operate in in those terms to really make it like zoning for dummy like this this case for dummies we're basically saying the impact on the surrounding area of this not counting environmental impact because that somebody else's concern is relevant relevant and it is currently surrounded by industrial uses is an industrial use being surrounded by industrial uses is that where was that really a fair assessment correct similar and catherine to piggyback on that and i know some of the letter writers said that they didn't think that this property should be zoned um student industrial and that's also something that we can't control where we can grant exceptions but we cannot change the underlying um zoning um designation that's something to take up with city council if you go to that in correction you can petition to have it rezoned yeah but we can't do that yeah great great point jenna jenna's just i think she's just simply trying to say you know look they write a letter of opposition regarding the zoning current zoning of the property i mean you know right right right right right right i understand what you're saying okay yeah okay well it seems like we don't have any real any real beef here i mean we don't have any any problems as far as i know let's don't drift too far into board discussion i'm sorry just yet we're going to so i'm trying to understand i got lost in the city me too i hear i hear you i was wow would you rather have a top roose slope i understand roose slopes a lot better than i i haven't said word but number i know what stick codes are that gets me ahead of the game but besides that i'm not uh all right believe me 40 years in federal code of regulations i understand completely do we have any other questions for the applicant regarding this request from board members okay good all right um rachel i know we saw an email or two about this i believe what uh how about a public input portion of them yeah i just want to make sure it's clear because i think again the board's getting hung up on s i c codes that's not right yeah you need to get hung up on so there's distribution of auto parts such as automobile engines and used parts wholesale or retail but then there's also distribution of scrap any kind of scrap and waste material wholesale textile iron and steel scrap metal scrap that all falls under the scrap and waste material that their request is coming under today so i just want to make sure that that is clear yes we do have i did send you all letters from gills creek watershed and conga re river keeper um we had another letter come in from whitney denton i'll read that into the record i am in opposition of the zoning change to allow scrap at 2420 shop road first reason they are currently operating this business without the proper zoning you see cars stacked three plus and higher it is visible from both shop and belt line it is an eyesore and an area that needs to be cleaned up from years past i watched another delivery of cars coming in on monday morning they're operating this business regardless of zoning if they are willing to disregard proper guidelines for zoning they likely won't be compliant for such thing as contamination second we're already dealing with contamination from inner tape polymer this will only make it worse i doubt they're draining all fluids from these vehicles before seeping into the soil third this area should be a gateway to our downtown area and not look like an industrial area if we're building a greenway on the other line why would we dump this just beyond dump being the key word the residents in the near areas deserve better as do all of the parents in city residents that drive to heat but haul down this corridor and they may not reside right here but they're fully aware of how badly this looks they comment after they cross the railroad tracks that will damage your car and your wallet and cross shop road they see a newer building on the left that looks nice a bowling alley starbucks and such a bluff road the belt line looks awful between plowed in and shop it's sad when the kids comment how sketchy that area is thank you whitney e benton um i don't think any other emails have come in um but i will see if erica and andrew have anyone on the line at this time we just have a voicemail that can be played in from a carmeni addler with gills creek okay hi this is carmeni addler with gills creek barter shed association about 2021-0019-se our association strongly recommends that this exemption not be granted because the scrap yard decided so directly adjacent to drainage into gills creek it's not just the direct harm to water quality which is already impaired or the degradation to the surrounding land and wildlife we also know that community members catch and eat fish from gills creek while others use it for recreation really this is an argument of precedent in not allowing businesses that produce harmful pollutants to be located so close to our bodies of water and for those that are located close to the creek they need to have critical and proper protections in place to prevent contamination thank you okay well i guess that will conclude the public input portion is that correct rachel that's all for public we do now we do now have one caller that need to be put that needs to speak please do hi my name is tom colsett and i am a board member of the gills creek water shed association um i'm here kind of to a certainly second carmeni's comments in her letter uh also might want to point out a couple of other items this whole area is owned have the industry but it doesn't seem to be heavily used for industry right now it was in the past of course and a significant factor here is that this is all built on former flood plain if you have access to the supporting documents and have that overhead aerial shot is that something y'all are looking at it's in its page one of the supporting documents uh i'll describe it quickly it's a view of the whole industrial complex surrounding it is all land colored kind of green that's actually the gills creek flood plain and before the industrial sites came along and the site was filled that was also gills creek flood plain so there's a good chunk of land here displacing the flood plain causing further flooding downstream and upstream from here we witnessed that in the 2015 floods so i know you all said in your in your discussion that you're not in the business of changing zoning but i wonder if it's possible to defer action on the special exception and refer the zoning question back to city council because this looks like an opportunity to kind of migrate away from using this area as an industrial setting we understand that the auto scrap yards have to go somewhere but along a creek that has enough environmental problems already doesn't sound like the best place so i'm wondering if one of the options you might look at is deferring action on this until the whole question of zoning can be addressed thank you um before you go are you still on yes okay tom this is gene deacons jr let me um interject real quick the the answer to your question is is no in no way shape or form a zoning change has to be requested by the applicant only goes in front of planning commission and then goes to vote at city council so um we have absolutely nothing to do to that we we we will not request that the answer is no okay just want to get that for the record secondly i i am sensitive to the gills creek watershed associations opinions and feelings here tom i was a founding member and a former vice chairman of the congris river keeper organization so i am sensitive to these issues i was one of the very few people who founded that organization in 2009 but i need to need to point out here um the the watershed associations beef here is not with us we we have nothing to do with anything to do with storm water requirements or anything that you all are asking for we simply our hands are tied we have to depend on others which in this case rachel said would be deacons led to enforce the storm water rules as they are written so i just for the record want to let you know any ruling by this board cannot in any way shape or form take into account storm water storm water issues so we appreciate and understand your concern that's what your group does and you do a great job at it but that's just simply out of the board's hands to that yeah i say well then let me ask you this uh in the supporting documents uh beyond the table of allowed uses under the exemption there are some uh sort of footnotes to that table and the very last one says that the border zoning adjustments uh can approve the exception with some restrictions taking into consideration downstream uses or not downstream adjoining uses and that would seem to include if you would call gills creek a functioning floodplain system it would that would be considered an adjoining use and you would need to take that into consideration and impose some restrictions accordingly one restriction that probably would come up anyway under the sw ppp to throw an acronym at you is to have a setback the uh there is a ditch that runs along the east side of the property it's improperly labeled as gills creek on the application but it's actually a ditch that drains into gills creek and it seems like uh under the under the sw ppp rigs there would need to be a setback there and some effort to treat it maybe with the wet pond or something before it gets to that ditch so uh it looks like under if i'm reading all of the uh you know the alphabet soup right on the on the board's authorization you do have the ability to impose some restrictions and i would urge you to exercise your ability to do that if you grant the exception well thank thank you for for your comments and thank you for your your call we will certainly further discuss this um you know i respectfully disagree with you on that there's a stormwater pollution prevention plan that none of us on this board are more qualified than the many many hours and people who wrote the plan and enforce the law so i thank you for your call and um and we'll move forward thank you very much thank you okay okay so um i guess that's going to conclude the public input portion is there anybody else erica okay no there's no one else okay thank you okay applicants we now is your your opportunity for rebuttal you've heard some some of the public's input what um do you have any rebuttal to to their input respectfully no um we've already stated our case and said that we'll comply with whatever you know restrictions are imposed on anyone in a similar classification or site location as ours okay thank you very much well at this point let's move into board discussion what what do you what do you think well one thing that i heard that seemed it might be within our purview is about the screening the woman who was writing taking your children to heathwood or whatever complaining that you could see the the cars from the road um that seemed the one thing that that would be within our purview is that great great point um why not screen something like this or make sure they do i mean absolutely yeah i mean the rest of it seems like that's outside of i mean i'm not happy about it i'm i'm with you i'm a big river person myself but it's not it's not where we we can't control that that's right other board members what what do you what do you think i mean i think this is kind of similar to the last to the case where the uh tow yard is um and so i'm in favor of uh approving their request to cut to the chase i will say just for for the record you know i don't necessarily think it's the highest and best use of this property as i wouldn't think this is a gateway to columbia but it has nothing to do with this request nothing to do with us and um yeah i just want to say that so um i would be in favor of approving this request subject to the fence subject to staff comments okay anyone else jenna morcellus john guineard yeah i mean i i agree i think what's before us in the application um it's it's um an industrial site and they have built up application adequately and um any uh i agree with john that maybe this isn't um what i would like to go see in this um in this spot but the one thing that we do have control over um is the sensing and if we can add that in any motion um i'd approve that agreement yeah i i agree i i echo everything that's been said looks like a big salvage yard it sounds like an automobile salvage yard and uh like to keep it from being an eyesore for the people who are traveling to heathwood you know uh some fencing or something for aesthetics or cosmetics uh i would be inclined to uh to uh go along with it i will say that this one actually is sanford and son i'm like this uh salvage yard typically when you travel to heathwood you go down belt line um and not that anybody but the people coming from shop red and atlas red they're probably more likely to see this and um i know that inner tape polymer group has moved out of lifewood so they're no longer there and it's not under use anymore but it sounds like the true question here is um they're permitted to dismantle vehicles and sell parts and pieces without asking for our approval the question is can they receive fencing and regular scrap material and recycle it which seems way less obtrusive to the watershed than what they're already approved to do so i can't imagine decipher you know stopping it and or opposing it and then i'm all for improving this whole area from a beautification standpoint but even with the fence it's like do you put it on belt line right there so that you know that 40 feet of belt line frontage has a fence blocking the view or are you talking about all down shop road um i don't know i mean i'm all for like this one and then if somebody ever comes to interstate polymer group old site then we add the fence there so eventually you have some sort of fencing but it's just such an industrial area already um it really just you know i i'm with approving it and um with all the comments made so far um and would hope that the gills watershed association and congruity river keeper would you know take their beef up with the with the zoning good good good comments john well i think we've heard from from everyone um who would like to make a motion on this matter can i say something real quick yes i just want to make sure it's noted that there's already a staff condition that any inoperable vehicles will have to be screened um from public use anyway so if y'all want to expand on that you can but there is a staff condition in there as well about screening the vehicles of Rachel there's also the wasn't there 15-day vehicles can be housed in one of 15 days the applicant said that so the applicant put in their materials that vehicles would not be on site for more than 15 days that complete vehicles or just anyway that's okay well very good let's uh let's get a motion i move that we approve subject to staff comments with particular um note of the screening requirements very good okay we've got a motion and a second all those in favor please stay aye aye all right anyone opposed okay motion passes next item on the agenda is page 20 21 00 21 201 more hopkins lane this is a special exception to permit on multi-family residential development um if the applicant is on the line they're welcome to present their case good evening this is rob coach with the bay near foundation thank y'all very much for allowing us to present this to um zoning for tonight and asking for a special exception so that we can build a multi-family affordable housing senior project there on the property this is going to be a 90 unit proposed building four stories one bedroom and two bedrooms um with this uh on the special exception we will not have substantial adverse impact on vehicle traffic or vehicle or in pedestrian safety and we adequate provisions hopefully with the proposed exceptions for parking and polluting and unloading we will not have a substantial adverse impact on adjoining properties in terms of environment factor the noise light flare vibration came due to the fact that this area is primarily commercial and this will be a multi-family with only the northeast side having a residential on there so this will add a great deal to this we'll also be putting in buffers for our particular tenants they will aid from the buffering and the lights that will be coming in from other commercial properties and also noise from other commercial properties um we don't feel like we'll have an adverse effect on the aesthetics of the area again due to the fact that the majority of this commercial will be coming in and putting in a nice multi-family property on the um on this particular project and it will enhance and hopefully enhance the residential side values as well as the other values in the um particular areas we don't think we're going to have any adverse effect on public safety we know for a fact we're not going to create a nuisance or condition detrimental to the public interest lease that's what our hope is we will have full-time manager on staff and maintenance on staff and that will aid in allow us to come and oversee our particular tenants as well as to make sure the properties maintain satisfactory to all parties around us um we don't think that we're going to have a concentration or proliferation of similar types due to the fact again this is a primary commercial area uh where is some single family properties that I indicated before on the northeast side but that's literally it the character and intent of the underlying district is indicated in the zoning district description and with applicable zoning overall overlay district goals and requirements um we think it is appropriate for the location and compatibility with everyone in the community and we feel like that the permitted use would be favorable to all parties adjacent to us as well as near us in the neighborhood and lastly we don't think this is going to be adversely affecting any of the public interest in the area um I am open to answering any questions or if I'm too succinct and too direct I apologize but I wanted to make sure that I just came in and answered the questions and tried to come in and be very direct on what we're trying to propose thank you your application is thorough it does a very good job answering the eight questions that we're asked to look at so thank you very much do any board members have any questions very good okay Rachel do we have any public input regarding this matter um I did send you all one letter from a gary morris um nothing else has come in since that letter um I will see if erica has anybody on the line board members do you have is that letter in favor opposition I can um I can read it into the record if you want or I can remind us who is it from and there have been so many letters that I don't I you're afraid to take me up my screen and it's uh Haynesworth Sinclair Boyd okay it's the Haynesworth letter it was from the neighbor it wasn't for or against they were just explaining uses nearby so the Haynesworth letter is on the other project I'm sorry there's a letter from Haynesworth Sinclair Boyd but that's on the other project yeah that's this one it's on this one it's I tell you what I'm saying basically you're coming to the nuisance is essentially what he's trying to tell us Rachel yeah yeah that's right I'll read it no thank you three pages so I'm gonna just read the first paragraph please accept this letter about the special exception requests to allow multifamily um our firm represents carolina gastron's mission the owner and operator of carolina gastron mission graystone campus on the adjacent property at 121 more hopkins lane our client does not oppose a multifamily housing development however we believe it'd be beneficial to fully inform the board of our client's adjacent operations and other factors the board may wish to consider our client has been located at 121 more hopkins lane since 2016 and employees approximately 85 employees in an additional 30 remote on-site operations include offices warehousing a fabrication shop control room heavy truck and equipment storage and an outdoor material lay down yards regular operations include high pressure testing of gas pipeline segments and metering valve stations done both indoors and out our clients main control room operates 24 hours daily based on project needs its trucks and equipments may be mobilized at any time there's a daily expectation of high volume vehicle and heavy truck traffic components are stored on site for critical gas pipeline infrastructure it's essential that our entire campus remains well lit and we do use bright stadium styled lighting to illuminate the property from dusk to dawn it's clearly visible from surrounding property um so they just want to make sure it's known of their active industrial operations currently exists near the proposed development traffic motor vehicle concerns currently exist on more hopkins lane there's a high volume of industrial traffic and it lacks pedestrian sidewalks and safety and again while they do not oppose the special exception um we believe the board's deliberative review process should consider the above factors to ensure that existing industry vehicular traffic and pedestrian traffic can properly and safely coexist so he's like i said he's saying guess what guys you're coming to the nuisance he's saying we are you know don't come back to us later on and say guess what there's all these lights and sound and everything else we're warning you now that that's what's going on that's all right let's let's check with the applicant real quick Catherine um Mr coach you've heard the public input do you wish to add anything um to that this is just a standard part of our operating procedure oh and i do appreciate now i'm having this opportunity and by the way we're very thankful that um this letter was written by hand to our single boy in bringing it up because what we did and what a hope that you all um heard in my very fast and expedient type of information of the project that we are going to putting in a buffer zone we are going to come in and plant trees to make sure that we um have a nice buffer area away from um and there will hopefully shield the back of our property and if you will look on the rendering we did on the um that we submitted into the staff where it shows the layout of the site you'll see that this is the back area there is a walking trail in the back that's going to be looking at it the parking lot it's going to be somewhat adjacent to where their operations are located but we'll have trees along this area and so our property will be further back it will not be right there so we do understand that we don't think that we're going to be bringing in additional traffic to the area we think that the traffic that is there is reasonable we don't believe it's going to be a overly much over a volume that we have to be concerned with at any time it doesn't matter whether you're at all what type of area you're concerned about trucks coming through but i think they've got a good safety record and i don't believe there's much of a concern on our side that this is going to be coming in this is going to be a senior facility but it is a 55 and up senior facility and so speaking for myself 55 doesn't seem very old anymore and so um it's it's one of those things where we think we've got the concept handled properly to mitigate any of the concerns of coming in and yes you're exactly right what they're doing is put y'all on notice and put me on notice hey don't come back to us when we're still got our trucks coming in and you want to change something we're not we're going to come in and take those comments and incorporate those which we've already done and we do appreciate their input thank you thank you very much okay we're going to move into forward discussion personally i think you have a very very good plan here a very good project a nice rendering of the project i think it's a good deal other board members i agree the facility like this you see one cut onto a main road that brings you into this facility as opposed to like multiple driveways coming and going it eliminates traffic a little bit it makes the traffic onto more hopkins lane a little bit easier than having you know multiple facilities all through that all through that property with cuts onto the road so i think it's a nice use of the property yeah i like it okay all right well unless anyone else wants to add anything let's get a motion move to make a motion that we approve this application for special exception subject to staff comments second okay we have a motion a second all those in favor please say hi hi very good thank you very much thank y'all very much the board we're trying to do appreciate it good project appreciate your decision um the next matter is case 2021-0025 this is a variance at 3500 and 3452 north main 1209 avondale and 1217 sunset this is a variance to the buffer transition yard requirement for mixed use development i believe the applicants on the line hopefully still i'm here i'm here rachel okay so you're welcome to proceed and i will um i'm gonna stop sharing my screen and pull up um some other documents that were shared by the applicant but you can go ahead hoate uh yeah my name's hoate brunette i'm the civil side engineer for the project um as most of you know this is uh the new brewery project uh that's going in uh and i just want to introduce scott milton who's going to kind of introduce the project as the owner scott are you are you still there all right i'm here can you see me yeah so um just to give you a brief overview of this project um this is the old stone manufacturing building uh about 62 000 square feet uh it's a historical building that's been abandoned and it's been on the market for several years um we went out and took a look at the building trying to figure out you know kind of what it could be and what would be best suited for it and and honestly a brewery is about the only thing that we could find that you could do with that space out there and so we started uh reviewing and looking at at how we could make that happen um because the property is an old textile mill where they were making um various clothing manufacturing since 1930 i believe 1939 we also looked at um looking at space um for office space out there because it is in an opportunity zone so our plans right now are to build a about a 50 000 square foot office building that will house um our operations with sc house calls and main street physicians in our operation center that'll employ about 300 people on that site as well as to the brewery so it really is becoming a a campus of sort and um and so that's one of the reasons we're we're looking at these variances out here so that we can kind of create that campus atmosphere and i'll just kind of briefly go through uh the variance request we've got this one and then we've also got another one for a parking lot that's just north of here but essentially the the ordinance requires us to have a masonry wall fence along our northern property line um and to the millitons credit they've acquired those properties north of avondale and are in the process of closing down um portion of phillips and the portion of avondale to create more of a campus feel uh and so uh i think the the intended ordinance is to screen uh us against our northern neighbor um and that's a bit of a unique situation that it is residential um but only because the the resident lives at a commercial location so he operates a business up front and then he lives there uh but it is for all practical purposes a commercial building that faces no theme uh we have uh i counted it today nine trees of pretty significant size that are either on our side of the property or on his side of the property that i fear if we put in a masonry wall and a large footing we would kill a lot of those trees and so that's the main reason why we want to put in this wood fence instead of the required masonry wall and uh we have the architect online too if there's any questions you have uh for him so that that's it if y'all got any questions feel free to answer thank you hoy all right board members any questions for the applicants and i just want to put on the record to you that's actually the only reason this is on regular is because we got a couple general calls about it so i didn't know if they were going to swing one way or the other but um no opposition was received okay any public input rachel besides what you just mentioned obviously um i provided you all with a neighborhood letter i think that was in the packet or i assumed it your way after the packet was published but we'll see if erica has anybody on the line at this time we don't have any callers or any new emails awesome thank you thank you okay is there any board discussion regarding this matter well it seems about as straightforward as you could get to me and uh this time i'd like to make a motion that we approve the variance to the buffer transition yard for the mixed use development subject to all staff comments second okay we have a motion and a second all those in favor please say i all right anyone opposed okay another good project thank you all very much keeping in line with the same project we have 2021 0027 for 3509 phillips um this is a remote parking lot area and it's a variance to the buffer transition yard requirement on that parcel so again um and i don't think we need scott to introduce the project again but this is a piece of property that they're going to use for for parking overflow parking uh maybe staff parking or something um i guess at one time it did have a house on it but as most residents lots a lot of the trees are around the perimeter so again we we didn't want to put a masonry wall in uh and kill you know a 22 inch oak they're quite a few nice trees on the property um and so again we're requesting a wood fence so that we can try to save the trees around the perimeter thank you any questions okay any public input right ask eric again i don't believe so though no there's no college thank you okay um i wouldn't expect much but any more discussion okay good at this time then i would like to make a motion again that we approve the variance to the buffer transition yard for a parking lot use subject to all staff comments okay we have a motion a second all those in favor please say aye hi hi hi can you want to pose yeah very good motion passes thanks everybody thank you final case on the agenda is 2021 0030 for 300 clinton road this is a variance to the minimum parking requirement for a multifamily residential development the applicant if they're on the line is welcome to introduce their case to give us a brief overview of their request hi i'm charlie irick i am the applicant for this request uh we are proposing to build a 288 um affordable housing community um right there off clinton road um we've got a couple different site plans laid out um and we're requesting a parking variance um for a couple reasons um mainly uh it would allow our stormwater management plan to be more effective and i believe my civil engineer is also on the line if he can answer any technical questions for that but um at two spaces per unit which i think is the um the ordinance right now it's a an excessive amount of parking for what we will need we've built similar communities throughout the state and um we just don't need that much parking and so with the reduction in the parking it allows better stormwater management for the site it also allows for a lot more green space um probably a thicker buffer between us and the future commercial properties on the front and the uh new subdivision um to the rear i'm happy to answer any more questions but that's really the the overview of of our request and quickly charlie give us a how many you may have said this and i'm apologize but then how many how many spaces are required and how many are you requesting where's my left let's see here the uh let's see the it would take it from 576 total spaces down to uh 461 would be the minimum and i think the the the site plan that we submitted shows 477 okay i would personally consider that a pretty minor reduction i don't think you're asking for a huge deal here do any uh board members have any questions for the applicant okay um is there any public input regarding this matter i think there is one person on the phone okay there but you can patch them through hi this is alan golf i'm actually the civil engineer on the project i'm on the road right now so i actually uh had to call in uh from from the public standpoint to get the patch in so i apologize but um just wanted to answer any questions if i could i think we're good alan looks like a very good project the nice design like the additional green space and less stormwater runoff so we we're good charlie charlie's got it very good thank you thanks alan right is there any board discussion regarding this matter well chi chi now after you made that wonderful everything's wonderful thing when i can't possibly say oh i absolutely despise this project you must be joking we need lots of parking out there yeah yeah yeah less green space more parking that's right okay that's a good it's a good plan this is great i'm glad to see it absolutely great okay well um captain do you want to make a motion i move oh no you do it it's your project you love it so much i do like it i think it's a great idea and we have to i do too i do too you know really so okay i'd like to make a motion we approve the variance to the all street parking requirement for the multifamily residential use subject to all staff comments and i'll second that okay we have a motion a second all those in favor please say hi hi hi can you want to pose okay very good good thanks everybody see more of that yes we do okay is there a motion to adjourn don't move second i say hi hi all right hi that's it y'all have a good one good meeting everyone see y'all next month hi y'all thank you right y'all