So it's something he's experienced with.
so it's something he's experienced
experience.
These are good homes that are, you know, frankly, going to be affordable units for people to live in.
I understand the concerns that are traditional about parking and changing things from single family to multifamily.
But I think as we can when we look at the addresses surrounding, you know, that change has already started to happen.
I'd like Mr. Presley to be kind of treated the same way.
And he is different than them in that he hasn't created his economic hardship.
As you can see, these lots are free, you know, are vacant.
It's certainly not going to decrease the neighborhood values to have a nice new construction in that space rather than, you know, while he keeps it up as required to be a clear lot.
Certainly having just a vacant lot fenced in like that certainly isn't helping anything.
um the nature and characteristics too when you look at the scope of what is directly across the
street um i mean this is wayne avenue right here and this is what's facing these units now
or i'm sorry if this side is wayne avenue um and it's just very substantial just to kind of give
you a further idea of what is right there um my apologies
so this side is the wayne avenue side this is literally what's now facing 4704
um the plans are relatively straightforward the renderings are relatively straightforward
but I will draw one note of attention to them again real quick
it's a traditional structure there's nothing outlandish about it um it's keeping it the look
in the feel of the neighborhood, as you can see, there is a slight, we do seek a dimensional
variance from the allowed 50% of the lot coverage to 53.4. That's for architectural reasons so that
the building can be properly fitted out as the three floors that it needs based on the architect's
kind of view of it. We certainly don't seek to overwhelm the lot or do anything of that nature.
And I believe the other basis for our refusal is the straight up single family to multifamily
conversion with the parking issue i'm happy to address any specific questions and mr presley's
here as well why don't we have your testimony adopted if i could at this point mr presley
if you could yes all right mr presley could you state your name please and spell for the
court stenography akeem presley a-k-e-m last name presley p-r-e-s-s-l-e-y
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Presley, you heard my testimony that I just gave to the board?
And is everything I said true and accurate?
And if you had testified, would you have said the same?
And do you adopt my testimony as though it was your own?
Mr. Chairman, is that adequate?
Questions from the board?
No, Chair.
No, Mr. Chairman.
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
um just briefly um mr benedetto there were a couple of um renderings that you showed that i
don't believe were in your exhibit packet that you submitted so if you'd like them included for
the record uh please submit them by close of business tomorrow thank you is that the the
architect renderings miss emerson i believe so yes that you showed from the for the larger building
across the street. Oh, okay. Yes, for the larger building. Understood. I'll send those right along.
Thank you. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Mr. Chair. I have a hand up from Charles Richardson. I've allowed them to speak.
Mr. Richardson, you've testified several times a day. Just for the record, state your name.
Certainly. Charles Richardson, R-I-C-H-A-R-D-S-O-N, Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass,
room 508 city hall um councilwoman is going to oppose this and stand with the rcos on this on
this uh case uh i believe we're going to be back here this afternoon at 3 30 for uh for another
case right next door uh which is you know very similar to the to what they what they're proposing
for this one so that's not just four apartments that's eight apartments essentially um you know
And from my understanding, I was not able to attend the RCO meeting
I was not able to attend the RCO meeting, but reading through both of the letters, the presentation was very poor, and the applicant was not there at the presentation at all.
by reading through both of the letters.
So the Councilwoman is opposed to granting this variance.
Thank you, Mr. Richardson.
Additional questions or comments from the virtual audience?
yes allison weiss has the hand raised i have a lot of them to speak
good morning miss weiss state your name please and spell for the court stenographer
allison weiss a double l i s o n w e i s s solo germantown civic association you swear or firm
to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do please proceed yes um i would
first like to set the record straight the building across the street at 4701 wayne avenue
was a buy right project that was not a variance that was a buy right project
and the community was very upset to have that number of apartments
um so i just wanted to make that very clear okay um this property happens to be in very close
proximity, a couple of houses from a playground, a recreation center, ideal for a single family
situation, as well as two nearby public schools within walking distance,
the Fittler Academics Plus and the John B. Kelly Elementary School. This is a wonderful location
for single-family home. There are many single-family homes on the blocks that intersect
as well as on Wayne Avenue itself. The community was not given any reason that there was not the
possibility of building a single-family home. This is a lot that's ideal for single-family home.
It's been a single-family home before it was demolished, unfortunately, but they presented no reason that the community should not want to have a single-family development on these two lots.
Additionally, the renderings that we saw were not very detailed and certainly don't characterize the architecture in the neighborhood.
So they didn't fit.
And we would certainly agree with the community that this development should not happen at this location.
Thank you, Ms. Walsh.
very much like to see single-family homes. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else in the virtual audience?
There are no further answers, Mr. Chair. Planning Commission. Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good
morning. David Fecto with the City Planning Commission. Chairman and board members, the
comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from residential single-family
to residential multifamily.
The proposed four dwelling units
would be allowed by right
under the proposed zoning.
The City Planning Commission recommends
that the board grant the proposed use variance
for four dwelling units.
So MI 2023-001-348-4704 Wayne Avenue,
I vote no.
no. Thomas Holloman, my vote is no. James Snell, my vote is no. Ishmael Shahid,
my vote is no. Thank you, counsel. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Number 11, MI 2023-005-585-2216 Frankfurt Avenue. Adam Laver is the attorney.
There's a recommendation of non-opposition from East Kensington Neighbors Association.
Vote was 10 to 0.
A letter of support from Fishtown Kensington Area Business Improvement District.
And a letter of non-opposition from Council Member Squilla.
There's also additional letters of support from multiple neighbors along with a petition and support signed by nine neighbors.
Mr. Laver, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. Adam Laver, L.A., V.S. and Victor, E.R., Blank Rome, 1 Logan Square, counsel for the applicant, the owner-occupant of the subject property.
counsel for the applicant the owner occupant of the subject property
you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes do yes i do mr chairman thank you could you identify your client please
yes uh blank room represents hero panazono h-i-r-o-e h-a-n-a-z-o-n-o the owner occupant
of the subject property and our vice chair has just a few questions sir thank you good morning
uh do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy
good morning mr vice chairman yes i do i've emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that
is needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing yes mr shahid thank you
mr labor please move forward and share your screen thank you
Mr. Chairman, members of the board, I'm here this morning to represent Hiro Hanazono, the owner-occupant of 2216 Frankfurt Avenue, along with her fiancé, Craig Ebner, EB and ER as well.
With us is James Campbell of Campbell Thomas Architects, a renowned adaptive reuse architect who has appeared before the board many times.
Hero purchased this property in 2012, which became, through Sweat Equity, her residence and her ceramics studio.
In the photograph before us, we can see the view along Frankfurt Avenue, which would be the entrance to the ceramics studio.
And here, I'm using my cursor just to define the property.
rather it's right here next to just to the left of the beige property. So we just saw a moment
ago the front of the property on Frankfurt, commercial Frankfurt Avenue, and the rear of
the property more residential in nature on Blair Street. The subject of this application will
really focus on Blair Street and in addition. So the property fronts on Frankfurt Avenue runs
through to Blair Street. It is owned CMX2. Here are some photos of the existing property.
What's there right now? Here is residence, her professional studio on Frankfurt Avenue. It's
right here to the right of this awning, which is not her property. This property right here
that I'm indicating is the subject property. She's a very well-known ceramicist. You can come right
into her studio and see her work. In addition to those two uses, there is a third floor rental
apartment. Just going through some additional photographs to give you a lay of the land,
if you will. We're looking along Frankfurt Avenue. The property itself is towards the rear right here.
This is a streetscape. And now we've turned to Blair Street in the back, and you can see our
posting there's an existing accessory garage an existing curb cut at the rear of the property
right above here and infill in the courtyard in between is what we'll be speaking about momentarily
some additional streetscapes on long blair just so you can see
that there's no on-street parking there's a lot of off-street parking and you'll see the residential
nature. Again, the subject property to the left.
Property is right here where my cursor is. I'll pause for a moment. So the proposal itself
concerns the erection of a rear addition with roof deck and documentation of that existing
off-street parking, all for owner-occupant use. The infill that I had mentioned would be
here in the foreground of the photograph. That would take us right up to this level,
and Hero and Craig would be able to walk out at rooftop level right onto the proposed deck.
Here are some interior photographs just to give you a sense of the care that the couple
takes to the property.
The proposal itself, if I may, in the left-hand corner, we can see the existing one-story
garage which we seek to document, one-car parking there, proposed addition of the roof deck above.
Here, where I've highlighted the courtyard, would be a proposed one-story addition with the roof deck, and I had explained that they could walk out right onto it.
Here where I've highlighted the courtyard would be a proposed one-story
This shows the first floor, where my cursor is, first floor layout, showing additional living space for the couple.
And the rooftop, towards the bottom of the page, you can see some elevations.
and Jim Campbell has nicely shown us some additional photographs of Blair Street just
to give us a better sense. The notice of refusal itself has a number of issues. One, the roof deck
must be set back at least five feet from the front building line. However, Blair Street members of
the board does not function in layperson's terms as the primary street and the Campbell Thomas
design has respected the streetscape and actually added a measure of security and
livability through the proposed roof deck. There is a refusal for maximum occupied area. We are
seeking only a 263 square foot de minimis variance, so the impact would be quite minimal.
There is no setback proposed in keeping with the existing conditions, the non-conformities along
Blair Street, and there's also a very technical refusal on the parking stall depth, which will
only impact the couple within the existing garage, and that's only a 2.5-foot variance on parking
stall depth. Here you can see unanimous support from the coordinating RCO East Kensington
Neighborhood Association, followed by the other RCO Fishtown Kensington area bid,
which notes that the proposed use would enhance quote the quality of the existing structure
without changing the mixed usage of this building the garage which faces blair street does not
impact the commercial corridor frontage on frankfurt avenue the roof deck and garage face
blair street so the proposed lot changes will not affect or remove parking spaces nor impact
motor vehicle or pedestrian travel end quote council member squilla has uh added his non-opposition
There is extensive near-neighbor support which actually continues to pour in since my submission. The next-door neighbor here at 2214 Frankfurt supports the proposed improvements. Here we have a member of the community, Carrie Nelson, who notes that the property was once uninhabitable and that Hero has worked to improve it inside and out.
uh the letters go on and on for the for the in the interests of time i'm not going to go through
each letter i'm just showing them on the screen along with the petitions of support i believe
there may be one or more near neighbors who have stayed with the hearings for the last two hours
and may wish to testify mr chairman and members of the board the proposal fits into the surrounding
neighborhood as evidenced by this extensive support proposed variance relief would represent
the minimum variance that will afford relief and represent the least modification possible
of the regulations at issue. The grant of variance relief will not substantially increase congestion
in the public streets, increase the danger of fire, or otherwise endanger the public health,
safety, or general welfare. This will not adversely affect transportation or unduly
burdened water, sewer school, park, or other public facilities. There are no environmental issues.
Hiro is here today in the virtual hearing room and is present to adopt and affirm at the appropriate time.
And similarly, Mr. Campbell is here if the board has any technical questions on the architectural plans.
Why don't we bring your client on and adopt your testimony, Mr. Labor?
Thank you.
Hiro Hanazono, would you kindly raise your virtual hand to be recognized?
there she is
could you please state your name
and spell for the court stenographer
please unmute Kira
there you go
could you please state your name
and spell for the court stenographer
my name is Hiroe Hanazono
it's H-I-R-O-E
last name is H-A-N-A
Z-O-N-O
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Please proceed, Mr. Laver.
Thank you, ma'am.
Have you been present for the entirety of the virtual hearing before the Philadelphia Zoning Board of Adjustment this morning?