Mr. Collins purchased this property from his grandfather's estate.
his grandfather lived in this property for decades and took it upon himself at one point or other to
turn it into a duplex where he was an owner occupied lived in one and rented out the other
but it was never legalized and my client has purchased it to keep it in the family and would
like to legalize the existing use here's the it's a lower level it's a the basement is all
completely above ground. It's on a corner, and this is the apartment at the lower level.
Then we've got the first floor, kitchen, dining room, and living room, and then
the three-bedroom on the very top floor, the third floor, with a full bath. As I said,
this is a corner property, and as you'll see, all the other corners are either multifamily
or mixed use this is the rear of the property this is where the trash would be stored
there's the door right now to the the apartment my client is planning to put the door
on the front of the property
here is a mixed-use property here on the corner directly across the street
another multi-family across the street as you can see it's at least two units if not three
and here's another multi-family property on the fourth corner
we have interior photos
we met with the 10th uh ward rco and
we have not heard from them i even um sent a packet over to the new liaison to the zoning board
from the city council district as well i do have the lease agreement of sale i'm sorry the deed
the letter that went out to the community proof of mailing to 177 individual households proof of
taxes paid and with that i'd like to have mr byron collins raise his virtual hand
Mr. Collins, could you state your name and spell, please, for the court reporter?
Mr. Collins?
Are you able to hear me?
jason do we see him yeah he's been allowed to speak but i think he's coming in kind of low
mr collins volume
just barely okay
okay all right so so veron you're an officer of the court will you accept your testimony
my client adopts my presentation as his own testimony okay right uh mr mr chair because
of the property's history as a historic two-family in this in this particular family's uh lineage
because of the similarly situated properties especially on the corner that all exist as
multi-family or mixed use because a rehab single family and on this corner uh would be both in
size and inflated price point impossible to fill uh at this intersection which does have its
challenges um because of all of that my client and my client is from this community uh we respectfully
request the granting of this variance so questions from the board no mr chairman
questions or comments from the virtual audience
in no other hands except mr collins is up again planning commission please oh sir okay
thank you chair sarah bond city planning commission s-a-r-a-h-b-a-n-h
the proposed variance is not necessary to enable viable economic use of this property
The proposed variance is not necessary to enable viable economic use of this property.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Zoning Board deny the variance.
The property is a major disrepair, Mr. Chair.
Turning this, rehabbing this into a one-family dwelling, first of all, would be cost prohibitive, but no one would be able to afford to fill it.
So MI-2022-004-474-1948-74th Avenue, I vote yes.
Carol Tenneri, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shahi, my vote is yes.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Number 13.
MI-2022-004-262-3832 North 18th Street, no RCO letter, meaning was held 12-8-22.
Mr. Chair, this is Hillary. I just received an email that Jeffrey Young was obtained by the
applicant however um i don't believe the council office nor the rco were aware that the applicant
was preparing to proceed today so i think we can hear this case um as there's been um evidence that
a meeting is held however i think we should hold um the decision for rco letter especially since
the meeting was just held um as well as for um input from the council office do we think mr
young's here oh he is here he is raising okay good okay fine yes and i just promoted him
to panama sir good morning mr young good morning members of the board uh jeffrey young
here on behalf of the uh applicant uh mr daryl uh miller all right just for the record could
you spell your name please for the court reporter yes uh jeffrey young j-e-f-f-e-r-y
y-o-u-n-g right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes our vice chair has a few questions hi mr miller do you agree to wait did i just call you
mr miller that's the client's name is okay do you agree with the reading of refusal and stipulate
to its accuracy uh yes okay have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax
compliance refusal referral photos under plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing
and have you met with the rco and do you have a letter uh yes to um uh to the submission of the
exhibit packet five days in advance um i also just recently submitted some supplemental exhibits um
to the board as well that we will present this morning.
We did meet with the RCO on December the 8th.
However, the RCO has not sent a letter
reflecting what the outcome of that meeting was.
But my client is here to testify to the facts of that meeting
and that he received unanimous support
from those who attended the meeting.
so we'll proceed right mr chairman yeah sure absolutely absolutely okay proceed and begin by
sharing your screen thank you thank you uh again members of the board my name is jeffrey young
i am here on behalf of the applicant mr daryl miller uh for 38 32 north 18th street
Let's table content. Here is the refusal. So we are refused for a two-family use in an RSA 5
zoning district. As I'll get to the presentation, you'll see why my client is experiencing a
hardship and this property cannot be used as a single family under current zoning classification.
This is a copy of Mr. Miller's zoning application, and there's the project information sheet
to show that it's in the 8th Council District, and it's a two-family unit.
This is the deed.
So the property is currently owned by Miller's Miracles LLC, and my client, Mr. Darrell Miller,
is the sole owner of Miller's Miracles LLC.
And if we can get to the next is the tax clearance, showing that Mr. Miller's Miracles LLC is in compliance to the Philadelphia Revenue Department.
and if we can get to the next is the text
And here are some floor plans.
So essentially, the hardship we face here, when a client purchased a property in 2021, this property was already developed as a duplex.
So as we go through the four plants here, I'll show you how it's designed.
Essentially, when you come through the front door here, this is a common hallway.
You go to this first door on the right.
That opens up into a kitchen area.
which is a part of the second unit.
In the rear here is the first unit,
which is a one bedroom kind of studio unit.
The other unit comprises the second and third floors.
And it consists of approximately,
it's about five bedrooms.
I mean, on the plans they note five bedrooms,
but one bedroom is essentially like an office type space.
And this building was designed, has been designed this way since 1955, which I'll get into in the zoning history a little later.
I just want to show the board some pictures of what the property looks like.
Here, this is the front of the property.
As you get a sense of the property on the block, all the neighboring properties are three stories.
And again, there are also other multifamily properties on this particular block.
As you enter the property, this is that first kitchen I spoke of for the second unit.
There's a set of stairs in this kitchen that leads you up into the second unit.
This is the hallway that I spoke of.
Again, you can see the common hallway with the entrances to each unit in this common hallway on the first floor.
This is the rear unit's kitchen.
a picture of the bathroom. You see my client, you know, recently renovated the property
prior to knowing that it was not a legal use. Here is the picture of a rear yard.
These are stairs in the hallway leading to the second floor from that first floor kitchen.
rear bedroom it's a middle room on the second floor
second floor bathroom the large uh front room in the on the second floor
and these are stairs that are lead that lead to the third floor which has two bedrooms and
additional bathroom in it as well
and this is a back room that's essentially pretty much used as can be used as an office space it's
not you know big enough to call a bedroom um this is a picture of 38 29 which of 18th street which
is directly across the street just to show that uh this block um has a history of multi-family
uses already um and that our use is consistent uh with the character of the neighborhood
uh this is exhibit eight is just uh our neighbor notification letter um we met with the rco on
december 8th um again the rco um headed by mr charles karn um has not uh supplied a letter
um however again i'll get my client to testify to um you know what uh he what happened at the
RCO community meeting. Here's our pictures of the zoning notices being posted in the window of the
property. And just to give the board a sense of the neighborhood, we are here where this blue
highlight directly across the street again is multifamily use. The north corner of our block
is multifamily use. And there are a number of multifamily uses by right in the area.
Again, as I mentioned on the block, there are a number of other multifamily, non-conforming multifamily uses as well.
This is an area, Matt, just to show that this area has a plethora of public transportation.
So it's not a burden on any public streets to have this additional, to legalize this additional unit.
It is, you serve by six bus routes in the Broad Street line and is not too far away, a few blocks, about three blocks away.
And here is the zoned archives dating back to 1955, and as you can see, the use for two
And here is the zoning.
families was granted.
So the property in this current configuration has been such since 1955, you know, and we
believe that a hardship will result from the denial of the variance.
The property's unique physical circumstances and history warrant the variant requests.
The building itself creates the unnecessary hardship as it was developed for a two-family use since 1955 and has not been altered.
The hardship was not imposed by my client and granted the variance will not alter the essential character of the neighborhood and the use is consistent with other uses in the neighborhood.
and all that particular block. It is also the minimum variance sought as we do not intend to
change any of the square footage of the property once we use the entire footprint of the building
as is. Strict compliance with the zoning code can only be accomplished through unreasonable measures
you know, such as a complete demolition or renovation of the property, which the Commonwealth
Court has deemed to be grounds for a hardship. And with that, members of the board, that concludes
my presentation. I will ask if my client, Mr. Darren Miller, could be appointed so I can ask
him a few questions now or please raise your virtual hand
he's been about to speak okay could you state your name please and spell for the court reporter
Yes, Daryl Miller, D-A-R-R-Y-L-M-I-L-L-E-R.
Right. Do you swear or affirm, tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you. Mr. Miller, what day did you meet with the RCO to discuss this proposed variance?
On December the 8th.
All right. And could you tell the board just what happened at that RCO meeting?
At the meeting, the community supported me. Charles Karn asked everyone after I presented
my case, was anybody in opposition? Everybody was in support of me. Charles Karn said that I
needed to get site plans for the presentation. And I told him that I was unaware that I needed
site plans? He said, yes, you need site plans. So I told him I would reach out to an architect.
And then he didn't want to continue with the vote on the meeting. And I said, if that's all I need,
I can have that to you in two days. I provided the documents. I emailed them to him. And I still
haven't heard back from Mr. Karn yet. I followed up with two emails. But the community was definitely
in support of me. No one was in opposition. Thank you. Mr. Miller, have you heard my
testimony? Yes, I did. And was my testimony accurate? Yes, it was. And would you adopt
my testimony as if it were your own? Yes, I do. Thank you. Questions from the board?
Mr. Chair. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Mr. Chair, I have Mr. Charles Richardson with his hand raised. I have allowed him to speak at this time, sir.
Okay. Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Good morning, Mr. Chair. Charles Richardson from the Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass from 508 City Hall.
Could you spell your name just for the record?
No problem. R-I-C-H-A-R-D-S-O-N.
All right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
With regard to this case, the last correspondence that we received, the applicant did meet with the RCO on December the 8th.
We received a correspondence from him on December the 9th, which is the last that we received, that said that he would be requesting a continuance, that he had requested a continuance.
uh his being able to try to characterize what what took place is kind of disingenuous at this
very moment because in fact we have no corroboration from uh Mr. Mr. Karn as to what
actually took place so we're going you know we are waiting to uh you know to hear from Mr. Karn
uh I unfortunately was not on that uh zoom at that at that on that evening but
I, unfortunately, was not on that Zoom that evening, but I'm waiting to hear from Mr.
Karn with regard to that situation, because the last that I talked to him, he said that
the applicant had applied for continuous.
We had no idea Mr. Young was being engaged, and we just heard about that today from Hillary.
So, okay.
Thanks, Mr. Chair.
All right.
Thank you.
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
do not see wait a minute uh sir uh oh wait mr daryl miller put his hand back up again
you don't need him anymore do you want do jeffrey you want him back yes yes i mean essentially i
think there there are some things that mr richardson said that my client would like to
clarify okay all right he's gonna see sir you've already been sworn in yes uh just that um the
reason why I had to retain Mr. Young is because I just found out on Monday from the zoning board
that I needed an attorney. And so that's why he was retained. And speaking with my attorney,
I could, the meeting would have had to vote, but Mr. Karn said that I needed site plans. And
I realized that I didn't need site plans to turn it into a duplex. Am I, is that accurate? Because
I was unaware of that, if that is accurate or not. Yeah, so Ellen, so I believe there was some