17-75 Special Exception for 806 Howard St.

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Carolyn Henry From: Jim Farrington <jfarring@nd.edu> Sent: Monday, December 04, 2017 8:15 PM To: Carolyn Henry Subject: Re:806 Howard Street Variance Petition Revised to add my address. On Mon, Dec 4, 2017 at 17:13 Jim Farrington<jfarrinanae nd.edu>wrote: I am writing to object to the petition of Pandora Partners seeking various variances in respect of its property at 806 Howard Street. I urge you to use the experience gained from last decade in the many wise and forward looking decisions that the ABZA made to continue to enhance our neighborhood and not make a horrible situation worse. The existing two story"office"property is a horrible eye sore in this terrific neighborhood. I realize this property is already zoned for office use. However,that decision was made when this was a very different neighborhood. I know what it was like decades ago when I frequented the local bars during my student days at Notre Dame. The combined efforts of South Bend,NENC and ND have worked hard in the last 10 years or more to transform this neighborhood of bars,barely habitable student housing, and abandoned properties into a terrific neighborhood with homes valued at$1 million or more that provide an increasing tax base to South Bend. Granting these variances would: (1) Allow the building's height to increase by 61%(from 28.5' to about 46'), which would be more than 30%above the height to which all current properties are subject; (2) Increase traffic along a busy throughfare where east-west traffic is not controlled by stop signs; (3) Continue and exacerbate a use without adequate off-street traffic; and (4) Continue and exacerbate a use that is already not consistent with the residential use of the neighborhood. These consequences would be injurious to the public safety, comfort, convenience and general welfare, adversely affect the use and values of adjacent properties and not be consistent with the character of the district in which this property is located. Thank you. Jim Farrington 1032 St. Peter St. South Bend, IN 46617 Jim Farrington ( Adjunct Professor University of Notre Dame I The Law School Colleges of Business,Science &Engineering ESTEEM Graduate Program i