17-75 Special Exception 806 Howard Street

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Area Board of Zoning Appeals—December 6, 2017 MS.JULIE PETERSON: I live at 902 N. St. Peter Street just south of the proposed building. My husband and I are probably some of the newest people that moved into the neighborhood and we were the second owners of the home that we bought. And what brought us to here was because of the single family environment and we have one son who is in high school at St.Joe High School. And we previously lived over at Eddy Street campus area which was extremely busy and this is why we moved here to not have something like this in our neighborhood. We also see a lot of the parking issues and our son goes to the park to play basketball and it just brings a huge risk for pedestrian accidents. I wrote one of the letters. My husband and I are both in the medical profession and this is just a huge liability. Thank you. MR. DAN KELLY: I'm at 1011 N. Notre Dame Avenue. Just want to make three quick points for you. One is I do think it's pretty clear who walks in the neighborhood or drives through it, it is a residential area and it has made an incredible comeback from what it was just ten or fifteen years ago in terms of families in the residential area. That being said it's pretty clear when you look at the drawing that that existing office building, commercial space right now is extremely ugly to say the least. So when you compare the two structures that really applaud the petitioners for wanting to come in and do something better than the existing thing and I think aesthetically the building with the nice brick is great. I think the only problem is it seems like it's kind of doubling down a use that's already out of place. That is we have this sort of one out of place structure and now it looks better on the outside but I think a lot of the concerns that have been expressed go to by adding that third floor residential, it's going to dramatically increase the bulk of the building,the overall height,the effect it has on the neighborhood including some of the site lines so I think aesthetically it looks better. I think there heart and I sort of applaud the petitioners for doing that. I just think people want it to better but not to get bigger, bulkier and sort of double down on it being out of place. The last point I'll leave you with is just some of the safety concerns.So my wife and I have five children, use Kelly Park a lot,we love that. Just this summer in walking to the park both one of my children and I were almost hit by somebody who, as several people have testified,going too fast,tried to take a left from Howard to St. Pete very quickly. And so I think so many issues with both parking and the sight lines do have real effects on welfare and safety for pedestrians, motorists and especially children. Thanks very much. MR. RUDY REYES: I'm at 1014 N. St. Peter Street.As you heard when a land use was approved in 1992 the area of the neighborhood was not what it is today. The Pandora Books building was and is an anomie in the neighborhood as you can see the previous owner,God rest him, held onto the property as long as he possibly could as a matter of personal protest. Now the surrounding lots to the north as were described by the petitioner as being probably not built on are in fact owned and buildable. I've spoken with the owner on several occasions and he's expressed interest in building on both of those lots,the one on Howard and St. Peter Street directly to the north of this building. The parking along Howard is already dangerous as you heard,this would make it worse. While the height that goes with an Office District,the height that goes with an Office District unfortunately not in question here. And whether this should be an Office District or not is also not in question. The City's planner has indicated today that we would never support the spot rezoning that occurred in 1992,so I would ask you why perpetuate a mistake that wouldn't be repeated today. The Economic Development representative makes a good point about the impact of such a structure, however,there's amble opportunity in the expanded Eddy Street Commons as well as other areas of the city. I'd like to emphasize that we were promised certain standards in moving to and investing in this neighborhood. Having recently completed construction I certainly I am very familiar with all of the restrictions both in the District as well as the Overlay. Our investment was sought and understood to be critical to the City's redevelopment plan which was outlined for you just a minute ago. These devaluing modifications then would be very, very, disheartening. As was made clear by your staff the current ordinance and regulations require,the current regulations and ordinance require a presentation of the entire site in order for the requested variance. The current presentation of the request then should be denied. Thank you. MS.JILL BODENSTEINER: 920 N.St. Peter, so I'm the brown bungalow immediately south of the Mustillios,which is the brick house. Mine may be more of a question, but as I've been sitting here reflecting on the great comments of my neighbors thinking back to what the representative for Pandora Partners said we've been guaranteed in writing that there 19