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Page 1 of 2 Elicia Feasel - Preservation support for 614 Sherman Ave From: clinton gilkie <gilkieI l l @gmail.com> To: <EFeasel @co.st joseph.in.us >, <dcipmeyer @southbendin.gov> Date: 4/3/2016 11:00 AM Subject: Preservation support for 614 Sherman Ave Myself ( Shundra Gilkie) and my husband Clinton Gilkie III are asking for your support in preserving the character of our home and nearby lots. As of 2013, all of the vacant homes have been demolished on our block including a commercial building that faced LWW. Since then we found out that the city owns the 2 lots next to us 616/618 Sherman and we have been denied the opportunity of ownership. It seems that the city has several other properties that are sporadic on this block. The cities reasoning for denying us ownership is because they are "holding it for future development." I want our voice to be heard to avoid the city placing government housing on this block (if that's the future plan). I would hope that the city would like to preserve or improve the neighborhood and public housing would do just the opposite. With government housing, you impose the risk of multiple tenants, weak or no source of income, and no vested interest from the renters. With that being said, this would be a haven again for prostitution, drugs, violence and an un -kept overall appearance of the neighborhood just to name a few negatives. These are the things we are fighting so hard to remove. Wouldn't it be better to maintain this 600 block of Sherman along with all of the positive efforts towards the rehabilitation to preserve historical homes? Also, being a landmark home built in 1915, 1 feel that anything built should have the same integrity if not greater than our home on this entire block. By at least owning 616/618 my husband and I dictate what can go there with the help of the Historic Preservation Commission. I'm uncertain why the city has such interest because it is neglected on a regular basis. Since 2011, my husband regularly mows the lot because it makes our yard look bad. The city on averaged come and mows every 5 -6 weeks. Starting usually late in the spring and stopping early in the fall. There are large amounts of trash being dumped in the wooded ,lot near the alley. An old mattress sat there for while and now is in our back yard. Now it's our responsibility to remove it and the lot isn't even ours. Please assist us with the ability to preserve the character of our neighborhood. Thank You, Clinton and Shundra Gilkie file: / / /C:/ Users / EFeasel/ AppData/ LocallTemp/ XPgrpwise /5700F7CAInternalPLEXISPO 10... 4/4/2016