01-28-13 Agenda & Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Area Board of Zoning Appeals—December S, 2012 MR. WINDT: Absolutely. MR. HAWLEY: Do you own the building or is this going to be a lease? MR. WINDT: It'll be a lease. MR. HAWLEY: So you don't own the building? MR. WINDT: I do not own the facility. I spoke with the owner, Carl Brunson and he's interested in selling me the property if all of this goes through. So I'll become the property owner if I'm approved the Special Use. MR. PHIPPS: Could you tell us what you plan to do with the exterior of the building in particular the overhead doors. Is that going to be all enclosed? MR. WINDT: We've got plans for quite a bit. Overhead doors we want to frame in and make the exterior of the building look like a fine art gallery, retail space. Clean up the parking lot. There's fencing separating the alley way that's in bad condition right now. We want to replace the fencing, clean it all up, clean up the exterior of the building. There's a lot of steel panels that were peeling off the b U. g,_we'x _going. Q-strilZ, that right down to the block of the building underneath and re-paint the building. Take some of the dilapidated pieces are hanging from the exterior right now and clean it up and make it more modern. Clean, streamline so it says professionalism, high class art gallery. Something really nice welcoming, neighborhood friendly, we're not here to cause any waves with the neighbors. We'd like to become part of the community. I participate in the Arts Cafe,Art Beat. I've got a great support group behind me that are all cheering for us to be able to do this and we just want to do something good for community and show that tattooing industry is a fine art and we can be presented that way in a nice establishment. MR. URBANSKI: Are you a tattoo artist? MR. WINDT: Yes I am. I've been a tattoo artist for ten years and I've been licensed and working in St. Joseph County for the past 3 '/z years. I have my practitioners permit through the St. Joseph County Health Department. I'm in good standing with them,never had any issues. I follow all of OSHA's regulations for blood form packaging and communicable diseases and everything like that. MR. HAWLEY: I noticed there are two accesses to the property,two roadways. Would that remain the same? MR. WINDT: We'd like to put up some landscaping to kind of create a buffer between us and the neighborhood. But also with cleaning up the building it will add to the neighborhood. The neighborhood behind us is a beautiful neighborhood and this is kind of like an eyesore or it's something that stands out and I feel is something that kind of brings the neighborhood down. And the diversity on Mishawaka Avenue as far as the businesses I think this would add more to the diversity there and also bring more business to the 36