Special Exception - 3423 South Michigan Street with Contiguous Vacant land

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BAKER f•~~DAN lELS EST. 1863 WENDY K. WALKER-0YES Attorney at Law Admitted In Indiana and Michigan Direct 574.239.1965 we nd y.w a 1 ke r-dyes@b a k e rd. co m June 9, 2009 Board of Zoning Appeals City of South Bend c/o Carolyn A. Henry, Secretary 125 S. Lafayette Blvd., Suite 100 South Bend, IN 46601 BAKER & DANIELS LIP 202 S. Michigan Street, Suite 1400 South Bend,lndiana 46601 Tel 574.234.4149 Fax 574.239.1900 www.bakerdaniels.com via hand delivery Re: Xavier Charter School of Excellence 3423 South Michigan Street, South Bend, with contiguous vacant land Dear Board of Zoning Appeals Members: On behalf of the Charter School Development Corporation, enclosed is a petition for a variance from the general regulations for residential districts to allow existing front yard parking to be retained and reduced setbacks as part of the renovation of an existing vacant building for a new primary and secondary public charter school. We are also seeking a special exception to allow the inclusion of apre-school as an adjunct use to the permitted primary use as a public school. The property was most recently owned and used by SouthGate Church, Inc. (f/k/a Calvary Temple-South Bend Gospel Tabernacle, Inc.) and previously housed the Busk Brothers furniture store. On June 8, the City Council approved the zoning change from MU Mixed Use District to SF2 Single Family and Two Family District, which includes public schools as a permitted use. The petition to allow existing front yard parking and reduce the front yard and the north side yard setbacks will satisfy the standards for granting a variance under I.C. 36-7-4-918.5 as follows: A. The approval will not be injurious to the public health, safety, morals, and general welfare of the community because the variance is necessitated by the rezoning from the MU (mixed use) district to SF2 in order to allow reuse of a vacant commercial structure by conversion to a public K-8 school, which the City determined to be a primary use that is compatible and allowed as of right in a residential district. The variance will merely accommodate the continued use and retention of the existing 28,000 square foot building and an existing row of 13 asphalt parking spaces between the sidewalk and the existing building.