Special Exception - 3423 South Michigan Street with Contiguous Vacant land

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Board of Zoning Appeals 2 June 9, 2009 B. The use and value of the area adjacent to the property included in the variance will not be affected in a substantially adverse manner because the variance will merely allow the use of an already existing building and paved row of parking, and the adjacent area will thus experience no adverse impact. Instead, the variance will create a positive effect on the area's value because it facilitates the reuse of a vacant structure. C. The strict application of the terms of the zoning ordinance will result in practical difficulties in the use of the property 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. The continued use of the existing front yard•paved parking area for 13 cars between the sidewalk and the building is needed to allow adequate accessible parking, particularly visitor parking and handicapped parking near the front entrance. The petition for inclusion of apre-school as an adjunct use will satisfy the standards for granting a special use as follows: The proposed use will not be injurious to the public health, safety, comfort, community moral standards, convenience or general welfare because the pre-school use can be effectively integrated with the planned 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. 2. The proposed use will not injure or adversely affect the use of the adjacent area or property values therein but instead will create a positive effect on the area's value because the special exception will assist in allowing the full reuse of a vacant structure as an educational institution in a manner that is compatible with the surrounding residential areas and mixed buffer-type uses. 3. The proposed use will be consistent with the character of the district in which it is located and the land uses authorized therein because the pre-school use can be effectively and seamlessly integrated with the planned 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. 4. The proposed use is compatible with the recommendations of the City of South Bend Comprehensive Plan because the Policy Plan's Objective PF 1.2 is to maintain and enhance essential community assets, and the Land Use Plan's LU 2.2 calls for the pursuit of a mix of land uses along major corridors as identified on the Future Land Use Map. The South Gateway Commercial Corridor Action Plan, July 1998, lists the property as a development site in the Middle Mixed Use Sector, identifying proposed uses as office, retail, and commercial. In its review of the rezoning for the property, the Area Plan Commission staff determined that it is responsible development and growth to allow the expansion and adaptive re-use of buildings and accommodate uses that can act as a BDDBOI 5692958v 1