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REGULAR MEETING September 28, 2015 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />We have since left it open and possibly have removed it because it wasn’t a concern or an issue. <br />Here is an idea with a retention pond that is in the light blue, there is housing just to the north, <br />there is housing just to the Southwest and again that store has been there for a few years and we’ve <br />not had issues. Here’s a retention pond, directly across the street from a residential area, to the <br />right-hand side that is a fueling center that is just to the left of that blue area. Here is a residential <br />area that is right next to a store that had extensive light concerns. We use the appropriate <br />landscaping, we have the appropriate fencing, trash control and it’s a windy area. We deal with <br />our neighborhood well. This is our store in Warsaw where were actually required to put a back <br />entrance into a residential zone and had the opportunity to add an access into a resident zone. So <br />the residents could skip going on to more heavily traffics areas and get directly into our parking <br />lot. We have extensive experience in what we are doing. We are trying to do things in the right <br />way. We are also being attentive to concerns. That’s it. <br /> <br />Councilmember Henry Davis Jr. - I want to be clear about this, I listened to all of the conversations, <br />the pros and cons. I think it’s awesome that someone is investing in the west end of town, I think <br />it’s awesome to see a store that has seen it’s better days expand in an area, that sorely needs to <br />grow, and appearance improvements the other side of this conversation about zoning has a lot to <br />do with the people who live in this area and being perhaps disrupted from your usually life and <br />look I agree. I have a small child and I don’t want to see any extra traffic on my street either. <br />Sometimes we can control those things to make sure it’s maintained and made as safe possible is <br />something that we can work really hard at and change. The question that is still out there and I <br />think I made this very clear about had everything to do with the tax issue. <br /> <br />I’m going take another minute to explain why I go at that point very hard. The tax issue is an issue <br />with equality. South Bend has a problem with equality. The City government does and as a result <br />most businesses in this area have an equality issue. People who are of color in senior management <br />positions, people that work in the stores that are of color, I am not just talking about black people; <br />I am talking about black and brown people. When I get into those conversations and how we work <br />towards a more equitable South Bend, those numbers and that reality does not exist. So, when we <br />get into the conversation about the tax abatement the tax abatement will ask who is apart and <br />whoever is using the tax abatement whether they will have X-amount of minorities is going to ask <br />a number of questions and usually those questions are somewhat answered at best. At the end of <br />the day that tax abatement is usually given. Because they able were able to answer other questions <br />that made up the amount points that they needed to get the five (5) year, eight (8) year, ten (10) <br />year abatement. <br /> <br />My issue and I will continue to stand until I can see some difference in the attitudes in the City. If <br />I can support your store in the way of my dollars, I should be able to see myself in that store as a <br />working partner or/and/as a City government with taxes. But when I get into that conversation I <br />don’t want to get stuck at the zoning and annexation issue because there is a large issue there. I <br />want to continue to voice my concerns as it relates to those issues. We just can’t keep looking at <br />these things as it relates to its own standalone issue and then move on. As we continue the divide <br />between people of color and non-color continues to grow and then when we get into conversations <br />about the wealth gap and we get in to conversations about how we can close that gap or how we <br />can’t close that gap. It’s within our police force, it’s within our South Bend Fire Department, it’s <br />within the other departments of the City, it is within the many of the businesses in the City. I can’t <br />as a city councilman being elected from a district of color, predominantly color continue to watch <br />the people that I represent go unemployed or under employed because no one wants to ask that <br />hard question. I am not ashamed of it, I’m not scared of it, but what South Bend has to do, what <br />South Bend needs to do if it’s interested in growing we all have to be at the table together we and <br />all have to be included. So when I asked the question about the tax abatement, if you are seeking <br />one fine great. How do we work towards a better day? How do we get more people from the <br />neighborhood included in on working at the store? Whether it’s the construction part or whether <br />it’s the nine to five part. I don’t know how to get that done but it’s a question that needs to be <br />asked. If I’m spending my money there that questions needs to be asked. If you are offering the <br />store to everybody in the neighborhood to come shop there that question should be the first <br />question asked. Yes, it’s going to be a nice pretty shiny store. I enjoy the Panini and get me a few <br />of them when I can. I get that that’s great but the issue that’s before me right now has always been <br />the unemployment numbers in this city and how does that turn into crime and we have our fair <br />share of it. Until I can get some resolve from whomever for anything from this City about how <br />13 <br /> <br /> <br />