08-08-05 Council Meeting Minutes

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REGULAR MEETINGAUGUST 8, 2005 work towards a comprehensive plan to decide how the neighborhood was being used and how it should be used. We find absolutely no reason why the City is not just saying get out! They can do a mission; they got their building down on South Main Street, take it there! Moreover, it is not a matter of not in my back yard, she has heard some people say that it has to be somewhere. No, it does not! The people are mostly according to Michael Baxter, not from the neighborhood, not from Indiana, but from outside. If we have homeless that need to be taken care of, we have to address that issue in a perfectly good way. It does not have to be somewhere, unless we need it and if we need it, it has to be in a legally correct area and not as it is now in a 2,000 square foot house. Dr. Daniel Holm, 113 Laurel, South Bend, Indiana, stated that he lives in the West Washington Street neighborhood. Dr. Holm advised that he and his family moved in to the neighborhood about twelve years ago. He stated that they missed the past twenty-five years or so before when the neighbors in the area had solidified the neighborhood. To get rid of slum landlords, to get rid of housing that had been falling apart and to move into a zoning situation where the single family home was developed to attract single families and to have people come into the neighborhood and bring up their families and to enjoy what the West Washington Neighborhood has to offer. He stated that he is very concerned that the City appears to be allowing a zoning violation that the Catholic Worker Home is clearly in violation of. The City must enforce the single-family zoning laws. It is an issue of respect to the neighbors who have worked very hard to obtain that respect. Dr. Holm encouraged the Council to look at the current zoning to help to enforce the current zoning so that the people in the neighborhood can feel respected again. So that they can feel like someone is listening to them. Mr. Richard Williams, 724 W. Washington Street, South Bend, Indiana, stated that he has lived in the West Washington Street neighborhood since 1994. Mr. Williams stated that he read in the newspaper the other day that it was stated that the neighbor’s only concern was that their property values were going down. This is one of the poorest neighborhoods in the City, one of the most heavily populated minority neighborhoods. Drive around the neighborhood, there are pockets of affluent people in that neighborhood, but they are not in the 1100 block of West Washington Street. If some of these property values are being hurt, it is some of the poorest people in our community. He finds it very offensive that this particular argument about property values is being raised in this case. This would not happen in the more affluent or heavily white neighborhoods in the City. Just because you want to do good, doesn’t not mean that you have the right to do whatever you want. At a minimum, you have to prove that you have the ability to do good. The Catholic Workers have never been required to do that. They need to have job counselors, mental health professionals to help. They have never been required to prove that they are capable of doing good. Nor have they been required to prove that the only place that they can do this type of good is in this area. Just because you want to do good, doesn’t not mean that you have the right to break the law and violate the rights of others. The Catholic Workers need to show that they are in fact doing good. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Council, President White adjourned the meeting at 8:25 p.m. ATTEST: ATTEST: ________________________ _________________________ John Voorde, City Clerk Charlotte D. Pfeifer, President 23