11-26-12 Common Council Meeting Minutes

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REGULAR MEETING NOVEMBER 26, 2012 this is something that is going to be consistent not something that has just happened and hey look what I have done all of a sudden, you know, let’s see your track record. Lynn Conyers, 4900 W. Washington, South Bend, Indiana, stated that she is a life-long resident of South Bend, a product of the South Bend Community School Corporation. She stated that she is in favor of bringing businesses to the west side of South Bend. She stated that she has concerns about the traffic trying to turn into the Munchie Mart. She stated that if you are headed west on Western and making a right hand turn there should be no problem, however, if you are headed east into the city and trying to cross traffic to enter the store might back up traffic. She stated that there are munchies marts all over the city and stated that if you have never been in one you should go. She stated that she has nothing against them, they make their money, it’s a business. She questioned the written commitments are who is going to enforce them. She wondered who was going to make sure that the owner abides by those commitments for the next 25 years so that our neighborhood can be a better place to live. th Mayor Pete Buttigieg, 14 Floor County-City Building, 227 W. Jefferson Blvd., South Bend, Indiana, stated that he would not ordinarily speak publicly on this kind of question; however, one of the Councilmember’s asked that there be a perspective from the administration. He stated that over the summer he had the opportunity to walk in the neighborhood around the Munchie Mart, walking with a police officer. He stated that periodically he encourages police officers to walk their beat and walk with them. He stated that he happened to be one of the hottest days of the year 102° that day. He stated that they walked through the neighborhood up and down Falcon Street, Lake Street, Kenmore Street, and took the opportunity to talk to as many neighbors as they could. Asked them how the neighborhood was, what was on their mind, what was good; what was bad. He stated that he was struck by how many neighbors expressed concerns about what happened at or around that convenience store. He stated that he took the opportunity to visit the convenience store that afternoon and did not see anything objectionable. He reiterated that he was struck by how some of the neighbors were concerned. He stated that he understands from this afternoon’s committee meetings that there is a new owner, somebody who has only owned the place for two years, so may not have been responsible for the period of when a lot of negative impressions grew up around the place. He stated that this is a neighborhood that has been through a lot and has a lot of struggles. One of the best things that the neighborhood has going for it is that it has very committed, compassionate and serious neighbors. Many who make up the leadership of the LaSalle Park Neighborhood Association. He stated that if he was sitting in one of the Councilmember’s seats he would be taking the views of that association extremely seriously. He stated that he has learned the hard way that if you want to do something, you need to build support before you try to do it. He stated the primary thing that he wanted to express this evening, knowing that this is a tough issue, because it pits the desire of that neighborhood association against the desire to see the private sector investment in that part of the Westside which is something that we all want and to see more of. He stated that if the Council decides not to pass this, this evening, he hopes that the owner of the property will view this as an opportunity to proactively earn the trust of those neighbors. He stated that he thinks most of them shared this afternoon what it would take to persuade them that this property was definitely going in the right direction. He thinks that if the owner is not successful this evening with Council, he might view this as an opportunity to take enough of those steps that at a future meeting maybe some months from now, some of the people who were speaking against this would actually be speaking for it as well, after building that kind of confidence. In Rebuttal, Mr. Zappia advised that originally Community & Economic Development had submitted a letter indicating their support of the project, obviously that has changed and that surprises them. He stated that he had an opportunity to view the property on three occasions as recently as last Saturday, about 7:30 a.m. He drove very slowly on Falcon Street on the east to Illinois to the west and what he saw was right next to our facility a boarded up building to the east of them, a boarded up building directly across the street to the southwest. He stated that as he drove farther down to Illinois Street to the west, a boarded up building on the north side, boarded up building 7