41-25 Special Exception at 1024 West Thomas Street

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Criteria for Decision Making Special Exception -if applicable A Special Exception may only be granted upon making a written determination, based upon the evidence presented at a public hearing. Please address how the project meets the following criteria. (1)The proposed use will not be injurious to the public health, safety, comfort, community moral standards, convenience or general welfare, because: This historic site formerly housed St. Stephen's Catholic School. Recently, El Campito used the site as a child development center. Trinity School looks forward to continuing to educate children here by operating a grade 6-12 classical Christian school, establishing a culture marked by the discovery of truth, the practice of goodness, the creation of beauty, and the development of intellectual and aesthetic habits of mind. We look forward to serving our students and their families and benefitting the surrounding community. The school will meet all applicable building and fire safety codes. For these reasons, the proposed use will not generate any such injuries. (2)The proposed use will not injure or adversely affect the use of the adjacent area or property values therein, because: Trinity School believes that the regular presence of children, teachers, and parents at the school site will only increase the safety of the surrounding residential neighborhood, thereby benefitting the adjacent uses and property values. Further, the school will provide an additional educational option for families in the surrounding community, thereby offering an essential amenity. For these reasons, the use of the site as a school would not injure or adversely affect the use of the adjacent area or property values therein. (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: U1 permits institutional uses compatible with the scale and character of the surrounding neighborhood. "The U1 District is established to provide for, promote, and maintain urban neighborhoods located in both the core and outlying areas of the City." 21-03.03(a). Operating a school at this site would promote the surrounding urban neighborhood by advancing a neighborhood planning principle set forth in the Near West Side Neighborhood Plan: "Amenities such as stores, schools, healthcare, entertainment, parks, cultural institutions, and places of worship are within a convenient distance." (4)The proposed use is compatible with the recommendations of the Comprehensive Plan, because: The proposed use of a grade 6-12 school is compatible with recommendation E 5.1 of the City of South Bend Comprehensive Plan: "Establish and maintain a consistent planning, review, and development process with institutions of higher education, private schools, and the SBCSC to address existing and future school facilities."