2003-35 GRANTING CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT - 239-247 WEST PRAIRIE AVENUE

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Justification When the building at 239 W. Prairie was originally purchased, the Decatur Catholic Charities social services programs operating out of 247 W. Prairie were experiencing extremely crowded conditions and had no allowance for growth. Since then, social services program changes have occurred with the net result of a reduction in the amount of office space required. The existing office space at 247 W. Prairie,with some minor updating, will address most of the office space requirements of several of the social service programs meeting the communities needs. Decatur Catholic Charities community service programs (clothing store/distribution and food pantryj currently operate at 401 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. This is a rented facility that for several years has been inadequate as to space, security, general structure and efficient usability. By moving these community service programs to 239 W. Prairie, we will be able to address several of these issues while utilizing our limited financial resources more effectively. The clothing store/distribution provides used clothing donated by the community to those in need. While the donated clothing is sold at extremely low prices, over half of the clothing collected is given away at no cost to those who cannot afford them otherwise. In the last fiscal year, we provided 3,036 individuals with free clothing. The clothing store is normally open to the public between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm Monday through Friday and 9:00 am to 1:00 pm on Saturday. This is not a typical retail operation. This is a social welfare program. However,because of the racks of clothing,the zoning ordinance recognizes this use as a retail operation, which normally requires a B-1 zoning classification. When the option to rezone this property was brought before the City Council, they requested that a Conditional Use Permit be pursued to limit future possible uses of the site if sold. The food pantry collects and sorts food donations for free distribution to those qualified. Our food pantry is open for 3 hours during the afternoon five days a week. Usage of the food pantry is limited to once per month. Annually, thousands of bags of food are distributed. In 2001, 7,570 bags of food were given to 2,773 households with a total of 15,939 individuals served. The property for the building at 239 W. Prairie is currently zoned O-1. Additional property to the east of this building has been obtained to allow us to provided sufficient parking. A portion of this additional property is also zoned O-1, however, the remainder of the additional property is zoned B-2. Immediate properties to the north (across Prairie), west and south are all zoned O-l. The property to the east and southeast (One Main Place parking lot) is zoned B-2 as is the First Presbyterian Church (northwest corner of Prairie and Church).