A nonprofit group aiming to address housing insecurity may proceed with its plans for a thrift store in Knox. The city’s board of zoning appeals Monday approved the Starke County Resource Center’s special use request for the former Knights of Columbus building at 503 East Lake Street, with the explicit stipulation that the property shall not be used as a homeless shelter.
Davis Wesleyan Church Pastor Matt Ohime is spearheading the effort. “I’m just grateful to have the opportunity,” he told board members. “We are hopeful that we can just keep helping families.”
BZA approval was required, since the area is zoned for single-family residential. The matter had been tabled last month, as board members sought more clarification on the city’s zoning rules. Board Attorney Todd Wallsmith explained that while most zones give the BZA more discretion about special uses it may permit, the R-1 zone does not. But he felt board members could either approve or deny the request without serious legal ramifications.
Board Member Mark Simpkins felt the thrift store proposal would help the community. “I grew up here, and I had a lot of friends who were very impoverished people,” he said, “and without some sort of helping hand for them, they could have had a much rougher time than they did, coming up through as children.”
Board members also noted that if the request was denied, the building would likely remain vacant, which would have a clearer negative impact on local property values. And while the city’s zoning ordinance may not envision a thrift store in a residential area, the proposal drew far less opposition than the homeless shelter idea presented last year.
Still, board member Dave Metz dissented with the rest of the board’s findings that the property qualified for a special use permit and that it met the necessary standards. “It’s not permitted,” Metz said. “It’s not permitted in an R-1. It lists what is. There are a number of uses here that are clearly permitted, but this is clearly not one of them.”
In spite of that, Metz did vote in favor of the special use permit itself. As part of the process, the Starke County Resource Center promised not to be open to the public before 8:00 a.m., after 5:00 p.m., or on Sundays, and not to install a drop box for donations, among other provisions.
