Mishawaka council to hear on zoning variance to allow adult day care at former Troyer HQ
MISHAWAKA — Details of a request by a Mishawaka agency to use the former Troyer Group headquarters at 550 S. Union St. for a daytime day care for people with intellectual disabilities will be discussed Monday night at an informational meeting of the Common Council.
The meeting, set for 6 p.m. Monday at the Union Street building, will reveal details about a use variance request from Reuben Kangethe, of Comfy Homes LLC, for the adult day care center there. The current I-2 zoning would not allow the adult day care services in the facility.
The Board of Zoning Appeals voted 3-0 to approve the use variance on Oct. 10. The council asked for the informational meeting before it holds its public hearing and vote on the matter.
Earlier this month, Kangethe told the city Board of Zoning Appeals his agency provides housing services for people with intellectual disabilities, including people with developmental delays, autism spectrum disorders and cerebral palsy. He said the new day care would give his clients a place to learn and practice basic skills.
The day care would operate from 9 a.m. to about 4 p.m. most days, he said, and there would be no one living or staying overnight at the building.
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The individuals using the facility would get such things as socialization skills, work on speech therapy and other basic functions.
"We realized that we needed to have a facility where these individuals can spend a part of their day," Kangethe said.
He said the staff the day care facility would help provide activities for the people attending, and the facility will also house Kangethe's other business, Residential Options LLC. Residential Options will be the agency providing the staff and the oversight of the day care.
Troyer Group-Dodge connection
The Troyer Group architectural firm began in 1971 and was famous for saving the old Wallace Dodge family home at 415 Lincoln Way E. from demolition in 1977, where it renovated the Queen Anne-style house and moved its headquarters there.
In 1997, the Troyer Group announced it was moving its headquarters to the 36,000-square-foot former Dodge office building at 550 S. Union St. when it came available.
The architectural and development firm eventually moved its current headquarters to a site at 3930 Edison Lakes Parkway in Mishawaka.
Email Tribune staff writer Greg Swiercz at gswiercz@sbtinfo.com.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Zoning variance request for adult day care on Union Street in Mishawaka
