Zoning Board to Announce 444 Sycamore Decision Tonight
Decatur Metro | April 12, 2010Decatur Heights resident Dave Kell of InDecatur notes that tonight is the night when Decatur’s Zoning Board of Appeals will make its decision regarding the legality of the Peer Support and Wellness Center at 444 Sycamore Drive. The meeting begins at 7:30pm.
According to tonight’s ZBA agenda (pdf), there’s only one front-yard zoning variance request prior to the 444 Sycamore agenda item. The board will discuss the issue and then announce their decision.
No comments will be taken.
I sincerely hope the City will find a way to play Solomon on this one– I feel for the neighbors, but I feel for the clients of the Center, too. No matter what happens, there’s sure to be an appeal to the Superior Court, so I don’t think tonight will be the end of it. Since, IMO, this whole snafu could’ve been avoided if there’d just been a proper variance granted to begin with (instead of the somewhat sloppy back-dooring of the Center’s right to be where it is), if the Center ends up having to move, it should lay the blame squarely at the City’s feet. I’m usually a fan of how things are run downtown, but this just ended up being a hot mess!
It is a hot mess, but according to the city’s version of events, the PSWC was up and running for over a year before the city knew of it. Of course, the PSWC claims they emailed the city zoning office and got a green light. But I suppose that’s an entirely other controversy.
Hear, hear, Cubalibre. Our city leaders failed miserably on this one, particularly the commissioners who represent District 1.