Both InDecatur and the DNO report that Decatur’s Zoning Board of Appeals concurred with the city staff ruling last night that the Peer Support and Wellness Center could continue operation on an R-60 piece of property.

Both outlets reported a 3-2 vote, with Board Chair Mark Burnette, Neil Dobbs, and David Goldberg voting to uphold the zoning administrators decision, and Kyle Williams and Neil Norton voting to overturn it.

According to the DNO’s excellent recap, Burnette summed up the issue at hand by asking “Is this a use that would fundamentally alter the character of an R-60 zoning district?”, noting that there were other allowable public uses where folks came and went “all the time.”  Federal law, permits, and missteps along the way by all parties involved were also discussed.

Those who wish to challenge the board’s ruling now have the option of appealing the case to the State Superior Court.

Dave reports over on recently resurrected Decatur Heights blog…

Prior to last evening’s Zoning Board of Appeals, City Manager Peggy Merriss (in the absence of Planning Director Amanda Thompson) submitted a memo requesting the ZBA request the City Commission to authorize a legal review of the Peer Support and Recovery Respite Center at 444 Sycamore Drive by an outside attorney specializing in zoning and land use law.

The request was approved.

UPDATE: The Zoning Board of Approvals won’t address this issue until March.  Not on the docket for next Monday.

While the AJC’s recent follow-up story on the Peer Support and Wellness Center controversy details the arguments of those making zoning-related arguments about the Center….

“How can you be a resident if you only stay at most seven days? And 25 people who come every day, they are not just visitors,” said Soren Christensen, who has lived in the neighborhood for eight years.

…Dave Kell’s InDecatur and Decatur Heights blogs continue to focus on potential criminal elements.

Publishing an “Incident Address Report” requested from Decatur PD, Dave shows that there were 20 “incidents” called into the center and documented in the past 20 months.  Five of these incidents are tagged “EMS”, while six are labeled “disturbance”, two “location checks”, one “theft”, one “meet a person”, one “suicide threat”, one “criminal trespass”, one “suspicious person”, one “person down” and one “hang up”.

Read the rest of this entry »

Both InDecatur and city commission candidate James Radford have posted extensive articles about last week’s meeting at Decatur Heights Baptist Church, regarding the “Peer Support and Wellness Center” at 444 Sycamore Drive in Decatur Heights.

At issue is whether the facility  – which aids people with mental health problems – classifies as a “licensed personal care home”.  If so, it can operate within a residential neighborhood (i.e. R60) without variance.  When I first contacted the city’s planning director Amanda Thompson about this issue way back in May (after receiving a note from a resident in the district) she said that the city was still determining whether this was indeed the case.

However, in late June/early July, Thompson visited the facility and determined it did qualify as a “personal care home” for the following reasons…

Read the rest of this entry »