LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Monday saw another fight against approving a zoning permit for transitional housing in Old Louisville. The previous fight was at a house on South Brooks Street where neighbors showed up to express their opposition, and left with a disappointing approval.
Monday night was different. The proposal for 1701 South 4th Street was denied by the Louisville Metro Board of Zoning Adjustment. Board members expressed an uneasiness with the amount of occupants of the home, a proposed 23 men recovering from alcohol or drug addiction and two staff members on-site.
There were also concerns with the property being 1000 feet from another organization doing similar work. Louisville Recovery Community Connection is about a block away from the South 4th Street property.
A representative of OTG Recovery said there would be 24-hour oversite, a curfew and quiet hours. Plus, men would only be accepted after they completed a detox and were committed toward a path forward.
The home would not provide any recovery services on-site, but OTG's representative told the board it was a plus to be close to a TARC access for the men.
"We want to give the gentlemen opportunity to find entry-level jobs and begin their career or attend school," said the representative. "Take some classes at University of Louisville or Jefferson Community Technical College."
Four residents came to express their opposition.
"I don't think that Old Louisville needs to be the dumping ground for these services," said resident, Derrick Pedolzky.
He said there are a large number of these homes.
"Currently, we have over 40 in a nine by nine mile radius," said Pedolzky.
Old Louisville resident, Britni Staats believes the attraction stems from the neighborhood's characteristics.
"The houses are so large and these companies can fit in a lot of people," said Staats. "And of course the more people you have, the more you can bill Medicaid and the more money you can make."
"That is not what's going to preserve the neighborhood," said another resident. "Companies coming in to do that is not."
With existing non-profit organizations doing the work, and a number of rentals in the neighborhood, a concern was about rather offering spaces for homeowners to move in and invest.
"The need is there," said Staats. "There's people that are struggling. There's people that want to get back to a normal life and be a contributing members of society. I definitely want that for them... We need more residents in the neighborhood to help preserve it, help it thrive."
Another transitional house is up for consideration soon, also with OTG Recovery, at 111 East Catherine Street that would house 12 men. The board made it aware to those in attendance that they're seeing a pattern.
"We hear this a lot and I think it stems from the ones operating illegally," said one board member.
Metro Councilmember Khalil Batshon said transitional homes are 'increasing tremendously'.
Batshon mentioned there are a lot of problems faced with transitional housing: no 24-hour supervision, no on-site medical care, seeming like a 'free-for-all'. He said in one Planning and Zoning Committee meeting, a planning staff was asked about the number of illegal transitional houses in Jefferson County and responded, at any given time, there are one hundred plus citations or complaints or illegal transitional homes that need to be cited or reviewed.
Batshon spoke about a house that opened up illegally off Lower River Road and was shut down due to multiple code violations. He said they went through the application process again and proposed a 106-bed home.
Seeing trends, Batshon sponsored and passed a six-month moratorium, limiting permits for transitional homes. This is an effort to eliminate loopholes and keep these homes from residential areas with limited access to transportation, or amenities needed in the transitional period of life.
"The conversation I had with some people in Codes and Regulations was, if they can find and they abide by the requirements that are set forth for them, to put the sprinklers and the right proper egresses and whatnot, it would be very hard for them to deny it because of the way the law's written," said Councilmember Batshon. "We want to make sure that we keep the integrity of our neighborhoods, but also make sure that we abide and take care of these homes and help them transition properly."
Batshon's resolution, however, does not apply to Old Louisville which has different neighborhood requirements.
As residents continue to pushback, all they can do is use their voices.
"The more participation we can get of people opposing this, I think that will go a long way," said Staats.
"It's very important that our constituents and are residents, and our neighbors are vigilant in their communities and they reach out and they let us know when they see something that looks a little off," said Batshon.
Batshon said some land development code moratoriums were made in the last session. Those will be reviewed with changes expected to be released April 15. Then, changes can start to happen on the local side.