Residents want zoning request rejected
Two Uniontown residents asked city council Tuesday to oppose a special zoning exception request before the city’s zoning hearing board (ZHB) that would allow Adelphoi Village to operate a group home for non-violent youths in the downtown Federal Building. Residents Gary Gearing and Charles Curry said they don’t want the youth home in the building.
Gearing, owner of the nearby Fayette Building, said the city’s zoning ordinance allows special exceptions for group homes in areas with certain zoning designations, but not in the central business district where the Federal Building is located.
The zoning ordinance states that a group home is not a permitted use in the central business district.
Gearing recommended placing the home in one of the areas where special exceptions for such facilities are permitted.
The Fayette County commissioners agreed in June to lease the second floor of the Federal Building on West Peter Street to Adelphoi for 10 years for $25,3000 per year to operate a home for 12 to 16 youths.
Adelphoi also agreed to contribute $100,000 toward renovations needed for the home and pledged an additional $100,000 for the work.
In an interview conducted after the commissioners approved the lease, Adelphoi CEO Larry Breitenstein said truant, abused or neglected youths would stay there for up to 30 days while awaiting placement orders from juvenile courts. They would be sent to other facilities or returned to their families, he said.
Because none of the minors would be convicted of crimes, state law prohibits Adelphoi from locking entrance and exit doors at group homes. Childcare workers would be stationed at the doors 24-hours a day, he said.
The ZHB denied the special exception request on June 20 because no one from the county or Adelphoi Village showed up for the hearing. ZHB solicitor Gary Altman said a representative from the county or Adelphoi was required to formally request the exception because they have ownership and leaseholder interests, respectively, in the property.
Another hearing on the request has been scheduled for June 18 at 6 p.m.
“I certainly intend to be there,” Councilman Blair Jones Sr. said Tuesday.
Councilman Gary Crozier said he also plans to attend the hearing and will voice his opinion then.
Curry said he has compassion for young people who have had a “rough time” and ended up in a group home, but the Federal Building is the wrong place for that home.
As president of the Masonic Building Association, which is located across the street from the Federal Building, Curry said the lodge is regularly used for evening meetings and members have expressed concerns that their safety would be at risk with a group home across the street.