Board approves domicile care home
The Uniontown zoning hearing board on Thursday granted a special exception for a retired couple to run a domicile care business for up to three elderly people in their home.
The Rev. Westley S. Dennis and his wife Clara Dennis told the board they want to house one or two elderly people at their home at 111 S. Grant St., which is also known as Martin Luther King Jr. Way. The property is zoned for medium density residential use.
They said the Southwestern Pennsylvania Area Agency on Aging would refer people who can function, but can’t live alone. They said they would feed them and take them to appointments.
“Me and my wife decided to open our home to one or two people,” Westley Dennis said. “It would be like we adopted them.”
Clara Dennis said their home has three bedrooms, but another room could be coverted into a bedroom. The home also has two bathrooms, a dining room, family room and a kitchen. She said her two sisters would also help tend to the people they take in.
Dennis said the agency required them to obtain zoning approval before it would inspect their home. He said a state license might be required.
He said he retired after working for the U.S. Postal Service for 30 years and his wife retired after working for Sensus Technologies for 27 years.
Board members praised the couple for wishing to open their hearts and home to elderly people, but questioned them about parking and the number of people they could take in.
John Over of K2 Engineering, the city’s building code official, said the zoning ordinance doesn’t mention domicile care facilities, but similar facilities require at least one off-street parking space.
Dennis said visitors would have to park on the street, but he has a fenced area to the rear of the house that could be used for parking.
Solicitor Ewing Newcomer said the zoning ordinance indicates that the off-street parking area might not have to be paved.
Citing a letter from agency, Newcomer said the Dennis’s would have to accept one to three elderly people.
The Dennis’s said they would accept three people.