Uniontown approves special exception for Healthy Start
Healthy Start can finally move into a building it bought in Uniontown seven years ago
The city zoning hearing board (ZHB) on Thursday approved Healthy Start’s application for a special exception under a recently adopted zoning ordinance amendment that allows the agency to relocate to a home at 54 Wilson Ave., which it plans to remodel into offices.
The city planning commission recommended approval of the special exception earlier in the day.
Healthy Start, a national program that receives federal funding to provide prenatal and early childhood support to Fayette County parents, purchased the home in 2004, but hasn’t been able to open there because the city’s zoning ordinance contained no provisions for social service agencies.
In August, Uniontown city council adopted an ordinance amendment that creates two classifications of social service agencies.
Healthy Start’s special exception is for a Type A agency, which does not see clients in it its office. The agency’s property on Wilson Avenue is in a medium density residential (R2) zoning district. The ordinance amendment permits Type A agencies in R2 districts with a special exception.