Special exception denied for drug rehab facility in Perry Township
Owners and operators of Good Works Ministries are not sure at this point if they will appeal the Fayette County Zoning Hearing Board’s decision to deny their request for a special exception for an R-1 zoned residential property they own in Perry Township to open a convalescent drug rehabilitation facility there.
“We’re going to have to take it to our board (the ministry’s board of directors) and see what the next step will be,” said Christine Gipe, who, along with her husband Larry Gipe, opened and continue to operate the Life Recovery House in Fairchance.
The Gipes purchased the property in question – a nursing home located along Memorial Drive off of Greenfield Road in the township just outside Perryopolis Borough – because it was available, the right size and was used over the last 40 years as a personal care facility or convalescent home.
At the zoning hearing on Feb. 21, attorney John Purcell, representing Perry Township, tried to have any action stopped before it got started, by pointing out that township officials did not feel that a drug rehabilitation facility fell under the description of a nursing home or convalescent home.
“The county’s ordinance describes a nursing home or convalescent home as one that has 24-hour nursing healthcare with regular nurses,” Purcell said at the time. “They’ve listed this proposed facility as a level 3B drug rehabilitation facility, which in no way comes within the definition of a convalescent facility.”
Despite the best efforts of the Gipe’s, their attorney and several supporters, the decision of the zoning hearing board voted to deny the request.
The resolution filed by the zoning hearing board states that the board feels the proposed use of the facility “falls plainly under the definition of a halfway house or group home rather than a nursing/convalescent care facility.
“Given the fact that neither a group home nor halfway house is a permitted use, even by special exception, in an R-1 Medium Density Residential zoned area, this request must fail as a matter of law,” the resolution stated.
In addition, according to the resolution, “even if, for argument purposes, the request of the petitioner could fall under a nursing/convalescent facility, it still must fail as the petitioner does not have the requisite one acre of property required under the standards set forth in the zoning ordinance.”
And while the request was denied, members of the zoning hearing board recognized the work within the county that the Gipe’s have done.
“The board commends the petitioner for their efforts and attempts to assist and aide in the opioid crisis, particularly within our own county,” the resolution stated. “It is a valiant effort that they have put forth and this board would be remiss without acknowledging the good that the petitioner has done within our county.”