Agape House Permit Denied

By Sam Conner
   The Winslow Planning and Zoning Commission voted 6-0 on April 29 to deny the Agape House petition for a conditional use permit for two houses on West Gilmore Street. Commissioner Jim Pate did not take part in the meeting due to a conflict of interest.
   The meeting came within minutes of lasting four hours. Most of the first two hours were spent hearing comments from Agape House personnel and supporters. Ten speakers addressed the commission during this part of the session.
   Five opponents of the proposition then spoke for approximately 45 minutes. The next hour was spent with the commissioners questioning Agape House advocates and owners, primarily Ursula Baker, about situations of some concern.
   The commission cited a statement from a document prepared by planner Paul Ferris which listed reasons that should be determined if the commission was to accept or to deny the petition. The primary reason cited for the denial read in part, “The proposed location is a residential neighborhood with many children, and the proposed use will have an adverse impact on the safety, peace and general welfare of the residents of the neighborhood.”
   Other parts of the document that Ferris created that may have had an influence on the decision included the following: “There has been no showing that a residential neighborhood setting is essential to achieve the purposes of the proposed facilities, especially when another facility with the same clientele has been successfully located in a commercial zone in a remodeled motel for one year.” Another would be, “Even though staff and the public raised concerns about only a ‘peer supervisor’ who is also a recently recovered alcoholic, the applicants have still not provided in their policy manual for a trained adult supervisor at each home on a 24-hour, seven day a week basis.”
   At the beginning of the meeting, Ursula Baker, Mark Hall, David Begay Jr., Darrell Monroe, Kristy Monroe, Sandra Taylor, Susan Miller, Robert Carr, Rusty Meikle and Pete Henderson all spoke in favor of granting the permit.
   Baker said that she thought the opponents of the measure had been heard at earlier meetings, but she and other permit supporters had not. She said that Agape House would not be a bed and breakfast (which is what the special use permit was to be for), nor would it be a treatment center. She said it was just living quarters for families. The families would be five men in one house and five women in the other.
   Speaking for denial of the application were Ned Emig, Steve Slaton, Kathy Contreras, Marcella Marr and later Sandra Martinez. Most cited the lack of a complete manual, and incomplete or vague plans. Martinez added shortly before the vote that the Agape group had had a request for a special use permit on Alfred Avenue denied for most of the same reasons cited by opponents, the most damaging one being a manual that provided for actions to safeguard the neighborhood.
   After hearing the testimony, the commission asked a few questions and voted to deny the permit request without exception.