Kentucky

I received the following email from Nina Mosely at the Wayside Christian Mission, and I wished to share it with others who might wish to help.  The work they do is an important safety net for those in need in this community.  I have worked in the kitchen with our church group and can tell you the volunteer efforts are needed and appreciated. (click here for video of history of mission's work).

Per Nina's letter, Wayside is concerned the attorney Steven Porter's position would prohibit all large homeless shelters in the county.

The public hearing for which Wayside could use your presence and support will be held on Monday, July 20, at 8:30 AM in the Old Jail building, 514 W. Liberty Street in downtown Louisville.  I am sure Wayside would appreciate both your presence and those who would or could speak on their behalf:

When trying to acquire the Mercy campus for our new women?s and family campus, we asked Metro Division of Planning and Design for a formal opinion letter regarding the zoning of the property.  We did receive a formal opinion letter that stated that the property?s zoning, OR-3, would support all of our intended uses.

Following that letter, the Original Highlands Neighborhood Association?s attorney, Steven Porter, filed an appeal.  His position is basically that if Wayside Christian Mission?s residents are allowed to move into the Original Highlands? neighborhood, it would ruin the character of the neighborhood and cause the property values to fall.  In Mr. Porter?s appeal, he goes on to state that there is NO zoning in the Metro Land Development Code that would support a large shelter anywhere in Louisville .

Anytime someone files an appeal to a zoning opinion, a public hearing must be held before the Board of Zoning Adjustment will rule on the appeal.  Because Mr. Porter?s appeal attacks homeless shelters wherever they may locate, we feel it is necessary to show up and support the homeless shelters.

While Mr. Porter is correct in that the zoning code does not specifically mention homeless shelters, there are many other uses the code does not mention as well.  Metro Louisville does not license homeless shelters and traditionally, shelters are located in many types of commercial zonings, such as C-2, C-3, OR-3, etc.  We would not be allowed in a residential, single-family zoned area.  The shelters are, however, governed by the Quality Assurance Monitoring of the Coalition for the Homeless.  This is a detailed set of minimum standards to which all shelters are held, or they cannot apply for various funding, etc.  Wayside Christian Mission has been a part of the QAS program since its inception in 1990.  The monitoring of each shelter is done every other year and consists of two parts:  1)  A paper tool which is completed and sent into the Coalition.  This tool covers everything from finances, to staff training, to health and safety issues, to policies and procedures, etc.  2)  An on-site inspection by a team of professionals in the various disciplines.

In addition to the QAS monitoring by the Coalition for the Homeless, shelters are also inspected and regulated by the Fire Marshal, the Board of Health, and other agencies, for example, we must have our boilers and elevators inspected annually, and the state inspects our child development center.  So there is plenty of oversight.

We are asking for support for the public hearing.  We basically see this as yet another attempt to further marginalize and disenfranchise the homeless men, women, and children we serve, many of whom are making significant progress toward putting their lives and families back together

Thank you,

Nina Moseley.