BZA denies VOA variance
The Hartselle Board of Zoning Adjustments failed to act on a request by the Volunteers of America Tuesday night to allow the organization to house five non-related individuals in a residence on Mason Drive.
Board member Frank Gurney introduced a motion to deny the variance, which was seconded by Lee Greene Jr. The measure failed 3-1 with George Hearring voting “no.” It takes four votes to approve the motion. Chairman Bill King recused himself from voting, but still ran the meeting.
“They (VOA) put my name on it. So I will recuse myself from voting,” King said.
However, city attorney Larry Madison said the request was rejected by default because the board didn’t pass a motion granting the request.
That means the Volunteers of America and the lawyer representing the five residents who were planning to live in the Mason Drive residence will have to appeal the decision to circuit court or to the planning commission.
Madison recommended to the board that they deny the request because it didn’t cause a hardship on the land.
“What this board must decide is whether this restriction of four non-related individuals puts a hardship on the land itself,” Madison said. “It’s not whether it puts a financial hardship on the landowners or devalues the property of adjacent landowners. It’s whether it prevents you from having a group home on this property. In my opinion, you can still have a group home on this property, but with just four people instead of five.”
DeAnna Ferguson, vice president of services for VOA, said the reason why they bought the home was because they were seeking a new home for the five residents.
“We’re currently renting the property that these five men live in, but the landlord hasn’t made some improvements that need to be made,” Ferguson said.
Lonnie Williams, the attorney representing the five individuals in the group home, said that cities must make reasonable accommodation for group homes.
“It addresses the point that cities must make reasonable accommodation for them,” Williams said. “Shouldn’t this board be allowed to make that accommodation?”
Madison, however, said the city planning commission or the city council might be the best avenue for seeking accommodation.
“This board can only decide whether this is a hardship to the land itself,” Madison said. “You (the board) are restricted in your authority.”
At the request of the board and Williams, Madison will send a letter informing Williams about what his next course of action should be, which is likely to contact city planner Jeremy Griffith to ask for accommodation from the city planning commission.
Any recommendations made by the planning commission would then go to the council for consideration.
Ferguson said that they would have one or two workers at the group home at all times. However, none of the workers will be working or sleeping there.
“If they’re sleeping on the job, they’re going to be fired,” she said.
Carmon Hogan, a nearby resident, said if the planning commission approved this variance, it would create a bad precedence for the BZA.
“If this passes, wouldn’t you have to do it for everyone who comes up here and asks for a variance?” Hogan said. “It would be difficult to say no unless you had a very good reason.”
Charlotte Brown, whose son is one of the five affected residents, said the residents would not have a negative affect on the community.
“They are cared for very well by the staff,” Brown said. “They are very well-mannered. If you got to know them, then you’d know that.”
However, Billy Kelly said the board should abide by the law and uphold the four-person limit.
J.J. Brown also asked that the board allow these five men to continue living together as a family.
Since this became an issue in the paper, Jeff Johnson, director of development for the city, said eight to 12 businesses have contacted him about locating other group homes in R-1 zoned locations in the city.
“They are monitoring what we do,” Johnson said. “If you grant the variance in this instance, where do you stop with them?”
