Board of Zoning Appeals - Regular Meeting

Good evening and welcome to the regular meeting of the City of Morgantown Board of Zoning Appeals. Please turn off all cell phones or other devices that may disrupt these proceedings. It is the duty of this board to consider requests for relief from the requirements of the city's zoning regulations to consider conditional use permit requests, and to hear administrative appeals. The board conducts business in the following order, review, amend, and approve minutes of a previous meeting, take up unfinished business, move to new business, and then conclude with announcements from staff. Each request is heard in the order that appears on the agenda for each conditional use and variance request. The following is done. We will introduce the agenda item and the planning division will present a staff report, which may or may not offer a recommendation. The applicant agent will be asked to present their justification for their request, which may include questions by members of the board. We will then open a public hearing to hear testimony in support of or in opposition to the request. Rules regarding public testimony are as follows. Anyone wishing to testify during the public hearing may do so once recognized by me or may, in lieu of oral testimony, submit written testimony to the chair. All recognized speakers must approach the podium, state their name and address for the record, and speak clearly into the microphone. All comments must be addressed to the board, should be relevant to the application, and may not be of a personal nature or personal attacks. All speakers will be limited to five minutes. If members of the board have any questions of the speaker, that time will not be counted toward his or her five minutes. If there's a large number of speakers, including many who are part of groups or organizations, I may or we may, to avoid repetitive comments, elect to ask for a representative to speak on behalf of the group or organization. Speakers are notified that irrelevant comments or comments of a personal nature or personal attacks may result in the speaker forfeiting his or her opportunity to participate in the public hearing. We may elect to recognize the applicant agent at the end of the public hearing to provide rebuttal or additional comments, which will be limited to an additional five minutes. If members of the board have any questions of the applicant agent, that time will not be counted. toward the additional five. After all testimony is heard, we will declare the public hearing closed and no further public comment will be permitted. Uncivil, unruly, and or disruptive behavior at any time during this meeting is prohibited and will result in removal from this public meeting. State law requires the board to consider findings of fact for each conditional use and variance request. The request cannot be granted unless a majority of the quorum present finds in the positive of all of the findings of fact. The board may elect to continue the hearing to another date if it needs additional information. Applicants and requesting parties will be notified in writing by the planning division of the board's findings and conclusions. Regardless of whether the request is approved or denied, decisions of the board can be appealed to the Circuit Court of Montegalia County within 30 days upon receipt of the written notification from planning. Any work done relating to decisions rendered by this board during this 30-day appeals period or potential appeals period is at the sole financial risk of the applicant. Thanks for your consideration and respect for these proceedings and the opinions of all meeting participants. We're going to call to order and do a roll call. Mr. Beneson, Chair, is present. Mr. Misfeld? Here. And Mr. Martin? Here. Okay. We have two regular Board members absent, but we still have a quorum, so we can continue. We have meeting minutes from two previous regular meetings for May 20th and June 17th, 2026. Does anyone have any?

Anyone have an opportunity to look? All right.

So anything, any amendations or modifications, revisions?

Not for me.

All right. So I'm going to move to accept the meeting minutes from those two previous meetings, May 20th and June 17th, 2026. Do we have a second? Second. We have a motion to accept meeting minutes from those two previous meetings with a second by Mr. Martin. How do we vote? All right. Aye. So those meeting minutes referenced in the meeting packet have been accepted for inclusion in the legal record. We have one case under old business, that is VAR 26-019, Advantage Health, 699 Borough Street, request by Advantage Health for variance relief in compliance with section 1365 and 1367 of the city's planning and zoning code regarding parking lot requirements, city tax district 15, seventh ward, tax map 55 parcel 93 in the B2 service business district.

For VAR 26019 in the packet as well as on the screen is just a view of what the property looks like. We will be looking at the building in the center as well as here is Plans submitted in reference to what their requests are. You can see on the screen as well in the packet of a proposed loop road going behind the building and then moving back into the parking lot. There's a lot going around. The X is to reference two parking spaces that the building owner is going to be losing to allow for fire access. And I'll talk a little bit more about that as well as the applicant if they wish. The applicant is seeking a variance regarding parking lot and landscaping standards. In preparation for a potential development above the reference property, the applicant wishes to make a gravel driving structure around their use. This would be without the reference island and landscaping requirements usually required, as well as a material exemption allowing for gravel when the normal is concrete or asphalt. Additionally, the submitted design might need to change to be compliant with fire safety and engineering requirements. This variance will only apply for allowing of gravel and not having to do landscaping or any island buffers for that loop road around the back as required by zoning ordinance. As I mentioned, we have discussed with the applicant with fire and they were able to get one of their emergency vehicles in through the entrance down and loop around to the back and then using those two spaces, we're able to then safely go out and then return back to the street so the building can still be accessed by EMS vehicles, not needing to widen that potential road around it. Refer to the sections of code below found in the packet. In summary, the applicant wishes to get a variance from the above reference codes for potential development relating to their property, landscaping buffers, islands, as well as allowing for gravel instead of concrete or asphalt. Please see the attached application to review the findings of the fact listed. Staff have had no comments or modifications to these. This attachment can be found below the conditions. Planning staff have no objections to the applicant's request for variance. If the Board of Zoning Appeals does grant the variance relief in accordance to the city's planning and zoning code, the following conditions would apply. The standard condition which is any other modification or change to the site plan would need to be compliant with the city's planning ordinance or they would have to either come back to the Board of Zoning Appeals to request additional variances or they would need to make it compliant and then not need to do that. The second would be Advantage is actually requesting that this variance for be a period of two years or six months after their civil condemnation case is concluded, whichever period is longer. The city would like to, would prefer to set a date, like it's the two year date, and then have either an administrative check-in or then return to the Board of Zoning Appeals. Additionally, staff receive documentation to our satisfaction regarding agreement with the neighboring parcel, just showing that they are, they would be allowed by the parcel owner to do this development as it would be encroaching. With discussion with the applicant, they already have that, but that would just be a condition that we'd have that they would provide it just as a safety measure. Otherwise, that concludes staff report.

All right. Before... Do we have a representative? Yes. Well, just one moment. So... With regard to this specific case, the prior standing issues, the DOH issues, can you speak to that?

Not to their case or anything related to it other than I can describe that there is work being done by the DOH on there that has required them to move their entrance into the property. And they believe that with the moved entrance, there are issues with flow of traffic. And that is partially why we also brought the fire to to show that we can still maneuver through. It is tight. It is very close maneuvering, but they can do it. But this and they can speak way more to this, of course. But they've had to change their entrance from the where is currently, which is lower. They've moved it up to where previously it was just parking and like a landscaping area. So they've had to move their entrance, which has kind of started this. So at least that's what the request is. But they can speak more to that.

Okay. I'll let the representative speak to the detail or the nature of the request for the period of two years or six months after.

I'm Carly King. I'm with Bowles-Rice. I represent Advantage and Kevin Trimbush. So we are asking for this variance fee. I'm sure you have all seen the traffic on Van Voorhis and experienced it. Advantage is part of the victim of that condemnation proceeding. We have had to move the entrance, like Sailor mentioned, and we are also losing part of our entrance way, our actual roadway. So because of that, you know, the road is also changing, not by us, but by the DOH where the stop is. And because of that, where our entrance is, it would not be able to swing right or swing wide enough to get out into the road. So we are having to move that up to enable the flow of traffic and prevent further congestion there.

Right. Are there DH, regardless of the engineering of the egress, entrance egress point, are there DOH requirements that you're required to be in compliance with? Distance back, meaning distance back from that intersection there.

I have not conferred with DOH on that and nobody has said that to me. The city approved the width of the entrance and the distance, so I don't believe that the DOH has any say on that, but I don't know and I haven't conferred with the DOH. We are obviously adverse to the DOH in this proceeding.

So is this just temporary?

Yes, this is temporary. And that's why we're seeking this. We don't know how long the DOH is going to take to do this. Like I said, you all live here. You've seen how long it's taken thus far, and it's only halfway. Not even. So... We would like to leave it temporary for now while we work out the condemnation proceeding with the DOH. We don't know what they're going to be willing to cover. They may be willing to pave part of that entrance for us. They may be willing to compensate us a little bit more and we pave the entrance ourself. So for that reason, we don't want to incur the cost of the asphalt then have the DOH come and jackhammer it up to then either relay it or not pay us for what we did relay. So yes, this is temporary and

So in other words, you're anticipating a separate application for a permanent. Is that what you're saying?

No, no, no, no, no, no.

You won't need it once it's settled.

Yes. Correct. Yes. And we're just at the mercy of the DOH, like all the, like our tires and our potholes.

To add, they will need to acquire like building permits with the city. But as far as, um, even for like this work, for example, we'll need a permit. And if it's restrained by time, if you do impose like a six year or not, seven come back every year to. Sure. You guys can amend the timeline to whatever you think is reasonable, be it a year, two years. They've suggested two years or that six month amount. But the board can kind of change that number to what you would like it to be. And either have them come back to the BZA or come back to the city and do an administrative check-in, is things still proceeding, things like that. That would be up to you guys. But yes, this will just be temporary based on that. And when they would eventually, If they do get to the point for a permanent road, gravel, asphalt, or any development like that, they'll need additional permits. It would need a variance for those if those would be non-compliant. This would just apply for this loop road that they're projecting now.

So rather than having them come back every year, we could just make it subject to administrative review?

Yeah. They would have to come back every year and check in with the city for administrative review. If upon review they still need another year or they want that time, then they just come back in a year until the city administration would, based on what they provide us, if it would still be reasonable or not.

This is obviously not something we're going to drag out again. We're just at the mercy of the DOH. When they're going to be done, then we will get it done. So I understand the city would prefer the two years just for our kind of time period purposes and thinking on thinking that we're at the mercy of the DOH, we would prefer to have the six months after to to have that concluded. But if we are going to do the two years, then we would prefer to just do administrative check-ins. This has already been a really costly and time-consuming endeavor for my client. And anything that doesn't involve too much paperwork. And maybe we can just, you know, whatever you all need from us, but communicate and have an open line of communication.

You prefer what for six months?

So on it, we have the advantage request is variance for a period of two years. two years or six months after the condemnation is concluded.

Oh, okay. Why don't we, I mean, we still have to do the public hearing, but can we just add extension or modification of requested variance can be approved by planning division subject to review and administrative check-ins as well as making it subject to consultation by affected party or impacted parties and just roll it into that second.

But just making it conditioned on periodic review by planning and then planning.

I think we should roll it into the condition though. I think we should roll it into one of the conditions though.

Okay.

Any questions?

And also, if there's any questions on the land use agreement issue, we did submit it with our application if you all want to see that, or I'm happy to get you a copy of that.

Is that on file with Planning?

Yes. Yeah, we have it. It's just like a catch condition to make sure, because it's not technically their property, but they do have an agreement.

All right. Anything else?

Okay. No further questions? Thank you all so much for your time. We appreciate it.

Thank you. You're welcome. All right. So do you have anything further? No. Okay. We're going to go ahead and open the public hearing for this case. Again, this is We are opening the public hearing for this case, VAR 26-019, Advantage Health, 699 Burroughs Street. Anyone wishing to speak in support of or in opposition to this case, please do so now. I see no one wants to close the public hearing for this.

I think we should approve with that condition for periodic review by our planning. But what did you want to fold it into? The second condition.

administrative check-in that Saylor mentioned not, would that be with planning? Okay, so we don't need to really add any extra verbiage specifically calling it out.

Right, yeah. For the administrative check-in, it would involve planning, fire, engineering, relevant departments.

All right, well, if you feel comfortable not adding specific verbiage, I guess that's fine with me. Sure. And then if a determination is made that a separate variance application is required, then you'll just advise.

Right. Yeah. So if the VCA would like to add to condition two at the end of it with periodic being yearly or every two years of a check in just with the city administration, then during those check ins, if it is determined that they with projected development or future development or whatever those check-ins would lead us to believe. If they would need to get a variance or something else based on those, then they would have to apply for a variance and then go through that process, have it advertised, much like it was for this meeting. But that would be determined at those administrative check-ins if it would either be continued, this variance, would be granted now if that's continued until the next check-in or if based on that, if they need another variance or would lose that temporary ability to do that. It would just depend on whatever those check-ins would result.

So just extension or modification of requested temporary variance can be approved by planning subject to review and administrative check-ins and also subject to consultation

with impacted parties planning will advise applicant on any required subsequent variances would the board give a time frame for those check-ins would it be yearly two years three years what would be what is planning thing what did you do every six months one year or two years two years would be fine every two years they have to do a check-in with us um would be fine these check-ins

will occur at one year intervals. Following expiration of the temporary.

You would prefer the one year to the two years?

Well I mean that's what Mr. Thompson recommends and that's how I was going to say maybe six months because things can change.

The interesting thing, the reason six months, a little more for a year or beyond, if it was temporary, if they were just doing this on a six month basis, they actually wouldn't need the variances. It would just be a temporary gravel loop road, which are allowed up to six months. So they're kind of requesting beyond that.

Let's go with one year left. Okay. And then... Yeah. It seems pretty straightforward. Do you have any questions about those?

I move to accept the findings of fact.

Okay, we have a motion to accept the findings of fact for VAR 26-019. Second. And we have a second from Mr. Martin. So how do we vote on the findings of fact?

Aye.

Aye. Aye. So I move to grant the variance for this case, VAR 26-019, subject of course to the The standard variance, which is referenced on page 31 of the packet and the second non-standard variance or condition, excuse me, which reads advantage, request this variance for a period of two years or six months after the civil condemnation case. Civil action number 23-P-214, Montegalia County Court is concluded whichever period is longer. And then we added, that verbiage regarding the extension of the temporary if needed. And also additionally, if a separate variance application is required of the applicant, planning will advise. And those, the review periods will be, or the check-ins will occur at one year intervals following expiration of the temporary.

Seconded.

Okay. So we have a motion to grant. We have a second by Mr. Misfelt. How do we vote? Aye. So we have granted your requested variance. As you well know, I'll just read, you know, applicants, you will be notified in writing from Mr. Thompson and planning of our findings and conclusions and the determination we just rendered. Regardless of whether a request is approved or denied, decisions of the Board can be appealed to the Circuit Court of Montegalia County. And that's a 30-day appeals window. Any work that you or your client undertakes during that 30-day window, you do it yourself, financial risk. But you'll have correspondence within probably 10 days or seven to 10 days. All right, thank you for coming down this evening. Okay. The next case is VAR 26-035, Matt Wise at 200 Belmar Avenue. Request by Matt Wise for variance relief and compliance with section 1369.07 of the city's planning and zoning code regarding conditions for permitted signs. City Tax District 13, Second Ward, Tax Map 26, Parcel 168 in the R2 Single and Two Family Residential District.

As Chris referenced via R26-035, map wise, in the packet as well as on the screen is a view showing where the property is located. And then the second image is a photographic illustration of where they plan to put it. The applicant is seeking a variance regarding size, standards for signs in an R1A district. The material as well as other aspects of the sign are permitted per review. The size of the reference wall sign is 35 square feet, which is larger than the 12 square feet permitted by right. Refer to the sections of code below in the packet as well as submitted designs. In summary, the applicant wishes to get a variance regarding 23 square feet for a wall sign at the property address at 200 Belmar Avenue. Please see the attached application to review the findings of fact listed. Staff have had no comments or modifications to these. This attachment can be found below with conditions. Planning also have no objections to the applicant's request for this variance. if the bza grants the applicant variance relief in accordance with the city's planning and zoning code the the following conditions will apply the only condition on this variance is the standard condition if they were to change something that would be non-compliant with the code they'd either have to come back to the bca or amend it to be correct by the city ordinance that concludes staff report all right thank you do you have a representative for this case

Okay. This is for VAR 26-035. Do we have any correspondence on this or from the applicant?

No, no, no. I've not received any correspondence from the applicant or from any members of the public.

And it's just aerial, right? It's not materials at all.

Right. Yeah. It's for, um, Greek letters. This is a, uh, to the best of my understanding of fraternity and they, uh, would like to put up a, uh, Greek letters on the side of their building. Um, the material is, uh, permitted and it's not illuminated. It's just the square footage. I kind of wish the applicant was here to add a little bit more to this, but based on conversation with them, the individual letters themselves are actually within the the size requirement, but because of the way the ordinance reads corner to corner, it would be that 35 square feet number referenced. But otherwise, yes, the materials, the location, the illumination as a non-illuminated, all of that would be permitted by right. It's just the size is larger than permitted in a residential district. There's already signage in there? This is a bigger bigger letters, so there isn't any signage there, but the city has is kind of aware that they have put it up Yeah, it's it's it's one of those let's boot them next month Since they it is currently up non-permitted But they're on our official policy if you don't show up we boot you to the next month at least it's not a banner

I'm just kidding. Okay. And where is this exactly?

You can almost actually see it from here. But it's right down, if you look that way on the street up there. But it's on North High, straight up the corner of Belmar. There's kind of an empty lot in front of it. So it's empty lot, hillside, and then the structure right there.

Would you say this probably approximately matches the size of lettering that's on other fraternities and sororities?

At least according to the applicant, the staff didn't go and do any intensive review, but it seemed in conversation it was pretty standard sized for a fraternity sorority house in a building of that size comparatively. I see at least in that. that would be where it's located. It really does look just like that. It's comparable, it's not, you know, noticeably larger than any others or noticeably smaller than any other sororities or fraternities of a comparable size sure so technically is it's a fraternity house correct does it technically is it a home occupation no so sororities and fraternities are commercial they're commercial entities but they're residential um it would be but they're not home occupations No, to the best of my knowledge, this is just a fraternity house where members of that frat would live, but it's not like anybody would live there otherwise, like as a rental or things to that nature.

Thank you. I mean, it seems pretty . I mean, it's flush on the facade.

It's not out of proportion to the edifice. Well, actually, OK, so is there any fraternity signage similar to this that would be like grandfathered in under the revised sign regs?

Not that I'm aware of at the address. Even if there was pre-existing non-conforming wall signage there, as soon as it's taken down, it loses it. Regardless of the timeline.

I'm asking just to provide context to this class of...

I'm not super familiar with all of the Greek life signage pre-existing non-conforming. If there is any, I would guess just because of signage in the city and other commercial uses, a decent amount of it is pre-existing non-conforming when it comes in regards to size or illumination standards. But as far as speaking specifically towards this fraternity, we are unaware.

I mean, this is like a conditional use variance. Because it's like, there's obviously nothing about this property that requires them to have a bigger sign. But it's also, that's where all the other frats are. It's not out of character with anything.

Right. That's key, that it's not out of character. Because this is exactly the kind of signage that you would expect for a fraternity house.

And they're not on random part of town. It's on campus.

It's residential, but it's, you know. All right. Okay, so we are going to open the public hearing for this case, BAR 26-035. Anyone wishing to speak in support of or in opposition to this case, please do so now. All right, seeing no one, we're gonna close the public hearing. Findings of fact. Well, okay, so the second, can you speak to the, I just noticed this. Can you speak to the character and nature of the Wiles Hill Gateway Overlay District? Can you characterize that? Could you repeat that? Well, so the findings of fact reference under, the overlay district category, it references the fact that it falls within the Wilds Hill Gateway Overlay District. So just in terms of evaluating potential impacts.

Usually, and The overlay districts usually have requirements to like height of buildings, special illumination standards, uses, things like that. To the best of my knowledge, I don't believe there would be anything in conflict with that overlay district to the sign already presented.

Right, even if the overlay district is primarily residential in nature with respect to the signage that would be considered Allowable.

It's student housing mostly, right? Yeah, that area is mostly Greek life and other student housing. Yeah, they're already to the standard of residential signs for business uses and residentially zoned districts. So they're already kind of more to the stricter standard compared to other commercial entities because their square footage is based on 0.15 instead of the normal 0.6 or 0.4 because they're in a residential district.

Yeah. I like this. Without the variance, the applicant may be prevented from reasonably identifying the organization occupying the property.

Yeah. Well.

Yeah, who could make that?

Well, but the word reasonably is in there. You know, it's clear that it's not a single family owner occupied, right? But it's not, if you remove those letters, it wouldn't be necessarily obvious that this was a registered student organization. Structure. I have, in the second finding of fact, I don't necessarily agree with the proposed work will not introduce a new visual condition, really. I mean, well, first of all, the letters are already up there.

Is this part of what's being kind of rehauled? Wasn't the sign code section? Yeah.

The city's currently working on doing an overhaul of our sign ordinance. It's not obviously been passed or anything yet, but that'll be something that we're looking into. Size of signs, illumination standards in different districts, kind of just a general overhaul. Yeah, this future, this might not have needed a variance if it was down down the road or it might still have needed a variance. And we're not at that stage yet. Yeah, it's kind of too early in the process of trying to get the overhaul going. But yeah, that is coming because a lot of signed variances do come through the Board of Zoning Appeals.

And then the third finding of fact, the property already contains Greek letter signage. So is that, just so that we're clear about, this recently replaced what was previously there?

To the best of my understanding, any Greek signage would be on the other side of the building, not on the back side. To my understanding, this is new. Any Greek lettering and stuff would be on like the other part of the building in the front. Like your standard, you know, whatever house kind of thing. On this one, it would be on the top right would be where they would already have some minor lettering and then they're wanting it on the bottom left part of the building.

And it also says the need for a variance arises from how the sign area is calculated for individual Greek letters. There may be like organizational requirements that they're, you know, that they're required to be in compliance with. Sure. And that's not...

I just don't know.

But that's a reasonable maybe expectation that they're... I don't think it's a reasonable... Organizational requirements that they have to answer to. I mean, it seems pretty straightforward.

I move to approve the findings of fact.

Second. All right, so we have a motion from Mr. Misvell to approve the findings of fact. Seconded by Mr. Martin. How do we vote? Aye. Aye. And I move to... grant the requested variance regarding the aerial variance, not for materials, not for illumination, for VAR 26-035, subject to the standard condition. Second. So we have a motion, seconded by Mr. Martin, to grant the variance. How do we vote? Aye. Aye. So for this case, The applicant will receive correspondence from planning. Any determinations, findings rendered by this board can be appealed to the Circuit Court of Montegalia County. And for the applicant, any work that you undertake during that 30-day appeals window, you're doing yourself financial risk. All right, so moving on to the next, We have two, they're separate applications relating to the same case. The first is VAR 26-051, Abundant Life Recovery Housing Network, 1493 University Avenue. Request by Abundant Life Recovery Housing Network for variance relief and compliance with section 1365 The city's planning and zoning code regarding minimum off-street parking, city tax district 11, second ward tax map 26, parcel 31 in the R2 single and two-family residential district. The other related application for the related case is It's for conditional use CON 26-052, Abundant Life Recovery Housing Network, 1493 University Avenue. Request by Abundant Life Recovery Housing Network for conditional use and compliance with section 1331.05 in the city's planning and zoning code regarding a halfway house use City Tax District 11, Second Ward Tax Map 26, Parcel 31 in the R2 Single and Two Family District.

So for my staff report, I will just kind of combine both of the requests into one for time purposes. So I will read through the variance one first and then anything that's not kind of repeated, I will read that as well for the conditional use. But otherwise, for VAR 26051, as well as for conditional use 26052, as seen on the screen as well on the packet, is just the location of where this building is positioned. The second image It shows a little bit clearer without the overlay, the radius, and the lot line. So the building with the dot on it is the building in reference. Something to note with this is that there is a driveway to the left of the building that can have about four spaces in it. But otherwise, it will be contained within the structure of the existing building. Found in the packets is the floor plan of the building. The applicant is seeking a variance regarding parking standards for a halfway house in the R2 district. The structure itself is pre-existing, as was stated, and it was previously a fraternity or sorority house use. The property will have rooms for 33 occupants, one of which will be considered an employee for the house. A letter was sent in regarding the conditional use tied to the variance, which can be found attached there, as well as an additional correspondence was sent in after the packet was done that has been given to the board members and For them to look at but just to note there were two correspondences letters sent in regarding this case which have been provided to the members of the board in In summary for the variance, the applicant wishes to get a variance regarding five parking spaces as four are provided at the property addressed at 1493 University Avenue. And then I will now go to read the conditional use. For conditional use 26052, as previously stated, the address has not changed. The building has not changed. It is still the one in reference with the variance. That conditional use has tied to it the narrative provided by the applicant as well as the one letter received early enough to go into the packet and the other one has been provided physically to the board members at this time. The applicant is seeking conditional use regarding a halfway house in the R2 district. The structure itself, as mentioned, is previously existing. The previous use was a fraternity or sorority house. Occupants are the same. The narrative has been provided within the packets as well as any letters received regarding the conditional use permit. Refer to the sections of code below as well as submitted designs. In summary, the applicant wishes to get a conditional use regarding a halfway house at the property addressed at 1493 University Avenue. Please see the attached application to review the findings of fact as listed. SF had no comments or modifications to the conditional use or the variance. Planning staff have no objections to the applicant's request for conditional use. Same for the variance. If the Board of Zoning Appeals does grant the applicant conditional use approval in accordance to the city's planning and zoning code, you shall be subject to the following conditions, being our standard condition that if they are to, any modifications or changes to the site plan shall be compliant with the city's planning and zoning code, or the applicant shall seek variance relief from the Board of Zoning Appeals. And then that'll conclude staff report. All right.

Thank you very much. Do we have a representative for in this case?

Yeah, I'm going to be represented for this based on joint diversity.

All right. Can you hear me? Yeah. Well, can you repeat the name and then reference an address for the record?

Sure. My name is Matthew Johnson. My address is 124 Morgan Drive in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Sounds like Adam Scott.

So do you want to just offer us a bird's eye view of what you're proposing here?

Yeah. I'm happy to give you a bird's eye view of what we're proposing and about some of the work that we do. So we are requesting these special use permits and these variances that I've mentioned. individuals who are committed to their long-term recovery. We're not new. We're not a new participant in this space. We have been operating since March 1st of 2021 with a vision to create spaces for recovery that take hold of the lives of our residents. We have tremendous stories of lives that have been changed, and we've got a front row seat for variables. And you likely will hear some of those stories and testimonies from our residents during the clubbing here. Rather than tell their stories, I want to use a few minutes to share with you the information about our organization. I think it's helpful we understand our program and the effort we put into safety and security in order for you to understand kind of the way that we operate. For the past several years, we've worked around high quality organization that emphasizes evidence-based practices. We're certified as a level two recovery residents by the West Virginia Alliance of Recovery Residences. We're fully insured and deeply committed to the safety of our residents and the surrounding community. We carefully choose our program participants through an application process and an interview. We do not accept individuals with violent criminal histories or residents who are required to register on the sex offender registry. Each of our houses have house managers and assistant managers who ensure the residents follow the guidelines and requirements of our program. But we want you to realize that we're not actually a halfway house. The language around halfway houses is pretty antiquated, and it's stigmatizing. It seems to focus on a house where individuals are free to run wherever they want to, and kind of move with movement in directions that would not be beneficial to the community.

We are, and we talk about ourselves actually as a recovery house.

on the program and work with residents to build lives of recovery. We do that through balancing relationship and responsibility. Our residents are required to work full-time or be pursuing education. Our residents pay fees and so are going to have to manage their money or pay for lives in independent living. Our residents attend five NAA meetings each week that have sponsors to support them. Our residents are randomly drug tested and are required to live by certain covenants and agreements which we can provide to you. They have a curfew and are expected to be home by 9 p.m. We're deeply committed to creating spaces that incorporates structure and support. I've often been asked if we receive pushback from the local community about our work running a recovery house. My normal response is this, I would be glad to live next to a recovery house. If you live next to a recovery house, you know that your neighbors are drug tested and supported can't guarantee that in any other way. We also bring significant economic impact and value to the community. The Federal and the Fletcher Group is a federally recognized center of excellence in recovery, and their research says that in West Virginia, one person in recovery saves the state $75,000 a year. We've recently completed a financial impact calculator. Now, our organization provides over $55 of value to the community for every dollar we spend. This comes from reduced criminal justice costs, reduced health care costs, increased productivity, and the statistical value of human life. Using these numbers, this property will provide over $1.5 million a year in economic impact to our community with zero tax dollars or implications. The work that we do is deeply needed. I serve on the Recovery Housing Subcommittee for the Governor's Advisory Council on Substance Use Disorder. And I can confirm that recovery housing continues to be identified as one of the top needs in our state. We will share that our waiting list for our program is well over 70 people at all times. This is one of the main reasons we've identified this property as crucial to our mission. We saw this as a place that had good access to public transportation, which is crucial for our clientele, since our clientele do not, for the most part, have cars or driver's licenses. There's access to employers, and we think that that can assist them to have businesses and find employees, which has been a concern. The property is located close to AA and NA meetings with meetings and surrounding churches. We have numerous students who work for WVU and are enrolled in classes. The location is perfectly aligned with our mission. Admittedly, WVU has submitted a letter of concern regarding our desire to place recovery housing near the campus. While I applaud and appreciate the university's commitment to student flourishing as it benefits WVU more than any other state, I, too, have been committed to human flourishing and believe that establishing a recovered house in this area actually does that. While we will not guarantee safety, we believe the best predictor of what will happen is what has occurred. In our years of existence, we have not had issues that put safety to the local community at risk. Numerous members of the community, including the administrators of WVU, have asked whether we believe locating a recovered house in this area of town is wise with the bars and the downtown scene. We actually believe that having a recovery house populated with sober individuals who are committed to the recovery would greatly benefit the downtown region. We want to make sure that you understand what a healthy recovery house in Brooklyn looks like. Our goal is always to develop good relationships with our neighbors, whether that's St. John's, or the Lutheran Campus Ministry, or our state's land grant institution, which seeks to serve all West Virginians, including our residents. Thank you for this opportunity to share our work. I look forward to addressing any other questions or concerns you might have.

Thank you. Do you have any questions for him at this time? Actually, can you speak a little more or address exactly why you think this specific citing what you're proposing in this particular spot is well suited both to the Morgantown community and also with regard to what you hope to be a success in terms of your organization's overall mission. Why right here?

Absolutely. So when we look for properties for our work, we look for places that have a couple things. We look for places that have access to public transportation. We look for places that are located in neighborhoods where our clients are safe. We look for places that have access to employment, education, and appropriate resources for our residents. When we look at the resources located in this part of town, we could not find a place that had better access There are opportunities for employment and education. There are opportunities to access transit so that our residents can get to the places they need to go and do so effectively and safely. So we think from our perspective for our residents that that is a really positive space for us to be. I don't think that our residents have offered any harm to the community and in fact I think the opportunity to partner with some of the downtown businesses and downtown community members could benefit the downtown community and could benefit our residents. I think that there's all those benefits in collaboration. I think this property allows that to become more of a reality.

All right, well, with respect to those downtown business interests, leaders, have you done any outreach to, in terms of like, putting your toe in the water, so to speak, to find out if to what extent what you're proposing is a good fit, whether it's a good fit with respect to what you're proposing. These are the things.

We've met with our neighbors, with our direct neighbors that are next to the, who would be next to the house. That's what we've done.

You've met, okay. Mm-hmm.

with our neighbors who are directly located by the house.

Can you speak to the tenor of the response from those you've reached out to? Are you at liberty to speak to that or no?

You know what? I think I'm going to let them speak to that during the public statements if they wish. All right.

Thank you.

It states that... Congestion won't be increased because our residents don't drive, possess driver's license, or own personal vehicles. Is that a condition to be a resident?

That's not a condition, but it is a reality for most of our residents.

But not necessarily so.

I've been doing this for many years, and at our current location, we've never had more than three cars.

and none of them have had driver's licenses?

That's residents have state IDs, but often residents do not have driver's licenses.

What about in terms of the vehicular impact and the parking impact? Can you speak to visitors to your residence in terms of, I mean there is parking downtown but sometimes that parking is hard to come by. And ideally I would think that anyone wanting to visit your residence would wanna park on site. Can you speak to like anticipated volume of and whether what you have with regard to available parking is gonna meet that volume, the need for that volume.

If someone wanted to come visit our residence and visit one of our residences that lives there, they would need to park in one of the public parking spaces that are located downtown. We don't have a lot of people that are coming to visit. We have pretty strict hours around visitation. We have pretty strict hours around places in our properties where visits can occur, where visits can happen. And so most of, for most of the time on our properties, the people on our property are the people that, the residents that live there. Right.

Is this resident to live in staff ratio consistent with your other recovery houses?

Yeah, we'll have At this property, we'll have a house manager, and then we'll have an assistant manager that is located on every floor of the property. And that would be consistent with the numbers across all of our properties.

So that's at least five, right?

It would be three. There's three floors of living space. Oh, I see. OK.

And so that, you have to meet a certain ratio of staff to residents, right? There are rules that you need to be in compliance with in terms of the ratios.

To be certified? Is that what you mean?

Yeah, in terms of certification or just generally speaking.

No, the certification standards in the state of West Virginia for the level that we're certified will require us to have one house manager who stays on the property, no matter, regardless of the size of the property, we are going above and beyond that to provide support to our residents and to provide support to the community.

Because I think we, correct me if I'm wrong, we did hear 33 residents, right?

Okay, thank you.

Thank you very much. Anything to add, Mr. Thompson?

The adjustment of kind of three employees to 30 occupants would need to be added to their parking as it's calculated as one space per four beds and then one space per employee. So it kind of shifts the numbers around a little bit and then I will tell you what that is.

Yeah, what is that? Just to clarify, we have one staff person, and then we have peer leaders. So they're not employees. Those folks are not employees. Those folks are our peer managers.

OK, then never mind. That would not change because it is specifically per employee. Per employee. So that manager, the main one, yes, that definitely counts. But if they're just other occupants, other residents that are slightly more but unpaid, not employed, then.

But that's still taking into account the living levels. the residential levels, that's still three, a minimum of three. And then in terms of the area, I mean, all right, most of the residents don't drive, but this is a relatively large structure. So the potential for parking is there. Can you speak to what the aerial space requirements are bearing on parking requirements for the area?

Let me pull up the PowerPoint just to clarify to make sure I'm understanding what you're asking. On that view there, you're asking to add parking, to move parking, would that be plausible at this location? Or?

No, what I'm asking is with regard to the area of the building, regardless of whether it's residential or non-residential space, there's still the potential for functional use of those other levels. So given the area of the building, what's the minimum?

So minimum parking requirements are based on use. Sometimes that includes square footage of the building and the floors of the building. Sometimes it doesn't. For a halfway house, which is at least based on previous conversation with the applicant, what they were determined as, It would be one space per four beds and then one space per employee. And based on our ordinance for halfway houses, there isn't any square footage requirement for the building. If they were a different use, maybe that would affect them, but at least as far as a halfway house is concerned, it is one space per four beds and one space per employee with no consideration for the square footage. So what was required when it was a sorority? So if this was a new sorority before, based on 33 people would be one space per three persons based upon building occupancy, which would put them at 11 parking spaces total that they would need. but it was a pre-existing non-conforming use. If a new sorority wanted to go in after, like if it was like a new build or a new project, they would need 11 spaces for 33 people, whereas the halfway house needs nine. But there's nowhere to put parking. Right. Based on the existing for if a new sorority would be going and not be pre-existing, they would still need to make up the seven spaces that the four on-site don't already cover. And then... I mean, that to me is a no-brainer.

If the conditional use is okay, then yeah, they should get the variance for the parking. That would be up to the board. Right. But that's, I mean, the conditional use comes first. as the necessary prerequisite.

So can you just state one more time, what's the available parking? Four. Just four.

Yep.

I mean, I think with the conditional use, you look at the findings of fact and the questions, the elements that we're supposed to review. I mean, these are all really about you know, how much this use is going to impact like resources to the actual property.

Mm hmm.

It's really not about the type of use very much. The questions aren't really concerned with that.

The question is what's the impact? Yeah.

Now this is a halfway house. So like a lot of what we're talking about here is policy basically. Whether it's good or a bad idea to have this here. But our questions here for a conditional use permit really aren't about policy. I mean that's not really what we're supposed to be doing. Right? So to me, the question, you know, I was concerned about congestion just based on, cause you can have 30 adults, not just students who are less likely to have vehicles, but apparently almost none of them would have vehicles or even a license. So I'm not that concerned there. Um, safety, fire, panic. How big was the sorority before? How many occupants were there?

Based on speaking with the applicant, the 33 seems reasonable, but the city doesn't have a confirmed head count for the number of active people that were in the sorority in that house. Based on the plans that they've shown, it could hold 33, at least for planning purposes. But if that was how many people actually lived there previously when it was a sorority, we don't have that information.

I'll just add really briefly that the house comes fully furnished, and it comes fully furnished with 33 beds and 33 bed frames. So that's why we believe that there were 33 residents living there, because that's the number of beds and bed frames that the property comes with.

Here's one I would like you to address, maybe. So one of the findings of fact questions are, granting this request will not create inadequate provision of transportation, water, sewage, schools, parks, or other public requirements. I mean, I understand why you want to put this facility there. It is a perfect place for these people because they have access to downtown, public services meetings, everything that you said. But this is like smack dab in campus. So, I mean, I could see people arguing that a school or student-related use would be better suited there. And obviously, Like, property on campus is already, you know, a rare commodity. So maybe you could speak to that. I mean, if WVU didn't like this, why didn't they buy it? How did they not buy this?

I think that's what I would say is the property was in the market for a year before we purchased it. So there were opportunities for folks to, you know, before we entered the purchase agreement. So there were opportunities for folks to purchase it if they wanted to use it for other reasons. When it comes to school, we have residents who are students at WVU.

And so residents who are part of that campus community.

We have housed residents who are students at WVU because they needed a safe and suitable place to live. And we could have provided that while they were here in our community. We've done that on numerous occasions. And so I actually don't see that as a negative with this process. I don't see this as taking away from that. I see it as benefiting

Thanks. All right. We're going to go ahead and anything else to add, Mr. Thompson? Thank you, sir. Nope. All right. We're going to go ahead and open the public hearing for this for the first part. Well, Do we want to? I think we should start with the conditional use. Yeah, that's what I was going to say. Because if they don't get that, then the parking is moved. Is there a reason? Yeah. Actually, Mr. Conner, is there a reason why you listed the variance?

The Austrian parking order, 51 to 52. But you can read them and have them heard in a combined public hearing. Or you could have the public hearing for the conditional use be first and then go into the variance. I think we'll... It's up to you guys. I think we'll do separate public hearings. Okay.

Or we can, can we elect to combine?

Yeah, just combine.

After, depending upon how the first, for the first conditional use public hearing goes? We could do that, right? We definitely should combine. I mean, we can make a motion to... we can treat the findings of fact separately with separate motions.

Yes, you will a hundred percent have to vote and either accept or deny the findings of fact. And then the variance and conditional use has two separate entities. But if you would like to combine the public hearing into one, you're more than welcome to just say, we're going to combine the conditional use number and then variance number into one public hearing for the purposes of this meeting.

Well, Just initially, we're now going to open the public hearing for CON 26-052, Abundant Life Recovery Housing Network, 1493 University Avenue. So this first public hearing is for the conditional use application. So anyone wishing to speak in support or in opposition to, please do so now.

Good evening. My name is Father Brian Kornrolch. I'm the pastor of St. John University Parish. If you look at the building, we are the building directly to the left of the former sorority house. St. John's has had that property since 1925. And on the weekend, we hold five masses and we get 700 people. We are a campus parish, but we also are comprised of families with young children Just to go back, the sorority when they were there, the way that they had their parking is they actually rented from our parking lot. That's our parking lot in the bottom corner there. So they were able to get the parking spots that they needed. But Like I said, we have also, we have three buildings on property. The very next building down is the Newman Center, which is a community center for students. It is.

Actually, before you, with regard to the parking, does that, and thank you for your lease agreement with the applicant, does that impact the operation of your parish with respect to your masses or no?

So, yeah, so the, they were only allowed to park during certain times because on masses, we, we, need the spaces. So, yeah. But we rent those out. It's a source of income for the parish so that no one can just park there randomly. Thank you. Sorry. Yeah, no problem. So the Newman Center is right next door to the church, and that's the community center, and that's also where I live. But it's a community center for students. They have access to it 24-7. And it is a means for them to relax, to study. We have a library there. And also just, yeah, to have fun. We have meetings there. We have events seven days a week, every night. And then, yeah, so they're constantly, and I'm glad that they're there because they're not at the bars. If you directly across Caddy Quarter from us, the building from the church, it's kind of cut off at the bottom, but it's Ivy, the nightclub. And so I actually sleep only because I have a white noise machine because it is so loud. Every Saturday morning I have to do a check around the property to clean up the rope. syringes, all sorts of paraphernalia to make sure it's a safe space for the students. I want them to be able to spend time with their friendships in a safe space. I completely support the mission of any recovery house. We host NA meetings. We've hosted SA meetings, AA meetings. And actually, the diocese runs Catholics in Recovery. So this has nothing to do with the great mission and the great effect it has on those who live at these houses. Nothing to do. It's more from the perspective of prudence. And as we say in Catholicism, the near occasion of sin. When we, when you, we have lots of young women who walk back and forth and I know this because I, well, during the day but also at night time, I have a dog. I walk my dog and right by their property and as you, if any of you live downtown, you know our college students are finding themselves and they are not dressed hardly at all. And so I, as a celibate man, I see that, right? And I see the source of temptation could be from men who are in recovery from all sorts of backgrounds. They may not be outside because of curfew, but they sure have windows. And I understand that could be a great temptation. I also want our students to feel safe at all times, that they can be in the church by themselves. that they can also be in the Newman Center because again, they have access to that and anyone can walk into that Newman Center. And so from a sense of prudence, I think that the location being right there next to the church, but also on the campus, I don't know if it's the best. I do not believe it to be the best location. I think another place in the city would be wonderful. But so.

Do you feel like if the recovery house was to operate in this space, would it impact the attendance at the Newman Center? Would you think it would decrease the students that attend?

I think that we'd see what the culture would be like. And I say it definitely could, especially at nighttime or in the early morning when the guys are off to work. The kids lay out on our lawns. You know, they read out there. We have a bonfire pit out there. And we're, again, we're exactly adjacent to them. So we're, you know, on a Sunday morning, every single spot on that street is completely filled up, including our parking lot. In fact, we have a safety man who has to stand out in the street because of all the children running around. So again, it's what we have to promote a safe place, but also I recognize people come from all different backgrounds and different experiences and different morals, but we want our children and our college students to know that this is a place that they can always come to and feel safe at.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Good points. Okay. Anyone else or next? By all means. And again. Good evening.

My name is Brandon Meyer. I'm a parishioner of St. John's. I've been there for about four years. I bring my family there. I've been involved with the community. I'm also on the finance council as well. One thing I wanted to clarify, it seems like your question understood that there was a lease agreement in place for the parking. You said, I believe, with the applicant. There is no lease agreement in place between St. John's and the applicant. Very clearly. So let me be very clear about that. There is no lease agreement. There's a couple of other things as well. I was reading through the application and one of the things that are in there, these are individuals that are in early recovery or trauma, to be in a trauma-informed residential environment. The concern is the young women that we have. The Newman group, seeing the number of individuals, the women that are constantly out there, that could potentially be at risk. We realize I can't say for sure. We don't know. The mission is fine. It's the location that's the issue. Being right in the heart of campus, right in the middle. You have two churches on each side. It's very, very concerning. It's concerning to myself as a parishioner. My ability to go to St. John's or to go to another Catholic church, it could impact. us going somewhere else if kids, children, females don't feel safe. One of the other things that came up as well was attempts to buy the property, I want to put it clear on behalf of St. John's, there was an attempt by St. John's to buy the property. They've been interested in this property for a long time. It would serve as a Catholic dorm. And that is something that in terms of offers, we've actually already had the property inspected. We were getting a general contractor in there to go through the issues. Quite honestly, Abundant Life just beat us to the punch in terms of making an offer that was accepted. We had been in contact with the realtors. We even reached out to the Kennedy Foundation here at the university as far as funding and then also the diocese as well. The problem is is that getting the funding approval from the diocese doesn't happen like that. Somebody that's an NGO or a private group, they can get funding. They have that ability to do that. We don't. We have to go through a number of steps. We have to have a pro forma. And we were not able to get that in time, essentially, to beat them to the punch. So there's very much has been a lot of interest from St. John's. We've written letters to the diocese. The support, you know, generally of the bishop, they need to get some additional plans. That's why we went ahead and paid for an inspection. We took it that far. And then also having a general contractor who was actually in there to evaluate all those issues. So it's very real. St. John's is very committed to wanting to purchase this property. So from my perspective as being on council, were opposed uh i want that to be clear it's it's not something that we're in agreement um you know in terms of the parking in terms of the conditional use um i don't think it meets the the general character of the lay of the land uh there's two churches uh the surrounding community we have the newman house i mean st john's basically has that whole block They have the corner block, they have the Newman Center, they have the parish hall, they have the church, and then there's the Lutheran Church right next to it. And it is a vibrant Catholic community. Just students all the time. This is not a church that just sits back and there's few people. It is packed. It is standing room only on Sunday Masses, pretty much all Masses. So having... this type of halfway house right next to it is very concerning for all of us. You're going to hear from other parishioners that feel the same way.

That was my next question. Your parishioners, they're not resident there. Correct. They attend your parish though and they help to make up your parish community so they have an interest in... Right. how the nature of that parish community is affected by changes?

That's correct. You'll see outside Mass, the families congregate. They do. throughout many events that they have. There are numerous university events. That's not even talking about, that's just parish life. That's not the college students. It's a vibrant parish community with young families. We have families with eight kids, with seven kids, with six kids, all little, all out there. So it's a safety concern. We don't think it fits within the community and in that area for the use that's been occurring. That's all I would add.

All right. Thank you very much.

My name is Louise Deal. I was born and raised in Morgantown, as was my mother. I graduated from WVU. I care deeply about this town and the university. That's an integral part, and I'm a parishioner at St. John University Parish. I'm very concerned about this proposed use of the former sorority house for the following reasons. I read the whole proposal. I read the whole packet, including the letter by WVU President Benson, and I agree that this proposed location essentially on the main downtown WVU campus and our church campus, it's gonna negatively impact the perception of safety in the eyes of parents and students. And many unforeseen issues could develop that will have a negative impact on both WVU, our church, the downtown area in a highly visible spot. And you mentioned the late at night. We also have this chapel that's open until 10 o'clock at night for quiet prayer above the Newman. And people are going in and out of there by themselves a lot late at night. So I just think it's impossible to ensure the safety and orderliness and all of that. I'm sure in... especially with those high numbers of residents. I do think it's a very unwise location for persons in recovery with walking access to many places that sell the very substances which they must avoid. Yeah, so for all those reasons, and also I was going to mention the parking, but we're not supposed to talk about that right now. So for all those reasons, I hope you'll greatly consider this, my thoughts. Thank you. Thank you very much.

This is the conditional use case, that part of the application.

I suppose I want to speak in support of this recovery house, I think particularly from an ethics perspective. I, while not a member of the Catholic Church, sort of float between the Methodist, Episcopal, and Catholic traditions. And the goal, I think, of this recovery house is an alignment with Catholic social teaching and to hear people who I share faith with universally wanting to, in some ways, stand against what the ethic of the gospel is in terms of providing recovery, providing space for people. is reprehensible to me and I think that Matt has addressed several of the concerns with regards to safety, with regards to attendance, with regards to no one of violent criminal history or sexual abuse, sexual offense being allowed on this campus and while these people may be in proximity to a lot of the problems that they've experienced. They're also in proximity to Wesley United Methodist Church, Trinity Episcopal Church, St. John's Parish itself, where they may find that space to be able to continue in that recovery and if they are practicing a faith to be able to grow in it. And I think just from the ethical and safety side, I think that those people will be able to find that space and that I hope that that would weigh in your consideration as well. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Real quick, could you, for the record, provide your name and address?

Yes, Troy Bush, and my address is 144 Ohio Avenue in Westover. Thank you so much. Thank you very much.

I had a question for the applicant, quick. What is, are there certain lease terms or length of stays for typical residents? How long are they allowed to stay there?

Yeah.

We adhere to a resident-driven life to stay. We encourage residents to stay up to two years or longer. Residents stay longer. They have to continue to abide by all the program requirements, including their curfew, which I'll mention just as a reminder. It's a 9 p.m. curfew. We have to be in the house by 9 p.m. they have to continue to abide by all the standards that are required but they can stay for a long time and become you know examples and leaders in that house and recovery community so part of the reason that we want long-term residents is because it provides stability and it's also the best thing for for residents the longer the residents stay in the recovery house data says that they become

Hello, my name is Anthony Stankowitz. I am the house manager at Abundant Life. Address? Recovery Network.

Can you just state a reference address?

8 Millon Street, number 101, Westover, West Virginia. Five years, when you're in the thick of early recovery, five years feels like an absolute lifetime. It feels like an impossible mountain to climb. But standing here today, looking back at my journey with Abundant Life Holiday Recovery Network, I don't just see time passed. I see a life entirely transformed. Five years ago, this place welcomed me. Today, I want to talk about what happened during those five years. how this community shaped my foundation and my recovery, and how it gave me the strength to step into the leader I am today. Recovery is never a solo journey. When I first came to Abundant Life, I needed more than just a roof over my head. I needed a blueprint for a new life. This network provided structure, the safety, the unwavering support, and allowed me to heal. It was here that I learned true vulnerability is not weakness. It is the ultimate strength. Accountability is not punishment. It is a boundary that keeps us safe. And community is the ultimate medicine for isolation. The support I received here just didn't keep me clean. It taught me how to live. It planted the seeds of wellness and positivity that I carry with me every single day. Yet I'm in support of this. Thank you. I have a question.

So you're the residential manager at one of these houses in Westover? Yes, sir. Okay. How long has it been there?

Five years.

Five years. Have you been there five years? I've been there five years. Okay. So a lot of people here have expressed concerns about safety, right? Or at least perceptions of safety. Yeah. So how often are the Westover cops over there?

I think it was just like for EMS twice. And that was just somebody having a seizure because they're epileptic.

Is there any other abundant houses in the Morgantown area? No, just this one. So just this other one?

Well, there's a women's house a block away.

But the Westover, your Westover location, that's also primarily R1 or R2 in terms of where it's sited. Can you speak to how, I guess, compare and contrast the Westover, your Westover location with what's proposed here? I would think they'd completely, I, there probably are some similarities, but I think this is a special case.

Can you speak to that?

There would be more, um,

So we go down here downtown anyway to NA meetings and AA meetings. Okay. And a lot of people work down here anyway. Right. So it would be a way closer space for residents to keep their employment and have access to easy transportation and to be easily accessible to these NA meetings. Right.

So do most of your – how many people are at your house? Fourteen. Okay. Wow. Do most of them have – Do any of them have a car? I mean, with that location, they probably aren't. You must be on the bus line or something.

Yeah, it is a two.

Okay. All right, thanks. Yeah, thank you. Thank you.

Good evening, I'm Danny Ludwig and my address is 326 Brockway Avenue. I'm someone in long-term recovery. I came to Morgantown in 2017 because of a sober living home. The house gave me structure, accountability, and the foundation I needed to rebuild my life. Without it, I don't know where I'd be today. Today, I'm a mother. Because of my recovery, my child has a stable home, a present parent, a future that once seemed impossible. I'm a downtown business owner. I work for a local nonprofit, and I Uber part-time. My family's quality of life exists because recovery was made possible, not because someone pushed it away, but because someone opened the door. I'm also active in our recovery community and have had the privilege of speaking in this very room many times. I've seen firsthand what recovery housing does. It doesn't create addiction, it creates recovery. I understand that people want safe neighborhoods. I want that too. But sober living homes, are not places where people go to use drugs. They are places where people go to stay sober, hold jobs, rebuild relationships, and become productive members of society. I also find it important to point out that two of the churches near this proposed home already open their doors every week to host a recovery fellowship meeting. The very people who would live in this home are the same people who would likely attend those meetings. If we are welcoming people in recovery for an hour inside of our churches, we should be willing to support them as they rebuild their lives in our community. I've also heard concerns about this home being near WVU. Yet there are thousands of students, many of whom consume alcohol. Alcohol is a mind-altering substance. We shouldn't judge people who are actively working to overcome addiction more harshly than those whose substance use is often accepted as part of a college culture. West Virginia is still in the midst of an addiction crisis. Drugs are already here. Recovery housing is part of the solution. We don't need fewer sober living homes. We need more opportunities for people to rebuild their lives. I stand before you today as proof that recovery works. My family is proof. My teenagers are proof. Someone gave me a chance years ago, and today I'm asking you to give the same chance to someone else. Also, just so the room knows, we already have a sober living downtown. Let me also share again that Matt stated no violent crime offenders are accepted at their home, and on top of that, this is a faith-based home. Thank you. We do recover, and united we stand.

Hi, I'm Kelly Wood. I live at 43 Lane Street in Westover at Abundant Life Women's Home. I am a Charleston native, but I have had the privilege of receiving an excellent education at George Washington High School. I went to CPYB, which is a boarding school for ballet, which produces dancers of New York City Ballet, Boston Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet in Germany, San Francisco Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle. just to name a few. And finally, I went to Point Park University where I was accepted into the Conservatory of Performing Arts on a scholarship of only 3% students received. I'm sharing this critically that the Abundant Life Facility, I'm sorry, I'm writing to share how critical the Abundant Life Facility has been to my journey. Addiction is a disease that affects individuals across all societal classes. Abundant Life has provided me with a safe haven and vital structure, including housing, curfew, access to NA, access to AA, and which is necessary to foster my long-term recovery and a healthy environment as well as safe as a woman. According to data from the American Addiction Center, sober living homes provide essential long-term support for individuals who have completed inpatient rehabilitation. Unlike halfway houses, they typically do not require past incarcerations or mandatory enrollment and active treatment programs, allowing residents to focus on peer support and 12-step programs. Without these embedded in our community, individuals facing addiction risk being cast aside. Excuse me, I'm a little nervous. When help is needed, facilities like this are paramount for successful reentry into society. As a retired ballerina and a woman in recovery, my personal goal is to become a licensed dance movement therapist specializing in recovery. I feel this is my calling to continue serving those who need it most that were there when I needed it the most. I urge you to recognize the immense value of these programs in our community.

So I'm obviously for it.

Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Amy Arvin Trout. My address is 12 Tanglewood Lane, Pleasant Valley, West Virginia. I'm here this evening in technically two capacities, I guess you could say one, I'm a board member of Abundant Life Recovery Housing Network, and then I also am a passionate WVU alumna. I attend many events on campus as an alumnus, I can tell you over my time as a student at WVU, I saw the need for this 15 years ago, and we didn't want to talk about it because the epidemic had not become as prevalent as it is now, both with drugs and with alcohol. use on campuses. I am from southern West Virginia originally and my father was an alcoholic my entire life. He was a phenomenal man and held a professional job. However, he lost that job and went through six rounds of failed rehab. He passed in 2020. My dad didn't have the chance to experience recovery housing because he didn't have a network that wasn't a halfway house. That is unfortunately what he, and there are halfway houses that work. They absolutely do. That is not what we are. I would like to also address this access to drugs and alcohol and young women. If an addict is going to relapse, they are going to do it. I watched my father leave the house in a taxi that he could not afford to get alcohol 17 miles away from town. It will happen. So these folks that are here that we're representing and they're representing themselves, they are accountable for their sobriety. Downtown Morgantown is not accountable for their sobriety. And then lastly, I would just say, In the letter from President Vinson and the university that was really hard to read as an alumna, especially from the part of the state that I'm from, because folks come from that area, from drug-riddled communities, looking for a safe haven, and we're telling them as a university that those folks don't belong just because it may be a little too close for comfort. I can also say that though my dad was an alcoholic, I never felt unsafe around him. And I understand that there are times when those things do alter people's personalities and there are unsafe circumstances, but I think we need to look at this as a holistic approach and not because someone has used in the past that they're gonna be a violent person or that someone may feel unsafe in their presence. Thank you.

Thank you.

Hi.

My name is Jennifer Rice, and I live at 43 Lane Street, Morgantown, West Virginia. I have lived at Abundant Life Recovery House for four years, as a resident for two years and as a house manager for two years. And I must say that in that time, my life has become a life that I never thought was possible. It's not just been a home, but it's become a family as well. I have been in long-term recovery for five years from substance use disorder, which consumed my life for 27 years. Active addiction was miserable, lonely, and insane, but I stayed stuck in it for so long that a better life seemed impossible. Eventually, I overdosed, which thank God I survived and was the last time that I've used a drug. After that, I went into treatment, first for detox, then for 28 days, then a six-month long-term treatment, I was one of the fortunate addicts that recovered, but I also know even then that I wasn't ready to live alone and that I needed more support. I investigated in sober living and was blessed to be accepted into Abundant Life, which has become a critical part of my journey. I needed a safe space where I could live and heal from the years of drug abuse that I survived. I wasn't ready to be alone yet, and every day I'm fortunately surrounded by like-minded people who are also recovering and trying to find their way in the world. Abundant life has allowed me to grow and focus not only on my recovery, but also has helped me discover a career in helping others find recovery. I have become a peer reporter. peer recovery support specialist and gained employment at Valley Healthcare in the New Beginnings Recovery Center for Women. I have also gone back to school and I'm currently working on a master's degree in social work so that I can continue to help others escape from active addiction and learn how to live. Today my life is amazing, and I owe so much of that to Abundant Life Recovery House and the network of people who are involved with making this great place possible for many people who have found their way in this program. I cannot say enough to thank Abundant Life for not only being my home for the past four years, but also allowing me a safe place to discover who I really am and what I can contribute to the world. I will be forever grateful.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Hi, hello, I'm Larry Buckland, 1466 Lakeland Avenue. I'm the pastor at Suncrest United Methodist Church, and I wish there was a place next to Suncrest. or there to be a house for abundant life. We're grateful that we have partners. We have many members from our congregation that are here in support. No, we're not downtown, so we can't speak to the context of others right now that might have some fear against. But what I want you to know is through our partnerships, we often have residents that come to the church and do work with us. And we also do some talking about opportunities for work. We have many folks, including myself, that have picked up residents and taken them to work. These folks are working. And also, I want you to know that the tolerance level for when there is, there's not a tolerance level. So when they make that mistake, unfortunately, they're not there. They're not allowed to be back in the house. And so those are things that I think that are very important for you to know that the curfew and others, and as others have talked, when we're around town and even there on the Suncrest campus, there are folks that come in around the town that are there, around that are using. And I have a cousin that was a WVU student, went to pharmacy school, became an addict. I sure wish he would have gone to a recovery house. My cousin died. as an addict. My cousin, when I was 10 years old and he was 16, he was my hero. And he was a smart, intelligent man. There's a passage, and I'm not here to do a sermon or anything, but Romans 12, and it says, I do what I don't want to do. I do that too. I make mistakes all the time. My addictions are different, mostly food. when you realize that, and caffeine, but when you realize that and you realize that if I need help with some of those things that have needed coaching, this is an opportunity for our community to rise above and to be able to see people say in a university setting that there is hope for them and an opportunity for them to be educated and to grow. And we have seen clients from Abundant Life residents that have been in our church and we have celebrated them as a congregation. not said, what are they doing here? So I hope we can see all the people as that I believe a higher power sees all, as all children of God. Thank you.

Hello, my name is Matt Vester and I live at 603 Park Street in Morgantown and I'm a parishioner at St. John's. And I'd like to say that I'm really encouraged by the testimony that I've heard tonight from people who have lived or are living in recovery I don't think there's a person in this room who's opposed to recovery centers or who fails to see their value. To me, the question before the panel is, is this the best location for this recovery center? I understand that there's some of the attractive qualities of this location is that it's close to public transportation and it's close to meeting spaces. But I think there are a lot of places in Morgantown that are in proximity to public transportation. And the testimony of the people here tonight indicates that they've been able to reach meeting places for recovery meetings. So I would encourage the zoning board perhaps to investigate what the research says about best locations for recovery centers. I assume that there are studies about that. I would also assume that maybe a stable residential neighborhood might be preferable to a neighborhood that's really adjacent to probably one of the highest of concentrations in this state of consumption of controlled substances. And I understand that individuals are responsible for the choices that they make, but I think that we also have a responsibility to think reasonably about locations that would be more or less conducive to people who want to live in recovery And so I would encourage the board to maybe look at that kind of research too, as you deliberate. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

Hi, my name is Sarah Loudon and I have been at Abundant Life for since December 26th of last year. I just want to talk about the structure and what that has done for me. So when I moved in, I didn't really know what I wanted to do with myself, with my life. And I found my way into a program called West Virginia Women Works. And I graduated early. And now I am a construction worker for heavy highway construction. And I'm a part of the East Atlantic Carpenters Union. Due to the structure that Abundant Life has given me, it has extremely helped with my routine and daily life. Yeah, that's all I got to say. They've been extremely helpful, and I wanted to put my two cents in, too. But thank you.

Thank you. I have a couple questions, if you wouldn't mind. OK. So you're at the women's house with Women in Life? Yeah. Do you know roughly how many women are in that home?

Seven.

So seven at your house, 14 at the current men's home. If there were 14 women or 25 or 30 women in your home, would you say that that would change your experience at all in a negative or a positive way?

I think each person's recovery is individual. Yeah. And when someone goes into sober living, It's about them. They need to focus on themselves. So no, I don't think that would make an impact.

It's what they make of it, basically.

Pretty much, yes. Got it. Yep.

Thank you. Yep. How long have the women's homes been there? Do what? Sorry. Sorry. How long have the women's homes been operating?

The women's home? For five years, I think.

Both at the same time? OK. Yeah. Thank you, sir. Okay. Thank you. Thank you.

Hello. Hello.

Larissa Thomas and I stay at 43 Lane Street at the women's house as well. I wasn't going to speak tonight. I just want to listen. I was listening at first and I got a little overwhelmed because this is something I'm very passionate about. And there's the stigma on addicts and recovering addicts is it's overwhelming. We're judged basely on our past behaviors and the things we've used to indulge in and not what we're moving forward to do, trying to reacclimate into society. And it's really hard when society is not trying to accept us back into that society. It's how are we supposed to learn how to live with others when we can't be accepted into other communities? Eventually, when we're not in a sober living, we might have to live by a college. Or eventually, when we don't live in sober living, we'll have to live by a church. These are our realities. We can't avoid living away from downtown or a liquor store or a vape store that sells K2 or whatever substance they decide to sell. This is reality. We can't avoid these things. So it's hard to hear when people say they support our change, but in all actuality, they support us being away from what they feel like would keep whatever their goal is safe. It's not our best interest. Our best interest is to help us recover and to have a successful life just like everyone else. Everyone has a past. And in order for us to move on from that past, we have to learn from it. And it helps to learn from others that might not have been through that past. And it helps others to learn from us that have been through those things. I believe everybody doesn't have to like everybody. But that doesn't mean you don't have to care about them. That doesn't mean you don't have to help them. That doesn't mean that they're less than. People that aren't addicts don't make them good people. There's bad people just like anybody else. They could have not used a substance in their life, and they could be just as bad. There are people that are addicts that have never committed a crime, that have never hurt anybody or did anything. They just went down the wrong path and got off track and need help. That shouldn't stop them from being able to go to a house that has enough beds for them and be able to better their self. And I feel, I don't, contradictions and just like, it just bothers me. I feel like, not being accepted, especially by a place I go to meetings to, and then hearing that they don't want me in the same area as I go to that meeting in, that's very disheartening. And that's very, I had to leave the building for a second and gather myself, because that hurt. That hurt more than anything. And I just, I know it's reality. And that's something I have to deal with every day. And that's what we have to deal with every day. And it's not fair, but it's reality. And we have something extra we have to deal with. This is not just we got fired from our job or we got in a car accident and it'll be over in a year or a couple months. This is our life every day. And we have to do this every day. We have to defend ourselves every day. That's all I got. Thank you.

Thank you.

Mr. Johnson, I had a question quick. Yes. Yes. What's the structure of Abundant Life? Someone mentioned being on the board. Is there a board member? Is there a board and then the house employees or are there additional employees? And then do you operate in other cities as well or are these three, well, two existing houses? Yes.

Abundant Life is a 501c3 nonprofit, and we've been a 501c3 team. 501c3 nonprofit since 2020. We have a board of directors that is made up of well-respected individuals from our community who are passionate about the work that we do and who support it in a variety of ways. We have an executive director that we've hired in November to help us run the organization and grow the organization. As I mentioned in my initial statement, we have 70 people on the waiting list every single day. And so we see a need for opportunities to grow our impact and to grow our footprint across the region. At this point, we don't have additional houses outside of Morgantown.

We have our men's house, our women's house that are here in Morgantown.

I am actually out of town currently because I am I'm working on attending a recovery conference. I work as a national expert in faith-based recovery and recovery housing and work across the country to help implement the same model to be put in place in Morgantown. I was hired to help other faith communities do the same kind of thing that we've done in Morgantown because it's exemplary. And so that's kind of our structure overall.

Thank you.

My name is Jean Hammersmith. I live at 309 Simpson Street, Morgantown. I have a different perspective than anyone else who's spoken. I live across the street from a recovery house. It's not one of Matt's, but Matt is my advisor. When we knew it was coming, Matt What should you tell me? And he said, that'll be the safest place in your neighborhood. And he was absolutely right. It has all the accoutrements of safety. Anything that would happen, all the safety people would be there. The fire, the medical. But we haven't had any of those things. All we've had are some really nice young men who are addicted. They're polite. I wouldn't hesitate to ask them to do something for me. And they would be willing to do it in a minute. I work in my yard every morning for an hour or two. So I know them. I'm probably closer to them than anyone else in the community because I reach out to people. It's my nature. But what have I found? I've found men that want to get well. And I've had substance abuse in my own family. That's why I'm dry. I've never had any urge to ever use substances. But anyway, I just think if they had had some place to go instead of the old days, it was they dry you out and send you home in two weeks. That doesn't work. This works. I think we should do everything. The Catholic Church and all of our churches here, we don't know who's coming in to our sanctuaries. I know who's in that house across the street from me. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Johnson, one other quick question. Are all the residents transitioning from like inpatient programs or do you take people from addiction straight to that, to that recovery house? Or don't they, do they have to go to, have to be coming from like an inpatient program or IOP or something?

Yeah, we give priority to individuals that have completed 28-day programs or some sort of treatment programs. We do not allow people who are actively using substances into our house. We don't take folks who were just recently unhoused. We want people to go through a process where they start to acclimate and where they start to come back to reality. And so all of our residents have completed treatment. Some of our residents have come out of being incarcerated, but have completed treatment while they were incarcerated. And those residents that have been incarcerated, again, were not incarcerated for violent crimes or any sexual offenses. Most of those folks were incarcerated for possession with intent to distribute, and that's not what they're doing anymore.

Thank you. Sorry. Go ahead.

My name is Lynn Wojcik.

I live at 205 Wakeman Street, Morgantown. I was not coming here today to talk about it. I'm not aware of Matt's program. I guess that's his name. But I live on the other side of 201 Wakeman that Mrs. Hammersmith, since she decided to come up and speak, I felt I should speak. No, those people do not stay in the house. They're out wandering the streets after 10 o'clock at night. They're out at 2, 3, 4 o'clock in the morning. They're not going to work. They're going out for their cigarettes. They don't leave the porch light on, so they sneak around through the bushes to go and have a few butts or whatever they're doing because my cameras can't see that side of it. I'm 31 inches away. It's really been a problem. It's a problem for the children in the neighborhood and everything else. I also happen to be a member of St. John's, and I don't think it should go there either. I don't think that's a great situation for it. And I've been a member of St. John's for 42 years, as my in-laws were before that for decades as well. I feel that I have lower property value since sober living has gone in next door to me. I know the woman across the street that just sold her house took a nice chunk of not great money because of what's next door to me. And I've lived there for 42 years, and I am livid by the fact that there crammed 12 people, maybe more at this point, into a three bedroom house. We're talking bunk beds. How do I know? Because I watched 12 mattresses and 12 dressers get put in a year ago when they were running all over my sidewalk. And I've been all before you before. And my son has spoken, doing my civic duty and everything else like that. But I want you to know, I don't know about his program. But they don't stay inside after 10 o'clock at night. And I'm not talking about the kid that's going to work at 5.30 with the backpack on or them driving around getting, you know, they're picked up and dropped off to all their programs they got to go to and stuff. I've never seen one take a bus yet. But I just had a, since Mrs. Hammersmith came up and said something and she's across the street from it and I'm next door to it, I thought I should put my two cents in while I was here today. Thank you.

Thank you.

My name is Taylor Conley. I live at 43 Lane Street, the woman's abundant life. I just want to say before coming to Abundant Life, I was lost. I had no sense of living skills or how to be in an environment with other people. Since I've been at Abundant Life, they have helped me get a job. They've helped me learn living skills, how to live with other people. We are not bad people. And we do have rules we have to follow. And if we are caught not following those rules, we get kicked out. We don't get no warnings about it or nothing. Just like another person has said, hearing that they want to support us, but then having all these bad things to say about us, it hurts. It really does. Because we are not bad people at all. We are trying to make a difference for ourselves. And like the other person has said, knowing that they allow us in our churches to do our meetings and make a difference for ourselves. It hurts sitting here and listening to some things that people are saying because we're just trying to fit in with everyone else and make a difference for ourselves. And that's all I got.

Thank you. Thank you.

Hello. My name is Erin Neumeier. I'm a Vice President and Chief of Staff at West Virginia University. I want to start by saying I am nervous. So I want to commend everyone who was brave enough to get up here and share their story. My comments and my remarks today are not in any way, shape or form to question the merit of the program or abundant life and the work that they have done. They are clearly a critically needed service for our community. There are so many wonderful success stories here. There is no judgment. That is not the conversation that I'm here to have. What I would like to share on behalf of the university is our concern over the location. We are very much in support of the program. We have also offered to partner with the program in certain ways. I will also share that I have had several conversations with Matthew Johnson this week, as well as several other administrators at the university sharing and voicing our concerns. We were not aware of the project until last week when we received the notice. It was the first that the university had been made aware when we received the public notice of the variances requested. We immediately engaged as an institution to sit down and have a discussion to understand what the program is and what it isn't. The individuals that have shared successful stories here are a testament to the work that they do. What I would like to share is our concern is about the percentage that do not stay on a path towards recovery. And so one of our questions when we asked to learn about the program firsthand was that about 40 to 30 percent of the participants do not remain in the program. Our question is where do they go if they are asked to leave the house? There is not an enforcement order. What was shared with us is that they do prefer that they be sent if they're caught breaking the rules and they're using to the emergency room, but they may not enforce that. They also prefer not to call law enforcement unless necessary. They are asked to leave the premise. Our concern is that we have a publicly open and available state resource that we like to have engaged outside of the regular confines of the working hours for our students. Our buildings are public buildings and they are mostly open. And so if they are asked to exit the home, is there a potential or possibility or safety concern that they are then, seeking shelter or resource on our campus. So for the university, our primary duty is the uncompromising safety of our students, our faculty, our staff. Parents entrust us with their young impressionable youth. And yes, they do make poor decisions. So the conversation about what the university and that population participates in is accurate. We work very hard to educate our students to work on wellness and programming to support those. We actually have some recovery programming that we offer to our students and again have offered to partner with Abundant Life on some of those resources. But to reiterate, the university's concern is more about the population that is unknown, not those that have chosen to do the hard work to brave this path and live with it day in, day out. There is no judgment. There is no question here on behalf of the University. Our concern is more about that 30 or 40 percent that does not successfully stay on that path.

Thank you. Before you go, can you speak to, you mentioned offering, we want to work in partnership with your organization. Can you shed some light, specific details, what you're proposing in terms of partnering with Abundant Life? And maybe comment to whether you received a response.

Sure. So I will say we met for the first time on Monday as we were notified late last week. So we had reached out, had a preliminary conversation and engaged with a group of representatives. It was Monday morning, I believe. So I will say we have not put a lot of detail behind the proposal because we're still exploring options. So I do want to be fair.

Because you received notice just to put a specific date on that. Are you talking July 8th then?

There's Jim in the room. I think we actually had a call and get a notice.

I don't know that. So why don't we call down again?

Do we have a date, Jim?

About a week.

Yeah, it's been about a week.

If you want to use one week as your reference, that's July 8th.

One week is fair, yes.

Right after the holiday. Correct.

So what we've offered is, so first of all, let me add some additional context. We have also put in a backup offer on the property. We were aware that St. John's is interested in the property. We also have put in a backup offer on the property. We have also offered to Abundant Life to take over the purchase agreement and then participate as an institution in sitting down with them as early as this week to discuss what the programming could look like in collaboration with the efforts that we already have ongoing on campus. as well as they had asked if we would potentially look at an alternative space for them. I want to be very clear, we do not have a current facility to offer as a swap for the property, but what we have said is that we would be open to discussions with our real estate team to support in any way that we could.

Because again, it's not questioning the the good work that the organization does, it's the fitness of the specific site.

Correct. And I will say, I mean, you know, when they talk about the success of the programs that they have currently and the homes that they operate currently, they are in a very different residential-based community than what this is. And so I love the fact that what they're doing is working, but this is a different audience. Our student population is a different audience. And so we just question, is this the right location, the right fit to cohabitate these populations?

Right. And in my view, I mean, I don't know. I don't know a lot about this type of program, but I see this as, in terms of the fitness it's, it's a bi-directional fit. It's not just do the residents fit as you're suggesting it does the location fit the nature of what's, what's being undertaken here. Yeah, absolutely. In my view, it's, it's a two, it's a, it's two way goodness of fit. So do you have anything?

I do not, unless you have any further questions.

Any questions? Thank you for your time. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Stephanie Taylor. I'm Vice President General Counsel for West Virginia University. I'm here on their behalf as well. With the Chairman's permission, and I'm happy to come up here again, I am going to talk about from a legal perspective, both the variance and the conditional use, if that's permitted. Thank you. So I think there's been a lot of, and I echo all of my colleagues' comments about the important work here that the Recovery House does and its important mission. But as we said, we do not think that this is the appropriate location for such a house. So from a conditional use perspective, I think one thing that's really important to note is there is no guarantee that abundant life would own this house forever or it would keep its policies as they do. Once the condition will use as granted, it is granted. And so although they've made the distinction about recovery house versus halfway house, it is granted as a conditional use as a halfway house. And I think that is important for the particular neighborhood and community that we have here for that particular purpose. And I do begin by asking you to keep in mind that Abundant voluntarily chose this location to operate knowing it didn't have onsite parking, despite that its business model and contemplating 30 residents plus the additional staff volunteers and services deliveries that need to come in. Abundance is asking the city to ignore the zoning requirements instead of implementing a more reasonable business model or instead of finding a location that can accommodate its particular business needs. Abundance explanation is that its residents don't have cars. I will note I believe Pastor Matt Johnson indicated that they have three cars for I think the eight or 14 residents. That was a little unclear. They're looking at 33 folks here. So that's either double or triple or even fourth from what they have. So we're looking at potentially based on that metric.

Imagine if WVU partnered with Abundant Life in this property and worked together on how the knowledge and the expertise could flow back and forth. That didn't feel very welcoming. I really

the conditional use for, and this part of the application, again, let me go back to the, I'm sorry. This is for CON 26-052. So we have a motion to grant the requested conditional use. Do we have a second? Second. Second by Mr. Misfeld. How do we vote? Nay.

Aye.

And now the variance is moot, correct? Or do we still need to vote on that? One second.

It wouldn't make any sense. I mean, as it is an agenda item, you could still vote on it. But since it is related to the use of the property, I'd be.

Can we just make a motion to moot it? Because it's become moot?

Right. I think that the board could make, and we could double check this at a later date, to acknowledge the denial of the conditional use. Therefore, variance is no longer necessary as the use was denied. And then if you're right, that would just be, I think that would probably be appropriate.

Okay. So I move to moot the second requested, and we want to be clear that this is agenda item B, VAR 26-051, Abundant Life Recovery Housing Network. We're moving to moot a vote on this requested variance because it's dependent upon approval of the conditional use.

Second.

Okay, so we have a motion to moot the second variance request. We have a second by Mr. Svelte and Mr. Martin. How do we vote? Aye. Okay, so we weren't able to grant your request for conditional use. You will receive correspondence from planning and They are, Mr. Thompson, you are available. for consultation with the applicant.

Yes, planning will follow up with an action letter and that will describe the denial and then any appeal or any decision made by this board can be rendered by the court of Mon County.

Yep, so yes, this can be, right, this can be appealed to the Montague County Court of Appeals. And again, circuit court, sorry. And, you know, anything in that appeals window, if you decide to move forward, you're doing your sole financial risk, but you will receive correspondence from planning. Correct. Thank you.

Thank you, Matthew.

Thank you.

Well, she's not going to, we do have to wait.

We'll probably, we'll give it a kind of a...

Any announcements from staff?

I would really quickly like to remind all members of the public that are here that the hearing isn't finished. We have some final announcements and then we need to actually close the hearing. So you are more than welcome to leave the hearing if you would like. However, please, if you are to remain, remain seated. Much appreciated. Sorry about that.

Nope, all good.

Do you have any announcements? So otherwise, the next meeting, regularly scheduled meeting, there will be cases for that. So there will be a regularly scheduled meeting in August. Additionally, at this moment, there's no additional announcements from staff, but I would like to request that some board members stay behind after just to discuss some things like the sign update and things unrelated to the hearing today. But just wanted to Please stay around. The city wants to talk to you about some other projects. But otherwise, there's no other announcements other than there's currently items for the next regular scheduled meeting.

Thank you very much. All right. Thank you. I move to adjourn. Second. So we have a motion to adjourn, seconded by Mr. Bispel. How do we vote? Aye. Aye. Thank you. This is a regular meeting.