ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Allentown Zoning Hearing Board on Monday night approved a “step-down” facility on the city’s East Side for people recovering from drug and alcohol addiction.
But a request to open a new boarding house fell flat as the applicant came without much information about their plans.
Eugene Baker sought relief from zoning ordinances to continue operating a “clean and sober” living house at 601 E. Westminster St.
He told zoning officials he runs five other recovery houses in Allentown.
“They come to our house to live a sober life and continue their recovery.”Eugene Baker, recovery-house operator
The recovery house is meant for people who need somewhere to stay after completing inpatient treatments, Baker said.
“They’re stepping down" their treatment, he said. "Most of the time, they don't want to go back home or they can’t go back home because of the relationships that they’ve kind of destroyed because of addiction.
“So they come to our house to live a sober life and continue their recovery.”
Baker said the house is neither a halfway house nor a drug-and-alcohol rehabilitation facility, as defined by Allentown's ordinances.
The facility can house up to six people at a time, including a “house manager” who leads other residents and looks after the home, Baker said.
Residents usually are “ready to move on” after staying for six months, though some need more time, he said.
Facility operator Westminster Homes of the Lehigh Valley has a zero-tolerance policy for drug and alcohol use in the home, though the overdose-reversing medication naloxone will be available in several areas, Baker said.
Baker also is seeking zoning relief for a recovery house at 26 N. Ellsworth St., but that hearing has not been scheduled.
Proposal paused
An Allentown property owner must come back before the Zoning Hearing Board after officials granted him a continuance Monday.
Zecharia Levi is seeking to convert a former counseling office at 1331 Hamilton St. into a rooming house with a dozen units, though the property is only permitted to have six.
Realtor Christina Trabosci argued Monday that zoners should grant a special exception for the property because “there’s a lot of people that need housing.”
“But the need of the community is not a zoning issue. That’s not how that works,” Zoning Hearing Board Chairman Scott Unger said Monday.
“We’re trying to really protect and build our neighborhood.”Resident Nicholas Butterfield
Unger encouraged Trabosci to consult with an attorney on the proposal.
Four residents objected to the rooming house Monday night, with several saying they don’t want it to “degrade” their neighborhood.
“I do not want to see our neighborhood degraded into boarding-type housing, which is not really very well controlled,” Nicholas Butterfield said.
“We’re trying to really protect and build our neighborhood.”
Resident Rachel Osborn said Levi and Trabosci “want to degrade our neighbor with something that is clearly not within the zoning ordinance.” Osborn called the small rooms “inhumane.”
All but one of the 12 rooms would offer less than 200 square feet of space, well short of the 250-square-foot minimum set by Allentown’s zoning ordinance, according to officials.
Each room would have a twin bed with a side table, a mini fridge and a dresser, realtor Christina Trabosci said.
