Homeless shelter nearing reality

Revised plan approved; shared parking agreement among conditions for permit

Geauga County is a step closer to having its first homeless shelter. Chardon Planning Commission this week unanimously approved a use variance allowing Geauga Faith Rescue Mission to create an emergency shelter in the C-3 Traditional Commercial District.

The Mission will use the vacant house at 339 Washington St. It was in negotiations to lease the property when the commission reviewed an informal proposal in February.

At the time, commission members expressed concern about the number of occupants and lack of parking.

“The use variance works here due to several factors,” Councilman and Planning Commission member Andrew K. Blackley said. “(One is) the smaller client size, which works with the size of the building.”

The Mission originally proposed housing 10 men on the site. The formal plan involved providing overnight accommodations for up to six men.

The organization also is working on a shared parking agreement with Chardon United

The Mission will use the vacant house at 339 Washington St.

Methodist Church for overfill parking for staff and volunteers. The church is about a mile away at 515 North St.

Evidence of the agreement is among five conditions that must be met before the Mission may obtain an occupancy permit, Blackley said.

In May, Mission Vice President Nathan Long had presented an alternative plan to build a onefloor shelter on 1.5 acres on Wilson Mills south of Tap Root Yoga.

The property would have allowed for expansion to serve up to 30 people, including women and children.

Two residents spoke in opposition to the use at the site, and commission members cited lack of sidewalks on a busy road and the impact of security lighting in the neighborhood.

Another question raised was where the clients would come from. Similar facilities indicate that 85 to 90 percent of residents served would be from inside the county, Long said.

Housing is the mostrequested service in the county, based on calls to United Way Geauga’s 211 hotline. Calls for a homeless shelter, specifically, increased from 51 requests to 77 last year.

Currently, those callers must be directed to shelters in other counties.

GOOGLE IMAGE, CIRCA JULY 2017 Geauga Faith Rescue Mission seeks a permit to use this house at 339 Washington St. for a men’s emergency shelter/ transitional housing facility.