The applicant for a use permit that would have allowed a house in northeast Jackson to provide transitional housing withdrew his application before the Jackson City Council could consider it.
Ester Ainsworth, zoning administrator for the city of Jackson, received a phone call from Daniel Awabdy, pastor and director of CareCenter Ministries Mississippi, on May 19 during which he withdrew his application for the permit that would have allowed the house at 1623 Kent Ave. to provide transitional housing for seven to 12 residents within the R-1A (Single Family Residential District).
Kent Avenue is located one block south of the intersection of Ridgewood Road and East Northside Drive.
The city council was scheduled to vote on the use permit on May 19.
Ainsworth said Awabdy told her his organization had found another space more conducive to what they’re doing. “The intent is to move out of the house,” she said.
The Jackson Planning and Zoning Board split its vote evenly during its April meeting about whether the house should be approved for a use permit in order to provide transitional housing.
Four members of the planning board voted in favor of granting the use permit, and four members voted against it during the April 23 meeting.
The city’s planning staff recommended the use permit be allowed on an annual basis and that subsequent owners or operators of the transitional housing at that location apply for and receive a new use permit. The staff also advised Awabdy to refrain from making any type of changes to the property without the proper review and approval.
The zoning application lists these staff findings: “The planning staff found that the requirements for granting a use permit had been met based upon the proposed use being compatible with the character of development in the vicinity relative to density, bulk and intensity of structures, parking and other uses. Staff has also found that the applicants have created an additional parking area without obtaining the proper review and required permits.”
The Kent Avenue house has been the location of a “faith-based discipleship program for women facing life controlling issues” since 2019, Awabdy said about two weeks before withdrawing the application.
CareCenter Ministries operates the Tree of Life, “a one-year, residential discipleship program for women dealing with life-controlling issues such as addiction, homelessness and/or incarceration,” according to its website.
Just one staff member lives at the Kent Avenue house, Awabdy said, and no one else there is a permanent resident who receives mail there.
CareCenter Ministries planned to add two bedrooms and a shower to the house and in applying for a building permit learned that it would also need to obtain a use permit, he said.
The house is up for sale because CareCenter Ministries wants to move the discipleship program to a building across the street from its church, which is located at 785 N. President St., that it has a contract to buy.
The contract of the building on North President Street is contingent upon the sale of the house on Kent Avenue, he said.
Judy Everett, president of the WWH (Winchester, Wilhurst and Highland Terrace) Neighborhood Association, said she admires the kind of work CareCenter Ministries does but believes there are more suitable housing locations.
