The Jackson Planning and Zoning Board is evenly split on whether a use permit should be granted so a house in northeast Jackson could provide transitional housing.
Daniel Awabdy, pastor and director of CareCenter Ministries Mississippi, applied for a use permit that would allow 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.
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 planning board is designated by the Jackson City Council as the advisory committee to the city of Jackson in zoning matters.
The city’s planning staff recommended the use permits 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 city council is scheduled to vote on the matter during its May 19 meeting.
Mitch Monsour, a member of the planning board, voted against granting the use permit because he considers transitional housing “a slippery slope” and a threat to the neighborhood.
The Kent Avenue house has been the location of a faith-based discipleship program for women for about three years, Awabdy said.
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 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 Kent Avenue five-bedroom, three-bath house, which was built in 1954 and contains about 2,000 square feet, is listed for sale for $234,000.
CareCenter Ministries has a contract to buy a building near its church, which is located at 785 N. President St., that is contingent upon the sale of the house on Kent Avenue, Awabdy said.
The church has a Sunday service that 100-125 people attend and opens its food pantry on Wednesdays for distributions from 10:30-11 a.m. Having all the ministries in closer proximity would be more convenient, he said.
The city’s zoning ordinance defines transitional housing as “housing designed to assist persons in obtaining skills necessary for independent living in permanent housing. Transitional housing is housing in which:
- An organization provides a program of therapy, counseling or training for the residential occupants;
- The organization operating the program is licensed or authorized by the state of Mississippi; or
- The program is for the purpose of assisting the residential occupants in one or more areas including but not limited to:
(a) Protection from abuse or neglect;
(b) Developing skills necessary to adjust to life;
(c) Adjusting to living with the handicaps of physical disability;
(d) Adjusting to living with the handicaps of emotional or mental disorder or mental retardation.
(e) Limited non-permanent detoxification programs, even if under criminal justice supervision; or
(f) Readjusting to society while housed under criminal justice supervision including, but not limited to, pre-release, work-release or probationary programs.
Judy Everett serves as the president of the WWH (Winchester, Wilhurst and Highland Terrace) Neighborhood Association, which is about a half mile from Kent Avenue.
She said her biggest concern is that seven to 12 residents in a single-family house is a lot of people.
“We dealt with seven people in a rental property and that was awful for a three-bedroom house,” she said. “I don’t see where anybody would think that is OK. You’ve got parking as an issue.”
Everett said she admires the kind of work that organizations such as CareCenter Ministries do but she believes there are more suitable housing locations for its residential program.
The integrity of neighborhoods in northeast Jackson needs to be preserved and residents must help do that, Everett said.
Ashby Foote, who represents Ward 1 on the city council, said he believes transitional housing can be traumatic to a neighborhood.
“I hope we can deal with it in a professional manner,” he said.
