B&B change now off planner’s table
- Published: February 5, 2014
This week the potential change in use of a village bed and breakfast to allow an intervention program for those convicted of drunk driving and other offenses, which had stirred up concern among neighbors, came to a halt when the potential buyer withdrew her conditional use permit application.
The Village Planning Commission, at its Feb. 10 meeting, was scheduled to consider a conditional use request by the Arthur Morgan House, a bed and breakfast at 120 Limestone St., to allow a Driver Intervention Program to operate there under a new owner.
A court-ordered Driver Intervention Program is an alternative to jail for first-time offenders arrested for operating a vehicle while impaired, a citation called an OVI.
While the Arthur Morgan House is an approved bed and breakfast within the Residence B zoning district, the Planning Commission was going to review, and potentially modify, its conditional use permit in light of the new use.
However, on Tuesday of this week the conditional use permit application was pulled.
Lisa Houser-Thomas, a local resident and owner of the Yellow Springs-based Addiction Resource Center Inc., had hoped to purchase the Arthur Morgan House to operate a 72-hour residential program there three of four weekends each month. The rest of the time, during weekdays and on one weekend each month, Houser-Thomas had planned to operate as a typical bed and breakfast.
Several neighbors of the Arthur Morgan House were organizing this week to convince the Planning Commission to deny the conditional use request. They said that the new program will attract people to their neighborhood that could threaten their safety and that it might harm property values.
Houser-Thomas said this week she withdrew her application because of the initial negative reaction from the community. She has not yet decided when, or even if, she would continue to pursue the purchase of the bed and breakfast for Driver Intervention Programs.
Read the Feb. 6 edition of the News for the full story.
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