Albany City Commission shoots down request allowing group home for former inmates in 6-1 vote

ALBANY — After hearing last week from some dozen opponents of a proposed rezoning application that would have allowed a transitional housing center for former prison inmates, the Albany City Commission took little time Tuesday in voting it down.

In a 6-1 vote, commissioners decided on Tuesday to deny the request to rezone a 525 W. Fifth Ave. residence from a designation of C-5 for residential/institutional/business use to C-R, which allows for community residential occupancy.

Owner Kathia Collins told commissioners during an April 20 hearing that, if approved, she planned to house up to four women who had been released from incarceration at Refugio de Salvacion/Haven of Hope. Collins has operated the center as a residence for female victims of domestic violence and their children for 15 years.

Residents from the historic Rawson Circle neighborhood spoke against the rezoning request, citing issues of loss of property value and public safety.

Ward VI Commissioner Demetrius Young, who cast the sole vote against denying the request, said that the neighborhood is separated from the residence by Tift Park. Because the house is located in a mixed-use district that includes other businesses and medical facilities, he said he did not think it was out of character for the purpose requested by Collins.

Unlike a request denied last year on rezoning for a boy’s home, the owner in this case is local and has a track record, Young said during a telephone interview on Wednesday.

“She’s been there since 2006 and hasn’t had any problems,” he said. “She’s trying to start something that’s needed, and everybody recognizes is needed.

“The clientele she serves, these are women who are looking to re-establish their lives. These are women with families.”

One potential way to smooth the way for such ventures in the future, in Young’s estimation, is for owners to get out and speak with potential neighbors in an area and have them become familiar with each other.

“This thing really gets down to communication,” he said.

The goal for a facility to assist women readjusting after spending time in prison is a worthy one, Ward III Commissioner B.J. Fletcher said on Wednesday, but commissioners put great weight on the pulse of the nearby residents in making the decision.

In addition to speakers who voiced opposition, residents presented a petition with nearly 200 signatures of those who did not want the center located near their homes.

“I don’t think there’s one person who isn’t behind people getting out of prison and transitioning,” Fletcher said. “(But) they have the right to say this particular neighborhood is one of the neighborhoods that, financially, spent tons of money preserving and restoring. The fact is they are a family-oriented neighborhood, one of the only ones we have left.”

Fletcher suggested that in the future potential operators of group living facilities seek out parts of the city where zoning already allows that use.

“As many properties as there are in this community that are zoned for purposes like that, I’d like to see them reach out to neighborhoods where it’s zoned,” she said. “I’m never going to shy away from the fact the neighborhood’s needs are a big influence on me.”

In another zoning case, the commission voted unanimously to rezone 0.95 acres at 223 Philema Road from C7c mixed-use planning district to a designation of C-5 office/industrial/residential use.

The applicant, ARMJ Investments LLC, plans to construct an 18-unit apartment building at the location.

Staff Photo: Alan Mauldin