The Jefferson County Council has denied a rezoning request that would have allowed a homeless rehabilitation facility to open in the Mapaville area between Festus and Hillsboro, but the pastor who is leading the effort behind the plan said the matter may not be a done deal.
The County Council voted 3-2 on Monday, Nov. 14, to approve a resolution denying the request from the New Hope Fellowship Church in High Ridge.
Council members Renee Reuter (District 2, Imperial), Charles Groeteke (District 4, Barnhart) and Scott Seek (District 5, Festus) voted to deny the request, and Phil Hendrickson (District 3, Arnold) and Dan Stallman (District 6, De Soto) voted in favor of the proposed facility.
Council members Brian Haskins (District 1, High Ridge) and Vicky James (District 7, Cedar Hill) were absent.
About 150 people, some supporting and some opposing the rezoning request, packed into the assembly room at the Jefferson County Administration Center in Hillsboro to hear the vote.
New Hope officials were seeking to rezone 28.19 acres at 3627 Baptist Park Road from single-family residential to planned mixed use to accommodate the facility, which would be named the New Hope Outreach Center.
In addition to transition housing, the center would offer counseling, health and job training services.
The site, now owned by Jefferson Baptist Association, has three buildings, as well as ballfields that formerly used by the group of Baptist churches.
New Hope Pastor Dan Ross, who is leading the project, said after the vote that he would meet soon with officials from the church to plan their next move.
“This is a sad day for Jefferson County,” Ross said. “Comtrea alone has said that they will see at least 500 unduplicated homeless people in the county before the end of the year.”
Ross said he believed the property’s current R-20 residential zoning, which allows two homes per acre, would allow the ministry to construct small homes on the site as an alternative.
“Because of (the current zoning), we can put individual homes or tiny homes on the property and still help the homeless,” he said.
Ross said under that setup, residents would have to be taken off-site to receive services.
He also said under that plan, the property would not need to to be fenced in with a single entry point, as was proposed under the proposal that was denied.
Ross said he and his staff at New Hope Fellowship are not the only ones disappointed by the vote.
“Many other people came on board this effort – including our partners, Comtrea, the Health Department, the Jefferson-Franklin Community Action Corporation and Mercy Hospital Jefferson – but the difference is the county is not on board. They’ve told us loud and clear that they don’t care for the homeless, with the exception of the council members who voted for us and the ones who weren’t here tonight. We still want to help the homeless. Unfortunately, the county doesn’t want to stand with us.”
Ross said he felt particularly spurned because the initiative started with County Executive Dennis Gannon approaching him for possible solutions to assist the county’s homeless population.
“Yes, we talked about it,” Gannon said after the meeting. “We had several discussions, but I didn’t select the location or the plan. There is still a problem to solve, if we can find the right place.”
Gannon advised the crowd before the vote that the council’s decision on the proposal was not to be construed as an emotional one.
“The resolution is not whether Jefferson County wants or needs a homeless shelter,” he said, “but whether it is properly zoned. This is a planning and zoning issue.”
After the meeting, Seek said that’s how he approached his vote to deny the request.
“It really had to do with the zoning situation,” he said. “The zoning is for single-family residential. But I think Jefferson County needs to definitely add a homeless facility. Hopefully we can all work together to find a solution.”
Reuter essentially concurred.
“I’ve been working with several groups the last couple of years to address the homelessness issue,” she said. “I am against it because of the location, but I’m not against the homeless.”
Ross dismissed such comments.
“They can say they’re not against the homeless, but they unfortunately don’t want to do anything about it,” he said. “They don’t want to stand with us.”
Hendrickson and Stallman, who voted to allow the rezoning, said they recognized the flaws in New Hope’s proposal.
“The need for a homeless center in this county is large,” Hendrickson said. “I’m not necessarily crazy about the location, but we need to take a step forward to address the homeless issue.”
Stallman agreed.
“I think we need to give Dan Ross and his organization a chance to try this, despite what Planning and Zoning has said.”
The county’s Planning and Zoning Commission, which advises the County Council on land-use issues in incorporated areas, voted 4-2 to recommend denial of the plan after a public hearing on Oct. 27 that also attracted a standing-room only crowd.