Festus city officials are mulling over a proposal for a transitional home for people who have completed a drug treatment program to open in a house on North Adams Street.
Karleene Fortney of Festus, owner of the house at 122 N. Adams St., submitted an application for a conditional-use permit for the transitional home on behalf of ACPD (Austin Christopher Paul Deno), a nonprofit organization that supports people trying to get back on their feet after battling drug addiction.
Fortney said the intent is to provide temporary housing for up to five people at a time under supervision.
“It’s for people who have completed drug treatment,” she said.
On Nov. 17, the Festus Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval for the conditional-use permit, but the Festus City Council must sign off before the permit is granted.
The City Council members discussed the request at their Nov. 29 meeting and said they needed more information and voted 7-0 to table the matter until their next meeting on Monday, Dec. 19.
That meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Festus City Hall, 711 W. Main St.
The property is zoned B-3 (for downtown business use) and the applicants are asking for a conditional-use permit to operate it as a “lodging house,” which is allowed as a conditional use under B-3 zoning.
Fortney and Art Deno, who runs ACPD in memory of his son, Austin, who died of a drug overdose, spoke to the council at the Nov. 29 meeting.
Fortney said she once lived in the house and is donating the use of the house to ACPD hoping to improve the lives of those who have battled drug addiction.
She said she has a child who has fought drug addiction.
Deno, who lives in St. Louis, said the program intended for the house will be called ATL, for Austin’s Transitional Living.
He said the transitional housing is badly needed in Jefferson County.
“Here’s what ACPD does,” he said. “Before my son passed, he wanted to start a second-chance program. When we were trying to get help for our son, no one would give him the time of day.
“There is no service like this in Jefferson County, an aftercare.”
Deno said he understands why council members tabled the issue.
“I wasn’t disheartened at all,” Deno said. “The community has the right to be concerned about what goes on in their community. We want to be as transparent as possible. (The council) wants to understand what’s coming to the community.”
Ward 2 Councilman Brian Wehner was absent from the meeting.