Correction: Chad Green, a Capitol Zoning District Commission member, voted both last year and this year for a permit allowing a historic house on South Broadway to be used as a substance-abuse recovery home. Commissioner Albert Hurst, who changed his vote to be in favor of the permit this year, is not the former chairman. This article about the permit approval misidentified Hurst and gave a wrong last name for Green.
A meeting to decide whether a recovery house can continue operating in a historic home on South Broadway in Little Rock took a distinctly different tone Thursday than the same discussion last year when a state commission refused to issue a permit.
The Capitol Zoning District Commission voted 8-0, with one abstention, on Thursday to issue Muskie Harris a conditional-use permit authorizing him to operate his transitional housing program for substance-abuse offenders at 2000 S. Broadway.
In February of last year, the commission voted 6-2, with one commissioner absent, against issuing the permit. Since that time, Harris has filed an appeal in Pulaski County Circuit Court. There are also three new commissioners including a new chairman.
Thursday's discussion focused more on the conditions of the use of the home than on who would be living there. The zoning district's staff has always recommended approval of the permit. The district's attorney has opined that denial based on the fact that occupants are recovering from alcohol and drug abuse would be a violation of the federal Fair Housing Act because recovering addicts are considered disabled.
Commissioner Amber Jones abstained from Thursday's vote. She was one of the main critics of Harris' operation last year when she voted against his application.
Four commissioners who previously voted against the permit in meetings last year changed their vote to yes -- Albert Hurst, who was the former chairman, Tommy Jameson, Carla Davis and Brian Minyard.
Commissioner Chad Jones, who supported the permit last year, voted yes.
New Commissioners Michael Hutchinson and Beverly Hood Jones also voted in favor, as did the new chairman, Kelly Eichler.
The pale green Queen Anne-style, two-story house at 2000 S. Broadway has been used for a substance-free transitional recovery program since October 2013. Harris signed an initial two-year lease-to-purchase agreement without realizing the home sat in the Governor's Mansion Historic District, which is subject to special zoning codes of the Capitol Zoning District Commission.
In order to operate a rooming house, Harris has to get a yearly permit from the commission or he will be in violation of the district's zoning codes.
Harris is court-approved to accept offenders into his program, which isn't a treatment facility. Offenders come to the program after treatment as a court condition to live in a drug-and-alcohol-free environment. The program assists participants in finding jobs and staying sober.
They typically finish the program anywhere from six to 18 months after enrolling once their case goes through the courts. Many times, judges will consider the program as a form of alternative sentencing and defer incarceration if the offender proves he has recovered.
Since October 2013, Harris has helped 27 offenders through the program, which can take up to 10 participants at a time.
"I got them productive, constructive and reunited them with their family. What better operation can you have as a business than this?" Harris said. "We are not in a neighborhood to tear it down. I live in this city. I was born in this city. I want to do everything I can to be great neighbors. ... We know we are going to be critiqued and singled out. No one wants this type of service in their neighborhood. They want it in the woods, away from everyone and that's the dream location. But that's unrealistic."
Harris said he will have to consult his attorney regarding what happens with the Circuit Court appeal now that the commission has granted the permit. The appeal was based on the argument of discrimination against a protected class -- the disabled.
"My gut says go all the way to federal court so there is a legal footprint for transitional homes. Every city and county wants to hang you when you try to put it in their neighborhood. Zoning boards and attorneys say this is the procedure and these homes do fit under this criteria, but then they put 50 things in there that you can't meet and make you run away. That seems to be the footprint all around to keep transitional homes out in certain areas," Harris said.
Thursday's issuance is conditional upon a number of factors including that no one uses drugs while living at the house and that no sex offenders live there. Harris drug-tests participants twice weekly. If a participant relapses, they are kicked out and sent back through the court system. If someone is caught and then kicked out, that doesn't violate the permit, the commission said Thursday.
Metro on 04/17/2015