Published: April 24, 2008 05:24 pm      

Shelter denied zoning

Council says no after neighbors object to location

The Alvarado City Council denied a zoning request on Monday from a woman who intends to open a shelter for battered women and children.

Brenda Ford had approached the council about commercially spot-zoning an abandoned medical office in the 200 block of East Purdom Street, said Debbie Thomas, city secretary.

The council denied the request because of the office’s location in the middle of a major residential area, Thomas said.

Spot-zoning occurs when one location is separated from a surrounding area and zoned for a different use.

“The council did not object to the shelter, but [Ford] wanted to have it spot-zoned in a residential area and we couldn’t do that,” Thomas said.

Zoning options include two types of commercial property, two types of industrial property and several types of residential and institutional property, said Sharon Vass of the city’s planning and development services.

Vass said Ford could have asked for an institutional spot-zone but probably would still have been denied a zoning change.

Ford’s zoning request was denied after some residents objected to the shelter being placed in their neighborhood.

“The commercial zone was kind of a scary thing for the other residents,” Vass said. “If the shelter didn’t work out, that opens up the property to any other type of commercial business that wants to be there, from gas stations to restaurants. And this is in the middle of a major residential zone.

“Most of the residents fully supported the idea of opening a shelter but said they just didn’t want it next door to their homes,” Vass said.

Also, battered women’s shelters are usually in undisclosed locations, Vass said.

Ford said she has chosen an alternative location for the shelter in Cleburne and is discussing funding the shelter with assistance from Chesapeake Energy.

Ford has been helping battered women and children for years by allowing them to stay in her own home and obtained the East Purdom Street property when an unknown person donated it to Ford, Thomas said.

The abandoned property had been a medical office. Thomas said the property has been Ford’s for a few years.