The Daily Advance, Elizabeth City, NC - Teen Challenge Dispute Heads to Mediation; Nonprofit Filed Suit Over Zoning Ruling
By Reggie Ponder, Staff Writer
The Daily Advance, Elizabeth City, North Carolina
The zoning dispute between the city and Albemarle Teen Challenge heads to mediation today over the nonprofits plan to operate a residential addiction recovery program for women in a historic house on West Main Street.
In February, the Elizabeth City Board of Zoning Adjustment upheld a ruling by city staff that prohibits Albemarle Teen Challenge from operating the drug treatment program at 203 W. Main Street, located at the edge of the citys central business district.
Frank and Holly Loyer of Albemarle Teen Challenge appealed Planning Director June Brooks determination that the facilitys proposed use most closely fits the definition of homeless shelter in the citys Unified Development Ordinance. The Loyers contend the residential facility would more closely match the definition of a boarding and rooming house.
In the wake of the Board of Adjustments decision, Albemarle Teen Challenge filed a lawsuit against the city.
Todays mediation session a closed meeting involving only a couple of representatives from each side is an effort to find a solution short of a court trial.
City Manager Rich Olson said the results of mediation would be sealed for now.
Any tentative agreement will go to City Council for consideration and then be presented to the court, Olson said.
But Mike Tadych, an attorney for the N.C. Press Association, said that while the mediation proceedings are closed to the public, once City Council agrees to a settlement the details will be a public record.
Albemarle Teen Challenge filed a lawsuit against the city in March in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. The suits seeks $300,000 in compensatory damages and also asks the court to block the city from applying ordinances and policies in a way that prevents Albemarle Teen Challenges exercise of constitutional and statutory rights in operating a residential addiction treatment center for women at 203 W. Main Street.
The house is historic and located within a historic district, and neighbors have complained an addiction recovery center would disrupt the character of the neighborhood.
The American Center for Law and Justice is representing Albemarle Teen Challenge in the case.
The lawsuit contends that city officials actions violate Albemarle Teen Challenges rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Housing Act and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000.
The city Planning Commission last year recommended rezoning the property from Central Business to Office-Institutional, which would have allowed the Loyers to operate the treatment center at the location. City Council denied the rezoning request at its regular meeting Oct. 6, citing inconsistency with land-use plans.
Later that month, Albemarle Teen Challenge notified the Planning Department it planned to request a permit as a boarding house.