Youth home request for “reasonable accommodation” rejected

The County Council voted unanimously Tuesday to deny a request for a “reasonable accommodation” from the Elevated Youth Services organization to establish a 16-bed residential treatment home for “sexually problematic youth” at a Walter Scott Drive location in West Union.

The vote came after an executive session to receive legal advice.

County attorney David Root said the council’s decision still leaves the organization the option of making an application for a special exception under the county’s zoning ordinances.

The organization had pursued its reasonable accommodation request under the auspices of the Federal Fair Housing Act.

Homeowners proximate to the proposed residential treatment home and other residents of the Burns Mills subdivision crowded the council chamber Tuesday to express their opposition to the request. Most of those who spoke out in opposition said the organization’s request was an attempted “end run” around restrictions on the property designed to protect the property values and neighborhood.

Scott Arnold, who described his home as being across the road from the proposed group home, said the use of the property for such a facility was a clear violation of the covenants of the subdivision that restricted the properties to single-family residential use.

Ashley Ayers, who lives two homes away from the proposed group home property, described her own rape at the age of 20 and said if the request was granted, the save haven she considered her home to be would be lost. She would not, she said, feel safe walking around her neighborhood or even on her own property.

Ayers received a standing ovation from those gathered in opposition for telling of her own experiences, which she said she had never done before in public.