P&Z BACKS TREATMENT CENTER PLAN

The Cape Girardeau Planning and Zoning Commission Wednesday recommended that the City Council approve plans for a drug and alcohol treatment facility on the corner of Linden Street and West End Boulevard.

The commission also recommended denial of a special use permit for a mobile home at the rear of 1033 N. Fountain.

The Society for the Propagation of the Faith and Family Counseling Center requested that the lot at the corner of West End and Linden be rezoned and that a special use permit be granted for the facility.

The site is across the street from the former WISER Inc. building, a similar treatment facility that closed last year. It's also situated across from the Cape County Public Health Center and the Council on the Aging and adjacent to Southeast Missouri Halfway House Inc.

Commissioners said the treatment facility would be appropriate in that area.

"The project itself would be a big benefit to the whole area," said Commissioner Dennis Vollink. "I think the area is a perfect spot for this type of development."

Part of the site currently is zoned multiple-family residential and part is commercially zoned. The commission recommended the entire lot be zoned commercial. The treatment facility also requires a special use permit.

The Family Counseling Center also must seek a variance from the city's Board of Adjustment because zoning laws require a 350-foot buffer between such treatment facilities. The Southeast Missouri Halfway House is only about 150 feet from the proposed site of the Family Counseling Center.

Chairman Thomas Holshouser said the commission could recommend that the 350-foot requirement be changed, but other commissioners said they would oppose such a change.

The matter was discussed at the Sept. 3 City Council meeting, when Mayor Gene Rhodes questioned the buffer requirement. The council took no action on the matter.

Richard Kuntze, a local attorney, represented the center in its request. He said the planned 17,500-square-foot center would treat women and children, primarily for alcohol problems.

Myra Callahan, executive director of the center, said the facility would treat up to 16 women and 10 children under 12 years of age. She said the average length of stay for those patients receiving residential care would be about 30 days.

But she said the program includes outpatient treatment and counseling that lasts up to three years.

Eunice Seabaugh requested the special use permit to place a mobile home on the lot of her home at 1033 N. Fountain. She said her daughter, Caroline, who lives in northern Illinois, wants to live closer to her.

Seabaugh said her daughter has multiple sclerosis and she wants to be able to help care for her.

But commissioners recommended the council deny the permit. They said it would set a bad precedent and likely would lead to other requests for mobile homes in areas not appropriately zoned.

"Your situation might warrant it, but we're opening a can of worms for a lot of other people to come forward with the same request," said Commissioner Tom Mogelnicki.

Commissioner Charles Haubold suggested that Seabaugh instead build an addition to her home and let her daughter live there.

"It would be easier if she could maintain her independence, as I would mine," said Seabaugh.

But the commission contended that an addition would cost less than placing the mobile home on the lot, which would require substantial grading.

"I have some of the same reservations (Mogelnicki) has," said Vollink. "Any time we grant a special use permit for a mobile home when it's not zoned for it, a precedence is set and we have problems in the future."

Commissioner Harry Rediger said that while he was sympathetic to Seabaugh's situation, he also thought it would open the door to similar requests in the future.

"I think there's an alternative solution by adding on to her house," added Mogelnicki. "If there was no alternative, it might be something we'd have to take a closer look at."

In other business, the commission unanimously approved a motion to endorse the city's purchase of the Cape Girardeau water works system. The commission also approved record plats for Ashland Hills Estates Eighth Subdivision and Randol Farms Fourth Addition.