IRONIC DECISION

Earlier this week, the Erie Zoning Hearing Board rejected a request from an
Erie church for a variance to operate a drug and alcohol treatment center
for men in the 500-block of West Fourth Street.

The board majority justified their vote on the grounds that the area is
already saturated with tax-exempt, non-profit and social service agencies.

The First Assembly of God, 8150 Oliver Road, had planned to convert two
homes at 555 and 556 W. 4th St. into a group home as part of its Teen
Challenge program. (This program offers academics, vocational education,
and Bible studies.)

Fred Williams, the executive director of the nearby Martin Luther King
Center, 312 Chestnut St., commented that "while I don't have anything
against their program ... there is an oversaturation of these types of
social service programs in this area. Housing is needed ... not group homes."

There are two sides here:

The zoning board and Williams have a point about placing too many group
homes or social service agencies in one neighborhood. Group homes are not
supposed to be isolated islands; they are supposed to exist in
neighborhoods. Too many of them, and the neighborhood vanishes.

But notice the irony! The homes in question are already boarded up and
abandoned. No families are about to move into them. How does Erie or the
neighborhood benefit?

Suggestion:

What can the zoning board do to bring more families here? No one expects
them to solve this problem alone, but they are closer to it than most of
us. Their insight might be valuable.