The Connecticut Post reports: About a dozen current and former residents of an East Broadway half-way house for recovering alcoholics and drug addicts clashed with neighbors this week at a public hearing over whether more than just the 15 house residents can attend 12-step meetings in a new barn on the property.
Residents of the Harry Rosen House and their sponsors made impassioned pleas to the Board of Zoning Appeals late Tuesday asking that the 12-step meetings be open to more than the 15 house residents allowed under BZA approval granted in September. They asked that as many as 35 sponsors, alumni and guests also be allowed at the meetings.
The board, however, voted 4-1 to deny the request without prejudice.
As result, Rosen House officials now plan to "file legal action in federal court under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Federal Fair Housing Act that I believe we will prevail on," said John Colleran, the lawyer representing the house at 859 East Broadway.
To read the full article, go to http://www.connpost.com/localnews/ci_11139693
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5 comments:
We must be careful not to scapegoat recovering individuals who are in my opinion part of the solution to improving the community at large. The American Medical Association has recognized Alcoholism/Addiction as a disease therefore, it is protected under the Americans with Disability Act The real problem is that Stratford's elected officials need to take responsibility for enacting sensible zoning and ordinance laws and enforce them. These should address and prevent the many "boarding houses" which are illegally renting to individuals and families in our community. Many of these homeowners/landlords are generating tax free income. The town does not get any residuals and the community is negatively impacted. Many if not all of these homes are not equipped with the proper fire safety codes to be multi-family dwellings. Therefore, this endangers many of our historic homes and treasures. In order to prevent the continued disregard for preserving our town, restricting parking on street in the historic district after dusk will deter many of these potential room renters from seeking housing in these homes. The two above actions will have a tremendous impact on our community and will enable us to preserve our sense of community and safety which we cherish.
This is an outrage! The people residing in the Harry Rosen House are in NO way a threat to the community. I personally know a few of the residents there, and yes, they have a problem...BUT they are living in this house to work on those problems so that they can become more productive members of society. I have never been an alocoholic or a drug addict, but I know part of the 12-step program is to go to meetings and obtain a sponsor to work the steps to maintain sobriety. And as far as the parking goes, the street is lined with cars that are parked there for the train station! The meetings at this house Wednesday nights from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m., and ONLY on Wednesdays, and is attended by members of the house. Where is the parking issue!? Maybe you should be asking for a bigger parking lot for the train station! The people living in this house would like to remain anonymous...that is part of the program as well...and complaining about ONE meeting a week is hindering that anonymity!
By the way...YOU SAID IT!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Locomotive Breath
One of the neighborhood’s, and the town’s, most significant infrastructure challenges is the lack of a parking facility for the railroad station, which leaves surrounding streets choked with parked cars — many not from Stratford — every weekday. It’s both a public-safety and quality-of-life issue that affects many OSNA members.
In response State Sen. Dan Debicella (R-21) and State Rep. John Harkins (R-120) have organized a public meeting this evening, 6:30 p.m. in the Lovell Room of the Stratford Public Library. Also attending will be a representative of the state’s Department of Transportation, which will discuss work ConnDOT is currently doing at the station.
Here’s the link to today's Stratford Star story: http://www.acorn-online.com/joomla15/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8777:meeting-thursday-to-focus-on-train-station&catid=186:local-news&Itemid=517
To avoid paying to park in the surface lot at the railroad station, Metro North commuters clog surrounding streets including Linden Avenue (pictured).
Posted by Old Stratford Neighborhood Association at 9:50 AM
Lisa in my opinion there is a parking problem, not just as a result of the train station - which I agree something does need to be done about. The point is if there are parking ordinances enforced on the streets in Stratford, it discourages illegal rentals - renters are typically the ones using the streets for parking- With stricter parking oridinances, as Kevin mentioned, it will tremendously help transient renters from seeking temporary and illegal housing in Stratford... Nobody does anything about it. Eventually it will be the common place for burglaries because we will continue encouraging transient neighbors who are renting and not upkeeping properties.
I don't see where anyone here is complaining about the Rosen house as a threat to this community, in fact I think you missed the entire point of that message. The message is that the Rosen House is NOT the problem in this community and "we must be careful not to scapegoat it." The point is to control for the continuation of homeowners cutting up historic properties and putting renters in there. If you ordinance the streets for parking, renters can't live here! And homeowners wouldn't benefit from renting out these beautiful historic homes! It's the only sensible way to keep our beautiful historic homes and streets from being flooded with renters.. This has nothing to do with the Rosen House...
I was referring to this information which was posted on this website...
3) Public Safety Issue A — During meeting times so many cars are parked on East Broadway that it is impossible for northbound Elm Street traffic to safely turn left onto East Broadway.
This is impossible due to the fact that there is only one meeting a week. I know the house manager and I spoke with him the other day to get the facts before I posted. He advised me that there is ONE meeting a week and the only people who attend are the residents of the house. So how is there a public safety issue? I have been to the Harry Rosen House on many occasions just to check up on friends to see how they are doing, because they need a support system in order to remain strong enough to maintain sobriety and keep working the 12-step program. I know it is difficult to see around the cars that are parked up to the end of the driveway, but these are people who go to the train station. The people who live in the Harry Rosen House know not to park too close to the driveway and most who have cars use the driveway. They even put cones at the end of the driveway to prevent people from parking there, but I don't think that did much good.
I was also referring to this...
4) Public Safety Issue B — A Rosen House resident is alleged to have been responsible for at least two recent attempted break-ins: one on east Broad Street, and one at the vacant Slater home at 2175 Elm Street.
This paragraph makes it seem like the Rosen House is place for criminals. He is "alleged" to have been responsible for these break-ins. It does not mean that this resident definitely committed these crimes.
If the residents of the Harry Rosen House choose to park their cars in front of the house, they should be able to do so. The Rosen House is a boarding house, and each resident is required to pay weekly rent. It is not an illegal boarding house where the owner of the home is just trying to get extra income to pay the mortgage and other bills without having to report it.
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