High emotions, delayed decision on Exeter homeless center

EXETER — It was a long night, filled with more than four hours of detailed and emotional public testimony on Tuesday as the Zoning Board of Adjustment re-heard Seacoast Family Promise's case for a special zoning exception for a homeless day center.

And the case remains open, with a decision delayed until March 31.

Neighbors who objected strongly to the center's relocation from Stratham to 27 Hampton Road in Exeter, where it would abut several single family homes and the Hunter Place neighborhood, spoke at length. They expressed concerns about security and the type of clientele SFP would be serving as well as worry that their property values would be negatively affected.

"You're opening Pandora's box," said one resident to the board. Another resident came close to tears as he expressed his concern about the day center changing the character of his neighborhood.

SFP's attorney as well as numerous community members spoke in support of the application, urging the board to consider the facility "a community building." A former resident of SFP, now back on her feet also spoke emotionally about the facility's mission and what she saw as residents' misconceptions about the facility, calling SFP her "saving grace."

By the end of public testimony, the clock was nearing midnight, and the board, clearly tired and weary reluctantly agreed to continue their deliberations at a later date.

Directors of the homeless assistance day center, currently located in the Stratham Community Church, had applied for a special exception to relocate their facility to 27 Hampton Road, which is located in the residential, R-2 zone.

The pushback from neighbors and abutters in November was significant, and the ZBA eventually denied SFP's application, determining that they failed to meet three criteria for the special exception.

At their Jan. 20 meeting after discussing SFP’s request for a re-hearing board members voted unanimously to grant it. The board found that they may have "erred in several findings on which the decision was based," according to the motion by Vice-chair John Hauschildt.

Tuesday night, the board heard arguments from Sharon Somers, SFP's attorney, Portsmouth land use attorney Derek Durbin and neighboring residents.

Though testimony on both sides was emotional at times, the debate often came down to minutiae within the language of the zoning ordinance, with both sides arguing the definitions of "recreation," "community" and even the significance of the word "and."

SFP Board Chair Karey Kelly stressed to the board the "unusual model" of their day center, which only admits families with children under 18, and then only after rigorous drug and background screening.

According to Kelly, the day center would host an average of three to four families at a time, with 70 percent of the adults, on average, being employed.

Somers added that there would never be overnight guests at the facility on Hampton Road, and pleaded with the ZBA to re-look at the definition of community building, which would be allowed for a special exception within the R-2 zone. According to Somers, SFP does indeed meet the definition of community building, because it provides social as well as recreational services for the larger community.

Somers argued that SFP clearly provides social services for the community, and that they also provide gardening activities, yoga and a playground for guests, and thus also offer recreational activies.

The board also heard an emotional statement from Exeter resident Tanya Coburn, who found herself and her two children without a home for a brief period and utilized SFP's services. She now serves as a volunteer for the organization.

"Three years ago my family went through one of the worst experiences any family should ever have to go through," she said. "Seacoast Family Promise was my saving grace."

ZBA Chair Bob Prior thanked Coburn for her words, saying that he knew how difficult it must be to come before a crowd and talk about ones homelessness.

Somers also pushed back against the notion that SFP could be in any way compared with Cross Roads House, the homeless shelter in Portsmouth.

"We've been a good neighbor in Stratham," she said. "We have a unique model and it's practically impossible to compare the two."

Janet Tucker, a 48-year resident of Exeter also spoke in favor of the application. Tucker and her husband used to own the 27 Hampton Road property, where they operated a medical office until 1998. She argued that the use was in keeping of the character of the neighborhood and urged empathy.

"Any one of us in this room could be homeless, could be hit with a disaster putting us out from under our roof. We've just been luckier," she said. "Put yourself in these people's shoes. I don't believe for a minute that this would have a negative impact on the neighborhood."

When Durbin took the microphone on behalf of the abutters and neighbors in opposition to SFP's application, he began by stating his support for SFP's mission.

"This isn't an easy thing for me as an attorney ... this has nothing to do with what Seacoast Family Promise stands for," he said. "Our objections are grounded in fact and the use is inappropriate in the context in which it is proposed."

Durbin argued that SFP clearly did not meet the definition of a community building, and said that the applicant had not presented any new evidence, or at least not enough for the board to reverse its previous decision.

Durbin characterized SFP's argument about their status as a community building as "trying to fit a square peg into a round hole."

"It is our position that they do not meet the criteria of a community building and the board cannot look past element A, and must deny the application based on that alone," he said. "The service is beneficial to New Hampshire and some people in Exeter, but the board is bound to the language in the ordinance."

Durbin also argued that the drafters of the zoning ordinance clearly intended "community building" to mean a place in a neighborhood for residents to gather, and was not intended to provide services for the community "at large."

The opposing residents' arguments boiled down to: a significant change in the neighborhood, a violation of the letter and intent of the code, valid safety concerns of many residents, that SFP may pave the way for a future 24-hour shelter, or "a mini-Crossroads West," and that the ZBA's approval of the application would "further erode trust between the neighborhood and local government."

Resident Bob Beal, of nearby Exeter Farms Road, then addressed the board, expressing concern about the guests who would be utilizing the SFP facility, and the need to screen them. Beal referred to a Cross Roads House brochure that describes the homeless as "a special population" and makes reference to the possibility of drug abuse and mental illness as factors in their homelessness.

Another resident expressed concern that the approval of SFP's application could lead to medical marijuana facilities and methadone clinics behind their homes. Another worried about the number of single mothers that would be guests at the facility, and the possibility of violent spouses or boyfriends trying to gain access to the property, and cigarette smoking by guests.

Somers made her response to the opponents brief, only reiterating to the board that SFP was indeed a community building, and that if the town wants to address the definition of community building at a later point it was their prerogative.

The board deliberated for around half an hour, mostly around the definition of a community building, with alternate member David Mirsky saying that "parsing the language out isn't really being faithful to how it was written."

Around midnight, Mirsky moved that the board continue the deliberations to a later date, because of the hour and the fact that everyone in the meeting was tired.

Deliberations have been tentatively scheduled for March 31 at 7 p.m. in the Nowak Room of the town offices.