“We don’t really have any other option,” James Dobrozsi said after hearing presentations on the project during the monthly meeting.
In March, Dobrozsi, a consultant fro Woolpert Inc., and church officials told the Journal-News about plans for the new development for boys ages 12 to 18 years old and featuring separate spaces to accommodate different age groups, two recreation rooms, a dining hall, a commercial-grade kitchen, space for equine therapy and office space for administrators, therapists and medical professionals.
“There are more than 16,000 children in Ohio who need homes, and churches and ministries need to be the answer,” Rev. Lawrence Bishop, Solid Rock Church’s pastor, said at the time. “The Bible tells us to take care of the orphans and the widows. I want this facility to be so nice they won’t want to leave, but the end game is to get them adopted into families.”
Bishop said he came up with the idea for the facility after preaching at the church and speaking with a couple with several foster children.
“She brought these two little brothers, one was 1 and one was 2, and she said ‘Would you pray for these boys because we may have to turn them back over to the state? We’re afraid they’ll be separated. One of them has health issues.”
Bishop said that’s when God “moved on my heart.” Despite knowing next to nothing when it comes to foster care and group homes, he immediately returned to the pulpit and declared that Solid Rock would work to build its own foster care facility.
“I thought, ‘You know, churches can build million-dollar gymnasiums (and other) facilities, why can’t we take these kids?’” he said in March.
The group foster home is to be built on 13.7 acres off Union Road in Turtlecreek Twp., where the church campus is dominated by the tall statue gesturing toward Interstate 75, known by some as “Big Butter Jesus.”
According to the plans, “The facility will be equipped with a medical suite with exam rooms, offices and therapy rooms. A full-time nurse will be located at the facility with two nurse practitioners on call. A full-service kitchen and dining hall is planned on site. All classes will be taught on-line through the Warren County Education Center and all children will be provided with a computer and supervised during online classes in classrooms.”
The plans and application were withdrawn after staff recommended rejection because the existing plan, approved in 2002, only permitted senior-living facilities, including a 30-person building and 36 single-family homes.
The new plan is expected to be resubmitted by Aug. 7 so that it can be reviewed at the next commission meeting, set for Aug. 27.
“Why are we looking at this request?” asked Jeff Palmer, Clearcreek Twp.‘s zoning official and a member of the executive committee reviewing the plan. Other members expressed similar concerns before the plan was withdrawn.
While the primary recommendation was for rejection, the staff report also offered a set of conditions under which it could be recommended for approval by the county commissioners “if the committee sees it’s a similar use,” Planner Ryan Cook explained.
“We see this as a little bit different,” he added, since children would be living there and no single-family home are proposed.
Dobrozsi said, despite three meetings with staff, the church representatives hadn’t realized the project was likely headed for rejection.
“Up until this point, we had no idea,” he said. “It’s our goal to proceed with this project as quickly as possible.”
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