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Lakeland’s Planning and Zoning Board voted 4-1 on Dec. 16 to block Talbot House Ministries‘ bid to relocate its homeless shelter to Memorial Boulevard, despite warnings from the organization’s attorney that the decision could violate federal civil rights laws.
The board denied a zoning change for a 72,000-square-foot facility at the southeast corner of Memorial Boulevard and North Ingraham Avenue, leaving the project’s future in doubt.
The proposed facility would have replaced Talbot House’s 150-bed campus at 814 N. Kentucky Ave. with a larger, modernized complex of up to 390 beds that would focus less on emergency overnight shelter and more on longer-term housing, job training and health care.
Attorney warns of legal risk
Talbot House attorney Tim Campbell told board members that denying the application could violate the federal Fair Housing Act and Americans with Disabilities Act.
“It is discriminatory … for a local government to deny a land-use approval based upon the use of the property for services which assist the homeless and disabled,” Campbell said.
He cited several federal cases, including a lawsuit that Polk County paid $400,000 to settle in 2010 after denying New Life Outreach Ministries the right to open a group home for homeless men recovering from addiction.
City planning staff had recommended approval of Talbot House’s application, saying it was consistent with Lakeland’s comprehensive plan and land development code.
Revisions addressed earlier feedback
Campbell said Talbot House made significant changes to the Memorial Boulevard proposal after earlier feedback, including moving the building farther from nearby homes, orienting the main entrance toward Ingraham Avenue, and agreeing to pedestrian and crossing improvements.
The plan separated access for different program areas, with restricted entry for residential services and limited public access to the clinic. It included an employment solutions center, a 6,500-square-foot health clinic, and 24-hour security monitoring.
Community and Economic Development planner Audrey McGuire noted that the proposed site has easy access to public transit and is actually farther from schools than the shelter’s current location — approximately 1,800 feet from Lakeland Montessori School compared with 1,200 feet from the nearest school now.
Board members swayed by public opposition
Despite the staff recommendation and legal warnings, several board members said they were swayed by neighborhood objections and concerns about the site’s suitability.
“We’ve had overwhelming opposition to this project from the residents,” said board member Susan Seitz. “These folks have their money invested in their businesses, in their homes, in their schools, and they do not want a transient facility in their neighborhood.”
Board Chair Terry Dennis said the board is not required to approve every project that meets technical guidelines. “We have also disapproved hotels and other things because we did not feel like they were the best option to go into the surrounding area that they were going,” he said.
Board member Jolian Rios said his primary concern was the proposed facility’s proximity to Lakes Church Academy.
Board member Jeri Thom said she felt the proposal would simply move “what’s become an issue in one location of the city, a mile or two away to another area of the city.”
“The problem needs to be addressed head-on,” Thom said. “I just don’t think this is the right location.
Only board member Bessie Reina voted in favor of the application. Veronica Rountree was absent.
What’s next
Campbell has 30 days to appeal the board’s decision to the Lakeland City Commission, which would make the final determination after a public hearing.
Talbot House declined to discuss what it plans to do. Campbell could not immediately be reached for comment on Tuesday.
Three locations, three different concerns
Talbot House’s current campus on North Kentucky Avenue sits in the middle of the nine-block Mass Market area, where the Community Redevelopment Agency has spent years assembling property for future redevelopment. The CRA hopes to offer the land to a civic-minded developer, which is far more difficult with the shelter still in place.
The Memorial Boulevard site — purchased by an anonymous donor through the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay — is also in an area the CRA has been trying to revitalize. Memorial is one of the city’s major gateway corridors and planners envision streetscape upgrades, reinvestment and new commercial activity there. Opponents argued that a large social-services campus would work against those goals.
There was also a third option: more than 10 acres behind the Walgreens at the corner of Memorial and Combee Road, offered to Talbot House at no charge by the city and a private donor. It’s near public transit and farther from residential neighborhoods, but Campbell said Talbot House declined that location because it would serve a “different population” and pull programs away from the urban core, leaving a “void” downtown.
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A good and appropriate decision by the planning board.