June 16, 2010 - Courier-Journal

Zoning request raises concerns

by Martha Elson

An agency that operates a faith-based, women's substance-abuse residential recovery program out of a three-story Victorian home on East Broadway in Phoenix Hill is applying for a permit to move the program to a larger site on Payne Street in Clifton, where it has already sparked a controversy.

Teen Challenge of Kentucky is "going to cautiously proceed," Clayton Arp, the agency's state director, said last week. Teen Challenge serves women 18 and older at Priscilla's Place, 1151 E. Broadway.

The agency offended some gays and lesbians in Clifton because it requires applicants to declare on an application if they have engaged in homosexual or lesbian activities.

A former application also asked these questions: "Are you willing to recognize this behavior/lifestyle as sinful and in opposition to biblical teaching?" and, "Are you willing to completely abandon it?"

That application form was dropped two years ago but was still posted on the agency's website until recently as the result of an oversight, Arp said.

"We don't want to go to war with the gay community," Arp said. "We're not moving into the neighborhood to change the neighborhood."

Clifton resident Mike O'Leary said he was trying to keep an open mind after seeing the questions on the former admission form but that they raised "red flags" about the program's intent.

Chris Hartman, director of the Fairness Campaign, which has headquarters in Clifton and advocates for gay rights, said his group's constituency has been "very actively engaged in being outspoken against" Teen Challenge's aims. His group is opposed to the program's expansion in Clifton or anywhere, he said.

"It still smacks of the ex-gay movement that was running rampant in the 1970s," he said.

Arp said Teen Challenge does not discriminate against gays and lesbians and that two participants in the program fall into that category. However, "We are a conservative, faith-based organization. We're not going to allow sexual activity in a residential program."

The agency asks applicants about past homosexual activity because it hopes to influence people to change such behavior, Arp said. It also asks about religious beliefs, drug and alcohol use, if applicants have been on parole or probation and other matters.

The agency, which is affiliated with a 52-year-old national Teen Challenge organization, held a neighborhood meeting last month about the plan. It needs a conditional use permit from the Metro Board of Zoning Adjustment to operate the program, Arp said.

The agency has a contract to buy a former Salvation Army worship and community center at 1701 Payne St. for the program, but the sale is contingent upon obtaining the permit. The building has been for sale for $487,000 and Teen Challenge has made a somewhat lower offer, Arp said.

The one-level building is more spacious and has a gym. Teen Challenge now serves 10 women on East Broadway but would like to increase the number to 18 in Clifton, Arp said.

At the neighborhood meeting, people questioned whether the agency discriminates against gays and lesbians, O'Leary said, adding that residents "want that building utilized."

If the program does move there, O'Leary said, he hopes any conflicts can be resolved through mutual involvement in a Clifton community garden on Payne Street.

Aaron Givhan, a Salvation Army board member and real-estate agent for the building, said a Salvation Army representative attended the neighborhood meeting. But his organization has simply viewed the situation as one nonprofit agency selling to another. The new use "seemed like a logical progression," he said. "We're not questioning the doctrine."

Reporter Martha Elson can be reached at (502) 582-7061.