Saturday's Internet Edition, May 17, 2008.
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On Tuesday night in front of a packed council chambers, Thomasville Board of Planning/Adjustment voted 6-0 to give the homeless shelter a conditional use zoning permit. The next step for The Shepherd’s Inn will be Thomasville City Council voting on the item on its Feb. 18 agenda.
Before board members made the decision, 11 people spoke in favor of the shelter and seven against it. Those who spoke against the homeless shelter, which included residents of the immediate area, have made the argument that it either lowers the property value of neighboring homes or allows disorderly conduct.
Besides serving as a homeless shelter, The Shepherd’s Inn is also a church owned by The Church of Tommorrow, where Huey Turner is the pastor.
Despite the negative comments from residents, Turner is optimistic council will allow the homeless shelter to keep the permit.
“The city has known we needed a shelter of some sort,” he said. “It’s not really like we wanted to be like a homeless shelter. We are helping everybody. We have battered women and children. It’s a church with a mission.”
To comply with the city and to satisfy residents who are against the homeless shelter, Turner plans on making improvements. He has decided on putting up a privacy fence, adding a shower and new sprinkler system. The pastor met with the Thomasville’s fire marshal and a building inspector Tuesday.
In the beginning The Shepherd’s Inn started with two occupants. It currently has eight.
“All we are trying to do is give them hope,” Turner said of the homeless. “I think more than anything we didn’t realize the problem that was there.”
One of the other requirements will be setting a limit on the amount of occupants of the shelter in a given night. Turner said there would probably not be more than 24 people at a time. With a wealth of support from area churches, he is not worried about the cost of improvements.
Some residents, however, are worried about the homeless shelter’s effect on their neighborhood.
Joe Hall, a Hinkle Street resident, has already taken measures to move his family to another area because of the homeless shelter and the fact he needs a bigger house for a newborn baby. He said the homeless shelter is a major contributing factor to his decision to relocate. As a father, Hall believes the occupants of the homeless shelter will roam his neighborhood endangering his youngesters.
“Some of the things I’ve heard about [homeless shelters], like the one in High Point, is they lower the house value in your neighborhood,” Hall said outside of his home Wednesday. “I’m not going to have to worry about it because I’m moving at the end of March.”
Hall claims he has already found evidence where things are getting out of hand at the shelter.
“I went by there when they were trying it out, I guess,” he said. “They are hanging outside the doorway and riding the mopeds down the street. If I was to stay here, I would move anyway. There is nothing that can change that.”
Charles “Boo” Embler, a occupant of The Sheperd’s Inn, understands the opinions of those who are speaking against the homeless shelter, but says it has changed his life.
Like many Davidson County residents, Embler has been laid off from a furniture job, but he has since found work at Penny Express Trucking. Aside from living in his car, the lifelong Thomasville resident has stayed at the homeless shelter in Lexington.
“Before I came there, I didn’t care if I lived or not,” he said. “If the Lord took my life, it wouldn’t have mattered one way or another. Now I feel like there is a reason to live. I am going to get my driver’s license today. I haven’t had my driver’s license in 10 years.”
Now that the homeless shelter has made it over one hurdle with the board of planning/adjustment passing the permit, they will have to jump one more as another public hearing will be held at city council’s February meeting.
Ken Hepler, city planning and zoning administrator, said there is nothing in the city’s zoning ordinances about homeless shelters. A establishment of this nature, however, can receive a conditional use permit.
“In this town there hadn’t been a need for a homeless shelter,” Hepler said. “When Thomasville Furniture Industries was going strong, if somebody needed a job they could find a job. I think with the economy the way it is, things are not as good as they have been. We have an issue that we haven’t been approached with in the past.”
Staff Writer Darrick Ignasiak can be reached at 472-9500, ext. 231, or ignasiak@tvilletimes.com.