Salvation Army move OK'd by zoning board of appeals

The Salvation Army is one step closer to finding a new home.

Members of the Bucyrus board of zoning appeals voted Tuesday to allow the organization to take ownership of the former Maplecrest Assisted Living building at 717 Rogers St.

That vote was required because the Maplecrest building — which has been vacant for about two years — is situated in a residential neighborhood and cannot be occupied by an organization or company without special clearance.

The Salvation's Army's longtime home has been a two-story brick building at 224 E. Rensselaer St. The organization is commanded locally by Majors Tom and Debbra Grace.

The existing building has become expensive to repair lately, and has no elevator. There are no restrooms on the main floor. The structure is not compliant with federal ADA laws.

Salvation Army helps a dozen people each day

Residents of the neighborhood were not all pleased to learn that the Salvation Army was wanting to become their neighbor.

The most vocal opponents to the organization's relocation were Susan Jacobs and Rita Griffin — both women are residents of the 600 block of Center Street, less than a block from the site in question.

"It's not that I don't support the Salvation Army," Jacobs said during Tuesday's public hearing. "I just think they should be downtown."

Her concern was that the building on Rogers Street is surrounded by homes, and is not in a business district.

Jacobs asked Grace about some of the people who use his organization's services. He said about a dozen people stop by each day for food and other forms of assistance.

"Those numbers are up, frankly, because of the economy," Grace said.

Building would be purchased with settlement money

Grace was accompanied by Doug Weisenauer, who is both a commissioner of Crawford County and a member of the Salvation Army's advisory board.

"I'm wearing two hats here today," Weisenauer said.

The property on Rogers Street is listed for $499,000, and the commissioner said the county plans to purchase the property with money provided through a settlement from opioid manufacturers earlier this summer.

Commissioners are only allowed to partner with specific organizations in the dispensation of the funds, per court orders, and the Salvation Army meets all of the requirements.

"We have no intentions of running the facility as the commissioners," Weisenauer said.

The goal would be for the commissioners to lease the building to the Salvation Army on a schedule that would allow the charity to take ownership of the structure sometime in the future. Those plans have not yet been finalized.

Weisenauer reiterated that the property would be purchased entirely with settlement money from the pharmaceutical companies, and not with any money from local taxpayers.

Donation boxes would not be moved to new site

Jacobs and her neighbor were not convinced the Salvation Army would be a good fit for their neighborhood.

They asked Grace about the donation boxes that reside on his current property, and he assured them that the Salvation Army was doing away with them and would not bring them to the new location — the donation boxes have become so abused that he found bottles of used motor oil in them this summer.

Jacobs was concerned that there wasn't enough parking for the organization, despite Grace's continued explanation that the Rogers Street building actually has more than twice the parking as the organization's existing home.

She then said she thought the organization might attract drug addicts to the area in search of meals and other sustenance.

"Would the city have the money to tear it down?" she asked during the meeting.

"We have no reason to tear down a perfectly good building," Mayor Jeff Reser told her. "We tear down buildings that are deteriorated and dilapidated."

The woman said she thought that she and her neighbors should have the final vote in the matter, not the board of zoning appeals.

She was afraid her property value would go down with the Salvation Army nearby. She also made it very clear she hoped the organization would never allow people to seek overnight shelter in the building.

Grace told her it would not be used as housing.

"First and foremost, we are a church," Grace said. "We want to add to the community."

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This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Salvation Army's move to Rogers Street OK'd by zoning board of appeals