Broward OKs center to help the homeless
By MEGAN O'MATZ
July 12, 2000
Against the advice of their staff, Broward County commissioners gave the go-ahead Tuesday to build a center on West Broward Boulevard to feed and help the homeless.
"I am so thrilled," said Marti Forman, executive director of the Cooperative Feeding Program, the nonprofit group that sought permission to open a soup kitchen, food pantry and social services program at 3341 W. Broward Blvd., in an unincorporated section of the county.
Approval came as a surprise to the organization, which battled the county zoning department for more than a year over the proposal.
"I expected to be disappointed one more time," said the Rev. Louis Abel, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Fort Lauderdale and chairman of the cooperative's board of directors.
Beginning in late 1997, representatives of the cooperative met with county planning and zoning staffers on numerous occasions to seek advice on developing the project and preparing a site plan.
Encouraged at each step, the cooperative purchased the property and demolished a former gas station on the site. Six months and $150,000 later, the group learned that the parcel was not zoned properly for a soup kitchen.
"It was quite a surprise when ... they said, `Oops, there's a problem,'" Forman said. "They dropped this bomb on us."
The cooperative applied for a variance, which was denied by the Broward County Board of Adjustment in December.
In June, a special mediator reversed that decision, saying the denial was "unreasonable and unfair," given that, before buying the property, the cooperative received assurances from county employees that the plan was feasible.
On Tuesday, the commissioners were asked to validate the mediator's decision and approve the zoning change, which was done unanimously.
"It was a tragedy or a comedy of errors," Commissioner Lori Parrish said of the tortured path that the cooperative tread.
In particular, the cooperative had to overcome the recommendation of the county's zoning department that the variance be denied. Zoning officials said the nutrition center did not conform to the types of uses the county desired.
"They don't zone out a social service agency for any other reason than they think it gives the wrong image," Forman said before the vote.
With the zoning change, the cooperative will seek routine approval for its site plan and plat application. That process could take up to a year, said Joel K. Gustafson, attorney for the cooperative. The organization must also raise $500,000 in construction funds.
"We've got a long row to hoe yet," Gustafson said.
The cooperative currently serves one hot meal a day from leased space at 1405 W. Broward Blvd. Its pantry, at Broward Boulevard and State Road 7, provides bulk foods to the homeless, as well as to low-income seniors, people with disabilities and families in distress. In all, the cooperative gives away up to 400,000 meals a year, Forman said.
The cooperative expects to combine and possibly expand those operations, as well as its job services and counseling assistance, at the new location.
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