The City of Morgantown Board of Zoning Appeals voted to deny a variance request that would have allowed West Virginia Silver Living to operate a group residential facility at 201 Waitman Street without providing the code‑required off‑street parking.

The board’s action came after staff described the application as a request for a group residential facility with seven residents and one employee and after multiple neighbors testified that the house’s operation had already caused parking, traffic and property‑damage issues.

The denial followed extensive public comment and an amended finding of fact adopted by the board that said granting the variance would “adversely affect public health, safety or welfare and the rights of adjacent property owners and residents because it would increase congestion and activity in a neighborhood that already experiences high parking demand,” and because public comment showed ongoing operational impacts.

Dan Bacali, director of operations for West Virginia Silver Living, told the board the organization sought “a nice place where people can recover” and said the facility needed more parking to operate. “We just want a nice place where people can recover, and we’re gonna need a little bit of parking,” Bacali said.

Neighbors described repeated incidents they said were linked to the home’s operation. Justin Logik, a Waitman Street resident, told the board that deliveries and staff vehicles had blocked sidewalks and driven over lawns; he said police and parking‑authority responses had not eliminated the impacts. “The lack of required off‑street parking for this proposed facility has already been an ongoing problem in the neighborhood,” Logik said.

Other residents said the house sits in the Chancellorsville Historic District (on the National Register of Historic Places) and raised concerns about exterior changes to the structure, the intensity of use in a single‑family neighborhood, and safety where pedestrians and children use narrow sidewalks near the high school.

Planning staff cited local code Section 13.65.04 (minimum off‑street parking requirements) as the standard at issue. Members of the public also pointed the board to state notice requirements in West Virginia Code §16‑67‑2(b)(9), which govern public notice for substance‑use disorder residential proposals; some residents said they had not seen the statutory notice described in correspondence submitted to the board.

After discussion the board adopted the amended findings of fact and voted to deny the variance request. The board’s denial was announced at the meeting and written notification will be issued by the planning office; the decision can be appealed to the Circuit Court of Monongalia County within 30 days of the written notice.

The board also noted that any work undertaken during the 30‑day appeal window would be at the applicant’s financial risk.