Excelsior Springs continues hearing after split public comment on Oxford House request at 21 Dawn Avenue

The Excelsior Springs City Council on July 8 continued a public hearing on a request from Oxford House Incorporated to allow up to eight unrelated adults to live at 21 Dawn Avenue, citing the Federal Fair Housing Act as the basis for a reasonable-accommodation waiver of the city's single-family occupancy rules.

The request seeks to treat the property as a protected group home under federal law rather than as a standard single-family dwelling, and to permit the Oxford House model'a peer-run sober-living residence'with up to eight adult members plus limited mother-and-child placements. The council scheduled a continuation of the hearing for Aug. 12 at 6 p.m. so the community development director can review materials submitted during the meeting.

Why it matters: the city must weigh competing obligations: federal fair-housing protections for people with disabilities against local zoning rules designed to preserve single-family neighborhoods. Neighbors said the property was altered and opened without adequate notice and raised concerns about parking, public safety and neighborhood character; supporters and residents in recovery described Oxford House as a pathway to long-term sobriety.

Applicant presentation and documentation Daniel Hahn, regional manager for Oxford House Incorporated, told the council the house was identified by area Oxford House members as a needed site for women in recovery and that the owners purchased the home in April 2024. Hahn said the owners obtained permits for fire-damage repair and electrical work and that successive city inspections passed: electrical final (May 2024), framing/basement/ upstairs remodel (June 2024), rough-in electrical (June 2024) and plumbing (May 2024). Hahn said the group spent about $75,000 to buy the property and $94,880 on remodel work and that licensed contractors logged roughly 1,200 man-hours on renovations. He said the house was chartered as an Oxford House and that, at the time of the hearing, six adults and two children were living there.

Hahn described Oxford House rules for membership: the houses operate democratically; they are financially self-supporting; and members who return to use are expelled. He told the council the typical weekly equal expense per resident varies but is commonly about $140'$160 per person per week (Hahn also stated the house currently bills approximately $3,000 per month in rent totals). He asked the council for a reasonable accommodation under the Federal Fair Housing Act, specifically citing 42 U.S.C. A7 3604(f)(3)(B), and noted Missouri law provides an automatic accommodation for some staffed group homes.

Public comment: neighbors'supporters and opponents More than a dozen residents and property owners spoke. Opponents, among them Michelle Naya, Kelly Kinkade and Joseph Cobram, urged denial. They described the neighborhood as a 16-house, single-entry R-1 area accessed from State Highway 92 and said the property sits at the neighborhood entrance. Speakers raised three recurring concerns: (1) zoning and permitting compliance (they said renovations were completed and occupants moved in without transparent notice to neighbors), (2) parking and access (they said the property's driveways accommodate about four cars and on-street parking has narrowed the road to a single lane in places, potentially limiting emergency access), and (3) public-safety and oversight (they said Oxford House's peer-run model lacks on-site professional staff and that the organization does not perform background checks or mandatory drug testing). Several neighbors also cited potential impacts to property values and asked why the applicant chose an R-1 location instead of multi-family or special-use sites.

Opponents repeatedly referenced the Excelsior Springs Code of Ordinances, Chapter 400 (zoning), including the city's family definition limit on unrelated residents and the special-use process for group homes. A number of speakers asked the council to consider precedent from court decisions discussed during public comment and urged adherence to local zoning procedures.

Supporters of Oxford House included residents who credited the model with long-term recovery. Manny Paul described his sister's recovery after living in an Oxford House; speaker Aaron Lewellen said Oxford House saved his life and described its accountability rules; Daniel Hahn and other Oxford House advocates noted research (cited by Hahn as DePaul University studies) showing longer stays in Oxford House correlate with higher sustained sobriety rates. Hahn and witnesses emphasized the houses operate with internal rules: members hold weekly meetings, maintain a shared bank account, and vote on admissions and expulsions.

Council action and next steps Mayor and council members concluded the hearing after public comment and testimony, and the council publicly scheduled a continuation for Aug. 12 at 6 p.m. The mayor said the community development director should have time to review the volume of evidence presented so the department can provide an informed recommendation. No formal vote on the accommodation was taken and no final determination was made at the July 8 meeting.

What remains unresolved City staff need to verify permit records and building-code compliance for 21 Dawn Avenue, confirm the property's bedroom and egress configurations under applicable building codes, and analyze whether the requested accommodation is "necessary" under the Fair Housing Act without imposing an undue burden or fundamentally altering the zoning scheme. The council will reopen the hearing on Aug. 12 to receive staff input and any additional materials from the applicant and the public.

For the record: comments from the public and the applicant were taken under oath; a court reporter recorded the hearing.