Planning commission continues review of conditional-use request for recovery home at 700 Crawford Street

The Middletown Planning Commission on May 14 continued a conditional-use application from Middletown Sober Living LLC to operate Level 2 recovery/transitional housing at 700 Crawford Street, saying staff and commissioners needed clearer documentation of licensing, staffing and building plans before approving a change from single-family use.

Staff planner Miss Vinegar told the commission the property is about 0.2 acres, the primary structure is a single-family house built in 1908 with four bedrooms and two full bathrooms, and the proposed use is defined in the Middletown development code as “transitional housing” subject to Table 12-4-3 and related standards. Vinegar said staff had received two phone comments from nearby residents and that the Community and Economic Development Department requested state certification and clarification on staffing and licensure; the building division asked for an architectural set of plans for the change of use. Staff recommended denial based on the materials submitted.

Resident Renee Tice, who said she works in substance-use-disorder and mental-health treatment, spoke in support of the proposal and said the operator planned to seek Ohio Recovery Housing (ORH) certification and “This house would be ORH certified.” Tice described Level 2 recovery housing as monitored, with a compensated house manager, curfews, drug screenings and peer-run groups and said she believed regulated local options were needed in Middletown.

A neighbor who lives across the street, Christine Bagazidis Reisner of 703 Crawford Street, spoke in strong opposition, raising concerns about parking, driveway capacity and the character of the block and asking why a transitional facility would be proposed on a long-established R-4 residential block.

Commission discussion focused on missing documentation: the applicant had not provided licensing evidence, staffing plans, building elevations, or an architectural plan and the building division and other departments needed those materials to evaluate occupancy, accessibility, fire and building-code requirements. Commissioners and staff also noted that ORH certification and the certificate-of-occupancy/building-permit process would govern occupancy limits and that eviction and tenant-removal processes are legal matters separate from zoning.

After deliberation the commission voted to continue the case to the June meeting and to request that the applicant appear and supply the outstanding documentation; commissioners emphasized that staff and other departments must have the licensing, certification and architectural/permitting materials before the commission could reach a final decision.