The Montgomery City Board of Adjustments on an unspecified January hearing denied a special-exception request to operate an assisted-living facility at 201 Arrowhead Drive after residents raised safety, zoning, and operator-capability concerns.

Stephanie Nunn, the applicant, told the board she currently cares for her disabled mother and uncle at the address and said she is "board certified as far as assistant living, an administrator," adding she was seeking approval so the household could qualify for assistance and certification. The petition asked the board to allow an assisted-living use in an Ag-2 zoning district; the chair emphasized the board was deciding only a special exception and not rezoning the property.

Neighbors and professionals urged denial. Julie Emerson, who lives at 107 Ocala Drive, urged the board to deny Case BDD-2025-058, saying Caro's Living LLC — which the petitioner named on her lease — is an out-of-state rental firm and not a care company and that placing an institutional facility near school bus stops and family homes would be "injurious to the neighborhood." "Granting this exception is not managed growth. It's institutional creep," Emerson said; she also cited the city's Envision Montgomery 2040 guidance and Article 2 Section 4 of the zoning code in arguing the use would conflict with neighborhood character.

Janice Jackson, who said she worked more than 30 years in adult protective services and as a protective-service supervisor, told the board a licensed assisted-living facility requires paperwork and oversight she did not hear in the petition. "It requires a certificate of need. It requires a fire marshal to inspect it," Jackson said, and she described staffing and medication-supervision requirements and the need for discharge planning.

Other neighbors — including Daniel Dykes, a local real-estate licensee; Antonio Ferguson, a former police officer and current deputy sheriff; Donna Cox, a longtime resident and realtor; and Jessica Platt, who said she researched the operator online — expressed concerns about property values, public-safety risks at nearby bus stops, and negative reviews about the operating company.

Board members also questioned ownership and operator identity. County property records the chair read into the record list the owner as CFKL Assets 2021 LLC of Chicago, Illinois; the petitioner said her lease lists "Caro's Living" as the company she rents from. Staff told the board the application process does not require written owner approval and that the office assumes an applicant has permission from the owner.

After public comment and petitioner rebuttal, a board member moved to deny the special exception, citing that the requested use "does not meet the character of a neighborhood residence" in an Ag-2 zoned area; Mr. Martin seconded the motion. The chair announced the motion carried and the request was denied.

No formal statutory citations or licenses were introduced by the petitioner at the hearing; residents repeatedly referenced Alabama Department of Public Health requirements for assisted-living facilities and the board discussed the limitation that a special-exception approval would not change the underlying Ag-2 zoning.

The board took the action at the meeting without scheduling further study; the denial is the final decision announced at the hearing.