Forum Discusses Shelter Zoning

Wayside Christian Mission's proposal to turn the Hotel Louisville building at 2nd Street and Broadway into a homeless shelter has raised questions about zoning for such facilities in Louisville.Zoning law neither prohibits nor allows a shelter to be built downtown and Wayside is currently waiting on a ruling from the Metro Planning Department. That decision will likely be appealed to the Board of Zoning Adjustments.Attorney Steve Porter says he hopes the board will work with the Metro Council to create clear zoning and municipal regulations for shelters."If you're going to have homeless shelters, just tell us where they can be located, how big they can be, what services they have to provide and what protections there are for the neighborhood," he says. "And then secondly, what protections are there for the people in that shelter?"Porter made his comments at a Louisville Forum meeting Wednesday.