Arguments Heard On Proposed Teen Center In/Around: West Central

Thu., Feb. 23, 1995

Bruce Krasnow Staff writer

Some West Central residents say Bob Lipe’s heart is in the right place but his proposed teen center is not.

Lipe wants to use insurance money from his deceased wife’s estate to build a drop-in teen center. The center would be built at W2101 Boone on a site now occupied a home. It would be across the parking lot from Lipe’s Sure Save grocery.

His plan calls for a facility for 40 teens, with activities from pinball and pingpong to dancing and boxing. “I intend to put a lot of my time, money, heart and soul into this project,” Lipe told city Hearing Examiner Greg Smith.

The proposal needs approval from Smith, who decides zoning issues in the city, because Lipe is seeking a special permit to locate the center in a residential zone. Smith also would have to determine how much parking would have to be provided.

The proposal would not be covered under a special city ordinance covering teen centers because Lipe is organizing a not-for-profit board that would operate the facility. Obtaining that status from the Internal Revenue Service could take a year or more.

Jo Ann Barnes, who lives at W2101 Gardner, just north of the site of the proposed teen center, is concerned that staff would not be able to stop kids from staying around outside after closing. “I don’t want to have to stay home Friday and Saturday night to guard my property,” she said.

Another neighbor, Carolyn Russell, placed a plastic bag of garbage on the hearing room table, saying she had gathered it from her front yard that morning.

“If this is how it is today, imagine what it would be like with another 40 kids,” she said.

Marc Miller, who lives nearby, said there are numerous problems with the plan, among them traffic congestion, conformity with adjacent buildings and proximity to the grocery store, which sells alcohol and tobacco less than 50 feet away.

Miller and others applauded Lipe’s dedication to youth but said teen activities belong in a structured, secure and separate facility such as a community center or a school.

In addition to Lipe and his architect, Kim Barnard, one neighborhood resident, Henry York Steiner, testified that the center has its risks but is worth it. If it fails, the permit can always be revoked, he said. “There are always going to be problems and nobody can foretell the future, but I think it ought to be given a chance to succeed,” Steiner said.

The hearing examiner has two weeks to issue a ruling on the permit.

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