Editors note: This story has been updated to include that the application was withdrawn on Monday, Aug. 19.
On Aug. 1, the Columbia County Planning Commission voted to recommend approval to rezone a parcel of some 20 acres in rural Grovetown, surrounded by homes in the Huntington Farms neighborhood, to make way for a new church building with campgrounds to be developed.
The applicant, and now the owner of the Rockford Drive property, is faith-based nonprofit 143 Ministries, that proposes to use the land for both its church services and its sober house program for recovering drug abusers. The Board of Commissioners (BOC) was scheduled to vote on the rezoning in its meeting Tuesday, but on Monday, Aug. 19, Clifton Nobles posted on Facebook that the application has been withdrawn.
Several nearby homeowners spoke at the Planning Commission meeting to oppose the request, and their protests have not lapsed since.
Community against rezoning
A petition on Change.org urging the BOC to deny the rezoning request has garnered more than 280 signatures as of the writing of this article.
“If this gets approved, they’re setting the precedence for Columbia County that you can move in wherever you want to and set up whatever you want,” said Huntington Farms resident Deidra Stevens, who launched the online petition, and says that a paper petition against the rezoning has gathered 40 signatures, representing more than 300 neighbors objecting to the redevelopment.
The request seeks to change 5821 Rockford Drive from Residential Agricultural to S-1 Special district. 143 Ministries plans to build a new church building that would seat up to 250 people, as well as campground cabins for participants and counselors in its sober living ministries.
Though the organization is planning to subdivide it into eight lots, the planning department has noted in its staff report that up to 16 residential structures could be permitted on the property under its current zoning. Staff also estimated that “upwards of six people” could be residing in the houses at a given time.
Among the worries expressed in the online petition are increased traffic to the quiet, rural neighborhood, the potential decrease in property values and unwelcome changes to the character of the community. The primary concern, however, is that the development of sober living houses in the area might attract drug users to the property, and compromise safety, says Stevens.
“Everyone in this neighborhood will tell you that we’re all for anyone bettering themselves, learning how to live sober, reconnecting with your children and your other family members,” she said. “But I’m sorry, the place for you to figure that out is not in a residential area amongst small children.”
Stevens states that most of the nearby residents have had family members and friends—and some among themselves—who have struggled with addiction and cites that 40%to 60% of those with substance abuse disorder relapse, a statistic corroborated by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
“If 128 freshly sober addicts are trying to recover and learn how to enter society, then obviously a large number of those are going to relapse, and they’re going to relapse here in our neighborhood,” Stevens said. “So we’re concerned about the safety of our homes, our property, our children, our grandchildren. For me, that’s my number one concern.”
143 Ministries responds to concerns
Clifton Nobles, the founder of 143 Ministries, underscores that the nonprofit’s recovery programs, such as Immanuel House and Katherine’s Way, are not detox, rehab or treatment centers.
“We’re more of a discipleship home, a place where people who are already off of drugs come and they learn why they were using drugs,” said Nobles, highlighting the sober ministry’s rigorous entry and residential protocols.
Participants must pass a drug test before living in one of the sober homes. Once accepted, they are not permitted to have a phone, a vehicle or even to work for the initial 90-day phase of the program. Travel off the premises is supervised. During that initial period, members undergo a recovery curriculum based on the 12 Steps of Alcoholic Anonymous and the Bible.
Once the initial 90 days are complete, the members are allowed their phones, and the ministry aids them in finding a job. After six months, they’re allowed a vehicle.
“What we found is that if someone stays with us for anywhere from nine months to a year, they usually stay sober,” Nobles said the recovery house programs’ six years operating. “We have a 90% success rate of people who stay with us that long, staying sober, who are still sober today.”
The idea of building cabins on the property as part of the sober house ministries is inspired by the United Methodist White Oak campsite in Appling, says Nobles.
The organization submitted the rezoning request on July 1. 143 Ministries purchased 5821 Rockford on July 16. Responding to accusations that the rezoning hearing was fast tracked, Nobles says that 143 Ministries had been under contract to purchase the property from Lester Williams contingent upon the rezoning for nearly two months. On July 11, he said, Planning and Zoning told him that residential development was still allowed under R-A.
After learning this, Nobles said, he conferred with the board of 143, and ultimately decided the property was still a worthwhile investment, as the organization could potentially build homes to sell.
“If we just wanted to fly under the radar and just not bother anyone, we could have just gone and bought the property and built additional houses,” Nobles said, noting, as did the planning department in its report, that group homes with residents undergoing counseling would be permitted under the Fair Housing Act, provided none of them were current users of illegal substances.
Nobles also says that 143 opted to plan for eight, rather than 16, cabins because he understands his neighbors’ fears, and that he sought and S-1 zoning—which restricts development to specific use outlined by the applicant—so that any potential future use of the property would be another church.
Ultimately, he says, he hopes the neighborhood can come to welcome 143 Ministries and see it as an asset.
“Not only do we help people who are struggling with substance abuse and things like that, but we help people in the community,” Nobles said, referring to the group’s ministries that offer handyman services to low-income families and the elderly. “If we were to get down there and be accepted and be part of the neighborhood, we would like them to see that we’re a resource for them too, and that, you know, we’re not enemies.
Community concerns
Stevens says that those in the Huntington neighborhood objecting to the rezoning request are not opposing 143 Ministries, or its goals, but simply the location.
“They’d rather uproot our family stability and our comfort and cause a disruption in our lives, than just simply do it somewhere that makes sense and works for everyone,” said Stevens. “How would that be beneficial to those that are planning on residing in the sober living facility for them to be placed somewhere where no one wants them… I can’t imagine that would be the best environment for those trying to recover either.”
The Columbia County Board of Commissioners will consider the request to rezone 5821 Rockford Drive on during its meeting on Tuesday, which starts at 6 p.m. in the Evans Government Center auditorium.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
