Daystar had proposed moving into this building in downtown Harrisburg.
A halfway house for recovering substance users will not relocate to a historic building in downtown Harrisburg.
On Tuesday, Daystar Center for Spiritual Recovery withdrew its application for a variance from the city’s Zoning Hearing Board, which it needed before it could operate at 123 Forster St., Daystar’s attorney Jeffrey Esch McCombie confirmed this morning. The hearing was due to take place tonight in city hall.
“I believe there are other properties better suited for its use,” McCombie said, declining to specify where those properties may be.
The faith-based recovery program had hoped to relocate from three attached townhouses in Allison Hill to the larger, 11,960-square-foot building near the East Shore Y. It also planned to increase its capacity from 25 to 40 beds.
That plan, however, met with some opposition from area residents, several of whom vocalized their objections at last week’s Planning Commission meeting.
Sign on door at Harrisburg city hall.
At that meeting—and at a previous community meeting held by Daystar at the proposed facility—residents said they were concerned about potential problems that could arise, such as drug use and loitering. Some residents also became alarmed when Daystar officials said that, on Allison Hill, drug dealers targeted their clients.
Residents also were concerned by the density of 40 men, plus staff, in a building originally constructed as a large, single-family residence. By right, city code would permit only eight people to occupy what it calls a “supportive housing” facility, thus requiring the variance.
A Pittsburgh-based realty company currently has the building on the market for $675,000.
This story has been updated to include comment from Daystar’s attorney.
