By Anne Trautner
Assistant Editor
Lafayette’s Plan Commission voted 5-1 June 4 against the town becoming a site for an Agape House for boys.
The commission’s decision is a recommendation only, and the issue went before the town board on Wednesday. Results were not ready by press time.
The town board’s decision will be a recommendation only, with the county making the final decision on June 19.
The proposed Agape House would help boys, ages 12 to 16, who voluntarily come to the home because they are struggling with various issues in life. The facility could house as many as eight boys, with an additional six boys attending school there during the day.
Jamie Stilling-Stepp, who has volunteered to help developmentally disabled children for years, proposed opening the Agape House at her property at W4818 Potter Road. Stilling-Stepp, who owns Seeds of Hope, wants to provide a safe, loving and structured environment for boys in need.
However, the plan commission decided that the Agape House does not conform with its comprehensive 2035 plan. Mike Nigbor was the sole dissenter. Joe Pappa withheld from voting because he would vote later on the issue as a member of the town board.
About 60 people packed the town hall for the June 4 plan commission meeting, with people spilling out onto the front lawn.
“I want to make sure that we confirm that tonight is not a public hearing. There are not any public comments,” Pappa told the crowd at the beginning of the meeting.
A public hearing on the issue was held May 7. To provide enough space for the approximate 150 people who attended, the hearing was held in the meeting room at Matheson Library in Elkhorn.
Plan commission members read through 17 pages of minutes from the public hearing before making their decision last week. They weighed people’s comments as they tried to decide whether the home would be for the greater good of the community.
“I think we overwhelmingly heard from the residents… We appreciate everyone’s input both ways,” Pappa said.
At their meeting, plan commission members discussed whether the property is zoned correctly for the Agape House. The property is currently zoned A5, which contains a conditional use for a school.
“At the time when the zoning was written in 1974, I don’t think they were considering the definition of a school to be where there is total care. Hence, the P2 [zoning] might fit the definition of what they are wanting to put on this property better,” Sharilyn Smage said.
“Because they are staying overnight, it leans more to the P2 zoning because P2 zoning specifically has orphanages and dormitories, places where you have people sleep overnight. School is more where you go to during the day and are let out,” John Neighbors added.
Still, because children would not stay in the Agape House year round, it does not meet the definition of a traditional boarding school, Neighbors said.
Plan Commission members also considered parking issues that the proposed Agape House may pose.
An Agape House for girls is located in the village of Walworth, but there is no home for boys in the county.
Walworth’s Agape House is located in the center of town in a building that had previously been a church.
“The neighbors had already become accustomed to the traffic, the parking, people coming in and out, the public use of that property. So it was easier for that property that already had use in that setting to be granted a conditional use for…a school,” Neighbors said.
The Agape House for boys is merely in the planning stages, Stilling-Stepp said.
“I want to be able to put myself into a situation where I can just share my love with others, that is exactly the direction I would like to go,” she said.
