St. Cloud Zoning Board Denies Permit for 66-Bed Sober Living Facility

(KNSI) – The St. Cloud Zoning Board of Appeals has denied a conditional use permit that would have converted a 15-unit apartment building into a 66-bed certified recovery residence.

The board voted 5-0 Tuesday night to go with city planning staff’s recommendation and deny the request from 2535 Alive LLC.

Neighbors turned out against the proposal. Jonathan Moore lives near the property at 1120 9th Avenue South. He told KNSI News he does not question the character of the people behind the project, but he came away from the process unconvinced. “If they want to cut that residency in half and give us a great outline of how they’re going secure the area, I’d be willing to be a part of that conversation, but something short of that, I’m not interested.”

Suzanne Moore, who is married to Jonathan, also spoke against the location.

“It butts up against a park with a Boys and Girls Club. It just seems like there’s lots of apartment buildings probably standing semi-empty that they could find.”

The Moores say they support the mission and believe the area needs more sober housing, but that the block has drawn enough drug activity that neighbors pushed for a police camera to be installed near a nearby gas station. Suzanne Moore also questioned what would happen to residents removed from the facility for not following the rules, given the homelessness already in the immediate area.

2535 Alive sought to change the building’s use from multi-family housing to sober supportive housing licensed by the Minnesota Department of Human Services. The request originally asked for a maximum occupancy of 88 residents, then was revised down to 66 after city planning staff recommended denial in July.

Staff again recommended denial, citing existing non-compliance with multiple Land Development Code bulk standards, including rear yard open space, total lot open space and interior side setbacks. At 66 residents, the property would have 421 square feet of lot area per resident, well below the three comparable recovery or transitional housing facilities elsewhere in St. Cloud, which range from about 833 to nearly 6,548 square feet per resident.

The applicant has 10 days to appeal the ZBA’s decision to the city council.

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