Confusion Over Zoning Leaves Wymore Group Home Up In The Air

By Gordon HopkinsThe Wymore City Council voted 4-0 against adopting zoning changes that would allow for a group home, increasing the allowable number of residents from 16 to 50 in the Residential Single and Multifamily District (R-2). Dr. Gertrude Makgabenyana, PLMHP, a therapist with New Hope Agency of Omaha, is wanting to put a youth residential facility for teenaged girls in the former Hope-Wymore Assisted Living facility. This decision does not automatically put the group home out of reach for New Hope. City Councilperson Neil VanBoening expressed concern about the size of the area that would be impacted by the zoning change, “That’s a large portion of the city.”New Hope could still petition to change the zoning for just that specific building.Dr. Makgabenyana told FJN she thought the city council was considering changing zoning for just the Hope-Wymore building and didn’t understand why they considered changing the entire district in the first place, “We were all just hyper focused on our building. It was never about the region. So, this is a curve ball that we were not expecting.” Task ForceAt a previous meeting, Wymore City Attorney Andrew Carothers suggested setting up a task force to examine the proposed group home. However, at this most recent meeting, which Carothers did not attend, the city council abandoned the idea of a task force.Wanda Wallman, a realtor who is involved in the project, told FJN she didn’t understand why the task force was scrapped, “Your city attorney suggested having somebody from the police department, the fire department, New Hope, the school. They could collaborate and talk. That’s what the task force was supposed to be.” At the meeting, Mayor Colin Meintz said, “My opinion is that in order to have an effective task force as presented, we have to have a number of members that are more in a neutral position, not for, not against. Everyone has reached out has been very one-sided.”“I honestly don’t know if forming a task force will be effective,” said City Councilperson Max Allen. “We tried to follow the suggestion. It appears that there’s lack of interest.”OppositionThe proposed facility has met with resistance from some members of the community.A recent petition to halt the facility gathered a reported 419 signatures. ResourcesOne of the arguments presented by those opposed to the facility that they do not believe the city has the resources necessary to accommodate such a group home.In a statement to FJN, the petitioners wrote in an email, “We firmly believe these young girls deserve a stable, well-structured program equipped with the proper resources to support their needs. Unfortunately, our community currently lacks those necessary resources.”The email continues, “Some may perceive our concerns as uncaring—but nothing could be further from the truth. We fully support helping youth in need. However, we strongly oppose providing care without the essential resources required to truly meet their needs and give them the quality of support they deserve. At the same time, we must ensure that the education and well-being of our current students remain a priority as decisions are made.” Dr. Makgabenyana disputes that argument and says that the group home would, in fact, be a resource for the community. She has expressed the desire to work with the city and the community to create those very resources that are needed, “These are programs that the state has opened to everybody. If you can step in and help create a program, we’ll look at it. If we approve it, we see it as having concrete evidence that it’s going to change lives, we’ll partner up with you.”Wallman said, “These kids are our future. Do you want to not get them help? And then they end up in our prison system, and we’re paying for them for the rest of their lives.” Lack Of InformationOpponents have also complained that those behind New Hope have not been forthcoming with information. The email from petitioners said, “To date, the facility has not provided a staffing plan, clinical qualifications, or names of supervisory staff—only assurances that the program ‘will be staffed.’ For a program serving high-needs youth, we feel this is not enough.”Dr. Makgabenyana holds a different point of view.“The problem has been that the (city) leaders that we’ve made the time to sit down with them, explain what the program is going to look like,” said Makgabenyana. “We’ve sat down with people, we’ve explained this to them, and then when we get in bigger meetings where there’s just public chaos, they fold.”What Happens NextWhile they are uncertain about their next steps, both Wallman and Dr. Makgabenyana made clear they intend to move forward with the facility.“Most of us can’t even imagine coming from a home where we were abused, or where our parents were abused and they didn’t know how to parent us,” said Wallman. “But this is a chance to stop that generational curse. This needs to be happening in more communities. But it’s always, ‘Well, we don’t want this here. Take it to Omaha. Take it to Lincoln. Take it somewhere bigger.’ No, this is where the building is. So, this is where we can do it, and that’s the reason that we’re doing it here.”

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