The crowd reacts to the final 3-2 vote by the Seymour Board of Zoning Appeals on a request from local businessman and developer Andy Royalty for a land use variance to operate a homeless shelter in a vacant building at 326 Dupont Drive in a commercial area on the city's east side. Jordan Morey

On one side was a room full of concerned citizens passionate about helping the homeless in Jackson County.

On the other were five men charged with making the best decision for the future of Seymour.

In the end, the urgent need to address a growing problem in the community won out, and the Seymour Board of Zoning Appeals overturned a previous decision made by the city plan commission.

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The BZA voted 3-2 Tuesday night to grant a land use variance for local developer Andy Royalty to build an emergency homeless shelter in a commercial area on Dupont Drive on the city’s east side.

Those voting in favor were Rob Kaufman, John Richey and Jim Myers. Those casting opposing ballots were Dave Eggers and Kelly Pifer.

Emotions were high in the standing-room-only crowd as nearly a dozen people spoke in favor of Royalty’s request to build and operate the shelter at 326 Dupont Drive, which is zoned C-3 (highway commercial). No one from the audience spoke in opposition.

Currently, there is no zoning classification in the city’s master plan allowing specifically for a homeless shelter. That was the sticking point of contention for the plan commission, which denied the request 6-3 during a special meeting Monday night.

Eggers, who serves on both boards, said he wanted to see the project follow all of the rules.

“You need to go in front of the city council and get this done right,” Eggers said. “If it’s not handled right from the beginning, it’s never going to work.”

Attorney Travis Thompson said it was the BZA’s job to determine whether the land use variance met five specific criteria before approving it.

“The board has to consider for deviation from regular zoning that the variance will not be injurious to the public health, safety, morals or general welfare of the community,” he said. “That the use and value of the adjacent area and property will not be adversely affected in a substantial manner; that the variance arises from some condition peculiar to the property; that strict application of the terms of the zoning ordinance would constitute an unnecessary hardship if applied to the property for which the variance is sought; and that the approval does not interfere substantially with the comprehensive plan of the city of Seymour.”

Attorney Jeff Lorenzo, representing Royalty in the matter, said the application met all of the board’s criteria for approval.

Royalty owns both the property and the vacant building he plans to turn into apartment-style rooms to house nearly 50 homeless people. A second phase of the project will nearly double the shelter’s capacity, and the third phase will add a manufacturing facility to provide workforce training.

The project is being privately funded and will be operated by Jackson County Toolbox, a new nonprofit organization formed in the spring to address homelessness. That initiative is being led by Deacon John Cord of St. Ambrose Catholic Church and Karen Browning with Double Down Outreach along with several others.

Lorenzo said one of the biggest benefits of the location is its close proximity to the Jackson County Learning Center, which houses the WorkOne office and educational and workforce training programs. Christopher and Associates counseling services also is located nearby.

The goal is to help people move from homelessness and generational poverty into stable, permanent housing and employment. A person’s length of stay at the shelter will be limited to 30 to 40 days, and the facility is only for residents of Jackson County.

The shelter will be a safe and stable environment where homeless individuals can become productive citizens, Browning said.

It’s a lack of stability that causes homelessness, she added.

The number of homeless people in the community is estimated to be in the hundreds and includes families with young children. Many of them live in motels and tents on the east side of Interstate 65.

“This is not in what we would call a sensitive area, which would be near a park, school or day care facility,” Lorenzo said of the proposed shelter. “We are sensitive to the fact that this should be close to the interstate, not in a high-density area and close to the services people need. It’s not perfect, but it’s a good location, and it’s a facility that can meet the need.”

Dan Davis, president and chief executive officer of the Community Foundation of Jackson County and the Jackson County Education Coalition, which operates the learning center, said the homeless shelter is a good fit for the neighborhood.

“We had early concerns with security and safety, but we are comfortable with the plans they have to address that,” Davis said. “We feel that there are some good synergies that can happen. We think their mission complements our work. We are comfortable with them as neighbors.”

Browning said the statistics don’t lie. Not only are they serving the homeless but those who are marginalized.

“Forty two percent of individuals are living at or below poverty or are two paychecks away from being homeless,” she said.

Larry Lewis, a member of Rockford United Methodist Church, said he had no idea there were homeless people in the community until his church became involved with the Cold Night Out Shelter last winter. The church, one of the smallest in Seymour, also was one of a handful that housed the homeless during the cold months.

Twice a week, Rockford opened its fellowship center during the day to allow the homeless to take showers and wash their laundry.

“I had my eyes opened to the homeless this winter,” he said. “When I thought of a homeless person, I thought of what you see on TV in New York sleeping on the benches covered in newspapers or pushing a cart like I saw out in Hollywood a few years ago.”

But what he saw at Rockford were families and young children who couldn’t wait to to do their laundry and take a shower.

“They wanted to be clean. They wanted to wear clean clothes,” he said. “These people were out looking for jobs. We had several that got jobs. These are not just dirty bums on the street. These are people that want to be like everyone else.”

Royalty called homelessness in Jackson County a “humanitarian crisis.”

As a successful businessman and developer, he is blessed to have the financial means to do something and make a difference, he said.

“We’re asking for open-mindedness and compassion,” he said. “This is a problem in every community, but I live in this community.”