Plan to Put Group Home in Lenox Ave. Luxe Condos Fought by Community Board

Plan to Put Group Home in Lenox Ave. Luxe Condos Fought by Community Board

January 23, 2012 8:36am | By Jeff Mays, DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

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Community Options wants to buy two condominiums that will serve as a home for seven developmentally disabled men at the Savoy West on 138th Street and Lenox Avenue. (DNAinfo/Jeff Mays)

HARLEM — An effort to bring a group of developmentally disabled men into luxury condominiums in Harlem is being fought by a community board that claims the neighborhood already has enough "special interest" housing facilities.

Community Options, a non-profit organization that helps house people with disabilities, is in negotiations to buy two three-bedroom units at the Savoy West at 555 Lenox Ave. for $500,000 each.

The non-profit intends to make them into a group home for seven men, aged 17 to 22.

Members of Community Board 10 argue the neighborhood already has more than enough facilities for the developmentally disabled, recovering drug addicts and recently released ex-convicts. The board has had a moratorium on approving so-called "special interest facilities" since April 2008.

"We already have more than our fair share of special interest housing. We have nothing against people with disabilities," said Stanley Gleaton, who leads the board's land-use committee.

Read more: http://www.dnainfo.com/20120123/harlem/disabled-group-homes-plan-for-lenox-avenue-fought-by-community-board?utm_content=chiefcharley472%40gmail.com&utm_source=VerticalResponse&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=Disabled%20Group%20Homes%20Plan%20for%20Lenox%20Avenue%20Fought%20by%20Community%20Board&utm_campaign=Disabled%20Group%20Homes%20Plan%20for%20Lenox%20Avenue%20Fought%20by%20Community%20Boardcontent#ixzz1kJonrPGr