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| The Grant Park facility known as ‘Gerald’s House,’ faces closure after
operating as a community center for black gay youth known as Da
C.R.I.B.B. (Photo by Dyana Bagby) |
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HOME > NEWS > LOCAL
By: RYAN LEE
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The city of Atlanta’s Zoning Review Board voted unanimously July 10 to revoke the permit of a Grant Park facility that was licensed to provide transitional housing for people living with HIV/AIDS, but which has instead been operating as a drop-in community center for black gay youth.
“I think we have a situation here where we’re comparing apples and oranges,” David Payne, zoning board vice chair, said at the hearing. “We’ve got oranges today, but we approved apples originally.”
In 1994, the city granted a “special use permit” to the National AIDS Education & Services for Minorities for the HIV/AIDS non-profit to operate Gerald’s House in a residential area of Grant Park. Gerald’s House provided temporary housing for more than 100 black men living with HIV/AIDS from 1994 until March 2006, when it closed to undergo extensive renovations.
During the renovations, NAESM began using the location at 503 Boulevard as the site for another one of its programs, Da C.R.I.B.B. — a community center and AIDS awareness outreach program targeting young black gay men.
“There are frequent parties at the site, and there’s a lot of noise at the site,” said Brandy Crawford, a staff member in the city’s Bureau of Planning who presented the case for closing the venue to the zoning board. “They have done rehearsals, and on several occasions, there has been very loud music coming from the site.”
NAESM leaders and attorneys were defiant, but their arguments failed to resonate with the nine-member zoning review board.
Attorney Duncan Adams questioned the city’s authority to close Gerald’s House, and told board members that if they revoked the special use permit for a facility that serviced two “protected classes” — African Americans, and people living with HIV/AIDS — the city could be sued.
“This reeks of litigation and a discrimination lawsuit against the city of Atlanta,” Adams said.
Gerald’s House closed in 2006 when the city mandated extensive renovations to the home, and NAESM moved Da C.R.I.B.B. to the location in an attempt to prevent vagrants from overtaking the property, said NAESM Executive Director Rudy Carn.
“It was never our intent for Da C.R.I.B.B. to stay there permanently,” Carn said. “We always had the intention of going back to housing.”
Gerald’s House currently has one resident, and is reviewing at least four resident applications, said Carn, who added that Da C.R.I.B.B. is searching for a permanent location in the West End neighborhood.
One of the conditions in the special use permit granted to Gerald’s House in 1994 was that if the housing program ever ceased operations, the permit would expire. The zoning review board’s recommendation heads to the city council’s zoning committee July 30, then to the full council Aug. 18.
Carn said Gerald’s House will continue to operate.
“We can operate the facility without a special use permit — the house is not going anywhere,” said Carn, who believes that zoning for that residential area allows up to 14 unrelated people to live in a multi-family house.
City Councilmember Carla Smith, who is leading the push to close Gerald’s House and Da C.R.I.B.B., disputed Carn’s claims.
“That’s a residential, single-family home classification, and I don’t think you can do a community service provider status in a single-family home,” said Smith, who added that Grant Park neighbors asked for her help in shutting down the facility.
Three Grant Park neighbors attended the July 10 hearing to speak against Gerald’s House, including Paul Zucca, who is gay and president of the Grant Park Neighborhood Association.
“My neighborhood was not very excited about it [in 1994], it was not a very popular use of this single-family home,” said Zucca, who originally supported Gerald’s House.
“I’m disappointed, I really believed they could do a good job,” Zucca said. “I am not against the use that this group intends, my issue is good stewardship.”
About three people also spoke in support of Gerald’s House, including Rafer Johnson, who has volunteered at Da C.R.I.B.B., which stands for Creating Rich Intelligent Black Brothas.
“There is a crisis in our city, and it’s important we are supporting this, and not using broad statements to discriminate against these young men,” Johnson said.
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