LAFAYETTE, IN — The first step has been cleared in a new development for Lafayette Transitional Housing Center Homeless Services to build up to 40 new units off McCarty Lane for Greater Lafayette residents experiencing homelessness.
The 3-acre parcel, owned by the city of Lafayette, would be developed in two phases, according to a rezoning petition for PDRS planned development residential zoning submitted to the Tippecanoe County Area Plan Commission. The property on the south side of McCarty Lane and northeast of the Lafayette Marketplace is currently zone I-3 for industrial use.
Phase 1 would provide a maximum of 26 one-bedroom units intended for homeless seniors and veterans, according to the petition, a clubhouse with a leasing office and on-site supportive services, a pavilion with picnic tables and a fenced-in dog park. Phase 2 would increase available units for homeless individuals to 40, although a specific user group will be contingent on future funding sources and identified needs. Both phases would provide laundry facilities for residents.
Joe Bumbleburg, a lawyer with Ball Eggleston representing LTHC, said this development would aid in solving the overriding issue of homelessness in Greater Lafayette.
“This is the kind of housing that is truly needed in Lafayette, and I think that’s in agreement with (APC) staff,” Bumbleburg said. “The problem with homelessness is that it breeds other forms of illness and even suicide. There is an element in this that there will be a use for veterans.”
Addressing the APC voting members, Bumbleburg said the current rate of suicides among veterans in the United States is 44 per day. The housing development LTHC proposed would address the needs of homeless veterans.
Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski said the city is pleased to partner with LTHC for this “very needed facility,” noting that APC’s vote Wednesday night was one of several hurdles the project will need to overcome.
“I think this is a wonderful arrangement that’s going to serve and help a lot of people in our community, and certainly meet an important need,” Roswarski said. “So we would certainly appreciate the board’s approval on this rezoning.”
After a unanimous vote of approval, the project moves to the Lafayette City Council meeting on Sept. 2.
Jillian Ellison is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. She can be reached via email at jellison@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Tippecanoe APC OKs proposed LTHC 40-unit development for unhoused veterans
Reporting by Jillian Ellison, Lafayette Journal & Courier / Lafayette Journal & Courier
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