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Ordinance may help Nehemiah flourish

‘Special exceptions’ would give more leeway of building use

It’s not apparent from the legalese, but an ordinance that City Council adopted Wednesday could help the Nehemiah Project fulfill its ambition to turn the former Wright Elementary School into an instrument for the further revitalization of Lower Fairview.

The ordinance will allow commercial uses as “special exceptions” in former public school and government buildings in residential neighborhoods, provided the uses comply with a list of criteria designed to protect the integrity of the neighborhoods.

Seeking a special exception is a more reliable way of getting permission for using a building in a way that is contrary to a neighborhood’s zoning designation than obtaining a variance — the normal alternative — because the law requires variances to be granted only under narrow and exceptional conditions.

The Nehemiah Project, created as a mission of what is now called Trans4mation Church, began working to eradicate slumlike conditions in Lower Fairview about a dozen years ago, rehabilitating a derelict church that now houses two congregations, razing blighted properties, creating a playground, starting a transitional home for struggling adults and — last year — acquiring Wright.

Programs already started there include Empowering Lives Foundation, centered around the kitchen; a program called FUEL; the Refuge Youth Network; the Great Commission School’s basketball program; and the Altoona Area School District’s GED program, said Peter Joudry, Nehemiah’s CEO, who attended the council meeting.

There have also been meetings recently at Wright of representatives of local groups focused on children and youth — gatherings that the Nehemiah Project hopes will lead to the creation of day care, after-school and other programs that would take place at the old school for the benefit of kids in the neighborhood and beyond, Joudry said.

The “consortium” includes the school district, the Cambria County Child Development Corp., a component of the Trans4mation Church; Empowering Lives, Refuge Youth, Blair Regional YMCA and UPMC Altoona, Joudry said.

“The energy in the room is impressive,” he said. “We hope it’s not just a bunch of hot air.”

There has been talk of including a virtual reality component; science, technology, engineering and math teaching; and parenting and life skills instruction, he said.

He’d like the consortium program to take over an entire floor of the school building, he said.

Nehemiah’s “skin in the game” has been in organizing the group and as the prospective landlord — although Nehemiah sees group members more as partners than tenants, he said.

Joudry simply followed the advice of city officials — mainly Community Development Director Lee Slusser and solicitor Larry Clapper — in working through the zoning ordinance amendment, Joudry said.

“The city has been fantastic to work with,” he said. “They just made it happen.”

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 949-7038.

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