Vestry approvals, questions continue on Amistad’s St. Philip’s uses

A dozen would be single-room apartments now have St. Philip’s Church’s vestry’s approval. So does another use of space at the Hodge Street church by the same Portland-based organization, Amistad, from which the town code enforcement officer and planning board chair said they have not yet heard; and neighbors continue asking about the apartments project, including at the latest planning board meeting, Monday night, April 10.

“There are a number of us in the community who are very concerned about Amistad’s plan to put in  (the apartments) in St. Philip’s,” Hodge Street’s Tanya Hammond told the board. She said they would like to know if there is a “definite process, or if there is any variability, in the procedure for how this (proposal) will go through the town ... because we want to make sure that we’re involved and expressing our concerns.”

Chair Karl Olson, in a phone interview earlier Monday and in the meeting, said the board has received no application, nor inquiries from an applicant; Code Enforcement Officer Bruce Mullins, also in a phone interview Monday, said he had not, either.

Olson told Hammond, if the proposal would take an ordinance change, which he could not determine because no proposal is before the board, that has a “very public process,” in which selectmen would have to consider the requested change, send it to the ordinance review committee, which would work on it and send it back to selectmen and then, for the change to reach a required town vote, the planning board would hold a public hearing.

Olson continued, a proposed project would involve a site plan and have to address items including traffic, parking and more.

Resident and Wiscasset Neighborhood Association member Peter Wells of Federal Street addressed the board again about the would be project. He asked about ordinance language he said such a project might be sought under.

But he said one of the ordinance’s lettered provisions has no matching letter elsewhere stating what that letter refers to. “I actually noticed that as well,” responded Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission’s Emily Rabbe, who assists the planning board. “It’s on my list of things to correct in the ordinance, and I have to look into it to see if it was a clerical error made in one of the past iterations of updates and it got accidentally deleted from the master copy, or if it was never added in.”

In a press release Wiscasset Newspaper received April 4, church officials stated: “After prayerful consideration and in the spirit of St. Philip’s mission, ‘Rooted in Worship, Growing in Mission,’ the Vestry voted to approve two new endeavors on April 2. Both involve a partnership with the non-profit agency, Amistad. The feedback received from our neighbors, our congregation, other churches, and social welfare organizations all factored into our decision-making.

“The first decision was to approve the Community Resource Center for Lincoln County, to be housed at St. Philip’s. Working from office space at St. Philip’s, Amistad Recovery Coaches will identify or access the best local resources for those impacted by substance use, to include those with long-term sobriety and family members of people working towards recovery. People will be able to join support groups, engage in one-on-one coaching and participate in occasional planned events utilizing our Parish Hall.

“The center’s purpose is to provide hope and wellness, not a place to ‘hang out.’ Amistad staff will be available for 40 hours a week as mentors and guides. Exact days/times of operation are to be determined, but most work would occur during afternoon/evening hours.

“The second decision by the Vestry was to go forward with Amistad’s Single Room Occupancy (SRO) grant for workforce housing at St. Philip’s. Amistad received an award from Maine State Housing Authority (MaineHousing) for the purpose of constructing 12 SRO units as workforce apartments. These units will function like regular apartments, with credit and background checks and standard one-year leases. They will be available for residents of Lincoln County. A 24-hour per week property manager will provide support to the tenants and to St. Philip’s with leasing, site maintenance and links to community services. Vestry approval, of course, is just the first step prior to town of Wiscasset requirements, including neighborhood impact and permitting.

“The Vestry believes these outreach ministries further St. Philip’s tradition of being ‘a growing and welcoming congregation, committed to caring for our members and reaching out to the larger community offering God’s love to everyone,’” the release concluded.

In a phone interview Friday April 7, Lisa Tichy of Summer Street, like others before her, called for transparency about Amistad’s plans at St. Philip’s. She said just as she and others did not know about the late winter, warming center Amistad was eying at the church until Wiscasset Newspaper reported on the state grant Amistad got for it, and just as they did not know about the possible dozen single-room units upstairs at the church until Wiscasset Newspaper reported on the subsequent state grant for that, they did not know about the office use for the resource center prior to the April 4 press release.

On the other projects, the church and Amistad leaders have said that because the grants had tight time frames to apply, there was not time to talk with neighbors, or with the town about prospects for approval and permitting, communication could have only been superficial, not meaningful, and the vestry, at that stage, had not approved the proposals.

Amistad officials did not immediately respond to new messages from Wiscasset Newspaper, and St. Philip’s Priest In Charge Tom Junkert, reached Tuesday, said he was not yet prepared to provide new comment. Senior Warden Jon Young commented via email to Wiscasset Newspaper’s questions April 12. Young wrote: “I do not believe it is fair to church members to notify neighbors of things that may be presented before they are presented to church people themselves.  Let alone before the Vestry has a chance to vote on them.

Young said the resource center “will provide whatever counseling that is needed. Or put them in contact with other places that provide the needed counseling.  Anyone that has had life problems can go to a church and receive help from most pastors, preachers, ministers, etc. What the Resource Center will offer is no different.  

“This line is from the contract that the vestry has not voted on yet,” Young shared. “Provide counseling,  professional referrals, and programs that are consonant with Amistad’s programs in other centers offering yoga classes, wellness and nutrition programs, individual and family life counseling, substance abuse recovery counseling, for any and all of life’s challenges.”