BY JANET C. WETZEL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MONROE -- A Warren County church off Interstate 75 wants to build a motel -- not as a haven for weary travelers, but for pregnant unwed teen-agers.
A lawyer for the Solid Rock Church Friday filed the third zone change application for the proposed $1 million building to be called the Darlene Bishop Home.
It will be a "motel" by name only. There will be no room service or luxurious amenities. Instead, church leaders envision it to be a place where 30 pregnant girls from around the country can come to live and be taught how to be self-sufficient.
Church members will teach the young moms how to take care of themselves and their babies, learning such things as balancing a checkbook, cooking and cleaning.
The large church, with a flashing electronic message board, is on Union Road near the Butler - Warren county line. Organizers have been trying for more than six months to get approval to build the center.
Calling the facility a motel instead of a "group home" allows it to comply with area zoning codes and possibly defuse tension with neighbors.
Earlier attempts to build the home triggered an outcry from neighbors Jay and Helen Frick, who own Traders World flea market and Cincinnati Zoysia Inc., next to the church. They and their Cincinnati lawyer, Peter Koenig, have said it could negatively impact the use of the Fricks' 120 "highly developable" acres.
Under the latest proposed change, zoning on the church's 60 acres would be changed to "highway industrial zoning," with a planned unit development (PUD).
Monroe's planning commission will review the new plan during its 7 p.m. meeting Wednesday at the fire house, 6262 Hamilton-Middletown Road, said Jay Stewart, assistant city manager.
A public hearing on the proposal may be held next month.
Church officials say the need is great. There are only six such homes in Ohio, a state where nearly 17,000 unwed teen-agers give birth each year, according to state health statistics. The home would be the first in southwest Ohio.
"We will build this home," said Ron Carter, church financial administrator. "We think this is a very important project. We feel its the direction God is leading us for an outreach for our church."
The goal was to have the 16,000-square-foot home open next spring, but when the church was unable to resolve the concerns, it withdrew the plans last week and started over. Now the building cannot start until spring 1999.
Mr. Koenig said Friday neither he nor his clients have seen the new application. But, "Off the top of my head, I would say that it seems less objectionable than their first and second plans. We'll have to take a look at it in the ordinary course of business before making a decision," he said.
"We are just trying to do this so that there is as little impact on the Fricks as possible, and also to do it in a way that would be acceptable to the city," Mr. Carter said.
