Cabbage Patch - ruling delayed - May 31, 2006

Zoning concerns...

Plans to renovate and expand Old Louisville's Cabbage Patch Settlement House face another delay this time an issue involving property lines.
Cabbage Patch wants to dissolve the property lines between 1417 and 1419 S. Sixth St. and convert the properties into classroom and administrative space connected by above-ground breezeways.
The organization's leaders say merging the properties part of a $3.5 million overhaul proposal will help them meet growing needs as a Christian nonprofit social services community center.

More concerns...

This month, the city's Board of Zoning Adjustment declined to consider a conditional-use permit for the change until Cabbage Patch holds a community meeting to explain its plans.
The Rev. J. Tracy Holladay, Cabbage Patch's longtime executive director, said he and other center officials are aware of the requirement and felt it was met by outlining plan details at least four times since December at its own and various neighborhood meetings.
"I think folks were sort of relying on the spirit or intent more than the letter of the law in terms of having the meeting within 90 days," he said.
Charles Cash, head of the city department of planning and design services, acknowledged that the extra meeting is a technicality, but said the rule must be followed.
"It's in the land development code," he said.
The board's deferral also delays a final decision on whether the plan design adheres to Old Louisville historic guidelines.
Old Louisville's architectural review committee, which determines how well new construction meets neighborhood historic preservation guidelines, rejected the plan in February.
Members said they feared the changes would make it virtually impossible to convert the properties back to homes.
The Rev. Linda Frost, who has lived next door to the center for at least 15 years, said she believes Cabbage Patch offers too much to too many people to be a good fit at its Sixth Street location.
Frost, whose home dates to the 1800s, said she's also concerned about the potential harm to her foundation and to surrounding century-old streets that bulldozers and other construction equipment might cause.
"I think that their mission is beyond what our block of Old Louisville will be able to provide," she said.

Then and now

Cabbage Patch officials appealed the architectural review committee's decision to the Metro Historic Landmarks Commission last month . The commission, in turn, tabled a discussion of the case until the zoning issue is settled.
Cash, who serves on the Landmarks Commission, said the group delayed a decision in part because much of the opposition to the project concerns land use.
Cabbage Patch's proposed expansion has been delayed before. The current proposal is the third plan the group has brought to the neighborhood over several years to address various concerns.
Holladay said he can't help but feel some frustration.
"I've spoken to an architect ... and he said the costs of materials are increasing, so obviously this is costing us money," he said. "But we're in this for the long haul."

Cabbage Patch was founded in 1911 and was near Ninth and Hill streets before moving to Old Louisville in 1929. The 95-year-old center says it serves about 1,100 children and families each year.

Reporter Sheryl Edelen, Courier Journal, can be reached at (502) 582-4621

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