Panama City Holds Workshop on Transitional Residences

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - When people hear transitional housing they usually think.. not in my neighbor hood.

A workshop Thursday hosted by the city of Panama City tackled that issue.

City officials say there are 5 Oxford Houses in Panama City right now. All but one are for men.

The other one is for women and children..

Thursday’s workshop was all about discussing an ordinance that will limit how close Oxford Houses can be to neighbors and how many people can live in them. However, some neighbors are out of luck with some houses already grandfathered in.

Oxford homes are where multiple people who are recovering from addiction can live while transitioning back into life.

“You want more than 4 people living in a home that have disabilities like mental illness in group homes or in recovery for a substance disorder. We have to treat them the same as every other family,” said Daniel Lauber a fair housing attorney.

Neighbors feel that the housing is hindering their own lives.

” I am disappointed. I live directly adjacent to an Oxford Home I have 3 kids. 1-, 2- and 7-year-old and after this meeting it sounds like were screwed, said a neighbor.

At the meeting they announced some of the Oxford Houses are grandfathered in and will not be removed.

” You got grand fathered in as long as you got a certified LICENSE or an Oxford house charter. It’s just not practical if you had two that was in the same distancing that’s chosen how do you choose which one is allowed and which has to get a conditional license use,” said Lauber.

Even Though several Oxford Homes close together in one neighborhood, called a cluster is prohibited per Oxford Housing rules there is a cluster in one Panama City neighborhood and apparently those are grandfathered in too.

” How do you fit 11 people in a house meant for a family of four or five,” said a neighbor.

More neighbors voiced their opinions.

“It makes for a lot of noise when you have 11 people and they’re all talking about different things it’s like having a big party but having a big party every day I just can’t see it,” said another neighbor.

Panama City leaders say they will work towards making sure no other Oxford House clusters are allowed in the city.

“We want to make sure our neighborhoods maintain their value that they’re safe and that’s there not a cluster of these in any particular neighborhood, so we are going to be putting an ordinance in place to make sure that doesn’t happen,” said Greg Brudnicki, mayor of Panama City.

The mayor says they will have the first reading of the new ordinance in just a few weeks.

Panama City officials say the new ordinance could be in place in the next month and a half.

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