07/19/06 — Fremont denies permit for adult day care

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Fremont denies permit for adult day care

By Jack Stephens
Published in News on July 19, 2006 1:45 PM

FREMONT -- A proposed senior adult day care will not be coming to Fremont.

The Town Board of Aldermen, in a split vote, denied a request for a conditional-use permit from Provident Care Inc. of Lanham, Md., to operate the day care for adults with disabilities in the old Fremont teacherage at 103 S. Pine St.

The vote was 3-2 in Tuesday night's monthly meeting in Town Hall. Alderman Leon Mooring's motion to deny was supported by Aldermen W.T. Smith and Harold Cuddington. Aldermen Billy Harvey and Leroy Ruffin opposed it.

Harvey had offered an earlier motion to accept the Planning Board's recommendation that approved the day care with four conditions.

The conditions were regular operating hours, off-street loading and unloading of clients, off-street parking for employees, and a privacy fence around the property but not where it would obstruct traffic.

The Planning Board had asked that the center be operated between 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Harvey's motion had extended the evening deadline to 8 p.m.

During the discussion, Alderman Smith said the driveway to the center would eliminate parking places, but Harvey countered that the town would be getting a new business.

Ruffin joined Harvey in support of the motion to accept, but Smith, Mooring and Cuddington voted against it.

The board's other alderman, Annie Lewis, was absent.

Harvey had argued that the town could miss out on the benefits of a new business that could wind up elsewhere. But Smith said the board needed more information.

Shirley Coley, a Fremont resident, had presented the idea of the center on behalf of G. Sery Kabert, the chief executive officer of Provident Care Inc., during the June 20 meeting. She said the center would serve up to 30 clients with eight to 10 employees.

The house is now owned by the Methodist Home for Children of Raleigh and once housed six boys. It was put up for sale.