Pocatello city council decides Big Mama’s House proposal
After months of debate, Pocatello city council will decide on whether or not Big Mama’s apartment complex will be built where they’ve requested. Thursday night members from both sides of the debate will be at the meeting to hear the decision.
However, location is everything in this case. Ed Snell, president of the board at Big Momma’s House says, “All of the things in the neighborhood, shopping, bus stop, daycare, but more importantly, research shows that these kinds of transitional care facilities if they’re located in a neighborhood,” Snell explains. “The success rate of people getting back into their own homes really goes sky high.”
Courtney Williams, preschool teacher at the Growing Place says the location of their apartment complex has parents worried about their kid’s safety. “I think it scares the parents, and it scares us we don’t know what’s going to happen,” Williams says.
Snell, however, says they plan to implement a strict vetting process for those will live there. “The odds of us bringing in someone who’s a problem for the neighborhood is far less than someone who moves into the rental next door where there are no screening what’s so ever.”
Mike Popovich, the pastor at First Baptist Church is an avid supporter of Big Momma’s House and the location they’ve selected.”It’s a fear of what they don’t know and that’s valid. And there is an effort to prove that this is a safe enterprise. But it certainly fits the dynamic of this particular locations.”
Those who live in the neighborhood disagree. Among controversy over zoning areas, Mitch Fisher doesn’t want an apartment complex moving in behind his house. “This is just not the right place for it, its been in a residential area for over 50 years and we want to preserve that. It is going to be in my backyard, it’s going to take away the privacy of my backyard. There are countless things that this will do to my property.”
