This story by Aaron Calvin first appeared in the News & Citizen on May 18.
A zoning appeal filed by a San Diego-based software entrepreneur has waylaid plans to convert the former Forest Hills Residential Care Home into an expanded homeless shelter in Hyde Park.
Saul Costa, who owns a 9-bedroom home on a 42-acre property abutting the planned shelter, has appealed a decision issued by the town’s development review board to allow the Forest Hill facility to transition from an aging care home to a year-round shelter that would be twice the size of the current seasonal shelter.
In an appeal filed in State Environmental Court, Costa claimed that the review board’s decision was not “in accord with the policies, purposes, or terms of the plan or bylaw of the municipality,” according to court documents.
Costa’s lawyers presented questions to be answered during the appeal process, including whether the shelter would have an adverse impact on the character of the area, and whether the project complies with Hyde Park’s zoning ordinance.
Lawyers representing Lamoille Housing Partnership, the nonprofit that purchased the Forest Hill property in partnership with Lamoille Community House, which plans to oversee its operations, have joined the town’s lawyers in defending the zoning designation.
Neither Kim Anetsberger, director at the community house, nor Jim Lovinsky, director at the partnership, would comment on the appeal, but both acknowledged that, barring a swift settlement, it will likely delay plans to open the new homeless shelter in the fall as scheduled.
The shelter would provide 21 beds and nearly double the capacity of the current Hyde Park shelter. The plan was announced in February following an extensive search for a new location that led the nonprofit team to Forest Hill, where the previous owners were looking to move on from the care-home industry for the aging but still wanted their property to serve a social good.
Lovinsky said that the partnership worked with the development review board to address any concerns that came up in the permitting process.
The community house also offered to establish a community advisory council as part of its board to encourage sustained community involvement with the project.
The partnership and community house said they hope to work out a positive arrangement with Costa to address his concerns, but if a negotiated settlement can’t be achieved and a court battle plays out, construction won’t begin in July as planned.
Costa could not be reached for comment.
In the background of this dispute is the end of a pandemic-era expansion of the state’s emergency hotel housing program, which will see several thousand people lose temporary housing across the state after the Legislature declined to extend funding for the program.
A total of 84 households made up of 105 adults and 42 children are currently either homeless or on the brink of homelessness in Lamoille County, according to Anetsberger.
“Any potential delay in our ability to open a year-round shelter means a delay in helping people who need stability in order to make progress toward their goals,” she said. “While operating seasonally, we often lose touch with guests over the warmer months because it’s hard to stay in touch when you’re camping and without Wi-Fi.”
Anetsberger also said that in the five years since the seasonal shelter opened in Hyde Park village, there have been few issues, and that the community house held a forum in March to address any potential concerns. She sees moments of conflict like this as opportunities to invite people to examine their personal bias and stigma against homeless or housing-insecure people.
Costa has local roots in Lamoille County and graduated from Norwich University in 2014, according to his LinkedIn profile, but has worked as a director at the San Diego workforce development company Pluralsight since 2021.
Costa’s San Diego residence is listed as his home in Hyde Park’s property information database.