Bakersfield City Council set to allow Casa Esperanza to open at Panorama Bluffs

Sep. 14—The Bakersfield City Council is poised to greenlight a transitional home for women and children that was previously denied after nearby residents voiced concerns about the project.

At Wednesday's City Council meeting, the council is scheduled to officially acknowledge the Casa Esperanza Transitional Home for Women and Children can operate at a home on Panorama Drive that previously housed a large foster family.

The project has been the subject of a legal dispute following the City Council's initial rejection of a conditional use permit local officials believed was required for the home to open. After the council rejected the permit application in January, the California Department of Housing and Community Development informed the city Casa Esperanza did not need the permit to operate.

According to the state, Bakersfield planners improperly classified Casa Esperanza as a roominghouse when it should have been classified as transitional housing. A roominghouse needs a conditional use permit to open in a zone designated for single family houses, while transitional housing does not.

At first, the city appeared ready to fight the state's interpretation of the law. However, Bakersfield's stance appears to have softened in the ensuing months.

"The state's direction is very clear that the state law allows this project to move forward as a residential use at the proposed location," city spokesman Joe Conroy wrote in an email to The Californian.

But the nuanced legal distinctions come as little comfort to residents of Panorama Bluffs, who continue to worry about Casa Esperanza's potential impact on the neighborhood.

"This is being pushed through because it sounds like a great idea in an elevator pitch, but we still have a lot of unaddressed concerns and issues that have not changed," said Kristen Urquidez, who owns a home behind the proposed Casa Esperanza location.

Urquidez and others worry about the prospect of more than 20 people living in the seven-bedroom home, along with the ability of the new nonprofit to pull off the project without problems.

The home will serve as a launching point for single women to reconfigure their lives. Participants must attend counseling sessions and work toward attaining stable jobs and permanent housing while staying in the home.

The city has drafted a good neighbor policy for Casa Esperanza that attempts to address any issues that may come up. The policy bars smoking, vaping and illegal drugs from the premises and institutes a 10 p.m. weekday curfew.

Still, even if Casa Esperanza functions perfectly, Urquidez said other homes that open under similar circumstances may not be so accommodating.

"I'm worried it's going to start setting a precedent for similar projects to start popping up around the city," she said. "The precedence is that there is going to be no oversight, no application process to make sure that things are realistic and with good intentions."

You can reach Sam Morgen at 661-395-7415. You may also follow him on Twitter @smorgenTBC.