New Directions Northwest has bought a home in west Baker City and is remodeling it to serve as rental housing for people who achieved sobriety and are continuing to recover from drug and alcohol addiction.

Several neighbors have expressed concern that the new use for the home, which previously was a single-family dwelling, will reduce their property values and increase crime. The home is at 3065 B St., between 11th and 12th streets. The property actually includes two addresses, as an adjacent garage is 3045 B St.

New Directions paid $255,000 for the property, using money from a state grant. The two-story home, which also has a basement, was built in 1977, according to Baker County Assessor’s office. The garage was built in 1950. The two lots total 6,225 square feet.

New Directions had a public meeting on Wednesday morning, April 26 to explain the project, which will operate on the Oxford House concept. Oxford House opened its first home in Maryland in 1975, and the organization is a nonprofit. There are Oxford houses in La Grande, Ontario and Pendleton.

The Baker City home can accommodate up to seven men (houses are not co-ed), and residents are not allowed to use drugs or alcohol, Ed Smith, Oregon chapter leader for Oxford House, said during the Wednesday meeting. Smith also said that registered sex offenders are not allowed to live in Oxford Houses.

The home is being remodeled, and it could be ready to house residents in a couple months, Shari Selander, New DIrections CEO, said during the meeting.

Residents living near the B Street house

said on Tuesday, April 25 that besides their

concerns about lower property values and higher crime rates, they’re upset that they weren’t

notified about New Directions’ plans for the

property.

Holly Kerns, director of the Baker City/County Planning Department, said on Tuesday that because the planned use is still residential, New Directions did not have to apply for a conditional-use permit. As a result, there was no requirement to notify residents within a certain distance of the property, as is the case when, for instance, the proposed use of a property changes from residential to commercial.

The Saturday, April 29 issue of the Baker City Herald will have a story and photos including comments from several neighbors and information from the New Directions meeting on Wednesday.