The owner of First Option Adult Day Care in Merrillville is looking to move the facility to a larger site in town.
Willy Okwara received zoning board approval Wednesday to operate the adult day care in a 4,180-square- foot space at 6051 Broadway.
The day care is currently at 6111 Harrison St.
The matter still needs to go before the Town Council for approval.
Okwara said he would serve 30 elderly adults with chronic mental illness, dementia and other illnesses and have about 10 employees, including registered nurses, therapists and nurse assistants.
The day care would be open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.
This is Okwara’s second attempt at finding a new expanded space.
He first appeared before the BZA in March seeking to relocate to a space in the Crossroads Plaza, on the southwest corner of 61st and Broadway. That request was deferred after Town Attorney Joseph Svetanoff pointed out that town officials had gone through an extensive process to rezone the plaza to manufacturing, at the owner’s request.
Okwara then pulled his request and began looking for another location.
“This is a good location,” BZA member Tim Fortier told Okwara.
In another matter, the BZA approved new ownership for a used car dealership at 7809 Taft St., with the same stipulations the previous owner had: there would be no more than 40 cars for sale on the lot at a time, the cars be kept on paved areas only, the hours of operation would remain 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and there would be two to three employees.
The new owner will be Ibrahim Musleh.
This matter also needs to go before the Town Council.
In a third action, the BZA denied a request by Timothy and Jennifer Brewer to build a 1,900-square-foot second garage on their property at 8606 Wood Court after several residents remonstrated against it.
Some residents pointed out that the proposed outbuilding would be bigger than their houses.
PREVIOUS ARTICLE
