The City of Danbury and representatives of Dorothy Day Hospitality House were scheduled to have a hearing today on an appeal of a cease and desist order, but it was called off as some courts remain closed.
Attorneys for both sides are being called on to file a proposed, revised schedule by July 7th. The schedule must include the dates that the outstanding briefs will be filed and a proposed date for the appeal to be heard, at some point after September 1st.
Dorothy Day hasn't held a permit to operate as a soup kitchen for more than three decades. City officials learned several years ago that the owners never applied for a renewal after the initial special permit was granted. Dorothy Day was looking for variances to driveway width, parking lot size and setbacks because their more-than century old building does not comply with regulations which were updated over the decades.
The homeless shelter operator needed the variances in order to apply for a special exception before the Planning Commission.