An animal-welfare organization is trying to capitalize on the notoriety of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer’s childhood home by suggesting it might turn the house into a vegan restaurant.
Ingrid E. Newkirk, president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, sent a letter dated Friday to the realty agent who has listed the Bath Township house for sale. In the letter, she asked about the listing and proposed making the house a vegan restaurant “to respond to the past with something positive.”
Newkirk likened the way animals are slaughtered, processed and consumed to the way Dahmer treated his victims.
“We are always looking for ways to draw attention to the violence inherent in the production of meat, eggs, and milk — which involve processes that would shock all but the most hard-hearted person,” Newkirk wrote in the letter to Richard Lubinski of Stouffer Realty. “Dahmer’s old house gives us a way to evoke sympathy for these victims and to suggest that a life-affirming diet can change everything.”
The plan’s feasibility, however, is questionable. The three-bedroom house at 4480 W. Bath Road — the site of Dahmer’s first murder — is zoned for single-family residential use. It’s unlikely Bath Township would change the zoning to allow a business such as a restaurant in a residential neighborhood, said Bill Funk, the township’s zoning inspector and administrator.
Funk said the building and lot are poorly suited for that purpose. He pointed out that the house has well water and a septic system, and the sloped, wooded lot would make parking difficult.
“I think they’d have a lot of hurdles to jump,” he said.
Apparently, PETA hadn’t researched the house’s location before sending the letter. Newkirk offered in the letter to take up possible zoning issues with the Akron Board of Zoning Appeals, but Akron’s board has no jurisdiction over zoning in Bath.
Nevertheless, PETA spokesperson Lindsay Rajt insisted the organization is serious about the offer. She said the organization learned the house was for sale by monitoring the news and was initially limited to information available online.
Rajt said PETA is cautiously optimistic about the plan and has gone so far as to come up with a name, concept and menu items for the restaurant. It would be called Eat For Life: Home Cooking and would offer entrees for $10 or less, she said. Menu items would include chipotle barbecue tofu kebabs and vegan creamy chicken casserole, made from mock chicken and dairy-free sour cream.
Lubinski, the listing agent, raised concerns about the zoning but said he’s willing to discuss a possible transaction with PETA.
“I think it’s great,” he said. “If they want to buy it and repurpose it, that’s phenomenal.”
Lubinski said he wasn’t sure whether PETA was serious about the offer or just looking for publicity. But “I’m certainly going to treat it as a serious lead at this point,” he said.
The house is where Dahmer killed the first of his 17 victims. In 1978, he killed and dismembered Coventry Township resident Steven M. Hicks in the house and scattered his remains on the 1.5-acre property.
The 2,170-square-foot, midcentury modern house has been on and off the market since 2012. The current owner, musician Chris Butler, has said he bought the house in 2005 to have a place to stay when he visited Akron, but he no longer has reason to spend much time in the area.
When Butler listed the house with Keller Williams Realty in August 2012, the price was $329,000. It’s now listed for $295,000.
Mary Beth Breckenridge can be reached at 330-996-3756 or mbrecken@thebeaconjournal.com. You can also become a fan on Facebook at http://tinyurl.com/mbbreck, follow her on Twitter @MBBreckABJ and read her blog at www.ohio.com/blogs/mary-beth.