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Sunday, February 04, 2007

Proposed Halfway House Suffers Set Back

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posted by Bob at Sunday, February 04, 2007

6 Comments:

Blogger Bob said...

Proposed halfway house suffers
setback
Facility loses initial vote as it confronts negative perceptions
BY JASON HOPPIN
Pioneer Press
The Rev. William Lockett
says he just wants to help
people.
But Lockett's proposed St. Paul substance abuse treatment center has run into
resistance from Dayton's Bluff neighbors who say their neighborhood has plenty of socalled
sober houses, thank you very much.
While other neighborhoods —mainly West Seventh — may have more of such facilities,
the proposal is also causing rancor because it would be located next to one of the city's
venerable Catholic churches and schools.
On Thursday, Lockett lost a key committee vote of the city's Planning Commission,
despite evidence that halfway houses don't lead to what neighbors often fear most: a
drop in property values and an increase in crime.
Now, Lockett, who runs a similar center in Minneapolis, is facing an uphill battle. While
evidence may support his position that the center won't affect the neighborhood, he is
swimming against a tide of preconceptions.
"Other people's perceptions can't be our reality," Lockett said.
Warily eyeing the matter are officials at Sacred Heart Church, who worry parents at the
K-8 Trinity Catholic School would move their children elsewhere. The proposed 42-bed
center would be right next to the school.
Oakdale resident Sheri Ilinykh, mother of a preschooler and second-grader, drops her children off at Trinity on her way to work in downtown St. Paul. While saying the program
may be well run, she worries that there will be failures along with the successes.
"What happens if there are things that happen outside the confines of those building
walls that the kids could see or become involved in?" she asked. "It's not a question of if,
but when."
Ilinykh, whose sister has three children at Trinity, said all five youths would be removed if
the halfway house were allowed to open.
Andy Eisenzimmer, the archdiocese's chancellor for civil affairs, said the archdiocese has
heard from other parents expressing objections, and they've been noted.
"The archbishop has expressed concern about whether the facility to be operated by
Victory Through Faith"— Lockett's organization — "would have an impact on Trinity
School," Eisenzimmer said. "Like many inner-city schools, (Trinity) faces struggles."
Lockett said Thursday that if he loses the full Planning Commission vote Feb. 9, he would
appeal his case as far as he can.
Thursday's 8-0 vote actually turned on a dispute about parking. The seller of the building,
Catholic Charities, has a shared parking agreement with Sacred Heart. The committee
decided that since Lockett wants to change how the building is used, the agreement is no
longer valid.
Lockett says it is. The decision appears headed to the City Council, and could end up
before a judge.
Resistance from neighbors is nothing new to operators of drug and alcohol treatment
centers. But in St. Paul and across the country, neighbors' fears appear to be unfounded.
Take sober houses, for example. Often located in the middle of single-family
neighborhoods, the average value of those facilities in St. Paul exceeds $300,000 —
higher that the Twin Cities average, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures.
That number is bolstered by the fact that some recovery homes are large buildings in
wealthier neighborhoods, including one on Summit Avenue.
And poorer neighborhoods in the city don't seem to be bearing an inordinate share of the
burden. If all residential facilities are taken into account —overnight shelters, homes for
the developmentally disabled, residential treatment centers and more — upscale St.
Anthony Park has the highest density of beds in the city, easily besting the runners-up,
the West Seventh and SummitHill neighborhoods.
In a 2005 study published in the Journal of Community Psychology, researchers at
Chicago's DePaul University found neighbors were more receptive to sober houses once
they became acquainted with them. They also found no indication that property values
decline.
And in an as-yet-unpublished study of crime near sober houses in Portland, Ore., DePaul
professor Leonard Jason's research also showed "no significant difference" in crime.
St. Paul police spokesman Tom Walsh backed that assertion.

St. Paul Pioneer Press | 02/02/2007 | Proposed halfway house suffers setback Page 2 of 4

"We don't see increases in burglaries and thefts and robberies and those kinds of things,"
Walsh said. "Depending on how well the place is run, we may get more drunk calls."
Paul Molloy has heard the arguments before, and he understands them. The recovering
alcoholic founded Oxford House in 1975, a loose network of sober houses that now
numbers more than 1,250 nationally, including some in St. Paul. He has fought similar
zoning wars across the country, including one that Oxford House took all the way to the
U.S. Supreme Court.
The high court ruled cities must make special accommodations for group homes. Since
alcoholism is regarded as a disease, the court held that Oxford House residents are
covered by Fair Housing Act protections for handicapped persons.
Not long after, the St. Paul City Council tried to restrict the number of beds at Buffalo
Sober Group, which sued under the Fair Housing Act and won. Since then, the city hasn't
regulated sober houses, which may mean Dayton's Bluff neighbors who say there are
enough of the facilities there have a point.
Zoning rules prohibit state-licensed residential drug treatment centers from being within a
quarter-mile of each other, or from the number of total beds within one of the city's 17
planning district from exceeding 1 percent of the area's total population.
But because of the court ruling, those rules don't apply to sober houses. And that means
the city knows little about their operation— including where they are all located.
Although the St. Paul fire marshal maintains an unofficial list, there are several sober
houses near the proposed center, all owned by Stephen Mowry, which aren't on that list.
Even Mowry is opposed to Lockett's center.
"It's not one of those deals where more is better. It's a complicated issue. It's a fragile
community," Mowry said.
Despite the courtroom setbacks, the city is still trying to at least take a closer look at ways
to regulate sober houses. In 2005, the City Council asked the Planning Commission to
begin a study, but little progress has been made.
It is still pending and there is no date set for its completion.

3:30 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just another example of neighbors who do not want anyone in their neighborhood unless they are perfect people......but perfect to who?

A lot of these neighboehood "busy bodies" buy a house in that neighborhoon because the price is low, and the reason it is low is because it is not as nice as Mac Groveland. Then they get a city grant to fix uo their house to look like it is in Mac Groveland, and then they demand to have everyone else do the same while using the excuse that the property values are dropping. Most of these people don't give a hoot about their property value because they are never going to see a nickle of anyways because they have to keep the house to live in , they can't sell it , and when they do they are out of St. Paul so quick it's crazy.

7:19 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dayton's Bluff is an east side neighborhood and there are social service houses on every other block. One ran by the state, one ran by the county, one ran by the city another ran by some church and another ran by a non-profit.
When do the neighbors get to say enough is enough?
I'm sure Martin Owings could tell stories. I don't understand what the reporter is referring to when he says there are more facilities on west seventh. Maybe he's cutting straws between faith-based and county ran.

Seriously, you can't fault them for not wanting this near a grade school. 7:19 has made a judgment without knowing the details on what other kind of problems these proposed residents may have as well as what kind of security will be at the home. If I had children in the school nearby or on the block, be damn sure I'd ask and if you're any kind of person with a family you would too.

What's with the quick to judge and demean with everyone on here?

You guys are unreasonable. You believe that every situation is the same.

8:32 PM  
Blogger Bob said...

NOPE, sorry... I don't believe every situation is the same.

Now call me prejudice or whatever, but, I don't want any Baby Raping perverts, Women Rapers, or any other sexual deviant near my home or anywhere in my neighborhood.

As far as recovering alcoholics, that don't bother me. Ex-offenders don't bother me either. What bothers me more about ex-offenders Is that when released from prison they are given $100 gate money and set free. I'd rather they were in a group home assimilating back into the community. Assistance with employment resources and housing.

8:58 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

We treat every situation the same because it is the same! Maybe not the same particulars, but always the same substance. It's ALWAYS the neighbors and the city who want to demonize, slander, criminalize, humiliate or whatever they can do to the people they deem to be different than them, and they seem to always forget about peoples civil rights when they do it.

10:44 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You know if this was funded by private dollars, he wouldn't have to go to the city and neighbors. The moment you need public money to do your project, you have to have a public hearing and guess what, those people who pay their taxes and own nearby property have right to say what is done with property nearby that is funded with THEIR taxes.

You want a halfway house without having to listen to your neighbors bitch about it? Find all the money yourself without utilizing one of the government programs and you'll be fine.

12:30 PM  

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