Rehab home neighbors keep on the defensive

Deirdre Newman

Residents who live near an alcohol and drug rehabilitation

facility in the Hall of Fame neighborhood continue to exert pressure

on the city to reject the owner’s attempts to increase her number of

clients.

Eleanor Manion is asking the Planning Commission to approve the

expansion of her facility, which is in a single-family home in the

3100 block of Cork Lane, from six residents to nine, saying it will

to provide a more stable and supportive living environment.

Neighbor say their main concern is that increasing the number of

clients increases the likelihood of trash such as used condoms,

alcohol beverage containers and cigarette butts being strewn on their

lawns. They also charge the home is in such a state of disrepair that

it diminishes the quality of the neighborhood.

Based on these apprehensions, city planners have advised the

Planning Commission to deny Manion’s expansion request. The

commission will consider the issue on Monday.

The group home first came to the city’s attention in July 2000

when the city received complaints that Manion was serving more than

the six residents she was allowed for the residential area.

In investigating the property, code enforcement officials

confirmed that more than six clients were living there. At that time,

the city filed a civil lawsuit against Manion for violating city

code. The case is expected to go to trial in June.

Manion then applied for the increase, asserting that having more

residents living in the house decreases the chance that one resident

could isolate himself or herself, which would be detrimental to

recovery. Manion also claimed that adding more residents would not

adversely affect the neighborhood.

Many neighbors have adamantly disagreed.

Resident Kelly Smith mobilized the opposition, distributing fliers

to her neighbors warning them of the expansion efforts and

encouraging them to help thwart it.

Many wrote letters to the city expressing their disdain based on

bad experiences with the facility.

“Imagine my husband’s and my horror to find two discarded syringes

in the gutter,” Charlotte Molina wrote in her letter. “What if one of

the small children on our street had picked up one of these syringes?

With all the potential infectious diseases -- HIV and hepatitis being

two of many life threatening diseases -- why do we have to live with

this problem?”

City planners ultimately decided that nine clients is too many for

Manion to handle or for the house to accommodate and is inconsistent

with the single-family residential neighborhood.

The Planning Commission was supposed to decide on the expansion in

January, but the attorney representing Manion asked for more time to

respond to neighborhood concerns. The issue was continued until Feb.

10.