BY CINDY TOOPES COURIER STAFF WRITER
October 07, 2008 11:03 am
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OTTUMWA — Should a group home be allowed in a high-density neighborhood? Should a community be supportive of men coming out of correctional institutions?
Plenty of passion was evident on both sides of the issue Monday evening during the Plan and Zoning Commission meeting. After hearing comments from several citizens and city staff, the commission voted unanimously to deny the group home’s request for a conditional use permit.
The next step for the permit will be the Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting at 11 a.m. Wednesday in council chambers, City Hall.
The property owner at 163 N. Davis St. requested the permit for a group home sponsored by Brothers Keeper House, also known as New Heart Ministries. The proposed use is a supportive living for men coming out of correctional facilities.
Mark Tanner spoke first. He’s the founder and director of New Heart Ministries and said the facility would “be a conduit” for men coming out of prison.
“We help them connect with employment and local churches,” Tanner said.
Tanner said his background was 30 years of addiction to alcohol and cocaine and he was in and out of jail several times. But, he got the chance to “rise above it and leave his former life behind.”
“How can we not offer the same helping hand to others?” he said.
Paul Harrison is on the New Heart Ministries board. He said he “understood reactions” to having a group home next door.
“We’re screening people now to find someone with skills needed in Ottumwa. We try to match the person to the community,” he said. “I was once in corrections and I’ve seen what happens. Ninety-six percent of the people we work with succeed.”
Commission Chairman Chuck Manson asked Harrison how the proposed group home differs from a halfway house.
“A halfway house is a facility that the person has no choice but to go there,” Harrison said. “The difference is we’re a faith-based community.”
Neighbors who live on Davis and Ransom streets attended the meeting and expressed alarm about the facility. They wondered why a “generic letter” was the only contact they had about the proposal.
Gary Bergman said “both guys spoke eloquently” but he doesn’t want such a place in a “neighborhood with a lot of kids.” He said he understood the value of faith-based services and rehabilitation, but he questioned putting such a facility in a residential neighborhood.
“How would you feel?” Bergman said to the commission members.
Krista Burton lives in the Davis Street area and has two young daughters. She was concerned about what types of offenders would be living in the home.
“One of the things I do is advocate for kids,” said Burton, who is a teacher. “Are these men sex offenders?”
Harrison said the people they’re screening aren’t sex offenders and mentioned Iowa’s 2,000-foot rule pertaining to where offenders live.
Cathie Taylor and her two sons live in the area and said the boys “are scared. Their father has been in a correctional facility” and it’s been “one step forward and three steps back” with him since 1997.
“All it takes is for one” former prison inmate “to backfire,” Taylor added.
Teri Jacob lives on North Davis Street and said she’s “married to a man who benefited” from a Missouri program similar to Brothers Keeper House.
James Jacob said he’s the “same person who drove intoxicated” through the city and “did it repeatedly.”
“My life changed one day. I got a chance to live in one of these houses. There are 13 of them in Columbia, Mo.,” he said.
Gary Bergman said Jim Jacob is “a good person” but it’s impossible “to educate the neighborhood in a two-hour meeting.”
Planning Technician Chad Carlson said the proposed house doesn’t meet all the zoning criteria. For example, the property lacks proper entrance and exit, the Brother’s Keeper House would have an “adverse effect” on the neighborhood.
Cindy Toopes can be reached at (641) 683-5376 or via e-mail at cindy@ottumwacourier.com.
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