I would not be happy with it right next to my house...I don't care what anyone else thinks..

Battered wives have mean husbands somewhere...who knows what they would do.

I don't know if you could fight it...but would you be able to move?...what an awful thought...for me anyway.

I'm really sorry...

patti

I really wouldn't like it either. I used to work in a women's shelter, so I know how it impacts the neighborhood. You will really lose your sense of peace. However, if you fight it, you might get some people upset.

My husband said you should have a neighborhood meeting.

There was a reason they were keeping it under wraps...

You'll need more than yourself to fight it.

Get the neighbors behind you...

Ditto!

I understand this is a tough issue for you to have to deal with. On one hand you really would like to help battered women and their children get a better life. Then on the other you have to realize the impact of such a place in your area and what it means to your life and lifestyle. Problems are more than just parking and smoking when an irate bullying hubby finds out his wife/family is staying in the shelter and comes to claim his kids or demand she come back. Violence has happened in many such instances.

One thing that is a concern is the property is already zoned for multi-family housing. If that is MULTI-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL then having a transitional family moving in and out with in months is not RESIDENTIAL it is more on the line of Industry/office or hotel motel zoning. It may never appear on a Zoning Board Agenda for discussion. It has been known that civil servant worker's pockets get filled with more than pay check to hold back such info until it is too late and there is nothing to do but live with it. You may want to discuss with other neighbors and make a decision all together to go to the Zoning board to register how you all feel about such a business in on your street and in the neighborhood. QUICKLY is the key as this is an already moving project. The impact of potential crime rate increase, the fact of multiple familys in a building once zoned for only 2 families and many other factors will cause lowering property values unless all properties are zoned the same way and then keeping them as family homes in the future (if that is your desire) is another issue that re-zoning affects.

Good Luck I do hope you find a solution where everyone will benefit.

LIL

This could be a zoning issue. Unless the area is zoned for multi-family units (this is a single family unit, albeit large),they may have to get a special use permit. Around here in order to do that, they have to notify all nearby property owners and have a hearing because it could potentially affect your property values.

Check with your village hall about it. It could also be a fire hazard if the occupancy number is too high.

We had an apartment complex developer buy land at the end of our street. It was to be zoned for multiple families with exits onto 3 of our streets which would cause a lot more traffic. We got our district's city counselor involved and he helped us stop the project. If it does pass can you put up a privacy fence between your parking lot and theirs?

get together with your neighbors and go to town hall and get information. I agree with Liljunkr!!! I know around here they post those meeting signs (we've nevery received any in the mail!) right before the meeting and they are always scheduled during the day, before and after lunch times, but not too late in the afternoon so most people can't go. You will have to get your neighbors and make a HUGE effort!

You must act right now! I'd write up some facts and distribute a flyer to neighbors. Get a committee started. You may need to raise funds to oppose this. At the very least you can show the town you're not going to roll over and accept conditions that concern you.

DH and I successfully led opposition to the over-development of a shopping center near our home. (A developer wanted to cram double the number of sqare feet of stores AND a tall hotel on the site.) Our first step was the flyers. I delivered them door to door. You have to inform people of the project and what it will do to their property values and lives -- before it gets underway. Put something in their hands and give them a contact to call or email, then take it from there, setting up a meeting, going to town meetings, etc.

We weren't opposed to re-development. You aren't opposed to a shelter either, but people have a right to protect their property values and the integrity of their neighborhoods.

I also live in N.E. and let me tell you...I would be freaking out..if I were you...your property value has just taken a major league hit. I have seen this done in lots of neighborhoods...why isn't it published for the the abutters to attend the meetings on such a huge issue. But then again in liberal la la land here... the people who work and pay taxes etc..always get screwed in favor of those in need, many who are here illegally..... enough is enough already.

June

If I were in your situation, I would get a petition AGAINST it right now! I worked in mental health for 25+ years and yes, husbands and boyfriends DO find out where their mates are, without much difficulty, and the results usually aren't pretty. It would scare the hoohoo out of me to have such a shelter in my neighborhood!

I agree with the other. Don't wait for the city to invite you to a last minute notification. Become proactive now and organize the neighbors.

I know a bit too much about these shelters and the women who abuse the system. In my area a woman can go to a battered womens group and get aid with no questions asked. The mindset is men are all or are potential evil liars and all women honest victims. Hookers regularly use these services to take a respite fully intending to go back on the street after their vacation or the court gives them their kids back. You get the drugs and all the other stuff that goes along with it. I personally know woman who have lived in these shelters. They have confided to me that they are in fear for their safety but are afraid to complain to the system. They end up care-giving the drug ho's kids while the gal parties.

You all don't know how relieved I am to hear that all of you see the same problems as I do. I feel like a witch with a capital B. (And Wildchild, I know too much about these shelters, too, both from working inside and from representing some of the men I think have been targeted by them.)

I've already begun contacting the neighbors, and have emailed the ward councilor. Tell me, do you all see any issue with my revealing all this information to people? The representative from the women's shelter asked me to keep it secret, but I told her that there was no way to do that and discuss it meaningfully.

I swear, I'd like to send out flyers and post posters and make the site unusable for them.

the only reason she wants to keep is secret is she knows there will be a protest. That is why everyone from your former neighbor on up won't speak with anyone! Hand out those flyers.. it is YOUR RIGHT

I don't have anything new to add- just that I agree you need to act immediately. We had a juvenile group home on our street. It surprised me that a non-profit would pay $800,000 for a home in an upscale neighborhood that only had 4 bedrooms. It had very little impact on me since it was about 1/2 mile away but the next door neighbors were not happy with all the comings and goings. Finally the group moved out and it reverted to a single family home again. It just didn't seem like a wise use of their funds.

But no one knew anything about it until after they moved in. And for the first month or so the adults in the house said that they had taken in several nieces and nephews. It didn't take long before the neighbors realized that there were 5 or 6 different adults coming and going on a regular basis. It was a very odd situation which worsened when the neighbors found out that some of the teens had lengthy criminal records.

Well, Kat_wa, I wanted to research that issue before I did anything. I found out that it's a misdemeanor to reveal the location of a shelter in Georgia, but can't find anything here.

I had an email exchange with my ward councilor tonight, who says he just found out yesterday, and not from the shelter group. He doesn't know for sure, but says he wouldn't be surprised if the group is exempt from zoning use laws because of the nature of the use. I can't tell you how royally p...ssed I'll be if I don't even get to say anything.

On the other hand, all the neighbors I've talked to tonight are willing to come to a meeting, if there is one.

Good luck, Joann, I don't have any words of wisdom but you have my support, too. I would be so far beyond furious and angry at this if it was happening near me. I honestly think an empty office building would be a much better place for something like this than an actual home in a lovely neighborhood, what the HE!! are these people in charge thinking? And where is their funding coming from that they can afford such an expensive place that will need so many renovations? And what about taxes? Will they be exempt from paying them? If so, does that impact YOUR tax base down the road? Will you and your real neighbors have to pay more to pick up their slack?

I would be contacting more than just your local guy, you need a lawyer and your house and senate representatives on your side, too. You can BET this wouldn't be happening in their neighborhoods!

Yeah- like Pattico's DH said right off the bat- they were keeping it a secret for some reason and now you know why. And you're not disclosing the whereabouts of anything, since it's not there yet! I'd be calling the newspaper and the local TV and talking to anyone who would listen. Good luck, Joann. I am so sorry for you.

Add my support in your quest to keep your neighborhood peaceful.

I could have easily been living in one of those homes as a child. Yet I totally see your dilemma and think you are correct in wanting to keep your peace. Good luck!

Wow. This is interesting. Although all the misinformation is not surprising, I am surprised with all the people all of a sudden against a women's shelter! LOL

Clearly they don't like to spread the location of shelters, and no, it's not because of "liberals" or "pocket lining" or the like. It's to protect the women in those shelters! How foolish some of these comments are! It's appalling. But a perfect example of how so many would rather grab a pitchfork and torch than ascertain facts, and I mean true facts and not rumor and innuendo.

I'm not saying the OP has wrong concerns, but I just like to deal with things in an honest and forthright way, not the foot-stomping, misinformation disseminating and downright silly manners that some have suggested.

I understand your position and your concern and have a few comments. If you're going to spread flyers, which is a good idea, be careful of and be SURE of what you purport as "facts". Unless you can prove things you're asking for trouble. Use the terms "I understand that this could happen", "I'm concerned about", etc. You'll only make yourself look like a fool otherwise.

Yes, frankly an attorney, excuse me, a COMPETENT attorney would be very valuable to guide you and you need their involvement from the start. A friend of mine fought an amphitheater in her neighborhood and the attorney was a great assistance. Like my friend said, she felt she had a choice of spending $10k on an attorney or lose $10-$20K on property value. A perfect example is whether you can release the info. While I would guess if you were careful how you worded it, there'd be no problem but I would suggest you protect your own assets.

You can go into city hall and see what's been filed. You may have to use a GDPA request to get it if they aren't going to cooperate with you but I'm not so sure they wouldn't. Contrary to popular belief, not every city employee or government employee for that matter is on the take. I've utilized GDPA requests a number of times. You need to request to VIEW any and all data in possession of the City, regardless of the department, concerning the property and I'd also include any adjacent properties. They cannot charge you to VIEW the data, but of course if you want copies of it they can charge you and some places have repressive fees. One time we took one of our copy machines to City Hall and made copies. Cities despise GDPA requests because they have to produce the materials within five (5) days. They can request and be automatically granted an additional five days but if they don't give you the stuff then, they're subject to a penalty of $50,000. Now if there's been a lot of things going on, it could take you a while to go through the materials and you would find it helpful to be at least somewhat conversant in language of Cities, developers and the like.

As far as local media, don't expect much help there. You might get a blurb on the news that some people are angry about a local development but news outlets now are so stretched that they don't have the people to sit and sort everything out. Plus the City will get the opportunity to rebut everything and they're much more experienced in downplaying things and making upstarts look like fools. Just be prepared. If you have a community newspaper, however, you may have a better chance of some coverage. But there too, they want to stay in the good graces of the City since the city pads their coffers for notice publication so they're careful about what they'll say.

Do you have a sign ordinance that would prohibit an informational sign? Something to the effect of "Do you know about the development being proposed? Ask me for more info" or something to that effect. Some areas would prohibit it, but there's technicalities that can get you around it. For instance, if someone puts some banners on their cars, or on a trailer or motorhome and park it in or near the street it will be viewed. Now is a good time of the year to light it with Christmas lights for added impact! :) Again, be careful. We did this with a sign and the City tried to go after us since they were flashing lights and they're prohibited. So we changed the lights.

KNOW THY ENEMY. What have you done to find out about the organization with whom you're preparing to do battle? Have they tried to put this somewhere else and failed? There's a good spot to start and see what they did to fight it off. You can find out who the local activists were and get some suggestions and info from them. You also need to know what their financial situation is. Are they solvent enough to take this to court, one time or multiple times? And are YOU in a position to handle it?

Know your allies. Will they stand beside you? Will they take time from work to go to court? Will they take time to go to City Hall, doorknocking, etc? A lot of people have this idea of you can't fight city hall, or that they're all paid off liberals or whatever else and those types are seldom of any use to help people.

You're going to have trouble fighting this on your own. If you're not ready to go for the long haul, then for your own peace of mind you should probably consider moving. And keep in mind you now are responsible to disclose this information to a potential buyer should you decide to sell! If you don't, and they don't like the new neighbors, the buyers can come after you for hiding pertinent info about the property.

Limit your liability. At least as best you can. It's a good idea to form a non-profit corporation. Then you can do fundraising to assist in the financial issues, sign printing, flyer printing, attorney fees, etc. Set up a website but again, be sure of what you put in there. I've seen enough SLAPP suits against good people and other lawsuits because people shot off their mouths without knowing what they were saying. With a non-profit corporation, if you get sued, it'd be as an officer of the group and you likely wouldn't jeopardize your own house and other assets.

Well, that's enough for now. Should give you some things to consider. If you haven't been involved in the local government before it'll be quite a learning experience for you, no doubt.

I could be wrong but I believe she IS an attorney.

The media will be only too happy to cover this story. It's *conflict*, and it 'has legs' (will go on for a while).

If you do need to raise funds for a legal group to fight this, don't just ask for 'a donation'. Point out the potential loss to neighboring values and suggest something meaningful. Twenty years ago we asked for $250 per household -- got that and even much larger donations from people who had the most expensive homes with more to lose.

I doubt that any of us would be against a shelter for battered women and unfortunately it's probably a necessity in many communities. And while I bristle at the suggestion of "NIMBY" I firmly believe that most homeowners deserve more protection from the negative aspects of a group home in a residential neighborhood. Who would want to see their property values decrease? Who would want the extra traffic or risk that might accompany a shelter?

We have a vacation place near a small town and a home that was in a business area was purchased and renovated for this purpose. That lessened the impact on neighboring property values and also meant that the police department and other social agencies were only a few blocks away. This might not be a solution everywhere but it seems to work well in this town.

I don't see where anyone has said they were against a Battered Woman's Shelter and most of the replies seem to be very Pro Shelters being available. Only the objection of putting such a large complex in a residential area. More so such a large complex. Yes unfortunately there is a need for shelters to be available.
The group I have been working with for years has smaller houses for emergency shelter of battered women and their children in neighborhoods the home owners are private and have the room to shelter for short periods of time families in transition.
First Rule: DO NOT TELL ANYONE WHERE YOU ARE!!!!! Second Rule: File a restraining order to give the police power to take away a violent abusive husband if he does find you!
The locations are kept very secret and rightly so for the protection of the owners and the families sheltering. The women are informed they are not to give the location to any one at all but In many cases the locations leaked out because a woman staying felt the need to contact another person (some just absolutely know their momma or best friend isn't going to tell anyone) and break that major rule.
One young girl let her abusive husband's mother know the address so Grandma could "Send the kids birthday cards" 2 days later the husband showed up and sweet talked her into "trying again" "he'll get help" yadda yadda yadda blah blah blah. Smart devious non violent tactics. Nothing to call the police over.
When she came to us her arm was broken, she was black and blue all over and both eyes were blacked one swollen shut. Twin boys 4 yrs old and a 6 yr old daughter (he would never hurt), cringed at a wave of the hand or a shout. OMG. but they weren't HURT! She loved him, she missed him, it was her fault he beat her.
She took her children and left with him. Just knowing "Everything would be alright now". All 3 kids were crying and one actually peed his pants to have to get into the truck. Few months later the abusive hubby beat her into a coma for back talking him. This was called a DOMESTIC DISPUTE by the police! Seems more like attempted murder to me. I have not followed the case so I do not know what happened to the woman or the kids. I can only help so much and it breaks my heart I couldn't do more but her choice to go stopped the help she could have received.
The house location compromised and can not be used again even in emergency, The couple who own the home had threats made against them and their home for a few months. Luckily nothing ever happened except an occasional unfamiliar vehicle drove by slowly. This is in a remote location so strange vehicles are noticed.
No one really wants to have a large group shelter in their neighbor hood but you wouldn't believe where some shelters are when they are small, discrete, kept in strict privacy and in a network of loving trusted good people.
Yes
Yes We care. Yes we want to help. YES the fact is there nothing anyone can do to help a woman who is not going to believe abuse doesn't go away because the abuser says he is sorry. I'm trying to help in many ways but I do not want a large complex shelter in my residential neighborhood.

The city my parents live is have had group homes becoming more frequent, mostly for mentally disabled residents. It is a somewhat protected status for those type of residents, I can't remember the details. There were some issues with some of them because of upkeep of property, houses falling apart, starting to look somewhat blighted that the city started to crack down on. But of course the city can't demand of them pride of ownership regarding landscaping and such. I think it's a bit of a scam. A private person buys the house then leases it to the "government". The private absentee owner then gets house paid for and once they make their money off the house the put it up for sale after 10 years or so. There was one 2 houses away from my parents and they could never do anything about it. They did finally sell to a private owner who lives in the house but he never fixed it nice and is still a blight.

Well, no matter how much most of us WOULD like to help women in this situation--most of us CANNOT AFFORD to.

The plain fact is, if a group home, of pretty much any sort, moves in next to your house, your property value is going to plummet. And even at 1/2 or 1/3 what the property is worth, it may be impossible to sell. Honestly--how many potential buyers are likely to want to buy next to the situation the OP is describing. It may make her house unsalable at any price--especially in this economy. Now, I don't know that she plans to move in the next few years, but it's definitely something to consider.

Unfortunately, a half-way house bought a very expensive property right down the street from the senior apt. where my mother lived. The townspeople/neighbors tried to fight it, but the groups running these places seem to be really well-connected. So now? there's a group home filled with druggies, ex-criminals, etc, in an extremely upscale neighborhood, less than a half block from a really nice senior apt. and an elementary school. That's the thing that really shocked me--that they were allowed to put this kind of place right across the street from a school (note, I'm NOT talking about an abused women's shelter--but a halfway house).

I would think your need to find out just what you can do legally--without getting yourself in trouble. Do that--especially any publicity that will help thwart the benefits of the site, and then, if it does go through--as it almost surely will--you may want to think about having your house reassessed because you 'cannot sell it for the current assessment with this facility next door'. I'd insist upon having my assessment and taxes lowered significantly. Or I'd sell to someone even more undesireable to have in the neighborhood--partly because there's no way a house in your location is going to be able to be sold to much of anyone else.

good luck--you've got a serious problem on your hands. And I totally understand how one can feel compassion for the clients, but not be able to afford to have the biggest investment they've ever made bite the dust.

I would hate this happening for all the reason others have stated. It also sounds to me like it is already a DONE DEAL even if the proper permits have not been issued. They would NOT be doing the work unless someone has winked an eye at them and more or less TOLD them it's gonna happen! Sorry, but I think that's the reality of the situation. Have you ever tried to fight city hall? Do you have deep pockets?

After reading all the above, I can see why you're upset. My advice-seriously make plans to move. Yes, another home sale in your neighborhood will further erode property values, but it will mean one thing for sure-your own safety. Sorry to be a chicken little, but if ANY business (yes a home for abused women is a "business") moved in near me, I'd get out of here fast. JMO. Good luck with whatever you choose.

Why are there any women's, troubled youth or druggie shelters in the first place??

HH, there's not enough room here to answer your question. I suggest that you do some research via Google. You'll find alot of information about shelters and half-way houses. They are different, by the way.

Joann, what happened??

Put them in an "empty office building"? REALLY? Wow. You could find yourself the victim of abuse tomorrow: An empty office building is where you would want to be?

"Why are there any women's, troubled youth or druggie shelters in the first place??"

Because people who are down on their luck for some reason--whether their own actions led to it or not--need a bit of compassion from other people and places to live that feel like HOME to find a new start.

Maybe we should just build more prisons and shove them in there? Then we won't have to be afraid of any possible effects?
I understand the issue concerning home values and personal safety. I am a homeowner, too.

As stated by another poster, it's out of safety that these places are kept out of the glare of publicity. If there's a zoning variance needed, hearings are generally not made public (the law is on their side). Yes, abusive significant-others can find them. But unless and until it's proven that there's violence or other issues caused by shelters (and other types of assistance homes), most forward-thinking governments will not shut them down or ban others from sprouting.

Of course you have the right to share your fears. Have you looked into contacting your local town representative and having a sit-down with that person? A local politician can find out all the facts and tell you what your rights are.

(And just for argument's sake: The fear here is quite reminiscent of the feelings that swept neighborhoods when blacks and Hispanics started leaving cities for suburbs.)

Is the issue here that it's a shelter OR that it brings in a great deal of traffic, extra cars seeking parking, outdoor smoking and other problems which will cause a change in the nature of the neighborhood, to say nothing of property values? I think it's the latter.

If my neighbor has a barking dog and I complain, I'm not against dogs, I'm against barking.