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Ire over ?halfway house?
Neighbors protest county-funded house for ex-offenders
by E. Assata Wright
Reporter staff writer


Residents in the Morris Canal section of Jersey City are hoping the city?s zoning officer will close what they believe is an illegal halfway house for ex-offenders ? a program that was recently awarded money from the county.

Nearby residents are now asking members of the City Council to join their fight.

Last week several Morris Canal residents asked the council to put pressure on the city?s Zoning and Building departments to close the new program at 277 Pacific Ave., arguing that it violates the city?s Morris Canal Redevelopment Plan.

The Morris Canal area is located in the southeastern section of the city, near the West Side Avenue light rail line. The redevelopment plan for the area was passed in January of 2009.

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?What would stop the county from doing a similar thing in any of the other redevelopment areas?? ? Douglas Carlucci

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?The council has a land use plan. It has a redevelopment plan. It?s a binding law, and the law specifically says that this sort of institutional housing is forbidden in the area,? said resident Douglas Carlucci. ?There are very compelling reasons for the council and the city to enforce this law. If you essentially let the county make an end run around the city?s own land use policy, what would stop the county from doing a similar thing in any of the other redevelopment areas??

Ward F Councilwoman Viola Richardson, who represents the residents on the council, said, ?There is no question that this is an illegal halfway house, and it?s illegal under city law.?

Program needed, but not here

Several of Carlucci?s neighbors emphasized that they support prisoner reentry programs and other treatment homes for people with mental or substance abuse problems. But, they said, their community is already host to a halfway house for troubled boys, a home that was approved before the Morris Canal Redevelopment Plan was approved.

?This isn?t a case of Not in My Backyard,? said resident June Jones. ?There are many residents in the community who do volunteer work with the [boys? home] and who give to this program in other ways?Our community is doing its fair share.?

But, said resident Rebecca Shapiro, ?it would be fairer if such programs were spread out throughout the city, not concentrated in one area.?

The residents are concerned that allowing yet another halfway home to operate in the area will alter the family-oriented feel of their neighborhood.

?We are challenged by the amount of activity that these types of institutions bring [into a neighborhood],? said resident Ross Sandler. ?They seem to be more and more unsupervised as time goes on.?

Halfway house, or permanent address?

But according to the Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders, which is supporting the ex-offender program, the house at 277 Pacific is not a halfway or transitional home.

In documents provided to the county, the home ? which according to Freeholder chair William O?Dea and residents is run by Gloria Walden ? is not meant to be temporary housing, but rather permanent living space for ex-offenders who can?t afford to rent apartments.

?Her position is that it is not a halfway house,? said O?Dea. ?She calls it permanent housing, meaning that anyone who resides there can stay there for as long as they want, and as long as they pay rent.?

As part of the county?s Prisoner Reentry Program, the freeholders approved temporary rent assistance to the home?s current residents on June 7. Under the Prisoner Reentry Program, the county offers 90-day rent assistance to recently-released ex-inmates while they look for employment.

At the end of that 90-day period the residents can either move out, stay and continue to pay rent with money earned from new employment, or pay rent from money from other social services programs.

?I understand the residents? concerns. But they really have nothing to do with the county,? said O?Dea. ?If [the city?s zoning officer] renders an opinion that it?s a halfway house and it?s not permitted in the neighborhood, then that?s it. The issue solves itself. If the zoning officer says it?s permitted, then the residents are going to have to go to court to challenge the city zoning officer?The county only came into it because we?re paying rent for the residents for this 90-day period. But, frankly, under the Prisoner Reentry Program, if a tenant moved anywhere and qualified, we?d pay the rent.?

Total figures on the amount of money the county is paying for the Pacific Avenue residents were not immediately available when O?Dea was contracted last week.

But Sandler said, ?It doesn?t seem like a matter that private citizens should have to seek legal counsel to have investigated. It?s against the laws. The laws are being broken.?

Richardson and Councilman Michael Sottolano both said Wednesday the matter will be investigated by the governing body.

E-mail E. Assata Wright at awright@hudsonreporter.com