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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJACOB CENTER (703 PETERSON) - MODIFICATION OF STANDARD - 36-99 - MINUTES/NOTES - CORRESPONDENCE-NEIGHBORHOOD MEETINGNFT xHBORHOOD INFOR" 'tATION MEETING `k s for Project: Meetin2 Location: s( City of Fort Collins Date: vS)ivS d � - 3 Attendees: PIease sign this sheet. The information will be used to update the project mailing list and confirm attendance at neighborhood U meetings. Contact the Planning Department (221-6750) if you wish to receive minutes of this meeting. Did You ReceiveCorrect Written Notitic2tionAddress? of this meeting? Name Address Zip: Yes No Yes No i�lC7Sn/1K L//l LAt/tZ2, A 76 ti- �` /- M b zV e� as ✓ t/ G-121-5 R;coRD 61_ S . X WA Question: Why does Jacob Center consider this a good site for a group home for foster kids? Answer: This is a higher density part of town with services (shopping, library, jobs, entertainment) nearby, and within walking distance of the house. The close proximity to downtown is also a plus. Question: Could it be that lower property values are the reason why group homes are attracted to this area? Answer (by other neighbors and applicant): Old Town, including this neighborhood, does not have typically lower property values than other parts of town. Question: If this property becomes a group home, will it always be a group home even if the property is sold? Answer (by staff): If the property is not used as a group home for a period of 12 consecutive months, it can no longer be considered a group home. If it is sold, any new owner would have to be licensed as a group home for foster kids in order to operate the facility as a group home. Answer: The Jacob Center has currently houses foster kids in Greeley, Fort Collins, and Longmont. There are typically anywhere from 10 to 20 foster parents in Fort Collins that have foster kids placed through our agency. Typically each foster home houses 1 to 4 kids. We do not own the homes, we place the kids in foster homes belonging typically to the foster parents. We have been in this business for 11, almost 12 years. In the past we also had placements in Denver and Colorado Springs. Jacob Center is a non-profit organization. The headquarters for the Jacob Center are in Fort Collins, there are offices also in Greeley and Longmont. Comment: Centennial High School students are already trashing the neighborhood. We don't need another source. Response (by applicant): We typically do not get aggressive kids to place in foster care facilities. The state does not refer the kids to us who are not deemed safe. Comment: Our neighborhood is super saturated with this type of use. We don't feel that there is a reason to add any more of this type of use. It seems that it would be more appropriate to place this type of facility in a "model" neighborhood, where these kids will be exposed to clean, crime -free, stable environments, not a neighborhood that is already having problems with troubled kids and many college students who throw parties. The Centennial High students are probably not the best role models for these kids. Question: What are the Government agencies that license foster homes and group homes for foster kids? Answer: Larimer County Social Services licenses foster homes for 4 or fewer kids, and the Colorado Department of Social Services licenses group homes for foster kids. Question: What is the ratio of parents/staff to foster kids? Answer: We must maintain 1 parent/staff per 4 kids. We actually provide more than this. Kelly is the house parent, and we have staff that come in and spend one on one time with the kids. Comment: We feel this is likely to decrease our property values. Response (by applicant): The Jacob Center owns this property, so we also have an interest in ensuring that this doesn't decrease property values. We feel that by keeping the group home small (6 kids) we can maintain the proper control to keep the site from detracting from the neighborhood. Question: Where are other foster homes in the city? Answer: The city planning and zoning departments do not have record of that information. The County department of Human Services would have that information. It may or may not be confidential information. The city zoning department does have knowledge of where other group homes are in the city. There has been talk of creating a map showing them, but no specific plans to generate such map are in the works. Question: Will the city gather information from the state outlining group home locations? Answer: Yes, to the extend that the information is available. facility (not just an employee), the likelihood is greatly reduced. This house currently has been housing 4 foster kids for approximately 2 years, and we have not had any police visits to the site during that time. Comment/question: There is already a lot of vandalism occurring in the neighborhood. Between Centennial High School and the Turning Point group home, it seems as though these children in this proposed facility potentially contribute to the problem. The neighborhood is already paying the price for out of control youth in the neighborhood. What are the statistics of vandalism in our neighborhood as compared to other neighborhoods? Answer (by city staff): The police department should have records that would indicate these statistics. Comment (by neighbors): We can only speculate on this statistic here tonight, but one way the applicant might approach this request is to show this statistic and to show that this neighborhood is not much different than other neighborhoods as far as vandalism goes, if in fact that is the case. Response (by applicant): One tricky side to the argument is that it would be hard to determine the cause/effect relationship between the presence of foster kids and the amount of vandalism in a neighborhood. It may be difficult for anyone to show that they are in fact the problem. We have typically found that if there is a trouble maker, they will typically leave the neighborhood to cause their trouble. This would be hard to incorporate in the statistical crime rate analysis of a neighborhood. Question (by Neighbor): How many kids are allowed in a foster home before it must be changed to a group home? Answer: A single family residence can have up to 4 foster kids as part of the family without any involvement from the city's planning and zoning departments. To house any more than 4 foster kids in a house, the state department of social services (who regulate foster care "group homes") requires that the building be considered a "group home" by the local planning and zoning departments. Comment (by Neighbor): We feel that adding more foster kids to this house would cause more pressure on the neighborhood. Question (by Neighbor): Will this facility house any of the management offices for the Jacob Center? Answer: No, all the Jacob Center offices are, and will continue to be, at our Remmington Street office, which does not house any foster kids. Question (by Neighbor): Will the Jacob Center or the house parent receive any more money if they take in more kids in this house? Answer: There is a flat rate paid for the facility regardless of the number of kids housed at the facility. The motivation is to provide more service to more kids. Comment (by Neighbor): The nuisense ordinance that is currently being considered by council may give the neighbors added ability to prevent problems with trouble makers in the neighborhood. Question: How many facilities does Jacob Center currently have? Explain the Jacob Center. Answer (followed -up by city staff): Residential development shall conform to the definition of a "family." Family, for the purpose of zoning regulation, is defined as either of the following groups living together as a single housekeeping unit and sharing common living, sleeping, cooking and eating facilities: (1) any number or persons related by blood, marriage, adoption, guardianship or other duly authorized custodial relationship, or (2) any unrelated group of persons consisting of not more than 3 persons, or not more than two unrelated adults and their related children, if any. Answer (by applicant): The state guidelines consider parents with foster kids to be a family. The state guidelines will not allow licensure of a home for foster care for more than 4 foster kids unless the local zoning considers the building a "group home." Question: What is Larico (the other group home in the neighborhood)? Answer: The group home at 614 Matthews was once called Larico, but is now called Turning Point. houses around 20 boys aged 16 or younger. They are licensed through the state department of Social Services. Question: How much on -site and off -site supervision will be provided for this proposed group home? Answer: The process through which the state refers kids to this facility requires that the child is found to be safe to the community. They will be supervised by a house parent while on -site. They will be free to go unsupervised to work and/or school. The supervision is structured much like a family. Comment ( by Neighbor): There may be behavioral problems added to the neighborhood by the kids from this facility when they are off -site. The Centennial High School students are already causing behavioral problems. The close proximity of this facility to Centennial High may be a bad influence to the kids from this facility. Question: How are kids selected for placement in your facility? Answer (by applicant): Some are referred by the state, some by social services. Question: Could placement in this facility be viewed as punishment for some of the kids placed here? Answer: Most view it as an opportunity, if a kid has a real bad attitude, he/she may view it as punishment. It is not officially punishment. The facility is to provide a structured home for kids who otherwise would have no place to call home. Comment (Folks from the Cottonwood Home Owners Association): We at the Cottonwood Condos are right next to Larico. We have experienced behavioral problems with the kids at that facility due to a lack of control of those in charge and/or a lack of adequate supervision. We have experienced structural damage to our property, and numerous incidences where the kids have left messes on our property for us to clean up. We are frustrated and want to ensure that your proposed facility will not allow this type of behavior, and we would like an indication from you how we can ensure that your facility will not cause this same problem on its neighbors. Response (from applicant): Larico is a much larger facility. We would be housing 6 foster kids rather than the approximately 20 kids at Larico. We have found, from our 12 years of experience running foster care facilities that 6 is a very manageable number. There is no guarantee that we won't have occasional trouble makers, but with a smaller number in the facility, and the fact that a foster parent would be running the G NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING MINUTES for 703 Peterson Street held October 18, 1999 for a change of use from "single family residence" to "group home" Question: What are the reasons for the current regulations limiting group homes to be no closer than 1000 feet from one another? Suggested Answers: 1) to disperse group homes throughout the community, 2) to prevent a high concentration of them in one location. Comment: Because the nature of this group home is to house foster kids, some of whom may have behavioral problems, it seems that it would be adding to the stress that the neighborhood already has with regard to the presence of troubled teens in the neighborhood. It seems that adding another element of troubled teens to the neighborhood would be unfairly concentrating this type of use in one geographical part of town. The following factors already exist in the neighborhood, and contribute to a presence of troubled teens: 1) the Turning Point group home for troubled teen boys (with approx. 20 residents), 2) Centennial High School, 3) 2 or 3 foster homes already in operation in the neighborhood (single family homes can house up to 4 foster kids, but to house any more than 4 the property must be a group home) Comment: A neighbor asked to read a letter aloud from a neighbor who could not attend. The letter was from Jean O. Chamey. Question: It seems that by allowing 4 foster kids in a single family residence, we have a situation where there are de -facto group homes occurring in may locations where the zoning department has no knowledge of them. Isn't this in violation of the more than 4 unrelated persons in a single family house zoning rule? Answer (by applicant): Because the kids are foster kids, they are officially part of the family that resides in the single family home. The fact that they are not related is not an issue if they are foster children and considered part of the family. Comment (by Neighbor): The Planning and Zoning Board and/or departments should review the 4 unrelated persons rule and how it affects foster homes. Response to comment (by applicant): All foster child placement is regulated by state licensing. Question: How many group homes are there in Fort Collins, and where are they? Answer: The zoning department has this information, contact Peter Barnes. The city is considering generating a map showing locations and types of all group homes in Fort Collins. No such map exists at this time. Question: I always thought the zoning rule limited single family residences to 3 unrelated people, which is it 3 or 4?