Auburn Park neighbors want halfway house removed

A group of neighbors in the Auburn Park neighborhood are pushing to shut down a halfway house in their community.

The idea that ex-offenders, particularly registered sex offenders, could be living in a statelicensed transitional home in the 8100 block of South Morgan Street has a few neighbors, including Annette Outen, frightened and furious.

"We feel like we're in harm's way, but we're stuck in the mud because of the bureaucracy," Outen said. "This is a residential area. There are no signs advertising what that place is."

The neighbors, who discovered the purpose of the privately owned Carrie's Place facility nearly a year ago, are especially concerned about the home's proximity to Calumet High School at 8131 S. May St.

Carrie's Place sits a quarter of a mile - and more than 1,200 feet - from Calumet High School.

Illinois Department of Corrections spokeswoman Dede Short said Illinois law requires registered sex offenders to live no less than 500 feet away from a school park or playground.

Attempts to contact Carrie's Place Wednesday were unsuccessful.

One sex offender lives in the group home and was referred to the transitional facility after he was released from prison in 2004, according to Chicago Police spokesman John Mirabelli.

While the home is obviously a concern for the community, Mirabelli said police have had no contact with the 28-year-old sex offender since he moved into the home shortly after his release.

Additionally, a 2005 check of the immediate area surrounding the home - a two-block radius in each direction - netted no reports of sex crimes, Mirabelli said.

Still, since the purpose of the facility was discovered last March, neighbors near the Auburn Park facility have been working with Ald. Howard Brookins Jr., (21st), in an attempt to get the facility closed for a zoning violation, Outen said.

Though the halfway house is run out of a bungalow-style home, a special use permit is required, said Law Department spokeswoman Jennifer Hoyle.

The Law Department is reviewing the case, which was transferred from the Zoning Department last month, Hoyle said.

Brookins told the Defender that he is working with the neighbors and city departments to have the home shut down.

Brookins said he realizes those who are released from prisons need a place to go, but the state and the house's owners should have presented both the alderman and the community with a proposal before it opened its doors five years ago.

"Why bring sex offenders into the neighborhood? If they're coming from downstate, why are they coming here," said Brookins, who is working with other South Side aldermen to try to reduce the number of state-licensed transitional homes in their communities.

The state is not required to notify the city when transitional facilities open in Chicago. There are at least two in each of the 21st, 6th and 8th Wards, Brookins said.

Outen said though nothing has happened in the neighborhood that could be linked to Carrie's Place, she would rather see such a facility on a commercially-zoned strip on a well-marked site that clearly makes its purposes known.

"Those people made a conscious decision. Why make their problem our problem?" Outen asked.

Article copyright REAL TIMES Inc.