SHARON, PA. Sex-offender housing deal falls flat

No lease or contract was signed for the property, the homeowner said.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARON, Pa. -- The owner of a house proposed as a home for juvenile male sex offenders said he never knew it was to be used for that purpose.
Paul Knott said Monday he was told those running the proposed Phoenix Youth Services program planned to use the house as a "troubled-teen center."
Knott said that when he learned the real plan was to open a group home for male juvenile sex offenders from Allegheny County, "I just went through the roof."
"No way I would do that," he said, adding that no lease or contract was signed for the house at the corner of Strawbridge Avenue and East State Street, less than a block from Sharon High School and only a block from Case Avenue Elementary School.
He said he has two children age 2 and 5 and wouldn't want something like that in his neighborhood, either.
Knott said he bought the house about a year ago and originally planned to lease the first floor as commercial space, and part of the first floor and the second floor as two apartments -- expecting to get a total of $1,500 a month in rent.
Phoenix Youth Services offered $2,000 a month for the house and Knott said he remodeled it to fit its needs as one large unit. He now plans to change it back to the way it was and proceed with his original rental plans.
What happened
Knott said he didn't learn the true intent of the program until residents of the area approached him with what they had learned.
His business, Lumpp Rent-A-Car, is next door.
"This area is where I make my living," he said.
Knott took exception to some comments made by a councilman at Thursday's council meeting.
Councilman Lou Rotunno said he feared the project wasn't dead despite assurances that Knott wouldn't rent to Phoenix Youth Services.
"I think they're going to try to sneak it in somewhere," Rotunno said.
The they in they're doesn't include him, Knott said, adding, "It's over."
Rotunno said Monday that he wasn't referring to Knott when he made the remark but was referring to those planning the group home.
Knott said he believes Michael Sember of Hermitage, the principal behind Phoenix, now plans to try to get the facility located in Allegheny County. Efforts to reach Sember to comment on his plans were unsuccessful.
gwin@vindy.com