JUVENILE PROGRAM Some residents reject plans for group home

Residents said they don't want another group home in the neighborhood.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
FARRELL, Pa. -- City officials said they will arrange a meeting with operators of Crossroads Inc. to discuss the company's plans for expansion on Roemer Boulevard.
Crossroads, which provides group homes and alternative education programs for nonviolent juvenile boys and girls with behavior and other problems, operates two homes in the 1200 and 1300 blocks of Roemer.
Residents of the area said they have been told the agency plans to expand into a third building in that same area, and they came to a city council meeting this week to express their concerns.
Who is worried?
They don't need a third group home in that neighborhood, said Jermaine Holden of 1327 Roemer Blvd.
"We don't want another one," he said, adding that he fears the development will hurt property values.
Annette Manilla of 1325 Roemer Blvd., a Farrell teacher, said she agrees that more group homes aren't needed in that area.
She asked if all of the neighborhood will be converted to alternative education facilities.
Japraunika Wright of 1238 Roemer Blvd., another Farrell teacher, said she lives next door to the proposed third group home.
She said she has seen some kids run away from Crossroads' group homes and is concerned that a third home would be located just a few feet from her home.
She asked council members to put themselves in the residents' position and ask if they would want another such facility in their neighborhood.
City officials said that if Crossroads is opening only a residential facility, there is nothing the city can do about it because group homes are permitted, under state law, in areas designated as residential.
However, if Crossroads intends to put an educational component in the new location, it would have to get a zoning "conditional use" approval from council
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Councilman Lou Falconi, who said he personally knows all of the parties involved, said he would contact Crossroads operators to find out what their plans are.
"I think we have to sit down together as a group [to discuss this]," Falconi said, adding that perhaps there might be a better location for a third group home.
Mayor William Morocco said the city can ask for a meeting with Crossroads people to discuss their plans.
No Crossroads representatives attended the meeting and a spokesman wasn't available for comment this morning.