Holladay bars felon group home

Holladay shut its doors to a felon group home Monday after five months of outcry from residents fearful of importing criminals and sex offenders to their neighborhood.

City Manager Randy Fitts denied the Futures Through Choices application for a home at 2180 E. Sunnybrook Way that would have housed five male felon offenders, ages 16 to 21, who have low IQs and are in the custody of the state Division of Juvenile Justice.

The division's contract with Futures Through Choices said the potential residents of the group home "may have displayed predatory or fixated patterns of offending, use of force or weapons in committing offenses" and that they "present a significant risk to the community."

Fitts was unavailable for comment Monday, but he wrote in his opinion that his denial was based on the possible endangerment to Holladay residents.

"It is my conclusion that the prospective residents present a direct threat to the neighborhood, not because of their disabilities, but because of their history in committing multiple violent felony criminal offenses," Fitts wrote.

Jerry Jefferies, CEO of Futures Through Choices, said he believes the proposed site is legally zoned for the home and may consider legal action to overrule the city's denial. Jefferies said he attributes the city's concerns about the group home to the "unfortunate wording" of the contract with juvenile justice.

"It talks about the worst-case scenario, and so the citizens have framed their argument that these kids are all violent offenders," Jefferies said. "We argue that's not true."

But Aaron Murdock, attorney for the group Concerned Citizens for Safety in Holladay opposed to the home, said Jefferies does not have enough experience with felon offenders to ensure the safety of Holladay residents.

While Jefferies has 22 group homes in the Salt Lake Valley, this would be his first facility dedicated solely to adjudicated felons. His other homes are mainly made up of state wards from the Division of Family Services and Services for People with Disabilities.

A home with only disabled residents is allowed at the contested site, Murdock said, but a population of convicted felons is an entirely different question. Murdock added that many residents believe Jefferies tried to slide under the radar by lumping the home under the banner of a disabled facility.

"Jefferies sort of refuses to acknowledge the difference between them," he said. "I think he tried to describe this in a way that omitted the fact that this is a criminal sanction."

Jefferies does run a home in West Haven with the same resident description as the proposed Holladay home, except the ages range from 12 to 18. Though the home does not have sex offenders, it does have some boys from the Jjuvenile justice system.

In its five years of operation, the West Haven home has never had an incident where a neighborhood resident was harmed by a home member.

"I don't think we've tried to palm this off as just another disabled home," Jefferies said. "We've provided every bit of information we could have. I don't think we've misled anyone."

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