Utah's residential neighborhoods may be yanking up the welcome mat for juvenile offenders.

Legislation passed by the House Political Subdivisions Committee Thursday would prohibit group homes for such offenders in residential areas, a move spurred by a proposal to put a rehabilitative home in the middle of a Holladay neighborhood.

"We're not out to shut down all group homes within the area, but I think there's a line of reason we don't want to be crossing," said Holladay City Manager Randy Fitts.

That line, according to HB94, stops at minors convicted of violent offenses. The measure would disallow group homes with violent offenders from moving into neighborhoods zoned for single family residential.

"We want to hedge our bet the best we can to protect our neighborhoods and our children and our elderly population," said Rep. Susan Lawrence, R-Salt Lake. "There is not a uniform way of dealing with these group homes. The supervision seems fairly minimal."

In Holladay, Futures Through Choices group homes wants to place five male adjudicated offenders from the Division of Juvenile Justice in a home at 2180 E. Sunnybrook Way. According to the division's description, the men, ages 16-21 with low IQs, "may have displayed predatory or fixated patterns of offending, use of force or weapons in committing offenses" and "present a significant risk to the community." The home could also include sex offenders.

That description led Fitts to deny the group home's application Dec. 6. Holladay officials are now facing a lawsuit from Futures Through Choices claiming the denial violates the federal Fair Housing Amendments Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Utah Fair Housing Act. The suit also claims the decision was based on "stereotypes, fear and hatred."

Fitts, however, maintains the decision was based solely on the potential danger to the neighborhood if a group home resident went AWOL.

"The type of people they are bringing in — adjudicated sex offenders — is inappropriate for any area, especially a completely residential area," Fitts said.

But Rep. Brad King, D-Price, said he was concerned that striking neighborhood homes as an option for the Division of Juvenile Justice may impair rehabilitation and assimilation back into the community.

"The hope is that all people, especially juveniles, can be rehabilitated, and at some point there has to be a transitional phase living in a residential area," he said. "Either we believe that or we don't."

Though the bill will eliminate group homes from areas zoned solely for residential, Lawrence noted that it will allow such sites in mixed-use areas near residential neighborhoods.

"This is not a situation where we're putting them off in a corner and not allowing them back into our communities," she said. "We are in no way asking that these homes be in isolation."

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