NEW HALFWAY HOUSE CLEARS ZONING HURDLE; OPPONENTS WILL KEEP FIGHTING

The Cape Girardeau Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously recommended approval of a special use permit and rezoning request to allow operation of a controversial halfway house program Wednesday night.

Opponents of the project vowed to carry their objections to the City Council.

Several people spoke out against the project, which would serve clients of the Missouri Division of Probation and Parole at the Gibson Recovery Center, a drug and alcohol treatment center at 1112 Linden St.

The Gibson Center has contracted with the state to provide residential treatment for 16 to 20 inmates within 90 days of their release date.

Opponents say they're concerned the parolees will pose a security threat to the neighborhood.

Opponents are worried that a parolee with a history of violence could walk away from the program and assault a child or staff person at one of the surrounding day care, school or apartment facilities.

Terri Neumeyer, a teacher at Parkview State School for the Handicapped, said she's concerned that the students and staff at her school will be at risk.

"This is kind of scary," Neumeyer said. "Do I believe that parolees should have a place to go? Absolutely. I'm a little concerned that it's OK to have them where I'm working with these children."

Neumeyer pointed out that many of the students at the school would not be able to defend themselves against an attack and would not be able to tell anyone if they had been assaulted.

Neumeyer's husband is City Councilman Tom Neumeyer, who originally voiced opposition to the proposed location for the halfway house.

Tom Neumeyer last month proposed several amendments to an ordinance that would have prohibited halfway houses from almost all sections of the city.

Under the current ordinance, such facilities can operate in almost all of the city's commercial, industrial and manufacturing districts.

Sharon Derringer of the Division of Probation and Parole said there is the potential for prisoners with all types of criminal histories to be placed at the facility.

However, she pointed out, problem prisoners will not be given the option of placement there and sex offenders placed on parole at the facility will be subject to the same disclosure as sex offenders returning to the community.

Jeff Hine, an attorney for the Gibson Center, said he understands residents are concerned about the inmates coming in to the neighborhood.

But, he added, "within a four-block area of where the Gibson Center is now, there's 150 people that have been under the supervision of probation and parole."

All of the men sent to the Gibson Center will be from Southeast Missouri, Hine added, and the program will give them a chance for an easier transition from prison to life in the community.

All clients will be required to undergo treatment and counseling and to find jobs. Clients who do not successfully complete the treatment program will be sent back to prison, said Derringer.

Hine also pointed out that "the vast majority" of the Gibson Center's current clients are referred there by the courts as conditions of probation for drug- or alcohol-related offenses.

"This is not really any different than what's going on now at the Gibson Center," he said.

Halfway house clients would be under supervision 24 hours a day, said Dick Decker, director of the Gibson Center. No armed security guards will be on the premises.

The Planning and Zoning Commission approved the Gibson Center's request for a special use permit with the stipulation that it come up for review again in three years, by which time the center's contract with the state will have expired.

Hine said when the current contract expires, the state will put it out for bid again.

The commission also approved the request to rezone the property from R-4 multiple-family residential to C-2 local commercial.

Terri Neumeyer said parents and teachers at the state school will turn out to voice their opposition when the City Council holds its public hearing on the issue on Dec. 1. The council will have the final decision on the Gibson Center's requests.

"We hope that the council is a little more concerned about the handicapped children," she said.

In other action, the commission also recommended approval of a request for a special use permit for construction of an indoor and outdoor firing range at 2000 Third Street, an M-2 heavy industrial district.

Dennis Dobson of Lone Star Industries, which is adjacent to the site, said he is concerned stray shots from the range might endanger himself and others at Lone Star and surrounding industries.

The plans call for a 12-foot berm and a 6-foot wall to surround the outdoor range, but Dobson said he worries that a stray bullet might be able to travel far enough to do harm.

David Sanders of the Cape Girardeau Police Department said officers using the outdoor range will be firing at a downhill angle at the target area, which will be backed by the berm and wall.

He also said the outdoor range will be operated under very controlled conditions and will only be used by police officers.

Chief Rick Hetzel said the department does not currently have its own firing range facility.

He also said the proposed site would not be suitable for use by officers with high-powered, long-range weapons.

The commission stipulated that use of the outdoor range be limited to handguns, 9-mm weapons and shotguns.