ANAHEIM : Hearing on Home for Abused Women

The City Council will have a public hearing Tuesday on whether to permit a group home for abused women and their children in an Anaheim Hills neighborhood.

Too cramped at its main location in Orange, the Eli Home is seeking to relocate to 100 South Canyon Crest Drive and renovate a dilapidated house there. The Eli Home, which offers emergency shelter and counseling to victims of abuse, would be able to accommodate up to seven families at the new site.

The proposal, however, has met with stiff opposition from neighbors who say the home would have a devastating effect on the upscale community, where home prices start at $500,000.

Neighbors argue that the home would violate community zoning codes, create parking problems, and might result in violence.

“The impact on our neighborhood would be devastating,” wrote Ken Hall, Sr., who lives on the same street as the proposed home, to the City Council. “We believe that an aggravated spouse or parent can very easily locate the project. In our view, anyone who would commit this type of violence against another human being is capable of expanding this violence to include our neighborhood, including our children and our homes.”

Eli Home officials said violence is “highly unlikely” and has reported that none of Orange County’s 24 emergency shelters has had such an incident.

The Planning Commission voted unanimously in favor of the Eli Home’s request in March. The Eli Home was been awarded a “Point of Light” by former President George Bush and a Presidential Citation from President Bill Clinton for its volunteer work.