Anaheim Planning Commission Lifts Shelter Restrictions

Despite protests from a dozen desperate neighbors, the city Planning Commission complied Wednesday with a federal agency’s orders to lift restrictions on the soon-to-open Eli Home for abused children and their mothers.

Department of Housing and Urban Development officials said last year that four of the shelter’s 30 operating regulations violated the Federal Fair Housing Law because they discriminated against children and would violate the residents’ civil rights.

As a result, HUD officials asked the city to delete requirements that all children be inside the shelter after 7:30 p.m. and be supervised at all times. The federal agency also told city officials to limit the number of occupants to “22 persons” instead of “seven adults, 14 children up to age 12 and one live-in manager.”

A wrought-iron fence surrounding the property off Santa Ana Canyon Road in Anaheim Hills would still be required but for safety purposes rather than to separate the residents from the community.

“We just want normal activities for our children,” said Rita Chastain, a 10-year Eli Home volunteer. “That’s all.”

Residents, however, urged commissioners to revoke the shelter’s permit, saying Eli Home supporters have misrepresented their plan for the past two years.

The neighbors, who have long resisted the project for reasons ranging from unsafe property conditions to alleged charity fraud, accused shelter director Lorri Galloway of not intending to comply with the conditions but accepting them just to get the project moving.

“This is the third time they’ve had reconsiderations and changes made,” said Gene Secrest, who lives next door to the Eli Home. “They’ve sugar-coated this project and now, layer by layer, that coating is coming off.”

Secrest and other neighbors at Wednesday’ commission hearing repeatedly cited a paragraph written in the shelter’s permit that allows the city to nix the plan if any conditions are deemed invalid or unenforceable.

“You have allowed a terrible disruption to be hurled into our lives,” said Jeannie Averill, who reminded commissioners of the “numerous zoning changes” the city has made to accommodate the shelter. “I urge the city to quit discriminating against the surrounding residents and revoke this [permit].”

The seven-member commission unanimously approved the changes suggested by HUD, allowing the shelter to stay on track for its scheduled Dec. 7 opening. City planners were joined by City Atty. Jack White in recommending compliance with the federal order.

Before the meeting, shelter director Galloway said that getting the changes approved was essential if the Eli Home was to make residents feel “less like prisoners and more like decent families in a safe and healthy environment.”

“We hoped the city would do the right thing, and it did,” she said.

Neighbors promised to appeal the decision to the City Council.