Shelter Deserves a Fair Chance

The good news is that the Eli Home will remain open for now, serving abused women and their children. The bad news is that the shelter continues to walk the high wire, as a result of the Anaheim City Council’s vote to shut it down.

When the home for victims of domestic violence opened in Anaheim Hills more than a year ago, there should have been reason to hope that community anxiety would abate. Alas, neighbors have been so persistent with their complaints about traffic and noise that the council voted last month not to renew the shelter’s operating permit. Since that time, the home has responded by asking the federal government to investigate whether the council’s decision violates fair-housing laws.

The home now holds 20 people, and appears to have tried to address community concerns. In February, it won permission to have residents and their visitors park in one of the six spaces on the shelter property. Previously, those spaces had been restricted to delivery vehicles.

The Planning Commission in February also limited the number of vehicle round-trips at the home to 15 per day. That was an olive branch to neighbors complaining that Eli Home was destroying the area’s residential character.

Despite the complaints, the home has never been cited by police or code enforcement officials for any violations. That raises a question about the basis for the City Council’s 3-2 vote not to extend the shelter’s conditional-use permit, whatever the outcome of the HUD inquiries.

Eli Home has attracted supporters as well as opponents. Anaheim firefighters in particular have been eloquent in citing the need for the shelter. Volunteers helped fix up the house; community groups supported the project. Carpenters, women’s club members and other community leaders supported the project.

The city would need a court order to close the shelter or force its residents to move. Before the contending parties become hopelessly locked in court, one good-faith initiative to make peace in the neighborhood is worth trying. Is there some way to provide a solution to whatever concerns about traffic and noise can be addressed without resorting to rounds of litigation?

It is perhaps easy to lose sight of the larger issue--the importance of addressing the needs of broken families, and of providing a haven for women and children who have suffered from domestic abuse.

Domestic violence shelters should be held to zoning, noise and other municipal requirements the same way other buildings are. But if they meet those conditions, they should be allowed to operate, not run out of a neighborhood.