HomeMy WebLinkAboutSeptember/October 1987ti
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By BRIDGETTE Y. ROSE r?; ' s + : •
Star -Telegram writers .
EULESS — Home and business
owners say a company that wants to
treat addicted parolees in their
neighborhood will have a battle on
its hands.
Concept Inc., a Kentucky -based
firm, plans to appeal to the Euless
City Council Oct. 13 to grant a special
use permit to allow it to convert the
Western Hills Inn, '1102 W, Euless
Blvd., into a drug and alcohol abuse
treatment facility. The Planning
and Zoning Commission recom-
mended denial after more than 150
residents packed a public hearing
Sept. 1 to oppose the proposal.
Concepts proposed center would
devote a third of its 240 beds to treat -
"i ing criminal; offenders • either on
parole orDre-,parole. Ansoffictal of
•
••
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the state Board of Pardons and
Paroles said a pre -parolee is an
mate who has been released from.
prison prior to parole eligibilty to a
halfway house or similar facility.
"I don't think it would be good for
our neighborhood," said Ann Mix
on, who lives in the area behind the.. .
hotel. •,
She said she fears'patients or their
visitors would be wandering around t.
in the neighborhood, and "life's get, •
ting so dangerous, you don't knoW,,
who to trust."
Concept's executive vice press; •
dent, Robert Wathen, said only none
violent offenders wouldbe treated.
at the facility. No sex offender
would be allowed, ` he said. The
parole board would screen all.Citi
ents before sending them tothe fa
Please sett Residents on, Pages 3 ,
,P4- 2 -pi' I l ct
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Robert Wathen of Concept, Inc. wants to convert the Western Hills inn into a treatment center. s ;m
Residents-'
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Continued from Page 1-- ment facility must meet all the stand- The Western Hills Inn is about 200: ` Some residents also say the area
cility, and Concept would have an' ards of a halfway house and is regulat _ feet from the intersection of Texas 10 doesn't need another substance abuse'
additional screening before accepting ed the Same.and Farm Road 157. Wilshire Elemen- treatment center. A treatment pro="
Patients."A community residential treat- tary school is a few blocks northwest of • gram run by Harris Methodist Ii E-B -
Concept officials said their treat-
ment facility is the same in laymen's the hotel, and several blocks of houses Hospital South is in the 2100 block of -
ment program typically lasts 30 to 60 terms (as a halfway house), but the . are between the two. W. Euless Boulevard. It is in an indus- _
days difference is in the professional quali"I understand why they're con trial park, not a residential area
ty of a treatment facility," Magee said ;. cerned," Wathen said. "But you have , "We have that one at H-E B Hospi-
Some opponents of the facility say. The Western Hills facility would be to think, `Where is the safest place a: �; ' said Hilda Graham "(The Western
that duration of treatment would the first of its kind for Concept, but person can be?' In a secured, •su Hills Inn) just doesn't seem to be the
make it a halfway house. t Wathen said the staff has had experi- pervised area. You'll find crime actual-; place for it — on that busy highway
..But the city considers it a treatment ence in treatment centers and in treat-: ly goes down when you have a secured and the grade school just around the.
center rather than a halfway house,11
said a city planner. ing criminal offenders. He said other area There'ging to be a lot of sur-_ s o comer."
..
"If an inmate had a broken leg and Concept endeavors include programs veillance." But Concept officials believe the
was taken to H-E-B Hospital and had to .��mentally ill and educating the . But people who own businesses near Western er- , p Inn is a prime location
stay for a week, that doesn't make the ""`' the hotel worry about how a drug and "It's cloy torotthe airport. It's on a
hospital .a halfway house," said Rode Neighborhood residents told Con alcohol abuse program treating cdmi- main highway in a populated area,"
Tyler, Euless senior planner. "It's a cept officials at a meeting two weeks nal offenders would affect their busi. Wathen said
treatment program" - IT., ago they have two major objections to ness
H-E-B South does not have a con-
- m But either way, zoning and permit the facility. It would be in a residential. "I'm concerned about how our cus- tract with the Texas Department of
Procedures for a halfway house and a area and would treat criminal offend- tomers will react," said Jackie Barnett, Corrections to treat criminal offend-
treatment facility are the same in Eu- ems owner of the Western Hills Texaco, ers. Sheri Short, community outreach
lam. "We're not against treatment, we're immediately adjacent to the hotel director, said the facility can treat any;
"Halfway house" has a negative con- against the location," said Diane Sebas- "We do mainly owner repairs. They one who has the insurance to pay, but
notation, said Jack Magee of the Board_ tian, Wilshire Elementary PTA presi, (customers) might not want to leave no parolees have been treated since
of Pardons and Parole. He said a treat- dant their cars overnight". the program opened seven years ago.