Community Options plan for 2nd group home in Unity draws concern from residents

A local administrator of a nonprofit who wants to house up to two special needs clients in a home on McClellan Drive in Unity drew plenty of questions Tuesday from neighbors and from township zoning board members.

They voiced concerns about safety and the impact the facility would have on surrounding residents in the Charter Oak housing plan — including increased traffic resulting from staff serving the home’s occupants.

The zoning panel heard more than four hours of testimony on the proposed Community Options group home during a hearing attended by upwards of 60 people in the Greater Latrobe Senior High auditorium.

The board has up to 45 days to render a decision on the nonprofit’s request for a special exception in the residential district. The board had rescheduled the proceeding twice, each time seeking a larger venue, because of covid-related concerns.

Several residents suggested the two-story home on McClellan is not a good place to house people with disabilities who require support services. They noted it is on a hill with roads that can be difficult for vehicles to ascend when surfaces are icy or snow-covered.

“You’re literally putting a group home for needy people at the highest elevation point in the township,” said Ryan Cribbs, a local attorney and Charter Oak resident. “That seems stupid.”

Stephen Hall, executive director of Community Options operations in Westmoreland County, said the organization purchased the home in October to provide a nice home for two adult clients.

“They’re normal people just like everybody else in this room,” he said. “We’re not trying to change Charter Oak.

“This home is going to blend into the community.”

The McClellan Drive home was intended to house two men, but Hall said Community Options is ready to move in just one when the dwelling passes licensing requirements of the state Department of Human Services.

Hall presented that prospective occupant, 27-year-old Josh, at the hearing.

“I would be very appreciative of everything that you guys are doing tonight,” Josh told the board, noting he has a job at a restaurant in neighboring Hempfield. “Thank you for letting me come tonight.”

Cribbs was among residents who criticized Hall for bringing the client to the hearing.

“We don’t want to make it about Josh,” Cribbs said. “We asked that they not use Josh as a means to an end.”

“I brought the gentleman here with me today so everyone could see and meet the person that’s going to be moving into this home,” Hall said.

McClellan Drive resident Renee Wilson argued the house is not close enough to the proposed resident’s worksite or other activities, including shopping.

“They are going to have employees coming in and out 24/7,” she said. “You will have traffic at all hours of the day and night.”

Hall said Josh, whom he described as “very high functioning,” would have one support person assigned to him in the home at all times, on changing shifts. Visits from other specialists providing various services could occur a few times a week, he said.

A Community Options job coach would transport Josh or any other client to their worksite, Hall said.

“I don’t think that these are large disturbances,” he said.

“We have no problem with individuals who have disabilities living in our neighborhood,” Cribbs said. “Our problem is with Community Options. Our problem is with a franchise group home. That’s what this is.”

Headquartered in Princeton, N.J., Community Options has offices in nine other states, including Pennsylvania.

Hall said the organization already has 15 group homes in Westmoreland County, including one approved last year on Primrose Drive in Unity, for three men with autism.

Residents expressed concerns about first responders, including police, being called for incidents at the Primrose Drive home.

Cribbs submitted into the record information on four state police calls to the address, three of which were not described in detail in a response to a right-to-know request by residents.

Referring to the right-to-know report, Hall said police were summoned July 7 for an alleged threat against someone at the home. But a staff member then notified police they weren’t needed, as the parties involved hadn’t interacted that day.

“These things are taken out of context,” Hall said.

He said he could recall two incidents when first responders arrived at the Primrose Drive address for clients experiencing medical problems but wasn’t sure why a police response would have been needed.

In response to a request by township solicitor Gary Falatovich, Hall said he would report to the township any future police calls to Community Options properties in Unity.

Charter Oak resident Jay Duke expressed concern about a December 2017 incident in Allegheny County, where a Community Options employee was charged in the shooting death of a co-worker outside a group home in Baldwin.

Hall noted he isn’t in charge of the organization’s operations outside of Westmoreland County.

“We have a no-firearms policy on any of our properties,” he said.

Hall said those Community Options hires are subjected to a background check and receive an annual minimum of 24 hours of training, which is reviewed by state officials.

Zoning board member Tim Thomas said he doesn’t think Community Options operations in other counties or states have a bearing on the Unity panel’s decision.

But, he told Hall, “I just don’t think you’ve provided enough evidence to us to welcome this group home.”