Albany City Commission hears from residents opposed to group home in residential neighborhood

ALBANY – A proposed residential home for boys brought out significant opposition from would-be neighbors of the facility in a central Albany neighborhood at a Tuesday Albany City Commission meeting.

The proposed residential home would serve up to six clients at 2005 Waddell Ave. The owners of Chamberlain Children Inc. are seeking special approval to operate the facility at the location.

The Albany-Dougherty County Planning Commission recommended approval of granting special approval in a 4-1 vote on Aug. 6.

If approved, the facility would house up to six children up to the age of 18 who are placed through the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services.

During a public hearing on the issue, about a dozen residents showed up to voice their opposition, five of whom addressed commissioners.

Vontressa Davis, who lives next door to the property with her 88-year-old mother, who has dementia, said that the additional traffic in and out of the driveway, which sits about six or seven feet from their bedroom windows, would be a nuisance.

“It will disturb her as well as myself,” she said of that proximity. 

The neighborhood has a protective covenant calling for only single-family residential occupants, she told commissioners.

“We are not here to speak bad of the young men that will possibly be coming into our neighborhood,” Davis said. “Our concern is the proposal at this particular property. Why this particular neighborhood? The question is whether the proposed use is good for our neighborhood.”

Chamberlain Children co-owner Bryan Chamberlain told commissioners that children housed in a residential setting show better results than individuals housed in a commercial setting.

“The kids are traumatized,” he said. “They have been taken from their homes for some reason. They feel less-than in these commercial buildings. You don’t get the same response from kids in a commercial (residence) or out in the boondocks.”

The youngsters at the residence will be supervised and will receive counseling and other services, he said. 

The company has two group homes in operation in Albany that have been in operation for about 10 years. Clients are carefully screened, Chamberlain said, and the company can refuse children who have issues that could negatively affect neighbors.

“I am aware of the negative connotations that do come from a group home, but these young people are supervised 24 hours (a day),” Chamberlain said. “We are not trying to add children that will be a detriment to the neighborhood.”

The response to the proposal has been overwhelmingly negative, Ward III Commissioner Vilnis Gaines said. The proposed home is located in Ward IV.

“After the Planning Commission meeting, my phone was ringing with people who are opposed,” he said. “The ones who called me were in opposition to it.”

Deloris Price, who has lived in her house since 1996, told commissioners that the neighborhood already has issues, including multiple recent incidents of gunfire in the are. 

“This group here, we are concerned about the traffic … and all the other stuff that’s going to go on in a group home,” she said. “We’ve had gunshots every night since Thursday evening. We want our neighborhood back. We are asking you to give us back our neighborhood. We are dealing with something now.”

Chamberlain Children co-owner Tanya Jones said that the children get work experience and are involved in activities through 4-H and Boys & Girls Clubs and with organizations that provide outreach.

“These young people get a lot of life skills they don’t get at home,” she said. “We provide more normalcy in these kids’ lives than they get at home. They don’t have time to (break) in houses and cars. We provide love and nurturing to these young people.”

Commissioners could vote on the request for special approval for the group home on Tuesday.