For the second time this year, the city of Anaheim voted no on a proposal to turn a large home in a single-family home neighborhood into transitional housing for 16 homeless women. The application for the project at 626 N. West Street was submitted by Ja’Net Kreitner, the CEO and founder of Grandma’s House of Hope.
Following a number of public comments, both for and against the project, city council members ultimately agreed with the Anaheim Planning Commission’s August decision, that the site was not the right place for transitional house, and voted unanimously against the project.
During public comment, Krietner said her nonprofit offers the only bridge housing in the city, and 72% of applicants that she had planned to move into the home are homeless residents of Anaheim.
At the city council meeting Tuesday, Krietner said the nonprofit offers the only bridge housing in the city, and 72% of applicants she had planned to move into the home are people who are currently homeless in Anaheim.
Community members have long fought against the project, saying that an influx of 16 residents and one community leader would create excess traffic in the area. They’ve also submitted comments that the transitional housing could bring danger into a neighborhood filled with families, children, and longtime residents.
“While I commend the mission of Grandma’s House of Hope, their request is not an appropriate location for such a group home,” Joanne Kellogg said Tuesday.
Kellogg is a longtime resident, who has lived in the neighborhood since 1946. Her home is less than 200 feet from the requested home. Kellogg said while she commends the nonprofit’s mission, she simply cannot support 16 people being supervised by one person so close to her home.
Grandma's House of Hope had hoped to convert the eight-bedroom, two-story house into a transitional living home. The project would have been funded by Orange County's Health Care Agency, according to the O.C. Register.
Roberto Esquivel, who owns the property in question, also spoke during public comment, saying that he has had positive experience with the nonprofit, which rents another from him that was successfully converted into transitional housing.
"I understand the concerns, but we are not getting drug addicts or people related to gangs, that’s not what the program is about," Esquivel said. "Its focusing on women mainly to help. Women deserve help."
Following the council's decision Kreitner told the O.C. Register she and her team would take the next few days to discuss options with legal advisors and the California Department of Housing and Community Development before deciding her next step.
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