4-15-2009 Pennsylvania:
Group home now moved to Columbia
Columbia Borough is threatening to crack down on a former state representative operating a residence for convicted sex offenders.
Tom Armstrong's group home for offenders already has been chased out of Marietta Borough and Conestoga Township.
Now he's relocated his "program" for offenders to one of his properties in Columbia, where officials plan to use the same tactic as other municipalities to control or oust it.
On Monday, two borough residents complained to borough council about Armstrong locating the men in his Mill Street property in their neighborhood.
"I have children; everyone on that block has children," resident Bobbi Jo Torbert said. " … I'm trying to figure out what we need to do to get them out of there. We have people talking about wanting to move now. I'm afraid for my kids."
Torbert's comments echoed those from residents of Marietta and Conestoga, where Armstrong previously housed groups of men convicted of sexual offenses after they served their sentences and were legally permitted to seek housing and jobs in any community.
(eAdvocate Post)
This is the third community into which Armstrong has moved a group of men convicted of sex crimes without notifying municipal officials or neighbors. Although he is not obliged to notify municipal officials, residents and officials in both municipalities said they resented that Armstrong did not make his plans known.
Maria Reyes, who lives in the Columbia neighborhood where Armstrong's property now houses the offenders, said she was unaware that Armstrong had moved them in until she visited the state's Megan's Law Web site, which lists home and job addresses of sex offenders after they are convicted.
According to the state's Megan's Law Web site, four offenders are currently housed in Armstrong's Mill Street property.
"(Armstrong) knows the no-more-than-three rule, and it's just unfortunate that he chooses to ignore it," Meiskey said Monday.
Columbia mayor Leo S. Lutz said he had directed a borough police officer to check out the Megan's Law Web site to verify who is listed as living at the address and he had directed codes enforcement to move as quickly as possible to take legal action against Armstrong.
"By law, all we can do is stay on them," Meiskey told residents Monday. "No doubt, there are certainly individuals pushing this issue and possibly trying to profit from this issue, but right now we're bound by law."
Last summer, Conestoga residents angrily told Armstrong at a public meeting to move the men into his own home rather than their community. Conestoga Township then ousted the men using its own version of the same ordinance.
Armstrong actually did move the men into his own Marietta home after he said his wife and teenage daughter had temporarily moved out to care for an ailing relative. Parole regulations would not have permitted the men to live in the property with a minor girl.
When Marietta residents raged against Armstrong for bringing the men into their community, he said at public meetings that the housing arrangement was only temporary — until a Columbia property was ready to house the men.
In the meantime, Marietta officials used a similar ordinance to force Armstrong's hand to immediately relocate the men elsewhere. Armstrong filed a lawsuit against the borough in Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas, where the case is pending.
Armstrong has defended housing the men in a group setting as offering them a second chance in a more supportive setting than they would have living on their own.
And 22 sex offenders currently list Columbia Borough as their home or work address, so many are living among borough residents without the high profile Armstrong's living arrangement has brought his tenants.
When the controversy stirred in Conestoga and Marietta, one man living in Armstrong's property was Richard Owen, who served 20 years in an Illinois prison after being convicted of rape in 1981.
In both communities, Owen eloquently and publicly spoke about not expecting a second chance from residents, but hoping he could earn a second chance from them.
In January, Owen was accused of making lewd advances to at least five women in a store parking lot, but ultimately was found guilty of only one summary harassment count of "following in a public place," according to court documents. Owen denied the charges, and none of the women who accused him testified at his Feb. 24 hearing.
According to Pennsylvania's Megan's Law Web Site, Owen remains in Lancaster County Prison.
Two of the men who currently list Armstrong's Columbia property as their home address were convicted of indecent assault in 2003; a third was convicted of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse in 1986. The fourth resident was convicted in 2004 of aggravated indecent assault.
It is unclear whether any of their victims were minors. ..News Source.. by SUSAN E. LINDT, Staff Writer
April 15, 2009
PA- Borough tries to oust sex offenders
May 20, 2008
PA- Can twp. evict 3 men?
Conestoga solicitor questions zoning for sex-offender halfway house. Over 300 jam meeting.
5-20-2008 Pennsylvania:
Residents' outcry over three sex offenders living in a new halfway house in Conestoga reached a boiling point Monday night.
More than 300 people filled Conestoga Volunteer Fire Company, some demanding that the men convicted of aggravated indecent assault, rape and possession of child pornography be forced to leave.
Jim Thomas, Conestoga Township's solicitor, said they may get their wish.
He said former state Rep. Tom Armstrong's Barnabas House, run in an apartment at 3113 Main St., Conestoga, does not comply with the property's village mixed-use zoning and is permitted only by special exception.
"Whether it is a good or bad social program, whether it is a group home for Megan's Law offenders or for students at a local university" doesn't matter, Thomas said.
Armstrong said today that the township's zoning officer, Jim Hindes, told him a different story in April.
Armstrong said he asked Hindes if a group of ex-convicts could live in an apartment at the property, which is owned by Ben Vonderheide, who also lives at the address.
Hindes said the "best he could read (the zoning ordinance said) that I could have four" people, Armstrong said.
Armstrong said Hindes told him that he wasn't sure if Armstrong could have five people living together because that's when the arrangement would be considered "transitional housing."
Transitional housing is defined in the zoning ordinance as "living arrangements for up to five unrelated individuals that do not meet the definitions of 'family' or 'group home.'"
Armstrong said he then pressed Hindes: What if a probation officer called? Would he tell the officer the living arrangement was allowed? Hindes said he would, Armstrong said.
Thomas says Armstrong's Barnabas House does not meet either the "family" or "group home" definitions, so it shouldn't be allowed anywhere in the township except with a special exception approved by the township's zoning hearing board.
Hindes could not immediately be reached for comment this morning.
Zoning appears to be the only way the sex offenders could be forced to leave, at least in their current living arrangement. They've served their prison sentences and are abiding by probation restrictions.
The community became aware of the men's presence because Megan's Law requires some sex offenders to report their current addresses to the state, which then posts the information online.
But for Sarah, a Conestoga resident who didn't want to give her last name, that was little help. She moved into Vonderheide's building with her 2-year-old son in October — before he leased Armstrong space for the faith-based halfway house.
Now Sarah says she's scared to go in and out of the house and use the common laundry area in the building's basement. According to Sarah's mother, Darlene, residents are threatening to force the men out.
"Three people have threatened to burn that place down," she said after the two-plus-hour meeting Monday.
Vonderheide said he is willing to let tenants out of leases without financial penalty.
Thomas said Vonderheide was notified May 16 that transitional housing is not permitted on the property.
But Thomas said if Vonderheide appeals or seeks a special exception for that use within 30 days, the process could be lengthy. And while an appeal is sought, the halfway house may continue operating.
Thomas urged people to attend the next township supervisors meeting, at 7 p.m. June 3, as well as upcoming zoning hearing board meetings.
Armstrong said he personally screened the four occupants of the apartment — one ex-convict is not a sexual offender — and determined them to not be a threat to the community.
Armstrong just wanted to start a faith-based halfway house to help with a community problem.
"Over 2,000 people are sitting in prison and can't be released because there are not enough halfway houses," he said. "I'd like for it to grow. A lot of men are looking for an opportunity to better their lives."
Vonderheide today said he hasn't decided yet if he will appeal the zoning officer's decision or apply for a special exception.
"I support Tom's ministry and as a landowner, I'm appalled at the backwoods zoning trick."
One of the sex offenders living at Barnabas House, Richard Owen, spoke at Monday night's meeting.
"Twenty-seven years ago, I made a poor choice in my life, and I paid dearly," he said.
Owen, who is in his early 50s, said that while in prison, he earned associate and bachelor's degrees, immersed himself in Scriptures and got out "a changed man."
"Unfortunately, that (sex offender) label doesn't change," he said. "I came here today to ask you to judge the man, not the label." ..more.. by Staff writer Ryan Robinson
